“Ian, wait, please wait a moment.”

Despite Summer’s pleading, Ian roughly opened the door and pushed her inside.

“What on earth happened?”

As soon as the door slammed shut, Ian growled, approaching Summer fiercely.

“Nothing, nothing happened.”

“Then why, when I return after the war ends, do I hear you’re staying at Bertrand’s mansion, and Julian comes looking for you pale as a ghost?”

“……”

“I heard you had disappeared.”

Ian calmed down a bit. But he still had Summer trapped between his arms.

Summer tried to escape somehow but gave up and mumbled an excuse.

“I never disappeared. I’ve been staying at Bertrand’s mansion from the beginning.”

“Why are you staying at Russell’s mansion? Leaving the perfectly good Lindsey family mansion.”

Ian’s sharp gray eyes turned towards Summer.

“I was going to go back. To find my real name.”

“…Ha. So once again while I was away.”

Of course. Ian had never once doubted Summer’s use of the expression “going back.”

Like with his mother, he probably thought it was a euphemism for wanting to die. This is why Summer didn’t want to reveal it to Ian.

His wound was still ongoing. Pus was dripping from the unhealed wound.

All pain eventually scars over and heals someday, but Ian’s wound had festered without healing.

It was hard to know where to even begin touching on this and talking about it. But now was the moment it needed to be said.

Summer opened her mouth, trying her best to convey her true feelings.

“But I failed. The place I was trying to return to no longer existed. Nor did my real name.”

“Why do you and my mother always talk about going back, enough. I can guess without seeing.”

Ian exhaled fiercely, roughly messing up his hair.

As he paced anxiously around the room, occasionally tormenting his hair, it clearly revealed how unstable Ian’s state was.

After finishing a long war and participating in the victory celebration, on the first day Summer collapsed from poison, and on the last day the emperor drank poison.

On top of that, the state of his close friends was different than usual. He had enough reason to show such anger towards her.

“Your Grace. You said you were curious where your mother had gone back to, right?”

“…Yes.”

As expected. At the mention of his mother, Ian’s energy immediately drained as if deflated, and he staggered to sit in a chair.

As if he had never emanated such a fierce aura.

“Selena, your mother, was an outsider like me.”

“What? Why are you saying you’re an outsider?”

Ian frowned, looking confused.

“Because we weren’t people of this world. She and I fell into this world from the same world.”

“…And you expect me to believe that now?”

“You should believe it. Because it’s the truth.”

“……”

“You know what? Ian Lancaster, you’re the protagonist of this world.”

“You’ve been saying that since before.”

“You really are the protagonist, Your Grace. In what she and I read, you were the protagonist.”

“…In what?”

Ian asked again. It seems directly mentioning books still goes against the rules of this world.

“Hmm, it looks like I’m not allowed to say that. It wouldn’t change anything if one more person knew everything that’s been revealed.”

“What on earth are you talking about!”

Ian raised his voice. His voice was filled with agitation.

“She fell from her original world into this one and lived her life as your mother.”

“…Are you saying my mother was a person from another world?”

Summer fully understood Ian’s reaction. Rather, Russell’s quick acceptance was the unusual one.

Normally when you tell someone something like this, they react like Ian is now, finding it hard to believe, or in extreme cases treating you like you’re crazy.

Summer calmly opened her mouth.

“She wanted the male protagonist she loved most, you, to be happy a bit earlier and less unhappy. That’s why she came.”

“……”

Ian stopped raising his voice and quietly listened to Summer’s words.

Even if he didn’t believe, he seemed curious.

“I couldn’t love this world so I tried to go back, but she was different.”

“……”

“Because she loved you. She decided to stay in this world hoping her son would have an easier time living as the male protagonist. Hoping you would be happy.”

“But why on earth…?”

If she wished for his happiness, she absolutely should not have died.

Ian had been painfully struggling, but thinking of his mother who was waiting for him and loved him made it possible to go on living. But at the most hopeful moment, his mother passed away.

In the cruelest way.

“We are outsiders. We can’t mix with this world, like oil and water. Instinctively, the world tries to repel us as foreign objects, while our bodies try to cling to our souls.”

“……”

Ian was now completely silent. Like someone who had suddenly heard an unbearable story.

“It’s not your fault, Your Grace. It was her choice. Even knowing what would happen, she stayed because she wanted you to be happy.”

“You’re telling me this story now…”

“When you look at me, you think of Selena Lancaster, don’t you? Am I wrong?”

Clear blue eyes like a pristine lake gazed directly at Ian.

“I, I…”

“It’s natural. Because both she and I were foreign objects in this world, outsiders.”

