“Mary?”

In fact, Summer wasn’t the type of person to ask such questions to others.

She didn’t really expect an answer. It was similar to saying random things to an AI speaker.

To Summer, Mary was just that – a character in a novel, mere text.

Although Mary was a somewhat peculiar existence, as long as she was a person in a novel, Summer would forget her completely the next day and repeat the same actions anyway, so there was no need or leisure to read and consider her emotions.

“I know.”

However, at Mary’s unexpected response, Summer’s eyes flew open.

“Really? What is it?”

Mary, with a terrifyingly expressionless face, spoke as she placed decorations in Summer’s hair.

“When life becomes so painful that the pain of death becomes insignificant.”

“…”

“And miss. Even if there is a painless death, there is no death without fear.”

Mary’s voice was level and composed.

It was like someone answering ‘I had fried eggs for breakfast this morning’ when asked if they had eaten.

However, it was more effective than any concern, comfort, or dissuasion.

“That’s not helpful at all.”

The problem was that it was so effective it sent chills down her spine.

“It’s done, miss. Do you like it?”

“Thank you, Mary.”

When Summer expressed her gratitude, Mary silently bowed and left the room.

Awkwardly clutching her dress, Summer went out to the front of the mansion, where a guard opened the gate for her.

Summer stared blankly at the shadow of the gate on the ground before taking a step forward.

Her blue shoes stepped precisely outside the line. She heard the heavy sound of the gate closing behind her.

At that moment, Summer’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Today was her first outing after the possession. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t thrilled.

“I have to check. With my own eyes.”

Summer confidently placed her hands on her hips. At the same time, a carriage stopped with a cloud of dusty soil.

“Whoa-”

“Cough!”

Summer coughed, waving her hand to disperse the dust. The coachman, pale with fright, hurriedly got down and prostrated himself before Summer.

“Oh my, please forgive me just this once! I thought you would be standing inside, so I made a mistake…”

“This doesn’t seem to be our family’s carriage. Who are you?”

“Pardon? This is the carriage you called for, miss. Didn’t you send a maid to pay the fare?”

The coachman looked up at Summer blankly, as if she were a very strange person.

Not noticing his expression, Summer pouted in thought before brightening with understanding.

“That’s right, I did call for it! I’ll get in!”

It seemed Mary was quite efficient.

Calling a carriage in advance showed good judgment. Summer cheerfully got into the carriage, but felt something odd.

“…”

“Where shall I take you?”

“Ah. Please take me to the front of the Dudley Count’s townhouse.”

“Pardon? Yes, yes.”

The coachman observed Summer furtively before gripping the reins.

What a strange young lady. Speaking politely to a lowly coachman. Moreover, this young lady didn’t seem to realize what she had done.

As the carriage started moving with a jolt, Summer felt a strange sense of liberation. When she slightly opened the small window, a cool breeze rushed in.

Summer, who had left the mansion by carriage, marveled at the excellent ride quality.

“The author must have thought carriages were like cars.”

Well. The work didn’t seem to have been written with such details in mind.

Throughout the carriage ride to the Dudley Count’s residence, Summer pondered deeply about the world.

Based on the content of the work, Summer’s role was that of a beloved and naive noble lady. Therefore, she didn’t need any past narrative. She just had to repeat the same day.

Summer felt deep in her bones this time how terrible it was to be possessed by an extra.

She wasn’t given any dramatic or lively episodes. She just endlessly repeated days that seemed the same.

Summer, who broke that setting and moved as she pleased, was nothing but a foreign substance.

A very small and irritating error that broke the rules of this world.

But the protagonist might be different.

“If it’s Julian Dudley.”

Summer smiled broadly, her lips curling up. Summer liked Julian Dudley. She was her favorite person in this novel.

A person who could remain pure even in a lowly status.

The kind of person who wouldn’t lose her sparkle no matter what muck she rolled in.

Julian Dudley was bright, cheerful, and optimistic.

She was literally healthy. There wasn’t a single sick part about her. Despite her environment being not at all like that.

Summer was convinced that anyone who encountered her sparkling and vivacious self would fall in love.

Someone like Julian Dudley would surely have some kind of protagonist-only privilege.

