CHAPTER 514: IF STORY - ROSWYN ACCEPT THE FLOWER (3)

0% “We’re almost there, Young Master.”

“...”

“But why are we heading to this place in the middle of the night...?”

Late at night, Frey sat inside the carriage, pale-faced, anxiously biting his nails.

“Um...?”

Kania, who had followed him without understanding the reason, watched him with a puzzled expression.

But Frey simply gazed out the window, his expression tense and rigid.

What the hell is going on?

Frey acting oddly was nothing new—he had done plenty of bizarre things before.

Rushing out in a carriage in the dead of night was barely a drop in the ocean compared to his usual antics.

But this time, there was something different.

Why... Why does that scoundrel look so terrified?

That was the key difference.

Frey wasn’t just acting strangely—he was scared.

And for Kania, who had spent so much time at his side, such a reaction was beyond unusual.

...The one who stopped the final attack was definitely Roswyn.

But that was before Kania understood the truth.

There was a reason why Frey was experiencing such an intense reaction.

But why?

Endless challenges.

Endless regressions.

Endless failures.

He had truly believed the last cycle was the end.

The cycle that had felt the most hopeful... had failed.

And for the first time, it had driven him to the brink of insanity.

Frey had gone through countless mistakes, but the situation he had witnessed before regressing was something entirely new.

That cycle wasn’t any different from the others. If anything, it should’ve been considered a failure.

Roswyn had been the one who appeared at the final moment of the First-Year Dormitory Attack Incident.

But the reason Frey was so disturbed now was because he had no idea why.

How long had it been since she had last accepted one of his flowers?

He had placed flowers in her hands before.

He had poured his heart into confessions.

He had spent his entire fortune for her.

He had even dedicated an entire cycle solely to courting her.

And yet, the result was always the same—absolute failure.

Roswyn never responded to him.

Eventually, she had faded out of his concern entirely.

But now—

A variable has appeared.

What happened before the regression was not a dream.

If it were just an illusion, then Roswyn’s presence wouldn’t have been so clear.

Then... why did it happen?

What did I give her in the last cycle?

Sweating profusely, Frey forced himself to recall.

And then—his eyes widened.

“A ruby-colored rose.”

“...Pardon?”

Kania blinked in confusion, but Frey simply muttered to himself as he clutched the rose he had hastily grabbed before leaving.

“Could that... have been the variable?”

It was a reasonable theory.

But soon, Frey shook his head.

The ruby-colored rose he had given Roswyn that time had shone with an unusual glow.

But he had already given her every possible color of rose multiple times before.

There was nothing special about the color alone.

Which meant...

It wasn’t just the flower.

Something else had intervened.

But what?

Frey had no idea.

“...Damn it.”

And that lack of knowledge was what was eating away at his sanity.

“I shouldn’t have acted so recklessly.”

Grinding his teeth, he stared anxiously out the window, his voice filled with regret.

“That might’ve been the only variable I ever got.”

What if the previous cycle had been his only chance to awaken Roswyn?

If he didn’t even understand the trigger, then there was no way to recreate the conditions.

What if he had wasted that precious opportunity with his own foolishness?

“We’ve arrived.”

“Ah.”

“It’s time to step out.”

Kania, who had been silently watching Frey’s internal struggle, quietly informed him that they had reached their destination.

“...Thanks, Kania.”

“...”

Even in the moment he stepped off the carriage, he looked so pitiful that even Kania—who had spent years despising him—felt a fleeting moment of sympathy.

“Roswyn...”

Holding the rose tightly, Frey turned toward the towering guild in front of him and took one heavy step after another.

.

.

.

.

.

“...So, what brings you here?”

“Ah, well, um.”

Inside a dimly lit office, a boy and a girl stared at each other.

“I, uh... um...”

“...”

Frey, usually full of either flattery or false cheerfulness, was frozen with tension.

Just as he was about to speak—

“Just get to the point.”

Roswyn’s sleepy voice cut through the silence.

“I had just fallen asleep, and you woke me up.”

“S-Sorry...”

“Yawn... Just tell me why you’re here.”

In that instant, Frey shut his eyes tightly.

She didn’t remember.

The weight of that realization hit him like a hammer.

“H-Here...”

“...”

The silence stretched between them as Roswyn’s gaze landed on the rose in Frey’s hand.

“So... it’s another flower?”

Hearing her murmur, Frey’s expression collapsed in despair.

“Wait, just hold on. Tomorrow—I’ll find the real one! I promise—“

But then, he suddenly realized—

The flower he brought wasn’t ruby-colored.

In a panic, he pleaded desperately.

“...”

“H-Huh?”

Just then—

Roswyn reached out her hand.

- Slide...

“...Roswyn?”

Instead of taking the flower, she grasped Frey’s hand.

“I don’t need flowers anymore.”

“Y-You... You’re not saying...?”

For the first time, Frey saw her smile.

Not a smirk.

Not a mocking grin.

But a genuine, warm smile.

“Hero.”

The moment that single word reached his ears—

His heart stopped.

“Forgive me for not realizing sooner.”

“...!”

Roswyn rose from her seat and gently pulled Frey into an embrace.

A gentle warmth seeped into him.

And at that moment—

The moment he had only ever dreamed of—

A single tear slipped from his exhausted eyes.

“From now on, I will support you, always.”

“Y-You accepted my flower...? Truly...?”

After endless cycles of missed chances—

At long last, their miracle had come.

.

.

.

.

.

“Frey, just trust me now. I’ll take care of everything for you.”

“R-Really...?”

“Of course! The Helper System is invincible!”

Yet, despite making such a bold declaration after coming out to him, Frey and I still had to endure countless failures after that day.

“KYAAAH!!”

“Y-You said you were invincible!! Use your all-powerful Helper System to do something!!”

