Dreams and Nightmares – II

Was it because of my newly increased abilities? A weird resonance between the Pagoda of Dreams and my powers? Or was the regret and guilt Seonhwa felt so great that it was enough to pull me in?

I couldn't be too sure. And for some reason my reliable <Transcendent Insight> wasn't working. Neither were my <Karmic Eyes of Destiny>.

At this point, I was certain that there wasn't a being in existence that could completely suppress my powers like that. Well, other than Blackie, but that didn't count since he was technically me due to various loophole and destiny shenanigans.

But anyway, this wasn't something being imposed on me by an external force, so…

"Maybe this is a subconscious thing?" I muttered to myself as I watched Seonhwa sit there trembling.

We were in the Pagoda of Dreams. And while I was normally in full control of my abilities and everything, it apparently didn't apply when I was unconscious. Not only that, but it seemed like my subconscious had other thoughts if it was creating a situation like this.

"Hm." I looked around the place to think.

It was still a dream. And while my powers weren't completely working, now that I was aware, I had the vague sense that I could forcibly break through the dream and back to reality.

But…

I looked back at Seonhwa.

She was crying. Tears were running down her cheeks as she trembled, holding back her sobs.

Part of that seemed to be due to not wanting anyone else to hear her since this was a dorm room. But it also seemed like she was trying to bottle everything up.

Seeing that sent a pang of guilt through me. It also reminded me of my mixed feelings towards Seonhwa.

At this point, I had decided to accept her. After all, considering everyone else, it'd be the dickish move of all to just cut her off when I wasn't doing that with anyone else.

But at the same time…

It was different.

With Flone, Hannah, Claire, and everyone else, the relationship had started from zero. They were meeting 'me' and not 'Seol Jihu'. Because of that, I could be sure that they were liking 'me' and not some remnant of the past.

A similar thing was true for my family. Since the relationship had already deteriorated to the point of no return, it was essentially starting from zero. It was practically at the point of being strangers already, so there wasn't much of a hang up there.

But Seonhwa…

"I should have told him. I should have told him…!" Seonhwa let out a hitched breath while saying those words and then dropped her phone, letting it clatter to the floor.

Was it by design? Or coincidence?

Somehow, the phone slid all the way towards me, letting me see the message on the screen.

xxx

[Seunghae]

Unni. We didn't want to tell you like this, but… Oppa's gone. There's a letter for you, but… Well. Come home soon, okay?

xxx

"Ah… So it's like this."

I understood the gist of how things were playing out now.

Because of the fact that Seol sacrificed so much to send her to university in America, Seonhwa felt guilty about it. And because of that, she accommodated Seol when he started on his self-destructive cycle.

If I remembered right… in the story, that went on for a while until even she reached a breaking point.

But that never happened here.

The piece of shit Seol who was the literal scum of the Earth never appeared. Instead, I had turned that guy's life around for the better, mended the relationship with my family, and improved myself to be not just a respectable person, but one that anyone would admire.

And since I never clarified it outright, Seonhwa thought it was because of her. That I blamed her for everything and decided to turn my life around because I realized that.

A sort of destructive self-validating cycle.

Seonhwa was already blaming herself for 'my' spiral. And then just before it hit the bottom, I stopped and turned it around. All while practically cutting her off from everything in my life despite keeping contacts with my family.

Considering the fact that she was also essentially family, and the relationship we had…

"Hah…" I ran my hand through my hair and frowned.

A mess that I really should have cleaned up earlier. I could have blamed the fact that I was still sorting out exactly who 'I' was back then, but at least I should have made that clear…

Breaking out of here was an option, but this would be a shadow on Seonhwa's heart forever at this point. She'd keep doubting herself no matter what I did or said.

And so…

"You're right."

…I had to just rip off that bandaid.

Seonhwa flinched and looked up at me. When she did, her eyes widened in shock and she said, "J-Jihu? B-B-But…" She looked down at the phone and then looked up at me.

A confused expression. And not just from the fact that I was supposedly alive when I was supposed to be dead. It seemed like she was starting to realize that this was a dream.

But if we let it end here, it would never get fixed. So…

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have ended up like this."

A direct blow at her heart. Not only that, but I turned myself a bit transparent, making it look like I was a ghost.

Because of that, Seonhwa flinched and fell back into believing it was a dream. Trembling, she stood up and held out her hands. "Are you… am I dreaming?"

Gah. Dammit. I forgot how sensible Seonhwa was.

Before she could snap out of it, I held out my hand.

Seonhwa blinked, staring at me in confusion.

"It might be a dream. It might be real. But it doesn't change the truth, Seonhwa." I walked towards her.

She flinched and took a step back, falling onto the floor.

I stopped while I was looming over her and looked down.

She looked up, teary-eyed and confused.

