“By the way, that’s really unexpected! I never thought you’d have that side to you…”
“W-wait, wait, wait!”
‘Was I just too flustered?’
Without realizing it, I stammered and hurriedly cut off Reysir’s words.
Then I took a deep breath once again, trying to calm my unsettled heart.
‘Stay calm. They say even if the sky falls, there’s always a way out, right? So there must be some way even if my character’s personality collapses!’
First, I decided to review Karvald Austri’s existing image.
He’s a thug with a terrible temper.
And although Yor’s true form is that of a dragon, the people of this world perceive him as a cat…
‘A thug character who’s only kind to a cat? That’s a classic cliché with a long tradition, isn’t it?’
In that sense, this situation could actually be an opportunity to strengthen the character.
I wondered what he was trying to achieve by appealing to the Original Protagonist, who should be distanced, as “someone harsh to people but kind to small animals like cats.”
‘Still, it’s much better than being suspected of having a shattered identity due to character collapse.’
Anyway, having decided on the concept I wanted to push forward, now it was time to show it through actions.
The reaction of the thug character caught being kind to a cat.
“…Did you say you followed me because you were worried? Someone like you?”
Brushing my bangs aside, I shifted the topic with an extremely condescending tone.
As if I had never been caught in a character collapse before.
As I expected, Reysir wouldn’t just go along with this act and would definitely challenge me.
“Are you trying to change the subject because you’re embarrassed?”
I knew it.
He had even pointed out when I mistakenly used the ending ‘~nya’ before.
I expected he wouldn’t just let it slide this time either.
“Ugh..! Q-quiet…!!”
To act out a classic character, the lines and reactions must also be classic.
I deliberately jerked my body to show my embarrassment and shouted sharply.
I was acting as if I was angry to cover up my shameful moment that I didn’t want others to see.
‘This is genuinely embarrassing and shameful!’
My face flushed hot.
Though unintentional, since my face color changed, it would be impossible not to suspect this was an act.
“Ahaha! What on earth are you so embarrassed about?”
Reysir’s expression when he asked looked less like he wanted the answer and more like he just wanted to tease me.
It was a playful look fitting for his age, but also a rare sight that wasn’t often seen in the original story.
So a dull emotion washed over me.
‘Thanks to possessing Karvald Austri, I escaped his bullying, but when I lose my childhood friend at the Graduation Ceremony, I’ll probably sink into gloom for a while to recover. Then, as I barely find laughter again, others around me will die repeatedly…’
‘Reysir will lose his smile and become a person far from playful.’
‘Knowing this, instead of reaching out a helping hand, I clenched my lips and furrowed my brows, forcing an angry expression to hide my sorrow.’
“You and I aren’t close enough to be joking around like that, are we?”
“I just thought you looked good relaxed, unlike usual. How about talking kindly to people, like you do with Familiars? If you do that, people’s opinions about you might improve…”
“That’s none of your concern.”
I didn’t understand why he worried about me like this.
I was the one turning my eyes away from Reysir’s inevitable misfortune, trying to run away from it alone.
I couldn’t even argue against being called cowardly for this.
“I know I’m meddling too much in other people’s business…”
“If you know that, then stop. You chose the wrong person to worry about from the start. I’ll continue my comfortable Academy life backed by the power of the Dukedom, without caring about others’ opinions. But the future of the one who knelt before me earlier is so dark it’s pitch black. If you want to pity someone, go to that person.”
Before Reysir could add any reason, I quickly cut off his words with sarcasm.
Still, I couldn’t stop what was coming from Reysir’s mouth.
“If you hate that I’m so concerned about you, then you shouldn’t have made me care in the first place!!”
I intended to tease him to upset him, but I didn’t expect him to suddenly shout like that.
This time, I really flinched—not acting.
Then suddenly I worried, ‘What if people come running over after hearing that?’ and reflexively glanced around.
“You said you don’t care about others’ opinions? So why are you looking around like that?”
“……”
Fortunately, no onlookers had gathered yet, but it was hardly a situation to be relieved about.
Looking around was a mistake.
I had fallen right into the Original Protagonist’s trap.
Realizing this, I couldn’t undo my past action, so I could only keep up my angry act, clenching my fists tightly.
“I wasn’t there from the beginning, so I don’t know what was said before. But I saw you when you entered the dorm lobby. You were hiding behind a pillar, looking pale.”
“You saw that…?”
Even after making such a mistake, I couldn’t compose myself and showed signs of distress.
‘How ironically convenient!’
