The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 188

After that, we safely welcomed Christmas.

Though I had made that trashy declaration about spending Christmas with everyone, the party itself was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

After all, everyone gathered here saw each other’s faces every day.

Unlike the guys, who had nowhere to go but the PC bang when they got together, the girls could talk all night if they wanted.

Thanks to that, I had long since exhausted myself and collapsed.

I could hold my own in a conversation, but I had no confidence in keeping up with this level.

“Ugh, how do they keep talking all day?”

And Seron was included in that.

Why was she collapsing when she was a girl too?

For reference, the main drivers of the conversation were Isabel and Hania.

True to their usual social butterfly selves, the two had plenty to talk about.

As the Third Princess, Iris also had to engage in countless verbal exchanges.

So, her conversational skills naturally shone through.

In Eve’s case, she was attached to the three of them to practice talking.

I sincerely hoped she would grow steadily.

Lastly, Sharin was already asleep right next to me.

Her habit of falling asleep the moment it was bedtime was no different from a child’s.

Even peaceful times must come to an end.

“It’s getting late. If we stay any longer, the dorm supervisor will scold us.”

With Hania’s words, the party was called to a close.

It was time to head back to the dormitory.

By the time we finished cleaning up roughly, it was already dawn.

“You must be tired today, so I’ll let you go.”

Iris graciously excused me from being her sleeping companion tonight.

I bowed deeply in gratitude and bid everyone farewell.

“Isabel, see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Isabel’s Christmas had only just begun.

So, after exchanging greetings with her, I turned and headed straight for the teaching assistant dormitory.

The TA dorm was quiet.

The other TAs were probably managing the official party.

Since I had plans tomorrow, I needed to sleep quickly.

It was just as I thought that and opened the door to my dorm room—

—Thud.

Inside the dorm room.

I sensed a presence.

My gaze sharpened slightly.

Someone had invaded my room.

The remnants of the ancient dragon stirred quietly.

‘No attached magic.’

The remnants were sensitive to magic.

The fact that there was no reaction meant no magic had been deployed.

After preparing to respond at any moment, I pushed the door open.

—Creak.

The room looked exactly as I had left it.

Perhaps because it was winter, a dreary atmosphere lingered.

As I stepped inside, I slowly curled my fingers into a blade—

Then my eyes landed on the blanket I slept under.

For some reason, it was bulging upward.

After staring at it for a moment, I lowered my hand.

If someone had come to assassinate me, they wouldn’t be hiding so blatantly.

“Who are you?”

So, I decided to ask outright.

I didn’t know why this person had come looking for me.

—Flinch.

At that moment, the blanket shifted slightly.

A reaction—she hadn’t noticed me entering.

Just as I wondered who it could be and narrowed my eyes—

—Rustle.

Long silver hair spilled out from under the blanket.

The moment I saw that hair color, my eyes slowly widened.

Because there was only one person with that hair color.

“Nikita?”

When I called her name, a face peeked out from under the blanket.

There, I saw Nikita’s face, her left cheek slightly red.

It was obvious she had been dozing.

Clutching my pillow tightly, she let out an awkward cough.

“V-Vikram.”

Nikita Cynthia.

Once the vice president of Jerion Academy, the Calamity Dragon Maiden.

She was here.

“How long have you been here?”

Given that she had been asleep, she must have been waiting for quite a while.

If I had known she was coming, I would have greeted her properly.

Feeling guilty, I spoke, but Nikita waved her hand dismissively.

“Just now. I just got here.”

To anyone, it was clear that “just now” was far from the truth.

But if Nikita said so, I decided to take her word for it.

“Right. Even though there’s a pillow crease on Nikita’s left cheek, I’ll pretend you just arrived.”

“Huh?”

Nikita hurriedly covered her left cheek.

Realizing it was futile, she coughed awkwardly and straightened her posture.

“Sorry. I dozed off while waiting for you.”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry for being late.”

“No, I didn’t tell you I was coming either. More importantly—”

Nikita’s gaze lingered on the pillow I used every night.

Then she shook her head.

It was as if she was shaking off a thought.

Soon after, her eyes scanned me up and down before curling into a smile.

“Vikram, you’ve safely returned to Jerion Academy.”

As she said, I had successfully returned to Jerion Academy as Vikram.

“I couldn’t even see you off when you left the academy.”

“It’s fine. My situation wasn’t one where I deserved a send-off anyway.”

Vikram had committed the grave act of attacking the Third Princess.

At that point, receiving a send-off from anyone would have been stranger.

“Still, if I could go back, I’d see you off properly.”

Nikita’s warmth extended even to the past.

“I have some good cocoa. Would you like some?”

“You remember I like cocoa.”

“Of course. You were my junior, after all.”

“Hehe.”

As if reminiscing, Nikita smiled faintly.

I prepared a cup of cocoa and handed it to her.

Nikita carefully took it with both hands and sipped it slowly.

It seemed she still couldn’t handle hot drinks right away.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had cocoa made by my senior.”

