#2.
After sending Allen away, I hurried back to my room. Thanks to being in charge of the background illustrations for the author’s comic, it was easy to find it.
The garden from earlier matched the one I drew for Roni’s house, so I came just in case—and sure enough, it was Roni’s room.
This is too vivid to be a dream. I can still feel the faint tremble from Allen’s back when I patted him, lingering in my palm.
Roni’s memories and emotions are swirling around in my head as if they’re mine, making my nerves razor-sharp.
For some reason, I’ve become Roni. Someone came to see me while I was finishing the coloring, and when I opened my eyes, I was here.
I think I saw the visitor’s face—but it’s too blurry to recall. No, even if someone did visit, ending up inside a comic I drew makes no sense.
‘It must be a dream.’
“Miss Roni, dinner is ready. You should head to the dining room.”
“Kyaa!”
I was so deep in thought that I hadn’t realized someone was beside me. The sudden voice startled me so much I screamed.
Terrified by my reaction, the maid immediately dropped to the floor and stammered,
“I-I’m so sorry, Miss! Please spare my life!”
“…Look, I don’t kill people just because they startled me.”
I was stunned by the maid’s extreme response. I reached down and helped her up as she pleaded on the floor.
‘Ha… I guess this world really has no human rights.’
The maid trembled as she realized I wouldn’t punish her. Seeing her reaction, I felt awkward, thinking just how many people Roni must have tormented.
Smiling awkwardly out of guilt, I headed to the dining room. I didn’t notice the maid’s face turning even paler after seeing my smile.
“Hey, sis. You let that mutt go today. What’s up with that?”
The boy who called someone a mutt as soon as I entered the dining room was Gail Sharligan—Roni’s younger brother. For the sibling of a villainess, he was oddly naive. His way of casually insulting others was just like Roni.
The mutt he was talking about was Allen, sitting beside him. Despite being insulted to his face, Allen showed no reaction—as if he was used to it.
The Sharligan siblings called Allen a mutt. Treating him as less than human—that matched the comic’s setting.
I felt pity seeing Allen not react to the insult. Then our eyes met. Allen stiffened and quickly looked away.
Well, I guess that makes sense. I had tried to kill his beloved cat. He must’ve been upset, even if he cried in shock at first.
‘But I didn’t actually do it…’
Still, it hurt a little to be openly disliked by Allen. I ended up venting that feeling on Gail, who kept repeating “mutt.”
I smacked Gail on the head and said,
“He’s not a mutt. He’s Allen.”
“What the—? He didn’t say anything before when I called him that!”
“Well, I’m saying something now. From now on, call him Allen hyung.”
“Hyung?! Are you crazy, sis? Why should I call him hyung?!”
“Because you’re 10, and my Allen is 13.”
I looked Gail straight in the eye and emphasized my Allen.
Gail looked back and forth between me and Allen like we’d lost our minds. Allen also stared at me in surprise, shocked by my sudden change in attitude.
Having said my Allen without thinking, I got a little flustered and cleared my throat.
Allen didn’t know me, but I was one of those readers who always rooted for him. I constantly said my Allen this and my Allen that.
Thinking back, I had said my Allen with Roni’s face. No wonder Allen looked creeped out.
Feeling embarrassed, I fidgeted with the hem of my dress. But their expressions had already become weird—too late to fix it.
Thankfully, someone arrived to rescue me from this awkwardness: Roni’s parents.
Duke Leo Sharligan entered the dining room holding hands affectionately with his wife, Irene Sharligan. The sweetness in Leo’s eyes as he looked at his wife made it clear they had a loving relationship.
We greeted them briefly and sat properly like nothing had happened. I sneaked glances at Allen as he quietly ate.
Allen was the youngest son of the Romenit family. He originally had little presence.
When he first came to the Marquis’ house, he endured everything by waiting for the mother who promised to visit every night.
As the youngest and illegitimate child among five siblings, he was practically abandoned by the family.
Roni happened to notice him when visiting his brother Harry—and impulsively made him her fiancé, which brought Allen into the spotlight.
To Roni, it was like finding an amusing new toy. But to Allen, Roni was like a shining light that dispelled all the scorn he had endured.
Unfortunately, that impression didn’t last long. After Roni’s real bullying began, Allen eventually thought he’d been better off being ignored in his own household.
In other words, Allen didn’t despise Roni from the beginning. His hatred was the result of her twisted way of showing affection.
No, let’s not sugarcoat it. That wasn’t affection. Roni Sharligan was simply awful.
It’s no wonder Allen avoids even looking at me. Roni had tormented him for five long years. He had every reason to be disgusted.
Maybe, even if he doesn’t show it, he feels uncomfortable with me watching him. It might feel like the hypocrisy of a perpetrator pretending to care.
‘Still… seeing him in real life is the best.’
I wanted to look at him all I could before this dream ended. Five years from now, he’ll secretly train in swordsmanship and be recognized for it—then enroll in the magic academy as the top student.
Once Roni officially becomes the heir, Allen and she will be separated.
‘And that’s when Allen will meet Viana.’
Viana, a fellow student of Allen’s, is actually the First Princess attending school in disguise.
Raised like a flower in a greenhouse, she treated Allen with great kindness. But Allen, disturbed by her gray eyes—the same as the late Sasha’s—was cold to her.
Maybe it was guilt.
He blamed himself for Sasha’s death—believing it was his weakness that caused it. That guilt made him obsessed with strength and power.
He thought Sasha died because he wasn’t strong enough, that his own inadequacy compared to the Sharligan family led to her death. In truth, Roni was the one truly responsible—but Allen took all the blame upon himself.
“Does it not suit your taste?”
“Oh—no, I was just lost in thought.”
When I didn’t eat and only stared at Allen, Irene asked with concern. Unlike Leo, she had a gentle personality.
She had always worried about Roni’s unruly behavior. Her fragile health had prevented her from properly raising her children, something she deeply regretted.
I motioned to reassure her and gave a small smile.
And that’s when things took an unexpected turn. Gail spoke up like he’d seen something freakish.
“Did you just… smile, sis?”
‘Is it that weird for me to smile?’
I looked around, puzzled. Even Allen had stopped eating and was staring blankly at me along with the rest of the family.
Before long, I realized why—and cold sweat ran down my back.
Roni doesn’t smile. Her face was always expressionless, cold, and unreadable.
Even I, who only helped with the backgrounds, didn’t know what the author was thinking when they created Roni’s character.
I had always seen Roni through Allen’s flashbacks and hated her.
Even now, I only had scattered fragments of Roni’s memories and feelings. I still didn’t know why she tormented Allen.
It’s like parts of her memory were missing—fragmented and empty. Probably because, as far as the comic goes, Roni was just a side character who caused Allen’s trauma.
I figured those missing parts of the setting just didn’t get reflected in the dream. If this wasn’t a dream, there’d be no way to explain this phenomenon.
All I had were vague echoes of what I knew of Roni’s setting.
Just as I was breaking into a nervous sweat, wondering how to get through this, I noticed a speck of dust in Allen’s curly hair. Instinctively, I reached out and brushed it off—then unconsciously cooed like a doting mom.
“My Allen is still cute even with dust on him~”
Flinch.
Allen stared at me, dumbfounded, as if asking what on earth I was doing.
Oh no. My bad habit from fangirling over Allen in the comic kicked in—I treated him like my baby again.
Allen’s face darkened, then shifted to an oddly understanding expression.
“…Roni, is this… a new kind of bullying?”
