Autumn has come. Enough time has passed for the once-green forest to embrace its own colorful hues.

“My lady!”

Mary rushed into the room.

As soon as Mary heard about what happened at the temple from Fei, she finally came to Russell’s mansion with Daisy.

Summer hadn’t been to the mansion since that day.

“My lady, please look at this.”

Mary held up the newspaper in her hand.

Summer was sitting on the windowsill, looking outside, and slowly moved her eyes.

“What is it?”

“We won!”

It seemed to be news of victory. Though it didn’t matter to Summer.

“That’s good.”

“…My lady.”

Summer turned her gaze back to the window.

“Summer has completely ended.”

Green was hard to see anywhere. Now the weather was quite chilly, and Mary always draped a shawl over her shoulders.

“The fallen leaves are beautifully colored, aren’t they? Would you like to go out and see?”

“No. It’s terrible.”

“…”

“It seems to be mocking me.”

Summer sneered.

I wondered why the weather was so clear today, but it was because Ian had to return. Everything in the world had a reason.

Moreover, this world exists solely for the love story created by the protagonists.

“Do you think I’ve gone mad too?”

Summer’s eyes turned to Mary. Every time Mary saw Summer’s eyes, her breath caught.

The dry, parched eyes were endlessly empty.

“But how could I not go mad? Even the death of others is painful, but I saw my own death.”

“Did that witch say there was absolutely no way to go back?”

“Yes. There’s none. It’s all over.”

“…It will get better.”

“Mary. You said that yesterday too. But look at today. Do I seem better to you?”

Summer harshly spat out the words and irritably pushed her hair back.

“…But someday, surely, you will be alright, my lady.”

“That’s your wish. And I no longer have an obligation to fulfill your wishes.”

“…”

Summer grabbed and tore off the suffocating necklace. Pearls fell to the floor, bouncing and falling again and again.

Finally, they completely stopped moving.

As Summer stared at the broken necklace, there was a commotion outside. Glancing with just her eyes, she saw Julian arguing with the butler in the distance.

“You, who are kind, came again today.”

It had already been three months since Summer secluded herself in Russell’s mansion.

Julian came every day, begging to be allowed to meet Summer just once. But Summer repeatedly refused.

Summer knew her own condition. So, she didn’t want to hurt Julian. No, she should be honest now. She no longer wanted to be entangled with the protagonists.

Summer regretted the times when she unknowingly attended parties with Julian.

She regretted not staying away, not stabbing herself without hesitation when Fei told her the method.

Summer recalled the night she left the temple.

‘Master!’

‘Prepare warm water. And get the guest room ready.’

Russell urgently gave instructions as he entered the mansion carrying Summer, who was falling unconscious.

After bathing in warm water, she had changed into a simple indoor dress.

‘Rest.’

‘…’

Fortunately, Russell just told her to rest without saying much else and left her alone.

That day, like now, she sat on the windowsill and looked at the sky. A place she could never reach.

The night sky was still beautiful. Only Summer had changed, everything else remained the same.

There was no way. She never knew those words could make a person so powerless. Summer just looked at the sky with empty eyes that had given up everything.

‘Why are you doing this to me?’

‘…’

‘It’s not like the world will turn upside down if I die.’

‘…’

‘Please, please! Just leave me alone. Whether I die or whatever, leave me alone! I said leave me be!’

Summer cried out in a voice that tore like a scream, hitting her head wildly.

Why, why! Why can’t I even die? Why does the world so cruelly push me to live?

The moonlight grew brighter and brighter. Today was supposed to be the last day she could return to her original world. But where? Where could she return to?

‘Sob, please, please just kill me!’

No matter how much she shouted, the world wouldn’t let her voice be heard. She felt like grabbing the author of this book by the collar if she could.

Time continued to pass. The night deepened, and finally the grandfather clock chimed, signaling the end of the day.

‘Ugh! Ah…’

Summer collapsed with a painful groan.

It felt as if someone was slowly crushing and melting her body. The pain was similar to being burned by electricity.

It hurts. To the point where her eyes rolled back unconsciously and her whole body convulsed.

Moisture gathered over Summer’s white eyes that had rolled back, then trickled down her temples.

How much longer, how much longer must she endure this killing pain?

How much longer, dragging this wretched soul.

Please, if you can’t save me, then just kill me. That plea reached the back of her throat, but only strange choking sounds came out of her mouth.

The pale moon shone on Summer whiter than ever before.

Summer writhed in pain. And as the pain gradually subsided, she felt something strange.

‘…?’

My name. My name! Summer frantically clutched her head. She had to remember. She had to remember.

