SWNOVELXO Chapter 89
Isabel Luna.
As the main heroine of the Fire Butterfly series, she’s neither the temporary president nor the temporary vice president.
So, originally, there was no need for her to follow on the way to the meeting venue.
However, those coming for the president and vice president positions could bring one assistant each.
The assistant that Iris chose was me, the temporary secretary.
Originally, Hania would have gone, but as part of the student council, she graciously handed her spot over to me.
“Iris doesn’t sleep well when she changes her sleeping arrangements. Hanon is better for her.”
Hania had become very cheerful lately seeing Iris sleeping peacefully.
Maybe that’s why her trust in me had increased as well.
Thanks to that, I ended up guarding Iris’s side.
So, who brought Isabel along?
The answer was already clear.
It was Sharine, who was lying on Isabel’s lap.
Isabel readily volunteered to come along.
At first, I didn’t pay much attention when Isabel said she was coming.
Last time, Isabel had sulked a bit when I left without finishing the battle.
But she’s not the type to sulk even in these kinds of situations.
The only thing I didn’t expect was—
That Iris, who fell asleep in the carriage, would hug me tightly while she slept.
And she seemed quite familiar with it.
“……”
A silence hung between Isabel and me.
Since I hugged Iris, Isabel had been staring at me intently.
Iris’s power is not of this world.
Having been firmly restrained, I had no way to escape the narrow carriage.
As I felt uneasy under Isabel’s gaze and tried to avoid it, her mouth finally opened.
“Are you sleeping like that with Iris every day?”
Her tone felt sharper than usual.
I was caught infiltrating the girls’ dorm as Hania in front of Isabel.
Fortunately, she didn’t go out and blab about it.
Still, my heart couldn’t help but quicken every day.
“……Isabel, there’s a reason for this.”
“It’s for Iris’s sleep, isn’t it?”
Did Isabel know about it too?
“Everyone knows that Iris usually has trouble falling asleep.”
Iris has a serious case of insomnia.
No matter how much she tried to hide it, it was something that couldn’t be overlooked during academy life.
“And I know how hard that is.”
After Lucas’s death, Isabel had struggled with insomnia for a long time.
So she understood that pain.
“But lately, Iris hasn’t been sleeping well.”
Thanks to my efforts, Iris had been sleeping well recently.
So to an outsider like Isabel, Iris’s face had noticeably brightened.
“And that’s because of you.”
Isabel had picked up on the fact that I had helped with this.
“Right, that’s true.”
When I responded honestly, Isabel let out a small sigh.
“Good job. Honestly, the way you look right now is a bit shocking, but nonetheless, it was something necessary for Iris to sleep well.”
What a compassionate main heroine.
“Of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have any ulterior motives.”
But aside from her kindness, Isabel’s eyes lacked any glimmer of light.
“What could my intentions possibly be, I wonder?”
“3rd Princess, it’s impossible for me to have such ulterior motives.”
“Yeah, that seems pretty clear.”
Isabel asserted.
Why does it feel like she’s reading my mind?
I was starting to get a little scared of Isabel.
“That’s actually what makes me curious.”
Isabel gently stroked Sharine’s hair, who leaned on her lap.
“I wonder what you’re doing like that without any ulterior motives.”
Isabel’s gaze quietly fixed on me.
What I saw there was concern.
Isabel misunderstood that I had instigated the boycott incident regarding Nikita.
Therefore, she thought my stay by Iris’s side was part of that connection.
In Isabel’s eyes, it appeared as if I was lingering by Iris for revenge against Nikita.
The moment Iris completely opened her heart to me, Isabel worried that I might take revenge on Nikita.
But my recent actions were far from wanting revenge on Nikita.
Iris was sensitive.
Especially to any hostility directed at her.
Yet, I remained by Iris’s side without any problems at all.
This meant that I had never shown even a hint of hostility toward her.
Feelings of hatred and anger cannot be hidden, no matter how much one tries.
Isabel, having experienced wielding anger directly, knew this best.
So Isabel found herself with questions as she looked at me.
How could I, who harbored resentment against Nikita, remain so unblemished at Iris’s side?
This left only two possibilities.
Either I had a supreme handle on my anger, hiding it completely.
Or from the very start, I didn’t have any resentment at all.
Isabel had just told me moments ago that I had no ulterior motives.
This implied that the resentment and anger were included in her understanding of “ulterior motives.”
Isabel’s heart swayed toward the second possibility.
Then it fostered another question.
What then was the purpose behind my actions that led to misunderstandings?
What is my true intention?
