"No, that doesn’t make any sense. Love?"
Love? What love?
Yu Siwoo didn’t think for a second that what she felt was love.
"But that old man said so?"
Just who the hell was that old man to tell Amelia something so absurd?
No, forget who said it—
Why did she even believe it?
It didn’t make sense.
"There’s no way. Arte is a villain!"
"Yu Siwoo, think about it. Why does Arte keep watching over you?"
"That’s exactly what I don’t get, which is why I’m like this!"
"Exactly! That’s where it all starts!"
Click.
Like a detective pointing out the culprit, Amelia jabbed her finger at me.
…I had no idea what she was talking about.
"Just try to understand. I didn’t get it at first either—it sounded ridiculous."
"Because it *is* ridiculous!"
"No, it’s not! Come on, Yu Siwoo. Calm down and think."
Huuu…
Fine. Let’s calm down.
Amelia had sprung this out of nowhere, but there had to be a reason she brought it up.
As I steadied my breathing, Amelia started firing questions at me.
"Are you being watched by Arte?"
"…Yeah."
"Even outside your house?"
"Yeah."
"See?! That’s love!"
"How?!"
Calm down? How was I supposed to calm down?
Arte… *loved* me?!
Thump. Thump.
My heartbeat was so loud I could hear it ringing in my ears.
She had to be making sense!
What about how I felt as the one being watched?!
"Come on, think. Arte is clearly interested in you. That’s a fact, right?"
"Yeah, but interest alone doesn’t mean it’s love. That’s surveillance!"
"She even followed you into your club. And your swordsmanship class, wasn’t it?"
"…That was surveillance too!"
"She ignores the other students, but during class, she keeps watching *you*."
I had no clue what she was getting at.
Those were obviously just things she did to keep an eye on me.
When I passionately explained that to Amelia, she hit me with something I’d never even considered.
"Sure, it could be surveillance. But Yu Siwoo—are you really someone worth surveilling?"
"W-what?"
"You’re just a little better than the other students. Why would she waste her time watching *you*?"
"B-because of the Beast incident! She must’ve heard about it!"
"Then why not just kill you? *Swish.* Didn’t she kill Laira like it was nothing?"
My mouth clamped shut.
I had no comeback.
I wanted to retort, but my throat was like it had been sealed—I couldn’t get a single word out.
"Because that’s how it is. The Arte we’ve seen isn’t normal. You and I both know—if she catches us, *swipe.* …We’re dead."
Amelia dragged her thumb across her throat in a slicing motion.
Yeah. I knew that.
She could sneak into the Academy. She could unleash Beasts to attack it.
If she could kill Laira without a second thought, then she wouldn’t hesitate to kill a person either.
She’d pulled off all sorts of things, but the incidents we’d noticed might only be the tip of the iceberg.
Arte was dangerous.
If she decided to, she could kill us without breaking a sweat.
That was why, when I’d miraculously escaped the locker room where I was sure I’d die if caught, I’d wiped away my tears in relief.
"She wasn’t… watching me?"
"That’s what I’m saying! If it was surveillance, there’d be no reason to watch a guy like you!"
A guy like me?
…I wanted to argue, but I had nothing to say.
After all, I completely agreed that someone with her abilities would have no reason to surveil someone like me.
"Th-Then what the hell was the reason she kept watching me…?"
"I told you! It’s love, love!"
So we’re back to this.
After all that, we’d circled right back to Amelia’s original claim.
"Why does she look at you? Because you’re cool! …I don’t really get it, but I guess your face is decent enough."
"Hey?!"
"Why did she follow you all the way to your house? Because she loves you! It was love at first sight!"
I was confused.
Up until now, I’d assumed Arte was obviously keeping tabs on me. But what if that wasn’t the case?
…Not surveillance?
"She even joined the fencing class and the club after you—all of it! …Because she loves you!"
Suddenly, Yu Siwoo recalled that day’s memory.
The nameless villain who had infiltrated the Academy.
He looked more like an animal than a person, but he was human.
When I first cut through a person, the sensation had sent chills down my spine. What had she done then?
'Don’t worry, Yu Siwoo.'
'It was just an unavoidable accident. Arte Isis and I were watching, after all.'
'Everything will be fine. It’s not your fault.'
'Yu Siwoo, you did nothing wrong.'
That gentle touch… No, not the touch.
That gentle voice echoed in his mind again.
"…She comforted me."
"Huh?"
"Back then. With the chameleon."
"Ah, o-oh… That time?"
Shit.
Yu Siwoo realized he’d misspoken.
