This Novel is not my Novel

It wasn't as though I couldn't understand Fjodora's position.

Even setting aside for the moment the fact that the original author wanted Fjodora and Reisir at odds with each other, the same conclusion emerged when I focused solely on Fjodora as a person.

After all, an expedition into the Demon Realm was a matter of life and death.

Not only the possibility of dying herself, but also of one of us dying...

That was probably what she feared.

As a member of the imperial family that had unilaterally formed the special Awakened class.

If students forcibly conscripted under imperial orders lost their lives in the Demon Realm, the guilt would crush her.

She must have become sensitive without even realizing it.

She worried not only about her own life, but the lives of others as well, and felt duty-bound not to let anyone die.

How could I possibly fail to sympathize with that?

It suddenly occurred to me that she might resent her father, the Emperor, far more than I had imagined.

Just as I, after being dropped without warning into this fictional world, can't help resenting Author Senna for trying to drive us all to our deaths...

Even though, judging from the circumstances, Author Senna did not appear to be the one who had put me in this body.

Whenever the people I met in this world felt like the same kind of "people" I was, whenever our conversations accumulated and the time we spent together grew longer, the original author felt increasingly like the source of all evil, intent on destroying my peace and plunging me into misery.

I couldn't help becoming hostile.

The Emperor, moreover, was someone who lived in this "fictional world" and knew perfectly well that we were living beings.

Unlike the original author, who lived outside the work and regarded us as "fictional characters who did not exist."

Therefore, Fjodora, who possessed a sense of decency, could hardly harbor only mild resentment toward the Emperor.

Still, he is her father, worthless though he may be. According to the original novel, she never seemed capable of hating the Emperor completely...

The word "love-hate" did not exist for nothing.

Whenever she faced those harmed by her father's outrageous decision, she felt guilt and responsibility in equal measure.

She couldn't turn away, instead stepping forward to deal with the aftermath somehow, even at the cost of her own sacrifice.

Perhaps all of that stemmed from the complicated love and hatred she bore him.

"I have nothing to feel guilty about."

"You concealed your ability until it was exposed, yet you have the nerve to say that."

"Judging by your words, Your Royal Highness must not be concealing anything whatsoever about your abilities."

"Of course not."

While this conversation unfolded, Reisir did not look Fjodora directly in the face, but kept his gaze slightly lowered.

According to the customs of this place, meeting a royal's eyes without permission was an exceedingly disrespectful act.

Fjodora, for her part, seemed to regard Reisir's behavior as perfectly natural rather than finding anything strange about it.

But Reisir had not averted his eyes to show the Princess respect or observe proper etiquette.

Then was he being careful not to reveal his defiance by glaring at her disrespectfully without realizing it?

That answer was half right and half wrong.

There was something else he truly wished to conceal.

So he used 【Truth-Reading Eye】 on Fjodora after all.

That was why the original protagonist did not hold his head high and meet her gaze.

If someone appeared to be facing you directly, yet their focus seemed subtly misaligned—and if their pupils shifted minutely as their gaze searched some point in empty space—there was no one who would not find it suspicious.

Especially now that the existence of the original protagonist's silver Ether has been fully revealed and clues have been given about what it can do.

He could not allow anyone to discover that he possessed a skill capable of reading other people's information at will, rendering the fake 【Identification】 skill and the fabricated explanation behind it utterly pointless.

After secretly viewing Fjodora's information, Reisir pressed his lips tightly together.

One corner of his mouth twitched faintly, as though he were suppressing a disbelieving scoff bordering on derision.

In the original novel, Fjodora's only Ether Attribute Abilities were 【Wind Dominion】 and 【Spatial Leap】. So unless Author Senna has given her a new skill...

Either she had lied when she claimed to possess 【Wind Control】 and had actually acquired the S-rank 【Wind Dominion】 skill, or Reisir had discovered the exception listed in the description window for 【Spatial Leap】.

For reference, this "exception" appeared in Chapter 195, but opening that chapter again and rereading it would surely be far too troublesome.

Therefore, for the convenience of my dear readers, I shall reproduce the relevant passage below.

==========

: As an exception, when cooperating with another being who possesses the same ability, the user may move to the other party's location without line-of-sight restrictions.

▶ In this case, the maximum travel distance is [n] km, where n is based on the distance the person attempting the movement can leap alone.

At present, Reisir's 【Truth-Reading Eye】 had only just entered Stage Two, while detailed descriptions—including exceptions such as this one—could normally be viewed only from Stage Three onward.

Under ordinary circumstances, he should not have been able to read it.