As the questions came to light, many other inquiries, which I hadn’t noticed while consumed by anger, also resurfaced.
The conversations and actions we had shared until now.
Only now, as Isabel began to see me through the lens of Lucas, did those inquiries start to emerge.
‘…This is dangerous.’
As I mentioned earlier, Isabel is seeing me through Lucas.
This stems from her unwillingness to let Lucas go.
The wounds etched in her heart had yet to fully heal.
That’s why, by leaning on me, she sought to dispel her anxiety.
Lately, Isabel’s obsession was a manifestation of that reason.
Love and hate.
The affection felt from mingling her memory of Lucas and the hatred for the words I spoke that insulted him.
Isabel couldn’t easily cast off her anger since she had escaped death fueled by it.
The fear that if she carelessly laid down her anger, she would walk straight back into death.
Thus, she bore both affection and hatred within her.
But it was for this reason that Isabel had started to watch me more closely and realized that my anger towards her was intentional.
‘This is troublesome.’
Once she becomes sure of it, I couldn’t imagine what emotions Isabel would feel.
Human emotions are unpredictable.
It’s a blessing if gratitude is what’s felt, but if tainted with betrayal, who knows what could happen.
Isabel continued to gaze at me silently.
Her eyes showed no sign of moving away from me.
“Isabel…”
Just as I was about to open my mouth to cut off the tail of the doubts Isabel harbored—
“It’s because we’re family.”
It was Iris who spoke up, surprisingly.
I don’t know when she woke up, but she rested her chin atop my head.
When Isabel looked at Iris with surprise, Iris hugged me even tighter.
It felt as if she had a determined will to not let go of what was hers.
But more than that, the softness against my back had intensified.
I wondered if this was still okay.
“There are secrets that others don’t know.”
Iris smiled meaningfully at Isabel.
Seeing that smile, Isabel’s eyes widened in surprise.
She never expected Iris would defend me.
Isabel didn’t know the intricate details of my relationship with Iris.
Therefore, the questions that had arisen were insurmountable as Iris defended me.
When I looked up at Iris, she closed her eyes gently and smiled.
It was as if to say, “Since I helped with your insomnia, I thought I’d lend you a hand too.”
Who could it be but the 3rd Princess?
So perceptive.
“And.”
At that moment, Iris pulled me in even tighter.
“Hanon is my little brother, so I’m not planning to give him to just anyone.”
“…What?”
Isabel asked, a little dazed.
Iris had also picked up on the possessiveness and obsession Isabel had been secretly revealing.
Even if it was because of her projecting Lucas onto me, it was still directed towards me.
I had been by Iris’s side all along.
It was something Iris could not possibly overlook.
That’s why now.
Iris was asserting her ownership over me.
There was no way she’d give away her beloved plushie.
But for Isabel, who harbored both love and hate, this was already wobbly due to Hania, who was posing as my fake girlfriend.
Iris’s statement was like pouring gasoline on the fire of Isabel’s feelings.
Isabel’s eyes dulled slightly.
Those weren’t the eyes of a main heroine at all.
“Iris, just because he’s your brother doesn’t mean you can talk about him like he’s just your property.”
“It’s okay. I’m a princess.”
In that moment, Isabel was momentarily at a loss for words.
She never expected to be overpowered by status.
“…If you’re a princess, then you should show a good example, shouldn’t you?”
But Isabel wasn’t backing down either.
“Taking care of family is certainly a model behavior.”
“If taking care goes too far, it can become a nuisance. Just because they’re family doesn’t mean you can condone everything; it’s no different from domestic violence.”
A strange tension swirled between Isabel and Iris.
It briefly felt like sparks flew between the two.
And caught in the center of it all, I sat with a face that signaled ‘whatever happens, happens.’
Since Iris had already wrapped her arms around me tightly.
I had no way out.
In that moment, I locked eyes with Sharine, who had awakened.
She seemed to feel the mood inside the carriage and moved her lips.
“Love rivalry.”
Sharine was watching this situation with great interest.
It was her first time witnessing Isabel standing her ground against Iris.
Reading her lips, I closed my eyes.
If it’s a love rivalry, at least it might feel good.
If beautiful women are fighting over possession of me, maybe my self-esteem would rise a bit.
But this was different.
One side was a person I had complex feelings for.
The other, a beloved plushie.
There was nothing close to love here.
My will was not reflected at all in the ownership they claimed over me.
That’s why I could not step in.
Is this my karma?
I just wanted to turn a bad ending into a happy one.
‘Lucas.’
Today, I missed him more than usual.