104

"Iris!!!"

"Hiek?!"

The moment I saw her blood, my mind went completely blank.

Before I knew it, I was already running toward Iris.

I snatched the arm that was stabbing her leg with a knife. The small knife fell to the floor, and I was met with Iris's trembling eyes staring at me intensely.

"You… you are…"

"What on earth do you think you're doing?!"

When I shouted angrily at her, Iris tightly shut her eyes, avoiding my gaze. But I didn't let her off easily and continued pressing her in a voice burning with intensity.

"Iris. I'm asking you. What on earth were you thinking?"

"Well… I just… made a mistake, haha…"

"A mistake?"

I was speechless.

Was she seriously trying to excuse herself right now?

What I saw was unmistakably her harming herself, stabbing her own leg.

"I… I'm fine, really, so you don't need to worry!"

As I stared at her with a burning gaze, Iris stammered, her voice trembling, trying to reassure me.

"Seriously, I'm okay! You don't need to worry about me at all!"

Having said that, Iris hurriedly turned her head, trying to escape from me.

But did she really think I'd let her go just like that?

I grabbed Iris's hand, stopping her in her tracks.

"Where do you think you're going? We're not done talking."

"Ugh…"

Iris trembled for a moment, then turned to me with tearful eyes and began shouting.

"Just… just leave me alone! We're nothing to each other anyway…!"

"You…"

"Do you know how much it hurts because of you?! It feels like my heart is being torn apart…!"

"Iris."

"I know it's wrong, but… if I don't do something like this, it's just too painful… sob…"

After finishing her words, Iris covered her face with her hands and began to cry sorrowfully.

I could only stare at her blankly for a moment.

I didn't know.

I never imagined she'd be this deeply hurt after being rejected by me.

I thought she would just be a little sad, and that would be it.

But it seemed I'd left a far deeper wound than I had expected.

'The original Iris never cried like this.'

In the novel, Iris never—

…Ah.

That's right.

The original Iris never cried over heartbreak.

Because she had never experienced heartbreak in the first place.

Iris, who had spent her entire life keeping her feelings bottled up, eventually gave up and killed her emotions.

Was the original Iris happy?

Though I never got to see the novel's ending, I didn't think she ended up with anyone.

She likely lingered around the hero's party, living in bitter solitude.

I couldn't say I was close to Iris, but I wished for her happiness.

As one of the readers who felt sorry for her in the story, I didn't want to see her sad, just as Iris was before my eyes.

Not just Iris, but I wished for all the characters to be happy.

This world was no longer just a story to me.

It was the world I truly lived in.

With that thought, everything seemed to fall into place.

'…Let's help her.'

I wanted to make Iris smile, someone who couldn't find happiness even in the novel.

I hoped she could laugh freely, just like the other heroines.

As I made up my mind and raised my head, there stood Iris, trembling and on the verge of tears.

"Iris."

"D-Don't worry about me. I don't want your pity… sob."

"Iris—"

"I don't want to hear it! I appreciate your concern, but if you really care about me, please… just leave!"

…This wasn't going to work.

It didn't seem like a conversation was possible in her current state.

I needed to cheer her up first.

'But how should I do that?'

Surprisingly, it didn't take me long to come up with an idea.

After all, I once lived as a man.

If she were just an ordinary girl, I might not have known what to do.

But I understood the heart of a girl like Iris, who loved other girls.

'…Honestly, it feels a little awkward.'

I still felt uncomfortable touching someone, but with Iris, it might be okay.

She was pure and delicate—such an innocent girl. It should be fine.

'Besides, I've already been through it once, so…'

"Hic… sob…"

I let out a short sigh and gently took Iris's trembling hands.

"Iris."

"I said, don't pity me…"

"Do you want to touch my chest?"

"I don't need—"

Iris blinked in stunned silence for a moment, and then—

"Uh."

Her tears stopped immediately.

***

"I'm really okay, Ariel."

"You didn't look okay at all, Iris."

I cautiously glanced in the direction Iris had walked away.

The whole day, Iris hadn't been in a good state, to say the least.

She wore a deeply sorrowful expression, with an air of utter exhaustion, like someone burdened with a heavy story.

'I wish she'd realize how worried people are for her…'

Perhaps because she was a saint, my friend was so kind it bordered on foolishness.

She was someone who never wanted to burden others.

She probably hadn't confided in me because she didn't want to trouble me.

But as long as I was around, I wouldn't let that happen.

I wasn't the type to stand by while my friend suffered.

