Karma
Isabel Luna.
As the main heroine of the Flame Butterfly Chapter, she was neither the temporary student council president nor the temporary vice president.
Thus, under normal circumstances, there was absolutely no reason for her to accompany us on the way to this meeting.
However, those attending in the capacity of president and vice president were each allowed to bring one assistant.
The assistant Iris had chosen was me, the temporary secretary.
Normally, Hania would have gone, but since it was student council business, she had yielded her spot to me.
"Lady Iris doesn't sleep well when she's in an unfamiliar bed. It's better if Hanon goes."
Hania had grown remarkably bright lately, seeing Iris finally sleep in peace.
Perhaps because of that, her trust in me had also grown significantly.
Thanks to her, I was the one guarding Iris's side.
Then who had brought Isabel along?
The answer was already decided.
It was Sharin, who was currently lying across her lap.
Isabel had readily offered to come along.
When Isabel first said she was coming, I didn't think much of it.
She had been a bit sulky last time because I slipped away without finishing the battle.
But she wasn't the type of girl to throw a tantrum in a place like this.
The only thing I hadn't anticipated...
...was that Iris, growing drowsy in the carriage, would fall asleep while hugging me.
And in such a deeply familiar manner, at that.
"..."
A heavy silence hung between Isabel and me.
Ever since Iris had wrapped herself around me, Isabel had been staring at me with an intense, piercing gaze.
Iris's physical strength was not of this world.
Firmly bound in her grasp, I couldn't even wriggle out of the cramped carriage.
Feeling self-conscious under Isabel's unblinking stare, I averted my eyes. Finally, she spoke.
"Do you... sleep like that with Lady Iris every single night?"
Her tone was noticeably sharper than usual.
Isabel had already caught me infiltrating the girls' dormitory disguised as Hania.
Fortunately, she hadn't gone around blabbing about it to anyone.
Even so, I couldn't help but feel my heart squeeze with anxiety every day.
"...Isabel, there's a reason for this."
"Because of Lady Iris's sleep, right?"
So she knew.
"Everyone knows Lady Iris usually struggles to sleep."
Iris suffered from severe insomnia.
No matter how much she tried not to show it, it was something you couldn't help but notice while living at the academy.
"And I know exactly how agonizing that is."
Isabel had suffered from prolonged insomnia herself after Lucas's death.
She knew the torment of it all too well.
"But lately, Lady Iris has been sleeping very well."
Thanks to my efforts, Iris had been getting plenty of rest recently.
As a result, even to outsiders like Isabel, her complexion had visibly brightened.
"And that must be thanks to you."
Isabel had realized my hand was in this.
"Yes, that's right."
When I answered honestly, Isabel let out a soft sigh.
"You did well. Honestly, seeing you like this is a bit shocking, but if it's what Lady Iris needs to sleep well, then so be it."
It was a benevolence truly befitting a main heroine.
"Of course, if I thought you had even a shred of ulterior motives..."
But despite her benevolent words, Isabel's eyes held not a single glimmer of light as she smiled.
"...I wonder what I would have done."
"There's no way I'd harbor those kinds of feelings toward the Third Princess."
"Yes, that much seems clear."
Isabel asserted firmly.
Why did it feel like she was reading my mind completely?
Isabel was starting to terrify me.
"Actually, that's why I find it puzzling."
Isabel slowly stroked the hair of Sharin, who was resting on her lap.
"If you have no ulterior motives, then what are you doing all this for?"
Isabel's eyes quietly locked onto mine.
What lay within them was worry.
Isabel misunderstood, believing I had instigated the boycott over the incident with Nikita.
Therefore, she assumed my staying by Iris's side was an extension of that.
To Isabel, it looked as though I was lingering near Iris to exact revenge for Nikita.
She worried that the moment Iris completely let her guard down around me...
...I would strike to avenge Nikita.
But my recent actions were far from those of someone seeking vengeance.
Iris was a highly sensitive person.
She was especially keen when it came to hostility directed at her.
Yet, I remained by her side without a single issue.
This meant I hadn't shown even a speck of ill intent toward her.
Resentment and anger are emotions that cannot be hidden, no matter how hard one tries.
Isabel, who had personally used anger as her sole driving force, knew this better than anyone.
Thus, looking at me, doubts began to sprout in Isabel's mind.
How could I, supposedly harboring a deep grudge for Nikita's sake, remain so peacefully by Iris's side?
This left only two possibilities.
Either I possessed an almost supernatural ability to control my rage and keep it hidden...
...or I had never harbored any resentment from the very beginning.
Just moments ago, Isabel had said I had no ulterior motives.
In her mind, "ulterior motives" included resentment and anger.
Isabel's thoughts leaned toward the second possibility.
And from there, another question naturally bloomed.
Then, for what purpose did I instigate the boycott, even going so far as to let her misunderstand me?
Furthermore, what was my true objective?
The moment that question took root, a cascade of other doubts about me rushed to her mind.