“Then my mother…”

“She fought against the world for your happiness. Her passing was the fault of the world that tormented you, not your fault at all.”

“Why are you telling me this? It’s not like it can bring my dead mother back, so what’s the point…”

“Because it seems like you’re still stuck in the memories of that day. Now you need to conclude that story and open the next volume.”

“……”

Ian stared at Summer with a blank face. Summer forced a smile.

Is it deceitful to feel pity looking at him? But Ian’s expression looking at her now was so much like that of a wounded young boy.

Ian was still sinking, immersed in that time, blaming himself and feeling guilty.

“You need to live on, Your Grace. Turn to the next page.”

Yes. This book belongs solely to Julian Dudley and Ian Lancaster. A world that moves for its protagonists.

All Summer, who was just a minor character and now of ambiguous identity, could offer was this kind of comfort.

Even while thinking of leaving this world herself.

No matter how she thought about it, it was deceitful, but Summer wished for Ian to no longer live carrying his wounds.

“Summer. What about you?”

“……”

“You’re going to leave me behind eventually too, aren’t you?”

“I’m different. Because I’ve tried to go back from the beginning, I can avoid dying.”

“What exactly does going back mean? Can you return to that world where you and my mother lived?”

“Yes.”

“Then why haven’t you gone back all this time?”

“Because you and Julian stopped me.”

“…Then did my mother return to her original world?”

This time Summer’s mouth clamped shut. With the sensation of something caught in her throat, she couldn’t continue speaking.

How could she say it? In front of him. With his eyes shining like a child seeing candy. How could she tell him in front of his face that his mother had completely died?

“She went back. But, because we can never, ever meet again, it’s not much different.”

“That’s enough. I just wanted Mother to be happy. Even if she left me, if she’s happy, that’s enough.”

Relief blossomed on Ian’s face. Summer ended up bowing her head deeply.

It hurt. Like someone was repeatedly squeezing her heart tightly and letting go.

“Your Grace! Oh, my goodness… Are you alright?”

Inside the dark interrogation room. A man wearing glittering gold necklaces and earrings entered, making a fuss.

“Count Holst. What brings you here?”

Duke Legacy greeted the count with a patient smile.

“Money opens all doors, doesn’t it? I just flashed some and they let me in.”

“How’s the situation outside?”

“It’s in an uproar. That adopted daughter of the Dudley family. She was a saint!”

“A saint. Haha, how amusing.”

“It’s true! There was a flash of light, and His Majesty the Emperor got up and dusted himself off!”

Duke Legacy couldn’t hold back his laughter and chuckled while hitting his forehead.

“Ah, now that’s an interesting story.”

Duke Legacy already knew that Julian Dudley was a holder of holy power. He had tried to use that to lure Julian out for assassination.

The foolish Count Holst still didn’t seem to know.

“And then Duke Bertrand had a conversation with the Lindsey family daughter, and Duke Lancaster took the Lindsey family daughter inside.”

“Summer Lindsey?”

“Yes! The Lindsey family daughter is an exception, they were taking such good care of her. How did she manage to bewitch those two high-and-mighty dukes?”

“It must not be some trivial love affair. It seems that girl really does have something.”

“Pardon?”

“She’ll be useful.”

“Ah, yes, yes.”

Count Holst quickly agreed, but he didn’t seem to understand at all.

Duke Legacy kept laughing as if truly enjoying himself.

With his chin raised arrogantly and legs crossed, the duke’s appearance was so dignified it was hard to believe he was confined to an interrogation room.

Count Holst admired this side of him.

“Count.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Leave the Dudley family daughter alone. She’s not a card worth playing.”

Duke Legacy wiggled his foot. Count Holst quickly took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it over.

The end was lit, and white smoke puffed out.

“Then…?”

Count Holst exhaled smoke and smiled lazily, the corners of his eyes curving.

“Summer Lindsey. Investigate her background.”

Summer Lindsey. An interesting girl.

He wondered what was going on with two dukes fussing over her, but it seems she’s been hiding something quite interesting.

Now all the pieces fit together.

Summer Lindsey who drank poison instead of Julian Dudley at Ferotia’s coming-of-age ceremony.

Summer Lindsey who fell off a cliff due to assassins instead of Julian Dudley at the hunting competition.

And Summer Lindsey who collapsed in the garden after drinking poison, as if warning of the emperor’s poisoning.

Duke Legacy was in a very good mood right now. Like when he ascended to the position of duke.

“Shall we prepare then?”

“This is why I like you, Count.”

Count Holst’s eyes widened at the sudden use of honorifics along with the praise.

It seemed the Duke Legacy, who had always looked down on him, was finally acknowledging him. A sinister joy filled Count Holst’s eyes.