But right now, my 【Encouragement】 has strengthened his 【Truth-Reading Eye】, hasn't it?

Therefore, I could not rule out the possibility that he had read it.

And judging by Reisir's expression, my guess appeared to be correct.

"Truly... Your Royal Highness..."

Reisir's lips parted briefly and his voice began to emerge, only for them to close again before he could convey anything of substance.

Exposing what he had discovered here might make him feel better for the moment.

But he knew that doing so could bring even greater consequences down upon him, so he must have barely managed to swallow the words he wanted to say.

He was clenching his jaw and gritting his teeth so hard that I could distinctly hear them grinding.

There was no missing the fact that his emotions had become far too intense.

But if he remained silent, it would be tantamount to admitting fault.

Had he become consumed by the thought that he had to say something, anything?

The original protagonist suddenly jerked his head up, looked Fjodora directly in the face, and slowly began to part his lips.

"Haaah—"

I let out a deep sigh and gripped his arm tightly, signaling that he needed to restrain himself.

Reisir's gaze snapped reflexively to my face, and for a moment, the anger in his eyes was directed at me.

It made me flinch despite myself, but I did not release his arm in fear.

I knew that anger was not truly aimed at me.

I understood that the cold, fierce emotion in his eyes was not malice, but merely resistance born of his refusal to submit.

I soon calmed myself, met his gaze, and gave a slight shake of my head.

"......"

Perhaps he felt sorry for frightening me unintentionally, because Reisir lowered his head with an ashamed expression.

Then he took half a step back.

His actions were as good as declaring that he would leave the conversation with Fjodora to me and remain silent.

"We must enter the Demon Realm together and fight monsters, and if we do not properly understand one another's abilities, our lives may be placed at risk. Your demand that we not conceal our abilities is justified."

Even though I had spoken in support of Fjodora's position, I saw no sign of renewed outrage on Reisir's face when I glanced sideways at him.

Relieved that he had clearly calmed down, I quietly released his arm.

"You understand that well. Then why did you conceal your skill?"

"I believe I made this clear before we fought the Boss Monster. I acquired the skill only recently. I simply hadn't had an opportunity to tell you yet."

"Do you not consider that excuse rather flimsy?"

"No, I do not. I truly acquired it so recently that I hadn't even told my family. But I told my brother today, so my father and sister will likely hear of it soon as well."

I had not told her exactly when I had acquired 【Encouragement】.

If I went so far as to invoke this body's family in making my case, she would assume I had possessed the skill for less than a week.

"If you truly had no intention of concealing it, when did you plan to tell us?"

"I thought I could mention it next Tuesday during Professor Radvishin's Ether Attribute Enhancement class."

"Why did you intend to postpone it until then rather than tell us immediately?"

"None of us is currently skilled enough to be deployed in actual combat, are we? Nor could we have anticipated that a Demon Realm would suddenly appear at the academy today. I merely judged that it wasn't urgent..."

I paused briefly before looking Fjodora directly in the eyes and continuing.

"Surely Your Royal Highness does not believe that whenever we achieve something, we are obligated to seek you out immediately and submit a 'report'?"

I had previously explained that meeting a royal's eyes without permission was an exceedingly disrespectful act.

But the content of my words was already disrespectful, so what difference did that make?

She was only the Princess, not the Emperor. She could hardly punish the direct heir of a ducal family merely for making eye contact.

"We are merely 'students' who have only just begun training in service of the greater cause of protecting people from the abnormal phenomenon known as the Demon Realm. We are neither Your Royal Highness's private soldiers nor your subordinates."

"I do not regard any of you as such."

"Then why did you make me feel as though you did?"

"......"

Faced with my implication that her attitude had been the problem, Fjodora could not answer at once.

After a brief silence, she finally said:

"I did not expect... a report. I merely thought it would be better to inform us as [N O V E L I G H T] early as possible, since a Demon Realm could suddenly appear nearby, as it did today."

"I see. It seems the standards by which we think and make decisions are simply different."

"Indeed. I believe so as well."

Had she taken my apparent concession as an offer of reconciliation?

Fjodora agreed without hesitation.

I responded with a question.

"Then why, when I explained my reasons, did you dismiss them as an 'excuse' and question me in such an accusatory tone?"

"That..."

Once again, she was left without an answer.

Earlier, I had waited for her to organize her thoughts and choose her response.

This time, instead of doing so, I pressed her with one question after another.

"What Your Royal Highness said is correct. But even when something is correct, that does not mean we can accept it unconditionally without objection, does it?"

"......"

"We are people with feelings as well, and most of us are here against our will. Could you not have taken our circumstances into consideration?"

"......"