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Chapter 77: The Stranger

A boy whose name was unknown.

He was more developed than his peers, possessing a mature charm despite his youth.

The sight of the boy glowing under the moonlight was enchanting, even to Seron, who had never known love.

“Yes, yes… you’re beautiful.”

It was Seron’s debut in society, and she had never interacted with a boy her age before.

So, her usual personality receded, leaving only a reserved and bashful Seron behind.

The boy smiled warmly as he watched Seron struggle with the conversation.

“Why aren’t you inside the party?”

The boy naturally led the conversation toward a common topic.

At that, Seron’s face suddenly crumpled, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

The boy was a little taken aback but pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket.

He gently wiped away the tears of the young Seron.

The boy had a sibling two years younger, who was a crybaby, so he was used to wiping away tears.

Perhaps due to his kindness, Seron sobbed even harder, overcome with emotion.

The boy waited patiently for Seron to cry her heart out.

After a long while, Seron finally calmed down.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes… Thank you.”

Embarrassed to have cried in front of someone, Seron hung her head low.

She had inadvertently leaned on the boy’s kindness.

“So, why were you crying so much? Did someone upset you?”

Seron shook her head.

Instead, she began to recount her day in a soft, subdued voice.

Talking about it eased her heart a little, though she still felt wronged.

“I think the heavens must dislike me. Things like this always happen to me.”

Looking at each incident individually, it wasn’t a great tragedy.

But when small misfortunes piled up, it became overwhelming.

Especially for someone who might start to believe that nothing ever goes their way.

“And because I look like this, if I go inside the party, everyone will laugh at me.”

Seron showed the boy the muddy stains still visible despite the maid’s efforts to clean them.

Unless she changed into new clothes, there was nothing she could do.

“Is that so? I think the dress looks pretty nice, though.”

The boy glanced toward the party hall.

“Everyone in there is dressed in glittering clothes, but none of them are showing their true selves.”

The boy tugged slightly at his tie, as if it felt constricting.

“Who knows if their hearts are dark or pure? Watching them laugh like that feels even funnier to me.”

When the boy sought Seron’s agreement, she blinked in surprise.

The boy chuckled unintentionally.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say something complicated.”

The boy, more mature than his peers, gazed at Seron’s dress, still stained with mud.

“To me, your honesty makes you far prettier than any of those people in there.”

His words carried many layers of meaning, but Seron, still young, interpreted them simply.

She looked prettier than the noble young ladies in the party hall.

That alone made her heart race.

“Even so, looking like this, I can’t dance. I practiced so hard, too…”

Seron hesitated, clutching the hem of her dress.

The boy, watching her quietly, extended his hand to her.

“Then, would you dance with me?”

Seron’s eyes grew wide.

“Though there’s no music…”

Instead of the elegant melody of an orchestra, the rough yet natural chirping of crickets filled the air.

“And no dazzling lights…”

Instead of brilliant chandeliers, the gentle moonlight illuminated the veil of night.

“But we can dance anywhere, can’t we?”

Above all, there was the boy.

Standing under the moonlight, the boy seemed like a painting.

The chirping of the crickets began to feel like the most beautiful music Seron had ever heard.

Without realizing it, she extended her hand toward him.

The boy took her hand, wearing a gentle smile.

“My lady, may I have this dance?”

“Ah… y-yes!”

Seron stumbled over her words, nearly biting her tongue.

But when the boy waited patiently, she took a deep breath and tried again.

“With pleasure.”

And so, the boy and the girl began to dance.

Under the moonlit curtain of night,

Seron experienced the most beautiful moment of her life.

Seron Parmia, twelve years old.

It was the day she realized her first love.

And now, in the present day,

Seron met her first love once again.

She closed her eyes tightly, her heart in turmoil.

“Back then, I couldn’t even ask for your name.”

She had been too young, relying only on the boy’s kindness, never asking his name.

Seron regretted that day over and over again.

“Even after attending many social gatherings, I never saw you again.”

Seron had terrible luck.

No matter how hard she tried to find him, they always missed each other.

It was truly unfortunate.

But now, Seron met her first love once again,

in a completely unexpected place.

However.

I must say it again.

Seron was unlucky.

With a hardened expression, I stared at Seron.

Seron had reunited with her first love.

But her first love was no longer here.

The one who had shown her kindness, Vikamon, no longer existed in this world.

Standing before her was not Vikamon, but me, who had taken his place.

I was not Seron’s first love.

I was merely a despicable thief who had stolen it.

It dawned on me once again.

I was nothing but a stranger who had stumbled into this tale of the Butterfly Flame.

The reality I had long avoided now loomed over me.

Seron slowly opened her eyes.

Her love-struck gaze fell upon me.

No.

That gaze should not be directed at me.

But Vikamon was no longer here.

