“Miss.”

“……”

Mary called out to Summer as she pulled back the curtains abruptly. But Summer gave no response.

Mary approached the bed with a slightly bewildered look and asked.

“Miss. Is Asher the target this time?”

“Mary. Leave me alone.”

Only then did Summer mumble, stirring in the bed.

“How much more should I leave you alone? You’ve been lying in bed for four days now without eating anything.”

Mary sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Summer with concern. Summer had been holed up in bed for days, neither eating nor drinking.

As if the moment she left the bed, the Grim Reaper would cut off her neck, she never ventured outside the bed.

At night, Summer would scream from nightmares, and during the day, she was listless.

“Duke Bertrand sent another letter today. Shall I read it to you?”

“……”

She didn’t say no. While Summer rejected all visitors and secluded herself, she still read Russell’s letters diligently.

It was her only communication channel. Though it was one-sided, with Russell sending the letters.

“I’ll read it to you. Please, Summer. I just want to check if you’re alright. Do you remember what I said by the lake that day? I’ll be sad, so don’t have any strange thoughts.”

“……”

“And if you start having bad thoughts, think of me instead. What color was my hair under the sunlight, what were my eyes like?”

“……”

“What my voice sounded like. Summer, I want to meet you before you forget my voice. Please allow me to visit.”

“…Refuse.”

Under the white blanket, Summer’s voice choked up. Mary sighed softly.

What on earth did that witch whisper again? Mary didn’t like the witch named Fei.

She made the young miss depressed, shaken, and precarious. If left like this, Summer would wither away in this world, forgetting her original world.

Like autumn leaves that shatter with a loud noise at the slightest touch.

“I’ll write back saying you’ll allow a visit.”

At Mary’s words, Summer bolted upright. I should have used this method earlier. Mary smiled triumphantly.

Summer’s appearance under the blanket had been terribly disheveled. Her hair had been tangled for a long time, and her gaunt face was shadowed.

“I said to refuse!”

“Why should I listen to your orders, miss?”

“What?”

“You gave me a soul, so now my soul moves according to my own will.”

“But you’re my maid.”

“I’ll write a resignation letter then. No big deal.”

Mary shrugged and smiled breezily. Her face always looked tired when working, but somehow Mary’s face looked quite refreshed as she spoke of resigning.

“M-Mary, you!”

“What can you do about it? I can’t leave you like this. If you could get better on your own, I’d leave you be, but it’s obvious you’ll just get worse if left alone.”

“…Why are you doing this to me?”

“I always tell you, don’t I? I want you to love this world. So that you’ll stay here.”

“What if love is forced?”

“What do you mean?”

Mary asked as she wrote a reply to Duke Bertrand saying ‘The young miss has allowed a visit.’

Mary was Summer’s maid, butler, and friend.

“If loving this world is the only option, what will you do?”

“I suppose I’d try to love it. By trying to find something pretty about it somehow.”

“……”

“You’re not the only one who finds this world terrible, miss.”

“Haha, Mary. You’re a person of this world.”

Summer exhaled dejectedly and shook her head. Though grateful for Mary’s attempts to empathize, it wasn’t very comforting.

Mary took a deep breath as if she had expected this, and began to speak.

“After I got a soul, living confined in this mansion with these ghostly, faint beings – it’s terrible for me too.”

Mary flicked her fingertip at a ghost-like maid passing by. They were beings so faint it was hard to say they existed.

“Miss. Do you think it’s any different for other people?”

“……”

“Do you think Duke Lancaster lives because he finds this world madly lovable?”

“…Stop it.”

“What about Miss Dudley, who’s close to you? Does she say this world is lovable?”

“I said stop!”

Summer shouted, clutching her head with both hands. Shaking her head violently as if unable to hear any more, she truly looked out of her mind.

“It’s terrible for me too. That you leave me among these ghosts and think about dying every day. You’re all I have, but you’re always thinking of leaving me.”

“You have Daisy.”

Summer retorted, glaring at Mary. As if telling her not to shift the blame.

Mary could understand Summer to some extent. But still.

“Do you think Daisy is any different? The Daisy you see probably smiles brightly like a spring wildflower.”

“……”

“You probably have no idea that she goes up to the attic and cries almost every night. Because you’re too busy and burdened with your own affairs, miss.”

“…Daisy does?”

This was news to Summer. Not wanting to stay in the terrible mansion, she often went out.

She had no interest in the affairs of the mansion. She thought they were living well enough on their own. No, she hadn’t even given it that much thought.

