How could I forget? I nodded fiercely.
“A ‘bug’ is an existence that devours threads. When a thread is severed, the character rejects the given fate. Keran’s destiny is to fall in love with the protagonist…”
“So that’s why he was so cold to Blossom.”
As Kyle explains, one of the conditions for a bug to occur was the frequent use of cheats. At some point, Keran’s thread thinned out due to the cheats Blossom was using. Blossom then used more cheats, considering Keran, who didn’t show any appropriate affection towards her, as a factor in her anxiety. Little did she know that it would cut his thread. It was a vicious cycle.
Keran Illestia was not just a supporting male character like Kyle Villard; he was the main male lead among the main male characters. He was so important that he was even drawn on the game’s package or the book’s cover. Rosemary Blossom must have been ignorantly impatient. Enough to think that the life of one background character is not a big deal.
If you look at it that way, there is a slight possibility of her anger being justified. If I also bought a book just because of the face of the male lead on the cover and he didn’t end up with the female lead, even I would want to burn the whole thing.
“But why is she doing this to me?”
Even so, it was strange that the target to burn was me.
“Blossom thinks you are the cause of the bug that occurred in Keran.”
It was so unfair that my jaw dropped. It’s not like I whispered ‘Never like Blossom’ into Keran’s ear every time he slept. The bug was caused by her overexploited cheats in the first place.
“You two have been getting along quite well lately. Your existence has nothing to do with Keran’s fate. And you also stole the Ramos event from her.”
“Stole what?”
“The practice magic tool storage room. Ramos was supposed to meet Blossom according to his fate, but you interfered.”
Early that morning, in the hallway on the second floor of the annex building, the resentment that caught my ankle was the color of violets. I understood a lot of things in an instant.
“What she considered getting ‘in her way’ was…”
“Right. Rosemary Blossom’s goal is to gain the favor of all the targeted characters and see the true ending.”
I tried touching Keran’s thread with my fingers. The firm knot touched my knuckles. I imagined Kyle tying it while crouched down. Did he shed tears back then? He was a crybaby, so maybe he did.
Kyle had already noticed that Keran’s thread was broken. However, despite that, he didn’t let anyone, including Blossom, know about it. That is until his childhood friend’s life was at stake. That meant that Kyle had no intention of ‘fixing’ Keran unless he faced such an extreme situation.
Had it been me, I would have done the same. Kyle had watched Keran live as Rosemary Blossom’s counterpart for a very long time. But of all the ‘possibilities’ Kyle had seen, had Keran Illestia always been content with his role?
I once met Keran Illestia, who was confused about his love for Florence Belle. He, well, didn’t look delighted.
The reason Keran was willing to tolerate the eerie discomfort he felt from Belle was simply because he loved her. Even love itself is not something of his own but something divine. The truth is always cruel, just as I have at least four ‘same-mold’-sisters.
If it was possible to turn Keran into a fool by tying the thread, I rolled up his thread and pulled it, wondering if I could ever sever it again. It didn’t even budge. I struggled until I could feel my face heating up, then gave up. Then I asked.
“Are you included in those ‘target characters’?”
At the few graduation banquets I knew of, Rosemary Blossom clearly had something she wanted from Kyle, and when he didn’t give her what she asked for, she turned back time. She also threw a fruit punch at me.
Suddenly, I remembered our earlier conversation. Kyle wanted to use his pocket watch to lure the omniscient Rosemary Blossom. He was convinced the pocket watch had more value to Blossom than removing the thorn that was me. Also, Blossom wanted to get something from Kyle at the graduation banquet. Even a gorilla could deduce that. So, I rephrased my question.
“For Blossom to achieve her goal, she needs your pocket watch?”
“The tiara of God Stia, the rosary of Saint Eirene, the scales of Ignas, the ancient dragon, and the earrings of Queen Rosemary…”
He said, pulling out Keran Illestia’s fate from my grip. It left a bright red mark on my palm.
“The targeted characters are supposed to present their treasures as proof of the conquest’s completion.”
“So your ‘treasure’ is Grandpa Damien’s pocket watch.”
“That’s right. In order for Blossom’s true ending condition to be fulfilled, she must obtain them all by the time of the graduation banquet.”
“But so far she has been failing. Is it your fault?”
