Chapter 168: Guardian Of Eternal Light

Charlotte gave a small, dry chuckle, brushing some strands of pink hair from her face.

"Before I can say anything about that day." She began. "I first have to tell you about my relationship with Mika, so that you can have some context. Not just mine, but also my sisters...how close we actually are to him, how fond we are of him—"

"Stop."

Maria cut her off abruptly, her voice firm. She wore a slightly irritated look as she folded her arms and said,

"You don’t need to tell me about your relationship with him. I already know enough. I’ve heard more than enough from Mika himself, in all the stories he tells me. So, I don’t need you to spell it out."

"You...You do?" Charlotte blinked, caught off guard.

"Yes." Maria’s gaze sharpened, her tone cool and precise. "And not just you, all of your sisters. From the way he talks—it’s obvious. You all love him deeply. So deeply it borders on obsession. It’s as if you’re his devotees, completely mad for him."

Charlotte’s eyes went wide, her cheeks heating.

"W-Wait!" She burst out. "Does that mean Mika’s been talking about us? That he’s been telling you about how much we love him, about our relationship with him, how much we chase after him?!"

Her expression turned almost frantic.

"Oh, please don’t tell me he was actually complaining about us! That he was saying we bother him and annoy him!"

But Maria shook her head, sighing faintly.

"It’s not that. He doesn’t complain. Not once has he ever spoken about it like that. And no, he never directly told me about your relationships...But when he talks about his past, when he shares stories, almost every single one of them involves one of you sisters."

"He never frames it romantically, never spells it out, but it’s easy to see through. Every story makes it clear, you were all utterly in love with him...Obsessed with him."

Charlotte froze, her lips parting slightly as Maria continued, her voice steady.

"And it’s not just from his stories. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. The way you all act around him, the way you look at him, it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. Every one of you is enamored with him. Utterly."

"Even if Mika doesn’t say it outright, it shows. And you’re no different. The way you act around him makes it obvious you’re in love with him."

Charlotte blinked, stunned. Then suddenly her face lit up with pride. She puffed out her chest and boasted loudly, patting herself with arrogance.

"That’s right! Just like you said, I am in love with Mika! I love him so much!" Her cheeks glowed as she declared. "He’s most definitely my future husband. One day, I’ll bear his children and give him a big, beautiful family!"

Maria’s expression remained flat, but her eyes flickered in faint amusement at Charlotte’s audacity as she went on to say in a matter-of-manner,

"And it’s the same for my sisters. All of them love him too. That’s how it’s always been, ever since we were children."

Charlotte smirked, before she shook her head, her tone shifting into something more serious.

"But do you know what everyone else always assumes?...They think Mika’s the one chasing us. That he’s the one desperate for our love...But it’s not true. It’s the other way around. We’re the ones who chase him. Always have been."

"And you..."She pointed a finger at Maria, smirking. "You’re the only one who sees it right."

"Of course." Maria’s lips curved into the faintest of smirks, like she was showing off how close she was too Mika to irritate Charlotte. "From an outsider’s perspective, it’s only natural to assume the opposite."

"Some random support-class kid chasing after the daughters of the Battle Angels, it fits their narrative. They’d never imagine it was the other way around...But I know Mika. I’ve seen him, spoken with him, understood him. So I know. It’s you who chase him, not him chasing you."

Charlotte’s smirk faded into something more thoughtful as Maria’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.

"But that..." Maria said softly. "...is what confuses me. I understand that you’re obsessed with him. I understand you love him...But why? How did it start? Why are you all so fixated on him?"

"Is it because you knew each other since you were babies? Because he was adopted into your families? Because he was the youngest, the only boy?"

She leaned closer, her eyes sharp.

"Is that why you all fell in love with him?"

Charlotte froze. Her lips parted, but no words came out. For a moment, she seemed to hesitate, to struggle with herself. Then she gave a small sigh, her eyes softening.

"Yes...Mika has been family since day one. We grew up together. He was the youngest, the only boy, and of course we doted on him. We were affectionate, we adored him...That much is natural. Childhood friends, family—anyone in our place would have loved him."

She paused, her eyes lowering.

"But..." She continued, her voice softer now. "...that’s not the only reason. Each of us...every single one of us...has our own story with him."

Her lips trembled faintly.

"Sad stories. Horrifying stories. Memories that still haunt us, like nightmares we can’t wake from. Each of us suffered in our own way. Each of us was dragged into darkness that should have destroyed us."

Charlotte lifted her gaze again, her eyes shimmering with quiet pride.

"But every single time, it was Mika who pulled us out. He was the one who reached into the abyss and dragged us back into the light. He’s always been our hero. Even when he was just a child."

Her lips curved into a small, sad smile.

"You might not know this..." She whispered. "...but the name ’Mika’, in one of the old languages from the other world, it means ’Guardian of Eternal Light’. And that’s what he is to us...Our light."

Her eyes glistened as her voice steadied.

"Whenever we were drowning in despair, he was the one who reached for us. Whenever the darkness tried to claim us, he tore it apart."

"...That’s why we love him so much. Because to us, Mika isn’t just Mika."

She pressed her hand to her heart, her smile unwavering.

"He is our light."

