Chapter 128 - Paid in Full

Left alone, Suzuki Ara switched to her sleepwear. The servants prepared a powder blue yukata for her to sleep in. However, even if she felt physically tired, her brain was still active as she recalled the events of the day and couldn't go to sleep yet.

Just within twenty-four hours, a lot of things happened!

She was just with her schoolmates on a trip this morning, and then she came home and got sick suddenly. Kou was there to pick her up at the station and her schoolmates now knew about the two of them. Then, they went to the hospital and found out about her possible condition.

Ara sighed. It's really difficult now. She may still retain some of her strength and her powers, but her body had obviously deteriorated. Well, at least she's still super above normal human. She wouldn't be able to throw a car if not.

PTSD…

Who'd have thought she'd ever had it? Even in Ritz, aside from her brother, (and spiders), she was actually, practically fearless.

Then again, she'd never died before – and in a tragic way at that. Maybe her experience with death had changed everything even if she was unconscious about it.

Then, there were the day's discoveries! There were lots.

For some reason, Ryuu and Gin both disliked the black eggs. She noticed that – that was why when Kou still ate the egg even if he hated it for her sake was touching. She felt like bullying them though so she offered Gin the rest of Kou's black eggs and asked her fiancé if he wanted more. She wouldn't give him another one of course even if her brother didn't intervene. 

Then at dinner time, she realized how Ryuu could be so sweet and thoughtful, offering her his lotus root when he noticed she wanted more of it. Then the puppy and the proposal!

She had seen videos of men proposing to their girlfriends on the internet. Yashiro and the girls were watching some when they had a pajama party on their last night at the ryokan. Despite seeing a lot of ways to do it, she was still pleasantly surprised by the way her fiancé had done it.

Ryuu Junior – Byakuya as the ring bearer!

Who else could think of something so cute like that?

Then, there's the issue with Emi. It was a good thing the matter about her was already cleared. It was better it happened this way than letting her find out from someone else. She'd have misunderstood, and felt resentful if they continued to keep her in the dark.

"I'm terrible," Ara whispered softly.

She still felt guilty about feeling very willing to throw the other out of the house despite her tragic background. Ara felt ashamed of herself. She had thought she was beyond human's venal nature. She was wrong.

Then again, whoever said that gods were benevolent creatures in the first place? They were only generous to those who worshipped and were good to them but showed wrath to those who didn't. Humans and deities – weren't they all selfish existences in the end?

Ara was both a human and a deity – a demigod. She wondered if she should be forgiven for showing this ugly side of herself. 

If Emi was even a little bit in love with Ryuu…

Remembering that unpleasant feeling, she wondered if she was truly jealous. But if she's jealous shouldn't that mean that she really liked her fiancé?

She'd never felt something similar before even with Ivan. Or was this only the human part of her taking over her rationality?

"I'm so sorry, Emi. I'll make it up to you. I promise."

Ara was aware as well that this feeling of wanting to help the other was just to pacify her own guilt. But there was no helping it. It's how it was. She couldn't pretend it was otherwise. She wondered how she could help the other though. She was thinking this when her phone vibrated.

She reached out and checked what it was, and was surprised when she saw more than one message. She actually had a lot coming from her classmates, Rin, and the others. They were all asking how she was, and if she was already feeling better.

Ara smiled. It hadn't been a while since all of these people hated her – well except for Midori who was aware of Koharu's schemes. But look at how it was now. They did not only stop hating her, but they were also all even worried about her. Also, by now, Okada Koharu's true self must already be known to everyone.

Ara smiled in the dark as she imagined the girl she'd seen on the pool's reflection more than a month ago – the girl who had embraced her death with a smile.

"Suzuki Ara, are you happy now?"

She hoped and prayed that wherever the girl's soul might be that she would finally be at peace. Alinea, the Princess of Ritz had fulfilled her promise to her body's original owner. Her debt had been paid in full.

Her phone vibrated again. This time, it was from someone she had been wondering to contact about something: Asou Chiaki.

"Ara, how are you feeling? I heard from Pres you got sick. You should take it easy."

A soft smile curved on Ara's previous guilty lips. She could imagine Chiaki saying the words with her elder sister's tone of voice but with a smile. Come to think of it…

Ara pressed the call button. A wailing of a baby filled her ears as soon as Asou answered. "Hello? Ara? I'm so sorry. Can I call you again in a few minutes? I will just give Taka a bottle of milk and put him to sleep, okay?"

"Okay," Ara answered almost immediately, and the other ended the call.

She had forgotten that Chiaki's sister had been killed in a traffic accident almost a year ago with her husband on the way home from the hospital. Taka, her nephew was just born then. The baby had miraculously survived the accident unscathed. The older sister and her widowed mother unquestioningly took the orphaned baby in and had been taking care of him since.

With a sigh, Ara sat on her futon. She tried calling Asou Chikai because she had been bothered by her brother's reaction when she mentioned his girlfriend after dinner today. He looked odd – like he was depressed. She wondered if Chiaki knew who her brother's girlfriend was. Ara was curious.

When Chiaki called, thirty minutes had already passed.

"Ara, I'm so sorry to make you wait. It took a while before Taka settled in his bed," Chiaki apologized.

"It's okay. I don't mind. Is he okay?"

"Yes. He was just throwing a tantrum. He's so sleepy but didn't want to sleep – the brat," Chiaki complained, but there were unmistaken pride and fondness in her voice that was soothing. Just by that, anyone could see how much the aunt loved her nephew.

"So why did you call? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I'm okay. I was just tired."

"Well, it hasn't been long since you got out of the hospital. You should take it easy and not push yourself too hard."

Ara chuckled. Chiaki really sounded like an elder sister, and she really liked her unpretentious nature. It's a pity her brother didn't just get together with Chiaki. It would have been great if she was her sister-in-law.

"I won't," Ara promised, and then asked what she had been wondering for a while now. "Chiaki, do you know who my brother's girlfriend is?"

Upon her question, Asou Chiaki suddenly started coughing as if something logged in her throat. "W-what? I d-don't know. W-why would I know? You should ask Pres himself," was her stuttering answer.

Ara then frowned. She had a feeling there was something very curious was going on. "Are you sure?"