After stroking Yor and engaging in trivial small talk with the protagonist of another novel, it was finally time to leave the room.
Consequently, just as I stood up to tidy the place, the protagonist of another novel suddenly spoke up.
“Karbaldr. Since Yor and I will handle the cleaning, wouldn’t it be better if you did something about your hair?”
“What do you mean by…”
I started to retort but paused.
A realization had belatedly struck me.
‘Come to think of it, I was lying on the floor…?’
As soon as I realized this, I hurried over to the full-length mirror.
The reflection staring back at me was the very definition of a mess.
My clothes were anything but neat, and my hair was a wild, tangled thicket.
“Why didn’t you say anything after seeing me in this state…?”
“Because it’s a rare sight. I wanted to get a good look while I could.”
What on earth was he talking about with such a serious face?
I glared at Reysir with a look of disgust for a moment before shifting my gaze to Yor.
Even if the protagonist of another novel was like that, I couldn’t believe my baby dragon had seen me like this and said nothing.
In response to my questioning look, Yor took out a whiteboard and wrote.
[Thought you knew]
“You thought I already knew? Well, if that’s the reason…”
“Karbaldr, you… you’re really generous toward Yor, aren’t you?”
Reysir said something, but it wasn’t worth listening to.
I ignored him and tried fixing my hair with my hands, but it wasn’t a level that could be fixed so easily.
There wasn’t enough time to wash it, and because of the nature of curly hair, brushing it dry would make the stray hairs fly everywhere as if I’d been hit by an explosion.
The condition would only worsen.
‘In times like this… braiding it is the answer, right?’
Since I had to brush my teeth anyway, I decided to fix my hair in the bathroom.
When I finished my business and stepped out, Reysir, seeing the possession body’s hair braided into a single tail, started talking nonsense.
“Oh? You grew a tail.”
Responding would clearly lead to further teasing.
Therefore, I replied with something else.
“Don’t you need to brush your teeth?”
“Can I borrow the bathroom? And if you have a spare toothbrush, that too.”
“……”
I had expected him to scurry back to his own room in realization, but Reysir was bolder than I thought.
It was absurd, but unfortunately, I had no reason to refuse.
A son of a Dukedom couldn’t be petty over a single toothbrush, and it would be against etiquette to deny a formally invited guest the use of a bathroom.
Moreover, I was the one who brought up brushing teeth first.
Inevitably, I handed Reysir a spare toothbrush and sent him into the bathroom with Yor.
While they attended to their dental hygiene, I quickly stripped off my wrinkled clothes and changed into a spare school uniform.
“You changed your uniform already? Living as a young master of a prestigious family must be quite tiring.”
“Hmph.”
That didn’t require an answer.
I gave a light snort, put on my jacket, and focused on tying my tie and straightening my appearance.
Reysir watched me through the mirror for a moment before speaking.
“Anyway, there certainly is a sense of comfort that comes from a familiar space. Your attitude toward me is softer today, and you’ve said things you normally wouldn’t.”
He didn’t have his usual mischievous grin; instead, he spoke with a gentle smile.
“Actually, I was planning to comfort you if you were having a hard time. But instead, I’m the one who feels energized. Today’s conversation was truly enjoyable. Thank you for letting me into your personal space, and I hope you’ll invite me again next time.”
“……”
“Or you could come over to my room.”
“……….”
The expression of the possession body reflected in the mirror seemed strangely excited.
I pretended not to notice and turned toward the door.
As I put on my shoes and opened the door, a low chuckle came from behind me.
‘Sure, laugh all you want. They say laughter brings happiness, so if you keep laughing every day, maybe the ending of this novel will reach a happy conclusion.’
Even as we left the dormitory and headed toward the Seminar Hall, Reysir’s face was bright with smiles.
However, from the moment he stepped into Seminar Room 1, he could no longer smile.
The atmosphere simply didn’t allow for it.
‘I suppose… Reysir and I enjoyed some peaceful time, but the others wouldn’t have been able to relieve their anxiety at all.’
Even though five people had arrived before us, the seminar room was filled with a deathly silence.
Hailga’s complexion was incredibly dark, and Vigdis stood beside her with a worried expression, looking unsure of what to do.
Liolikin looked as if he were about to cry from fear.
Compared to them, the state of the two freshmen was quite good.
Since they had entered through a special admission, they likely expected that awakened students would be managed separately.
Svein, the traitor of the original work, was frozen in place, sensing that the atmosphere among his seniors was unusual.
Pret, with a tense face like his peer, was darting his eyes around as if he were being cautious, but he was likely observing everyone as the heir of an Information Guild should.
‘Are Fjodra and the Librarian Club Member not here yet?’
