The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses-Chapter 88 - What Is Color, What Is Black?

Once, the world in Treya’s eyes was bright.

Once, the world in Treya’s eyes was colorful.

Once, the world in Treya’s eyes had no room for the negativity of black.

—

The brown teddy bear, Dada, sat on the bed.

She had always taken great care to protect it.

She would carefully place it at the edge of her bed, almost never pulling or tugging at it—that’s why, despite its age, it still looked as good as new.

“Just like he said… constantly choosing…”

—The earliest memory she had, the world was bright and colorful.

It was her birthday.

A summer long ago, when she was just old enough to start remembering things.

Standing in what is now the sword training ground, a small square.

Her silver-haired mother, dressed in a white dress, stood before her in the dazzling sunlight, handing her the teddy bear.

“Happy birthday, Treya.”

She smiled.

“…Thank you.”

And so, she held the teddy bear tightly.

Her mother was silver and white, and the teddy bear was silver and white.

Her mother was full of light, and the teddy bear was full of light.

—

The brown teddy bear, Dada, lay half-slumped on the bed.

There was always a stitched scar on Dada’s head.

It was on its right ear, torn apart and then sewn back together.

But the stitching was haphazard, the threads loosely tied, the stitches weak and uneven.

“…Is this the true ‘me’ inside?”

—After that, she chose to forget the “black” that existed in this world.

But for a child, the first encounter with black was her mother, a memory she would rather paint over with more vibrant colors.

It was a long time ago, during a stormy winter.

Her mother’s birthday.

Standing in what is now the sword training ground, a small square.

Her silver-haired mother, dressed in a white coat, stood in the blurry snowstorm, her back to Treya, gripping Dada tightly by its right ear.

“Treya, let’s leave together, alright?”

Her mother pulled the teddy bear from her hands with force.

“…Why… why are we leaving here… leaving Sister, leaving Father?”

Her mother didn’t answer, only pulling harder on Dada.

As if by pulling Dada’s right ear, she could drag Treya along with it.

But in the end, Dada’s stuffing, mixed with the falling snow, landed on the ground, indistinguishable from the white snowflakes.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… Please trust me, alright?”

She spoke, holding the torn end of Dada’s right ear.

The teddy bear was broken, and her mother was black.

The teddy bear was hurt, and her mother was gray.

—

The brown teddy bear, Dada, was tightly held in her hands.

“Remember that feeling…”

“When I reached out to grab it…”

“Was it this feeling?”

And then…

The tear on Dada’s head, which had barely held together under Treya’s first forceful tug, finally gave way.

Treya stared at the teddy bear, its head now split open, its yellowed stuffing spilling out…

And along with the stuffing, a yellowed slip of paper fell out.

Wait a moment…

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How had Dada been stitched back together?

And how had it returned to her hands?

—After that, it was the colorful world she misunderstood.

Her mother’s death anniversary.

Standing in what is now the sword training ground, a small square.

Her usually busy father came to her, handed her Dada, and took her hand to lead her away.

“She’s gone. Change your clothes and come along.”

Perhaps he had been the one to repair Dada?

“…What… what do you mean, gone?”

“It’s alright. You still have me, your sister, and your siblings.”

The teddy bear was repaired, and her father was colorful.

They stood by her side, and they were colorful.

—

The brown teddy bear, Dada, now had a hole in its head.

Treya picked up the slip of paper that had fallen from the tear.

It was written in elegant Elvish script.

Fortunately, Treya had learned some Elvish from her mother as a child. At first glance, she understood the simple words, easy enough for a child to read—

“Come with me. Save me. I love you.”

Because she had cherished the first toy her mother had given her, she had never damaged it. This slip of paper had been sealed in the safest place in the palace, hidden until now.

“Did I choose it because of this?”

—Treya’s fingers tightened around the colorful Dada.

When she was little, her loving mother had given her this toy.

“Is this color… my true self?”

—Treya’s fingers tightened around the gray Dada.

But her mother had seen the sins of the royal family before Treya did, had even experienced them firsthand, and had wanted to take Treya away with her.

But for a naive child, or for an ordinary elf with no power or background, such a thing was too difficult.

“A heart made of different colors… and the black I didn’t want to see.”

—Treya’s fingers tightened around the black Dada.

If not for Will’s intervention that night, even if she had seen this slip of paper, Treya might not have understood why her mother had written those words.

A powerless elven woman, the most favored elven woman, a woman with a perfect and beautiful daughter.

She had stitched back together the teddy bear torn apart during her argument with Treya, placed a note inside it, hoping Treya would one day understand.

And then, she had walked toward her own demise, her death anniversary, and her funeral.

It was as if she had foreshadowed her own end.

“Hah… hah…”

Treya panted.

Her grip on the poor teddy bear tightened, squeezing it hard against her hand.

It was like a ball of black yarn in her vision, growing darker and larger.

Rip.

Finally…

Along the tear on its right ear, the stuffing burst out from its head, scattering across the bed like snow.

The poor teddy bear was now in tatters.

In Treya’s eyes, it was now entirely black, and even the stuffing on the bed seemed black.

Treya began to think—

What is… color?

What is… black?

The two colors that had accompanied her since birth were not “the true colors of the world”…

They were the colors of the world as she saw it.

They were the colors of the world as she understood it.

So…

What Will had said, about reading her own heart…

Perhaps it meant understanding these colors.

“Dada?”

Amid the pile of black that was Dada, she saw a faint glimmer of brown.

It was the part of Dada’s neck that Will had once gripped.

It emitted a faint glow.

But on the teddy bear, it looked more like the thread that had strangled it.

“Thank goodness, you’re still colorful…”

Treya smiled. She stared at the faint glow, immersing herself in the feelings and memories Will had made her recall. She reached out—

And lifted Dada again. Without most of its stuffing, it was now just an empty shell.

“Will-sensei, I understand now…”

“I understand what that glowing color truly is.”