How To Live As A Writer In A Fantasy World

Chapter 335: Legal Stalking (2)

Once a damaged mind breaks, it cannot be fixed.

Looking at soldiers suffering from PTSD or certain individuals, it’s clear what that means.

Just as physical wounds leave scars when not treated promptly or when healed poorly, the same applies to the mind.

Especially if scars are etched onto the mind, they won’t disappear unless fully covered.

While some relief can be found through something like Mora instead of Luminous, if it becomes part of one’s ‘personality,’ there’s no saving it.

This also applies to Cherry.

She’s someone who has already fallen into despair and barely clawed her way out.

Her crushed dreams were nurtured once again, and the fundamental issue—the pressure from Count Letish—was resolved.

There’s nothing binding her anymore.

The problem now is her self-esteem, which hit rock bottom and has only slightly risen.

During the exhibition, she told me:

“I’ll do anything, just please don’t abandon me.”

A phrase that instantly conveyed her psyche and her feelings toward me.

I couldn’t ignore Cherry’s desperate plea, so I accepted her with an open heart. Fortunately, Marie and the other women didn’t mind much.

But perhaps because I’ve been so busy, since I slapped Hiriya on the cheek, my interactions with Cherry have naturally decreased.

This has understandably made her feel more insecure.

Currently, Cherry is like a piece of porcelain that was shattered and carefully glued back together.

One drop to the floor, and it will shatter irreparably.

And I’m the one holding that porcelain delicately.

A single mistake, and it’s as though her life depends on it.

She’s even been auditing every class I attend.

At least the symptoms aren’t severe yet, thankfully.

If it worsens, she might resort to self-harm to grab attention.

“Does it taste good?”

“Yes………”

To discuss future plans and retrieve her manuscript, I decided to meet her separately.

Of course, I finished all my classes first.

We’re currently at a café we’ve often visited before.

Visiting a café isn’t an issue since academy bodyguards follow me wherever I go.

Not direct escorts like Adelia and Kate, but other guards.

They’re probably checking for suspicious individuals outside the café right now.

And with a Reaper dispatched from Helium, like Gartz, observing from afar, I feel reassured.

“What were you doing while I was away?”

I took a sip of coffee with a round ice cube floating in it and asked Cherry.

With all the sugar I added, the sweetness lingered more than the bitterness.

In the meantime, Cherry slowly raised her lowered head in response to my question.

Her eyes remain as dark as ever.

Is there no way to fix that gaze?

I wonder if it’s because Count Leticia shattered her self-esteem or if she’s always been this way.

“…I was just waiting for you, senpai.”

Cherry’s pink lips, which had been tightly closed, opened.

Her response was filled with such a deep sense of apology that it stabbed at my heart.

I wanted to make excuses about being busy recently, but it felt too petty, so I didn’t say anything.

What I need to do now is apologize.

“I’m sorry. I can’t make any excuses. No matter how busy I was, I should have paid attention to you…”

“I-It’s okay. I understand.”

Cherry, startled, waved both hands as if my sincerity reached her.

Even with her gloomy eyes, she could make such expressions.

She’s somehow cute.

“Even if you drift away, senpai, I can just follow behind. Hehe…”

“…”

Cherry said that with a goofy smile.

If it were anyone else, it might’ve sounded like a confession, but coming from Cherry, it sounded eerie.

As if she were confidently declaring her intent to stalk me.

I quickly scanned my surroundings after hearing her words.

First, Adelia.

Surprisingly, she was looking at Cherry with a face full of sympathy and pity.

I’d already told her who Cherry was and her circumstances.

Since learning about her tragic family history, Adelia must feel a sense of kinship.

Perhaps that’s why she’s genuinely feeling sorry for Cherry rather than being wary.

‘And Kate…’

I then shifted my gaze to Kate.

Unlike Adelia, I hadn’t told her much about Cherry, and she seemed indifferent, wearing a calm expression.

Maybe she didn’t sense anything unusual.

The act of stalking itself is a problem, but Cherry’s feelings for me are pure.

‘…It is pure, right?’

It should be.

If it weren’t, she would’ve done something outrageous by now.

The real issue is her extremely low self-esteem, but she still harbors purity in her heart.

The real villain here is Count Leticia, who almost tainted that purity with a strange hue.

‘I wonder what that man is up to these days.’

Now that I’ve revealed I’m Xenon, he must have figured out Cherry’s identity as well.

It’d be strange if he didn’t notice, considering how much I protected her.

However, he hasn’t pressured Cherry, nor has he approached me.

Maybe my brutal honesty had a lasting impact, as he seems to respect Cherry’s autonomy now.

“Hmm. Cherry?”

“Yes. Please, go ahead…”

“How far have you written in the manuscript?”

For now, I decided to set aside the stalking issue and address her work first.

Cherry’s debut novel, Crimson Sunset, is the next big trend following The Xenon Chronicles.

It made a stormy debut months ago but hasn’t released any volumes in recent months because I’ve been too busy.

But that’s going to change now.

I plan to give her the attention I couldn’t before and make future plans as well.

With Cherry’s personality, even if her identity isn’t revealed, it’s now known that she’s my collaborator, so no one will mess with her easily.

“I’ve finished up to volume three and written about half of volume four…”

“That’s fast.”

It wasn’t just flattery; she was genuinely quick.

She reminds me of myself before receiving a typewriter.

As everyone knows, books in this world are handwritten, making it almost impossible to release one per month.

Moreover, Cherry is a student, and as a first-year, her schedule must be hectic.

Even I released new volumes only every two to three months during my first year.

“By the way, are you eating well?”

“Yes.”

Well, she wouldn’t be growing that much in the chest area if she weren’t eating properly.

As soon as I glanced at her well-developed figure, I nodded in understanding.

