Rise and shine!

I opened my eyes to another bright morning.

With my entire body hanging off the balcony with ropes.

“What the-AAAAAAAAHH!”

I looked down to see how far I was from the ground.

N-no! Why am I here?! I hate heights!

“You seem to be having fun, Ori, hahaha!” Bryce said.

“Bryce! What is the meaning of this?!” I said.

The people gathered around to see me, watching me from the ground frightened.

“Well, you see, I still have a grudge against you! You’re the reason why Felicia died!”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

“After you told her about our relationship, she fell into a state of darkness and locked herself in her room. I tried everything I could to bring her back…..but…..she died! She killed herself!”

This is news to me. The person Bryce loved…....Felicia is dead?

“I-I’m sorry to hear that….”

“This is all your fault! If you hadn’t said anything about us, she never would have found out!”

No wonder he’s so angry at me….

“You’re the one who cheated, so shouldn’t you be the one to take the blame?!”

“Shut up! I lost everything because of you! My one true love, gone in a flash….you should have never confessed to me in the first place!”

He’s too irrational…..

“You never told me you were in love with someone else, you idiot! Consider my feelings! Do you know how much pain I've felt when I realized that you betrayed me? It was hard! I bawled my eyes out every night in bed for a month! You’re the one who’s being an asshole!”

“I don’t care….What matters….is what happens now.”

“What are you planning?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on killing you. I just want you to know how it feels to lose the person you love. And I know exactly who it is!”

“Ori!’ Perci called out from down below.

“Perci!” I screamed back.

Wait a minute.

“Bryce! Please let her go!” Perci said with fear in his eyes.

“Don’t worry, loverboy! I’ll let her go!” Bryce said. “But you have to do whatever I say!”

“I’ll do it!” Perci said.

“First, why don’t you kneel on the floor and beg?!”

Perci didn’t hesitate and instantly went on the floor.

“Hahahahahaha! What a loser!”

“Bryce, you bastard!” I yelled.

“Next, why don’t you scream, ‘Please, Master Bryce!” three times?!”

That’s just dirty..…

“Please, Master Bryce! Please, Master Bryce! Please, Master Bryce!”

It was humiliating for Perci, yet he didn’t hesitate to say it in front of everyone.

Perci…..

“I can’t believe it! You actually said it! How badly do you want Ori back?!”

“That doesn't matter! I’ll do whatever it takes to save her!”

“Oh, really?” Bryce said. “Here’s the best part, Ori.”

"What are you going to tell him this time?"

Bryce made his final proposal.

“If you kill yourself right now, I’ll gladly let go of Ori!”

“You monster……” I muttered.

The crowd reacted to his statement.

“Hey! That’s going too far!”

“Stop it already, Bryce!”

“Perci’s had enough of your bullshit!”

The panda mascot crossed his arms to signify its rejection.

Despite all the complaining from the people, Perci picked up his umbrella, closed his eyes and took 3 deep breaths.

"Is there no other way, Bryce?! We can talk about this!"

"I have no interest in talking to you. No negotiations! It's either she dies or you die! That is all!" Bryce said.

"I-Is that so?"

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Perci pulled out the sword from his umbrella, which put the people into a panic.

“Perci! Stop!”

“It’s not worth it!”

“Don’t kill yourself, idiot!”

Alex stepped in and tried to stop him, but Perci slashed his sword around, keeping everyone at a distance.

“Stay back. I have to do this. I have no choice.”

“Damn! Where the hell is Lucio? I can’t do this alone!” Alex gritted his teeth.

Perci pointed his blade towards his chest, but his arms were shaking.

“No! Perci! Don’t do it! I don’t want your help anymore!” I said. “Just let me be! I don’t want you to die!”

“Sorry, but I’ve completely devoted myself to protecting you, milady!” Perci screamed his resolve. “I’ll do anything to save you! Even if it means taking my own life!”

“Just forget about me, Perci! I don't care about living anymore! I won't allow you to do this! Ever! Please, stop!”

Perci took another breath and stabilized his arms.

"Bryce, please tell him to stop! I'm sorry for everything! I'll take responsibility!" I begged.

"It's pointless, bitch! Everything I've lost on you, will be settled here!"

