Florist?! I Wanted to Be OP, Not Arrange Bouquets!

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Chapter 15 – Shattered Bonds

The air between them grew heavier with each passing second. Gloria’s hands trembled against the hilt of her sword, her heart pounding so loud it drowned out the distant clash of battle. Across from her, Lylia stood like a shadow carved from ice—cold, unmoving, and yet… angry.

Not the wild, uncontrollable rage of the undead she commanded—but something deeper. Something that cut sharper than any blade.

“Why?” Gloria’s voice cracked, though she tried to sound steady. “Why are you doing this, Lylia?”

The necromancer tilted her head slightly, as if the question itself was too foolish to answer. Beneath her jagged black crown, her silver-streaked hair framed those same familiar dark eyes—but the warmth Gloria remembered was long gone.

“You’re asking me that?” Lylia finally said, voice like frost. “Don’t act innocent. This—” she gestured to the ruin around them, to the waves of skeletons tearing through the town “—is what happens when you trust people.”

Annie stepped forward, magic crackling along her fingertips. “Don’t twist this like you’re the victim. You’re hurting innocent people!”

Lylia laughed—a dry, bitter sound. “Oh, you’re brave now? How cute.” Her gaze flicked to Gloria. “Is this the kind of friend you like? Someone who charges in without thinking? Must be nice.”

The words hit harder than any spell. Gloria flinched, shame curling in her stomach.

“I—I never wanted this,” she said weakly. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

Lylia’s smile faded. “But you did. You just didn’t notice.”

Gloria’s vision blurred as memories crashed over her—of warm afternoons after class, of Lylia’s quiet smile when no one else was watching. Of the day it all changed.

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It had been a normal day back then—rain tapping softly against the windows, the classroom buzzing with meaningless chatter. Gloria hadn’t expected much when she first started hanging out with Lylia. Just another quiet girl, too shy to speak to anyone else. But… they got along. Somehow, it was easy with her.

And Lylia—she never called her a coward.

Until the day Gloria heard the rumors.

"Why are they even friends? Doesn’t Lylia get tired of dragging her around?"

"I bet Gloria just hides behind her so she won’t get bullied."

At first, Gloria ignored it. But the whispers grew louder. Harsher.

Then, one day after school, the bullies came. Not for her—but for Lylia.

She had tried to stop them—she wanted to. But her voice caught in her throat, her legs frozen to the ground. It was easier and safer to stay quiet.

And Lylia had paid the price.

By the time Gloria worked up the courage to speak, it was already too late. Lylia wasn’t the same. The next day, she changed—laughing coldly when the bullies teased Gloria, calling her "pathetic," "useless," "a coward hiding behind others."

She had pushed Gloria away. And Gloria… let her.

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“You never fought back,” Lylia said now, dragging her back to the present. “You let me take it all. And when I wasn’t useful anymore, you replaced me with her.”

“I didn’t—” Gloria started, but the words caught in her throat. Because deep down, she knew Lylia wasn’t entirely wrong.

Annie’s eyes widened with sudden realization, but she stayed quiet, letting the weight of the truth sink in.

“Do you know what it feels like to be abandoned?” Lylia’s voice trembled, the edges of her mask cracking. “I protected you, Gloria. And you left me alone.”

A sharp pain pierced Gloria’s chest—guilt, raw and unrelenting. She wanted to scream that it wasn’t like that, that she never meant to leave her behind. But the truth was harder to face.

Because when things got hard, when Lylia changed—she had run away.

“I’m sorry,” Gloria whispered, tears burning her eyes. “I should’ve stayed. I should’ve fought for you.”

But Lylia didn’t soften. Instead, the shadows around her grew darker.

“Too late,” she spat. “You chose her. And now—” Her hand lifted, black magic coiling around her fingers. “I’ll destroy everything you care about.”

Annie moved to shield Gloria, but Gloria grabbed her arm.

“Wait,” she said, voice shaking. “This is my fault. Let me fix it.”

“Fix it?” Lylia laughed coldly. “You can’t fix what’s already broken.”

The battle had only just begun—but Gloria realized something terrifying.

Lylia didn’t just want to win.

She wanted to make them suffer.

And deep down… Gloria feared she deserved it.

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