Chronicles of Forgotten Extra

"What the hell?" he muttered unconsciously.

Amyra just met his gaze, steady and sincere.

"Be my friend," she repeated.

"That's all."

Alden's eyes narrowed.

What now?

Friends?

Is that it?

Even with heightened rationality, his mind struggled to compute her angle.

Sure, it made his thoughts slightly more logical—but emotionally? It didn't do much.

She was an imperial princess.

Why the hell would she want to be friends with an illegitimate son of a noble?

Wouldn't that just tarnish her reputation?

Well… her name had already taken a hit thanks to that whole kissing accident.

Still, it didn't make sense.

He would've understood if she'd tried to kill him or send an assassin after that kiss.

But this?

Standing here, in his room, following a suspicious person, knowing the truth about the Spirit Pearl—

He'd expected her to make some difficult demands.

Maybe she'd ask for the Spirit Pearl.

Maybe she'd try to make him her servant.

Both of which he would've obviously rejected.

But friends?

Really?

What the hell does she actually want?

Alden looked at her again.

Her face—which was usually unreadable—was slightly blushed.

Well, twice if you count the sparring incident.

Still… the expression looked real.

And that made it even more suspicious.

Was this her playing the long game?

What if she was trying to lower his guard with something soft and innocent like friendship…

Make him trust her.

Then pull the rug out when he least expected it?

What should I do?

Should I accept?

...Dumb question.

He didn't really have a choice.

Sure, he could teleport out, but that would only complicate things later.

Besides, if things went sideways, he could always escape.

So he'd accept.

For now.

"Why?" Alden asked, genuinely curious. "Why would you want to be friends with me, Princess?"

Amyra's expression didn't shift, but her hands were slightly clenched, eyes darting around the room.

She looked nervous.

At least according to Alden's observation.

She looked at him again.

"Um– I don't have any friends." The blush on her face intensified.

"But why me?"

Alden still couldn't get it.

She was a princess.

Hundreds would kill just to be her servant, let alone her friend.

So why choose me?

Has she actually fallen for my handsome face after that kiss?

...Could be a possibility.

Haa, why is it difficult to be so handsome.

Alden sighed internally.

But if she had fallen for him, she could've just asked him to be her boyfriend.

So... probably not that.

He waited for her answer.

Soon, she spoke. "It's because you're different from others."

Woman, I know I'm special. Tell me something new.

Alden thought sarcastically.

"Others want to be my friend just to take advantage of me. To use my influence."

"But you weren't like that. Even after the k–kiss incident, you didn't try to take advantage."

She stuttered slightly at the mention of "kiss," but continued.

"That's why I want you to be my friend. I want to know what it's like to have real friends."

Alden stared at her.

Analyzing.

Still... it all felt too genuine.

Difficult to fake unless she was a prodigy actress.

He activated his Eyes of Supreme—Aura Detection effect just to make sure.

A faint aura surrounded her.

Mostly blue like ice... but there was a tiny spark of golden warmth. It represented her sincerity.

Okay. I'll just play along.

"Okay, Princess. I agree to be your friend," Alden said, his cold expression softening into a slight smile.

Amyra stared at him intently. "Just Amyra is fine," she said.

"Okay, Amyra. So what do you mean when you say friends?"

"Just friends. Act like friends—like sitting together, eating together, sleep–I mean laughing together and all," she said calmly.

What the hell?

I swear—

Well... whatever. She must've misspoken.

Alden wasn't the type to think: If a girl talks to me, she's in love with me.

...Or was he?

He got up from his bed and looked at Amyra as he extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Amyra," he said.

If he was going to accept, he might as well do it properly.

Amyra looked at his extended hand, then at him.

Then she shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Alden. Hope we get along," she said with a smile.

"Yeah," Alden nodded.

"I'll get going then," she said, turning around.

As she walked out the door, her face burned bright red.

Any longer and she might've combusted.

Thankfully, Alden hadn't seen it.

The cool, unreadable princess? Gone.

All that remained was a girl giddily muttering under her breath—

My Alden. I can finally grow closer to you.

__

After Amyra left, Alden was left alone thinking. He just sat on his bed trying to comprehend all the things that has happened today.

A lot had happened.

He picked up his ManaSync to check the time.

An hour has passed since the trial ended.

And he had taken three hours to complete the trial.

