Chapter 102 - A Play (3)

"I..."

I struggled not to stammer.

"I intend to remain by Lady Silver Lily's side for the time being."

Silence.

"... Now that is something I simply cannot understand."

The corners of Lady Golden Silk Blossom's eyes rose and froze in place. Was it because her emotions had frozen over? The crown prince, too, sensed the chill in his beloved's voice and stopped walking.

"I just asked you to come with me, Butler. Flaunting my wounds is not to my taste, but I endured a little humiliation to free you from her control."

"Yes, I know."

"And yet you would refuse my request?"

A bitter taste rises in my mouth.

It is difficult to tell whether this is my anguish at losing the Inquisitor, or the butler's rebelliousness as he refuses his original mistress's request. Only those blue eyes. It hurts to look into those eyes, which have become Golden Silk Blossom's.

[Your immersion in the character is deepening.]

[Your current immersion rate is 42%.]

So I lowered my head, avoiding her gaze.

"I am sorry."

"..."

"There is still something I must do."

"What a wonderfully versatile phrase. Are you sure you haven't simply been bewitched by her?"

I silently held my posture. "Ha." I heard Golden Silk Blossom scoff. The mockery was directed not at me, but at Lady Silver Lily.

"Very well. My lady, I have no idea what grand scheme you are devising this time, but you will never shake the friendship between my butler and me. Do take good care of my butler."

"Delude yourself as you please. Get the hell out of my sight, baron's daughter."

"Yes, I'll get the hell out."

Still cradled in the crown prince's arms, Lady Golden Silk Blossom reached out. Stroking his cheek, she spoke as though whispering. It was only a pretense of a whisper, loud enough for everyone else to hear.

"Would you get the hell out with me, Your Highness?"

"Ah, y-yes."

The crown prince blushed.

[Your immersion in the character is deepening.]

[Your current immersion rate is 43%.]

The two departed with their guards.

And so the disturbance that had erupted after midnight came to an end.

3

The garden fell quiet in an instant.

"My lady..."

The servants wore sorrowful faces, concerned for their mistress. It was the ducal household that had ordered the visitors out, yet the atmosphere made it seem as though we were the ones who had been expelled.

"It is late," Lady Silver Lily said. "You have all worked hard. Go inside now."

"And what will you do, my lady...?"

"I shall look at the flowers here for a while before going inside. I wish to be alone. All of you, withdraw."

In her nightclothes, Lady Silver Lily looked up at the night sky. Her body blended into the darkness as though she had been born of night rather than day. Unable to disobey their mistress, the attendants returned to their quarters.

"My lady."

I alone remained and approached her.

-Zombie, she's vulnerable right now! Doesn't the whole atmosphere scream misery? She looks expressionless, but she's actually vulnerable. This is great! A crisis is an opportunity! The goalkeeper's gone. Dating an expert is hard enough as it is. Hurry up and make your move now.

'Shut up, please.'

The ghost never changed. As ever, he failed to read the room.

"You should go inside and rest as well, Butler."

"I'm perfectly fine staying up for a night or two. Aren't you the one who's exhausted, my lady?"

"I would like to deny it... But yes, I am a little tired."

Lady Silver Lily sighed.

"This is already my fourteenth iteration. For 140 days, I have tried to set His Highness the Crown Prince on the right path. Even if I accept that my unfulfilled love is fate, His Highness is the man who will one day ascend the imperial throne. I must at least keep him on course, lest the nation's safety be imperiled... It is difficult."

"You're not alone anymore."

You are not the world's only regressor. That was what I meant.

"You have me. With even one person at their side who understands them, people can find a way to endure."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Surprisingly enough, it is."

Lady Silver Lily turned her gaze from the night sky.

Her eyes looked at me.

"There is one thing you misunderstand."

Misunderstand?

"I repeat the final ten days. When you die, you return to the previous day. At first glance, they seem like the same kind of regression, as though the two of us could share our time. In truth, we cannot."

I did not stop Lady Silver Lily from speaking. Our conversation was probably being broadcast live to the people in the Tower.