…Man. This made me feel like an asshole, but…

"Seol Jihu died because of you."

xxx

<Correction. 'Unexpected Intruders' include the Heiress of House Rothschear, her husband, and a guest.>

A mechanical voice echoed from the glowing blue rock in the middle of the forest clearing.

<Reclassifying as 'Welcome visitors.'>

Flone glared the rock before running over and kicking it. "Of course we're welcome visitors! Grandpa said he made arrangements for us to visit!"

<Correction. Ending 'Trial of Nightmares.'>

Flone let out a deep sigh and turned her attention back to Jihu and Seonhwa.

It was scary. All of a sudden that blue light shot out and Seonhwa collapsed. Then, when Jihu went to grab her, he suddenly leaned over, like his soul was sucked away.

But only for a split second.

After that, he woke up and looked at Flone... and then he slumped over again.

But in that brief moment, Flone saw that Jihu wasn't worried or surprised.

Because of that, she calmed down.

As expected, Jihu had it under control. But...

Flone turned back to the stone gateway and glared at it. "Rude bastard."

Attacking right away without verifying who they were...

Flone had come wearing the necklace with the 'Promise of Temperance.' Something on par with the Royal Oaths given by the gods.

You would think that whoever was in charge of this place would at *least* check for that before trying anything dumb.

<My Master, the 'Dreaming Witch', 'Roselle La Grazia' apologizes for the inconvenience.>

"Hmph." Flone crossed her arms and said, "She'd better be sorry. Now hurry up and show us where my dowry is."

<Executing acceptance protocols... Confirmed. Security system disabled. Trials will be cancelled and->

The mechanical voice suddenly cut off. At the same time, the light around the stone gateway vanished.

Flone narrowed her eyes. "...It looks like we'll have to do this the hard-"

"My, my. To think that someone could usurp my own work for their purposes... How surprising."

An elegant soprano voice echoed in place of the mechanical one.

Flone blinked and turned towards the voice to see a young lady standing there.

A delicate and petite beauty with blue hair tied into a bun. Wearing a black lacy blouse that hugged her curves and a large bell-shaped skirt reaching to her ankles, she looked completely out of place in the dark forest.

And on seeing her, Flone sighed. "...Of course. It's another beauty again."

The young lady blinked and looked at Flone. "Pardon?"

Flone sighed. "Nothing. Now." She swung her arm out and summoned a spectral sword, pointing at the mystery woman. "Explain what's going on before I beat the crap out of you."

The young lady smiled and said, "My. I heard from Lord Rothschear that his granddaughter was a hooligan, but to think you would resort to-"

Flone swung her sword at the young lady's face.

Not the blade, of course. But a good smack should-

*swoosh*

"Eh?!"

Flone blinked as her sword phased through the young lady.

It clearly connected, but the blade didn't meet any resistance.

Something that definitely shouldn't be possible after all the practice Flone did to figure out how to avoid Jihu's cheat skill that let him block every attack.

So...

"...Are you real?"

Flone frowned and lowered her sword, staring at the mysterious young lady.

The young lady let out a faint smile and said, "Real, fake... Before today, I would have said I was just a phantom from the past. But now..." She turned to look at Jihu and said, "...I suppose reality is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?"

<Error! Anomalous presence detected! The Eternal Light of Wisdom is being corroded by Undiscernable Metaphysical Entity!>

A high pitched whir followed by pulsing mana from the stone gateway.

Flone glanced towards it and frowned, wondering if she should break it before something crazy happened.

"Please don't." The young lady spoke without turning back towards Flone. "Reality, dreams, and fiction are already blending together in this place. Even I am unsure of what would happen if you broke the gateway there."

Flone hesitated.

"Thank you." The young lady gave Flone a sideways glance and a brief nod before turning her attention back to Jihu.

Flone clicked her tongue and said, "Who are you? Isn't it rude not to introduce yourself to your guests?"

"I could say the same to you as unexpected visitors. But if you must know, I am Roselle La Grazia, Miss Rothschear." The young lady, Roselle, paused and then said, "Or should I say Miss Seol? ...My. Paradise has undergone quite a few unbelievable changes."

Flone raised her sword again and said, "How do you know that?"

The number of people who knew that Flone had married Jihu...

Well. It was quite a few on Earth, but among people in Paradise that number should be zero.

Or one, depending on if Resa was back yet.

But for this strange woman to know that...

Was she-

"Reading your mind? Yes."

Flone narrowed her eyes and stopped thinking.

Roselle blinked and said, "I... suppose that is one countermeasure... But my apologies. It can't be helped at the moment. Thoughts, will, reality, hopes, dreams..." She pointed at Jihu and said, "Your beloved husband here is unfortunately mixing up quite a few different things at the moment. I am doing my best to mitigate any fallout, so I would greatly appreciate if you did not do anything reckless."

"...Hah." Flone let out a deep sigh and dissolved her sword. "Fine."

After that, she turned her attention back to Jihu and frowned.

...That dummy. Why did he always have to do so many ridiculous things when women were involved?