I Lied to the Male Lead with My Pinky Finger on the Line

 

 

“…Clyde.”

 

“It’s not a big deal. It’s just a temporary thing.”

 

“…What do you mean by temporary? And how is it not a big deal? You can’t see!”

 

I raised my voice unintentionally. Clyde’s face showed a hint of surprise.

 

“Calm down, Ruby. I’ll explain everything. It’s a side effect that occurred after awakening my magical powers. Sometimes, there are moments when my senses get blocked like this.”

 

“A side effect…?”

 

“Yeah. But it’s only temporary. It’ll come back in a few days. So don’t worry.”

 

“…….”

 

In the original story, there was never any mention of Clyde experiencing such side effects due to the awakening of his magical powers.

 

If it had been a minor side effect, it could have been assumed that it was simply not mentioned, but there was no way that a side effect that caused a person to suddenly go blind would not have been described in the novel.

 

“Wait a moment. You said senses… then, are there times when you lose other senses too, apart from vision?”

 

“Yeah, um… smell, or taste…”

 

“Do the blocked senses return one by one? Except for the vision, are your other senses fine now?”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

I couldn’t understand why such side effects occurred.

 

Obviously, the trigger for awakening magic was different from the original, but it didn’t make sense that it would cause such serious side effects.

 

In the original novel, Clyde awakened his magical powers while undergoing torture as an experimental subject.

 

However, in the changed future, he awakened them in a peaceful and natural way, like he had just suddenly woken up like that.

 

If there were side effects, they should have occurred when he awakened his powers in a more forced manner, as described in the original story.

 

I tightly grasped Clyde’s hand with both mine.

 

“Clyde, can you promise me that you’ll answer my questions honestly without any lies?”

 

“……What is it?”

 

“Just promise me. Promise me that you won’t lie.”

 

“…….”

 

“Clyde.”

 

“….Fine, I promise.”

 

“You said before that there was no special reason, and you just awakened your powers one day. Was that really true?”

 

“…….”

 

Clyde hesitated and couldn’t answer immediately.

 

It was as if I had already heard an answer at that point.

 

“…It was a lie.”

 

“…….”

 

“What really happened? How did you awaken your powers? Tell me, Clyde, please.”

 

“…….”

 

“Please, I’m begging you. To figure out why these side effects occurred, I need to know exactly what happened that day.”

 

“…And when you find out, what are you going to do about it?”

 

Clyde asked, his voice cracking slightly.

 

“We’ll find a way to deal with these side effects, of course!”

 

“How? What can you possibly do even if you find out?”

 

“We’ll figure it out!”

 

I shouted forcefully, and Clyde furrowed his eyebrows.

 

“But how? You don’t even know if there’s a way to do that?”

 

“It doesn’t matter! I’ll find a way, no matter what!”

 

Clyde fell silent.

 

He must have noticed the tears in my voice.

 

I couldn’t hold it in.

 

The fact that this happened to Clyde, the fact that I was completely unaware of it, and the fact that Clyde said it was no big deal and tried to reassure me, everything.

 

It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t changed the future in the first place.

 

It was a choice I had to make to save the lives of so many people, but that didn’t change the fact that it was my responsibility.

 

“Hurry up and tell me, how did you awaken your powers?”

 

“…Ruby.”

 

“Tell me now! If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll never see you again, and I’ll hate and resent you for the rest of my life. Is that okay with you? Are you really okay with that?”

 

“…….”

 

“Clyde!”

 

Clyde squeezed his eyes shut.

 

He kept his head down, and then, with difficulty, opened his mouth.

 

“Fine, I’ll tell you. But promise me one thing,” Clyde said.

 

“Yes. What is it?”

 

“It’s not your fault, it’s not your responsibility. It was all my choices and the consequences that followed. So, promise me you won’t think it’s your fault. Promise me you won’t cry over it.”

 

“…….”

 

I bit my lip nervously.

 

“Okay, I promise.”

 

Clyde took a deep breath and began to tell me what had happened.

 

*****

 

Heremos was a good place.

 

No one asked how Clyde and Hena ended up here or what had happened in the past.

 

Everyone was kind to them.

 

At first, Clyde was cautious of the residents, but as time passed, he gradually opened his heart.

 

Most importantly, the necklace Ruby gave him meant he was no longer confined to the house.

 

He and his mother worked hard to cultivate the fields the villagers shared with them.

 

He learned to hunt small animals from Mr. Barklin, the village’s best hunter, and to read and write from Grandma Laurel.

 

Even at such a young age, Clyde was as agile and strong as most adults. He ran many errands for the townspeople, and with the money he earned, he was able to buy his mother good food and nice clothes.

 

On Saturday nights, everyone in town would gather in the square, build a bonfire, and have a party.

 

People who knew how to play musical instruments played music, and everyone danced together.

 

Even his usually quiet mother occasionally laughed out loud on those days. Clyde loved it and looked forward to it every Saturday.

 

The days were dull and monotonous, but he was happy with them.

 

However, deep inside, he always thought of Ruby.

 

If it weren’t for Ruby, he could never have lived so peacefully.

 

Clyde was sure that both he and his mother would have been stuck in prison and died there.

 

She was his savior, his hero.

 

Counting the days, he eagerly anticipated the day he would meet Ruby again.

 

He believed without a doubt that after the promised three years, Ruby would definitely come to find him.

 

But three years passed, and then a week, and then a month, and then another month, and the seasons changed, and there was no word from Ruby.

 

He thought that if there were circumstances that prevented her from coming, she would have sent a letter through someone.

 

So, later on, Clyde waited for the traveling merchant who visited the village once or twice a week.

 

On days when it was almost time for the merchant to arrive, he even went far outside the village entrance to wait.

 

But it was all in vain.

 

Gradually, fear crept into his heart.

 

What if something happened to Ruby? What if that man found out about her and captured her?

 

The man who had imprisoned and tortured Clyde was a demon without blood or tears.

 

He didn’t seem to care about a girl as young and pretty as Ruby.

 

What if he really did capture her? What if he was keeping her in the same cage he was in, torturing her every day?

 

Because of these worries, Clyde couldn’t sleep well at night.

 

After three years and another six months passed, Clyde made up his mind to go find Ruby.

 

He was no longer the weak and helpless young boy before.

 

He had grown taller, and his body had developed some muscles.

 

There was no one in town who could beat him in arm wrestling. He could even defeat Mr. Nopalio, a man twice his size.

 

Over the past six months, Clyde prepared to leave the village. He took on more errands and secretly saved some of the money he earned. He knew that traveling all the way to the Palma Empire would require a significant amount of money.

 

Once he had enough money, he left a note for his mother and left town before dawn.

 

Thanks to having tracked the traveling merchant several times, he could easily find his way down the mountain without much difficulty.

 

All he had to do next was retrace his steps the way he had come to Heremos for the first time.

 

After three days of travel, Clyde arrived at the border between the Neo Kingdom and the Palma Empire.

 

Four years ago, he safely crossed the border with the fake identification Ruby had given him.

 

But he’d already destroyed it on Ruby’s instructions.

 

Of course, that didn’t mean Clyde had come all this way without a plan in mind.