Chapter 77: Chapter 77

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: Seron's Unlucky Romance

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"Hee-hee, hee-hee-hee."

Seron laughed like an idiot.

"Hoooh…"

Seron sighed.

"Hm-hm."

Seron hummed a tune.

How many times a day did her emotions change?

Just watching her was exhausting.

But Seron seemed tireless.

Amidst her surging emotions, she consistently looked happy.

"Seron."

"Hoo."

"Hey."

"Hee-hee-hee."

"Airhead."

And no matter how much I called, she didn't even answer.

"Seron, why is she like that?"

Isabelle looked at Seron with a puzzled expression.

Even to her, Seron didn't seem normal.

"I don't know. You ask her."

I didn't want to ask anymore.

Isabelle subtly observed my attitude, then sat down next to Seron.

"Seron."

As Isabelle tapped Seron's shoulder and called her name, Seron slowly came to her senses.

"Did something happen? What's wrong?"

Seron, upon hearing Isabelle's question, looked blank for a moment, then gazed out the window with an enchanted expression.

"Haaah."

And she sighed once more.

"Bell, I saw the Prince."

"...There shouldn't be anyone of princely status at Jerion Academy, should there?"

"No, it's not like that. Hoo, Bell, you wouldn't understand."

Seron's reaction was as if to say, 'Oh, you poor thing, you don't know love.'

Isabelle also looked at Seron for a moment, then quietly withdrew.

"...You talk to her."

"Just leave her be."

They say there's no cure for lovesickness.

I had no choice but to leave Seron alone until she forgot about me.

"That attitude of yours, don't you know something?"

"Not at all."

Nor do I want to know.

Thus, time passed under Isabelle's suspicious gaze.

Upon entering this scenario, a few new tasks arose for me.

The first was regular visits to the women's dormitory for Iris's peaceful sleep.

Iris's nightmares were the most crucial element.

I had to sleep with her at least once a week without fail.

Iris wanted me to come every day, but even so, that was beyond my stamina.

Every time I entered the women's dormitory, my skin crawled; the maids' eyes scared me to death.

The second was to shake off Isabelle.

Isabelle followed me around almost constantly, trying to take care of me in various ways.

I had underestimated her persistence a little.

She was desperate to 'cure' me back to my original self.

It got to the point where people around us thought Isabelle and I had reconciled.

Ultimately, I started avoiding Isabelle.

The more I did, the more spiteful Isabelle became, following me even more persistently, but as a veteran loner, I was skilled at hiding in places Isabelle couldn't find me.

Popular people just don't understand that loners need their alone time.

The third was Seron.

Seron had promised not to come to the boycott with me.

As it was something said by the person she was smitten with.

Seron faithfully followed it.

However, as time went on, Seron visibly grew thinner.

The periods of Seron sighing grew longer and longer.

It clearly showed what severe lovesickness looked like.

'The Last Leaf.'

Seron's eyes held such melancholic depth that it made me think of that.

Her demeanor became modest, and her words grew fewer.

This, really, I think I need to do something about this soon.

"Lovesickness isn't called a sickness for nothing. It's a sickness of the heart, and it makes the heart rot away."

Card, who possessed extensive knowledge about women, clicked his tongue, looking at Seron.

"She's going to collapse like that."

And not long after.

Seron truly collapsed.

The incident occurred during a regular training session.

A mock battle where opponents were assigned to fight.

There, Seron, who was spaced out, failed to evade a critical attack from her mock battle opponent.

Crash!

Seron, who had been sent flying, tumbled across the floor.

"Huh, huh?"

The mock battle opponent looked between their sword and Seron with a bewildered expression.

Seron would certainly have dodged an attack of this level normally.

The attack had been made knowing this, but Seron, far from blocking it, was simply knocked away.

Seron lay collapsed, unable to get up.

Everyone looked at the fallen Seron with surprised faces.

As I unconsciously rose from my seat, Professor Beganon quickly checked Seron's condition.

However, her worried expression quickly vanished.

"Hanun."

At Professor Beganon's call, I quickly approached her.

"Yes, Professor."

She roughly handed Seron to me.

"Take this idiot to the infirmary. Tell them to give her a nutrient IV."

Nutrient IV.

As soon as I heard that, I looked back at Seron with a bewildered expression.

Seron, afflicted with lovesickness, had developed malnutrition due to not sleeping properly and skipping meals.

'Is this girl really that much of an airhead?'

Following Professor Beganon's words, I had no choice but to carry Seron on my back.

Then, under the gazes of the other students, I left the training grounds.

Seron was unconscious, her eyes unfocused and dazed.

I glanced at her and sighed.

All I'd done was talk to her for a brief moment.

But what in the world was so special about that to make a person like this?

It was hard for me to understand.

I carried Seron out and headed straight for the infirmary.

Sunlight streamed in through the corridor windows leading to the infirmary.

"Seron."

I called out the unconscious Seron's name.

"What is it about that guy that you like so much?"

I knew his face was to her taste.

But it was a mystery to me how just that one thing could make her so lovesick.

"What's so great about a face?"

I didn't know much about Seron.

Only one thing I knew: Seron was born unlucky.

She was always unlucky.

If something special was happening, she would often get a stomachache or get hurt somewhere, and if she diligently prepared something, it would often fall through, rendering her preparations meaningless.

That's why Seron's nickname was 'The Unlucky One.'

Such misfortunes had a significant hand in Seron's personality becoming sharp and eccentric.

