I'm the Friend of a Male Lead who went Crazy after the Female Lead Died

“Ugh.”

With both hands gripping her cheeks, and her mouth hanging wide open, Elshnain staggered backwards.

Her expression reminded her of the agonizing wail of a Munch she had learned in her previous life during an art education class.

In front of her, Arwen lay with her eyes tightly closed.

Oh, my god, what the hell is going on? Did I get the date wrong?

But even after checking the calendar again and again, reality stayed the same. Exactly one year has passed since Arwen was taken to this cliff.

“I missed the deadline…….”

She let go of the calendar she had been flipping through with trembling hands and started pulling her hair in frustration.

“It’s ruined, it’s all ruined!!” She whined, feeling hopeless.

In the book, the demons’ activities would start in earnest exactly one year after the main story began.

That’s why she patiently waited for the heroine to wake up within a year, even if it was a little late……

But the deadline has now officially passed.

“No, no, noooo……”

If everything had went according to plan, by now, Arwen would have been sticking closely to Killian–who had gone crazy after her death—to prevent him from descending further into madness.

As is often the case in stories where the female lead dies and the male lead goes insane, this novel Elshnain possessed also followed clichés.

Of course, in the beginning, Killian couldn’t believe that Arwen, who he thought was dead, had returned. He didn’t trust that was really her, and believed she was a spy sent by the demons.

In the end, they overcame everything with the power of love, and stopped the Demon King’s plot to destroy not only the human world but also the heavens.

But what would happen if Arwen, the female lead, was removed from the equation?

Killian would become tainted by dark magic and turn into a vessel for demons….

Killian would die.

And the world would be destroyed.

All Elshnain’s efforts over the past 20 years would be in vain.

“What should I do? What would be best to do?”

Desperate, she sat huddled in a corner of the cabin, tearing at her blue hair, contemplating for days on end.

After ripping out her hair so hard that the floor became a sea of blue, and she reached the point of exhaustion due to not having eaten anything for days, Elshnain tightly clenched her fists, and abruptly stood up.

She had finally found the answer to her problems, “I have no choice but to take on Arwen’s role myself for now,” she declared.

And as she thought of today’s date again, she realized a terrible danger would soon befall Killian.

So, she needed to put out that big fire first.

“And if I follow the original plotline I…. I can surely save her that way.”

The Flower of Life, she thought.

Though Elshnain didn’t know why Arwen couldn’t wake up, she believed that ‘flower’ would be a sure way to revive her.

She bit her lower lip in contemplation as her job became twofold in an instant.

Firstly, she had to temporarily replace Arwen to prevent Killian from succumbing to dark magic.

Secondly, revive Arwen in the meantime so that Killian’s love would come true.

I can do it. I know I can, she affirmed to herself.

Then she gazed out of the window with determined eyes, and as if cheering for her resolution, the morning sun rose high, sparkling.

To succeed, the first thing I need to do is……

Entrust Arwen to ‘that place.’

Next, make Killian come to me.

***

“Hoo haa, Hoo haa.”

Elshnain took a deep breath.

In front of her was a water stream flowing gently. She felt so exhausted from hastily dropping Arwen off, and quickly coming back to the cabin.

Let’s not complain about being tired; thanks to the state I’m in, it shouldn’t take long, she thought.

She was talking about pouring out all her magic as an elemental.

Wiping off the sweat on her forehead, Elshnain slowly stretched out her hands to summon water. Not long after, water materialized midair, and gently cascaded down onto the natural stream.

“Killian didn’t brake our contract yet, but since I can’t currently harness his power, I have to use my own.”

As previously implied, Elshnain was water elemental.

And as such she could manipulate nature even without forming contract with a spirit, but there were clear limitations.

She could only use as much power as her body contained, and going beyond that threshold could lead to her demise.

That’s why elementals tried not to deplete their inner magic unnecessarily.

