Heroine Elody
Heroine Elody
Elody.
The main playable character of the raising simulation game [Lady Maker].
Hailing from a small village on the outskirts of the Empire, a professor dispatched from the Academy visits her village.
Elody, who catches the professor's eye, is recognized for her outstanding magical talent and enters the Academy.
Depending on the user's choices, she could become a Great Mage, a villainess, or even the Empress of the Empire.
Irion had seen every single one of Elody's endings. He had seen her face at least a hundred times, if not hundreds.
If asked who his favorite character in the work was, he would choose Elody without hesitation.
Even after realizing this place was inside the game, he had vowed that he must see her face at least once.
"It's Elody."
And now, the person he had longed for so much was actually standing before his eyes.
Blurting out her name unconsciously was something even Irion couldn't help.
Elody, who had been looking around the Academy, felt his gaze and turned her head.
Wondering if he was perhaps looking at her, she looked around her surroundings.
Soon realizing there was no one else in the plaza besides herself, the girl approached cautiously with hesitant steps.
"Um.... Hello? Do you perhaps have some business with me?"
Renoa looked down at Elody with her chin slightly tilted.
Her gentle, deer-like impression was striking, but her shimmering, multi-colored opal eyes particularly drew the gaze.
The thought that she possessed a face that would undoubtedly be loved by everyone, regardless of age or gender, inadvertently crossed Renoa's mind.
"It's still before the start of the semester, but since you're dressed in the Academy uniform, I wondered if you were a current student."
"Eoheum! So, that's why?"
Elody scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"I'm not a current student, but an incoming one! I came from the countryside, so it's my first time seeing such a large building. As for wearing the uniform... I wanted to feel like a student, and my other clothes are a bit shabby. Hihi."
Watching Elody laugh bashfully, Renoa sent a glance toward Bibi that said, 'See, I was right, wasn't I?'
"Ah, are you perhaps a Gwijok-nim?"
"Why. Do I look like a noble to you too?"
"O-Of course! I was surprised because you're so beautiful. You overflow with an elegance that can't even be compared to someone like me."
"Heu-eung."
Renoa let out a nasal sound.
It wasn't perfect, but it was a fairly satisfying answer.
The attitude of knowing her place despite being a commoner was enough for bonus points.
"I am Renoa. Of the Edelheid family."
"E-Edelheid? The Ducal family that's said to have those incredible mages?"
Renoa didn't give a dull, long-winded explanation.
Just by her consistent attitude of silence, Elody bowed her body on her own.
"To think I didn't recognize such a precious person...! I'm so sorry-ppik!"
Watching the girl fluster so much that her voice even cracked, Renoa analyzed her with narrowed eyes.
Was it a pure mistake, or a meticulously calculated act of acting cute?
It was a face that seemed to have no pretense, but if it were the latter, she would be a terrifying individual.
"There's no need to use such formal speech. There's an imperial decree not to divide ranks by status within the Academy."
"That may be so, but......."
"Well, it's a wise judgment. It's lucky for you that I'm generous; if it were any other noble, they would have brought up etiquette and charged you with lèse-majesté."
"Hi-ik."
"I'm saying it's a possibility. I'm not that narrow-minded of a person. I already live with two people who have no sense of propriety, after all."
Renoa said so as she glanced back and forth between her left and right.
A slave and a maid who tried to act as equals with their master.
"Haa...."
"Why are you sighing while looking at us?"
"Just because. A sigh comes out just by looking at your faces."
She could only lament why she only had such things around her.
In that sense, she quite liked the girl before her.
She had a good impression, was quick-witted, and knew how to respect her. She liked her enough to want to keep her as a maid if possible.
"You. Your name?"
"I'm called Elody! Since I'm a commoner, I don't have a surname."
"...Elody?"
The moment she heard that name, Renoa's head snapped toward Irion.
The sound had been low, so she hadn't heard it clearly, but Irion had definitely spat out that name just moments ago.
'How?'
Since she didn't know her, the girl wasn't a famous person. Her appearance was special, but she was truly a commoner one could find anywhere.
It was impossible for Irion, who had been a slave since birth, to know the name of a commoner from the outskirts.
"What is the relationship between you two?"
"Huh? Are you talking to me?"
Elody was flustered, not knowing the reason.
If so, it meant Irion knew her unilaterally.
Renoa narrowed her eyes. A wary gaze was shot at Irion.
"Speak. How do you know her name?"
Irion was flustered.
He didn't realize he had actually uttered her name out loud. It was something that happened without him even realizing it because he was so glad to see her.
"How would I know her? Today is the first time we've met."
"Don't lie. You clearly said Elody."
"I didn't say Elody, I said melody. The weather is nice and the scenery is beautiful, so I was thinking it would be great if there was some refreshing music."