“T-That was a bluff!!!”

“ROSWYNNNNNN!!”

Perhaps it was because I had been too eager to impress the Hero I had admired for so long.

“But still!! Why is that Saintess so ridiculously strong?!”

“Dodge!!”

“Ughk.”

“Oh, we’re screwed.”

No, that wasn’t it.

The Helper System I had received was powerful—powerful enough that I could afford to brag about it.

But the death flags surrounding Frey were just too numerous.

- SHAAAAAAA...!

“You said Kania was supposed to be an ally!!”

“It seems like your presence has altered the variables...”

“And why are those people all so ridiculously strong!?”

“...My friends are just a bit powerful.”

The Main Heroines, the ones trying to kill Frey, each had enough strength to wipe out a small kingdom.

- CRACKLE!!

“You little brat...”

“That’s Sword Aura! Dodge!”

“S-Sis! Calm down!!”

Even his mentor randomly went berserk and attacked us.

“M-Master...?”

“Why is she dying at this point!?”

“...This is driving me insane.”

Then there was Lulu—rather than being a help, she would suddenly drop dead, leaving us scrambling.

“This... is the Hero? This... is the Helper?”

“...”

“This isn’t something a normal person could endure...”

The early days were pure madness.

But then—

“...Maybe I shouldn’t have given you that flower.”

“...!!!”

One day, I saw Frey muttering to himself, his face riddled with guilt.

And at that moment, I made a vow.

I can’t afford to complain.

Despite everything, he never once skipped giving me those flowers.

Even though it would’ve been easier to ignore me—to leave me behind—he never did.

So for him—

I would endure a hundred times more pain than he had.

- CRACKLE!!

“R-Roswyn?! What are you doing?”

“Training!”

From that day forward, I trained relentlessly.

“What’s with the blood on your hands...?”

“Blisters. Hehe.”

“Roswyn...”

At first, Frey tried to stop me.

But when he saw my determination, he began helping me instead.

“...Cough, cough.”

“Looks like... this cycle is a failure too.”

“Ugh... it hurts. Hurry up and regress.”

“...Should I?”

And time passed.

We bled.

We suffered.

We faced countless tragedies.

But we endured.

“Roswyn.”

“Yes?”

“If you hadn’t been here... I would have lost my mind long ago.”

Another cycle.

Another failure.

We lay on a bed in the familiar space where we always began again.

Facing each other.

“Ngh.”

“I love you.”

At first, Frey had always seemed on the verge of falling apart.

But now, he was stable.

Because he had me.

Because I was his pillar.

- Squeeze...

“I-I can’t breathe?”

- Grip...!

“...Frey?”

Of course, there was one issue.

His obsession with me had grown beyond my expectations.

“I had a dream where you disappeared.”

“Pfft.”

“Why are you laughing? It was terrifying.”

Look at him.

This pathetic man, clinging to me like a wet puppy, trembling because of a dream.

“I’m not going anywhere, Hero.”

I held him close and whispered, smiling softly.

“Especially not now, when our journey is finally reaching its conclusion.”

“...”

It was true.

We had already gathered all the Heroines as allies.

We had devised the perfect plan to complete the Hero’s Armaments.

We cried together when things became unbearable.

We had clung to each other for sanity when the pain was too much.

And in the end—

We had succeeded.

“You’ll never leave me...?”

“Of course not. If I wanted to, I would’ve left long ago.”

“Even after everything is over?”

“Yes. Even if you die, I can use the system to follow you to the afterlife. Don’t worry.”

Of course, Frey’s obsession had grown even worse because of it.

But that didn’t matter.

“Because I love you to death too, Hero.”

Obsession is only frightening when love is one-sided.

But when you love the one who’s obsessed with you—

It’s not a problem.

“I still don’t believe you.”

“...Huh?”

“Prove it.”

Today, though, he was acting a bit differently.

- Slide...

“H-Huh?”

“You’ll prove it, right?”

He climbed on top of me and gently tilted my chin upward.

“...O-Of course.”

Wait, was this really happening?

“Hmph. But be warned.”

- Slide...

“I-I was raised in the Sunset family... To p-please the Hero...”

Wait.

What do I do?

I’ve never done this before.

No, stay calm.

I just have to do what I learned from books.

I simulated this moment so many times in my head—

“...Huh?”

But then, I looked down.

And froze.

“W-What is... this...?”

Since when was Frey this... impressive?

“I love you, Roswyn...”

“W-Wait, hold on—“

If my prideful older sister, the self-proclaimed expert, saw this—

“...Ugh.”

She’d be seething with jealousy..

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.

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.

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Elsewhere...

“...”

- Creak, creak...

A girl ground her teeth furiously as she glared at the image in the crystal orb.

“Contract... I’ll make a contract...!”

- Shaaaaa...

Dark energy began to swirl around her.

“I’ll give everything...”

Her golden eyes trembled violently, her disheveled hair falling lifelessly around her.

“Grant me... the power... to escape this nightmare...”

But then, her voice abruptly stopped.

“...”

Time stretched endlessly.

“...Huh?”

When even the strange noise from the crystal orb faded into silence...

“Where... am I?”

The girl, once limp, suddenly lifted her head.

“I was just at the coronation ceremony, wasn’t I...?”

She turned her gaze around the unfamiliar space.

“...Did the Magic Tower Master’s plan succeed?”

And then—

She looked down.

“Then that means my body... should be Clana’s...”

Excitement flashed in her eyes as she checked herself.

But then, she saw her academy ID glowing at the center of a strange magic circle.

Sunrise Academy, 2nd Year

Rifael Solar Sunset

“...Huh?”

Staring at the name, her face turned blank.

“Why... am I the eldest daughter of the Sunset family?”

- Gulp, gulp...