Chapter 335: Legal Stalking(2)
Chapter 335: Legal Stalking(2)
I've uploaded the illustration for Cherry!
*
A mind, once broken, cannot be truly fixed. You can see what that means by looking at soldiers suffering from PTSD or certain other individuals.
Just as a scar forms when a wound isn't healed in time or is treated poorly, the mind is the same. Especially when a scar is etched into the psyche—it never truly disappears unless it's completely covered up.
While some of it can be alleviated through Mora rather than Luminous, if it becomes fixed as a 'personality trait,' it reaches a point where there is no answer.
This applies to Cherry's current situation as well. She is someone who has already fallen into the abyss and only just managed to crawl back out.
I helped her regrow the dreams that had been cruelly trampled upon, and further, the pressure from Count Letiz—the fundamental cause of her misery—has been resolved. There is nothing left to bind her.
The problem is her self-esteem, which hit rock bottom and has only slightly risen since. During the exhibition, she said to me:
Please don't throw me away. I'll do anything. Those words expressed her psychology and her feelings toward me in a single breath.
I couldn't bring myself to ignore Cherry's plea, so I accepted her with an open heart. Fortunately, Mari and the other women didn't seem to mind much either.
But perhaps I was too busy. After the incident where I slapped Hiriya, my meetings with Cherry naturally became less frequent.
Because of that, it was only natural for her heart to grow anxious. Currently, Cherry is no different from a piece of porcelain that was once shattered and barely glued back together.
The moment she is dropped, even once, she will shatter into pieces so small they'll be beyond recovery. And I am the one who must hold that porcelain with the utmost care.
A person's life literally depends on a single mistake of mine. Even now, she was auditing every single class I attended.
If there's any consolation, it's that the symptoms aren't severe yet. If it got any worse, she might start self-harming just to get my attention.
"Is it good?"
"Yes..."
So, I arranged a separate meeting to ask about her future plans and to receive her manuscript. Of course, this was after all my classes were finished.
We were currently at a cafe we used to visit often. Visiting a cafe is fine because Academy guards follow me wherever I go now.
I don't mean personal guards like Adelia and Kate, but other security personnel. Right now, they're likely checking outside the cafe for any suspicious individuals.
Furthermore, a Reaper dispatched from Helium, like Gartz, would be watching from a distance, so I could put my mind at ease.
"What have you been doing while I was away?"
I asked Cherry as I took a sip of my coffee, which had a large, round ice ball floating in it. Perhaps because I'd added a lot of sugar, a sweet taste lingered in my mouth rather than bitterness.
Hearing my question, Cherry slowly lifted her head, which had been bowed down. Her eyes were still as dark as ever.
I wondered if there was any way to fix that look in her eyes. I found myself curious whether she became like that because Count Letiz crushed her self-esteem, or if she had always been that way.
"...I was just waiting for you, Senior."
Cherry's firmly closed pink lips parted. It was an answer that piled on the guilt, stabbing at my chest.
I wanted to make excuses—that I had no time, that I'd been very busy lately—but it felt too pathetic, so I kept quiet. What I needed to do right now was apologize.
"I'm sorry. I have no excuse. No matter how busy I was, I should have looked after you..."
"I-it's okay. I can understand."
Whether my sincerity reached her or not, Cherry waved her hands with a slightly surprised expression. So she can make expressions like that even with those gloomy eyes. It was strangely cute.
"Even if you move further away, Senior, I can just follow behind you. Hehe..."
"..."
Cherry giggled as she said that. Coming from anyone else, it would have sounded like a confession, but because it was Cherry, it sounded dark and sinister.
It was as if she had proudly declared her intention to stalk me. Hearing her words, I quickly glanced to my left and right.
First, Adelia. Surprisingly, she was looking at Cherry with an expression full of pity and compassion.
I had already told her who Cherry was and what her circumstances were.
Having learned about Cherry's tragic family history, Adelia likely felt a sense of kinship. Perhaps because of that, she was genuinely feeling sorry for her rather than being on guard.
'And Kate is...'
Next, I shifted my gaze toward Kate. Unlike Adelia, I hadn't told her about Cherry, but she had a serene face as if she didn't have a single thought about it.
