The Goddess Is Obsessed With Me

"Harold...?"

The girl, with eyes shadowed by despair, murmured my name and began to shiver. She had tied her hair in a ponytail-like fashion, and with her ordinary-looking sword and armor, she appeared to be just another female adventurer passing by.

"Uh... ah..."

It seemed she recognized me and wanted to say something, but her words wouldn't come out. She just opened and closed her mouth.

From my perspective, she was a stranger. As far as I remembered, I had never met her before, yet she seemed to recognize me and was clearly confused.

What on earth was happening?

"Are you okay...?"

Concerned, I approached the visibly distressed woman.

"Yes... Huh?!"

"You seemed upset earlier..."

"I... I'm fine!"

She responded to my concern with an overly confident voice, shaking her head vigorously from side to side. Her fluctuating emotions made her seem quite peculiar.

"Do you know me?"

Didn't she call my name earlier?

"L...?"

My question seemed to create a tense atmosphere, and I felt unexpectedly uncomfortable.

"What did you say...?"

She looked at me with wide eyes, as if she couldn't believe or had misheard what I'd said.

"Didn't you call my name earlier? Have we met before?"

I expressed my genuine confusion. For some unknown reason, the red-haired woman seemed utterly defeated, as if she knew me but was heartbroken that I didn't recognize her.

Were we acquaintances? However, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't recall her face.

Despite my feelings, she seemed deeply affected by my response.

"Ah... Well..."

She had been hesitating to speak to me from the start and continued to do so.

"What's going on, Harold?"

Aris, unable to wait any longer, intervened.

Whoosh!

"Aris?"

Suddenly, Aris hugged me, the kind of intimate gesture usually reserved for lovers. It could easily be misinterpreted by onlookers.

"Wha?!"

She was taken aback and stared in disbelief.

"Do you know Harold?"

Aris also asked the female adventurer a similar question. The atmosphere was different, though. For a brief moment, I felt a mix of emotions from Aris—jealousy, hatred, and various other negative feelings.

Aris continued her silence, seemingly lost in conflicting thoughts. She finally responded with a weak voice.

"No... I must have mistaken you for someone else... I apologize..."

She gave a chilling reply, devoid of any warmth, and hung her head as if she had lost everything. I couldn't understand why she was behaving this way, especially after she admitted not knowing me.

"It's alright."

Instead of me, Aris briefly replied to the red-haired girl and, ignoring my intentions, began pulling me away by the arm. I couldn't be certain, but I felt there was more to discuss with the mysterious adventurer.

"Wait... Aren't we moving a bit too fast?"

As she disappeared from view, I turned my attention from the mysterious adventurer to Aris, who was hastily moving away.

"Aris?"

For some reason, she looked upset, as if she was jealous that I had shown interest in another woman... "From the way that woman looked at you earlier, it seemed she has feelings for you, Harold!"

Aris puffed up her blushing cheeks, acting sulky, and made a 'hmmph!' sound, snorting in displeasure.

Did that woman really show interest in me?

Was Aris seeing things differently? I found myself wondering if that female adventurer had given off any such vibes, even for a moment.

"What are you talking about? She said she mistook me for someone else... and we've never met before!"

Despite my rebuttal, Aris continued in an irritated tone, gripping my arm even tighter.

"But that woman definitely showed feelings for you! And I saw you giving her a meaningful look too!"

Aris's bubbly personality sometimes felt overbearing... She was jealous of a relationship that seemed obviously awkward to everyone else.

After all, the woman apologized for her mistake, thinking she knew me. Why would Aris react this way?

Actually, it's true that I have feelings for Aris more than for that mysterious girl...

It was an incomprehensible and strange situation... As the scene shifted, after Aris took Harold away, Erina watched them with a complicated expression.

"Ugh..."

She poured out all her suppressed anger and hatred towards Aris, who had taken Harold away from her.

"If only that tragedy hadn't happened..."

"I met him first..."

Erina began grinding her teeth in frustration, feeling the injustice of having to act ignorant while watching the man she adored embrace another woman.

If she could, she would want to tear apart that audacious woman...

Clank!

Picking up her fallen sword, she gently unsheathed the sharp blade.

"But what if I hurt Harold in the process?"

The reason Erina had to ignore him, even when he showed affection, the reason she had to pass on her love without him knowing, was due to a stern warning from Morione. Due to the effects of a curse, in this new life, Harold had to forget about Erina. Because if anything were to jog his memories from the past, it would be irreversible...

