Chapter 175: A Softer Turn

‘In any case, it seems far from a depressing atmosphere. So it’s a good thing… right…?’

Reysir did not stop laughing even after entering my room.

If Reysir, the protagonist of this world, maintained a positive emotional state, even the original author would not be able to write a depressing narrative.

It was certainly a situation I had hoped for.

However….

‘Why do I feel so embarrassed?’

I glared at Reysir with a displeased expression and crossed my arms firmly.

Only then did he attempt to stop laughing.

He turned around and took deep breaths with his forehead pressed against the door.

Rather than looking commendable, he was so irritating that I wanted to hit him.

“Are you done laughing now?”

“Ah… yeah. Thanks, I really had a good laugh.”

I had intended for my words to be sarcastic.

But Reysir responded with sincere gratitude, even wiping away the tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes.

As expected, he had a knack for leaving a person speechless.

“…Then first, change into those slippers. I hate the thought of dust and dirt being tracked into my room.”

People here generally wore their shoes indoors.

However, for someone with the soul of a person from Korea, this was absolutely unacceptable.

I offered Reysir the slippers, adding an excuse so he wouldn’t find it strange.

But then….

“You prepared guest slippers in advance? So you could invite me anytime?!”

Reysir made a strange misunderstanding, his face lighting up with a moved expression.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. Isn’t it only natural to have more than two pairs so I can wear them while others are being laundered?”

“Ah, I guess that’s true…?”

“Stop talking nonsense and sit over there.”

“Okay!”

It was as if he couldn’t even see my look of disgust.

Reysir beamed as he changed into the slippers and sat in the chair I pointed out.

I had to move the chair belonging to my desk over to the table to sit.

Since I had never anticipated having guests in this room, there was only one chair at the tea table.

Furthermore, Yor did not simply sit in a chair.

Occupying a chair outside was purely for the sake of claiming that space.

Since his default state was floating in the air, sometimes a chair was actually more of a nuisance.

‘By the way, is the table too small…?’

Once the lunch for three was spread out on the one-person tea table that Karbaldr used alone, there wasn’t even enough room for water glasses.

I didn’t think I would ever invite someone to this room again.

Still, since Yor used this table frequently, I should replace it with something larger and sturdier in the near future.

“Reysir, enjoy your meal. Yor, you too.”

“…You eat well too, or whatever.”

Meow!

The lunch Reysir bought was a hearty set featuring cheese ragu pasta as the main dish, accompanied by various sides and desserts.

The lunch containers were disposable items made of polypropylene (PP).

Did this mean the original author was not describing this scene?

Or did it happen because they intended to describe it but had no intention of mentioning the material of the containers?

‘……Let’s stop thinking about this. If I doubt every single daily item I see, I’ll develop a nervous disorder. Honestly, don’t I already feel like I’m slightly on the edge?’

What mattered to me right now was not whether I was being observed by Author Senna.

It was whether Reysir was being manipulated by that person’s will.

To find out, I had to ask why he hadn’t been persistent today……

‘Is there any way to ask this that won’t sound strange?’

I thought deeply about how to bring it up naturally to test him, but the more I thought, the more I concluded there was no answer.

Perhaps because of that, my expression stiffened without me realizing it.

“What’s wrong…? Does it taste bad?”

Reysir scanned my face with a serious expression.

If I said yes now, he looked ready to bolt outside and buy something new immediately.

“No, I am enjoying it, so don’t worry about it.”

“Really? You’re not just forcing yourself to eat it for my sake even though it doesn’t suit your taste?”

“Why would I go that far to cater to your feelings?”

“Because you’re kind, Karbaldr.”

“Stop talking nonsense, eat quickly, and leave.”

“I have to leave as soon as I finish this? Then I’ll have to eat as slowly as possible.”

Saying so, Reysir moved the hand holding his fork slowly, as if he had become a sloth.

That playful behavior looked quite ridiculous.

However, what came out of my mouth was not laughter, but a complaint.

“You acted so indifferent earlier, as if you didn’t even want to come into my room…….”

It was a disaster caused by my repeated worrying about how to bring up the fact that the Protagonist of Another Novel was acting strangely today.

Belatedly realizing my mistake, I covered my mouth with my palm.

But there was no way to take back the words I had already spat out.

Reysir stared at me with a startled expression.

Even though Yor tapped his own forehead with a paw and shook his head, showing off his cuteness, Reysir’s gaze remained fixed on my face.

Blink, blink.

How many times did those golden eyes disappear and reappear behind his eyelids?

A sense of crisis washed over me, making me feel like I had to say something.

I didn’t know what to say, but I felt that way nonetheless.

“D — Don’t misunderstand…! It’s not like I particularly felt disappointed!”

“Then what is it?”

“I was just a little anxious…. No, is it stranger to put it that way?”

“Pfft!”

Finally, Reysir’s gaze broke away from my face.

But I wasn’t happy or relieved at all.

Because he turned his body to the side, hunched over, and laughed until he was out of breath.