Or perhaps she just didn't feel any sense of incongruity. The act of stalking is the problem; Cherry's feelings for me are pure.
'...They are pure, right?'
They probably are. If they were impure, she would have done all sorts of bizarre things by now.
The fact that her self-esteem is extremely low is the issue, but she definitely keeps a sense of purity in her heart.
Count Letiz was simply the villain who almost dyed that purity in a strange color.
'By the way, I wonder what that man is up to these days.'
Since I revealed myself as Xenon, he must have naturally figured out Cherry's identity as well. It would be strange if he hadn't noticed, considering how much I shielded her.
However, he didn't seem to be putting any particular pressure on Cherry, nor did he try to approach me.
Whether it was because the aftereffects of the "fact bomb" I dropped on him back then were significant or not, he seemed to be respecting Cherry's autonomy.
"Ahem. Cherry?"
"Yes. Please speak..."
"How far have you gotten with the manuscript?"
For now, I thought it best to set the stalking issue aside and deal with her work first.
Cherry's debut work and the novel that was becoming the biggest craze after the Xenon Chronicle: Red Sunset Once Again.
It had appeared like a storm a few months ago, but recently, because I had been so busy, no new volumes had been released for months.
But that was over now. I planned to give her the attention I hadn't been able to provide. I'd also draw up some plans while I was at it.
Given Cherry's personality, even if she didn't reveal her identity, the fact that she was known as my partner meant people wouldn't be able to mess with her easily.
"First of all, I've finished Volume 3, and I've written about half of Volume 4..."
"That's fast."
I wasn't just being polite; that was quite a pace. It was similar to how I was before I received the typewriter as a gift.
As everyone knows, books in this world must be handwritten one by one, and finishing one volume a month is almost impossible.
Furthermore, Cherry is a student—and a first-year at that, the busiest year—so she shouldn't have much time. Even I used to release new volumes every two to three months during my first year.
"I'm asking just in case, but are you eating well?"
"Yes."
Well, I suppose if she weren't eating, her breasts wouldn't have grown that large. I was able to accept it the moment I saw her chest, which was growing quite vigorously.
"Are you getting enough sleep?"
"Yes."
Even if her eyes lacked vitality, she didn't have dark circles like Cindy. Her skin was also pale and lustrous, showing no signs of exhaustion.
"And your studies?"
"Not to the point of failing."
It might sound a bit arrogant, but as long as she avoids failing, she doesn't really need to study. Especially since she's already earning a living as an author and has gained honor to boot.
In terms of writing, everything was in a perfect state. It made sense that she had managed to write two volumes in that short span of time.
"Then that's a relief. Nothing bad happened while I was away, right?"
"Other than you not being there, Senior?"
"..."
"Everything else was great. Hehe."
I'm sorry. So please don't smile with that kind of expression.
I felt the guilt piling up and gave a bitter smile. It was a good thing I met with Cherry sooner rather than later.
"Isaac-nim. May I speak with Cherry-san for a moment?"
As I was rubbing my face with my hands, my heart feeling heavy, Kate made a request. I took my hands off my face and turned my gaze toward her.
Kate had her usual gentle expression. It seemed she had noticed something after listening to our conversation.
"Yes. Go ahead."
"Thank you. You said your name was Cherry-san, right?"
"Yes... I am Cherry Blossom Roseberry."
"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kate Louise Angelica. I am a faithful servant of Luminous-nim. Tell me, Cherry-san, do you also have feelings for Isaac-nim?"
Kate got straight to the point as soon as the introductions were over. It seemed it didn't matter to her what Cherry's circumstances were or who she was.
While I was flustered by her direct charge that bypassed any sort of build-up, Cherry blinked slowly.
The fact that she blinks slowly means she's either interested or flustered. In other words, she was flustered by Kate's question.
Cherry blinked slowly once more before quietly opening her mouth.
"Yes... I like Senior..."
"As I thought. In that case..."
"If you're going to say something weird to Cherry, I'm sending you back to Savior."
I hurriedly cut Kate off before she could start talking about 'seeds.' I remembered how embarrassed I was when she brought that up to Elena and Cindy.