Various details she had overlooked because she was blinded by rage.
The conversations we had shared, and the path I had walked up until now.
These were questions that only became visible now that Isabel was looking at me through the lens of her longing for Lucas, rather than pure hatred.
...This is dangerous.
As mentioned before, Isabel was projecting Lucas onto me.
This was a psychological rebound born from her desperate desire not to forget Lucas.
The wounds engraved upon her heart had not yet fully healed.
Because of this, she leaned on me by overlapping me with Lucas, using me as a crutch to ward off her anxiety.
The obsession Isabel had shown recently stemmed from exactly that.
Love and hate.
The affection she felt because she saw Lucas in me, and the hatred she felt for the insults I had hurled at Lucas's memory.
Having escaped the brink of death by fueling herself with rage, Isabel could not easily let go of that anger.
She feared that if she carelessly laid down her wrath, she would once again walk toward her own demise.
Thus, love and hatred coexisted within her.
But precisely because of this, she had observed me closely, which eventually prompted her to look back on everything.
And in that process, she seemed to have vaguely realized that my becoming the target of her anger had been entirely intentional.
This is troublesome.
I couldn't begin to guess what emotions Isabel would feel once she became certain of this.
Human emotions are volatile things, capable of erupting in any direction.
If she felt gratitude, it would be a massive relief, but if she felt betrayed, there was no telling what would happen.
Isabel quietly gazed at me.
Her eyes showed no signs of pulling away from me anytime soon.
"Isabel..."
Just as I opened my mouth to nip her growing doubts in the bud—
"Because we're family."
The one who spoke up was Iris.
Unbeknownst to me, she had already woken up, and she lightly rested her chin on top of my head.
As Isabel stared at Iris with startled eyes, Iris hugged me even tighter.
It felt like a firm declaration that she would never let anyone steal what was hers.
More importantly, the soft sensation pressing against my back grew much more pronounced.
Is this really okay?
"There are some secrets that outsiders simply aren't meant to know."
Iris smiled meaningfully as she looked at Isabel.
Seeing that smile, Isabel's eyes widened.
She had never expected Iris to defend me.
Isabel didn't know the inner workings of my relationship with Iris.
Therefore, the doubts that had just begun to bloom became completely unsolvable the moment Iris stepped in to shield me.
When I looked up at Iris, she gently closed her eyes and curled the corners of her lips upward.
It was a smile that seemed to say, Since you helped cure my insomnia, I decided to return the favor a little.
She really was the Third Princess.
Sharp as a tack.
"And..."
With that, Iris squeezed me tightly.
"Hanon is my little brother, so I have no intention of giving him away to just anyone."
"...Excuse me?"
Isabel asked back, her face blank with bewilderment.
Iris had also noticed the possessiveness and obsession Isabel had been subtly displaying.
Even if it was born from projecting Lucas onto me, it was still directed at me nonetheless.
I had been glued to Iris's side all this time.
There was no way Iris wouldn't notice.
And so, right now...
Iris was claiming ownership over me.
I have no intention of giving my favorite plushie to anyone else.
That was the underlying meaning of her words.
But Isabel, who harbored a complex mix of love and hate for me, had already been shaken once before by my fake girlfriend, Hania.
Iris's declaration was like throwing fuel onto the fire in Isabel's heart.
Isabel's eyes slowly curved.
It was a chilling, murderous gaze that absolutely did not belong on a main heroine.
"Lady Iris, even if he is your brother, don't you think it's wrong to speak of him as if he were a mere possession?"
"It's fine. I'm a princess."
For a moment, Isabel was left utterly speechless.
She hadn't expected Iris to pull rank on her like this.
"...Shouldn't you set an even better example precisely because you are a princess?"
But Isabel showed no signs of backing down easily either.
"Taking care of one's family is a perfectly exemplary thing to do."
"If that care goes too far, it becomes a nuisance. Allowing everything just because someone is family is no different from domestic abuse."
A strange, tense atmosphere began to swirl between Isabel and Iris.
It almost felt as if sparks were flying between their eyes.
And caught right in the middle, I sat there with an expression that said I had completely given up on life.
Since Iris already had me locked in a tight embrace...
...there was absolutely nothing I could do.
Just then, my eyes met Sharin's, who had woken up at some point.
Sensing the heavy atmosphere inside the carriage, her lips moved silently.
"Fighting over a man~"
Sharin was watching the situation with immense amusement.
It was only natural, as she had never seen Isabel stand up to Iris like this before.
Reading her lips, I simply closed my eyes.
If this were actually a jealous spat, I might have at least felt flattered.
Having beautiful girls fight over ownership of me would surely do wonders for my self-esteem.
But this was different.
One side saw me as an object of love and hate.
The other saw me as a favorite security blanket.
It was light-years away from actual romance.
My own will was completely absent from the ownership they were claiming.
And because of that, I couldn't even intervene.
Was this... my karma?
All I wanted was to turn a bad ending into a happy one.
Lucas.
I miss him terribly today.