“It’s… it’s because you acted differently than usual! Every single time, you were looking for a chance to get close to me, trying to dig your way in if there was even a small gap. But when a good timing to enter my room came, you just tried to walk away. Isn’t that bizarre no matter how you think about it? So, it just felt so unfamiliar….”

The more I spoke, the more pathetic I felt, and while embarrassment flooded in, I also felt a surge of unfairness and sorrow.

‘You don’t even know what I was afraid of or why I felt anxious. And you probably never will…’

I knew it couldn’t be helped, but it still felt so heartless.

When I stopped speaking and went back to nibbling on the lunch box, Reysir slighly raised his upper body and checked my reaction.

A look of bewilderment was clear on his face.

“So, that means… you were worried because my behavior was different from usual… right…?”

“Doesn’t that sort of thing not matter anyway?”

“How is this not important? Why wouldn’t it matter?”

“Fine, just explain why you acted that way.”

Unaware of my inner feelings, Reysir wore a pleased smile.

That was so irritating that I pointlessly kicked his leg and acted cranky.

Only then did he clear his throat and wipe the smile from his face.

“It’s not that I didn’t intend to enter your room; I just didn’t intend to eat.”

“…What does that mean?”

“When I ordered this lunch, the others were nearby. So I ordered lunch for three, including mine, but I didn’t have much of an appetite. If you had asked me to come in and eat together, I would have been willing to eat because I didn’t want to miss that chance… but if not, well…, why bother?”

Reysir spoke and averted his eyes with an awkward expression.

He didn’t look like he was lying.

It was clearly the reaction of someone who had tried to act like he was fine, but was embarrassed because that pretense had been stripped away.

‘Come to think of it, this guy, Reysir… like a protagonist of a webnovel written by a Korean, he cares a lot about others’ meals. But when he’s feeling down and no one is around, he’s a protagonist of the Angst Genre who often skips meals or eats poorly…?’

Even if a remake was in progress, such character traits wouldn’t just disappear.

Perhaps even the answer Reysir just gave was a pretext squeezed out by the original author, but…

“Then what about now? Do you still have no appetite, and you’re just forcing yourself to eat?”

“No! My appetite is overflowing, and I’m enjoying this so much I wonder why I didn’t want to eat it! My mood has improved tremendously thanks to you. So you don’t have to worry anymore.”

At least this kind of response wouldn’t have been something Author Senna planned.

Thinking so put my mind at ease.

“…Then fine.”

“What about you? You seem to be in a better state now….”

“I’m fine thanks to Yor, so there is nothing to worry about.”

“As expected, cats are healing.”

“……”

Why was it?

The reason I felt like the ‘cat’ Reysir was referring to wasn’t Yor.

‘No, of course, Yor is a dragon, not a cat… but still.’

I wanted to demand what he meant by that previous statement.

But since I didn’t know what I would hear if I did, I decided to ignore it and move on.

“Ah, right. I heard this from Professor Dyuf, but it seems the professors only received the agenda regarding the ‘Awakened Special Class’ the day before yesterday.”

Reysir brought up a new topic as we resumed eating.

Come to think of it, Hailga looked ready to go straight to her father to argue as soon as the orientation was over.

It seemed Reysir had followed Hailga and met Dyuf as well.

“There are some ‘newly arrived’ professors brought in specifically to teach the ‘Awakened’ students because they are ‘Awakened’ themselves… and apparently, they thought the students already knew about the Special Class.”

Dyuf, who was appointed as a regular professor but Awakened one week ago.

Skadi, who had Awakened long ago but was originally part of the Academy.

And Professor Radbisin, who hadn’t even Awakened in the first place.

It meant these three and the other regular professors had only learned of the Special Class’s existence the day before yesterday.

The plan to ‘search out’ students who had Awakened using the ‘Awakened Identifier’ and forcibly put them into the Special Class.

Even the professors who knew about the Awakened Special Class beforehand were unaware of that fact.

I suspected they learned of it along with the other professors when they were briefed the day before yesterday.

“That’s likely the case. If it became known that the professors knew everything from the start and kept quiet, the students forced into the Special Class wouldn’t be able to trust them.”

“Does that mean…, it wasn’t just to ‘maintain secrecy’ that they kept it from the professors…?”

“At least, that is what I think. So the professors can pity the students, and the students can trust and rely on those professors to build their skills. They intentionally informed the professors just before the start of the semester.”

Whether outside or inside the work, there was no benefit to having the ‘hostility’ of the readers and the protagonist dispersed all over the place.

While there was the advantage of enriching the story by broadening the scope of conflict.

A disadvantage existed that was large enough to more than overshadow it.

The true enemy was elsewhere.

If readers frequently saw scenes where people who were practically allies clashed, they would easily feel frustrated and fatigued.

And the protagonist would inevitably lose their sense of purpose and wander.

That was why I was certain.

‘The original author must have intentionally created this situation so that all animosity and dissatisfaction would be concentrated on the Imperial Family!’