She couldn’t get an answer. No one had ever made him count to three. No one had the courage to endure until he counted to three.

‘Cute.’

Delia smiled and climbed onto the coachman’s seat, and the coachman politely made room for her.

The carriage soon started moving.

Winter in Sheriton was quite cold, though not as much as in Tranade. Trees with dry, bare branches lined the sides. As the horses picked up speed, the cold air stung her face.

She wondered, how uncomfortable must it be to be with her that he so stubbornly kicked her out?

As she pondered, she recalled the last ability the system had informed her of.

[Third, the ‘author’ can view information about all characters through the status window.]

‘Come to think of it, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t checked it yet…!’

From her half-year experience, she knew that the information available in the status window was mainly the name, ability stats, and favorability stats.

With this character list ability, she could find out Kaiel’s favorability towards her.

She quickly requested the system for the character list. Of course, she did it mentally without speaking out loud.

A window appeared before her, similar to the status window but slightly larger.

[Character List]
Name: Kaiel Ceder
Abilities: Combat Power 99, Charm 99, Judgement 91….
Favorability: ??

Delia was slightly impressed by the stats befitting the main character of the original work.

The ability stats showed various capabilities of the characters. There were numerous types such as combat power, leadership, charm, political power, eloquence, and rationality, but only the top three were displayed.

The highest stats she had seen in people so far were around 60, but his stats exceeded 90 in all the top three categories.

‘If his charm is 99….’

Kaiel’s charm stat was 99, so Delia wondered what her own charm stat might be as she lowered her gaze to check the last piece of information, the favorability stat.

“Huh?”

She unintentionally let out a sound upon seeing the favorability stat.

“Um… is there a problem…?”

The coachman, who had been glancing curiously at Delia’s changing expressions, asked as he noticed her surprise.

“Oh, it’s nothing!”

Delia smiled and looked back at the favorability section.

It was the first time the favorability stat appeared as question marks.

The favorability stat indicated how much other characters liked her, and most people had high favorability towards her, thanks to her high charm stat.

When the favorability stat exceeded 80, most people cherished her dearly.

But question marks?

Thinking it might be an error, she used the same character list ability on the coachman.

A new status window appeared.

[Character List]
Name: Ian Waynes
Abilities: Loyalty 68, Listening 65, Empathy 64….
Favorability: 85

It wasn’t an error. The coachman’s favorability was displayed correctly.

So, did the favorability stat not work on main characters?

In the original work, the main characters were the protagonist and two villains….

Since she had only checked Kaiel, one of the villains, she couldn’t compare or find out more for now.

‘Will I get to meet Nior?’

Thinking this far, she suddenly remembered the protagonist she had momentarily forgotten.

‘Nior Roches.’

The pitiful character she had driven into misfortune.

The Crown Prince of the Sheriton Empire.

The half-brother of the villain Kaiel….

The explanations related to the protagonist swirled in her mind. He was the character she was most reluctant to meet. She felt sorry for the protagonist whose death she had written with her own hands.

If Kaiel had come to Sheriton to buy a gift for his sister, the carriage was probably heading towards the Sheriton Imperial Palace.

She might run into the Crown Prince, the protagonist.

“Ian, where are we going now?”

“We’re heading to the Sheriton Imperial Palace. The Grand Duke is going to see the Princess… but how did you know my name…?”

Coachman Ian looked at her in surprise.

“Hahaha….”

She realized her mistake but brushed it off easily.

“The Grand Duke told me.”

“How does the Grand Duke know my name…!”

It was impossible for someone like the Grand Duke to know the name of a mere servant, but she could make it so from now on.

Leaving the touched Ian behind, Delia was about to reopen Kaiel’s character list.

Ding.

[Calculation delayed]
[Detected action to assist the villain ‘Kaiel’.]
[Minimal impact on the life of the villain ‘Kaiel’.]
[Plausibility score decreases by 10 points.]
[A penalty occurs due to the decrease in the plausibility score.]

A series of notifications appeared, seemingly delayed.

As Delia read through the notifications to grasp the situation, an uncontrollable cough erupted from deep within her chest.

Startled, Delia buried her head, unable to stay still as if she had choked.

“…Are you alright?”

Seeing Delia’s strange condition, Ian asked worriedly.