Her gaze softened, her eyes glowing with warmth, as though she was lost in a sweet memory. She looked like someone basking in the warmth of sunlight after years in the cold.

For a few moments, she simply let herself linger there. But then, as if remembering Maria was in front of her, she abruptly shifted.

Her expression hardened into arrogance, and she pointed straight at Maria with a haughty tilt of her chin.

"But of course!" She said proudly. "I’m not going to tell you what actually happened with him. Nor will I share the past I was talking about...That’s private! It’s between me and Mika. Even my mother doesn’t know the whole story, and if I haven’t said anything to her, then there’s no way I’ll tell you."

She folded her arms, looking smug and untouchable to which Maria rolled her eyes, her face flat and unimpressed.

"Relax. I don’t care to hear your precious secret. I don’t actually want the details of what happened in the past."

She tilted her head, her voice sharper now.

"What I do want to know is why. Why, if you all love him so much, are you also so scared of him at the same time?"

Charlotte’s smile faltered, as her arrogance slipped. Then she gave a wry little smile, almost bittersweet, and looked down.

"That’s exactly it...It’s because we love him so much, we’re scared of him. If we make even one mistake, one thing he doesn’t like, one act that goes against his principles—we’re terrified that we’ll lose him. Lose his love. That’s what we fear the most."

Maria’s sharp eyes softened slightly, understanding dawning, though there was still confusion in her furrowed brows. But before she could press further, Charlotte continued, her voice lowering as though she was slipping into a memory.

"If you want to know why we’re so scared of offending him..." She said, her lips curling into a bittersweet smile. "...then I’ll have to tell you a story from our childhood."

She looked off into the distance, her eyes hazy with reminiscence.

"You see, ever since we were little, we adored Mika. All of us. But that love...it wasn’t simple. It turned into something else, something obsessive."

"We always fought over him. If he showed one of us too much affection, the rest would get jealous. It always ended in fights."

Her chuckle deepened into a laugh, though tinged with embarrassment.

"Our mothers had to separate us constantly. We spent half our childhood arguing over who got to sit next to him, who got to hold his hand, who he smiled at the most. We were utterly, ridiculously obsessed. And honestly..." She shook her head, amused. "It hasn’t changed much. We’ve calmed down, sure, we don’t fight openly like before. But that aggression between us? It’s still there."

"That makes sense." Maria tilted her head, a faint smirk tugging at her lips. "Even from a distance, I could see sparks flying between you and your sister just now. It looked like you were about to claw each other apart."

"Yeah. That’s us." Charlotte laughed, unashamed. "Whenever my sisters meet, it usually turns into a catfight."

She leaned forward then, her smile sly.

"But don’t think it stops at just us. It’s the same with any girl who dares approach him. We’ve never liked it."

"Ever since we were kids, if some girl tried to talk to him, even for something harmless, we’d do whatever it took to push her away. We’d intimidate them, bully them, threaten them to stay away from him...All so we could keep him to ourselves."

Maria arched a brow, her smirk widening as she said, "So in other words...nothing’s changed. You still behave the same way. You’ve been trying to push me away too, haven’t you?"

Charlotte flushed, her cheeks pinking as she waved her hands frantically.

"B-Be quiet! I’m the one telling the story, not you!" She huffed, puffing her cheeks out, then admitted reluctantly. "But...yes. You’re not wrong. It’s true. That’s how it’s always been. Whenever a girl tries to get close to him, we push them away."

"And most of the time, it worked. Because even as kids, we were intimidating. Daughters of Battle Angels, who would dare go against us? One warning was enough. They’d leave and never try again."

"And of course, Mika hated it." She sighed. "He always complained. But in the end, he never pushed the issue too far. He was more focused on other things, even as a child. So it just kept going."

"...A girl would approach, we’d scare her off, he’d grumble at us, we’d make excuses, and that was the end of it."

For a moment, Charlotte smiled as if the memory amused her. But then her expression darkened. Her smile faded, replaced with a pale, haunted look.

"But then...everything changed." Her voice dropped, low and trembling. "It was around the time we were going to enter middle school. We were eleven, maybe twelve. And there was this girl."

Maria’s eyes sharpened as Charlotte’s gaze flicked to her.

"Yes...A girl just like you, who was always by Mika’s side."

Maria’s brows rose, though her face stayed calm, while Charlotte’s lips tightened as she continued.

"This girl...she was always interested in Mika. Always approaching him, always by his side, smiling like she belonged there. And the worst part was, he smiled back. They looked like best friends, like they belonged together...And it drove us insane."

Her lips tightened, her fists clenching faintly.

"We tried everything. The same threats, the intimidation, the warnings...But she wasn’t scared. Not one bit."

"Every time we confronted her, she brushed us off. She didn’t care. She kept coming back. Again and again. Like a leech that refused to let go."

Charlotte’s voice dropped, almost a whisper.

"And the more she stayed, the more frustrated we got. No matter what we did, she wouldn’t back down...And finally, we couldn’t take it anymore."

"We decided to confront her directly. To teach her a lesson. To finally put her in her place for daring to stay beside Mika."

Her eyes clouded with a haunted look, her face pale as if she were reliving it all over again. She swallowed hard, her lips trembling.

"But that...that was the day everything changed." She whispered. "The day that still feels like a nightmare even now."