“It’s partly my fault, partly your fault, and also Blossom’s or Keran’s fault.”
“Why me and Keran in there?”
“’Keran’?”
Oops. The person I referred to as ‘Keran’ was not Rosemary Blossom’s, but Keran Illestia of Florence Belle. But that’s not what’s important right now. As I mumbled to myself, Kyle looked at me with his head slightly tilted while still glancing at the threads on the floor. His eyes gleamed like green flames, and his voice came out hesitantly.
“It’s important. Because that bastard…”
Then, he suddenly fell silent. I waited for the rest of the words that were left hanging for what seemed like an excessive amount of time, but there was no continuation.
On the way back, I tried my best to unravel the history between Kyle and Keran over the past repeated nine months. I remembered the incident where Kyle had beaten up our hot potato, Keran Illestia, and almost had an execution for his sentence.
Then Kyle suddenly pretended not to find the bookmark in his overly thick book of memories. I felt sorry for him for a moment, but I’d seen his lying face too many times to be completely fooled.
‘Stubborn.’
No matter how many times I kicked him in the shin, Kyle kept repeating the same thing like a parrot.
“You’re going to get your ass kicked one day because of that stubbornness.”
He giggled as I cursed him.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve gone completely to ruin because of this stubbornness.”
***
When we got back to the magic ship, the two lovebirds were on the aft deck watching Mana explosion. Kyle and I were perched on the top of the foredeck, swinging our legs to watch them, but they were whispering and there was so much background noise that I had to make a hand cupped over my ears to make out anything of what they were saying.
I stretched my upper body out of my sitting position and almost rolled over. I would have broken my neck if Kyle hadn’t caught me.
“Hey, don’t do that. If you’re curious, I’ll dub it for you.”
“Can you hear them?”
“I can’t. But I know roughly what they’re talking about. I witnessed this before.”
Before long, he alternately imitated a high and low-pitched voice. Liz couldn’t contain her admiration for what her quirky boyfriend had prepared. Brenan pretended to be shy but effortlessly took credit away from Kyle and me. ‘Brenan Stocks, that’s how he is.’ I said through clenched teeth, and Kyle laughed at my grunt.
After about thirty kisses, Brennan stammered out his girlfriend’s name. It seemed like he was finally ready to say something that started with “mar” and ended with “riage,” But he kept on losing his chance. It was like watching an incredibly funny one-man show.
Brennan’s first attempt failed when Liz spotted an elaborately embossed siren on the stern railing and got engrossed in it. His second attempt, a cliché if ever there was one, was drowned out by the sound of a mana exploding. On his third try, Brennan succeeded in getting Elizabeth McCarthy’s attention. Before I knew it, I was on the edge again, and Kyle wrapped his arms around my waist to prevent me from falling.
“Please bear with me. I’ve been through a lot for those two.”
A chuckle escaped my lips, but it wasn’t much of a chuckle. I glanced sideways at Kyle and realized that he hadn’t been staring at the figure of the lovebirds the whole time, he was staring at something above their heads.
Come to think of it, he did the same thing three days ago at the ball. Actually, it wasn’t only at the ball. I had enough evidence that Kyle often checked the top of other people’s heads after spending a few days hanging out with him. As if there was something there.
Adamantium has a saying that one should strike while the iron is hot. It seemed like a good time to ask as many questions as possible. When asked why he acted as if he had seen ghosts clinging to people’s heads, Kyle answered easily, as if he didn’t have to hide much. It contained simple personal information and the likability gauge they had for Blossom, which he needed to know as a helper character.
….and their ‘title’.
“Apart from the name, it’s a nickname or something. Right now, for example, Brennan is on the verge of going from ‘Elizabeth McCarthy’s boyfriend’ to ‘Elizabeth McCarthy’s fiancé’.”
Kyle jerked his chin towards Brennan, who was just starting to get the hang of it. He was so nervous that I could see his hands fidgeting and clutching the small notebook he’d been diligently scribbling in since the day before.
Liz seemed very amused as Brennan recited a romantic line. When he had finished reciting his poem, Liz picked her boyfriend up just before his neatly ironed school uniform pants touched the plank. Then she was on her knees in an instant!
“Brennan Gregory Stokes, will you marry me?”
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