Aileen spoke through sobs.
“Give it… back.”
“This?”
Jeremiel lifted the star-shaped badge.
It glittered even in the dark cave.
At a glance, it looked like an expensive gemstone.
Jeremiel let out a short laugh.
“You got it taken away from you, didn’t you?”
“That’s why you have to give it back.”
“You’re awfully confident for someone who lost it.”
Seila couldn’t believe her ears.
Wasn’t that backwards?
Shouldn’t the heroine be the one saying, “You’re confident for someone who stole it”?
Why on earth was the male lead talking to the heroine like this?
Isn’t this the point where Jeremiel is supposed to start falling for her?
But instead of falling, Jeremiel looked at Aileen with obvious disdain.
Is it because her glasses haven’t come off yet?
Did she miscalculate the timing?
Maybe she should have waited a little longer so the “glasses-lost” event could trigger properly.
Fine. I’ll make sure the glasses come off.
Seila stepped closer to Aileen.
The closer she got, the more nauseous she felt.
It was because of her trait: [I Hate the Heroine].
This is bad…
She knew it made no sense to hate someone for no reason, but she hated her so much.
Just approaching the heroine felt like walking toward a cockroach the size of a person.
Even so, Seila gathered her courage.
“Give me the glasses.”
Aileen had cried so much that her lenses were fogged white.
Seila took them off. They were covered in dirty tear stains.
She pulled out a cloth from her coat and wiped them clean.
All right, Jeremiel. Look at the heroine.
She glanced toward him—but Jeremiel still looked uninterested in Aileen.
Why does he keep looking at ME?
He seemed more interested in watching what Seila was doing.
It wasn’t just Jeremiel acting strange.
What’s wrong with Aileen?
Aileen suddenly started trembling.
“Are you cold?”
“N-no. I-I mean… no? No!!”
She switched between formal and informal speech, as if she was losing her mind.
When Seila handed the glasses back, Aileen took them with both hands, trembling like an aspen leaf.
“T-thank you, Seila.”
Aileen looked down at her glasses with bloodshot eyes.
What is she doing?
She looked like someone holding a sacred relic—just staring, staring, staring.
Strange, but fine. The glasses were off.
Okay, Jeremiel. Look. Look at her face.
Then, just like in <That Girl Is Mine>, a beautiful melody would echo in his mind—
the feeling of a powerful first love!
Oh? He looked!
Jeremiel finally glanced at Aileen’s face.
And now—sparks in his eyes, their souls will go—DING DING—!!!
He looked… and then immediately looked away.
He clearly had zero interest.
In all routes of <That Girl Is Mine>, there was never a case where the male lead wasn’t captivated.
Is her hair too messy?
Well. Yes. Her hair was such a disaster that it hid half her face.
Let’s show him her face!
Seila pulled a extra hair tie from her pocket.
She always carried extras because of swordsmanship training.
She held the tie in her mouth and brushed Aileen’s hair back.
Ugh… touching her hair is disgusting.
But she had to do it.
Jeremiel had to fall for Aileen to trigger the “World Filled with All Beauty” route properly.
Seila brushed Aileen’s hair neatly and tied it up with the hair tie she held in her teeth.
There! A ponytail—the hairstyle male leads go crazy for.
He had to fall now.
She felt Jeremiel’s gaze.
Finally! My directing worked!
Jeremiel had known of Aileen long before.
To be precise, he had been aware of her since the entrance ceremony.
Seila hates that girl.
Jeremiel was highly sensitive to Seila’s emotional shifts,
and he already knew Seila disliked Aileen.
Seila would never hate someone for no reason.
Clearly, that girl had a serious flaw.
Honestly, even if Seila hated her for no reason, that was fine.
He simply could not feel anything positive toward someone Seila disliked.
And then today, he happened to run into Aileen.
Since she had a star badge, he took it.
Seila cared deeply about grades—she’d love getting a star badge as a gift.
But Seila’s reaction to Aileen was… off.
Huh? Did I misunderstand?
From what he sensed, she still hated Aileen.
Not just dislike—almost disgust.
But that was only his subjective perception.
He couldn’t actually read people’s minds.