Perhaps because of nostalgia, her way of addressing me reverted to the past.

It wasn’t a bad feeling.

“So, what brings you here?”

According to Nikita, she was supposed to come next year.

Yet here she was on Christmas.

When I asked, Nikita smirked playfully.

“What do you think, Vikram?”

“Could it be that the goddess has come to bestow a gift upon me?”

“That’s also correct.”

Nikita was a goddess.

Somehow, she looked even more beautiful than usual.

Nikita lightly swung her legs, which peeked out from under the blanket.

“The real purpose is for tomorrow’s Christmas.”

“Tomorrow? Then, could it be—”

“Yes. The gathering where many will come to see Isabel. My brother is scheduled to appear there.”

Nikita’s biological brother, Nia Cynthia.

The very person who had driven Nikita to resort to the ancient dragon’s magic.

To the world, Nia was confirmed dead.

But that death was staged, and the First Prince faction had been using it to corner the Third Princess faction.

However, the Third Princess faction dismissed Nia’s incident as the work of the Mysticism cult, even going so far as to claim it was Nia’s own carelessness rather than their fault.

At this tense standoff—

Nia declared he would appear on Christmas.

‘This wasn’t in the original story.’

Of course not.

In the original, Nia was a dead man.

But the overall flow was the same.

Right after Lucas crushed the Mysticism cult—

The First Prince faction would announce that Nia’s death was not the Mysticism cult’s doing but the Third Princess faction’s.

And now, Nia’s direct appearance would be added to that.

“I’ll be there too.”

“You too, Nikita?”

“Of course, not in this form.”

Nikita had committed the crime of attacking the Third Princess.

Even if it was for Nia’s sake, assaulting royalty was a grave offense.

If Nikita appeared alongside Nia, it could backfire.

Nikita knew this well.

So, she must have decided to appear in a different form.

“It’s also the identity I’ll be using from now on.”

“Nikita, is this the magic you researched with your brother?”

Nikita’s lips curled up.

“It’s a magic that makes you younger.”

I knew it.

Now I understood what Nikita had meant when she said she’d come next year.

Nikita and Nia had been researching age-regression magic.

And they had finally succeeded.

Incredible.

I never thought they’d actually complete it.

“Of course, it’s not something that can be commercialized. Only Nia and I can use it.”

A magic only the two co-researchers could wield.

It was a shame, but magic was never easy to begin with.

This was still a monumental achievement.

Even considering that, it was an incredible feat.

It meant there was now another way to enter the Magic Palace besides the Veil’s Bandages.

“……Originally, I wanted to cast it on you, Vikram.”

Nikita reached out and gently grasped my collar.

The emotional numbness caused by the Veil’s Bandages.

Nikita knew about it.

I smiled softly at her.

“It’s fine. Just having you by my side gives me strength.”

Nikita looked up at me.

Her blue eyes studied me briefly before she let out a quiet sigh.

“You still know how to say the sweetest things, Vikram. Do you say stuff like this to others too?”

“Only to you, Nikita.”

Nikita coughed repeatedly and fanned herself.

Her face had turned slightly red.

Then, she tightened her grip on my collar.

“……Then, from now on, don’t say things like that to anyone else. Just me.”

Easy enough.

Nikita, seemingly embarrassed by her own words, had turned bright red to the tips of her ears.

She shook her head vigorously before suddenly standing up.

“Vikram, from now on, I won’t be Nikita Cynthia anymore.”

To her, the identity of “Nikita” was a constraint.

The surname “Cynthia” had shackled and confined her.

“But don’t worry about it.”

The girl trapped in a cage had been destined to die without ever spreading her wings.

“Because Vikram is the one who freed Nikita Cynthia.”

I was the one who opened the cage’s door.

So she could spread her wings and soar freely.

So she would no longer be bound by anything.

I had opened the cage wider than anyone else could.

Nikita’s face, her wings unfurled in freedom, shone brighter than anyone else’s.

That fact filled me with warm joy.

“So, take care of me from now on, Teaching Assistant.”

Her way of addressing me had changed from “junior” to “Teaching Assistant.”

Perhaps it signaled that the relationship between us had shifted.

“So, what’s my gift?”

This was the part I had been looking forward to the most.

When I eagerly pressed her for it, Nikita grinned.

“Close your eyes.”

I closed them as she instructed.

Then, I felt her arms wrap around my neck.

Nikita’s small feet rose onto her tiptoes.

Soon after, I felt something incredibly soft and warm press against my lips.

Instinctively, my eyes flew open.

Nikita’s face was right in front of mine.

A kiss.

That was what Nikita had done.

“You once joked about my ideal type, remember?”

As I stared at her blankly, Nikita beamed.

“My ideal type is Vikram Niflheim.”

The emotion in Nikita’s eyes—

“From now on, it’s always going to be you, Teaching Assistant.”

—was love.

“It’s your Christmas gift, Teaching Assistant. A long, lasting one, so keep it safe in your heart.”

On Christmas Day—

The goddess declared that she had given me her love as a gift.