Louise's hands trembled. She wondered if it was like this for the original Louise. No one believed her even when she had said, "I didn't do it!" 

The events of the last exam came to Louise's mind. No one believed her then, either, and she was sure it would be the case again. In this world, Louise was the villainess predetermined by the author, a tight cord between trust and bondage.

"Are you alright, Louise? Did you get hurt?"

A girl came up to Louise, who was standing there dazed.

"…Huh?"

Louise stared at the girl with a vacant expression, recognizing her as one of the cla.s.smates from her art cla.s.s. To be honest, Louise didn't know her name.

"You look like you're in shock…"

Another boy approached her and carefully inspected Louise's face. He was the one that had taken Professor Hewitt's history because of family matters.

"B-but S-Stella–"

“Don't worry. I'm much more worried about you.”

Some other students quickly helped Stella up and cleaned the broken gla.s.s and lemon preserves.

"Is that you again?"

It was Dean Crissis this time around, probably from a cla.s.s nearby. Louise inadvertently grabbed Dean's arm.

"I-I didn't do it!"

Dean's annoyed expression was a contrast to Louise's desperate cry. Come to think of it, he always looked that way.

“Yeah. Who doesn't know.”

He shrugged off Louise's hand. Louise stared dazedly into his face.

“…Do you know?”

She quickly grabbed his arm again.

“Do I know?”

He twisted his head away, but he didn't remove Louise's hand this time.

“I'm sure everyone knows that you don't cause trouble.”

Louise was encouraged by the word "everyone", and it was only then that she raised her head properly. She blinked her eyes slowly and saw the faces of everyone milling around her. Everyone looked worried, at both Louise and Stella. No one was suspicious of Louise. Not one person. 

*

*

*

The student council questioned other witnesses, but unfortunately, the culprit was not found, and so the perpetrator's punishment would be decided later after Stella woke up. 

Louise sent flowers to Stella's infirmary room. She visited every professor to explain the circ.u.mstances, and gave her notes to the healer so Stella could keep up with cla.s.ses while she was recovering. She also remembered to help carefully clean the corridor where the jar broke. It would be terrible if someone were to step on the gla.s.s shards. The sugar was wiped away with a warm towel. It was evening by the time she finished, and Louise remembered another task she had to do.

"Please submit your statement by tomorrow morning."

She didn't want to write down everything she had done that afternoon. But she had to. Without any witnesses, Louise was the only one who knew the truth, and the other students might continue to hara.s.s Stella if there was no proper punishment. Louise hated the idea, not because she considered Stella special to her, but because Louise didn't want to go through the same thing again. She was afraid of being swept away by the original.

'First, I'll go to the student council room and write a statement.'

The thought of being alone in the room made her feel depressed.

"I don't know if I can get the lemon preserves back for Simon."

Ian had given her a task, but she had completely broken the jar at the stairs.

‘I'm sorry, both of you.'

With the apology in her heart, Louise opened the door to the student council room. It was empty. It seemed like everyone had gone out for dinner. A small wave of loneliness. .h.i.t her, but the feeling soon subsided. There was a bag on the table, informing her that everyone would eventually come back with their usual chattering and noise.

Louise positioned herself in her favorite seat and took out a pen and a sheet of paper. She stared at the white page and thought over her first sentence.

‘What do I say…'

What should she write first? That she'd seen the other students hara.s.s Stella for a long time? And that Louise ignored it because she was afraid of being dragged into the original story? 

…Tuk.

Louise pressed the pen roughly on the paper, bending the delicate tip and causing the black ink to bleed onto the white. The moment she saw the stain, she turned angry. Louise lost the right to blame Stella Lapis. Just like the time Stella looked away from the truth for her own benefit, Louise was doing the same. She bit her lip at her cowardice.

“My fiancée has become quite aggressive.”

A voice floated in from the window.

“…President?"

She turned and caught Ian staring at her, his chin resting on the window frame.

"How long have you been there?"

“From the beginning.”

“Don't lie. When I first came in, there was n.o.body by the window.”

“Does that matter?”

He frowned.

Of course it didn't matter.

“Come here.”

He stretched out his arms, but Louise shook her head.

“I have to write down a statement.”

“Is it important?"

He frowned again.

“It's important.”

She answered with more certainty this time.

“Then you should fill out the proper paperwork.”

He pointed at the mess on the paper with his chin.

“Not take out your feelings on it."

“…That's uh…this is–"

“Let me show you the way to do it. No one knows as well as I do.”

“You, President?”

Louise looked at him dubiously.

“Of course. I turned out fine every time I sneaked out of the palace.”

She was sure he wrote a letter of apology, not a statement. At any rate, he was an expert on filling out paperwork, so he may be able to help her. Besides, she didn't know where to start.

“Okay, I'll go outside now.”

“I'm a little surprised.

"…What?”

“The fact that Louise Sweeney is trying to use the door. Don't you usually rush out the window when I call you like this?”

“That's when I was a kid. It's only a year and a half until I'm an adult.”

“I heard Simon Hillard caught you when you jumped out the window.”

Ugh. She couldn't believe she trusted them. There was nothing that those two people didn't share about Louise.

“So come here. It's crazy if you can it with your friends but not your significant other."

“Does it matter?”

Louise asked, imitating his speech, and he answered with a confident grin.

“More than the honor on my shoulders.”

“Ugh.”

“I mean it.”

“You shouldn't…”

Louise managed to climb carefully through the window frame and complain while doing so.

"You shouldn't recklessly put it at stake. It's of national value after all."

"There's no use in smiling while saying that at the same time. I like to see you laugh after all. I would put anything at stake for it."

He looked at her face-to-face, securing her waist.

"Did he hold you like this? Simon, I mean?"

His grip tightened on her.

"Ah…not like that. It's too close.”

"That's a relief. I'd be mad even if it was Simon.”

“Simon waited until I jumped.”

“I don't have that kind of patience.”

He pulled Louise towards him as if to prove it, and she hugged him and easily exited the window.

“Well then. Let's go.”

He found his balance and waited for Louise to straighten up before he led the way. 

Where was he going? Louise followed him and tried to guess where they were going.

“Are we going to the library? Or the Academy office?”

Likely something to do with writing to help her with her statement.

“Neither.”

“Huh?”

“Come with me.”

Louise nodded her head and continued to follow him in silence. Wherever he was thinking of, she knew he would take her to a place that would help her. He was Ian Audmonial–the crown prince of this country, her oldest friend, and now the only one to share her heart. If Louise didn't trust him, she wouldn't trust anyone in the world.