‘Ah, no… No! Please don’t do this! Please!’

Summer thrashed about, wildly flailing her arms. The servants who came running behind held Summer down.

From afar came the sound of someone calling for the master at the top of their lungs and the sound of running footsteps.

‘Summer!’

Russell, who came running next, embraced Summer. Summer was still staring into space and flailing her arms.

‘No! Please, don’t take it away! Please! I’m begging you like this!’

‘Summer, Summer…’

Summer’s movements suddenly stopped.

Summer? Ah. So that’s my name. Strange. I’m sure there was another name.

Summer took in the moon shining on her outside the window with a strangely empty and pure expression.

There was definitely a place to return to. Where was it again?

‘It’s gone.’

‘…’

‘I was sure I would remember. It was something I couldn’t forget.’

A cruel and bizarre world. The world had won. Summer had failed.

As soon as the deadline ended, the world entered Summer’s mind and messed it up as it pleased.

She couldn’t remember. The faces of her parents. The color of her pet cat’s eyes.

And her original name that she had tried so hard to remember.

‘Where… where did I come from…’

Summer muttered with a blank face. She didn’t ask expecting an answer.

Russell, holding the completely insane Summer, buried his face in her shoulder. Summer felt her shoulder becoming wet.

‘I know, I know, Summer…’

‘…’

‘You told me you came from a place called South Korea.’

‘…’

‘You said you came from another world. That you had your original name. That you had to go back because you left a lot behind in that world.’

‘…Russell.’

‘That’s what you told me.’

The pain disappeared as if it had been a lie. Even though the window wasn’t open, a faint breeze brushed by.

And so Summer was completely…

“Trapped in the book.”

Summer muttered dejectedly.

Her original body had died, and now she had to live like this. Then what about the real Summer?

“Come to think of it, Fei isn’t coming.”

Since that day, Fei hadn’t shown herself to Summer.

She had only sent a mineral necklace through Mary, though it wasn’t clear when she had found it.

Instead of wearing the necklace around her neck, Summer kept it close to her chest. She thought Fei would come looking for it someday, but it had already been three months.

Cold winds blew and leaves fell with a rustling sound. The gardener swept the fallen leaves into a corner with a broom, then put them in a sack and slung it over his shoulder.

He’s probably going to throw them away. Summer’s eyes darkened. She hates autumn. Because the falling leaves are like herself.

“Why can’t I kill myself?”

But it didn’t seem like Russell would kill her either. Now only the protagonists could kill Summer.

On the night after the deadline passed, Summer instinctively knew that she was no longer a minor character.

She wasn’t happy about becoming a main character. What good was it to become a main character trapped in a prison among them?

But this is what Selena would have wanted. When it became impossible to become a main character no matter how much she struggled, she went mad.

In a way, it was the opposite of Summer.

“How am I supposed to love this place?”

This world was cruel and strange.

Summer knew that the day she fully loved this place would never come.

So she would probably live each moment, unable to die.

The wind blew again and leaves fell.

The maids walked over the red maple leaves. The once beautiful maple leaves had become finely crushed red powder.

“…”

Summer, who had been quietly watching the scene, suddenly drew the curtains.

It’s difficult. Even breathing suddenly felt too difficult. Summer’s vision spun and her body crumbled.

Mary, who had come to ask if she would participate in the return parade, discovered this and screamed.

“My lady!”

Once again, the mansion was turned upside down. Soon, an ominous rumor spread throughout the empire.

That Duke Bertrand had locked up the completely insane Lady Lindsay in his mansion.

“Ridiculous.”

Russell put down the document with a thud. In the end, the rumor had reached the imperial palace, and an order came down from the emperor to explain this.

What is there to explain? They wouldn’t understand anyway.

“So this is how Summer felt.”

He could now somewhat guess the emotions she must have felt when trying to explain, persuade, and shout to people who wouldn’t understand anyway.

“Master. This is a direct order from His Majesty, so it cannot be refused.”

“It can be refused, butler. We just don’t do it.”

“Master, how can you say such a frightening thing?”

The butler tried to lighten the mood in bewilderment. But at Russell’s next words, the butler finally turned pale.

“Just tell them that I am the one who is insane. That I am mad about the Lindsay family’s daughter.”

“…Pardon?”

“It seems the rumor spread incorrectly – it’s not the young lady who is mad, but me. Tell them that.”

Russell pushed aside the documents he was looking at and stood up. The butler hesitated, bewildered by this unfamiliar side of his master.

The master who had devoted his loyalty to the empire had changed somehow.