And I had no way of knowing how he would have treated Seron.

I was not there that night.

“May I ask your name?”

Seron posed the question she couldn’t ask that day.

My name.

Hearing her question, my lips trembled.

Am I Hannon Irey?

Vikamon Niflheim?

Or something else entirely?

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Without realizing it, I stepped back.

The movement was too abrupt, and my clothes became disheveled.

At that moment, a sword-shaped pendant slipped out of my outfit.

Seron, seeing it, widened her eyes slightly.

“That…”

Oh no.

It was a mistake caused by my flustered state.

When I hastily tried to hide the pendant, Seron glanced at it silently and then chuckled incredulously.

“...Sweet Potato, that fool must have been the one who called you.”

It seemed Seron had pieced the situation together on her own.

She assumed that Vikamon had come here because I had handed over the pendant and made a request.

Fortunately, there was no need to clear up any misunderstandings regarding that.

In the meantime, I struggled to gather my scattered thoughts.

“…Sorry, the boy you knew is no longer here.”

[TL/N: Ouch!!!]

Then I saw Seron’s face.

Her expression was deeply wounded.

What I had just said was no different from declaring a breakup to her.

When I tried to correct myself, Seron bit her lip slightly, then smiled through her tearful eyes.

“It’s okay. The girl from that day is still here.”

Her words stirred indescribable emotions within me.

“…I’m sorry.”

Unable to continue the conversation with Seron, I bolted out of the room.

As I rushed down the hallway, I hastily tightened the bandages around my neck.

My appearance slowly began to change into Hannon’s.

In the reflection of the window, my form began to emerge.

But I wasn’t there.

I barely stopped my hand, which had unconsciously reached toward the window.

‘Calm down.’

I hadn’t expected to falter at a moment like this.

I realized that my mind was being gradually eaten away—

By the pressure and tension of preventing a bad ending.

And by the fact that I was, after all, an outsider here.

Those two truths weighed on my heart, whether I acknowledged it or not.

“You!”

Just then, a familiar voice reached my ears.

I caught sight of honey-blonde hair.

She rushed over to me, her face filled with concern, scanning my expression.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

Cold sweat was pouring down my pale face.

Seeing this, Isabel reached out to wipe the sweat from my face.

Slap!

Without thinking, I swatted her hand away.

Isabel, too, was a character tied to the Flame Butterfly.

Moreover, she saw me overlapping with Lucas.

I didn’t want her hand to touch me.

Hesitation—

I belatedly realized that I had acted too harshly.

But the deed was already done.

Isabel slowly lowered her rejected hand and quietly stood beside me.

She didn’t say another word.

“…I just feel a little unwell. Leave me be.”

“Alright, I’ll wait until you feel better.”

“There’s no need—”

“You did the same, didn’t you?”

Isabel interrupted me.

“You followed me recklessly that day.”

That day, when Isabel had gone to the wall of Zerion Academy.

I had followed her without permission.

“And even before that…”

Isabel murmured words that she herself didn’t seem to have fully figured out yet.

Then, shaking her head, she said to me,

“So I have the right to act on my own, too.”

I had nothing more to say.

But I did come to understand one thing.

Through the window, Isabel’s eyes met mine.

She was looking at me, without a doubt.

The sunflower was gazing at the moon instead of the sun.

For some reason, that fact seemed to restore a bit of the warmth I had lost.

* * *

Thanks to the time spent with Isabel, I managed to regain some composure.

I realized today that being alone when my mental state is unstable is the most dangerous thing.

When I told Isabel I was okay now, she smiled brightly and walked alongside me.

Her smile seemed genuinely happy.

Summer had begun to wane, and the season of autumn was gradually approaching.

Seeing the leaves turning vibrant colors, I felt for some reason that they resembled me.

After all, I, too, was being colored by this world.

“Isabel.”

“Yes?”

Hearing her name, Isabel turned to look at me.

“Thank you.”

Despite how coldly I had treated her, she stayed by my side, and I was able to feel better because of her.

When I gave her my honest gratitude, Isabel smiled shyly.

Then she suddenly leaned her head forward.

“Then, no more boycotts, okay?”

“No, that’s a separate matter.”

I answered with a serious face.

This main heroine wasn’t going to skate through the scenario without effort.

“You’re so mean!”

“Being thankful is one thing, and doing what I must is another.”

“Wow, that’s unfair!”

Isabel huffed and protested beside me, but I simply snorted.

As if that level of protest would break me.

Compared to the insults I’d endured from other women, this was child’s play.

My gaze returned to the window.

The season of boycotts was finally drawing near.

‘Now, the only thing left…’

…was to make sure Iris got involved in the boycott.

Alright, I’ve set the table.

Now all that’s left is to serve the spoon.

I’ll completely overturn the student council.

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