Chronicles of Forgotten Extra-Chapter 315: Moving Towards a Predetermined Destiny.

Inside the Silver Dream restaurant, soft golden ambient light spread across polished wooden tables as the gentle sound of conversation filled the air.

The restaurant was packed with many students, family members of students and people excited to witness the tournament.

Some people stared at Alden and Nyx as they were well known as disciples of one of the few Overlords.

Alden could even hear a few of them gossiping about the nature of their relationship while clicking pictures and all he could do was sigh and glare at them once but he knew better than to think such things could be stopped, so he gave up soon after.

Meanwhile, Nyx sat opposite him with a menu covering her face but he could see her eyes peeking over it, watching him, only to quickly look away the moment he met her gaze.

"So... what do you want to order?" She asked, still clearly embarrassed by what had happened outside the restaurant.

"Whatever you are having." He replied calmly.

Honestly, he didn’t care much about food as long as it gave him enough nutrients to get by but unlike him, who had answered so casually, Nyx wasn’t someone who treated food lightly, especially when it came to choosing it.

Her gaze turned serious as she straightened, staring down at the menu with the focus of a warrior trying to save her wounded comrade and awaken his taste buds to the grand world of flavors and taste.

A waiter came soon after.

"What would you be having?" He asked politely as Nyx ordered several dishes Alden barely even recognized.

"Your food will be here shortly." The waiter said, bowing before leaving with silent steps.

Once again, silence returned. Nyx didn’t seem to mind it but before that calm quiet could even last a few minutes, a girl appeared near their table. She wore a simple black dress but her white hair and violet eyes made her stand out immediately and the gossip around them grew even louder.

Alden heard words like "playboy," "cheater," and whatnot being thrown his way. It wasn’t new to him as those kinds of rumors were quite prominent around him.

Still, as he looked at Amyra, another sigh escaped his lips.

...here we go again.

He could see Kyun seated on Amyra’s shoulder, wearing a smug smile as she gave Alden a wink.

Alden had sensed Amyra’s arrival beforehand but Nyx who had been too lost in thought and preoccupied with Alden failed to notice her as her eyes widened slightly.

"Amyra?"

Amyra took a seat on the vacant chair as she opened her mouth to speak.

"I’m sorry for interrupting your dinner."

Her voice was calm, polite even but there was something sharper and more direct about her tone.

Nyx blinked, caught off guard.

"It’s fine but where have you been for the last few days? And why were you ignoring all my messages and calls?" She muttered. "I even came to your apartment after I saw you at the tournament but you weren’t there."

Nyx still didn’t know that Amyra had been angry because she had caught her hugging Alden back then, so she complained innocently.

Nyx, herself, had been avoiding them all before when she was worried about what had happened, so she wanted to apologize to Amyra but when she couldn’t find her, she had started to get worried.

"I was avoiding you." Amyra didn’t lie as she looked straight into Nyx’s deep blue eyes. "I was actually very, very jealous of you when I caught you hugging Alden that night."

Alden, meanwhile, nearly coughed up blood as her words echoed through the restaurant, instantly bringing all the chatter to a halt. He reacted immediately, spreading his mana into a dome around them to block out all sound.

Shit... I wonder what kind of rumors this will create now...

He sighed but Amyra didn’t care about his worries.

"I was jealous that you were getting too close to him." She continued. "It intensified even more when I saw the way you looked at him."

Nyx, meanwhile, turned red.

"You... you’re misunderstanding." She blurted out, flustered. "I don’t love him... who would love him? He... he is not my type."

She said whatever came to her mind.

Alden looked at her with a blank stare.

Not your type?

He was relieved that she didn’t like him and that things wouldn’t get complicated but still...

Not your type...

That comment echoed in his mind again and again as it made him frown.

Amyra looked at Nyx with amusement.

"Didn’t you yourself say that you loved him back when we were at the ruins near the city of Lustra?" She continued without a trace of anger. "Didn’t you say you wanted to fight fairly for his love?"

Nyx’s face was completely red like a tomato now and Alden could even see steam rising from her head but he was even more confused.

He hadn’t felt such feelings from Nyx back then if anything, she had seemed a bit hostile toward him.

"T-that, that was a lie... I was lying." Nyx explained in a stuttering voice. "Back then, I thought he was a playboy and was trying to use you, like in one book I read. I never cared for him, it was you I wanted to save and that’s why I lied."

Ahh, that makes sense.

Alden nodded to himself.

Amyra’s eyes softened as she recognized the sincerity behind Nyx’s words. She knew the girl in front of her wasn’t lying and that she hadn’t harbored any feelings for him back then, something Amyra herself had failed to notice in her jealousy.

