Chapter 22: A twisted reality

Irene felt a familiar warmth.

Her heart ached as if torn apart by the fact that Lian had chosen Sera, but Logan’s embrace was still warm and comfortable.

She clung to his clothes and sobbed.

“Logan… you know… sniffle…”

“Irene… it’s okay, you don’t have to say anything.”

His voice was gentle as always, and the arms that enveloped her were strong.

“…Thank you…”

Her chest still felt tight and throbbed with the pain of heartbreak, but thanks to Logan, whom she could always rely on when she was struggling and exhausted, she felt a little more at ease.

“I’ve been sorry all this time… Logan…”

“No, don’t worry about it. I’m fine, Irene.”

“Logan…”

He could have rejected her after she had been so cold during the Demon Lord subjugation journey, but he was still kind and affectionate to her.

His unchanging devotion gave Irene the courage to stand up again.

Afterward, she returned to the imperial capital and clung to Lian, begging him to accept her, even as a concubine.

“Lian! Please… I can’t live without you…!”

“I’m sorry, Irene… I really want to, but…”

However, the church refused, stating that according to their rules, the hero, once bound to the saintess, could not have another woman.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t let go of her lingering feelings for Lian.

Because it seemed Lian also had feelings for her.

“Lian… then you can keep seeing me, right?”

“Of course, naturally. Why would you say something so disheartening between us?”

“Lian…!”

Otherwise, there was no way he would meet her every time, even while looking troubled.

But that process was so difficult that she sometimes… no, often relied on Logan.

“Logan… I… sniffle…”

“……”

“I’m sorry… but still, I…”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything…”

“Thank you… really…”

She felt sorry towards him, but he wasn’t just anyone, he was that Logan… so she thought it was okay and craved his comfort.

And the face of Crown Princess Anastasia, whom she occasionally encountered during that process, was quite a spectacle.

That expression, distorted by jealousy and anger.

“Irene! Stop using Logan!”

“What does that have to do with you, Your Highness? This is between me and Logan.”

“That’s exactly what the problem is! If you have any conscience, you shouldn’t keep doing this to Logan!”

“….Hmph, Your Highness is the one who shouldn’t be doing this.”

“What did you say?”

“You keep picking fights with me because you want to get somewhere with Logan, don’t you?”

“Ha…!”

Yes, seeing her so provoked and flustered was incredibly amusing.

Even if she wanted to use her authority to suppress her, she was a wench who couldn’t say anything if Irene went to Logan for help.

“Your Highness the Crown Princess… I apologize… but no matter who you are, if you treat Irene carelessly…”

“Logan, I…!”

“I apologize.”

“Ah… ah….”

Seeing her crumble, unable to retort at Logan’s single word, was truly satisfying to watch.

Logan was always on her side, and he would continue to be.

“Kyahahaha!!!”

Irene, intoxicated with a sense of victory, burst into mad laughter.

Even as she looked down on Anastasia with a gaze full of all sorts of ridicule and contempt, sneering at her.

Because Logan is mine.

“Ah.. ah.. ah…!”

The detestable Crown Princess could do nothing but despair.

Seeing Anastasia shedding tears and suffering.

Irene felt as if the anger and humiliation from all the insults she had endured one-sidedly from the Crown Princess, unable to do anything, completely vanished.

Yes, including the sense of defeat from having Logan taken away.

‘Huh..? Logan taken away…?’

For a moment, Irene felt a strong sense of dissonance, as if waking from a dream.

‘Is this… a dream?’

Something was strange.

Irene had clearly looked at Logan with longing at the banquet hall, but he had ignored her.

So she had run out of the banquet hall crying, but why was Logan by her side, and why was Anastasia shedding tears of blood and suffering so much?

Thinking about it that way, she had no choice but to believe this current situation was a dream.

However, for a dream, all her senses were extremely vivid, and it felt like reality.

Ah, I see.

‘This isn’t a dream…!’

Yes, this is the reality that should have been.

But why!!

Why is the current reality so different!

---

“Why!!!”

With a fierce shout, Irene woke from her sleep.

“Gasp…! Gasp…!”

Panting heavily, she looked around.

The unfamiliar scenery of a guest room.

“Ah…”

Only then did she realize how she had ended up falling asleep while having such a dream.