Since nothing ever went her way, she couldn't help but become eccentric.

The door slid open.

As I opened the door, the distinct scent of disinfectant from the infirmary reached me.

The infirmary teacher seemed to be temporarily absent.

'They'll be back soon.'

I laid Seron down on the infirmary bed.

I roughly took off her shoes and pulled a blanket over her.

"Ugh, ugh..."

Seron moaned.

Seron was still half-asleep and dazed.

"Prin...ce."

Yes, your prince is right here.

Seron's complexion was noticeably poor.

I gazed at her, then slowly brushed back my bangs.

"Tsk."

Clicking my tongue, I carefully closed the curtains.

Then, I pulled on the ties of my disguise.

As I did so, my height gradually increased, and my hair began to turn white.

I returned from Hanun's form to Vikamen's.

Having become Vikamen, I pulled a chair closer and sat beside Seron.

Then, I gently stroked Seron's forehead once.

It was still a smooth, well-maintained forehead.

Perhaps feeling the warm touch, Seron's expression relaxed slightly.

At the same time, her eyes slowly began to open wider.

Seron blinked.

Soon, the moment her eyes met mine, they slowly widened.

"Wha—the Prince!?"

Seron shrieked in shock.

She tried to sit up abruptly but winced and groaned, likely due to the impact she'd sustained earlier.

I gazed at Seron, then leaned back in my chair.

"Seron Parmia."

When I called her name, Seron's shoulders twitched.

Her eyes widened, as if asking how I knew her name.

"I heard about you from an acquaintance. That you've been looking thin and unwell recently."

Seron's shoulders twitched.

She hesitated, her lips parting slightly.

"And that you seemed to be looking for me."

She bowed her head deeply.

Seron's ears turned bright red.

Watching her, I asked Seron a question.

"Why were you looking for me? I don't recall us having any particular connection."

At that moment, Seron flinched again.

She clenched her hands and trembled delicately.

Seron raised her head, her face trembling.

Her eyes trembled pitifully.

Seeing that, I felt a pang of doubt.

Because her face now showed hurt from my words.

"...Yes, I thought you wouldn't remember."

Seron smiled, a little sadly.

Seeing that smile, my eyes slowly widened.

I had vaguely thought, seeing Seron's behavior, that she was simply smitten with my face.

But that wasn't actually the case.

'...Was there a connection between Vikamen and Seron that I didn't know about?'

Third-rate villain, Vikamen Niffleheim.

The Unlucky One, Seron Parmia.

Both were extra-level characters in the 'Flame Butterfly' arc.

Naturally, there wasn't much information about either character.

As is typical for any game, it's impossible to fully flesh out every single extra character that appears.

So both simply appeared as passing characters.

But now.

A relationship I hadn't known about was revealed behind these extras.

Until now, I had lived as Hanun.

Therefore, I hadn't given much thought to how Vikamen's relationships might be connected.

And in that oversight, an unexpected mistake had finally emerged.

'But.'

Seron didn't even seem to know my name.

Could this even be called a relationship?

"...My apologies, my memory isn't the best. If something happened, could you perhaps explain it?"

At the very least, if they didn't even know each other's names, it meant the relationship wasn't deep.

In that case, there was still a way out.

When I asked Seron, she lowered her head a little shyly, as if recalling something from the past.

"It was the day of a party hosted by a certain noble lady."

Nobles often held parties for socializing.

At the time, it was Seron's first time attending a socialite party.

Her debut at a social gathering.

For this, Seron had adorned herself beautifully.

She had prepared a gift for the lady hosting the party and had thoroughly memorized party etiquette.

But Seron was the Unlucky One.

On that day, when she finally arrived at the party venue.

A carriage collision occurred on the bridge her carriage needed to cross, causing a traffic jam.

The bridge was a single lane, and she had to wait in her carriage for a long time.

When the collision was finally resolved and they crossed the bridge, entering the estate where the party was held.

Rain began to pour down.

The torrential rain showed no sign of stopping, and the ground turned to mud.

Before long, the carriage wheels passed over a construction area and got stuck in the mud, unable to move forward.

In the end, Seron had to get out of the carriage and walk through the muddy path with the umbrella her maid held over her.

No matter how diligently she used the umbrella, the rain still seeped through.

Her beautiful shoes became a mess from stepping in the mud, and the hem of her dress was stained with mud and rainwater.

A pathetic sight, utterly unfitting for a young lady invited to a party.

In such a state, Seron arrived at the party venue, barely holding back her tears.

However, the party was already almost over.

Although the maid tried her best to wipe the hem of Seron's dress and her shoes, she couldn't possibly enter the party in such a state.

In the end, Seron sat on the party's terrace, clutching the damp gift box.

The moment Seron arrived at the party, the rain miraculously stopped.

No luck.

Truly, she had the worst luck imaginable.

She had begged her father for a new dress, gotten her makeup done, and personally chosen a gift for her social debut, but nothing had gone right.

She was always like this.

A continuous string of subtly unlucky events, too minor to even complain about to others.

If she were overtly unlucky, she could at least voice her grievances, but only these ambiguous misfortunes frequently occurred.

It was while Seron was sitting there, thoroughly sulking.

"Hello."

Amidst the moonlight that broke through the clearing storm clouds.

White hair gleamed beautifully with the moonlight.

"Isn't the moonlight beautiful?"

There, she met her Prince for the very first time.