SSS-Class Revival Hunter

Chapter 102: The Play (3)

“I...” I tried not to stutter. “I’m going to stay by Lady Silver Lily’s side for the time being.”

Silence hung in the air for a moment.

Lady Goldencup’s smile froze. “... I certainly can’t understand why you would say that.”

The crown prince stopped walking. Perhaps he’d sensed the iciness in his beloved’s voice.

“I asked you to come with me now, my butler. Although I don’t like to show off my wounds, I endured quite the humiliation from Lady Silver Lily to free you.”

“Yes, I know.”

“And yet you’re going to refuse my request?”

The bitter taste in my mouth was growing stronger. It was difficult to tell if the bitterness came from losing the Inquisitor or the butler rebelling against my decision to refuse his master’s request. However, it was painful to look at those blue eyes, which now belonged to Lady Goldencup.

[Your character immersion has deepened.]

[Your immersion level is 42%.]

So I looked down at the ground to avoid those eyes.

“I’m sorry. I still have some work to finish.”

“That answer does wonders, doesn’t it? It works at any time. Well, are you sure that you aren’t just bewitched by her?”

I silently kept my head bowed.

“Ha.”

I heard Lady Goldencup’s smirk. It was directed at Lady Silver Lily, not me.

“Okay.” Lady Goldencup turned her head a little bit. “Lady Silver Lily, I don’t know what grand scheme you’re up to again, but you won’t be able to make the friendship between me and my butler waver. Please take good care of him.”

“You are free to be delusional, but keep it to yourself. Get lost, Lady Goldencup.”

“Yes, I shall.” Lady Goldencup, still in the crown prince’s arms, reached out and stroked his cheeks. “Would you like to get lost with me, Your Highness?”

She pretended to whisper, but her voice was loud enough that everyone else could hear.

“Ah, ahhh.” The crown prince blushed.

[Your character immersion has deepened.]

[Your immersion level is 43%.]

The two lovebirds left with the guards. That was the end of the past-midnight commotion.

***

In an instant, the garden was quiet.

“My lady...”

The servants were saddened and worried about their master. She was the one who had evicted the guests, but that felt like the opposite had happened.

“It’s late in the night,” Lady Silver Lily said. “You’ve all done a lot tonight. Go back inside now.”

“What are you going to do...?”

“I’m going to watch the flowers here for a while and then go inside. I want privacy, so leave, everyone.”

Lady Silver Lily looked up at the night sky in her pajama dress. As if she had been born at night, she blended well into the darkness. The servants returned to their quarters, unable to disobey their master. Only I remained.

“My lady.” I approached.

—Zombie, can’t you tell? She’s feeling vulnerable! She looks expressionless, but she’s emotionally vulnerable. Hey! This is good. This crisis is your chance! It’s hard to date someone above your league, but the goalkeeper is gone! Hurry up and go to her now.

As always, the ghost—the Guardian—couldn’t read the room.

Shut up, please.

“You should go in and rest too, butler,” Lady Silver Lily suggested.

“Staying up all night for a day or two isn’t a problem for me. Aren’t you the one who’s tired?”

“I want to say no... but, yes, I’m a little tired.” Lady Silver Lily sighed. “This is already the fourteenth time I’ve done this. For one hundred forty days, I’ve tried to set His Highness on the right path. Even if I can accept that it’s my fate that my love will be unanswered, His Highness is the next emperor. I should guide him to the right path so the empire will remain safe... It is a struggle.”

“You’re not alone anymore.”

What I wanted to tell her was that she wasn’t the only regressor in this world.

“I’m here. Humans find a way to endure if there’s even one person who understands them.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, surprising as it is.”

Lady Silver Lily turned her gaze from the night sky onto me. “You’re mistaken about one thing.”

I was mistaken?

“I repeat the last ten days of this world. When you die, you return to the day before. That may seem no different at a glance, so you would think we can share the same time. But it’s not true.”

I didn’t stop Lady Silver Lily. Our conversation right now was probably being broadcast live, and the people of the Tower would be watching it. But that was okay. I had already braced myself for the next try.