That was all right.

I was already resolved to begin the next iteration.

"Butler, one of us inevitably regresses [first]."

Lady Silver Lily bent down.

"If I regress first, you will forget this life. If you regress first, the reverse happens: I forget what has happened here. One person's time is devoured by the other."

SCRITCH, SCRATCH.

With her switch, she drew parallel lines in the dirt.

"We are parallel lines that will never meet, for all eternity."

My chest ached.

"It is possible for me to understand you. You, too, can understand me. But understanding is all we can do. It is impossible for us to live together. You cannot take responsibility for me, nor can I take responsibility for you."

Lady Silver Lily's voice was calm.

"Your confession that you wished to share the same time as me was passionate and beautiful. But it cannot actually come true. Perhaps that is why it sounded all the more beautiful."

"What if it could come true?"

I looked Lady Silver Lily straight in the eyes.

"What if? There is no 'what if.'"

"I keep my word. Always. I didn't use things I couldn't actually do in my declaration just because I wanted to win your heart. Inflating empty words like balloons to draw people in isn't my style."

"..."

"What if I could help you escape these eternal ten days? If I did, what would you do?"

A night bird gave a shrill cry.

"... How arrogant. I am quite sufficient to live my own life."

"I'm sure you are. So am I. But I still want to help you. Is wanting to help the person I love arrogant, too? Then I'll gladly be an arrogant man."

Lady Silver Lily closed her lips. She, too, was trying to help the crown prince in her own way. Whether she admitted it or not, the two of us were alike.

"What do you want from me?"

"Please be with me when this world ends."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

Seeing the Inquisitor reach 100 percent immersion had made me realize how to smash this stage apart. It was a highly unconventional, tricky solution... but it would probably work.

As long as I kept my wits firmly about me.

"And if possible, I'd appreciate it if you encouraged me to fall for you even harder. It would be perfect if I became so hopelessly besotted with you that I couldn't escape."

"You are asking me to do that now?"

"It's all right. I'm an easy man to win over. My heart races just from you holding my hand."

Lady Silver Lily stared at me in disbelief.

"Shameless... Very well. I did say I would teach you love. I must take responsibility for those words."

Lady Silver Lily took my hand. It was soft. Her hand was bare. The feel of it enveloped my right hand. Remembering how she had dabbed perfume on me last night made my heart pound.

"Is this enough?"

[Your immersion in the character is deepening.]

[Your current immersion rate is 44%.]

My face grew hot.

"Yes. E-enough."

"Good heavens. I have no business saying this after bewitching you myself, but aren't you a little too innocent? It is a wonder you survived this harsh world."

"I died. A lot."

"..."

"Does seeing me vulnerable like this make your heart race a little, too? A magazine I read once said that pretending to be weak now and then works wonders."

"Ha."

Lady Silver Lily snorted. Her eyes were not smiling, but a laugh was still a laugh. The crown prince's idiocy must have left her very depressed. If her mood improved even a little, that was something.

"Is a child who learned of love only yesterday picking a fight with me?"

"I realized it when I saw you fighting Golden Silk Blossom earlier. You're wise, my lady, but when someone provokes you, you never let it pass quietly. Is it your pride? Even if it costs you, you crush the provocation. So I'd like to try provoking you, too."

"... Quite a cunning mind you have."

"Shall I provoke you a little more?"

"Try. If you dare."

We were close.

We grew closer.

Our shadows overlapped.

Neither of us intended to back down.

"You speak as though you're a master of love. But are you really? Isn't being loved just as important as loving? Loving the crown prince and winning his love are both important. But you've failed at the latter."

"Hmm."

"In that sense, perhaps Lady Golden Silk Blossom is better at love than you. The prince loves her, after all, doesn't he? If we're judging who's more skilled at love, she might unexpectedly be the greater expert."

"Oh?"

"You know very well how to love. But you don't know how to be loved. Certainly not as well as Golden Silk Blossom, at least. So..."

Just then.

"So?"

Lady Silver Lily's hand gripped my chin.

"..."

