Chapter 25 – Set things right

R​e​​a‍​d‍ ‍o​n‍ ‍​K‌​a‍t‍​R​e​ad​i‍n‌g‍C‌a‍f‍e‍

“Hey, Narae. I didn’t, like, sleep for an entire week straight, right? Or at least, not for that long?”

As I asked Narae this while watching TV, she immediately insulted me, wondering if I had suffered brain damage while I was ‘dead.’

Annoyed by her attitude, I threw a cushion at her. She flinched and shouted at me, saying I almost made her spill coffee on her laptop.

“See? If you had just answered nicely, we both could’ve been happy.”

“…No, you didn’t sleep that long. At most, maybe about 12 hours. But more importantly, Miss Mina, let me ask you something seriously—if I get someone more competent than me to replace me, will you let me go?”

“No? Why would I? I need to keep an eye on you and make sure you live a good, honest life.”

The reason I spared her life in the first place was because she didn’t seem to have done anything seriously wrong. But after spending some time with her, I started thinking—maybe she wasn’t as innocent as she seemed.

I planned to observe her until she truly became a decent person.

Besides, I was already too deeply entangled with her. If she were free to move around as she pleased, it’d be inconvenient for me in the future.

I planned to have fun switching between this appearance and my monstrous form, but if she went around exposing me by saying, “Actually, those two are the same person!” it would all be over.

I couldn’t let that happen.

“H-Haha… Maybe it would’ve been better if I had just died back then…”

“As someone who’s experienced death, let me give you some advice—no matter how shitty things get, it’s better to stay alive. What happens after death is way worse.”

That was a lie. I had no memories of death. I was just recalling how Suhyeok had described it in the original story.

“Really? What happens?”

“That’s a spoiler. If you’re that curious, you can experience it yourself. I can even help if you want?”

Hearing that, Narae clutched her head and groaned about being tricked again.

Her reaction amused me for a moment, but the situation itself was far from funny.

The news was reporting that Radiant White hadn’t been rescued by the search party—she had returned on her own.

That might not seem like a big deal, but she wasn’t supposed to return on her own. The original story didn’t go like that.

She was supposed to still be with Suhyeok. She was supposed to feel sorry for how desperately he was trying to keep her there and end up living with him for a while.

She was supposed to stay by his side, witness his miserable life, and start wondering why he was so intent on holding onto her.

She wasn’t supposed to just fly back like that.

There’s no way she would’ve simply brushed Suhyeok off. Radiant White was the type who couldn’t ignore someone asking for help, no matter how urgent her own situation was.

So that meant… Suhyeok let her go willingly.

And that made no sense.

He was a fugitive, being pursued directly by the government.

The only reason he hadn’t been officially declared a wanted criminal was because the truth behind his case was so damning that exposing it could bring down the entire administration.

For someone like him, having a magical girl in his grasp was the perfect bargaining chip against the government.

There was so much she could offer him. And yet, he just… let her go?

…Oh. Fuck.

It was because of that.

Because I connected him with that vampire family overseas.

He didn’t need to cling to a magical girl anymore. He didn’t need to beg her to stay and help him.

Why would he keep risking his life, walking a tightrope while trying to solve his problems? When he could just take the emergency exit and escape abroad?

A cornered rat will bite the cat—but a rat with an escape route? Of course, it’ll run.

“Shit…”

I hadn’t expected my reckless lies to come back and bite me like this.

If he had kept doubting me, this wouldn’t have happened. But no—I had to go and earn his trust…!

Now, the past mistake I’d thoughtlessly thrown away had come spinning back like a boomerang, smacking me right in the face.

I had just wanted to mess around a little—how did things end up like this?

I racked my brain, desperately trying to think of a way to bring those two back together. But no matter how hard I thought, nothing seemed like a perfect solution.

Even if I had knowledge of the original story, that knowledge didn’t mean much now that everything had gone off the rails.

And besides—did I even need to cling so hard to the original story? Maybe I should just let things play out naturally…

…No. That wasn’t an option.

