TN: Thank James Baily for the chapter. I’m really just doing a 3 person rotation now.

“Arte, wake up. Arte.”

“Zzz… Zzz…”

“…Arte? Arte?”

I heard someone’s voice. A voice that wanted to wake me up.

I’m so sleepy I could die, and you’re waking me up?

Annoyed, I tossed and turned, and the voice disappeared, making me feel good.

The hard but warm and comforting  pillow brought me a sense of stability.

Smiling with satisfaction, I fumbled around, looking for the  pillow I was hugging, but my hands grasped nothing.

…Strange. It should definitely be nearby.

“What if she wakes?! At times like this, you should quietly stroke her hair!”

“…But my legs are starting to hurt.”

“Can’t you even do that much for your beloved?!”

“Love or whatnot, it’s been four hours already.”

“Shh. She’ll wake up.”

When I was startled that the pillow that should exist didn’t, the voices entered my ears again.

The moment I was about to toss and turn again in protest, I paused, questioning the content of the conversation.

…Legs?

Huh. Come to think of it, did I have such a hard  pillow at home?

I don’t think I did?

“…Thankfully, she didn’t. Let her sleep a bit more, Siwoo. She looks tired.”

“I know, I know. I just wanted to ask a bit about yesterday’s events.”

“That can wait. Let’s let her sleep more for now. She must have been really exhausted.”

Hearing Amelia’s words to let me sleep more, Dorothy and Siwoo agreed.

But it was already too late.

My sleepiness had fled long ago.

Honestly, I wanted to sleep more, but I couldn’t fall asleep.

…Why am I sleeping amidst these three in the first place?

Unable to understand the situation, I tried to think about what happened before I fell asleep.

Hmm, let’s see.

I couldn’t fall asleep, so I stayed up all night.

I had no choice but to force myself awake and leave for the academy.

I remember Lyla and Lee Ha-Yul looking at me strangely as I staggered.

…And then? What happened next?

Arriving at the academy, I discovered Siwoo and Amelia having a conversation.

The moment I saw Siwoo, I think I had a thought.

The reason I couldn’t sleep was because I lacked warmth.

And when I was in Siwoo’s arms yesterday, it was definitely warm.

I’m sure I had that thought, and then…

I could feel my face slowly heating up.

I remembered everything. Why I’m sleeping here. What I had done.

I, I, I must be crazy…?!

What I’m resting my head on now… they definitely said it was a leg.

It’s not Amelia or Dorothy’s leg. Those two couldn’t possibly be this hard.

Then there’s only one person left.

The person who complained his legs hurt. Only that person.

“She’s really out.”

“She said she stayed up all night. Of course she’ll sleep well.”

“Is that so? Still, I’m glad. Arte seems alright otherwise.”

It seemed no one noticed I was awake.

Even the teachers had difficulty judging if I was asleep or awake.

It’s really convenient at times like this.

“But is it really true? That story.”

“If it’s hard to believe, you don’t have to. We know well it’s an absurd story too.”

“No. I’ll believe it. I trust you’re not the type to joke around with a story like this.”

“I appreciate that.”

Dorothy let out a small sigh and muttered.

“The fact that Arte is actually a member of Arachne and has been causing various incidents at the academy… It’s hard to believe.”

“If it’s hard to believe, you can pretend you didn’t hear it even now.”

“No, I believe it. Definitely.”

“Why are you so certain?”

“I saw it. I saw Arte killing someone.”

“…What?”

For a moment, I almost jumped up in surprise.

…She saw it? Me killing someone? When?

“Do you remember, Siwoo? That Übermensch dragon. The person who controlled the wind.”

“…Yeah. I’ll never forget it in my life.”

“Me too. Because that person died right before my eyes.”

With Dorothy’s words, I finally realized.

Why did Siwoo, who showed no signs of growth, push that dragon so hard.

Why he collapsed as if fainting after a single attack.

He had received Dorothy’s enhancement.

How? Where? Those things didn’t matter. It was something that had already passed long ago.

“Arte killed that person in an instant. It was a perfect sneak attack.”

