The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 90



Karma

Isabel Luna.

She, the main heroine of the Flame Butterfly arc, was neither the temporary president nor the temporary vice president.

So, originally, there was no need for her to follow us to the conference room.

However, those who came as president and vice president could each bring an assistant.

The assistant Iris chose was me, the temporary secretary.

Originally, Hania would have gone, but since it was a student council matter, she gave up her seat to me.

“Iris can’t sleep well when her sleeping place changes. Hannon is better.”

Recently, Hania had become very bright seeing Iris sleep peacefully.

Thanks to that, her trust in me had also increased a lot.

As a result, I ended up guarding Iris’s side.

So, who brought Isabel here?

The answer was already decided.

It was Sharin, who was lying on her lap.

Isabel readily agreed to follow.

When Isabel first said she would follow, I didn’t pay much attention.

Isabel did throw a bit of a tantrum last time when I left the battle unfinished.

But she is not the kind of child to throw a tantrum in a place like this.

The only thing I didn’t expect.

Was that Iris, who had dozed off in the carriage, would hug me and sleep.

As if it was something very familiar.

“……”

Silence fell between Isabel and me.

Isabel had been staring at me intently since I was embraced by Iris.

Iris’s strength is not of this world.

Bound tightly, I couldn’t escape from the narrow carriage.

Feeling awkward under Isabel’s gaze, I avoided her eyes, and finally, she spoke.

“Do you sleep like that with Lady Iris every day?”

Her tone was sharper than usual.

I had been caught by Isabel infiltrating the girls’ dormitory in the guise of Hania.

Fortunately, Isabel didn’t go around blabbing about it.

Still, my heart couldn’t help but race every day.

“……Isabel, there’s a reason for this.”

“It’s because of Lady Iris’s sleep, isn’t it?”

Did Isabel know too?

“Everyone knows that Lady Iris can’t sleep well.”

Iris suffers from severe insomnia.

Even if she didn’t show it, it was something you couldn’t help but notice while living at the academy.

“And we all know how painful that is.”

Isabel had suffered from insomnia for a long time after Lucas’s death.

So she knew that pain well.

“But Lady Iris, you’ve been sleeping well lately, haven’t you?”

Thanks to my efforts, Iris has been sleeping well recently.

So much so that even outsiders like Isabel have noticed the brightness in her face.

“And that’s probably thanks to you.”

Isabel realized that I had a hand in this.

“Yes, that’s right.”

When I answered honestly, Isabel let out a small sigh.

“Well done. Honestly, your current appearance is a bit shocking, but it was necessary for Lady Iris to sleep well.”

Such benevolence befitting the main heroine.

“Of course, if there had been even a hint of selfishness…”

But despite her benevolence, Isabel’s eyes were smiling without a trace of light.

“I wonder what would have happened.”

“I would never harbor such selfishness towards the Third Princess.”

“Yes, that seems certain.”

Isabel declared.

Why does it feel like she’s reading my mind completely?

Isabel is becoming more and more frightening.

“That’s why I’m curious.”

Isabel slowly stroked Sharin’s hair resting on her lap.

“Without any selfishness, what are you doing this for?”

Isabel’s eyes quietly gazed at me.

What they held was concern.

Isabel misunderstood that I caused the boycott incident because of Nikita.

Therefore, she thought my staying by Iris’s side was an extension of that.

In Isabel’s eyes, I was staying by Iris’s side for Nikita’s revenge.

The moment Iris completely opens her heart to me.

She was worried that I might take revenge for Nikita.

But my recent actions were far from seeking revenge for Nikita.

Iris is a sensitive person.

Especially to hostility directed towards her.

But I am staying by Iris’s side without any problems.

This means that I have not shown her a hint of hostility.

Feelings of resentment and anger cannot be hidden no matter how hard you try.

Isabel, who has used anger as a driving force, knows this best.

So Isabel had a question when she looked at me.

How can I, who harbors resentment towards Nikita, remain so calmly by Iris’s side?

There are only two possibilities.

Either I have mastered my anger to the extreme and do not show it outwardly.

Or there was no resentment from the beginning.

Isabel told me a moment ago that I had no ulterior motives.

This included resentment and anger.

Isabel’s mind leaned towards the second possibility.

From there, another question arose.

Then why did I cause a boycott, even misleading myself?

Furthermore, what is my true purpose?

As the question arose, several doubts that had been cast over me came to her mind one after another.

Several parts that she had not paid attention to because she was consumed by anger.