If the protagonist and heroine didn’t connect, neither of them would get their happy ending.

Radiant White would eventually lose to her ever-growing enemies and either break or die. And Suhyeok…

He’d just keep running.

Drifting endlessly, never receiving recognition for his kindness, never being saved, never finding peace.

Eventually, he’d die alone, somewhere in the shadows, without anyone knowing or caring.

I didn’t want my favorite characters to meet such tragic or incomplete ends.

“Even if the whole world becomes miserable, I just want my little sister to be happy.”

…Even the Shining White inside me thought that way.

So, no matter what, I had to put the original story back on track.

Though I should probably have a chat with this thing inside me one day… but judging by what it’s saying, I doubt it’s in a state to hold a normal conversation right now. I’ll keep it locked up for now.

Think, Mina. I know you’re not smart, but you can’t just keep avoiding things forever.

I forced myself to focus, to come up with a plan.

And finally—something that seemed somewhat promising came to mind.

Radiant White had chased me all the way to Incheon once before. If I threw out the right bait, she’d come again.

Then, once she was here, I could commission Suhyeok with some kind of job—one that would force him to interact with her.

…There were definitely holes in the plan, but honestly, this was the best I could come up with.

I was painfully aware that my best was other people’s mediocre at best. My plans never seemed to go the way I wanted them to.

But that didn’t mean I shouldn’t try.

I’d already hinted to Suhyeok that I’d be giving him a job soon, so all I had to do now was make a public appearance in Incheon—something big enough to lure Radiant White back here.

Once she arrived, everything else would fall into place.

…Or at least, that’s what I told myself.

We scoured every trace of that fiend who carried our mother’s essence, but all we found was a single note.

“i’ll go to korea”

It was written in English, with messy handwriting, but since we had retrieved it from the very place where we encountered that fiend, there was little doubt it was theirs.

At first, we weren’t certain who had written it. But as time passed and that fiend revealed themselves in Korea, we could finally be sure.

Then why had they left such a note behind? For a while, I couldn’t understand their intention, but now I had a faint idea.

They wanted us to follow.

Otherwise, why would they leave a clue about their destination for those who had attacked them?

I still couldn’t grasp their true intentions. Were they being benevolent or hostile? There was nothing I could be certain of.

But at this point, wasn’t it worth taking the chance?

If we just sat still, we would all die anyway.

“…Acting Elder, is this truly the best course of action we can take?”

“Illye, if we stand together, we might be able to put up a fight. Of course… not all of us will survive, but at the very least, we could protect our land. So, that means…”

The vassals gathered in the conference hall, as well as my sister, insisted that we should fight the invaders—that it was too soon to give up.

“…No matter how strong we are together, you know as well as I do that facing an Elder won’t be easy, Elise. And their vassals will all move as well. Are you prepared to handle that?”

“That’s…”

“This is war. They’re prepared to throw everything at us. Even if, by some miracle, we manage to win, it will only be a fleeting victory. Countless families will perish, and neighboring houses might seize the opportunity to attack us next.”

“…So you’re saying we should abandon everything and follow that fiend?”

“Elise.”

“You’re telling us to throw away everything our mother left us, to take nothing but our lives and flee to some unknown place—just because her essence is there?”

“Elise. I told you. Mother is alive. She’s merely carrying out some plan we don’t yet understand from within. And when she finally awakens, can you imagine how absurd it would be if all her children had died just because they were too busy trying to protect a patch of land?”

My sister wore a pained expression, as if unsure whether this was truly the right choice.

I felt the same. I didn’t know if this was a wise decision.

But if we wanted to survive, even for a little longer, this was the only way.

I couldn’t allow our long-held aspirations to be extinguished over something as trivial as this place and this meaningless struggle.

“…Prepare to depart by sundown. Sister, that includes you as well.”

“Now you’re suddenly acting like the Elder?”

Elise grumbled, but she didn’t resist beyond that, seemingly resigned.

The other vassals also began dispersing, passing word to their subordinates that we would be leaving.

…I could only hope that, in time, we wouldn’t come to regret this decision.

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