And one day, I was destined to surpass the great sage and become the first grand mage.

I would join the hero's party, help defeat the demon king, and leave my name in history.

With that in mind, it was only natural to worry about Iris, the saint.

Whether as a friend or as a member of the hero's party.

"This way, right?"

In fact, I had secretly placed a tracking spell behind Iris.

Seeing her slip into a dark alleyway, avoiding others' gazes…

Perhaps the reason she's struggling so much lies there.

'…Could it be that she's being blackmailed?'

The thought made me grit my teeth.

To think someone would dare commit such shameless acts in this academy. And to the saint herself, no less.

'…Wait, Iris. I'll help you.'

Carefully following the direction Iris had taken…

From the back of a dim and eerie space, I heard a woman's voice.

"Hnn… Haah…"

A faint moan, as though she was trying to endure something.

Hearing a woman's moan in such a shady place made my chest burn.

"Iris…!"

Is she really being blackmailed?

What kind of crazy bastard would dare to touch the saint?!

Clenching my anger, I rushed toward the alley where the sound was coming from.

That bastard.

I won't forgive them.

I'll bring a meteor down on their head—

"Haaah..! Hnn…"

"I love you… I love you…"

"Haa… Hnn… Ah… Iris… that's enough now…"

"Just a little more… Haah… Haah…"

"…Huh?"

Like a deflated balloon, a weak sound escaped my lips.

The sight before my eyes was shocking.

A beautiful woman, exuding a sultry atmosphere, biting her own fingers as though to stifle her moans with her eyes closed.

And opposite her was Iris, kneading parts of her body that shouldn't be touched as if molding clay.

"Hnn…! Haah…"

The black-haired woman trembled all over.

Seeing her, my eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck them.

The kind and gentle friend who only knew how to smile for others.

The fool who always sacrificed herself and stepped forward, leaving herself behind.

But who is this woman, gripping someone else's fruits with such a face full of desire?

"Iris…?"

What… what are you doing?

You're not supposed to touch someone like that.

And… with another woman, no less.

Is it okay to get that excited?

But no matter how much I wiped my eyes and stared, the person shamelessly harassing the beautiful woman in front of me was definitely Iris.

'This is strange… So strange…'

The bizarre scene in front of me was incomprehensible.

Touching her chest was already inappropriate enough, but touching another woman's?

The unbelievable sight made my head spin as though it was turning inside out.

"Hnn?! Ah… Iris, no… Not there!"

In the end, I…

I could only turn around and run back the way I came, leaving Iris behind.

I ran for what felt like forever, out of breath and out of my mind.

"Huff… Huff…!"

When I finally reached the academy's open grounds, teeming with people, I felt like I could finally breathe again.

I stood there for a while, catching my breath, but…

My mind was still blank, with no coherent thoughts forming.

For some reason, my body was growing warmer bit by bit.

Thump-thump-thump—

'Why… why is my heart beating so fast?'

Her heart, which pounded as if it were about to burst, continued to beat fiercely as time passed.

It must be because she had been running.

Yes, that must be it.

The reason her heart was racing like this was undoubtedly because she had run so frantically.

The reason her hot breaths escaped her like this was surely because she was exhausted.

It could never be for any other reason.

"…In the end, I couldn't sleep at all."

The shocking memories of yesterday kept her awake through the night.

As a result, she spent most of today's classes nodding off, missing much of the lessons.

"Oh my, is something wrong, Ariel?"

Iris looked at me with a concerned expression.

The haggard look she had yesterday was gone. Her complexion had returned to a healthy glow, and the warm energy that surrounded her had also returned.

She was back. Back to the version of herself I had known before.

But for some reason, I couldn't look at her the way I used to.

"You don't look well. Should I heal you?"

…Because of you.

The words nearly slipped out of my mouth, but I managed to hold them back.

Even if I told her I had seen everything, it wouldn't accomplish anything.

I spent the sleepless night pondering over Iris's actions.

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't understand my friend.

In the end, I came to the conclusion that perhaps Iris had been raised poorly as a child.

But even so, I wasn't confident I could convince her otherwise.

After all, I didn't know much about love either.

'If it's Lily… maybe she could.'

Perhaps Lily could persuade Iris.

After all, she was the hero.

If the hero spoke, surely Iris, as the saint, would have a change of heart.

Resolving myself, I decided to find Lily and ask her to reason with Iris.

"…I think it's fine the way it is."

"What…?"

The only thing that grew more confused was my own mind.