Ch.54Confession (1)

I resolved to strengthen my determination as the next day dawned. Today I had no exams, only assignments to submit, so there was plenty of time to talk with acquaintances.

Originally, I had hoped nothing would happen, but after experiencing various incidents, I changed my mindset. Rather than praying for nothing to happen, I decided to develop my ability to handle whatever might occur.

Instead of relying on family, I would build my own capabilities. With this mindset, I couldn’t help feeling tense.

Anyway, asking Cecilly about yesterday’s events was the priority. What exactly was her intention in seducing me? She hadn’t even presented proper evidence, so her behavior left me beyond confused and utterly perplexed.

‘And…’

Regarding Marie, after much deliberation, I was able to change my decision about how to treat her. If I truly cared for her, I should prevent her from being hurt by secrets revealed too late.

At the very least, I needed to prevent a woman who liked me from suffering because of my indecisiveness. Although unlike others, Marie hadn’t even guessed that I was the author of Biography of Xenon, she might feel betrayed if she found out.

She might ask why I trusted others more than her, why I couldn’t share that secret with her.

I worried that the relationship we had built through chance encounters and difficult circumstances might collapse all at once due to my careless judgment. Moreover, Marie was quite perceptive, so she might have already sensed something.

Above all, I had hurt her yesterday. Even I would feel heartbroken seeing someone I liked alone with another person.

‘Let’s attend class first.’

I reaffirmed my resolve and headed to the classroom. The first class was philosophy, which Marie, Cecilly, and Rina all attended.

I didn’t know about Rina, but Marie and Cecilly had talked alone yesterday, so there would definitely be significant changes. I wondered if I could handle this wisely, but now I had no choice but to trust myself.

Otherwise, this situation would likely repeat itself for a long time. The circumstances would become more complicated, making things awkward for me and others.

As I was reaffirming this to myself, I had almost reached the classroom when—

“Oh.”

“Huh?”

By coincidence, I met Cecilly at the classroom door. Just as I was surprised, Cecilly seemed not to have expected to meet me either, her eyes wide open.

While I was struggling to speak in this unexpected situation, Cecilly gave a gentle smile and greeted me in a soft tone.

“Hello. Good morning.”

“Ah… yes. Good morning.”

“Hehe.”

When I greeted her with a bewildered feeling, Cecilly let out a soft laugh. Seeing her smile suddenly reminded me of yesterday’s events, making me feel awkward.

As I was rubbing the back of my neck in slight embarrassment, Cecilly gazed at me intently and quietly spoke.

“I’m really sorry about yesterday.”

“What?”

“I shouldn’t have done that to you… It was my fault. I apologize again.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise at this unexpected apology and formal speech. What change of heart had caused Cecilly’s attitude to shift like this?

The issue didn’t end there. Cecilly bowed her head while maintaining her characteristically playful smile, expressing her feelings.

It was undeniably a respectful attitude and greeting by anyone’s standards.

I couldn’t help but express my confusion at her incomprehensible behavior.

“…Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“From now on, I’ll treat you this way when we’re alone. You’re a benefactor to our demon race, so I should treat you accordingly.”

“…”

“Shall we go inside?”

I couldn’t make sense of the situation at all. I stared blankly at Cecilly’s back as she entered the classroom with a slight smile.

It was true that we were the only two at the classroom door as she said… but the formal speech felt strange.

It felt like the once-close distance between Cecilly and me had subtly widened. Since Cecilly usually teased me a lot, I felt a sense of disconnect.

‘A benefactor…’

It wasn’t completely incomprehensible. Yesterday, Cecilly had said that the author of Biography of Xenon was a benefactor who had fulfilled the long-cherished wish of the demon race.

Moreover, she had expressed her willingness to offer her body to this benefactor if she ever met them. It made sense that her attitude toward me would change.

Normally, I would have been flustered and told her not to do that, to just speak casually and tease me as usual, but…

‘…What is this?’

My heart felt strangely ticklish. A demon princess treating me respectfully after learning my identity—how should I describe this?

If she hadn’t apologized for yesterday’s events, I might have thought her shameless, but she had apologized for that too, even bowing her head.

I stood frozen at the classroom door for a while before quickly coming to my senses. There was something more important than Cecilly right now.

‘Still, somehow…’

My feelings were ambiguous—somewhat good, somewhat not.

With that mindset, I stepped into the classroom. As soon as I entered, I spotted a familiar face sitting in the front row.

It was Marie, looking disgruntled, resting her chin on one hand with a pouty expression. I could tell at a glance that her mood was low.

Perhaps because of this, the ticklish feeling in my heart vanished, replaced by tension. Marie was surely acting this way because of yesterday’s events.

‘Act natural… act natural…’

I suppressed my nervously pounding heart and approached Marie. Since I was late today and Marie had arrived quite early, the seat next to her was empty.

As I slowly approached Marie, she seemed to sense my presence and shifted her gaze from the desk to me. I expected her to respond coldly because of yesterday’s events.

“…Issac!”

Until she greeted me cheerfully, opening her blue eyes wide. She even waved her arms enthusiastically to welcome me.

I was momentarily taken aback by Marie’s lively greeting when I had expected her to be upset, but soon found myself smiling. It was so typical of her.

