episode_0006

– The morning class has ended.

The broadcast sound echoing from the speaker attached to the ceiling.

Listening to that, I felt extremely disheartened.

It passed by.

The morning class really passed by in the blink of an eye.

“······What did I hear.”

I wasn’t usually good at focusing in class, but today, there was really nothing left in my mind.

Still, it wasn’t like this.

I still remembered a few key points.

It felt like someone had plucked me out of the flowing time and sent me four hours into the future.

Anyway, it meant that my current state wasn’t great.

“Hello.”

“···.”

“Excuse me, are you ignoring me?”

In this confusing situation, someone annoyingly spoke to me from the side.

“······Elise.”

“Oh, you’re not ignoring me?”

Elise Arkstera.

A girl who never came near me even when strange rumors spread, was now looking at me with an even more irritating expression than usual.

“Just in case, let me say it first, I’m not feeling well right now.”

“I know. That’s exactly why I came here, because of your not-so-great mood.”

“···.”

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a reason to come directly to you in front of everyone else.”

Hmm.

She was definitely a crazy woman in front of me.

Otherwise, it didn’t make sense.

Could such a thought come from a sane person’s mind?

‘······No way.’

No. There was no way.

I couldn’t claim to be sane myself, but at least she couldn’t be considered sane.

If she was sane, then there were no sane people in this world.

As I nodded in my own way, Elise glared at me, looking displeased.

“What’s with that nod of disapproval?”

“I said earlier. I’m not feeling great right now.”

“Surely you didn’t mean that feeling not great means your condition is bad, not that your mind has gone awry.”

Elise put it so nicely that I looked like a lunatic.

······So, what’s the matter? As you said, the fact that you and I are arguing like this is strange in itself.

His mental state, which was already not normal, seemed like it would only get worse if he continued to listen to those words. Therefore, he made up his mind to just listen to the reason and then send her away as soon as possible.

“Oh, I see. I haven’t told you the reason I came to see you yet.”

“···.”

“It’s nothing much. I wanted to talk about having lunch together today.”

“······Phew.”

Thinking it was nothing important, he was drinking water carelessly, but when she continued speaking, he ended up spitting out the water he was drinking.

What did she say?

Have lunch together?

First of all, he didn’t feel like accepting it, but he decided to at least ask for a reason, maintaining the minimum courtesy.

“······Reason?”

“A reason? Does a beautiful woman need a reason to ask a man she likes out on a date?”

Elise spoke with a sly smile, as if she could enchant every man in the world.

······She should have at least kept the minimum courtesy.

Having heard such words already, he decided not to hold back severe words either.

“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m not feeling great today, remember?”

“Hmm, it doesn’t work. I’m sure it worked in the book I read yesterday.”

“······Should I just go eat alone?”

“Sigh, okay. You seem so boring.”

“···.”

I’m really sorry.

Because I’m such a boring person.

Elise sighed as if admitting defeat and continued to speak, looking at me blankly.

“Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, I’m curious about what you and your sister did this morning.”

“······Why does that matter?”

“Well, can I tell you this?”

Elise seemed to be hesitating about something.

It was the look of someone not being sure and hesitating, wondering if it was okay to bring up what she had in mind here.

After a long hesitation, Elise seemed to have made a decision and, after glancing around, she opened her mouth.

“She left work early today.”

“Who? Ariah?”

“No, not your younger sister.”

Not Ariah? Then who left work early…?

His thoughts were cut off right there.

Certainly! Here’s the translated text:

Exactly, someone had cut off my thoughts and passed by.

Ah.

It’s that person.

“······Elena.”

“Yes. Elena Brilliant. After meeting your younger sister today, she left work early just like that.”

I had expected it, but expectations and reality always felt different.

***

Elena Brilliant.

She was the last heroine of this novel, considered the most genuine among the heroines in the original work.

“You’re his fiancée. Doesn’t it bother you?”

“······Not yet, I suppose.”

The ‘former’ fiancée of Lian Trice in the original work.

Originally engaged to Lian, but Lian’s reckless behavior, which the brilliant Duke did not overlook, led to their breakup.

That was the content of the original work.

A content not yet reached.

But a content not far from being reached.

“I’m sure I mentioned it yesterday. You are gathering evidence to prove who you have been in the Brilliant family.”

“I know.”

“Is that all the reaction you have? It seems you still don’t understand. You’re about to be broken off, you know?”

Though Elise seemed to still not fully understand, she looked at me with a deeply furrowed brow and said,

“I know, Elise Arkstra.”

“···.”

“You don’t need to emphasize it. I already know well enough, so leave it at that.”

As someone who knew about the breakup even before being bound to this place, it was a story that didn’t particularly move me.

The breakup of the model student Elena Brilliant and the reckless Lian Trice.

This was a predetermined fate.

A predetermined fate from the original work that no one could defy.

Of course, someone might say this.

Why can’t you defy it?

You read the original work and got bound to it, and you can’t even change one event that’s already decided.

And you call yourself a bound individual.

Well, that wasn’t an incorrect statement.

In typical binding stories, the protagonist defies their predetermined fate with their own power.

However, that was a fundamentally flawed assumption.

No, the premise itself was fundamentally flawed.

‘······I am not the protagonist.’

I was not the protagonist.

The protagonist of a fantastic reincarnation story, changing predetermined fate and saving the lives of those around them. I was nothing more than an ordinary extra and a pitiful villain. It was a given. A pathetic human unable to even change their own reputation or image couldn’t possibly be the hero of this world. I tried. I failed. That was all. This fact was indisputable.

Elise looked at me as if I were strange. “You’re a strange one. Even when I worry, you’re in chaos.”

“…”

“Well, never mind. Since it doesn’t matter to the person involved, I won’t concern myself with that side either. Is that okay?”

“Thank you?” I wondered if it was appropriate for me to say thank you, but seeing Elise’s displeased expression, it seemed like the right thing to do.

“Anyway, let’s move on since it doesn’t concern you. Shall we get to the point now?”

“Phew. Yes, from the perspective of someone who’s getting a meal, I should answer your questions.”

By the way, I was already outside, about to have lunch alone with Elise, just as she had planned. If Elena weren’t involved, or if she hadn’t been mentioned, I would have refused immediately. Despite the regretful situation, I continued to sigh. Once I expressed my consent, Elise eagerly began to question me.

“Alright, then could you start by telling me what happened with your younger sister this morning?”

“Well, there’s no reason not to tell you. You know I usually arrive early at the classroom, right?”

“Of course. Because of you, some students intentionally arrive late to the classroom.”

“…I didn’t know that.” It was truly news to me. Unintentionally causing trouble for others. Should I start going in late from tomorrow? But then I wouldn’t be able to secure a back seat. As I seriously pondered the future morning hours, Elise nudged me, indicating it wasn’t important.

“Is that important right now? Just answer quickly.”

······It’s not that important. I just went to the classroom early as usual, and the only difference was that guy being there instead of the usual crowd.

Your younger sister, isn’t it?

Yeah.

So far, it’s going as expected. What about after that?

That’s it.

······What do you mean? That’s it?

Alice glared at me reflexively upon hearing my response.

However, I had simply spoken the truth.

Yeah. She asked me why I went to the hospital yesterday as soon as she saw me, so I just told her.

···.

I said my wrist was itching, so I went to get it checked out, and the diagnosis was that resting would make it better.

A clear-cut truth. Even though some details were omitted, ultimately, it was a truth untainted by lies. What does the process matter anyway? The result is what’s most important. The woman in front of me, whose face was beginning to flush with anger, didn’t seem to share that sentiment, but at least I did.