Chapter 23
The saying “Strike while the iron is hot” came to mind, and it didn’t seem like a bad idea to get things done while the motivation struck.
My body was tired, but my mind was clear.
‘Does it feel a bit wrong to go to sleep now?’
The decision was made quickly.
Having slipped into my room unnoticed and safely, I went straight to my desk.
“Meow?”
“Mmm, Tete. You go to sleep first.”
I gently placed Tete, who was looking at me with a puzzled expression, onto the bed.
“Let’s see, the stationery…?”
For a moment, I worried if someone had taken it back secretly, but fortunately, it was still in the drawer.
I dipped the pen tip in ink and wrote the recipient’s name.
“To Izel.”
That’s right. If this was for my comfortable future, it was something I absolutely had to do.
Namely, writing a letter of apology to her.
‘Izel Judith.’
She was the female protagonist of <Izel: The Men of the Saint>.
The daughter of the prestigious Judith Count family, and also a saint belonging to the Envy Church.
‘She was the one who tried to be friends with me until the end, even when I was just being spiteful.’
But I turned a blind eye to Izel’s feelings and tormented her. The reason was simple: I was extremely jealous of her.
Unlike me, Izel was healthy, vibrant, and popular, having received God’s blessings in abundance.
‘It was even more so because my former fiancé, Crown Prince Raven, and my half-brother Lucian, both liked Izel.’
I think I gradually came to believe that Izel was taking all my precious people away from me.
Although, from the perspective of my current self, mixed with my past life’s memories, it was just a childish thought.
“Better late than never.”
Rather than regretting the past, trying to set things right now was the priority.
Over the past few days, I had been kneading my stiff hand, and now I picked up the pen.
*Scratch, scratch.*
Fortunately, the letter progressed smoothly. It was probably because I was reflecting on my past misdeeds in real time as I wrote.
Before I knew it, I had filled a whopping nine pages with nothing but words of apology.
“Only one page left already.”
I had used up all the stationery I had. I wondered if I should fill this last one with apologies too, but then I changed my mind.
“That’s right. In the novel, besides me, there was another villain, wasn’t there?”
He wasn’t a very prominent character. Even in the foundational dream, that particular villain was uniquely vague.
His appearance was like that, and his name was the same.
‘I couldn’t really recall any specific evil deeds, so I just hastily wrote him out in the later parts.’
I remembered that since the plot was 99% focused on romance, I received less criticism than I had expected.
‘It’s certain he’s a priest of the Gods of Darkness and Purity.’
“Hmm, wouldn’t it be better to give her a heads up, at least a little?”
*Tap, tap.* For a moment, I tapped the pen nib on the desk, lost in thought. Then, I suddenly felt absurd, wondering why I was even worrying about this.
“Wait a second. It’s not like this is a creative work I wrote myself.”
Moreover, the one who informed me of this through my dreams was…
“Lady Arte, right?”
I could just ask about the villain!
“Lady Arte! Can you come out for a moment?”
I looked up and spoke to the empty air. As if waiting, *Ding!*, a status window appeared.
[Arte grumbles that you should respect her morning sleep.]
Morning sleep? Was it already that late?
I glanced out the window and saw the dawn was breaking.
“Isn’t it *so~* good to wake up early? All you do is eat, sleep, and play anyway. I can’t even sleep and I’m working right now, so please help me.”
*Ding!*
[Arte has sponsored you 1 Florin!]
[Sniff, stop,, the blunt,, truth,, about,, oppressing,, night owls~~~!!!]
I flinched.
I thought I could mostly ignore Arte’s remarks by now, but this one was different.
“What kind of speech is this…?”
Her way of speaking seems to be getting stranger. Where is she learning this, really?
I stared at the status window, dumbfounded. Even looking again, it was still shocking.
*Ding!*
[Arte says it’s a way of speaking she saw in the comments of a novel she was binge-reading and proudly blushes.]
‘What kind of novel is she reading…?’
Shouldn’t we confiscate all subculture stuff from that reclusive, lone god?
Before I knew it, my face had stiffened seriously, and a status window floated up saying she wouldn’t do it again.
Was it an illusion that I could see Arte’s sulky face beyond it?
I felt vaguely guilty and couldn’t bring myself to tell her to stop.