Summer’s eyes met Mary’s. Seeing Mary’s reddened eyes, Summer felt something was wrong.

“Why do you think Daisy isn’t struggling? Daisy isn’t an idiot. She knows what my young miss is thinking.”

“I…”

“It must be terrible and painful for you too, miss. As you can see, this world is a stage made for the protagonist, and we’re just stage props beneath it.”

“……”

“But miss. Is the world you’re trying to return to so different?”

“What?”

Summer asked sharply. Mary’s expression was calm.

“How good of a world is it that you’re trying to go back?”

“Well, my family is there. My friends are there, and traces of my life are there.”

“Aren’t they here too?”

“They’re not my real parents. And this world wants to erase the traces of my life.”

“I wonder.”

“……”

“Well, do as you please. But don’t forget that Daisy and I have feelings too.”

“Mary…”

“I’ll be going now. I need to send the reply.”

Mary bowed politely and left the room. Summer, left alone, looked dazed.

What could she, a stranger here, possibly do? The world is a well-crafted play, and we’re just minor actors performing the roles the world wants.

Summer sank to the floor with an agonized face. She wanted to bawl her eyes out, but no tears would come.

“What’s going to happen to me? What?”

There was no one who could answer Summer’s question. Summer clutched her head. She needed to check what had happened to her original self in the real world.

But she was afraid. What if, just what if.

Summer pounded her chest, gasping as if she couldn’t breathe. No matter how much she pounded, it was hard to breathe.

“……”

“Summer.”

As if he had rushed over as soon as he received the reply, Russell’s hair was slightly disheveled.

Summer quietly gazed at his crooked tie and slightly wrinkled black shirt before taking a step towards him.

“You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

Summer said calmly as she straightened his crooked tie.

“Summer, were you ill?”

“Yes. I was in a lot of pain.”

“……”

“It hurt so much I could barely breathe.”

“I was worried you might… do that again.”

“I didn’t. I can’t do that recklessly anymore.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have the energy to play pretend.”

“It’s alright. More importantly, I wondered if you’d heard the news.”

“News?”

Summer guided Russell to the gazebo located in the garden. In the gazebo, refreshments and tea prepared by Mary were set out.

Summer sat down first, and Russell took a seat across from her.

The scenery of the Lindsey estate was warm and beautiful today as well.

A small bird flying by, poppies swaying gently in the wind, the fragrant scent wafting from the white lilies planted in front of the mansion.

This too would be gone in just a few days. Summer smiled faintly.

A terrible yet beautiful place.

“There’s going to be an imperial event.”

“Is that so? I’ve never seen one. I guess the world has deteriorated quite a bit.”

Summer muttered as she poured black tea into a teacup. There shouldn’t be any imperial events in the original story after the coming-of-age ceremony at the very beginning.

By now, the story should be mainly about Julian and Ian’s budding romance, Julian’s mana problem, and the rival Ferotia.

But somehow the story wasn’t flowing according to the original at all. Well, one imperial event probably won’t change the ending significantly.

“…The world has deteriorated? Do you know something?”

“No. I’m just a bit crazy these days. Please understand.”

“Summer. You’re not crazy. First of all, crazy people don’t call themselves crazy.”

“You’re still the same, Russell.”

“You already knew about the war, didn’t you?”

“…Pardon?”

Summer, who had been dropping sugar cubes into her teacup and stirring with a spoon, stopped moving abruptly.

War? Why is that coming up now? In the original story, the war had already ended before Julian and Ian met.

There wasn’t a single mention of war after that.

“So you haven’t heard.”

“What…”

Russell took a sip of tea, set down his cup, and began to speak.

“There was a conflict at the western border. They brought ships and demanded we open a trade route. When we refused, they killed thirty imperial citizens.”

“……”

Thirty lives.

Is it okay because it’s fiction? When I go back to the original world, it’ll probably just be a single line in the book saying ‘A war broke out and many people died.’

Then why are my hands shaking like this?

“Because of this, His Majesty declared war, and the departure date has been set.”

“When is it?”

“Three days from now.”

“That’s quite rushed.”

“Tomorrow evening, the imperial family will host a grand banquet.”

“That’s absurd. Are they just looking for an excuse to throw a party?”

“I think so too.”

Russell nodded with a faint smile. But his expression quickly darkened.

“More than that, I’m worried because my close friend has been assigned to lead the vanguard.”

“……”

Why do bad premonitions always come true?

“Ian has been assigned to lead the expedition.”