“Stop!”

At the same time, someone grabbed her waist and pulled her forcefully inward.

All those moments flowed slowly. As her body turned, she saw the person holding her waist.

Pitch-black hair like the night sky and silver-gray eyes revealed underneath.

“……Duke Lancaster?”

“What are you doing right now?”

Ian Lancaster. The protagonist of this vast world. He stared at Summer with a fierce intensity.

“Well, as you can see.”

Summer blinked her eyes as if asking what the problem was.

Ah. While this action for Summer herself was returning to her original world, to others’ eyes she must look like a crazy person trying to jump to her death. A belated realization came over her.

No, more than that.

“Why are you here, Duke?”

Clearly at the banquet, she couldn’t even approach the protagonists due to an invisible barrier.

Shouldn’t the male protagonist be having a conversation with Julian on the terrace right now?

“I should be the one asking why a young lady who was just devouring all the food in the banquet hall is now trying to do something insane.”

“I have some business. I wasn’t really trying to die.”

“No one has ever survived falling from this tower, Lady Lindsey.”

The Duke replied coldly while pulling Summer further away from the window.

Summer roughly shook off the Duke’s hand, feeling anxious as her plan was disrupted.

“This is none of your concern, Duke.”

“Why here of all places?”

“Pardon?”

The Duke’s voice lowered. Summer was taken aback by his dark expression.

“I asked why here, of all the many places to die.”

“Because you can see the entire imperial palace, but there are few people around.”

“……”

The Duke remained silent. He just watched Summer with cold gray eyes for a long while.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, it was Summer who spoke first.

“If we’re done talking, please go back.”

“Well. It is a famous story, I suppose.”

Summer frowned at the Duke’s words. It felt like they were having two different conversations.

“Suddenly? I’m sorry, but I’m not very interested in outside stories.”

Not knowing them since I’m possessing this body.

But Duke Ian Lancaster didn’t seem to believe her at all. He let out a cold laugh, his face full of certainty.

“If your goal was to attract attention, you’ve succeeded.”

“How arrogant of you.”

“Arrogant? Then tell me the reason you’re here, my lady.”

“……”

Summer couldn’t answer. To explain, she’d have to talk about possession and witches.

Misinterpreting Summer’s attitude, Ian Lancaster’s face twisted angrily.

“Do you want attention so badly that you’d poke at others’ wounds? Even if I say I despise and loathe you?”

His eyes looked as if they were seeing something truly detestable.

At this point, Summer also felt something was off and racked her brain. Wound. Attention. Loathing. The fragmented words pierced her mind.

One thing was clear – her actions had reopened his wounds.

Summer immediately bowed her waist and spoke solemnly.

“If my actions reopened your wounds, I sincerely apologize. But that truly wasn’t my intention. I only met you for the first time at this banquet, and I’m not in love with you.”

However, even with Summer’s apology, Ian Lancaster’s expression didn’t soften.

“That technique has already been used by another lady. I’m not a fool who repeats the same mistake twice.”

“Ha, you’re not listening at all.”

“You’ve gotten enough attention, so go back down, Lady Lindsey.”

A sigh escaped Summer’s lips.

She felt frustrated. There’s nothing more unfair and exasperating than being misunderstood.

“The delusion that everyone in the world would like you. Haha, how absurd. The Duke and I are completely unrelated people, so please, I beg you, go down those stairs. Okay?”

Summer snapped, unable to hold back any longer.

The banquet had started and Summer’s soul had appeared, so all that was left was to quickly return to her original world.

Yet the male protagonist, who had been unreachable until now, was interfering.

Summer turned her body abruptly and put her knee back on the windowsill. Once again, the Duke’s firm hand grabbed her wrist.

The Duke’s eyes wavered.

“If you fall from this tower, you absolutely cannot survive.”

“I know. That’s why I’m trying to fall! Without pain! All at once!”

Really, no matter what, she had wanted to end her last moments in this world with a smile and on a good note. But that smooth-faced Duke ruined it all.

Once her irritation started, her emotions became uncontrollable.

Summer shouted fiercely, tears falling drop by drop.

“Please! Can’t you just leave me alone? You can just ignore me. I really have no interest in you, Duke, so go to the banquet hall and smile at those pitiful ladies who would hang themselves for you.”

However, Duke Lancaster pulled Summer down again, with even more force. His eyes were filled with confusion.

“Why are you trying to die? And from this tower, of all places.”

“Why are you really interfering!”

“…What?”

“Do you know how relieved I felt climbing this tower? Do you know how! How happy I was looking down from up here! I thought it was all over, so why are you appearing now to interfere!”

I know. To Duke Lancaster’s eyes, Summer Lindsey is just a crazy lady.

Still, having come face to face like this, I couldn’t bear not to speak my mind.

While Summer was breathing roughly with agitation, Duke Lancaster stood there looking a bit dumbfounded.

After a long while, a low and firm voice flowed from his lips.

