Chapter 41: Change in Thoughts

After sleeping like I was unconscious, I headed to the Student Council room as soon as the sun rose.

Even though today was a school day.

There was something more important right now.

Lisa from my last dream.

Her image bothered me, so I decided to skip class for just a day to confirm something and arrived at the Student Council room.

Probably all the other students would be in class now.

But my expectations were immediately proven wrong as soon as I opened the door.

“…Louis?”

As I opened the door, the one who greeted me was Anna, for some reason sitting alone at her desk, doing something.

“What are you doing here so early in the morning, President?”

“I have some work to do…. What brings you here?”

Anna, looking at me with a puzzled expression, had her desk piled high with documents.

It seemed she was still dealing with the aftermath of the recent incidents.

Just looking at the amount of paperwork made me sigh.

But.

‘Did Anna just speak informally to me?’

The question of her speaking casually to me briefly crossed my mind, but I decided not to think too much of it.

After all, her status was different from mine, so there wasn’t really a problem.

‘By the way, why is that there?’

More than that, I was more interested in the creature sitting on her desk than Anna working at this hour.

A creature with a round, balloon-like shape and small wings.

[Chirp?]

A Feylu, as if it felt my gaze, tilted its head.

‘Why is a Feylu here…?’

Where did the setting about them being afraid of humans and living in dark, damp places go?

I looked at the creature lying comfortably on the desk, dumbfounded.

“Um…. What is that?”

“Oh, this? It’s called a Feylu.”

“Why is it here….”

“These little ones lost their home because of me, so I’m taking care of them for a while. Right?”

[Chirp~]

…Seriously?

It started to chirp as if enjoying Anna’s touch.

It looked so carefree.

Lucky.

I watched as it completely transformed into Anna’s pet.

The Feylu changed its shape every time Anna moved her hand.

‘…It is cute.’

It was cute enough to make even me, someone who isn’t easily impressed by cuteness, think so.

[Chirp~!]

A small smile bloomed on Anna’s lips as she stroked the Feylu.

Anna likes cute things.

She even has a secret collection.

She usually hides it, considering her image.

But she couldn’t seem to hide the laughter that unknowingly escaped her.

A hobby as trivial as liking cute things could be quite a blemish for Anna, who was destined to become the Emperor.

Especially in a situation where her political enemies would do anything to find fault with her.

It was a tasty morsel for those with eyes burning with ambition.

They might say she’s not fit to be an Emperor.

Or even question her qualifications as a ruler.

It might seem childish, but.

Politics is all about fighting dirty and cowardly to get closer to victory.

The Feylu rolled on its back and continued to enjoy Anna’s touch for a while.

But then.

‘…What’s this?’

It suddenly lifted its head and then began to fly towards me, flapping its small wings.

I cupped my hands and held them out as I watched the Feylu, now hovering in front of me.

Then, the Feylu landed and sat on my hand.

Seeing that, Anna looked at me with curiosity.

“Oh my, it usually avoids strangers. Why is it approaching you first? Did you two meet before by any chance?”

“Ah, haha. No way. This is my first time seeing it.”

It seemed that the Feylu recognized that I was the same person from the day we first met.

I broke out in a cold sweat and tried to maintain a calm expression.

How did it know?

I definitely covered my face back then.

Perhaps Feylu had the ability to distinguish people not by sight but by other means.

[Chirp~]

“It seems to be saying that it knows you.”

“…Can you understand it?”

Did Anna have such an ability?

This was information I wasn’t aware of.

I asked her with a surprised look.

Seeing my expression, Anna smiled.

“Are you curious?”

“No. I don’t think I need to know.”

But seeing Anna’s playful smile, I quickly changed my words.

[Chirp….]

Anna, who was looking at my hand where the Feylu sat, suddenly spoke to me.

“By the way, you….”

“Yes?”

“That on your hand…, are you hurt?”

“Ah, this?”

I slightly lifted my left hand.

The wound from yesterday seemed to have completely turned into a scar.

I didn’t know why this scar suddenly appeared.

But it was definitely noticeable.

Professor Petania said it might be related to what I experienced in my dream.

But since she didn’t know the exact reason either, I’d half given up on finding out.

“It’s nothing. It doesn’t even hurt.”

“Hmm…. Wouldn’t it be better to get it treated? It looks like it will scar.”

But Anna, seemingly concerned about my scar, suggested I get it treated.

“I’ve tried healing magic. But it didn’t really work. I’m sure it’ll heal on its own eventually.”

Professor Petania had apparently used healing magic on me while I was asleep yesterday.

But for some reason, it hadn’t gotten any better even after receiving her healing magic.

I decided to leave it alone, thinking it would heal over time.

A scar or two wasn’t a big deal in a fantasy world anyway.

I decided to brush it off.

“…Is that so?”

But for some reason, Anna seemed lost in thought after hearing my words.

As I watched her deep in thought, I put the Feylu, now fast asleep, back down beside her.

And I quietly left to search for what I had originally intended to find.

Countless unidentified documents lined one wall.

After scanning through them one by one, I finally.

‘Found it.’

I found a register with the names of the academy’s students on a shelf.

I took out the one with the names of this year’s freshmen.

And I immediately began to check the names of this year’s new students one by one.

But.

‘It’s not there.’

No matter how much I searched the list, I couldn’t find the name Lisa.

If things had gone according to plan, she should have entered the academy in the same year as me.

But for some reason, the name Lisa wasn’t on this year’s freshman list.

Was there a possibility that the record was missing?

That couldn’t be.

Then Lisa really didn’t enter the academy this year.

‘Why isn’t it there?’

I was always bewildered by the situations unfolding differently from the original story.

But a main character not even being at the academy was completely unexpected.

Like Anna, I didn’t like the other heroines besides Elena.

I only wanted to see Elena’s love story.

So I didn’t have particularly good feelings towards the other heroines.

Of course, that didn’t mean I disliked them either.

It was closer to pity, to be precise.

After all, they were also caught up in the author’s harem obsession.

So I didn’t have any particular ill feelings towards the other heroines.

However, I once even thought that it might be easier for my plan if they weren’t there.

But that was only when they were mere characters in a comic.

“Hmm…? What’s wrong?”

Anna, as if feeling my gaze, tilted her head.

She still had a languid expression as she stroked the Feylu.

It was completely different from her stiff, businesslike demeanor in the comic.

Anna before my eyes now.

And Elena, who I’d become quite close to.

The people I met in reality were not just characters in a story.

They were living and breathing.

I couldn’t forget Lisa’s face as she looked at me and shed tears.

‘She asked me to save her.’

It was too unsettling to ignore and pass by without doing anything.

It seemed I had to find out where she was.