Summer reached out her arm over the fence.
At the same time, a tingling sensation traveled up her arm, but it didn’t matter to Summer.
Sky-blue hair and beautiful pink eyes. She knew instinctively. Julian Dudley. The protagonist of this world.
“I’m sorry, but could you please reveal your identity?”
“I’m Summer Lindsay, the daughter of Count Lindsay!”
Summer shouted with a desperate heart. Then she pulled out a certificate to prove her identity from her pocket.
Just the fact that Julian Dudley was looking directly at her filled Summer with emotion. The protagonist.
Unlike herself, who had struggled so hard just to find a job, Julian Dudley was playing the role of a kingmaker, boldly carving out her own life.
Now, she was recognizing Summer, a character not even mentioned in the original work.
“Open the door.”
“Miss!”
“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. Please come in.”
At Julian Dudley’s command, the guards hesitated and opened the door.
It worked.
Summer felt like she wanted to scream out of joy.
“What a surprise, Lady Lindsay?”
Julian Dudley, with a kind expression, linked arms with Summer and led her inside.
It was a silent request not to question the guards' behavior.
Summer had anticipated being turned away at the door, so she was satisfied just to be allowed in. In fact, it was an overwhelming feeling that went beyond mere satisfaction.
The protagonist is special. That was an extremely obvious fact. So she had hoped. That Julian Dudley would be something special.
As expected, the protagonist had privileges. That was confirmed at this very moment.
“I’m actually a fan of Lady Dudley. I’ve always wanted to meet you!”
“A fan? What does that word mean?”
Julian tilted her head.
The lovely sky-blue hair and pink eyes made Summer feel as if something inside her was being cleared just by looking at them.
“It means I really… like you.”
Summer’s eyes sparkled.
“I’m sorry, Lady Lindsay. But I like men.”
“Oh! That’s not what I meant. I just meant that Lady Dudley is cool, cute, and beautiful. So it’s more about sincerely wishing for your happiness.”
When faced with the protagonist, she blurted out whatever came to mind.
She had to win her heart somehow, but no suitable words came to her.
With a feeling of “what the heck,” Summer squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.
“I came here because I want to get close to Lady Dudley. This is truly a pure fan sentiment, or rather, a crush that has nothing to do with my family.”
“A crush? On me?”
At Summer’s sudden confession, Julian’s lovely pink eyes widened in surprise.
In that trembling moment, Julian’s lips slowly parted.
“That’s a bit sudden.”
“I’m really sorry. I thought if I didn’t say it now, I wouldn’t get the chance to express my desire to be close to Lady Dudley. I barged in without any notice, and I truly—”
“And I’m happy.”
“……Huh?”
Summer’s eyes widened in surprise as Julian smiled brightly and lightly hugged her.
“You’re the first person who has seen me in such a good light, Summer.”
The only reaction one could have when a beloved character from a novel hugged them and called their name would be,
“Waaah….”
It would typically be overwhelming tears of joy.
Summer thought about how she had been crying with joy all day and took out the handkerchief the coachman had given her to blow her nose.
Julian, who quietly waited for Summer’s tears to stop, playfully linked arms with her and pulled her closer.
“Summer. Shall we have tea together?”
“Sure!”
She could drink as much bitter ginseng tea as she wanted.
“Do you have a favorite tea?”
“No, I drink everything well.”
“Haha. So do I.”
Julian Dudley replied casually, a response befitting a cheerful protagonist.
They were, in other words, the protagonists, and as Summer had expected, they were both the essence of the work and free beings.
As long as it didn’t significantly alter their established personalities or characters, there were no restrictions on responding to Summer’s words, which were foreign to them.
Thus, the beings capable of conversing with the foreign entity Summer had increased to three: Mary, Fay, and Julian.
Perhaps the male protagonist, Ian Langerster, would be similar.
Julian, who had invited Summer into her room, set up a simple tea time for her.
The tea time was enjoyable. Julian was as kind and gentle as Summer had read in the book.
Summer awkwardly mimicked Julian’s etiquette.
It was so unnecessarily complicated that eventually, she ended up eating as she usually would.
In fact, as one would know from reading the original work, Julian was also quite poor in terms of etiquette.
