CHAPTER 82…………………………………..
Soon after, he drooped his shoulders like a cat soaked in the rain and spoke weakly.
I couldn’t stand the sight of him and let out a small sigh.
“Threatening people is not okay.”
“Yeah.”
“And also, earlier—telling someone to just recklessly charge in like that is not okay either. Mom said fighting is bad.”
“What did your dads say?”
How sneaky, dragging my dads into this now.
“They said meaningless fights aren’t allowed either.”
With my hands on my hips, I spoke as sternly as I could.
“If you want to be friends with me, you have to follow this rule. Got it?”
Of course, without you, I have no friends.
But if a friend tries to go down the wrong path, stopping them is what true friendship is about.
“I’ll try.”
Per frowned for a moment before replying.
“I’ll avoid meaningless fights as much as possible.”
I suddenly felt very uneasy.
What exactly is Per’s standard for “as much as possible”?
“More importantly, that’s not what matters right now.”
While I was lost in thought, Per naturally shifted the topic.
“Aren’t you even curious why I’m trying so hard to stay by your side like this?”
“Wasn’t it because you wanted to meet me fair and square?”
I thought that was the reason all this time!
“Well, that’s true too. But…”
His uniquely red eyes flashed with a chill that didn’t match their color.
“It might be about time those guys started moving.”
“Those guys…?”
No way—the original story guardians?
“Yeah, those bugs.”
Per nodded slowly.
I gasped, then pointed at the scroll with a puzzled look.
“But this thing hasn’t changed at all yet?”
Wouldn’t that ‘Calculating influence…’ message change if something suspicious was happening?
“After what happened last time?”
Per shook his head at my words.
“This thing only changes right before something actually happens. We can’t wait around for it to update.”
“…”
“Well, I guess it’s doing its best too.”
Effort is effort, I guess.
Per added lazily,
sounding anything but sincere.
“I get what you mean.”
I quietly nodded.
Now that I think about it, during the Bertholdt incident, it also said ‘Calculating influence…’ and then instead of calculating anything, it immediately sent an ‘original plot activation’ alert.
…Right. I really shouldn’t rely on this thing.
That much I understand.
But—
“Then how do you know when or how they’ll show up?”
I pouted, grumbling under my breath, then looked at Per with hopeful eyes.
No—maybe…
Per is an amazing, super-skilled wizard.
He might know a way to recognize them—
“I don’t know either.”
But Per crushed my hopes immediately.
In the calmest, most decisive voice.
“What the heck…”
I shouldn’t have expected anything.
I drooped my shoulders and sighed deeply.
I barely got over a huge mountain, and now another one is waiting for me…
“There’s only one method anyway.”
Lowering his lashes, Per continued.
“They can’t come up with and execute a brand-new plan out of nowhere. So they’ll try to stick to the original flow one way or another.”
“The original flow?”
“Didn’t you ever think something about this flow felt strange?”
At Per’s words, I fell into deep thought.
Something strange…
“There was.”
Something that had bothered me until pretty recently.
“If Mom had been framed as in the original, Dad Harzen—and my other dads too—wouldn’t have stayed still.”
“…”
“Even if the news was slow and the other dads couldn’t reach the palace in time, would Dad Harzen really have just watched this happen?”
No way.
I tilted my head.
Absolute trust in Bertholdt? Sure.
But Dad Harzen must have known something was wrong.
He might not have realized Bertholdt was behind the whole thing, but still…
‘Even if he suspected it was a false charge, he wouldn’t have let Mom die.’
To Dad Harzen, Mom is salvation and a new world—everything.
Who just lets go of the reason they live?
If anything, he would’ve taken her and run away.
“But he didn’t.”
Dad Harzen ultimately couldn’t stop Mom’s death.
That was the crucial point.
‘Not didn’t—couldn’t.’
That part I’m sure of.
The sincerity Dad Harzen showed Mom was absolute.
“Maybe… there was a reason he couldn’t.”
I murmured again as I met Per’s eyes.
There must’ve been another reason.
Something that made even Dad unable to act.
Something that meant Mom had to die.
A reason like that.
But still…
“I still don’t know!”
Frustrated, I pounded my chest.
This is the same conclusion I reached last time on my own.
The important part is how it led to death!
“Why couldn’t he stop it, what happened in between— I just have no idea…”
If only I had read the side stories!
Then I could’ve removed all the danger without going through all this trouble!
“I’m stupid. I’m trash. I’m a rock…”
I tugged on my twin braids, wallowing in self-pity.
And then—
“Cici.”
Per gently took the hands I was using to pull my hair and met my eyes.
“Don’t rush.”
He spoke slowly, his voice full of sincerity.
“You’ll do well.”
“…”
“And this time, I’m right here with you.”
His ruby-like red eyes sparkled, reflecting only me.
“Mm…”
Looking at him like that somehow really calmed me down.
I nodded slowly and took a deep breath.
‘Per’s right.’
There’s no need to panic.
Just take things step by step, like last time.
Trust myself. Trust Per.
And trust my dads.
“Okay.”
Regaining my composure, I broke into a bright smile.
“We can do this!”
“Yeah.”
Per also smiled, his eyes curling gently.
He really is a sweet kid when he’s like this.
It’s just that with anyone who isn’t me, his base courtesy seems to be about –100.
‘Anyway…’
I glanced down toward my shoulder.
Sure enough, Per was still holding my hand tightly.
The moment I realized that, an unfamiliar feeling rushed up, and I quickly pulled my hand away.
For some reason… it was a little—
A little embarrassing…!
“You could’ve left it like that.”
Per stepped back with a playful smile.
Unlike me, he was very composed.
Seeing him like that made my embarrassment even worse.
It makes it look like I was the only one being weird…!
“Well, anyway.”
Thankfully, Per didn’t comment further and returned to the main point.
“Just keep an eye on the suspicious parts. Your mother isn’t the type who would fall to an assassination or ambush that easily.”
“That’s true.”
“Then we can narrow down their methods.”
“R-right…?”
Thinking about how they even infiltrated as palace maids, it still seems difficult to sort everything out one by one.
Ah—speaking of which.
“Hey, Per.”
A thought suddenly struck me, and I widened my eyes at him.
I had forgotten, but now that I remember—yes, that was it.
