Their fathers had been the closest of friends, but she had never really had any connection to Arsian.

At most, she knew what he looked like.

Then again, maybe that was only true on her side. Arsian had always been the kind of person who took no interest in her existence at all.

No. Wasn’t he like that with everyone?

She had run into him now and then at the academy, but they had never once properly exchanged so much as a glance. So why was that Arsian—

If Dorman had not hurriedly explained things to her, she felt like she might have screamed just from his sudden appearance alone.

And what is this Attraction supposed to be...?

*****

System

Name: Arsian Sepra

Affinity: 98/100

Attraction: 100/100

!! This value is not currently being applied. ٩( ᐛ )و !!

100? Is that even possible?

If Attraction was 100, wasn’t that basically the end of the story?

Even in the middle of that shock, though, another alert in the system window stood out to her immediately.

It says it isn’t being applied right now.

That was probably because Arsian knew she was not the real Camilla.

D-Don’t be alarmed! Lord Arsian already knows too! Lady Camilla told him before she left, before anyone else did!

According to Dorman, Arsian already knew everything—that her soul and Camilla’s had been switched, and all the chaos that had come with it.

Even if the outside looks the same, Lord Arsian would notice right away.

Because there was already precedent for it, Camilla had not forgotten to leave Arsian a warning before calling Isia here.

So don’t you dare bully her, or start calling her a fake or anything.

...All right.

I mean it.

When are you coming back?

Me?

You are coming back, right?

Of course I am.

...Then fine.

By the time he dealt with the head of the Eva Church, Arsian had already known, to some extent, what kind of situation Camilla was in. Apparently, he had accepted her decision more easily than expected.

“Why are you out here?”

“I wanted to look at the snow.”

“In weather this cold?”

A faint twitch ran through Arsian’s brow. Clicking his tongue, he pulled her coat closed again with meticulous care.

“You’ll catch a cold at this rate.”

“......”

Isia looked at him in silence, then gave a faint smile.

“Camilla’s lucky.”

“With what?”

“To have someone like you by her side. Someone who worries about her like this.”

Arsian’s hand, which had been fastening the buttons, stopped short.

He looked at Isia for a long moment, and when he spoke, his voice had dropped even lower.

“Don’t get greedy.”

“What?”

“That isn’t your place.”

With that, Arsian finished buttoning her coat. Only after making sure she was bundled up tight did he finally step back, looking mildly satisfied.

“...Hah.”

Isia stared at him like he was being ridiculous, then spoke in a slightly sulky tone.

“I wouldn’t take it even if you offered.”

Watching everyone around Camilla show her endless affection and warmth, Isia could think only one thing.

Thank goodness.

Jealousy? Bitterness?

She did not feel anything like that at all.

All it did was make her certain once again.

Ah. So this really was never my place.

Yes. It really is a good thing I went back to my own world.

That feeling only grew stronger.

“I have people over there who care about me a lot too.”

There was Hyunseok, and Jihyeon, and also... Senior Choi Sihyeon... Hm? Why did Senior Choi Sihyeon come to mind just now?

“Then that’s good.”

Arsian dismissed her words with obvious indifference.

The attitude was so irritating that Isia puffed out her lips.

“I’m telling Camilla everything.”

“...What?”

For the first time, the expression on his face—which had been blank the whole time, no, cold—actually cracked.

“I’m leaving her a letter saying Lord Arsian bullied me and made my life miserable.”

“When did I ever bully you or make your life miserable?”

“How should I know? I can just write that you did.”

“Hey.”

Seeing Arsian genuinely flustered, Isia laughed to herself.

Who would have thought he would react like that to something this petty? Attraction 100 really was not just some meaningless number.

“You’re not seriously going to tell her, are you?”

“Ah, it’s cold. I should go back inside.”

“Hey.”

Leaving behind Arsian, who was visibly at a loss, Isia hurried away with a faint smile on her face.

*****

“Petro, what are you doing after class?”