After that incident, she had lost her usual confident demeanor for a while.
He’d thought she’d finally recovered, but he’d carelessly brought it up again.
Worried she might lose her spirit once more, he fretted—only for Amelia to declare boldly,
"I’m sorry!"
"…What?"
"I said I’d do whatever it takes for my goal, and then I ended up like that. I need to reflect on it. Hmm."
"You’re… okay, right?"
"Of course! Who do you think I am?"
Fortunately, it seemed she had already moved past that incident.
She was back to her usual self.
"Hmph, hmph. Anyway! Like you said, Arte comforted you when you were at your lowest. …You get what that means, right?"
"No, there’s no way. That can’t be…"
Yu Siwoo tried to deny Amelia’s words, but unlike before, his voice lacked conviction.
…Is it true? Is that really it?
He recalled Arte’s smiling face.
Had she noticed his voice wavering?
Amelia grinned confidently and said,
"She kept watching you, followed you around everywhere—it was all because of love!"
…Is that how it is?
Yu Siwoo found himself convinced by her words.
Men are prone to delusions, or so they say.
When a woman is kind to them, they start imagining she might be interested, spinning wild fantasies.
But this…
This wasn’t a delusion… was it?
This was Amelia—
The one person who knew Arte’s true identity alongside him, another woman—
And she was saying Arte had fallen for him.
And not just saying it, but declaring it so boldly. It even made sense.
…Could it be true?
"The only reason someone with no reason to surveil you would keep watching you is love. It was love at first sight."
"I-Is that so…?"
"I’m telling you, it’s true! That old man said so too!"
Yu Siwoo still didn’t have a clue who this “old man” was, but he ended up believing Amelia anyway.
It just sounded so convincing.
"Arte just… um, she doesn’t really know how to express love, that’s all!"
"Just? That seems like a *lot* more than just…"
"Ah, just go with it!"
He timidly tried to argue that “just” was a bit of an understatement.
And was immediately shut down.
Why?
"So that gives us one more way to stop her."
"What way?"
"A time-honored method."
Amelia slowly stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Then, suddenly, she thrust her face right in front of his—?!
Startled, Siwoo jerked his head back, only for her to fix him with those clear, sparkling eyes and declare,
"You need to seduce Arte."
"…Huh?"
"It’s a classic strategy. The honey trap—you’ve heard of it, right?"
Siwoo began to suspect that Amelia regaining her energy might not have been such a good thing.
Maybe she’d been better off when she was sulking.
"M-Me? Seduce Arte?"
"Yeah. It’s not that hard, is it? Just seduce her and stop her that way! Love can’t be stopped, after all!"
"That sounds *incredibly* hard."
"Don’t worry. I’ll help you."
As abruptly as she’d closed the distance, Amelia stepped back and grinned.
Her turquoise eyes gleamed with renewed vitality, sharp and clear.
"‘The ends justify the means.’ …Good saying, right? Same goes for this."
A *good* saying…?
Out of all the famous quotes in the world, *that* was the one she picked?
"Our goal is to stop Arte. So why *shouldn’t* we use any means necessary? If she starts caring about you more than that ‘Author-nim’ of hers, she’ll listen to you, won’t she?"
Amelia laughed boldly, then made her declaration.
"I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you and Arte end up… *skin to skin*…!"
Please, *please* choose your words more carefully.
That was all Siwoo could think.
"…They’re close, huh?"
[Right?! The heroine and protagonist look so good together!]
Those two meet there a lot.
Do they just like that alley?
I sipped my coffee and nibbled on the pastries I’d bought from the café as I observed their secret rendezvous.
[Eek, eek! W-Was that… a kiss?!]
"Hmm, it’s a little hard to tell if it was a kiss… Maybe she just shoved her face in his?"
[Hng… So disappointing.]
I ignored Author-nim’s whining.
Speaking of which, Amelia’s been looking pretty down lately.
But the second she saw Yu Siwoo, her face lit up.
This… was the protagonist?
His skill with the heroine was downright supernatural.
As expected, protagonists really *were* all experts at handling women.
"So peaceful."
[Yeah… Hmm, I should start thinking up a new event soon.]
"…I actually have a good idea."
As always, I passed along my idea to Author-nim.
Her voice was brimming with excitement.
From the sound of it, I could tell she *loved* the idea.
"…Mmm, this is good."
This place was pretty tasty. Maybe I’d come back next time.
I finished off the pastry in my hand as I watched the protagonist and heroine’s secret meeting.
So peaceful.