It was a slick piece of improvisation.
Along with the plausible excuse, he desperately suppressed his emotions.
Because of that, Renoa didn't feel any particular abnormality even through the sensations coming through the pass.
Irion went a step further and threw a question to Elody.
"Elody-yang, have you perhaps seen me before?"
"No, I'm seeing you for the first time today. You're a Gisa-nim, right? You're wearing a cool necklace."
"Haha, thank you."
Irion smiled at Renoa as if to show her.
"See. How would I know her when she doesn't know me? Especially me, who has been a slave my whole life."
"......."
"In the first place, even if we were acquaintances, would that be some kind of problem?"
It was a valid point.
Whatever connection Irion and Elody had in the past had absolutely nothing to do with Renoa.
Even if they were friends.
Even if they were lovers.
Surely, as Irion said, it shouldn't matter at all, but for some reason, her stomach felt twisted and she felt bothered.
"Um.... If it's not rude, may I leave? The tavern ajumeoni said she would prepare dinner for me."
Elody spoke up cautiously while watching Renoa's reaction.
A high-and-mighty Young Lady of a Ducal house, a mysterious knight, and even a maid eating snacks while watching this as a spectacle.
It was far too peculiar an event for her, who had lived in a tiny village until recently, to handle.
Renoa was still glaring at Irion with eyes full of suspicion.
It was only for a split second, but she had definitely felt the emotion that flowed out of Irion. It was absolutely not just her imagination.
"......Go."
However, interrogating a slave for the truth in this place was not something that befitted her dignity as a noble.
Renoa gave her permission as if tossing it out.
"Thank you! Let's meet again if we have the chance, Gongnyeo-nim!"
Elody bowed with a bright smile.
She ran toward the other side of the plaza with light steps, as if she had cast off a heavy burden.
Irion stared intently at her receding back. A scene where his protagonist, who had been with him through countless endings, was alive and moving.
Renoa did not miss the fact that the gaze Irion held toward that back was excessively deep.
"For someone you don't know, your gaze is quite affectionate?"
"No way. I'm just looking because it's fascinating to see a person running. That person is running on two legs."
Now he was just throwing out whatever words came to mind while shrugging his shoulders.
Bibi, who had been watching the series of events from a step away, approached Renoa's side.
"Agassi, I think the cleanup of the mansion should be in its final stages by now. Let's head back soon."
"......Fine."
Renoa replied shortly and turned around.
All the way back to the mansion, the meeting with Elody did not leave her mind.
Though she wore the mask of a simple country girl, there was something about her that was hard to describe simply.
She had a hunch that she would be frequently entangled with her.
Ever since leaving the villa in Alderin and coming to the Ducal territory, Renoa had been suffering from nightmares.
It was always the same nightmare.
A mirror appears in a space with nothing but darkness, and a woman with a face identical to hers is reflected.
Hands stretching out from that woman wrap around Renoa without a gap and eventually swallow her.
In that way, the original Renoa disappears without a trace, and only the Renoa inside the mirror remains.
She was aware it was a dream, but no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't wake up.
Since she had nightmares every day, she couldn't get a proper night's sleep, and as she couldn't sleep, Renoa's mind and body became more exhausted by the day.
"Heu-euk...!"
Today was the same.
Renoa was suffering from a nightmare.
Cold sweat, pouring down like a waterfall, soaked her entire body. She struggled to escape while gripping the blanket tightly.
But nothing changed. She couldn't wake up, and she couldn't escape.
She would dream this nightmare forever.
Forever.
"Just what are you doing?"
Renoa's struggling even reached Irion, who had a familiar contract with her.
Irion, who couldn't possibly fall asleep due to the pouring negative emotions, eventually came secretly to Renoa's bedroom.
He had met Elody today.
He wondered if she was going to cast a curse on her, but instead, she herself was suffering as if she were cursed.
"Agassi. Agassi?"
Irion shook Renoa's shoulder and called out, but there was no reaction at all. She was still in pain.
'She seems to be having a terribly nasty nightmare.'
If he left her like this, Irion would only suffer along with her.
He had to resolve it somehow.
"You really are strangely high-maintenance."
Considering her usual sharp personality, she seemed like the type who would go all the way to space alone even if dropped in the prehistoric era.
Yet, she was a master who couldn't even sleep by herself.
"Ehyu."
Irion crouched down beside the bed and took Renoa's hand.
Then, Renoa tightly grasped Irion's hand with the strength she had been using to grip the blanket unconsciously.
Just as he had done before when the thunder and lightning struck, he was about to release Renoa's tightly contracted body by flowing mana into her, but...
"......What is this?"
Another heterogeneous mana, not Renoa's, was running wild inside her body.