Delia instinctively realized.

‘It’s a penalty.’

A penalty that had been bothering her in small ways.

And the severity of that penalty had increased a bit.

It seemed to be because she hugged him in the tavern to block the attack.

Delia bent over, coughing for a while.

After some time, her coughing finally subsided, and she raised her head. Her hair, tangled with sweat, stuck to her face in places. Her face was red from the effort of holding back the cough.

“Sorry, it’s just a cough… I think I caught a cold.”

Delia smiled awkwardly, but Ian’s face remained worried.

“Are you sure you’re okay? It doesn’t seem like just a cold….”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

At that moment,

“Stop.”

Kaiel knocked on the wall, signaling Ian to stop the carriage.

Did he hear her coughing?

At his command, the carriage, which had been running diligently, gradually slowed down. Soon, the sound of hooves stopped completely, and coachman Ian turned his head to glance behind.

“Is he going to let Miss ride?”

A moment later, Kaiel got off the carriage and approached the coachman’s seat. Despite the height of the coachman’s seat, his tall stature allowed him to meet Delia’s gaze.

Her complexion was not good, which made it apparent that her coughing fit had been no lie. After examining her face closely, he spoke.

“Is it a cold?”

“Yes. Thanks to Your Grace, I got some fresh air.”

“……”

“I’m kidding.”

“Get off.”

Delia shook her head vigorously at his words.

“Why this time? Afraid I’ll give you a cold? I’m not getting off this time.”

Delia wrapped her cloak tightly around herself and leaned back in her seat. It was a silent gesture that she wouldn’t move from there.

“I’m not kicking you out, just get off.”

Kaiel stepped back and signaled to Ian with his eyes. Ian, who had been holding the reins, gently set them aside and got off the coachman’s seat.

Noticing something strange, Delia asked urgently.

“Why is Ian getting off?”

“Excuse me.”

Before Delia could avoid him, Ian slipped his arms under her back and legs, lifting her up.

“Ian…!”

“Put her inside.”

It took only a few seconds for her to be placed on the soft seat inside the carriage.

Struggling to sit up, Delia soon realized Kaiel’s consideration and her eyes sparkled with joy.

Delia shouted excitedly towards Kaiel.

“Your Grace! Why do you speak so harshly when you’re so kind?”

She patted the seat in front of her with her palm.

“Come on, get in!”

But Kaiel did not get into the carriage.

“Aren’t you getting in?”

“I don’t ride with others.”

With those words, he closed the carriage door and disappeared.

As Kaiel climbed onto the coachman’s seat, Ian, startled, moved away from him.

“G-Grand Duke!”

Ian’s face turned pale.

“Why would someone like you sit with a servant! And on the coachman’s seat….”

“Let’s go.”

At his words, Ian, tense, began to drive the carriage. Despite his nervousness, Ian skillfully navigated various paths towards the Imperial Palace.

Leaning against the warm, soft seat, Delia quietly listened to the sounds the carriage made. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Kaiel.

She was grateful, proud, and fond of Kaiel for giving up his seat in the carriage for her.

Whenever her heart raced for him like this, the fact that she had to kill him, which lingered uncomfortably in a corner of her mind, would suddenly surface and ruin the mood.

Excitement and anxiety, two very different emotions, kept arising simultaneously.

Kaiel was a villain.

In the novel, the villain killed the protagonist.

So, was he a villain before he killed the protagonist?

Was the villain a villain at every moment?

As the author, Delia could answer clearly.

‘No.’

Kaiel was called a villain because the novel was told from the protagonist’s perspective.

If you just change the perspective, he too is a character with his own narrative and reasons.

If the original story were written from his perspective, the series of events that turned him into a villain would easily be seen as justifiable.

Perhaps someone else might have taken on the role of the villain.

But Delia couldn’t properly convey those details in the novel.

As a result, the plausibility vanished, and as her karma, she ended up in a position where she had to kill the villain herself.

She leaned her forehead against the cold window, trying to cool her head.

‘It’s my fault, after all.’

The cold sensation touched her forehead. Every time she exhaled, a round fog appeared on the window. It was when she wiped the window with her sleeve.

“Wow….”

Delia let out a small exclamation.

Through the clean window, a dazzling palace came into view from afar.