Overwhelmed by Logan’s unbelievable behavior at the banquet hall, she had run out frantically in tears, returned to this place where she had first fallen asleep, cried, and then drifted off.

“Logan…”

She murmured his name.

And she recalled his kind appearance from the dream.

“Yes, that’s the real Logan…!”

The current him must be thoroughly bewitched by something.

“Something must be wrong…”

Otherwise, there’s no way that Logan would suddenly change his attitude.

There’s no way that shameless Crown Princess Anastasia could be happy by his side with such a detestable expression.

“That place was originally mine!”

Logan, who had always looked only at her and devoted himself to her, even if she treated him a bit harshly or made him feel upset.

His side was a place she could always go to when she sought solace and comfort!

How dare anyone covet that spot!

Yes, what she just dreamt wasn’t a dream, but the reality that should have happened.

So!

“Do you think I’ll… back down meekly like this!? I’ll never give up!!”

Just then.

“That’s right, you mustn’t give up like this, Lady Irene.”

A soft and gentle voice echoed in the room.

“S-Sera…?”

Irene turned her head towards where the voice came from.

There stood Sera with a benevolent smile.

“Yes. It’s me, Sera.”

“Uh, when did you get here…?”

“I’ve been by your side all along, you know?”

“What…? Ah…..”

Irene was a little surprised by the fact that Sera had been watching over her while she slept, but she soon realized that wasn’t what was important.

“Sera, what do I do…? Logan is with the Crown Princess… with that detestable woman… sniffle…”

‘Tsk.’

Sera inwardly clicked her tongue as she looked at Irene, whose hair was disheveled and tear tracks were clearly visible.

She didn’t know what kind of dream Irene had on her own, but wasn’t she talking all sorts of strange nonsense in her sleep?

And didn’t she suddenly start screaming and thrashing about as soon as she woke up?

It was truly pathetic.

‘Well… she’s perfect for manipulating, though.’

Sera found Irene’s display of truly shameless and detestable selfishness repulsive, but what Irene needed right now was that kind of self-righteous mentality.

Therefore, Sera gently took both of Irene’s hands.

“Irene… you’re not thinking of letting the Crown Princess take Logan just like this, are you?”

“….Yeah, of course not.”

Recalling Anastasia’s happy smile beside Logan at the banquet hall, Irene’s expression turned chillingly cold.

She wanted to grab that d*mn wench’s hair and burn it with magic right this instant.

‘No, even right now….’

Perhaps her reckless thoughts were showing on her face, as Sera gently stroked her hand and calmed her down.

“Irene… I know your heart well. But first, calm down. You mustn’t forget that woman’s status and position…”

“Then are you telling me to give up like this!?”

“No. There’s absolutely no reason for you to give up on Logan.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? I… I… without Logan…”

“Haa….”

“Sera…?”

“Ah, no. It’s just that Irene is so pitiful and unfortunate that I unknowingly…”

Sera quickly offered words of comfort to Irene.

It was because she had inadvertently let out a sigh at Irene’s frustratingly pathetic state.

“First, Irene… calming down is the priority. Anyway, the Crown Princess is a problematic person, so our church won’t stay quiet either.”

“A problematic person…?”

Irene’s two dark eyes flashed.

Anastasia has problems?

Not only did she dare to take my Logan, but she has other problems too?

“Yes.. that’s why that d*mn wench is acting like that! She must be deceiving Logan!”

“….”

Sera briefly pondered how to persuade and manipulate Irene, but she couldn’t help but realize there was no need for that.

How could such a foolish woman be called a once-in-a-generation genius at the Magic Tower Academy… it was truly a mystery for the ages.

‘There’s no need to think too hard about it. The stupider she is, the better.’

Sera, deciding not to question it, focused on calming Irene down by briefly explaining her future plans.

And she couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.

Because.

“…Then if things go as you want… you’ll make it so Lian and I can get married, right?”

Because Irene had asked such an absurd question, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Did she really not know why she was in this situation now?

‘If it were up to me, I’d want to say take him if you want him…’

However, since he was established as the hero, she couldn’t do that.

Therefore, Sera could only smile gently and forcibly change the subject to avoid answering.

“More importantly, Irene? To make the Crown Princess even more troubled…….”