Perci stared into my eyes and gave me one last smile.

“Goodbye.”

No….Perci's going to die because of me…

WHOOSH!

Huh?

The sound of an arrow being fired could be heard and Bryce was pierced in the head.

“Guh!!!”

He fell down to the ground just like that.

Before Perci could completely stab himself, both Alex and the panda mascot took a leap of faith and tackled him to the ground.

“H-how?”

I looked around to see where it came from.

It was from Robin, who was hiding in a window on the other side with a bow.

“W-woah…for him to hit a shot like that from that distance….”

With a perfect headshot like that…..Bryce is….dead.

I couldn’t really feel any sympathy for him…he’s just a terrible person to be honest. Felicia’s death was clearly his fault, he just never wanted to admit his mistake. And so, he tormented me with his hatred for all of my school life.

“H-help!” I screamed.

I can’t take it anymore, being this high up on the ground. I could fall any second now!

I heard the door open from my room and saw Lucio with some staff running over to me.

“Ori, are you okay?”

“C-Can you please pull me up?”

After being saved by Lucio, I could feel myself hyperventilating, constantly gasping for air.

Lucio stroked my back and whispered to me.

“It’s ok…just calm down. Breathe with your belly and try to slow it down,” he said in a soothing voice.

“Haaaaaaah….”

“One….two……three….”

My breath started to slow down back to its normal state.

“Thanks, Lucio.”

“It’s no problem,” Lucio smiled.

I looked at Bryce’s body.

“Um….so what are we going to do with him?”

“We’ll handle it as usual, leave it to us.”

The staff picked up the body and carried it away.

“What are you planning to do with him?” I asked.

“We’ll give him the same treatment as Damien. Bury him in a peaceful place.”

“How are you going to address this to everyone? They’ve all witnessed it.”

“We can’t hide it, so I’ll just have to reassure them that everything is alright. It’s going to be a huge blow to our morale, but we should get through it.”

“Oh……”

Lucio was about to leave, but he suddenly turned back around to face me.

“Do you want to be transferred to another room? You can head to my room, if you want to feel safer…”

“No thanks. I’ll just take another room.”

“Would you at least want a bodyguard? I think you’ll need some protection after this incident.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m really not interested in any of your protection, Lucio. So, please ignore me.”

Lucio continued to smile, showing no expression of disappointment.

“All right. But if you ever need any help, I’m always available.”

Lucio left the room and I stood there all alone.

Something was bothering me. I’m pretty sure that I locked the door last night….

I’m quite cautious when it comes to my safety and privacy, so I couldn’t make such a careless mistake like leaving my door unlocked.

But how was Bryce able to enter my room? It’s not like he broke through forcefully. I would have heard a louder noise if that were the case.

The only way in is by using a key card, but there should only be one card for me.

I don’t get it….

Wait….there is another way.

“Ori!”

Perci entered the room and tried to hug me, but I decided to slap him in the face instead.

He held his cheek softly and tilted his head.

“W-why?”

“Y-you! You really tried to kill yourself! You’re crazy!”

“I just wanted to save you…”

“Damn it! You didn’t have to do so much for me, idiot!”

“I-I’m sorry..”

“If you really died…..you know what?”

“What is it, Ori?”

This is going to hurt my heart…

“Forget about us. I don’t want you anymore! I never even liked you anyway! I only said it because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings! I lied!”

“Ori…..”

Perci looked at me with sad eyes.

Don’t look at me like that….

“I don’t want to see you anymore…..”

“I don’t understand, Ori…”

“I can’t do this….forget about me. I ha……hate you!”

I ran out of the room to get away from Perci.

“O-Ori! Wait!”

I won’t allow it to happen again……I don’t want Perci to die because of me.

He deserves better.

I don’t.

A guy like him, shouldn’t be with a stupid girl like me.

It’s my turn to keep him safe.

The only way to get in my room is through a master key card.

Usually, it’s only the high-ranking staff members that have a hold on those cards.

However, Bryce isn’t a staff member, but he was somehow able to obtain one.

It’s either he was able to steal it from one…….

Or someone gave it to him.

Perci can’t get involved in this any further.

This is something I have to face alone.

I know full well the capabilities of that person. I’m betting he’s involved in this.