“Are you getting enough sleep?”

“Yes.”

Even though her eyes lack vitality, she doesn’t have dark circles like Cindy.

Her skin is also pale and radiant, showing no signs of fatigue.

“How about studying?”

“I’m not failing, at least.”

It might sound a bit smug, but as long as she’s not failing, studying isn’t necessary.

Especially since she’s making a living as an author and has even gained fame.

Everything about her writing is perfect.

Given that she wrote two volumes in such a short time, it makes sense.

“That’s good to hear. Nothing bad has happened while I was gone, right?”

“Just that you weren’t here, senpai.”

“… …”

“Other than that, everything’s been great. Hehe.”

I’m sorry.

So please don’t smile at me like that with such an expression.

As guilt piled up in my chest, I awkwardly smiled back.

Meeting Cherry sooner rather than later was definitely the right decision.

“Isaac, could I speak with Cherry for a moment?”

As I was rubbing my face in frustration, Kate made a request.

Lowering my hands, I turned to look at her.

Kate maintained her usual gentle expression. It seemed she had picked up on something from our conversation.

“Yes. Please go ahead.”

“Thank you. You said your name was Cherry, right?”

“Yes… I’m Cherry Blossom Rosemary.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kate Louise Angelica, a loyal servant of Lord Luminous. By any chance, do you also have feelings for Sir Isaac?”

Kate dove straight to the point immediately after introductions.

Whatever Cherry’s circumstances or identity were, Kate didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

As Kate bulldozed past any buildup, Cherry blinked slowly.

That slow blink of hers was either a sign of interest or confusion.

In this case, it clearly meant she was startled by Kate’s question.

She blinked again, even slower this time, before speaking softly.

“Yes… I do like him…”

“I thought as much. In that case…”

“If you start spouting weird nonsense to Cherry, I’ll send you back to Savior.”

I quickly cut Kate off before she could start her usual talk about seeds.

The embarrassment I’d felt after she brought that up with Elena and Cindy was still fresh in my memory.

But contrary to my expectations, Kate shook her head.

It seemed she wasn’t about to go down the “seed” route this time and had another topic in mind.

“That’s not it. Sir Isaac is a man of great generosity.

Lady Rosemary, you might not know, but Sir Isaac has welcomed not just his fiancée, but also the Princess of Helium and even Lord Cross, who is currently by his side.”

“…”

How could she dress up the word “womanizer” so elegantly?

Hearing it from Kate somehow made it sound mystifying.

Even though I knew exactly what she meant, I couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered.

I just avoided Adelia’s sharp gaze by looking away.

While I struggled to process Kate’s words, she continued speaking without pause, saying only what she wanted to.

“However, Lady Rosemary, you seem to be hovering around him rather than approaching directly. Sir Isaac seems to have an interest in you as well.”

She trailed off, but her meaning was clear enough.

Stop lurking like a stalker and step forward confidently.

It’s obvious he’ll accept you, so why not just make a move already? T

hat’s essentially what Kate was telling Cherry.

And Cherry…

“Someone like me?”

“Excuse me?”

“How could I possibly?”

Cherry’s response startled not just Kate, but also Adelia and me.

What was even more concerning was that Cherry genuinely seemed confused, tilting her head as if she truly didn’t understand.

“As long as Sir Isaac doesn’t abandon me, that’s more than enough. Like a pine caterpillar eating only pine needles, I have no intention of asking for more.”

“…”

“I don’t care if he uses my body as he pleases or enslaves me. It’s far better than being abandoned. Being abandoned is worse than death.”

While everyone else was at a loss for words, Cherry smiled faintly.

It was a smile so genuine that it made her look even gloomier.

“I’ll be content with this.”

No one dared to speak.

No, it was more like no one could. Cherry’s mental state was that severe.

I could understand why, given how her self-esteem had already hit rock bottom and barely managed to climb back up.

The problem was that I had become her “center.”

This showed all too well how people with low self-esteem operate.

They base their worth entirely on someone else, rather than themselves.

This wasn’t something even Mora could fix.

Short of completely destroying her personality, it would be impossible to restore her mind.

Even for a normal person, her words would have been impossible to respond to. Yet…

“So, to Lady Rosemary—or rather, Cherry—Sir Isaac is light itself?”

Our dear Kate was completely oblivious, or perhaps she understood all too well. Either way, she made such a remark.

And if that wasn’t enough, Cherry fully agreed, nodding emphatically and clasping her hands together as if in prayer.

“Yes. He is my light, my hope, and the one I wish to give everything to. He helped me realize my shattered dreams and even granted me true freedom.”

“That’s wonderful. But you need to build a little more confidence. Why not try getting closer to him?”

“If you get too close to light, you’ll go blind. So I’ll just watch from afar.”

The two of them had a conversation that was incomprehensible to me.

Their words flowed naturally as if they were on the same wavelength, leaving me completely out of the loop.

Kate, slightly off-key as always, tried to persuade Cherry to regain her self-esteem, while Cherry firmly rejected the idea.

The two seemed caught in an infinite loop.

And yet, I remained the central figure in this mess.

I had no idea what was even happening anymore.

“It seems you lack faith. Cherry… may I call you that?”

“Of course, Your Eminence. You may call me whatever you like.”

“Then, I must help you build confidence. Until then, feel free to continue following Sir Isaac.”

Kate outright encouraged stalking.

Dumbfounded, I confronted her.

“And what about my opinion?”

“Are you going to reject her?”

If I said no, she’d probably break down completely.

I glanced at Cherry, whose pleading eyes silently begged me not to reject her.

Unable to refuse, I sighed and shook my head. Kate smiled brightly at my reluctant acceptance.

‘Why does this feel like everything’s falling perfectly into place…?’

What a bizarre combination.