Still, I needed to apologize for my mistake, having failed to understand her feelings. Nevertheless, my heart felt somewhat lighter than before, when it had seemed weighed down by lead.

“Hi.”

“Hi there.”

When I greeted her with my characteristic bluntness, Marie responded with a bright smile. I thought her beaming face was really cute.

Just as I sat down and took out my notebook—

“Did you get home safely yesterday?”

I couldn’t help but pause at Marie’s question. Though her voice was bright, I was certain there was an edge to it—it wasn’t just my imagination.

When I looked at her, she was smiling brightly as if nothing was wrong. Someone who didn’t know her might think it was a pretty smile, but not me.

Marie probably didn’t realize it, but the corners of her mouth were trembling slightly. It was a forced smile to hide her anxiety.

Though she was pretending to be fine on the outside, she clearly had something on her mind. I thought once or twice about how to respond before speaking.

“Yes, I got home fine. What about you?”

“Me? Well…”

She trailed off, glancing behind her. Marie’s gaze was directed at where Cecilly was sitting, currently chatting with Rina.

“…I got home fine. Nothing happened.”

“Really?”

That was a lie. When she looked at Cecilly, her eyes momentarily darkened.

It seemed she was behaving this way because she didn’t want our relationship to become awkward. The more she did this, the more my guilt toward Marie increased.

I was glad I had made my decision. She wouldn’t get hurt anymore.

“Oh right, Issac, have you seen the newly released Biography of Xenon Volume 9?”

While I was unable to hide my bitterness, Marie asked this, perhaps trying to change the atmosphere. Since I had anticipated this question, I nodded without any surprise.

“Of course I’ve read it. Starting with this new volume, the publisher has introduced new technology so they can keep producing more copies. Have you read it?”

“I read it yesterday. I was so surprised by the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins. The more I read Biography of Xenon, the more I wonder what’s inside this person’s head. And…”

That person is right in front of you. I swallowed my inner thoughts and watched Marie chattering with a warm smile.

Looking at her like this, she reminded me of a small, cute bird chirping, which calmed my mind. It was problematic in many ways that I had hurt such a girl.

I stared at Marie as she excitedly talked on her own, then quietly spoke.

“…Marie.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“How valuable do you think the author of Biography of Xenon is?”

Marie blinked her large eyes a couple of times at my question, then lowered her gaze. She seemed to be organizing her thoughts.

Meanwhile, I rested my chin on my hand and patiently waited for her to speak. I planned to ask this question to Rina and Leort as well if the opportunity arose, but I started with Marie, who was the most comfortable to talk to.

From her perspective, it might seem out of the blue, but that didn’t matter. I had planned to meet with Marie alone during lunch or after all classes ended anyway.

Soon enough, Marie tapped her cheek with her index finger and shared her thoughts.

“First, speaking not as ‘myself’ but as a member of the ‘Reckyless family,’ neither our family nor even the Empire could touch the author carelessly. The author’s influence on the world is formidable.”

“Is it really that significant?”

“Of course. Especially our Empire and the Kingdom of Teres are desperate to recruit the author. They’re engaged in covert battles to claim cultural assets. Nothing is more effective in governing a nation’s internal affairs than culture.”

“Culture…”

Mentioning culture made it easy to understand. To use an example from my previous life, there’s China.

China was once praised as a cultural powerhouse, but historically, they made a terrible mistake that destroyed their own culture. Because of this, even when they grew to compete with the United States later, their culture held them back.

Of course, the censorship and oppression by the Chinese government that hindered cultural development was the biggest problem, but if that initial event that destroyed their culture had never happened, China would truly have become an unstoppable superpower.

‘…It’s a bit frightening.’

The idea that one person like me could significantly advance a nation’s culture—what a terrifying power. Moreover, this world emulates the medieval era, where culture is valued even more highly.

While I was thinking about this, Marie stared at my face and offered another opinion.

“Also, the author’s books could become weapons. Just as they changed perceptions of the demon race, changing perceptions of other races would be easy. Though the author probably wouldn’t intend that, it could be very dangerous.”

“Dangerous?”

“Yes. Harmful ideologies could spread far if we’re not careful. That’s why nations can’t help but take a deep interest.”

Well, this world has neither smartphones nor internet. The means of transmitting information are limited, with newspapers being the primary example.

For someone with limited connections like me, newspapers are the only way to learn about the outside world. I have no way of knowing whether what I read is fabricated or true.

So listening to Marie’s explanation, it seems my books could be used to spread ideologies. Naturally, that made me frown.

‘I just want to write interesting books…’

I’m someone far removed from politics. In my previous life, I was just a young professional who had only attended university, and even that was extremely brief. The thought of entering the complicated world of politics made me uneasy.

But as I’ve said before, constantly avoiding it isn’t the answer. At the very least, I need to prepare countermeasures so I can write the books I want to write.

For that, I need to develop my own abilities.

“But why are you asking that?”

While I was making this internal resolution, Marie tilted her head and expressed her curiosity. I stared at her face for a moment before carefully speaking.

“Marie.”

“Yes?”

“Do you… have time today?”

Then, after hesitating slightly, I gathered my courage and suggested to her.

“There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Perhaps because it was a statement that could easily be misunderstood—

“…Eh?”

Marie’s pale face turned bright red in an instant.