“Is it okay?”

“It’s okay. Seongha, see you later then.”

“Please be careful on your way back.”

It was a brief, meaningless greeting. Summer looked at the excited face of the Pope and then turned away.

It seemed like quite some time had passed, but the coachman was still waiting in the same spot for Summer.

“I’m late. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, miss. This is my job.”

The coachman comforted Summer, who was apologizing, and took the reins to drive the carriage.

When Summer opened the window, a cool breeze stung her nose.

“Isn’t it nice to go out at night sometimes, miss?”

“I guess so. It’s quiet, and the stars are pretty.”

“Whenever you want to go out, just call for me.”

“……Thank you.”

After Summer’s brief words of gratitude, only silence lingered in the carriage.

It didn’t seem like they had traveled far, but the carriage soon stopped in front of the Lindsey mansion.

Summer didn’t get out right away, hesitating a bit. Then, gripping the hem of her dress with both hands on her lap, she began to speak.

“Um… may I ask you one thing?”

“Of course, miss.”

“If I were to really… disappear from this world, do you think grandfather would be sad?”

The coachman was silent for a while after Summer’s question. As if carefully choosing his words.

As the sound of insects faded, the coachman very cautiously opened his mouth.

“If it’s a farewell, he will be able to live on. This old man is still alive despite having experienced many farewells.”

“……”

“But if you were to disappear from this world, miss, I think that would be very sad.”

“I see……”

Summer responded in a barely audible voice and lowered her head. She felt empty, too confused.

Amidst her jumbled thoughts, one idea struck like lightning.

What have I been doing all this time? Summer buried her tired face in her hands.

The coachman looked at Summer with her face buried in her hands, his eyes drooping.

As if reminiscing about some distant memory.

“Please don’t disappear. I’ll say this as this old man’s last request.”

“……Yes.”

Summer got out of the carriage, staggering severely. The coachman approached to help, but Summer refused with a forced smile.

Was the mansion always this big and wide? It felt like it took a long time to reach her room.

When the door opened and the familiar sight of her room appeared, strangely, the tension eased and the emotions she had been suppressing at the bottom burst out.

“Ugh, hic……”

Leaning against the door, Summer let out a sorrowful cry. But no tears came from her dry eyes.

Summer repeatedly rubbed her parched eyes. As if tears were flowing.

“I’m scared…… I’m so scared……”

At the temple, Summer had clearly seen Selena. And Summer wanted to vomit at the sight she had seen.

She was frightened and scared. Anxious and precarious.

Nothing was clear.

“Hey. Black hair. Why are you so late?”

Unfortunately, Fei leisurely came in through the open window and observed Summer’s complexion.

Seeing the reddened eyes from constant rubbing, Fei’s first thought was that she had stumbled upon something bad.

“Are you crying?”

“I’m not crying.”

There was no energy at all in Summer’s voice. Fei, seemingly unconcerned, hopped onto the table and spoke while spinning around.

“Well, whatever. I brought bad news, but it would be awkward to tell you if you’re crying.”

“……What news?”

“Hmm, you’ve gotten closer to the protagonists again, right?”

“Haha…… Yes. That’s right. I’ve gotten closer.”

Summer burst into a bitter laugh at Fei’s question. The closer she got to the protagonists, the faster she assimilated into this world.

On top of that, whenever she tried to die, the protagonists would appear out of nowhere to stop her. And yet, the world still wouldn’t make Summer a protagonist even if she were about to die.

An eternal supporting character. Ah, I can’t escape after all. Summer chuckled self-deprecatingly.

If she dies, the protagonists are mobilized to prevent it, but trying to live is terrible.

Summer clutched her head with both hands. The beautiful golden hair was miserably crushed under her fingers.

Fei waited until Summer calmed down before uttering the most important words.

“Ten days.”

“……”

“Ten days, I said. The time given to you.”

Ten days. Ten whole days left. Summer exhaled as if in dismay.

Time was moving unbearably slowly. To the point where she wanted to surrender herself to the incoming tidal wave and not care anymore.

Summer staggered over to stand in front of Fei. Only then did Fei also tense up, gauging Summer’s mood.

“Fei. Let me ask you one thing.”

“What.”

“I’m the first, right?”

“……What?”

Fei’s purple eyes shook violently. It was an expression of trying to gauge how much she knew and was asking about.

Summer, with a look as if dissecting each of Fei’s expressions, asked again without blinking, her eyes wide open.

“An outsider who fell into this world. I’m the first, right?”

“……”

Ah. You won’t answer after all. Disappointment and betrayal flooded in like a tide. It couldn’t be taken back.

“What exactly are you, Fei? You exist here while being a person who doesn’t exist in the world! You’re not like me, just a soul that fell from the original world.”

