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Inside Iris’s room, engulfed in darkness as the nightmare spread.

Iris looked up at me with wide, round eyes.

She never expected me to react this way here.

Which is why I pressed on even more.

"Iris, you are old enough to make your own choices. The Iris I know was never someone who clung blindly to family affection alone."

Iris Hysirion.

A character with an enigmatic charm in Flame Butterfly.

A shadow cast over her face, making it impossible to read her thoughts.

Yet, she always appeared stronger than Lucas, unwavering in her presence.

That was my impression of her back when I played the game.

But now, the game had become reality.

And I had seen firsthand what Iris had gone through.

Clearly, she was being forced into the emperor’s throne by Duke Robliage.

She never truly wanted it, yet she had no choice but to bear the burden.

Even so, as the Third Princess, she gave her all to fulfill her duty.

She stood before others with pride and dignity,

even if, behind closed doors, she was tormented by nightmares.

That image was burned into my memory.

She was no longer just a mysterious final boss character to me—

She was Iris Hysirion, a real person.

Iris yearned for familial love.

But she was not someone who would cling to it forever.

She was someone who could stand tall as a princess, more radiant than anyone else.

That was the Iris Hysirion I had come to know.

"A princess doesn’t have to be perfect at all times—I know that too."

A princess is still human.

No matter how much the world praises and exalts her,

she is bound to stumble from time to time.

"But the Iris I know is not weak."

Iris, on the verge of being consumed by her nightmare.

I gazed at the teardrops welling in her crimson eyes and spoke.

"I have committed an unforgivable sin against you. I stood by your side under the false name of your cousin, Hannon."

I grasped her shoulders firmly.

Holding onto her with all my strength, preventing her from falling into the nightmare.

"But let me ask you, Iris— have I ever spoken to you only in lies?"

Her eyes, lost in the nightmare, met mine.

"Was everything I did for you truly meaningless?"

I wanted to save her, truly.

I didn’t want her to be swallowed by the nightmare,

so I did everything in my power to stop it.

Why had she opened her heart to me?

I had always approached her with sincerity, despite her wary nature.

Hania had once told me—

that because she knew my feelings for Iris were genuine,

she would not be the one to speak first.

Hania, who had always supported and protected Iris, had said so herself.

"Iris."

I called out to her once more,

meeting her crimson gaze straight on.

My grip on her shoulders tightened.

"Family is not the only thing that can understand and support you."

There were people who had stayed by Iris’s side all this time.

Among them were me and Hania.

"Do the opinions of others matter more? Is the rigid concept of 'family' all there is to this world?"

I confronted her.

She had been so desperate for familial love that she failed to look beyond it.

"Are all the things you have seen and felt nothing but lies?"

Iris had always treated me with sincerity.

What I had done to help her had never been in vain.

I had freed her from her nightmares,

allowed her to sleep peacefully,

and she had felt it more than anyone.

"Right now, in your eyes, I am Hannon Irey—the person you have known."

I poured my heart into my words.

Calling out to Iris, desperately pulling her from the nightmare.

"Do you truly believe I am made of nothing but lies?"

Her hand, clutching my collar, trembled.

"…No."

For the first time, she denied it.

"The Hannon I know was sincere."

Tears streamed down her crimson eyes.

"You truly wanted to save me from my nightmares."

Sincerity reaches people.

And mine had always reached Iris.

That’s why—now—she acknowledged that my efforts were real.

Boom—

At that moment, the entire girls' dormitory trembled.

Iris’s nightmare had begun to spread, affecting the building.

Iris, coming back to her senses, froze.

If the nightmare took over the dormitory,

the students inside would be in danger.

She realized this.

More than that—she herself was in danger.

If she was completely swallowed by the nightmare,

she would never return.

Boom!

As expected, darkness bloomed from within her chest.

She was being consumed.

Iris instinctively tried to push me away.

She knew that if I stayed, I too would be caught in it.

But instead, I reached out and pulled her into my arms.

I had always been the one embraced by her before—

but now, I was the one holding her.

"Wait—!"

"Iris, the world is not held together only by family."

She tried to push me away in a hurry.

But I held onto her even tighter.

Her nightmare began to spread to me as well.

The freezing cold seeped into my body,

trying to consume both of us whole.

"But I am here. Hania is here. Your fellow academy students are here too."

I refused to let it happen.

After all the trials I had overcome—

I would not let them be taken away.

The mark of the Fire Dragon on my skin started to heat up.

The remnants of the Ancient Dragon ignited, merging with the flames.

Golden, reptilian eyes gleamed.

Scales of fire emerged on my face as my form began to change.

Flames roared, surging fiercely.