Was she talking about that?

Dorothy’s voice trembled slightly.

“I couldn’t come out then. It was the first time I saw someone die, and I was scared.”

“… Wasn’t the identity of the killer unknown?”

“It was unknown. Because Arte didn’t reveal it. No, that’s not what’s important. Arte was filled with ecstasy.”

“Ecstasy?”

“Yes.”

Dorothy retraced the memory she saw once more and spoke with a voice full of conviction.

It was ecstasy.

“‘ A puppet shouldn’t injure a person. You crossed the line,’ or something like that.”

“… That’s.”

Siwoo and Amelia realized.

Why Dorothy believed their words.

She had already seen it directly.

Arte talking about puppets and humans.

“…But Dorothy. Why didn’t you mention that?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been acting as if you hadn’t noticed anything until now. You even got along well with Arte.”

Right. I had no idea at all. Until yesterday, I couldn’t even imagine that Dorothy had seen that.

Because she acted the same as always as if she hadn’t noticed anything.

“There was no need to mention it.”

“No need to mention it…”

“She killed someone. Of course it’s wrong. But is it also wrong to kill a villain who tried to kill a friend?”

Dorothy treated us the same as always.

As if nothing had happened. The same as usual.

But she knew everything.

“Sometimes it’s important to cover for a friend’s flaws.”

“…Right, I see.”

With my sleepiness completely gone, I was listening to their conversation.

Dorothy, Amelia, Siwoo,

They all believed in me.

They consider me a friend, justify my actions, and believe in me.

The only one who can’t believe in such people is me alone.

I was just consoling myself, saying everyone except Siwoo is merely a puppet.

“The key to helping Arte is you, Siwoo.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. It can only be you. The only one Arte considers human.”

So that was exposed too.

I thought she was just an ordinary sub-heroine with no definite character like Amelia.

“‘ A mere puppet attacked a human.’ That’s what Arte said. In other words, Arte sees everyone in the world as puppets. Except for you.”

“…”

“I don’t know the reason she came to think that way. I don’t know the boundary between humans and puppets she speaks of either.”

“Me neither. I haven’t figured that out.”

“If you want to stop her from committing more sins, you’ll have to make her see other people as humans. It’ll be hard though.”

“That way, she’ll hesitate to hurt people.”

Saying that, Dorothy stroked my hair.

“…You have a good eye.”

“Because I have a caster-type ability. Shouldn’t I have at least this much insight?”

“Ah, that. Wasn’t it just like a spell or something?”

“It is a spell. I’m just putting on airs a bit… Still, didn’t I seem a bit like a witch?”

“Yes, Miss Witch.”

“Hehe.”

They were thinking of me.

Dorothy and Amelia. They were having a conversation about me, considering me a friend.

I know. Of course I know.

I’ve never had friends who cared for me this much, even before I was kidnapped into this world.

Amazingly, I have so many people who care for me in this short time.

…But I couldn’t believe it.

Because I never know when they might betray me.

What if the Author changes the settings for those two?

If she introduces a new evil force for the development of the novel and adds a setting that Dorothy was actually a spy for the organization?

Even this conversation right now would become a lie.

Dorothy’s concerns for me would turn into acting to deceive us.

That’s why I can’t believe it. That’s why I close my heart.

I suppress the emotions rushing to break through the tightly closed bolt.

There’s only one person I can trust.

The only person I can believe in.

Only Siwoo, who the Author’s changes don’t affect.

Amelia and Dorothy are friends. But for how long?

The Author changes the settings on a whim.

She even changed the basic setting of the world.

She changed a world with an ordinary academy into a world where gates opened 500 years ago.

I don’t know when Amelia and Dorothy’s settings might change on a whim too.

I suppressed all the emotions knocking on the  door, trying to break through the bolt.

As I thought, there’s only one being I can trust.

Just Siwoo.

Pretending to sleep talk, I snuggled a bit into Siwoo’s embrace.

It was definitely the warmest and hardest  pillow.

________________________

Author’s Notes

I feel like my  writing is better than usual these days.

I feel motivated again.

The answer is romance.