It was maddening that the moment I was caught in character collapse was exactly when Reysir entered the lobby and saw me!
‘The shock I felt then was because of the forced setting values of this world—chills running down my spine—not because I was hurt by the extras’ chatter!’
Of course, I couldn’t tell the Original Protagonist such things.
So I had to silently accept this absurd misunderstanding.
“Yeah, I saw. You must have heard some pretty harsh words. That’s why you even said you were shocked, right?”
If saying “The Familiar’s body is long because it’s used as a whip” is harsh, then sure, that’s harsh.
But the “harsh words” Reysir was thinking of weren’t that.
He was convinced that extras insulted me and laughed at me.
“What’s your intention behind saying that? You were ignored and mocked, so you’re curious how it feels?”
“Why twist it like that? I told you I followed because I was worried.”
I tried to mockingly distort his intention, but it was useless.
Reysir looked at me with straightforward eyes and spoke earnestly.
“Now that I look at you, it seems like you’re trying to get hated on purpose, but at the same time, you seem afraid of getting hurt. Why are you like that?”
An accurate analysis.
‘Or maybe I wasn’t able to perfectly hide my true intention, so he noticed.’
“……”
I hesitated to part my lips, not knowing what to say.
But the hesitation didn’t last long.
Along with murmurs from below came the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs.
“This is the last time I’ll tolerate your presumptuous words.”
If I kept talking like this, it would only become another spectacle.
So, with those words, I turned around to end the conversation.
Reysir didn’t chase after me or try to stop me as I headed toward my room, as if he had no intention to embarrass me in front of others.
Instead…
“Karvald Austri! Happy birthday! And congratulations on gaining a Familiar friend who truly cherishes you over there!”
“Congratulations!!”
Reysir stood still and shouted those words.
I hadn’t expected to hear such things from him, so I stopped walking without realizing it.
Still, I barely held back from turning around and forced myself to take another step forward.
‘Is this because he’s a web novel protagonist? He’s stubborn to a fault and has an incredible sense of meddling.’
As I mentioned before, I thought Reysir’s character was similar to mine.
That was both arrogance and a haughty misconception.
Reysir and I are nothing alike.
‘If Reysir were in my position, he wouldn’t ignore others’ inevitable misfortunes like I do. He’d try to help no matter what, even if it put him in danger!’
My steps felt heavy.
With every step I took, guilt seemed to pile up.
“Myaaah…”
Yor let out a worried cry, circling around me.
I couldn’t respond to him.
Right now, just moving was exhausting.
Eventually, I barely made it to my room and only caught my breath after closing the door.
“Yor, am I really doing the right thing?”
“Meow, nyao, nyanyang, nyanyanyat-, myaah, myamya-!”
“Sorry, but I can’t understand a word you’re saying…”
“Mya, maw…!”
Yor let out a sound mixed with confusion and twisted his long body in the air.
As if he couldn’t stay still, not knowing what to do.
If Yor were an animal with feet on the ground, I think he would have stomped in place.
I watched the baby dragon for a moment, then took off my shoes, slipped on slippers, and squatted on the floor.
I knew it was a pathetic posture.
I couldn’t lie down on my bed in my outdoor clothes, and right now, I didn’t even have the strength to change.
‘This is the time when I shouldn’t just stay still. I should do something…!’
As I curled up, drowning in self-pity, I heard a rustling sound.
Curious, but unable to raise my head.
I was too ashamed to face Yor.
“Yaoong~!”
Yor let out a long cry and dropped something right in front of me.
I guessed he wanted me to look at whatever it was.
I shifted my posture quietly and checked the object Yor dropped.
‘A notebook…?’
More precisely, a spiral notebook.
So even though it fell on the floor, the pages didn’t flip on their own, and the page Yor opened was clearly visible.
On it, large letters were written carefully but crookedly, like a young child awkwardly holding a pencil and pressing hard.
[Protagonist?]
The handwriting in the notebook was neither mine nor Karvald Austri’s.
So there was only one answer.
Startled, I lifted my head and saw Yor clutching a pen.
“…You can write letters too?!”
I briefly remembered the miscommunication mishap in the training ground.
But this was a much quicker solution.
In terms of novel volume, this could easily fill eight chapters, but in reality, Yor was less than 24 hours old.
Not sure if this is the author or the translation but it feels like it wants me to feel sorry for him but it’s just not coming across. I feel like it tells too much and doesn’t just show it to me. I saw some hope there with the decrease in fourth wall breaks but now I don’t know….