But still, the nightmare pressed forward relentlessly.

"No! Stop—get away from me!"

Iris shouted in a pained voice.

But if I had intended to run,

I would not have embraced her in the first place.

"I’m late in introducing myself, Iris."

The bandages covering my body unraveled.

Revealing the true me.

The form I once tried so hard to conceal—

but now revealed in order to build a genuine connection with her.

"My name is Vikamon Niflheim."

White hair flowed freely.

My stature, now much larger than Iris,

allowed me to shield her even more completely.

Iris’s eyes widened in shock as they met mine.

It was only natural—she hadn’t expected to see me here.

At that moment, another flame ignited within me.

This time, it was a fire unlike any I had ever known.

Once, I had been corrupted by Ashflame under Demon Sovereign’s influence.

Now, it burned fiercely, not to consume, but to melt away nightmares.

The flames of the Fire Dragon were turning ashen.

As they did, the Ashflame surged forward, melting the nightmare away.

But the nightmare wasn’t going down without a fight.

It struggled against the Ashflame, desperately trying to snuff it out.

The more it resisted, the more fiercely the Ashflame blazed.

This was the flame I had inherited from Vulcan.

I had no intention of letting a nightmare planted by Demon Sovereign win.

Crack!

At that moment, Iris, too, began suppressing the nightmare.

She wouldn’t let it devour everything, either.

The nightmare thrashed violently.

It had come so far—it had even gained the chance to bloom within Iris.

It wasn’t about to surrender so easily.

"How can a person live just by dreaming?"

I spoke to the nightmare and stoked the Ashflame even hotter.

The raging flames bared their fangs and sank into the nightmare.

"Wake up."

Crunch!

Cracks spread across the entire nightmare.

Shatter!

At last, the nightmare shattered into countless fragments.

Its scattered shards, caught in the glow of the Ashflame, looked almost dreamlike in their beauty.

Iris leaned her head against my chest.

For the first time in a long while, her restless eyes began to close.

She could finally feel the warmth that had always lulled her to sleep.

"…Hannon."

She murmured the name she had spoken so many times before.

"…It’s Hannon."

The one she had always regarded as her cousin—me.

My warmth reached her in the most genuine way possible.

Before I knew it, Iris had fallen asleep.

And this time, it wasn’t a nightmare haunting her—

It was a peaceful, restful slumber.

As she slept, reality returned.

The nightmare’s fragments dissolved into dust and scattered away.

Bang!

Just then, the door burst open.

"Lady Iris!"

Standing there, breathless and frantic, was Hania.

Her face was drenched in sweat.

She must have been struggling desperately to open the door.

A commotion could be heard outside.

The dormitory had been shaken by Iris’s nightmare just moments ago.

Now, students were being evacuated under the guidance of the dormitory maids.

Hania’s eyes met mine.

She froze, recognizing me—this version of me.

Then, her gaze shifted to Iris, who was sleeping peacefully in my arms.

"…Hannon?"

When she spoke my name, I nodded.

A complicated look crossed her face before she silently shut the door.

If she left it open, people outside would see me.

"What the hell happened?"

"Lady Iris found out who I am."

Hania swallowed hard.

And at that moment, she realized why Iris had been looking so troubled lately.

She had assumed it was just nightmares.

But in reality, it was because her only family had been keeping a secret from her.

Hania sighed deeply as she looked at Iris’s sleeping face.

"Is Lady Iris all right now?"

"For now."

Unfortunately, I couldn’t say she was completely safe.

Once a nightmare takes root, it’s always waiting for a chance to return.

The only way to stop it for good was to eliminate the source.

‘Duke Robliage.’

I had to take him down.

Hania gazed at Iris’s peaceful face for a moment.

Then, she stepped forward, pulled a blanket over her, and sat down beside me.

"I should apologize when she wakes up."

"Yeah. You think she’d forgive you if you did a deep bow?"

"I don’t know what a deep bow is, but Lady Iris is kind."

Hania smiled softly as she looked at Iris.

"I’m sure she’ll forgive us."

At the very least, Iris was blessed with good people around her.

"By the way, Hannon… is that your real appearance?"

"How does it feel to see your ex-boyfriend’s true face?"

"Annoying."

Ah.

So this was how exes were.

Hania let her peach-colored hair fall over her knees as she rested her face against them.

Then, she flashed me a mischievous smile.

"Still… it’s better than before."

So, in the end, it was still Vikamon’s face.

"Should we get back together? It’d be like dating a brand-new guy."

"Screw off."

A sharp-tongued ex, indeed.

And so, with the two of us chuckling—

Iris slept more peacefully than ever before.