“…Let’s put the speech pattern aside for now. Lady Arte, there’s another villain besides me, right? Please tell me in detail. I want to warn Izel.”
[Arte smiles awkwardly and says that probably won’t be possible.]
“Huh? Why?”
I tilted my head at the unexpected answer. Why can’t she tell me, even after going so far as to violate human rights to publish it as a novel?
Arte immediately answered my question.
[Arte is worried about the butterfly effect.]
[Arte cautiously warns that the future of that villain is severely twisted, and a careless revelation could lead to the worst possible situation.]
The worst possible situation? Could it be that the world ends?
‘Was he that powerful of a villain to begin with?’
My future felt increasingly unstable. I unconsciously bit my lip, and *Ding!*, a status window appeared.
[Arte reassures Ciela that she will be fine.]
[Arte adds that the worst situation is the ‘death of Izel Judith’.]
“……!”
*Thump.*
My mind went blank even more than when I thought about the word ‘world destruction’.
“Izel dies?”
I thought, ‘How can the female protagonist die?’, before remembering again that this is reality.
That’s right, this isn’t inside a novel. The novel I wrote was just the future of this world that Arte had implanted in my mind.
“T-then, how…?”
The feelings I originally held towards Izel were akin to love-hate. Even if I wanted to simply dislike her, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Because Izel was someone who never hated me until the very end, even when I acted outrageously and mean.
Only now, after regaining my past self’s memories, did I realize how warm and precious that heart of hers was.
That’s why she was even more special to me. She was once my heroine, and now, she is my only friend.
Clenching my trembling hand tightly, I looked at the status window.
[Arte guarantees that things won’t reach the worst situation.]
[Arte says that since Ciela is down here as her saint, such a thing is even less likely to happen, and pats her chest proudly.]
“Haa. Well, that’s a relief then……”
Arte’s words eased my anxious heart a little. I let out a long sigh of relief and slumped back against the chair.
Just then.
“Meow.”
Perhaps awakened by my voice, Tete had come to my feet at some point.
*Hop.*
Where does that strength come from? In one leap, Tete settled on my lap, stared intently at my hand, and then gently leaned her body against it.
“Tete.”
My slightly trembling hand gradually calmed as it met her warm body temperature. My stiff face also relaxed.
‘That’s right, even the novel I wrote had a happy ending.’
Izel, who survived well without anyone’s help in the original story, would surely be the same this time.
Trying hard to shake off the ominous feeling, I picked up the pen again.
“Then, I’ll leave out the part about the other villain.”
On the last page, I wrote that I would apologize properly if we met again.
“…Surely, it should be okay to write a warning to be careful, right?”
After pondering, I added it as a postscript. Since Arte didn’t say anything, it seemed this much was acceptable.
“Apologizing feels good.”
I still don’t know if Izel will accept my apology, but my heart felt lighter.
“Hmm hmm~”
Humming lightly, I sealed the letter with a seal bearing my family’s crest.
With ten pages of ink-filled paper, the envelope looked like it might burst at any moment, but oh well, it should be fine!
*Jingle.*
I pulled the bell rope next to the bed to call a maid.
I planned to go to the dining room after handing it over, as I was hungry, and I’d also have my maid help me dress.
But, huh?
“Did you call for me, My Lady?”
“Jenna? What are you doing here?”
Isn’t it too early for her to be working? It hasn’t been long since that incident happened.
As I stared blankly at Jenna, she bowed deeply.
“I’m all better now. Thank you so much, My Lady.”
“Oh, it was nothing, really.”
It was the first time I’d received such gratitude, so the corner of my mouth twitched. I barely managed to suppress it and quickly waved my hand in dismissal.
‘Actually, if you think about it, I’m the more grateful one.’
I was able to reveal that I have divine power, and because of that, switching to the Arte faith was resolved without a hitch.
At this point, it seems like the balance would only be right if I were the one treating Jenna better.
‘Huh? Now that I think about it?’
Then, a remark Penny had made suddenly came to mind.
“Your mother is sick, right? You’d better stick~ around here.”
‘I’m sure she said Jenna’s mother was ill.’
Since the current head of the Baron family is male, Jenna’s mother was clearly of commoner birth.
‘Couldn’t I help with this matter?’
