In truth, Summer had no particular interest in Ian Langerster.
There were already so many people in reality who were scarred, and she didn’t want to see that in her writing as well.
As she briefly thought about Ian, Summer's lips slowly fell.
“I was just scared of dying, but as time passes, I think I can understand the feeling of everyone applauding me.”
That was the end of it.
Julian waited for Summer's next words, surprised, but she simply smiled brightly and changed the subject, saying the cake was really delicious.
* * *
“Well then, be careful on your way back.”
“I will. Thank you for understanding my sudden visit, Julian.”
“Come by anytime. The Dudley house is always open.”
Summer hesitated to tell him to visit the Linge family as well.
If he saw that terrible scene, would Julian understand her, or would he just brush it off?
“Thank you. I was happy today.”
Summer smiled and slightly tilted her head in greeting. Then she left the Dudley house.
After walking a few steps, she turned back to see that the gate of the Dudley house had already closed.
Feeling the pleasantly cool air, Summer walked leisurely. True to the mind of a Korean author, everything was closely gathered in the capital of the empire.
If this were a real world where people lived, a naive noble lady adorned with jewels would have been caught by thugs while strutting down the street, leaving not a single bone behind.
The notion of literary allowance was indeed a comforting thought.
The central street she soon arrived at was still bustling with energy.
While browsing the market, Summer suddenly approached a mirror being sold at a stall. Dazzling blonde hair and blue eyes. Distinctive features.
Suddenly, Summer frowned slightly in confusion.
“Strange. I’m just an extra.”
Did the author put some thought into creating Countess Linge? But there were too few lines, and it seemed like a hastily made character that kept repeating a plausible day.
Above all, she had never seen that name when she read the original work.
“I did read the latter half while dozing off, though.”
In that case, she might not have known that Countess Linge was a family that appeared in the latter half.
Summer walked towards the place where the hired carriage was gathered, chewing on the questions that kept spiraling.
“Miss, where shall I take you?”
“Please take me to Countess Linge’s residence… go ahead. Go.”
The coachman, glancing at Summer with a slightly strange look after her awkwardly finished sentence, soon pulled the reins with a weary office worker's face.
“Yes, we’re off.”
The carriage traveled along the dirt road, which was the only rough path, heading towards Countess Linge’s residence.
As the carriage stopped in front of Countess Linge’s house, a black object suddenly dashed towards Summer as she got off the carriage.
“Ah!”
Summer jumped in surprise.
“Black hair! Where have you been until now?”
The suddenly appearing black object was none other than Fay.
“Fay! You scared me!”
“I thought you were dead! Where on earth have you been?”
“To the Dudley residence.”
“Why there?”
“I’ll explain once we go inside.”
Summer lightly picked up Fay, who had taken on a cat form, and entered the mansion.
Once in her room, Summer placed Fay on the plush bed and settled down next to her.
“So why did you go?”
“Because of Summer’s soul.”
“What did you gain?”
“Certainty.”
Summer hummed a cheerful tune, her face bright. Fay felt a slight chill at her somewhat absent-minded demeanor.
“What does the Dudley lady have to do with Summer’s soul?”
“The beginning of this world is the royal banquet. Summer Linge is a noble being who will show how extravagant and splendid that banquet is. Since the story hasn’t started yet, Summer’s soul isn’t needed and hasn’t been created.”
“......”
Summer began to speak slowly.
“Julian Dudley is the protagonist of this world. So the more Julian Dudley recognizes Summer, the more necessary Summer will become in this world. Then, Summer’s soul will surely come into being. It must.”
“Wait. Hold on.”
Fay quickly interrupted Summer’s words and transformed into a human.
“What’s wrong?”
“The protagonist of the world? The world has been maintained for a long time, so what do you mean by the beginning of the world?”
Fay furrowed her brow and spat out her questions angrily.
In fact, Fay had just returned from the Witch’s Forest to learn more about Summer’s soul.
The information she had barely gathered through hardship was now flowing out of the black-haired soul’s mouth. It was beyond bewildering; it was absurd and ridiculous.
Ah. Only then did Summer realize that she had spilled everything to Fay.
Fay was a person of this world. She had assumed that since Fay knew about possession, she would naturally know this too.
Fay seemed unaware that they were merely characters in a book.
“Fay, what I said was...”
“Summer. What you mean is that this world revolves around that human, Julian Dudley?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
“Because she is the protagonist.”
“How do you know that?”
“......”
Summer fell silent.
She wasn’t sure if it was okay to reveal that this world was a book. Fay, noticing Summer’s hesitation, crossed her arms and let out a deep sigh.
“Alright. We’ll talk about that later. Anyway, during that royal banquet, we can switch bodies, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll prepare for that too. When is that day?”
“In a week.”
Fay nodded and transformed back into a black cat. Then she jumped onto the windowsill and tapped on the closed window.
Whether it was magic or not, the window opened smoothly.
“Oh, black hair. Take this.”
Fay coughed as if about to vomit and soon spat out a gem.
Summer carefully took the gem with a handkerchief from her pocket and examined it closely.
“What is this?”
“It’s a mineral infused with my power. Carry it with you.”
“Where are you going again?”
“I’ll be back. Don’t worry.”
Fay left only a brief farewell and vanished back into the darkness.
After Fay completely left, Summer pulled the string of her dress. As expected, Mary entered.
“Mary. Can we make a necklace out of this?”
“Shall I find a famous jeweler?”
“Please do that. As for the price, just a moment.”
Summer took a gold coin from the safe and handed it over.
Mary shook her head as if it was enough and took the gem and the gold coin with her.
When Mary returned with the completed necklace, three days had passed.
As soon as the necklace was finished, Summer wore the gem Fay had given her with great care. She never took it off, even while sleeping.
However, even after a week, Fay hadn’t shown a single strand of her tail.
The only fortunate thing was that Summer had been incredibly busy. The social season was more brutal than she had expected.
It felt like the activity period of a celebrity.
Without exaggeration, she attended parties with Julian from early morning until late at night. Even then, she had turned down a few invitations.
With so many families holding parties all at once for about three weeks, it was only natural to attend three or four events in a day.
It was a week that made her deeply feel what the social season in a romance fantasy was like.
At first, the parties were fascinating and glamorous, but now, just the thought of another party made her feel nauseous.
The only thing that made it bearable was the gently warm feeling she got from tightly holding the necklace made from the mineral Fay had given her.
“Julian. I think I’m going to have nightmares because of the social season.”
Summer, who had secretly slipped out of a party and sat on a bench, gulped down her champagne.
“Me too. I feel like all my energy is being drained away.”
“Shall we just do it moderately and escape?”
The parties were splendid and beautiful in every way. The food was delicious, and there was a wide variety of wines available.
The food that had initially excited her became tiresome after a week.
Given the Western-style background, she had stuffed herself with only Western dishes and desserts, longing for just a taste of tteokbokki, ramen, or plain white rice.
Still, she kept attending the parties partly out of curiosity about the main characters of the story and partly to alleviate Julian’s loneliness as he went alone.
A tiny part of her also held a vain hope that perhaps she could change Julian’s difficult future.
“Summer seems to know me very well. You show up when I’m struggling and take me away like this.”
“I must have come here for Julian, right?”
Summer exaggeratedly bent her waist and extended her hand to Julian.
Julian burst into laughter and lightly placed his hand on top of Summer’s.
For a moment, Julian made her forget this absurd situation; he was a savior to her, and to Julian, who had been isolated in loneliness, Summer, who suddenly appeared and told him he was right, was his salvation.