Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

“Why are you kneeling all of a sudden? I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but it’s fine, so get up.”

I tried to help her up, but Aria stubbornly refused and knelt before me, looking up at me with pleading eyes. There was desperation in her eyes.

I let go of her hand, as I knew that forcing her to stand up would not change her mind. Aria spoke with a trembling voice.

“….I’ve been thinking about it. For the past two months, I’ve been thinking about it. I even asked Brynhild about it, even though it was shameless of me.”

Brynhild. She had decided to start over from the beginning, and two months later, their relationship was still a bit awkward.

It was understandable. After all, she had done something, so Leona wouldn’t take the initiative to approach her, and Aria couldn’t approach her with her usual smile because of the situation.

“I’ve been wondering about my feelings for you, Mira. If what I’m feeling is right, is it okay for me to keep these feelings, or should I quietly suppress them so that I don’t cause trouble for you and the people around you?”

“What did Leona say?”

“She said that if I was still wondering after two months, I was already decided. She told me to stop wasting time and start thinking about how to approach you instead. She said it was up to you whether you would accept me or not…”

“…. .”

I remained silent, and Aria’s trembling voice gradually softened.

“I know it’s a difficult request. If you reject me, I won’t blame you. How could I? I don’t expect you to treat me the same as the others, so it’s fine if you use me for other purposes. Just keep me by your side… that’s all I ask.”

Aria looked up at me with pleading eyes.

“….Can I like you?”

The blue eyes that looked up at me were filled with emotion. I stood quietly. The longer the silence lasted, the more the transparent liquid gathered in the corners of her eyes, until it formed into droplets and fell.

“Isn’t it… not okay?”

I knelt on one knee to match her eye level. I gently released her hand, which I had been holding tightly. Her fingertips were white from the force.

“This is the same question I asked the others. Are you simply extending the feelings you had for me in the past, or do you really like me?”

Priscilla, Rosaria, Elucifer, and Laura had all received this question. I had asked them if their feelings for me were simply an extension of their gratitude for being freed from the loop, or if they truly liked me.

Of course, all four of them had firmly drawn the line, saying that gratitude and love were separate, and they were still by my side as my girlfriends. Now it was Aria’s turn.

“Leona told me. She told me that most of my feelings from the past remain, and that’s why I was confused. Are the feelings I have for you now an extension of those from the past, or should I draw a line between the past and the present?”

“….As I said earlier, I’ve been thinking about it for the past two months. I’ve been thinking about the same thing you just said. I can now be certain that my feelings for you are not an extension of my past feelings. In the past, I may have felt that way. I may have denied the whole world and considered you the only real person. But now, I don’t feel that way. Now, I…”

Aria paused, her voice choked with emotion, and then she squeezed out the last words with a desperate voice.

“I just… I like you, Mira. Isn’t that enough?”

“…. .”

To be honest, I didn’t know. I didn’t know how much Aria had thought about this, or if she was confusing her own feelings.

But what was important now was not that. What was important was that Aria felt that way now.

I took Aria’s hand and helped her up. Aria, who had been sniffling and wiping away tears, was surprised.

“Aria.”

“Yes… Mira.”

“You already know this, but I have enough people to be responsible for. And just because you said that, I won’t like you right now. Are you still okay with that?”

“It’s okay.”

Aria bit her lip. She wiped away the tears that had gathered in her eyes. She seemed to have made up her mind.

“Then… hmm, I don’t know if I’m the kind of person who can say this, but shouldn’t we take it slow from now on? Leona said we should start over from the beginning. We can do that, right? We have plenty of time and opportunities.”

The hand that had been wiping away tears froze. It seemed that she hadn’t expected me to accept her, so she was surprised. The tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes grew larger.

“Thank you… thank you… sniff…”

“No, don’t thank me. Why are you thanking me? I just said we should take it slow. You don’t have to. That’s all.”

I comforted Aria for a while, and she finally stopped crying, her eyes red from wiping away tears.

Even after she stopped crying, she didn’t let go of my hand.

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Time passed by quickly, and before I knew it, I was attending the graduation ceremony with Laura.

Laura openly stuck by my side, and the students all seemed to know what was going on. It was less of a rejection than I had expected. At least, that’s what I thought.

“Congratulations, Mira Crate. I knew something was going on between you two, but I didn’t expect it to be this.”

Even the daughter of the Duke of Eichenhardt came to the Academy to congratulate us. Other academies had their graduation ceremonies a week later to avoid overlapping with Bellium Academy. It had been a tradition for quite some time, according to Eres.

“You knew, didn’t you? That the crown prince was actually a woman.”

“Yes.”

“Haa. I had no idea… I even asked her for relationship advice…”

Eichenhardt shook her head, disappointed. It seemed that she was doing well with the man who had fallen in love with her at first sight and had worked hard to become her ideal type.

“Congratulations on your early graduation, Mira! You truly are the epitome of supreme intelligence!”

“What do you think, our ultimate congratulatory magic!”

“Hey…”

The humans from the Mage’s Association had also come to congratulate us. The problem was that their congratulatory magic involved creating fireworks in the sky that spelled out my name.

Thanks to them, the sky was filled with red, orange, and yellow fireworks spelling out “Mira Crate” throughout the graduation ceremony. At least they had the decency to make it silent, which was the last bit of conscience they had.

“How long will that last?”

“About six hours. We wanted to do it all day, but we thought you might find it burdensome, so we…”

“I’m the one who should be burdened, you crazy humans.”

In the end, the mages were scolded by me and reluctantly agreed to end it in 30 minutes. It was only because their intentions were good that I let them off with a warning. They had originally planned to do it all day.

“You really did it. Anyway, my brother you’re amazing.”

“Hey, our brother! Come here! I have to give you a big hug!”

After my parents congratulated me and left, Diana and Trisha took turns coming to see me.

Diana was truly surprised that I had graduated early, and Trisha, who was now working as Diana’s assistant, came to congratulate me and then tried to hug me, only to be easily subdued in three seconds.

“Congratulations, employer!”

“Congratulations, Mira.”

It was only natural that Ibrante and Ibrante’s younger sister would come as well. After all, I had saved their lives, so they should have come to congratulate me. Ibrante even brought her younger sister, who was now working as Diana’s assistant.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. What’s up with all these people?”

“Yes, it has been a while… hmm, what are you talking about, employer? I dropped out before I even graduated, didn’t I?”

Ibrante was still pretending to be a teenager, even though Diana and Trisha were using artifacts to change their appearances. Her younger sister was looking at him with a strange expression.

“Wow, there are so many people. Hey, congratulations.”

Kang Yuna was the simplest and most concise. She just threw a flower at me and left, which was much more comfortable than dealing with all these people.

“There are a lot of people because a lot of attention has been focused on us. You know how much interest there has been.”

The interest had been overwhelming. Not only was the Imperial Princess there, but I was also the first early graduate of Bellium Academy. The Mage’s Association had participated, and the Grand Mages had come in droves. It was only natural that the attention would be focused on us.

Fortunately, the Emperor himself did not come, or Laura would have stopped him from coming and causing a ruckus.

“But don’t look so tired. This is probably your last graduation in your life, isn’t it? You’re not going to college again on Earth, are you?”

“My last?”

I smiled lightly, and Kang Yuna frowned.

“What, what’s with that creepy smile?”

“Hmm.”

That was true. This would be my last graduation in my public life.