“Butler, one of us will regress first.” Lady Silver Lily bent forward. “If I regress first, you’ll forget your current life. When you regress first, I won’t remember what happened so far. One of us will eat away the other one’s time.”

With her cane, she drew two lines on the ground. “We’re parallel lines that will never meet.”

My heart ached.

“It’s possible for you and I to understand each other. But that is all we can do. It’s impossible for the two of us to live together. Neither you nor I can be responsible for one another,” Lady Silver Lily calmly explained, “Your confession was passionate and beautiful. However, we cannot share our time together. Perhaps that is why it sounded so beautiful.”

I looked straight into Lady Silver Lily’s eyes. “What if we can?”

“What if? There is no if.”

“I always keep my word. I didn’t say what I said in my confession just to win your heart. I’m not the kind of person who spouts empty words like glittering soap bubbles to draw people in. If I can help—no, truly free you from the eternal ten days, what would you do?”

A nocturnal bird chirped.

“... How arrogant. I am more than capable of living my life on my own.”

“I’m sure you are. I feel the same, but I still want to help you, my lady. Is it arrogant to say that I want to help the one I love? Then I’ll gladly become an arrogant person.”

Lady Silver Lily pursed her lips. She, too, was trying to help the crown prince in her own way. Whether she admitted that or not, she and I were alike.

“What do you want from me?” she asked after a brief silence.

“Please be with me when the world ends this time.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, that will be enough.” I smiled.

The Inquisitor’s state after he hit one hundred percent immersion level made me realize the secret to clearing this book. It was a rather risky and tricky solution, but... it was probably possible if I could just keep my head straight.

“And if possible, I would appreciate it if you could make me fall for you harder than I already am. It would be perfect if I fell head over heels for you and don’t feel like getting out.”

“You’re asking me to do it?”

“It’s okay. I’m an easy guy. My heart races when you do so much as hold my hand.”

Lady Silver Lily looked at me in disbelief. “How shameless... Okay. Since I said I’d teach you love, I guess I have to take responsibility for what I said.”

She grabbed my hand. Her soft bare hand enveloped my right hand. My heart pounded as I remembered the memory of last night when Lady Silver Lily had put her perfume on me.

“Is this good enough?”

[Your character immersion has deepened.]

[Your immersion level is 44%.]

My face flushed. “Yes, i-it’s good.”

“Wow, I shouldn’t be saying this given that I am attempting to seduce you, but aren’t you a little too innocent? It’s a miracle you survived this harsh world.”

“I died. A lot... Does it make your heart beat a little when I show you my weak side? The magazine I read said it’s effective when done from time to time.”

“Ha.” Lady Silver Lily laughed quietly.

Although her eyes weren’t smiling, she still laughed. The crown prince’s trolling had no doubt brought down her mood, so it was good that she felt even a little better.

“It’s been only a day since you learned about love. You’re basically a child, but you’re challenging me right now?”

“I noticed that you’re wise when you were fighting with Lady Goldencup earlier, but you never let someone else’s taunts slide. Perhaps it’s because of your pride. Even if it won’t benefit you in the long term, you answer their taunts as hard as you can. So, I would like to provoke you too.” n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“... You have sharp eyes.”

“Shall I provoke you a little more?” I asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“If you want to, go right ahead.”

We were close, but we got closer. Our shadows overlapped; neither of us was going to back down.

“You speak as if you were a master of love, but is that true? Isn’t being loved just as important as loving someone else? Loving the crown prince and getting his love are both important, but you failed at the latter.”

“Hmm.”

“In that sense, maybe Lady Goldencup is better at love than you are. After all, the crown prince loves her, right? So if we were to judge who is better at love, Lady Goldencup might come out on top.”

“Hah.”

“You know how to love, but you don’t know how to be loved—not more than Lady Goldencup at least. So—”

At that moment, Lady Silver Lily grabbed my chin. “So? Keep talking. I was actually enjoying listening to your voice a little.”

[Your character immersion has deepened.]

[Your immersion level is 45%.]