But now...

...it was different.

She could see it in the way Nyx looked at Alden, the way she stole glances at him when he wasn’t looking and the way she always acted shy around him. It was just like her in her first life, when she had fallen in love for the first time without even realizing it herself.

Nyx continued her explanation. "And don’t worry, Amyra... I can never love him..."

...if anything, I might hurt him more than loving ever could.

Nyx’s eyes darkened slightly as she kept the latter half to herself. She wasn’t from this world... She was a mere outsider, pretending to be someone she wasn’t. One day, she was going to leave and there was even a chance her friends would suffer because of her. So how could she love anyone?

She was just a tool, never meant to have feelings and yet, when those feelings began to grow, the world shattered them by making Alden her father’s target.

She had planned to tell him everything and leave this world after the tournament, deceiving her father into believing that Alden had already left. It would be difficult and she would have to keep running but as long as the Fragment of Ananke’s Thread was with her, her father wouldn’t be able to locate Alden.

She could buy him at least a hundred years, as long as she stayed far from her father’s territory and maybe hoped that Alden would grow stronger once the world ascended to the next level.

That was all she could do.

Love wasn’t something she was allowed to have.

Amyra understood the pain behind those words. She didn’t know the reason but she understood that Nyx was also carrying a secret just like her.

"I see."

Amyra’s expression softened again.

"I’m going to be honest with him, with you and with myself from now on and I’m going to compete fairly."

Her gaze sharpened.

"So if you do have feelings for him even if you won’t admit it, then don’t hold back."

Nyx’s hands clenched beneath the table, her heart pounding as she wanted to argue or deny it again, but the words stuck in her throat.

Finally, after a few seconds, she opened her mouth. "Do whatever you want."

Amyra’s smile widened genuine this time. "Thank you."

She turned toward Alden, who had been sitting silently through the entire exchange, his expression unreadable.

"Alden."

Her voice was steady, without hesitation.

"I love you."

"I love you so much that I would burn down the world if something happened to you. I even wanted to chain you in some basement just for myself but I know you would hate that."

A shiver went down Alden’s spine at those words but he heard as Amyra continued.

"And I know you don’t love me yet and you might find it strange why I love you so much but one day... one day it will all be clear to you. I don’t know when that day will come but I just hope that even if you don’t love me then, you will understand me."

She leaned forward slightly, her violet eyes locking onto his.

"But I won’t wait for that understanding anymore. I am going to make you fall for me and I’m going to do it fairly, without tricks or manipulation."

Her tone wasn’t arrogant.

"I just wanted you to know that I’m serious."

Alden blinked, processing her words.

Even his mind was shaken by such a sudden display of directness and sincerity but he didn’t back down like before or disregard her emotions coldly like before.

His heart had been closed off to love because of his past but if Amyra was showing such sincerity, how could he not even give her a chance?

"Okay. I will wait for that day then."

That was all he said.

Amyra didn’t seem bothered by his answer and simply nodded.

"That’s all I wanted to say."

She stood up gracefully, pushing her chair back.

"Enjoy your dinner."

With that, she turned and walked toward the exit, Kyun perched smugly on her shoulder as she sent a mental transmission to Alden.

[You better thank me, mortal, I saved you from indefinite basement imprisonment.]

The door closed softly behind her.

Alden didn’t know what to say as he dismissed his mana dome.

Silence settled over the table as he stared at the door for a moment before turning back to Nyx, who was lost in her thoughts, her expression slightly gloomy.

Even she was surprised by Amyra’s sudden confession and although she was happy for her friend, her heart ached as she thought about it.

But another thought kept resisting the pain.

Amyra could stay by his side.

Amyra could make him happy.

Amyra wasn’t built on lies like her.

Her chest tightened.

She should win for his sake.

But even as she thought that, her heart screamed in protest. She looked down at her hands, trembling slightly.

But until then... just a little longer, let me be selfish and then, I will step aside.

—

Alden looked at her quietly.

He didn’t know if she really loved him or not but he had sensed pain from her, the same kind he had sensed back when she had cried.

He didn’t love either of them, not in the way they seemed to think but that didn’t mean he didn’t care for them.

They were his friends and yet, watching Amyra’s determination and Nyx’s barely concealed emotions, he couldn’t help but feel like something was shifting.

Something he wasn’t ready for.

He let out a quiet sigh.

This is going to get complicated.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

—

Three broken souls walked forward believing they chose their path but one held the thread, one was bound by it and one was already tangled beyond escape.

But none of them realised the meeting had been arranged long before they were born.

Destiny did not chase them, it merely guided them towards the outcome.