“You’re curious about my identity? I told you. I’m a witch.”

Fei answered defensively, greatly inflating her wariness.

“A witch? That wasn’t in the original. Answer me properly.”

Summer spat out the words fiercely and grabbed Fei’s arm. It meant don’t think about running away.

“Is that important? Black hair. Just think about whether you want to go back or not.”

“How can I do that? Fei, you said it yourself. That I’m a foreign substance in this world, that if I exist, this world will break!”

“The story changes if you completely assimilate into this world. Well, Summer’s soul will inevitably have to stay with us witches.”

Fei roughly shook off Summer’s hand. Her expression tried to appear calm, but Fei was in a state of panic right now.

She thought Summer wouldn’t know. But Summer had already almost reached the truth without Fei’s help.

“I told you to reveal your identity!”

“I’m a witch! Damn it, what else do I need to explain?”

Fei shouted while hopping to avoid Summer’s hand.

She needed to escape first. Then she would have to persuade Summer again. Having made her decision, Fei leaped onto the windowsill.

“Don’t run away and answer me properly!”

“What do I need to!”

“Am I… the first outsider……”

Summer, who had been fiercely chasing Fei, collapsed onto the carpet and clawed at it. She felt like she was going crazy.

Only then did Fei cautiously settle on the windowsill and continue to watch Summer’s movements as she opened her mouth.

“You. Do you know something?”

“Why am I a supporting character?”

“What?”

Summer jerked her head up. Even in this world full of lies and fiction. There was no luck for Summer.

Summer cried out as if spewing everything inside her.

“Why does the world prevent my death when I’m just an unimportant supporting character! Why!”

At Summer’s cry, Fei’s eyes sank.

“……You, you already know.”

“Yes. That Ian’s mother was an outsider. Were there others besides her? Answer me, Fei.”

“There weren’t.”

“……”

“That outsider could have become a protagonist. But in the end, she collapsed and went mad.”

“Protagonist?”

“Yes. The mother of the male protagonist of the world. It’s perfect for becoming another protagonist, isn’t it?”

“Ha, haha……”

Summer laughed emptily while hitting the carpet.

Summer herself had already failed long ago. While being in this world, Summer had collapsed and gone mad.

Even now, she wanted to completely let go of her mind.

The last instinct was holding onto reason. The fear that if she let go of even that, she would truly lose herself.

“That woman was in the same situation as you.”

“And?”

“At first, she rejected my offer and chose to stay. She said she wanted to pave a flowery path for the male protagonist.”

“……”

“Then one day she called me out? She said she wanted to go back to the original world. That this world was crazy.”

Ah. His sad story heard from a third party was terribly simple.

Summer now understood. His story was not the kind that could be told lightly as if it was just something that happened in the past.

At least for Ian, this world must have been hell. Nevertheless, Ian lived on, survived, and endured.

Why on earth. Why go to such lengths.

Summer quietly looked down at her trembling hands. Smooth hands without a single scratch. Hands that had not experienced any hardship or effort. Such hands.

Why can’t people live without experiencing hardship? Do beloved pets know the concept of hardship?

People have been cared for by their parents for a long time, so why haven’t they learned love?

People can’t live without love. Whether loving living things or inanimate objects. Whether loving the real or the fictional.

People die when they stop loving.

Summer was already as good as dead.

“……So, did Selena go back?”

“She was already in a state of high assimilation with the world, so her soul shattered in the process of transfer.”

“Why…… didn’t you tell me?”

“I’ve never told a lie.”

“Have you ever told me that this plan is dangerous?”

“It’s not dangerous. You haven’t assimilated yet. I’m confident I can send you back within ten days.”

“Ten days, right. Ten days.”

“……”

“Fei. Let’s not see each other for a while.”

“Why…… are you saying that to me? I thought of you as quite…… a lovable cockroach.”

“Haha. I’m so grateful that you find me, a cockroach, pretty.”

When Summer mocked her harshly, Fei seemed offended too and transformed into a cat, whipping her tail hard before leaving through the window.

Cold wind seeped in through the open window.

“It’s cold.”

“……”

There was no one there.

“I said it’s cold. There’s a person here…… I’m so cold……”

On a night with soft moonlight, Summer collapsed in front of the window and gradually lost consciousness.

In the meantime, she tore off the necklace Fei had given her and threw it far away.

Liar. She could no longer trust Fei.

Summer had seen Selena who had returned to the original world. More precisely, some soul that had entered Selena’s body and returned.

A vast field, a large tree, a warm spring day with bright sunshine. And beneath it, a small nameless grave.

The happy ending for the outsider that Ian and Damian had dreamed of was nowhere to be found.