‘Elshnain, from now on, never use up the power of your vessel. Just use mine, we made a contract, remember?’ Killian’s voice echoed in her mind as she recalled him tightly interlocking their pinky fingers together when they were young.

However, Elshnain had broken their pact three times already.

First when she abducted Arwen,

Second when she tried to resuscitate Arwen,

And most recently, at this very moment.

When Elshnain tried to revive Arwen, she used up most of own magic, so right now there was only a small amount left, just enough to be a handful. That’s why calling upon it again was very risky.

But this is the best method.

Although there was a safer way for her to personally go to where Killian was located, it didn’t align with her plan.

She needed him to ‘accidentally’ discover her location. For example, the sacred spell he placed on her when they were young could suddenly be triggered, and reveal where she was.

And the condition for that sacred spell to go off was….

“Ugh…”

As the amount of water she summoned increased, her consciousness gradually became hazier.

“Now is the time.”

And just before the last drop of her power leaved her bod, Elshnain stopped pushing it out and closed her eyes.

To activate the sacred magic spell, I must lose consciousness.

The holy spell Killian cast on Elshnain was designed to alert him when her life was in mortal danger.

And, finally, her mind flickered away.

.

.

“Ahhhhh!”

Elshnain gasped, blinking her eyes open.

Did the spell activate? she asked herself, frantically looking around.

She was standing in the middle of a gigantic, extraordinarily splendid circular hall. But the place was unfamiliar to her.

When she looked down at her feet, her body appeared slightly hazy, as if covered with a misty cloak. It seemed that the spell summoned her consciousness to where Killian was.

But…

Where is Killian?

She searched the surroundings once again, but there was no sign of a human figure. Instead, she noticed a large door at the end of the hall.

The door was intricately carved and slightly ajar, and she could hear faint voices coming from the other side.

She slowly walked towards the noise.

Could this be the Dairn Kingdom?

If everything else went according to the original story line, Killian should be in the neighboring Dairn Kingdom right now instead of the Holy Kingdom.

He was supposed to go there to infiltrate the royal palace and eliminate the demons disguising themselves as humans.

Seems like it is indeed the Dairn Kingdom, Elshnain thought as she observed the walls adorned with enormous tapestries with patterns unique to said Kingdom, and portraits of previous monarchs.

The floor was also covered with blood, as if a massacre had occurred just moments ago.

Feeling a sudden tension, Elshnain nervously gulped, and cautiously peered through the slightly open door to get a glimpse of what’s inside.

A throne?

At the top of a staircase which got narrower, and narrower as the floors went up, stood a grand throne with someone sitting on it. But due to a fallen banner leaning against the door, it was difficult to see who the person was.

“P-Please, spare me! If you let me live, I’ll give you anything you desire! I’ll even give you the throne if that’s what you want!” a frightened middle-aged man’s voice resonated loudly.

Startled, Elshnain’s shoulders involuntarily flinched.

A man who looked like he was the Dairn Kingdom’s king was kneeling, and shaking in a red cloak before the man seating on the throne. Elshnain cautiously sneaked inside the room to hide behind the big fallen flagpole and assess the situation.

“The throne? I don’t need something like that.” Another voice said, and it curiously sounded both familiar and unfamiliar to her.

Then, as realization sunk in, her eyes widened in surprise while she peeked over the fallen banner.

 A man whose appearance seemed to have come straight out of a painting was seating on the royal chair.

The white armor exclusively worn by the Holy Kingdom’s knights decorating his body made him look angelic, but his red eyes that seemed to misunderstand the world, his jet-black hair, and the murderous energy radiating from him could make one believe he was a Demon King.

Killian…

Elshnain’s shoulders trembled once again.

Killian, consumed by grief and darkness after the heroine died, exuded a much more ruthless aura than described in the book.

“I’ve already told you what I want, haven’t I, demon wearing Dairn king’s skin?”

“Hiik.”

“If you deliberately waited to report the situation to the Holy Emperor, you must have achieved success.”

