The senior was the first to break the silence.

“You’ve lost a lot of weight. Are you eating properly?”

“….”

“Actually, I heard from your mother. She said you’re not eating well.”

Wait, this guy is in contact with my mom too, in addition to my brother?

I wanted to ask how he got my mom’s number, but this senior’s face itself was too convincing.

My mom is the type who would readily give her number if this senior asked, “Ma’am, I’m worried about your daughter. Would it be alright if I contact you occasionally?”

It’s clear that my fondness for handsome faces is hereditary.

Yes, indeed.

“You’ve lost a lot of weight since I last saw you. If your health deteriorates-“

“So, why did you come here?”

I cut off the senior’s words, his face full of concern.

Perhaps because this would never have happened with the old me, the senior’s eyes widened slightly.

His eyes, which seemed particularly blue today, felt strangely out of place.

Probably because their original color should be silver-gray.

“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

For a brief moment, silence settled between me and the senior.

“Oh my.”

Soon, the senior smiled, pulling up his lips. He shrugged exaggeratedly but didn’t deny it.

“You figured it out?”

“You don’t seem surprised?”

“I was surprised when I first got the call from the police station.”

The senior slightly lowered his eyes. His gaze seemed to be directed at the water droplets on the outside of the cup, but it was hard to tell exactly what he was looking at.

” Until I came across a certain book in the library.”

It was easy to guess which book the senior was referring to.

He closed his mouth and stared out the window. As if expecting me to continue the conversation.

Basically, the Crown Prince is very kind and gentle. He could be considered the most normal among the main male protagonists.

The only light in a world of misery!

But I wonder how the senior who came to this world would be.

“…You’re the one who tore out the back part of the book, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Well, I wonder why?”

Wow, look at that personality.

When I made a face like I’d bitten into a bug, the senior laughed out loud. His laughter was so refreshing that people around us were admiring him.

“To think the day would come when I’d see this expression on my junior’s face, should I consider it an honor?”

“Was your goal to see me frown?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ve achieved your goal. I’ll be going now.”

Although I was the one who felt regretful, I stood up from my seat.

The senior, surprised, hurriedly stood up and apologized.

“It was a joke. I’m sorry if I offended you.”

The Crown Prince is always so serious that he doesn’t understand jokes.

I stared intently into those blue eyes. The only emotion I could read in them was remorse.

It’s natural not to know the inner thoughts of the villainous Chancellor, as he’s inherently unpredictable, but the other characters were different. They were the kind of people whose next actions I could predict.

However, the senior was completely beyond my control.

Not text, not a doll, but a complete person. A whole personality.

“Looks like they’re breaking up.”

“Should the man stop her?”

Another conversation that seemed to fail at volume control was heard. No, at this point, were they deliberately letting us hear?

This time, I didn’t turn my head towards the direction of the voices.

“They must think we’re a couple.”

Amidst all this, the senior smiled, his eyes crinkling as if he had just heard something very pleasing.

“More importantly, shall we go outside to talk?”

I pointed my finger toward the window. There was a table in the small garden outside, and the senior nodded.

Even though everyone’s seats were quite far apart, it seemed they had a great interest in our direction.

If the conversation with the senior progressed, there would be a string of things I wouldn’t want others to hear.

“Alright.”

The senior agreed, and we went outside, carrying our untouched drinks.

Fortunately, the table spot shaded by trees was cool. As soon as we sat down, I got straight to the point.

“So, why did you come?”

“Obviously, to see you, my dear junior.”

The senior smiled brightly. It was the smile of someone who had truly grown up well, different from the neat but knowledge-obsessed priest.

“Because I’m the author?”

“That’s right.”

He readily agreed.

“Actually, when I first heard that the place where I exist was merely inside a book, I was quite shocked.”

“……”

“After being dumbfounded for a while, I thought that if this was a world inside a book, there must be a world outside the book too.”

It was a different reason from wanting to daringly kill the person who created him, being curious if this world was truly a created world, or wanting to see the god who created the world…

“Then, what would the world outside the book be like? What kind of person would the author living there be?”

Certainly, it’s a reason that the Crown Prince would be curious about. He’s the heir to the Emperor, full of curiosity, and excellent in execution.

The Crown Prince was someone who stood firm at the center, even when the villainous Chancellor tried to manipulate state affairs.

In terms of abilities, he couldn’t match Seth, Dietrich, or Yuno, but among the main characters, he had the strongest lifeline, making him the strongest in a sense.

“So I came to meet you. My author.”

The pleasant voice lent persuasiveness to the senior’s words.

However, the ordinary table and the high-rise buildings of the city center visible nearby starkly revealed my position.

This wasn’t inside the novel, and I wasn’t the female protagonist, so he wouldn’t fall for me helplessly.

Blue eyes that should have been silver-gray stared at me intently. As if there wasn’t a single shred of shame in his heart.

Is this person the Crown Prince, or my senior?

“So you’ve achieved your goal by meeting me?”

“Primarily, yes.”

“Is there another stage after this?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

The senior made his eyes into crescents again. Despite his neat impression, the tear moles made him look quite alluring.

In the past, I could have laughed it off, but now I couldn’t. I should reflect on my past self who cried, saying I liked such contradictory appearances.