"Keep talking. Your voice is not unpleasant to listen to."

[Your immersion in the character is deepening.]

[Your current immersion rate is 45%.]

"... So it's only natural that you lost the crown prince to Golden Silk Blossom. You should have studied his tastes and hobbies more closely and used them to win him—"

"Your teeth are truly white."

"—over. But you didn't. You let your guard down. So you must bear some responsibility for Golden Silk Blossom running so wild—"

"And your tongue is red. So prettily shaped, too."

Lady Silver Lily pulled my chin toward her.

She was looking up into my mouth.

"Why have you stopped talking again? If you close your lips, I can no longer see your tongue. It is quite enjoyable to watch. Keep talking."

"..."

"Do you concede defeat?"

"Yes..."

["It would be perfect if I became so hopelessly besotted with you that I couldn't escape."]

Those were the words I had just spoken.

"You really do choose only frightening things to say. I do not know what wonderful solution you have devised to make you so confident, but you truly are fearless."

Lady Silver Lily tugged my chin a little closer.

I followed the motion of her hand as though I had lost all gravity.

"Well, after fourteen iterations, I suppose I may indulge in a brief departure from the norm."

"What do you mean...?"

"My law is to be a bastard to a bastard. Reflecting on what happened tonight, I believe His Highness has been rather too much of a bastard to me. I cannot simply go on taking it."

My heart pounded.

Could it be?

"Are you finally thinking of giving up on the crown prince?"

"No. How could I, when my heart has become a constellation fixed in the night sky?"

"I merely," Lady Silver Lily murmured, "think I might try being rather too much of a bastard myself."

Too much of a bastard.

All I could picture was the Flame Emperor's obnoxious face. The word bastard automatically brought Yoo Suha to mind. But becoming that sort of bastard wasn't easy, either. What did Lady Silver Lily mean?

"An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth."

Lady Silver Lily's index finger brushed my lower lip.

"Starting today, I shall have an affair with you."

"..."

Uh.

"Do you love me?"

"No."

"Do you have even the slightest desire to go out with me?"

"No."

"But..."

"You are, however, a servant Golden Silk Blossom cherishes. To borrow her words, you are her one and only butler and her childhood friend. I wonder what expression she would make if she heard you were seeing me. Wouldn't His Highness be quite flustered as well?"

In other words.

"You're saying you'll pretend to go out with me to screw them both over...?"

"Why?"

Her breath drew closer.

"Do you dislike the idea?"

I couldn't answer. Thump. I couldn't think of anything to say. Thump. My heartbeat was so insanely loud it made my head spin. This was my love. My first love. Thump. To do it this way... An affair was a bit... There ought to be something more romantic.

"Sit."

Very carefully, I sat down in the garden. Clouds hid the moon, darkening the ground. It felt as though I had knelt in a bottomless swamp.

Our eye levels were reversed.

"I shall give you a choice."

Lady Silver Lily looked down at me.

"If you do not wish to accept my proposal, close your eyes tightly. I will disappear quietly before you open them. But if you wish to accept my proposal and pretend to be my lover. If you wish to act out this play until this life ends..."

The red moon in the night sky was hidden.

Eyes redder still were before me.

"Speak my name aloud."

Her name.

I.

"Raviel..."

Huh.

"Raviel Ivansia."

Why was my mouth open?

"Now, do you remember the first lesson I gave you when I said I would teach you love?"

"Love begins with experiencing a bastard..."

"You remember well."

Lady Silver Lily cupped my cheeks in both hands.

And.

"I shall be your first bastard."

The moon swallowed fire.

"..."

The scent of lilies.

Soft and sweet.

A fragrance that felt as though it would kill me.

[Your immersion in the character is deepening.]

[Your current immersion rate is 50%.]

I cannot breathe.

So beautiful.

-You're both lunatics, so you suit each other. Then again, how could you ever date anyone normal? Birds of a feather flock together. An eternal truth.

The attendant spirit's voice sounded far away.

-Congratulations on day one, Crow-Tit.

Magnolia leaves fell in profusion.

-Even if it is an affair.