“... So it’s only natural that you lost the crown prince to Lady Goldencup. You should have understood his tastes and hobbies more closely and gone for his heart,” I said after a brief pause.

“Your teeth are sparkling white.”

“... That’s what you should have done, but you didn’t. You let your guard down, so the reason Lady Goldencup is acting like that is partly your fault.”

“Your tongue is red. It’s pretty too.” Lady Silver Lily pulled my chin up. Her gaze was up at my mouth. “Why did you stop talking again? If you close your mouth, I can’t see your tongue. It’s fun to watch, so keep talking.”

I was tongue-tied.

“Do you admit your defeat?”

“I do...”

“‘It would be perfect if I fall in head over heels for you and don’t feel like getting out.’”

That was what I had just said.

“Every word you choose to speak is frightening. I don't know what wonderful plan you came up with that makes you this confident, but you are fearless.” Lady Silver Lily pulled my chin closer, and I was drawn to her as inexorably as gravity.

“Well,” she muttered, “since I’ve been doing this fourteen times, I guess I can deviate one time.”

“You mean—”

“My rule is to treat an asshole as an asshole. I thought about what happened tonight, and I feel like His Highness has become a little too much of an asshole to me. Two can play this game.”

My heart pounded. Maybe...

“Are you finally going to give up on the crown prince?”

“No, how can I do that when my heart is a constellation stuck in the night sky? But...” Lady Silver Lily’s voice dropped to a whisper. “...I’m just thinking about becoming a little bigger of an asshole than him.”

The idea of a “bigger asshole” brought Yoo Soo-Ha’s smug face to my head. That always happened when I heard words like “asshole” and “son of a bitch.” But it wasn’t easy to become such an asshole. What was Lady Silver Lily saying?

“An eye for an eye.” Lady Silver Lily brushed her index finger against my lip. “Starting today, I’m going to have an affair with you.”

Huh?

“Do you love me?”

“I do not.”

“Do you have any intention of dating me seriously, even just a little?” I asked.

“No.” She shook her head again.

“But...”

“But you’re the butler that Goldencup cherishes. To quote her, you’re her one and only butler and childhood friend. I wonder what the look on her face will be like when she hears that you are dating me. Wouldn’t His Highness be quite flustered too?”

In other words...

“Are you going to pretend dating me just to screw with the two of them...?”

“Why?” She leaned in closer. I could feel her breath on my skin. “Do you not want to?”

I couldn’t answer her question.

Badump.

I really couldn’t think of anything to say.

Badump.

My heartbeat was so loud that it made my head spin. So... this was my love. My first love.

Badump.

It shouldn’t be... A love affair was a little... It should be something more romantic.

“Sit down.” Lady Silver Lily pointed at the ground.

I carefully sat down in the garden. The moon was covered by clouds, so the ground was dark. It felt like I was kneeling in a bottomless swamp. My eye level and that of Lady Silver Lily were reversed now.

Lady Silver Lily looked down at me. “I’ll give you a choice. If you don’t want to accept my offer, shut your eyes. I’ll quietly disappear before you open them again—but if you do want to try this play of love until the end of this life...”

The red moon in the night sky was covered, but the eyes staring at me were far redder.

“Say my name.”

Name... I...

“Raviel... Raviel Ivansia.”

Huh? Why was my mouth open?

“Yes. Do you remember my first lesson on love?”

“Love begins with experiencing an asshole...”

“You remember well.” Lady Silver Lily placed her hands on my cheeks. “I’ll be your first asshole.”

The moon swallowed the light. The scent of lilies was so soft and sweet that I couldn’t breathe.

[Your character immersion has deepened.]

[Your immersion level is 50%.]

I felt like I was going to die. It was beautiful.

—Both of you are wackos, so you guys make a great couple. Yeah, there is no way you could date a normal person. Birds of a feather flock together, after all.

The Guardian’s voice felt distant.

—Congratulations on your first day of dating life, Zomsparrow.

Petals of the fully bloomed magnolias fluttered through the air.

—Though it’s a love affair.