“Well, that…. No matter how hard I searched for it, it seemed to have disappeared as if it never existed in the first place. Maybe it simply vanished….”

Swishhh!

Clang!

“Vanished?”

“Gahhh!!!”

In the blink of an eye, Killian’s sword flew towards the demon disguising himself as the king, impaling him. The blood spilled on its titled hardened, making the sword look like a bloodthirsty cursed one.

Then, he nonchalantly looked down at the terrified man while cleaning his fingernails.

His expression was surprisingly calm considering he had just thrown a sword at someone else.

“Enough! You’ve made it this far, so keep it up.”

“AHHHH!”

Elshnain jumped and shuddered at the demon’s piercing scream.

As Killian’s former comrade, she had seen similar scenes before and eventually grew tired of them, but it had been so long that her body reacted involuntarily.

The moment when the corrupted Killian kills the demon he kept alive so far in order to find Arwen.

That scene was happening right now.

Killian was a character who saved other humans all the time, but could never fully trust them; that’s why he used demons to find Arwen.

Elshnain felt a sense of regret, knowing that she missed the right timing. If only she had come earlier, she could have prevented him from suffering so much, and reaching this point.

As she was lamenting for a moment….

“Who’s there? Did a rat sneak in?

Her body immediately tensed up.

And Killian began to approach her with his sword drawn.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

 The sound of his shoes grew dangerously closer.

Making Elshnain clench her fists tightly, and feeling anxious about facing her old friend after such a long time.

Killian must hate me.

She was the traitor who took away his chance to bring the love of his life back to life.

Yes, that was her.

While Elshnain was trying to regain her composure, Killian strolled leisurely and stood right in front of her, with only three steps separating them.

Swiftly, his slender fingers grabbed the flag and slowly lifted it up.

“I asked who you were….”

And through the fabric that was lifted in a curved motion, Killian’s face gradually revealed itself.

“El…Elshnain?

Seeing his disturbed expression, Elshnain wondered where the man who was terrorizing the demon with determination just moments ago had gone to.

And as if he was afraid that she might suddenly disappear, Killian urgently grabbed her wrist.

“…..”

The woman blinked as she looked at het long-lost friend after 8 years, and a fleeting moment from the past flashed through her mind.

It was the day Killian bestowed the sacred spell upon her.

‘Elshnain, if something dangerous ever happens to you while we are apart, this magic will activate. Your spirit will be brought next to me as a last resort, so it might be confusing, but don’t worry too much and just remember my words.’

The boy in her memory put down a thick book and grinned at her.

‘You just need to tell me this one thing.”

 But the young an mischievous voice was abruptly covered by the man’s angry tone in front of her.

“Where are you right now?” Killian growled. “Tell me where you are!”

The atmosphere turned dark with enmity, as he spoke again in a terrifying tone,

“After 8 years……You finally appeared again after 8 years, and it’s because of this spell? Elshnain, where are you dying, huh?”

His eyes were dark, and full of anger.

Despite preparing for the last 8years, facing the hateful face of her friend in person like this was more agonizing than Elshnain ever imagined.

So, her lips trembled, unable to make the simplest sound, causing Killian’s expression to distort even more.

His eyebrows shot up, and his lips painfully pressed together before he demanded, “Tell me! Now!”

He shouted so forcefully, yet his eyes were shaking with fear.

However, Elshnain who had looked away in pain didn’t see it.

At her persistent silence, Killian’s red eyes desperately scanned her body as if searching for wounds.

Then, in a threatening tone, he whispered in her ear, “If you die, it will be the end for this continent. Is that what you want?”

And at those words, Elshnain who was overwhelmed by emotions, snapped back to reality.

What am I doing right now? I already anticipated this kind of thing from him.

She nervously parted her lips, “In the Bester Forest….”

But before she could finish her sentence, her consciousness began to be pulled somewhere else.

And as she was being pulled away, a clear voice brushed against her ears, “Don’t die until I arrive, I forbid you. Wait for me, and I will come rescue you wherever you are.”