Among those, she only hoped there would be an ability to communicate with the poor possessed person who fell into a monarchy right after passing the exam.

“…Ability to communicate.”

Summer, who had been lost in thought while looking out the window, suddenly realized the reason for the strange feeling earlier and her face hardened.

“Excuse me.”

Summer called out to the coachman. The coachman turned his head slightly at Summer’s call.

“Yes, did you call?”

“Can you hear my voice?”

“Yes, I can hear you very clearly.”

The coachman was hearing and answering Summer’s words precisely. A noisy sound reached Summer’s stiffened ears.

Summer turned her head with a jerk and looked out the window. They must have already arrived at the central street, as it was crowded with people.

The central street was lively and bustling. And blurry. It was a strange feeling. The world was clearly right in front of her eyes, but it wasn’t specific.

The scenery the author didn’t pay attention to was this blurry.

“Um, if there’s anything uncomfortable, please let me know anytime.”

At the coachman’s voice, Summer finally came to her senses and shook her head.

“Thank you. It’s very comfortable.”

“Yes, yes… Oh my, miss?”

The coachman, who had been answering Summer with a submissive attitude, glanced at her.

Then, with a flustered face, he took out a handkerchief from his jacket and handed it into the carriage.

“What could make you cry on this bright afternoon?”

“Th-thank you…”

Summer received the handkerchief with trembling hands. She only then realized that she was crying. From joy. Tears came from joy.

“Oh my! Please lower your speech, miss. Every time you do that, I get so scared.”

The coachman, greatly flustered and not knowing what to do, eventually focused only on driving the carriage, afraid of consequences for meddling carelessly with a noble.

Summer buried her face in the handkerchief and burst into loud sobs.

She had missed it.

A forgotten longing suddenly rushed over her.

People.

She missed people.

In this world that moved according to predetermined paths, Summer alone was alienated and didn’t know what to do.

Every day when she opened her eyes, there were only predetermined situations and lines. The characters would recite them and exit when their roles were over.

It was really terrible and bizarre.

The moment she heard the coachman’s answer, Summer felt liberated. This was a free place where the author hadn’t set detailed settings.

There were as few restrictions. She seemed to know the settings of this place.

Bustle, liveliness. A place where you could do anything as long as those two things were maintained.

The bustle of the market and the natural movements of people. Summer, taking in the view outside the open window again, shed tears.

She loved this moment so much, riding in the carriage and seeing people moving with such vitality.

As much as she loved it, she hated the thought of returning to the Lindsey Count’s mansion even more.

“What’s this? Black hair?”

Fei, who had returned to the Lindsey Count’s mansion, asked as she lightly stepped on the carpet. Of course, the servants couldn’t perceive Fei herself.

“Sigh. Why do humans have ears? They don’t use them to listen.”

Fei grumbled as she plopped down on Summer’s bed. Then one of the maids straightened her bent back.

Fei’s gaze naturally fell on that maid. Unlike the other maids, that maid looked straight at Fei.

“You. How can you see me?”

“What the young lady can see, I can see too.”

“Your name.”

“Mary.”

Mary answered in a monotone voice. Then she brought a rag and wiped the window sill.

Unlike the other maids, she wasn’t particularly diligent. Fei observed Mary quietly for a while before frowning deeply.

“What on earth has this black-haired one done?”

Finally, the carriage stopped.

Summer opened the window and poked her head out. A huge mansion appeared before her eyes. One that was obviously described with care, as anyone could see.

“Thank you.”

As Summer got off, the carriage departed. Thinking that she would have to go to the central street and catch a hired carriage to return, she stopped in front of the fence.

Then she firmly grasped the fence gate and shook it.

“I want to meet the Dudley lady!”

At this sudden request, the soldiers guarding the fence looked dumbfounded.

“What’s this, some crazy woman at the gate…”

Although they thought she was a mad woman, Summer’s appearance was too noble to ignore.

Even though her attire was simple, the sparkling jewel earrings and the thin, elegant necklace caught the guards’ eyes.

The confused sentries whispered among themselves, and then one of them slipped into the mansion first. When that sentry returned, he wasn’t alone.

“Julian Dudley!”