Scars and Ointment
Act 4, Scene 2: The International Individual Exhibition
Before that event arrived, a new task had been added to my schedule: alleviating Iris's nightmares through training. Iris followed my instructions and trained diligently every single day. As a result, the frequency of her nightmares had recently begun to decrease.
"...I didn't have one again."
It was early morning, just after training. Finding herself free of nightmares once more, Iris stared at me with a dazed expression.
"How did you do it?"
"It is simply because you trained hard, Princess Iris, and exhausted the nightmare's power."
In truth, it was entirely her own doing. I hadn't done much. Iris had faithfully followed my advice, actively channeling her aura to burn away the nightmare's influence. This was by no means an easy feat. It was a testament to her sheer willpower.
"...Is it like... sleeping better because you exercised hard?"
"Something like that. Most cases of insomnia occur because the body still has physical energy left, making it difficult to fall asleep."
However, this was not a permanent solution. The more Iris utilized her aura, the stronger she would become. Eventually, she would grow to a point where it would be impossible to exhaust her entire reserve of aura in a single day.
Iris is a genius, after all.
Her rate of growth was on an entirely different level compared to ordinary people. Eventually, the nightmare's power would catch up to her capacity again. Still, as a temporary measure, it wasn't bad. More than anything, I intended to resolve the root cause of her nightmares before she reached that point.
"What do you think? There's no harm in listening to me, is there?"
"No."
Iris answered without denying it. Yet, a lingering doubt flickered in her eyes.
"Hanon, how did you know I was having nightmares?"
The source of Iris's nightmares was the Evil Zone. She herself was vaguely aware of this. But it was not a story she could share with others. Iris had no desire to lose her life either. Thus, believing herself to be selfish, she had desperately clung to survival until now.
And then, out of nowhere, someone appeared who knew about the nightmares she had kept hidden for so long. Iris had never uttered a single word suggesting that nightmares were the cause of her insomnia. Yet, I knew. It was only natural for her to be suspicious.
I looked at her and offered a gentle smile.
"Is that the only thing you are curious about?"
"..."
Of course it wasn't. The path I had walked so far was entirely incomprehensible to her. A person who couldn't be traced even by the information network of the Third Princess—that was me. To Iris, I must have been a walking enigma.
"A while ago, you said that the things I did weren't solely for your sake, Princess Iris."
Iris's gaze locked onto mine. On that day, her face had been exceptionally dark. Remembering that moment, she gave a slow nod.
"Just as you said, I did not move solely for your sake."
At my response, a trace of disappointment flickered in her eyes.
"However, among the reasons I move, there is undoubtedly a desire to help you."
I truly wanted Iris to be free of her nightmares. She had spent her entire life toyed with by the Evil Zone, suffering in agony without ever enjoying a single night of peaceful sleep. In the original story, she was destined to become the ultimate villainess—a mere puppet of the Evil Zone. I refused to let her life end in such a tragic way.
I wanted Iris to live like any other girl her age, enjoying the things she wished to enjoy. If she wanted, I hoped she could cast aside the burden of being a princess and simply enjoy her life.
"Princess Iris, I want you to live a peaceful life, free from nightmares."
Before I knew it, a soft smile had formed on my lips.
"Because you certainly deserve to live such a life."
Iris stared at me blankly. One thing was certain: she must have sensed my sincerity. I genuinely cared for all the heroines and characters of the Flame Butterfly Chapter. Even though the protagonist, Lucas, was no longer here, I was willing to do whatever it took to lead them all to a happy ending.
"Enabling you to live that kind of life—that, too, is my goal."
That was my purpose, my ultimate objective.
"...I haven't really done anything for you. I don't even know what I can offer you in the future."
She was the Third Princess. She was the tragic figure destined to climb from the lowest rank of royalty to the imperial throne as the ultimate villainess. To someone like her, unconditional help did not exist. Everyone wanted something from her, expecting a return on whatever they gave.
"None of that matters to me."
I didn't want any of those things.
"Just seeing you free from your nightmares is more than enough."
I gently took Iris's hand, which had been scraped during today's training. It was a minor injury from overexerting her aura. Having anticipated this, I pulled out a jar of ointment and began to apply it to her hand. Since I had specifically swiped it from the Jerion Academy infirmary, its efficacy was outstanding.
"So, if by any chance..."
I carefully massaged the ointment into the scrapes on her skin.
"...if you do not wish to become the Emperor, just tell me."
A confident smile spread across my face.
"I will help you with that as well."
It was an incredibly treasonous statement, but as long as the listener didn't take offense, it didn't matter.
"..."
Iris stared at me in silence. Her eyes held a mixture of bewilderment and various other emotions. Though I couldn't read every single thought passing through her mind, I knew this was a sentiment she had desperately wanted to hear at least once.
Iris had only climbed this far because she was pushed by Duke Robliaju. She herself had never truly desired the throne. That was likely why she had made that fateful choice in the end.
Lucas could never have said these words to Iris. He, too, was a citizen of the Empire, bound by the common sense of the world within the Flame Butterfly Chapter. To anyone raised under the societal norms of this world, such a statement was utterly unthinkable.
But I was different. I was merely a player of the Flame Butterfly Chapter. Any modern person knew that the throne was not nearly as happy a place as people romanticized it to be. The crushing weight of absolute responsibility was more than enough to drive a person mad. Thus, I offered Iris the one perspective only I could provide.