That was part of her charm, but somehow, Summer felt like she had become an orangutan eating a banana with her bare hands in front of humans.
“Are you really going to stick with me throughout the social season?”
“Stick with you? Summer, we’re friends, so of course, we’ll be together.”
“Julian is truly a light to me.”
To Summer, Julian was the very embodiment of light.
The key to returning to her original world was ultimately held by the protagonist, Julian Dudley.
For the protagonist to take everything, she must possess some special ability or a light ability to break the setting.
It might even be possible to slightly twist the setting and plausibly send Summer back to her original world.
For instance, creating a role for Summer within the work, thereby hastening the day her soul would be formed.
“Haha, Summer! You’re being too much!”
“Not at all. Julian, you are to someone….”
It could be a dream.
But if she were to express this honestly, Julian might get angry or sad.
“It’s a bit embarrassing to ask myself, but what did you like about me, Summer? As you know, I’m a bit….”
Julian Dudley trailed off. Summer understood why Julian was saying this.
In the work, Julian Dudley struggled to adapt to the aristocratic social scene.
It was because she was the adopted daughter.
Even her original background was unclear.
Julian Dudley had not a drop of Dudley blood in her. No, she wasn’t even a noble to begin with.
When Summer read it, the male protagonist Ian Langerster was just as wounded, if not more so than Julian, or perhaps even much more.
She had little interest in the male protagonist, so she skimmed over his backstory, but she knew he had many wounds, and it was Julian Dudley who had opened and stitched those wounds.
The reason Julian could open those wounds was due to her non-aristocratic mindset and her positive, strong-willed personality.
And her healing ability as well.
“Julian is a bit special to me. It’s funny for me, a noble, to say this, but this complicated and impractical etiquette was created to somehow flaunt that we are different from commoners.”
Summer held the warm teacup in her hands and spoke slowly and gently.
“Really! Summer, you thought that too? You’re the first lady I’ve met who shares similar thoughts!”
“I’ve always been interested in Julian for that reason. Even though it would be easy to feel intimidated by the gazes and whispers, Julian never bent.”
She liked Julian for that.
It was the complete opposite of words like pathetic or cowardly. Summer chuckled softly as she recalled her own exam preparation days.
She would stand in line in front of the academy before dawn, dressed in clothes that smelled of unwashed laundry, barely eating.
On days when her living expenses ran low, she would lash out at her mother. Unable to bear the self-hatred that struck her from time to time, she would redirect her arrows at her mother.
What kind of face did her mother have then? The memory was hazy.
What was certain was that it was unbearable to endure her miserable situation that forced her to be pathetic.
“Summer?”
“Oh, it’s just that it reminded me of a time when I felt miserable. But thanks to Julian, I’ve been able to improve a lot.”
You, who are confident in everything, push forward boldly, and always have things going smoothly, earning the recognition of the male protagonist and those around her, I really liked that.
“I’m embarrassed to hear you say that, but I’m also happy.”
“I’m happy to meet Julian too. By the way, how is the preparation for the royal banquet going?”
“Of course. How about you, Summer?”
“Well, it should be going well.”
Summer replied nonchalantly as she added a spoonful of honey to her black tea.
It was obvious that Summer Lindsay was an extra created for the royal banquet. A splendid dress that fit her perfectly would suddenly appear, and maids would frantically change her clothes.
There was nothing Summer could do in that process.
“You don’t seem very nervous, Summer.”
“Well, I’m not thinking about marriage.”
The social season was essentially a kind of marriage market for political alliances.
“Really? I feel the same way! Meeting you today must be my good fortune.”
“Julian, do you know Duke Ian Langerster?”
“Of course. He’s a war hero. I heard he restored the country that invaded the empire this time too.”
Summer keenly observed Julian’s expression.
It was a demeanor that showed no interest in someone who was just famous but not particularly appealing.
In fact, it was a slightly unfavorable expression.
“What do you think of Ian Langerster, Summer? He seems like he’ll be the main character of this royal banquet.”
He would recall a childhood friend whose name he didn’t know through this debutante.
And he would realize that Julian Dudley was that friend who had saved his shabby soul long ago.
Thus, he would fall in love, and they would meet a happy ending.'''