And the conversations and actions I had with her so far.

The doubts that began to appear when Isabel saw me overlapping with Lucas, not with anger.

‘…Dangerous.’

As mentioned earlier, Isabel sees me overlapping with Lucas.

This is a reaction from her desire not to forget Lucas.

The wound engraved in her heart has not yet been completely healed.

So she was overlapping me with Lucas and relying on me to shake off her anxiety.

The obsession Isabel has shown recently was for that reason.

Love and hate.

The affection she feels because she sees me overlapping with Lucas and the hatred she feels for my remarks that insulted Lucas.

Isabel, who escaped death by using anger as a driving force, cannot easily shake off her anger.

It is because of the fear that if she hastily lets go of her anger, she will walk towards death again.

So she had both affection and hatred coexisting within her.

But because of that, Isabel watched me closely and it became an opportunity to look back.

And in the process, she seemed to have vaguely noticed that I had deliberately become the object of her anger.

‘This is troublesome.’

When I became certain of this, I couldn’t guess what emotions Isabel would feel.

Human emotions are unpredictable.

If she felt gratitude, it would be a great relief, but if she felt betrayed, I couldn’t predict what would happen.

Isabel quietly looked at me.

Her eyes didn’t seem to want to leave me.

“Isabel…”

So, just as I was about to cut off the tail of Isabel’s doubts.

“Because we’re family.”

It was Iris who spoke up.

I don’t know when she woke up, but she placed her chin on top of my head.

When Isabel looked at Iris with surprised eyes, she hugged me even tighter.

It felt like she was determined not to let anyone take me away.

The softness against my back grew stronger.

I wondered if this was okay.

“There are secrets that outsiders don’t know.”

Iris looked at Isabel with a meaningful smile.

Seeing that smile, Isabel’s eyes widened.

She never expected Iris to defend me.

Isabel didn’t know the details of my relationship with Iris.

So, the many doubts that had arisen couldn’t be resolved by Iris defending me.

When I looked up at Iris, she gently closed her eyes and lifted the corners of her mouth.

It was a smile that seemed to say, ‘I helped you with your insomnia, so I helped you a little too.’

As expected of the third princess.

She was incredibly perceptive.

“And.”

At that moment, Iris hugged me tightly.

“Hanon is my brother, so I have no intention of giving him to just anyone.”

“……What?”

Isabel asked back with a blank face.

Iris also noticed the possessiveness and obsession that Isabel secretly harbored.

Even if it was because she saw me overlapping with Lucas, it was still directed at me.

All this time, I had been sticking close to Iris.

It was something Iris couldn’t help but notice.

Therefore, now.

Iris claimed ownership of me.

She had no intention of giving her cherished doll to anyone.

That’s what she meant.

But Isabel, who harbored mixed feelings towards me, had already been shaken by the fake girlfriend Hania.

Iris’s words were like lighting a fire in Isabel’s heart.

Isabel’s eyes slowly narrowed.

They were eyes that could hardly be seen as those of the main heroine.

“Iris, just because he’s your brother, you shouldn’t talk about him like he’s your possession.”

“It’s fine. I’m a princess.”

For a moment, Isabel was at a loss for words.

She didn’t expect to be suppressed by status here.

“……As a princess, shouldn’t you set an example even more?”

But Isabel showed no sign of backing down easily.

“Taking care of family is a perfectly exemplary behavior.”

“If taking care goes too far, it becomes a burden. Allowing everything just because they’re family is no different from domestic violence.”

A strange tension swirled between Isabel and Iris.

It seemed like sparks were flying between their eyes.

And I, caught in the middle, sat with a resigned expression.

As Iris had already tightly bound me.

I had no other options.

At that moment, I met the eyes of Sharin, who had woken up at some point.

Sensing the atmosphere inside the carriage, she moved her lips.

“Lovers’ quarrel.”

Sharin was finding this situation incredibly interesting.

It was only natural, as it was the first time she had seen Isabel stand up to Iris like that.

Reading her lips, I closed my eyes.

At least if it were a love triangle, I might feel a bit better.

Beautiful women fighting over me, claiming ownership, might boost my self-esteem a little.

But this was different.

One was a target of love and hate.

The other, a cherished doll.

It was far from love.

My will was not reflected in their claims of ownership.

Therefore, I could not intervene.

Is this my karma?

I just wanted to turn a bad ending into a happy one.

‘Lucas.’

I miss him more than ever today.