My childhood friend was utterly hopeless.
‘They were rather bright when we were young; how did they become such a mess?’
It was less a question and more a pang of self-reproach.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame anyone else.
After all, their current state was one hundred percent my responsibility.
If I were to offer some semblance of an excuse…
It was simply that I had been quite curious about the future I’d glimpsed for Ruena when we were children.
‘A final boss? What could that possibly mean?’
Though I had seen countless futures belonging to others, such a designation was a first.
A spark of curiosity ignited within me,
and all I did was look after her a little, just to get a closer look at her future.
I made sure she had a blanket because she caught colds easily.
I went to wake her up every morning since she couldn’t get up on her own.
And I occasionally baked desserts for her because she had a sweet tooth.
“Celen, I can’t find my hair tieee…”
“Celen, what was that assignment Teacher Hanna gave us again?”
“Oh, it’s Celen! …Yelp?!”
Before I knew it, she had become someone utterly incapable of doing anything without me.
Despite being from the illustrious Elliard family, she was utterly hopeless at anything physical.
She’d get her hand caught opening a door, walk straight into a wall, and constantly misplace her belongings.
She’d even trip over nothing in an empty hallway, only to look at me with wide, helpless eyes—a true klutz.
“…I found it. Ruena Elliard.”
Yet, from the very first day of the academy, those who sought to target her began to crawl out, one by one.
This is truly driving me insane.