“I’ve got plans.”

“Really? I was going to ask if you wanted to go to the bookstore together.”

“Next time.”

Surrounded by people as always, Petro walked on with his usual gentle smile resting at the corners of his mouth.

“By the way, I don’t think Miss Sorpel came in today either.”

“Is she sick again?”

“I heard she’s just busy.”

Before long, the conversation around him had shifted to Camilla, one of the academy’s latest favorite topics.

Because she kept appearing at the center of one major incident after another, people’s interest in her never seemed to fade. Even something as trivial as her not showing up at the academy became conversation among them.

“I heard she bought another diamond mine this time.”

“Isn’t that incredible?”

“I’m telling you, she must have been born with money luck.”

Petro merely listened to his friends with a quiet smile.

Before and now, he had never been one to involve himself much in conversations centered on Camilla.

Because of that, though, one thing stood out to him all the more clearly.

For example... before, the overwhelming majority of what people said about her had been negative, while now it was mostly admiration.

And if seeing that made him feel oddly pleased, then perhaps that too was one more change.

“Hm?”

He had been walking quietly all that time when he suddenly stopped in place.

“Petro? What’s wrong?”

“...No, I just felt someone looking at me.”

Petro swept his gaze over the area again and again.

Someone had definitely been there just now.

But no matter how carefully he looked, there was no trace of anyone.

“Haha, it was probably some young lady secretly staring at you again.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.”

His friends chuckled softly at the sight of him.

At that, Petro smiled lightly as well, cast one last glance around him, and then started walking again.

“Hey, I told you to be careful.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

Not far from the place Petro disappeared from, someone stood with a deep frown drawn between his brows.

It was Arsian.

Isia was in his arms.

“I was only going to look at his face and leave.”

Out of some mixture of embarrassment and guilt, Isia offered the excuse weakly.

“I really was going to leave right away.”

“You almost got caught.”

“Sorry...”

Even after her apology, Arsian still looked displeased, his frown not easing in the slightest.

“What? Are you still hung up on that guy?”

“N-No!”

“Then why did you come all the way here to see him?”

Just like Arsian, Petro had always had an unusually sharp instinct when it came to Camilla.

It had been like that during the fake Rania incident, and again recently when he ran into Camilla after she had turned younger—he had recognized her almost immediately.

And what if Petro were to realize there was another soul inside Camilla?

That was why Arsian had warned Isia beforehand.

Under no circumstances was she to show herself in front of Petro.

“I told you not to come to the academy either. Did you forget already?”

“No.”

“If you got caught, what were you planning to say? Were you going to tell him everything?”

“......”

Under Arsian’s rebuke, Isia could not even manage an excuse and simply kept her mouth shut.

He was right.

This had been her mistake.

At the very least, she should not have created a situation that would only make things difficult for Camilla once she returned.

I just...

She had simply wanted to see him one last time before she left.

When she had lived as Camilla Sorpel, he had been the last person from whom she had desperately craved affection.

Even now, she still remembered vividly how she had laughed and cried over his every gesture, over each gentle word.

But this is strange.

Seeing him again, even from a distance, she felt much calmer than she had expected.

She had thought she would tremble, that her chest would ache, that the same old piercing pain would rise again.

But no.

She was steadier than she had imagined.

At most, there was a faint ache of nostalgia—as though she were pulling out a fragment of an old memory and looking at it.

“Hah.”

Watching Petro recede farther and farther into the distance, Isia let out a short laugh.

The moment Petro sensed something and turned, Arsian wrapped her in his presence and whisked her away from the spot.

Without his help, things really would have become troublesome.

Still, I’m glad I came.

The existence that had always lingered in one corner of her heart as a dull, aching pain now seemed to blur and fade the moment she faced it like this.

Seeing that makes it even clearer.

_______________

System

Name: Petro Jayvillan

Affinity: 72/100

Attraction: 81/100

!! Deleting attraction ٩( ᐛ )و !!