“Unless you’re an enemy, I can’t let you die. Summer Lindsey. Let’s go back.”

“…You know my name?”

For a moment, a tingling sensation like an electric shock ran through her entire body.

The original protagonist knows Summer Lindsey. The moment her name left the protagonist’s lips, Summer saw the invisible wall blocking her shake.

This was bad. The protagonist had more powerful authority in this world than she thought.

The author is led by the character. Such words suddenly came to mind.

“You’ll need this to go down first.”

Duke Lancaster took off his blue jacket and draped it over Summer’s shoulders. Summer stared at him blankly.

It was ruined. Completely ruined, to the point where she had nothing to say. The more she was recognized by the protagonist, the more she seemed to blend into this book.

That meant it would become increasingly difficult to return to her original world.

It was already at the point where she couldn’t remember her name in reality.

Once again, fear began to creep up from her feet. After losing her name, could she lose her soul too?

“Summer Lindsey? Get a hold of yourself.”

“…Ah.”

Summer blinked her eyes belatedly.

Duke Lancaster awkwardly placed Summer’s hand on his arm and explained.

“It might be unpleasant, but this will be better. Many will find it suspicious that you’ve taken off your dress.”

“Duke.”

Summer’s voice sounded clear enough to seem naive.

“What is it?”

“Do you think I, who was about to fall from the tower, would care about such reputation?”

Duke Lancaster had met all sorts of people. Nobles were truly a dirty, diverse bunch.

Even he wasn’t much different.

He had been covered in the blood of enemies and allies on the battlefield. He had eliminated forces trying to assassinate him. He had even taken the lives of brothers he had known since childhood.

Duke Lancaster looked back at Summer, who was looking up at him with clear blue eyes, pure as ever.

In his life, this was the first time he had met such a clear-eyed lunatic.

“Truly, how strange.”

It was his way of softening his true thoughts that she was properly mad, even for a madwoman.

“Then, I’ll be going.”

Summer flicked off the jacket placed on her shoulders with her fingertips. The golden tassels fluttered in the air before falling limply to the floor.

Summer walked down the stairs, thinking about her next plan.

Her descending footsteps felt heavy. She had wanted to end it all today, but the handsome-faced male lead had ruined everything.

“Duke. You have quite an unusual hobby, don’t you?”

Summer, who was thinking of taking a stroll in the deserted garden after coming down from the tower, suddenly stopped and turned around.

Even after coming down from the tower, the Duke was persistently following behind Summer.

“Because I don’t know what you might do.”

“Wow. You’re completely treating me like a crazy person.”

Summer openly mocked him. Duke Lancaster also furrowed his brow and raised an eyebrow.

“As long as I’m a witness, I can’t just leave you alone. Cooperate quietly.”

“Is this a threat?”

“I thought this would work better on you.”

“Hmm. I suppose. Dying by your hand would be a bit unpleasant.”

Summer readily agreed and waved her arm. It was a gesture urging him to lead the way.

Duke Lancaster let out a laugh mixed with bewilderment and lightly picked Summer up.

“What are you doing!”

Summer fluttered her body in resistance. However, Ian Lancaster hid her face with his outer garment and headed towards the main gate.

Duke Lancaster called for his carriage right away.

And so Summer ended up riding in the same carriage as the male protagonist.

Duke Lancaster opened the window and looked outside, while Summer watched him.

His side profile, seemingly lost in thought, certainly possessed the aura of a protagonist.

“All that glitters is not gold.”

“Are you talking about me by any chance?”

“If I say yes, are you going to kill me?”

Duke Lancaster’s expression crumpled.

In the tense atmosphere, only Summer, the cause of all this, blinked with a calm face.

“I don’t… kill people recklessly.”

Somehow, Duke Lancaster felt like a wolf caught in the rain.

“I know. It’s just that, originally, extras die quickly, don’t they?”

“Extras?”

“Yes. Beings that are no more significant than a speck of dust in the world.”

Summer said self-deprecatingly as she threw her gaze out the window.

Extras die easily. And the audience doesn’t think much of it.

Strangely, that fact felt a little sad.

“Seeing you even engage in self-deprecation, it really seems I need to keep an eye on you.”

“I’m telling you, I wasn’t really trying to die earlier!”

Summer shouted energetically again at Duke Lancaster’s words. The male protagonist had quite a talent for getting on people’s nerves.

Fortunately, the carriage soon stopped in front of the Lindsey Count’s residence.

“My lady.”

“Yes?”

Summer, who was hopping out of the carriage, turned around at the call.

Moonlight shattered on his dazzling golden hair.

His piercingly blue eyes held no emotion, making him look almost innocent.

Duke Lancaster insisted on putting his jacket back on Summer, which she had taken off. This time, he even secured it firmly with a pin.

Lowering his gaze slightly and removing the heavy decorations on the jacket draped over Summer’s shoulders, Duke Lancaster opened his mouth.

“Try loving someone.”