Seems like time was heavily distorted inside the trial.

Just then, his ManaSync vibrated.

He'd gotten a message.

Aziel again?

Well, to be fair, the only ones who messaged him were Aziel and Alice.

But recently, Alice had stopped messaging.

She must be busy with work.

He decided to check on her when he had time.

Still, he sent her a message.

"Hey Alice, how are you?"

With the message sent, he checked who had messaged him.

It was Amyra.

___

"Hey Alden, I was thinking if you wanted to have dinner together."

"I mean to celebrate our friendship."

___

Her message was straightforward.

Huh?

Couldn't she have said that while she was here?

He looked at the time again.

8:55 PM.

Just then—His stomach rumbled.

He hadn't eaten anything since he returned from classes and the trial also took a toll on him.

So he was hungry.

Guess I should go.

Normally, he'd have cooked something for himself.

But his mind felt too heavy.

He just wanted to eat and sleep.

He changed into casual clothes.

After he was done changing, he carefully lifted the Spirit Pearl.

"Behave yourself, okay, little guy."

"Don't go around floating."

He didn't expect a response—

But the Spirit Pearl vibrated slightly, almost like it understood.

Huh?

"Did you just respond?"

Silence.

Nothing this time.

Guess you're close to hatching, huh?

He tucked it back into his pocket carefully.

__

Somewhere around the academy campus—

A black-haired girl—roamed the streets.

Her blue eyes glowed under the night sky.

Nyx was bored. So, she decided to take a walk.

The night was peaceful. Just the way she liked it.

Except for the random nobodies trying to hit on her.

Fools.

One cold glare and they lost all will to continue.

As she approached the academy dorms, she spotted someone.

A girl with white hair and violet eyes.

Amyra.

What's Page—I mean, Amyra—doing out so late?

It wasn't that late, but she'd been forced to sleep earlier back in her family.

So this felt late.

Why is she grinning like that?

Amyra wore sleek black clothes, contrasting her white hair perfectly.

Is she going somewhere?

Nyx was too far for Amyra to notice.

Still she used a technique to hide her presence immediately to not alert Amyra..

But her mind raced.

Why is she like that? Is that bastard Alden behind this?

She recalled the pages of books she'd once read.

The start of the story.

The scene where the FL was asked on a date by the playboy bastard.

After that…

Her breath hitched.

After that, they'd done something indecent.

Just remembering it made her ears turn red.

That scene had marked the beginning of her downfall.

No. I can't let the same thing happen to Amyra.

Just then, as expected, Alden appeared.

Wearing a casual shirt and fitted jeans.

Aloof eyes as always.

Nyx's mind worked overtime.

Think… Think… I have to do something.

Her body moved before her thoughts could finish.

She walked toward them.

Amyra's head snapped in her direction.

Alden followed her gaze and saw Nyx approaching.

They stood near the dorm entrance.

He assumed she was heading back.

But instead—She stopped right in front of them.

Her eyes met his.

"Hi Alden. Hi Amyra," she greeted them with a smile.

Normally, she wouldn't even greet anyone. But this was different.

She had to stop Alden from ruining Amyra. Even if it meant sacrificing herself.

Amyra, as always, ignored her. Not even a glance.

Nyx could still feel annoyance oozing out from Amyra.

She had already fallen for that bastard's sweet talk.

And true to her suspicion. Amyra indeed felt annoyed —Nyx was interrupting her sweet alone time with Alden afterall.

Alden, however, responded.

"Hi Nyx!" He greeted Nyx with a smile.

Nyx wasn't fooled by the sweet smile.

"So, where are you off to this late?" she asked.

It was totally uncharacteristic for her to poke her nose in their matter.

She could feel Alden's narrowed eyes on her filled with suspicion.

Still, he responded. "We're just off to have dinner."

"Do you want to join us?"

He asked it out of formality.

Nyx knew that. She wasn't a fool after all.

But she didn't care. She can't let him be alone with innocent Amyra.

So she pushed her pride aside for a moment.

"Sure. I haven't had dinner yet."

Just as the words left her mouth.

A wave of bloodlust hit her.

Subtle, but sharp enough to cut.

She turned to look at the source.

Amyra was smiling—on the surface.

But her violet eyes locked onto Nyx with the warmth of a blade.

And Nyx realized one thing.

Did I perhaps make a mistake?