CHAPTER 1015: EPILOGUE 19 - A TURNING POINT (4)

"This is such a damn pit, man. I can’t believe we actually got isekai’d. Like, holy shit—this is insane. I mean, I’ve read tons of mangas and light novels about stuff like this, and now here we are, living it for real. Another world. Magic. Monsters. The whole damn fantasy package. Sure, it sucks that we’ve gotta fight our way home, and we don’t even have the means to do that yet, but... come on! Isn’t it kinda fucking dope that we can use magic here?"

"How can you act like that when we basically got spirited away?! We were literally kidnapped into another world, and you’re treating this like some school trip or something!"

"Well, you can’t really say we shouldn’t enjoy it. This—this is literally every otaku’s dream! Who wouldn’t wanna live in a world where you can cast magic and shit?"

Honestly, it felt like most of my classmates were completely underestimating what was happening.

Right now, we were sitting around this insanely long dining table, covered with food that looked straight out of a royal banquet. I’m not even exaggerating—it was like something you’d see in an anime. Silver platters stacked with roasted meat, glowing fruits, and pastries that looked too perfect to be real. And the taste... was, to say the least, heavenly. I couldn’t even describe it. The food here wasn’t just delicious—it melted in my mouth, each bite bursting with flavors that made me want to forget everything else for a second.

"Hey, Kaori, why don’t you eat your share already?"

"Yeah, come on. It’s not good if you keep skipping meals. You haven’t eaten properly in days, right?"

I turned toward the voice and saw Asada-san. Asada Kaori.

She looked like a ghost of herself. Her skin was pale, her cheeks hollow, and her eyes had that dull, glassy look—like she hadn’t slept in forever. She just sat there staring at her untouched food, her hands trembling slightly on her lap.

Honestly, I couldn’t blame her.

"Sorry," she muttered softly. "I’m going to head to my room now."

Her tone was flat, completely drained of emotion. It wasn’t anger, or sadness, or even confusion—it was just... nothing. Like she’d run out of the energy to feel anything.

She didn’t care about being ’isekai’d’, or about the kingdom, or the magic—none of it. She just stood up, quietly left the table, and walked out of the hall, her steps slow and unsteady. The castle was massive, full of rooms that could easily swallow her whole.

"Hey, Amakawa-kun," someone said, nudging her boyfriend. "You should probably check on your girlfriend. She’s gonna collapse if she keeps starving herself like that. ...Oi, Amakawa-kun, are you even listening?"

But Amakawa-kun wasn’t listening. His gaze was fixed somewhere else—at one of the maids standing by the wall.

I followed his eyes and, yes, I got it. Seeing a real maid in person—especially that kind of maid—was... well, a bit overwhelming. They looked straight out of a fantasy setting with their flawless faces, slender bodies, elegant movements, and those uniforms that somehow managed to be both modest and ridiculously enticing. You’d have to be made of stone not to stare.

"Huh? Oh—uh, yeah, I heard you," he said quickly. "It’s about Kaori, right? I just... don’t think I can do anything. She’s still hurting from Ichinose’s death."

"Well, that’s... yeah, that’s only natural. They were close, right? Since forever ago."

"Yeah," he muttered. "You’re right."

Asada-san’s childhood friend, Ichinose-kun, had been one of our classmates. He died a few weeks ago. He was hit by a truck.

It was brutal. Sudden. And the worst part? No one was really there to mourn him. His parents had died years ago, and his sister passed away just months before the accident. He didn’t have anyone left. There wasn’t even a wake. They just buried him quietly, with his family’s remains.

Ever since then, Asada-san had been falling apart. She’d lost all her light, like a candle snuffed out in the dark. It was painful to watch.

While I was thinking about all that, the chatter around the table shifted.

"Hey, did you see the Princess earlier? I heard her name’s Princess Myrcella. She’s absolutely beautiful, don’t you think?"

"Yeah! God, I’d marry her in a heartbeat if I could!"

People were already acting like this whole situation was just some kind of game. Like getting along with the princess of a fantasy kingdom was the next big quest on their to-do list.

Honestly, I couldn’t even get mad. Maybe it was their way of coping—pretending this was all normal so they didn’t have to face how terrifying it really was. Maybe their brains were just trying to make sense of the impossible. I kinda got it. I was doing the same thing, pretending this was all fine just so I wouldn’t lose my mind.

Hasegawa-sensei, though—she looked like she was about to break. Her hands were trembling as she held her cup, her face pale. She kept muttering things under her breath, her voice barely audible. Something like this shouldn’t be real, but it was.

And that scared the hell out of all of us.

***

Asada Kaori’s POV

"I love you..."

That voice again.

I’d heard it countless times now—echoing in my head like a broken record. And every time I did, it tore me apart a little more. My chest tightened, my heart throbbed painfully, and I could feel that sharp sting deep inside.

Three simple words. That’s all they were. But they cut deeper than any knife ever could. Each one carried guilt, regret, and the unbearable ache of realizing something too late.

It felt like someone was reaching into my chest, clawing at my heart, and ripping it out with their bare hands. My world had already fallen apart, shattered beyond repair, and I couldn’t piece it back together no matter how hard I tried.

You were gone. Forever gone.

And I couldn’t get you back.

Tears burned in my eyes as I sat there. It had been weeks since you died, Tsubasa—but you were still everywhere in my thoughts. I couldn’t escape you. Every time I closed my eyes, your smile appeared. Your voice lingered.

How the hell am I supposed to live in a place like this without you? How am I supposed to move forward when everything reminds me of you?

If I had realized it sooner—if I had told you what I really felt—could I have saved you? Could things have been different?

No. Probably not. Time doesn’t rewind. The past doesn’t change. Even if I had confessed, I doubt you would’ve believed me.

Because I ignored my feelings for so long. I ran from them.

I’m sorry, Tsubasa. I really am hopeless.

As I sat there drowning in that familiar, suffocating sadness, something caught my eye.

A faint glimmer—like the reflection of light.

Purple.

A strand of purple hair.

At first, I didn’t care. I didn’t want to look at anyone from this world. I didn’t want to deal with them. But when I turned my head and saw that face—those eyes—something inside me froze.

Because I knew that face.

I knew that person.