"It's pretty entertaining having a classmate with so many secrets, isn't it?"
When I cracked the joke, Iris stared at me quietly before slowly shaking her head.
"It's not."
Not her style of humor, I guess. As I smacked my lips in mild disappointment, Iris gently cradled her treated hand.
"But thanks to you, Hanon, I think I understand one thing now."
A faint smile bloomed on Iris's lips, like a red rose unfurling. Perhaps because she had been sleeping so well lately, her smile was the most beautiful I had ever seen.
"The reason why I sleep so well when you're by my side."
Iris reached out and lightly tapped my chest.
"It's because you're a warm person, Hanon."
Since I possessed the Fire's Flame, I was indeed physically warm. But Iris's words touched upon something far more fundamental.
"Thank you. Maybe... I just wanted to hear someone say that to me, at least once."
Leaving me with those words, she said she would see me later and headed back to the dormitory. She looked a little lighter, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Training, classes, training, classes, training, classes. Day after day, I dedicated myself to building the martial strength I would desperately need in the future. Before I knew it, the International Individual Exhibition was right around the corner.
The International Individual Exhibition was a friendly competition held to showcase the prestige of each participating nation. The faces of the students preparing for it were taut with tension. Meanwhile, there were others whose faces were completely ruined, though for an entirely different reason. They were the members of the student council.
"Kill me! Just kill me instead!"
Buried under a mountain of paperwork, one of the student council members shrieked in a fit of hysteria. The others simply ignored his screams and kept working in grim silence.
Following the recent boycott incident, the student council had not escaped the sweeping audit. Fortunately, under Nikita's leadership, this particular council had not engaged in any corruption. As a result, they were spared from disciplinary action.
Instead, the investigators tracked down former graduates to hold them thoroughly accountable. Jerion Academy was a symbol of the Empire's prestige. Since corruption had run rampant in such a place, the authorities were determined to root it out entirely.
Furthermore, it was revealed that the former president, Sylvester, had actually used the backing of the Drapen family to quietly shield the council from corrupt pressures. Although Sylvester had taken full responsibility and resigned, his reputation within the student council had skyrocketed.
You only appreciate the flowers once they wither. The moment those two prominent figures, Nikita and Sylvester, departed, nothing but darkness remained for the student council.
The vacant seats of the president and vice president, the sudden influx of administrative work due to the temporary absence of assistant instructors, and the upcoming International Individual Exhibition—the student council was literally drowning in a tidal wave of work.
"Ugh... pant..."
Sitting next to me, Poara let out a series of incomprehensible groans as she scanned through her documents.
"Hmm."
Beside her, Midra, the runner-up of the first-year martial arts department, was calmly organizing papers. Surprisingly, he possessed a natural knack for clerical work.
Yet, even among this busy crowd, there was one individual in a truly critical state. While everyone else scrambled, the mentally exhausted scribe stared blankly out the window.
The top student of the third-year Literature Department, Nivolans Panima.
In the student council, the scribe was traditionally the third-in-command. However, with both the president and vice president currently absent, he had been forced to shoulder the responsibilities of all three positions.
The first triple-crown holder in Jerion Academy history—acting President, Vice President, and Scribe! It was a glorious title on paper, but his eyes held nothing but profound sorrow.
"...I can't take this anymore."
Suddenly, Nivolans clenched his fists. He pushed up his glasses and turned to look at everyone.
"At this rate, we'll be so buried in student council work that we won't even be able to function as students! No matter how you look at it, the workload they're dumping on us is insane!"
No one replied to his outburst, but their faces made it clear they all agreed.
"Reinforcements! We need reinforcements to prepare for the International Individual Exhibition! The preliminary meeting is literally tomorrow!"
He ground his teeth and buried his face in his hands. The preliminary meeting between the academy student councils was scheduled for tomorrow. Nivolans had absolutely no confidence in attending that meeting representing the council as a mere scribe, not even a president or vice president. Furthermore, if he left his post, the student council would immediately collapse under the workload. As the top student of the Literature Department, he was currently handling a full third of the council's administrative tasks.
"Hanon Airey."
"Yes, Scribe Senior?"
Hearing my name called out of the blue, I stopped writing and looked up. He was staring at me with desperate, pleading eyes.
"I heard you've been spending a lot of time with the Third Princess."
Word travels fast. I quickly grasped where this was going.
"The Third Princess is slated to be nominated as the next student council president of Jerion Academy."
It wasn't just a nomination; it was practically set in stone. Iris possessed flawless martial prowess, academic excellence, elegance, and status. It would be stranger if she didn't become the president.
"So, there shouldn't be any issue if she takes over the presidential duties a bit early."
In other words, he wanted me to persuade Iris to step in as the acting president. Iris met every single qualification. More than anything, since she already intended to take the position eventually, she would likely agree.
"And the vice president's seat is currently vacant as well."
They had originally planned to recruit an acting vice president, but due to the fallout from the successive boycott incidents, the position remained unfilled.
"You're also close with Sharin Sazaris, the top student of the second-year Magic Engineering department, right? The daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Master."
Uh-oh. This was taking a very bad turn. Iris might be one thing, but there was absolutely no way Sharin would cooperate with something like this.
"Bring the Third Princess as the acting president, and Sharin Sazaris as the acting vice president, and take them to the World Academy Conference tomorrow! No matter what!"
Our scribe had officially lost his mind.