Was I wrong?
When Seila wiped Aileen’s glasses, Jeremiel saw nothing in the world but her.
She never shows that kind of kindness…
Because she was usually so blunt, the contrast was devastatingly powerful.
And that wasn’t all.
Seila pulled a hair tie from her pocket and held it in her mouth.
A… ah…
It felt like bells were ringing in his head.
He didn’t know why—
but today, Seila looked more beautiful than ever.
He realized clearly:
This was the moment he had fallen for Seila.
Those gentle, careful hands tying Aileen’s hair.
That hair tie held between her lips.
Without thinking, he whispered:
“…Should I grow my hair out?”
…So that Seila might touch it, too.
Aileen’s nape was bright red.
Her whole body was stiff with tension, her breathing uneven.
Things had gone strangely, but at least it seemed to follow the original flow of <That Girl Is Mine>.
She recalled the scene:
the heroine, who lost her glasses, shivering from the cold.
Wow… she looks like she’d snap if I poked her.
<That Girl Is Mine> was full of cliché moments.
“The heroine is so fragile—oh no, I MUST protect her!”
that kind of thing happened all the time.
Jeremiel’s going to fall for her after seeing this… right?
While Seila was quietly satisfied, Aileen spoke, stammering:
“T-th-thank you, Seila.”
“How did you end up here?”
“Well… I… sort of… twisted my ankle…”
“Right.”
Now that the destined meeting between heroine and male lead was set, it was enough.
Seila stood as if to leave, but Aileen hurriedly called out:
“S-Seila!”
“Why.”
“Well…”
Aileen hesitated, then pulled a small camera from her pocket.
“C-c-could you take a picture with me?”
“….”
Seila was confused.
Why does she have a camera?
Cameras were rare.
Photography was a high-class noble hobby.
More importantly, cameras were expensive—far beyond what Aileen should be able to afford right now.
“You want to… take a picture of me?”
“Y-yes! It would be even better together!”
“….”
“I’ll treasure it for the rest of my life.”
Seila suddenly felt something was off.
Come to think of it… her attitude…
It wasn’t unfamiliar at all.
In fact…
This is just like when I met Seo Min-ji.
Seo Min-ji was a member of an idol group that became a sensation at debut.
Lee So-hyun wasn’t much interested in idols—
until she met Seo Min-ji in person.
It was like getting struck by a truck of sudden fandom.
The moment was still burned into her memory.
She ended up asking for an autograph and even trembling as she requested a photo.
Aileen spoke with pride:
“I-I’m actually the head of the Seila Research Institute.”
“Seila Research Institute? What is that?”
Aileen’s answer was shocking.
So basically… it’s my fanclub?
And Aileen was the leader.
Seila knew such groups existed, but had never met one directly.
Aileen puffed her chest proudly.
“It’s one of the three major factions.”
“…”
It got worse.
“W-we share Seila’s photos diligently.”
“…What?”
“We have to spread Seila’s beauty! Good things should be seen and shared.”
In this era, there was almost no concept of portrait rights.
“Sometimes big spenders want to buy photos for private collections.”
Apparently they made a lot of money from it.
“D-don’t worry! We never sold them cheap. And since it’s for private collectors, we made sure the quality was really high…”
“…So you followed me around taking pictures?”
“Y-yes.”
The more she heard, the more it sounded like a literal sasaeng home-master fan.
She felt like a celebrity.
No—worse.
The heroine stalked ME? Seriously?
Come to think of it, Seila had heard a click back at the auditorium.
“So even at the academy…”
“Y-yes. There are lots of Seila fa—ah—fans there too!”
“…”
The heroine of <That Girl Is Mine> had become a hardcore fan-photographer.
It was absurd.
But then…
Aileen’s shy smile blurred in Seila’s vision.
Why am I dizzy?
Was it that stupid “constant life-threatening danger” again?
But Jeremiel was right beside her.
Her body kept swaying.
Is Jeremiel too distracted with the heroine? Ah… wait!
Her consciousness dimmed.
Suddenly, a part of the setting notes that Lee Joo-hwan had shown her flashed in her mind.