She couldn't be with him because of that warning. Erina had to pretend not to know him, even if it meant enduring the sight of their budding relationship.

Harold was kind, so she vaguely anticipated him forming a bond with another woman...

But...

Holding the sharp blade, she made a deep resolve in her heart.

"I won't just hand him over..."

She declared, her voice dripping with hatred, to the detestable woman who had left.

"I will never give him up..." In the principal's office of the Magic Academy.

It was a quiet place where no one, except the principal of the academy, should be present.

But this time, it was different.

"Leave at once, I'm tired of punishing innocent students!"

A voice filled with resentment broke the heavy silence.

The room wasn't only occupied by her.

"Now, are you saying that?"

Surrounding her in a semi-circle was a group of mysterious individuals. Their sizes varied, but they all wore similar outfits that concealed their identities.

However, to her eyes, their attire was all too familiar. They were the cultists that infested the academy, tainting Arisia's position.

"Why should I hand over my cherished students to the likes of you?"

Arisia, the principal, displayed her disdain for these heretical individuals.

"Please keep your eyes open! I can no longer turn a blind eye to our students disappearing!"

Arisia, her forehead creased in anger, confronted the group before her with a palpable animosity.

"You're changing the terms of our agreement now, Principal?"

However, the robe-clad heretics responded with a calm tone, tinged with a hint of displeasure.

"Get out! I can't even stand dealing with your disgusting aftermath!"

She looked at the mysterious individuals covered in robes with pure hostility, as if she wanted to tear them apart right then and there.

Drawing a magic circle with her hand, she seemed ready to obliterate the cluster of heretics in front of her.

But then...

"Hmm, I thought you'd be more cooperative recently... Seems we were mistaken about your academy..."

A man pulled something from his robe, revealing a shining pendant. "That... that is...!"

Upon seeing the pendant, Arisia's face contorted in despair. She reached out, as if trying to stop the man holding the pendant.

"Even if you didn't want to be a sacrifice, wasn't it too much to resist your fate and even create a split form, Aris?"

While saying this, he applied pressure to the pendant, distorting its shape.

"Thanks to her, born with a fraction of your power, you became an unsuitable sacrifice because your power wasn't whole, right?"

The pendant, as if it had a survival instinct, flickered as the pressure to destroy it increased.

"Isn't it because of your actions that our plans were delayed, and we're in this situation?"

"Wa... wait!"

As the pendant continued to deform, Arisia's face, which was filled with anger just moments ago, was now filled with anxiety.

"Well... thanks to your foolish actions, we found your weakness."

Crack... Snap!

The pendant, unstable as if filled with cracks, started to emit light in quicker intervals.

"This pendant, akin to your heart... It seems you care for Aris not just as a split form, but as if she were your daughter..."

The pendant emitted an even brighter and intense light, as if signaling its imminent destruction.

"If this is destroyed, Aris's life will..."

As the man calmly delivered his statement, just as the pendant was about to shatter...

"Please wait!"

With a desperate face, she pleaded with him.

"Fine...! I'll do as you wish!"

Only when she reluctantly agreed to comply did the force on the pendant ease.

"Finally, we're on the same page."

Soon after, the pendant seemed to miraculously restore itself to its original form.

"Thank you, Principal. We'll send you the list soon."

Then he hid the pendant somewhere within his robes and began to chant a spell.

"When you call, we'll gladly answer. Open the path we wish to take... Shadow Teleport."

Upon completing the chant, the heretics' shadows unnaturally expanded.

"Honestly, I wasn't sure it would work, but seeing how much you care for Aris... Even if you resisted till the end, we could have delayed our plans."

A small, mocking laughter could be heard.

"Of course, she would have died."

With a final taunt, he snapped his fingers.

Snap!

The heretics were swallowed by their shadows, disappearing as if they never existed. Left alone in the room, the principal exclaimed,

"Ugh!"

As soon as the heretics disappeared, she clutched her chest in pain and immediately knelt.

"Damn it!"

She had suppressed all her emotions to appear strong in front of the heretics, but now she let out all her pent-up feelings.

While showing anger by grinding her teeth, the majority of the emotions she felt were sorrow and despair.

"Please..."

With her hands together, she murmured a desperate prayer, tears streaming down her face.

What circumstances led her to submit to them and cry out in such misery?

"Someone, anyone... please save Aris..."

Only her desperate plea echoed in the silent room...