Chronicles of Forgotten Extra-Chapter 313: A Soft Night.

Inside a lavish room, a black-haired girl stood surrounded by indecision. Nyx shuffled through the many dresses currently lying on her bed, having spent the last few hours doing nothing but trying, changing, rejecting and trying again and even after dozens of dresses later... she still hadn’t decided.

"Tch..."

"Why is this so difficult?"

She muttered under her breath as she pulled out yet another dress. This one was an elegant and beautiful black dress with an open back. For a moment, she imagined herself wearing it and then, her thoughts wandered as she imagined how Alden might look at her and what expression he would have.

Maybe how he would—

She punched the imaginary thought bubble, her face flushing bright red.

"Idiot, what are you imagining?"

"Control yourself."

"You’re only going to thank him for that day and nothing else."

She slapped her already warm cheeks and flopped back dramatically, staring at the ceiling like she was facing the greatest crisis of her life.

The decision before her was monumental, world-shaping and even cosmos-defining.

...Which dress to choose.

Most of these dresses hadn’t even been worn once as Cecilia had practically forced her to buy them during one of their shopping trips.

And honestly?

Nyx didn’t even like this kind of clothing either as they restricted movement, got in the way during battle and were completely impractical.

...And yet here she was, losing a mental war over them.

She stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Do I even deserve all of this?

Wasn’t I here for a purpose?

Haven’t I been lying from the very beginning?

And if I stayed by his side... wouldn’t that only bring him trouble?

She raised her hands toward the ceiling, fingers stretching as if trying to reach something beyond it, beyond this room and beyond this world.

In the outside world, she was far stronger than she was here. After all, unlike the people of this world, she had awakened at the age of five. Her growth had been absurdly fast, even by the standards of her own world.

She had surpassed the strongest existence of this world of Eryndor when she was merely sixteen and yet here she was...

... so powerful and yet so helpless.

If only there were a way... a way to stop her father, to stop the world from reaching the second level and to prevent the barrier protecting it from shattering but it was already too late.

The world had reached the threshold and once the one who would claim the Throne of Celestial Dominion appeared... the world would inevitably advance to the second tier of evolution and the barrier would break.

"Haaa..."

A long, weary sigh escaped her lips as she finally pushed herself up, unable to keep drowning in her spiraling thoughts any longer.

She knew she was being selfish and greedy but she wanted to enjoy a few days with him before she told him the truth, about her origin and about her mission.

She stopped thinking about the far off future and turned her mind back towards the choice of her dress, hoping it would distract her enough to think of the consequences of desiring happiness.

—

After nearly an hour of switching between far too many options, she finally settled on one, a structured black corset top with a deep neckline, paired with a flowing deep-wine skirt.

It wasn’t overly flashy nor was it modest. She didn’t know if it was suitable for a dinner like this but she didn’t care because it was the only one that felt comfortable.

She glanced at herself in the mirror once, adjusted the fabric slightly, then turned and left the room, leaving behind a bed buried under hundreds of untouched premium dresses.

Stepping out of her apartment, she headed toward the meeting place. There were still five minutes left which was plenty of time to reach the restaurant.

As she entered the crowded street, she nearly bumped into someone.

"Alden?"

He had been walking the same way as he waved immediately, a small smile forming on his face.

He was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves folded up and matching trousers which looked annoyingly fitting on him.

"Hey, Nyx."

She nodded a little too stiffly. "H-hey."

"You look great." Alden said with a polite smile.

She knew it was just courtesy and that he probably didn’t mean anything deeper by it.

And yet her heart betrayed her immediately, racing as heat rushed to her face. She quickly nodded, lowering her head to hide the blush.

"You too..."

Just saying those two words felt like it drained all her energy.

Without much conversation, they started walking together toward Silver dream, the restaurant she had reserved for dinner. It was the only place on the island that served food she genuinely liked and it had a view she absolutely loved.

The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable... it was filled with things neither of them were saying as she let herself be happy in his presence for a while.

"So..." Alden finally spoke, breaking it gently. "Who’s your next match?"

His tone was casual.

"I haven’t checked it yet." She muttered. "Has it been announced already?"

She tried her best to act normal, to keep her composure but her attention was completely on Alden. So much so that she didn’t even notice the passerby about to crash straight into her but before that could happen, a warm sensation wrapped around her palm.

Alden had grabbed her hand as he gently pulled her to the side, just enough to move her out of the way.

The man passed by, his expression twisted with irritation, clearly someone who had tried to bump into her deliberately after noticing how unguarded she was. Alden gave the man a short glare.

"EIIHEEEK!!!" Meanwhile, Nyx gasped, her mind completely short-circuiting for a split second as heat rushed straight to her face once again, for what felt like the nth time today.

Her thoughts went blank and her heartbeat went wild but before Alden could turn back to look at her properly, she forced herself to compose herself, stiffening just enough to pretend nothing had happened while her hand still tingled where he had held it.

"Did you say something?" Alden asked, glancing at her.

"Ah, nothing! I said nothing," she denied immediately and a little too quickly. Then she pointed ahead, desperate for a distraction. "Look... we’re already here."

The restaurant stood before them, lights glowing warmly against the night as they stepped inside.

The night had only just begun and yet... the chaos was only beginning.

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