But contrary to my expectations, she shook her head. It seemed she was going to bring up a different topic.
"It is not that. Isaac-nim is a man of great magnanimity. Lady Roseberry, you may not know this, but Isaac-nim has accepted not only his fiancée but also the Princess of Helium and Sir Cross, who is here with us now."
"..."
How could she wrap the word 'womanizer' in such pretty packaging? Hearing those words from Kate, of all people, made them feel almost mystical.
Of course, I knew what she meant, so I was embarrassed. Even as Adelia sent a stinging gaze my way, I had no choice but to feign ignorance.
Meanwhile, Kate didn't stop and continued with what she had to say.
"And yet, Lady Roseberry, it seems you are merely hovering around him instead of approaching. Isaac-nim seems interested as well, so..."
She trailed off, but everything Kate wanted to convey must have been delivered. Don't follow him around like a stalker; come forward boldly.
Since it's obvious he'll accept you, why can't you step up? That was the message Kate sent to Cherry.
And Cherry...
"Someone like me?"
"Pardon?"
"How could I dare?"
She uttered an answer that even flustered Kate. Not just her, but Adelia and I, who were listening, felt the same.
What was even more serious was that Cherry tilted her head as if she truly couldn't understand.
"It's enough for me just not to be abandoned by Senior Isaac. Just as a pine caterpillar must only eat pine needles, I have no intention of being greedy anymore."
"..."
"It doesn't matter if Senior uses my body however he wishes, or if he makes me his slave. It's much better than being abandoned. Because being abandoned is more painful than dying."
While everyone was speechless, Cherry curled the corners of her mouth into a smile.
It was a smile that anyone could see was sincere, which made it look even more gloomy.
"I'll be satisfied with this."
No one spoke up hastily. No, they couldn't speak. That was how much it revealed the severity of Cherry's condition.
Since her self-esteem had already pierced through the floor and only barely crawled back up, it was understandable. The problem was that I had become her 'center.'
In many ways, it vividly showed what kind of mindset people with extremely low self-esteem possess. The way she centered her life around someone else rather than herself.
Even Mora wouldn't be able to fix this. Unless her personality was completely obliterated, it would be impossible to return her mind to normal.
This alone would be enough to leave any ordinary person speechless, but...
"I understand perfectly. To Lady Roseberry, Isaac-nim is Light itself, isn't he?"
Our Kate was a woman with a few screws loose. Whether she realized the gravity of Cherry's state or not, she came out with that.
This was absurd enough, but Cherry's reaction was even more of a spectacle. Cherry nodded in total agreement with Kate's words. Her two hands tightly clasped together were a bonus.
"Yes. He is my light, my hope, and the person I want to give everything to. He helped me achieve the dreams that had been torn to shreds, and further, he is the one who gave me true freedom."
"That is wonderful. However, you need to build up a bit more confidence. Why not try to get a little closer?"
"If you get too close to the light, you'll go blind. So, I will watch from afar."
Extremes meet... no, how are they even communicating? I couldn't keep up with their conversation, which flowed as naturally as water.
Even if her focus was slightly off, Kate tried to persuade Cherry to regain her self-esteem, and Cherry refused point-blank. It was an infinite loop.
However, the fact that I was the center of it all didn't change. I had no idea what on earth was happening.
"It seems you still lack sufficient faith. Roseberry... no, may I call you Cherry?"
"The Cardinal may call me whatever she likes."
"Good. First, I must help you build your confidence. Ah, until then, it is fine for you to follow behind Isaac-nim."
Kate was openly permitting the stalking. I was so dumbfounded that I protested to her.
"What about my opinion?"
"Are you going to refuse?"
If I refuse, I feel like she'll kill herself, so I can't. As soon as I heard that, I checked on Cherry.
Cherry was looking at me with eyes that were close to pleading, fearing that I might refuse. If I did, those already dark eyes would lose even more of their vitality.
In the end, I had no choice but to sigh and shake my head. Kate gave a beaming smile when I responded with an affirmative.
'Somehow, they seem to be clicking...'
It was a bizarre combination.