After checking the headcount, I wondered where I should sit.
It had been revealed that the original author was still pulling the strings of the plot.
I realized that, excluding Reysir, who was Senna’s protagonist, the people here could not completely escape the noose of death.
‘Until recently, Reysir was the top person to avoid… but the situation has flipped.’
After a short deliberation, I sat down next to the person I thought would die later than Karbaldr.
Immediately, that person spoke to me as if they had been waiting.
“Welcome, Kar. I was worried because you didn’t look well when I saw you in the auditorium earlier, but I’m glad to see you look better now.”
“It’s thanks to Yor.”
“Was Reysir’s visit not helpful…?”
In the original work before the remake, Vigdis fell in love with Reysir and died while sacrificing her life to protect him.
That was a narrative that couldn’t be used while her fiancé, Karbaldr, was still alive.
Especially now, since Reysir deeply trusted me in Karbaldr’s body, such a development would only cause repulsion for the readers instead of touching their hearts.
‘On the other hand, what if Karbaldr dies first?’
Not only could there be a scene where Reysir comforts Vigdis after she loses her fiancé, leading to a rapid closeness, but there could also be a salvation episode where Reysir steps in to stop her family from forcing her into a marriage with some wealthy, old noble.
I couldn’t be certain it would happen, so I couldn’t let my guard down, but she probably wouldn’t die before I did.
‘Looking at it another way, if I hold on without dying, there’s a high chance those with lower death priorities will also survive.’
It was a small silver lining.
But the scale of the misfortune was so great that I couldn’t feel truly relieved.
“That’s right. When I went there with a lunch box, he had already recovered his energy.”
“And yet you stayed together until this time?”
“Yes. Karbaldr invited me to his room. Moreover, Yor served me a special drink he made himself.”
“…”
Hidden joy could be heard in Reysir’s voice as he answered Vigdis’s question.
He seemed to be trying not to show it, but the bragging tone was evident.
“I’m so jealous… Had I known, I would have gone. I stepped back because I wasn’t confident in my ability to comfort him…”
Even while trembling with anxiety over the Awakened Special Class, Liolikin expressed his deep envy and regret.
I had no intention of ever letting Liolikin into my room.
I didn’t know where he got the confidence to say such things.
‘Anyway… I wonder if Liolikin will also die later than me? The narrative of a protagonist calming and gaining control over a berserker who has lost his reason to solve a battle would be quite an interesting development.’
On the other hand.
“You really… seem to have had a lot of fun, despite the situation.”
Hailga looked at the original protagonist with a look of disbelief.
She truly looked as if she could die at any moment.
If she died, Reysir’s mental state would become unstable, so I should help her as much as possible if she looked to be in danger.
However, just in case, I should keep a proper distance and remain on formal terms as I was now.
“It wasn’t just playing around. we discussed many things regarding this situation.”
“What things?”
“Like speculations on why the Academy’s top brass hid the matter of the Awakened Special Class from the professors and only explained it right before the start of the semester.”
Perhaps he thought he should be careful with his words in a place where many people were gathered?
Reysir used the vague term ‘Academy’s top brass’ instead of explicitly mentioning the Imperial Family.
“So, what conclusion did you reach?”
“If the students don’t trust the faculty…”
In response to Hailga’s question, Reysir explained what I had said earlier, but left out the criticism of the Imperial Family.
He also didn’t mention the part about the First Imperial Princess, Fjodra, likely being the one who intervened and adjusted things.
It was probably because it wasn’t certain yet, and there was nothing to gain from speaking carelessly about the Imperial Family.
“I suppose… that makes sense. Even for me, the thought that my father was hiding the Awakened Special Class from me made me very angry and feel betrayed. If the faculty had been complicit in forcibly training students and pushing them into the Demonic Realm, there would have been frequent conflicts.”
Once Reysir finished his explanation, Hailga nodded and spoke.
Her lines seemed to neatly summarize the point so everyone present could understand.
Just as that thought crossed my mind—
Screeeech.
The seminar room door, which had opened smoothly when Reysir and I entered, slowly slid open with an eerie sound.
The person who appeared, creating a gloomy atmosphere, was the Librarian Club Member.
Just how much did she not want to come?
Her appearance as she dragged her feet and walked in slowly with a miserable face reminded me of a cow being dragged to a slaughterhouse.
I happened to check the clock and saw that she had narrowly avoided being late.
Whether she knew everyone’s eyes were on her or not, she didn’t even look around.
She went to the back seat, slumped down, and buried her face on the desk.
She looked as if she were shouting to the world, ‘I am currently very lethargic and in despair.’
Just as the atmosphere was about to sink back into a heavy silence because of her, Reysir stood up and approached her.