Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

I had found myself in a fork in the road.

“Where? Which way would I go?”

Words appeared along with the scratching of a quill against the paper as if someone had been scribbling on it.

[Left.]

[Hurry.]

Raising my head, I turned left. Although its help had appeared just in time, the light the diary was giving off was dimmer than usual. As I ran along the road, I recalled a conversation I had with Penne once.

“Princess. Don’t be surprised when you feel weaker in the Kingdom of Leaf.”

Apparently, when out of Kaltanias, templars were only able to use half of their original strength.

“The strength of divinity in Kaltanias is based on the Power of the Lord present in its lands. If templars move away from this land, their powers also weaken.”

The same seemed to hold true for the diary. According to Auresia, the diary materialised from divinity. Before my vague guide could disappear, I hastened my steps. After running for a little while longer, I found myself at a quiet and vacant lot.

[Stop.]

I stopped walking as per the diary’s instructions. Pant pant. Catching my breath, I swivelled my head around to scan my surroundings. I was quite a distance from the library. Why did it bring me here?

I found myself in the middle of a quiet garden. There was a building in front of me littered with open widows, with one even having white curtains fluttering in and out of it. When I looked around once again, a piercing sound shot through the air.

“Hey, you there! You lady!”

Someone was shouting. I quickly looked up. I spotted a stranger in one of the windows pointing to their adjacent railings and shouting loudly. Then, I noticed a woman standing right below the window.

“… Damn it.”

There seemed to be a flowerpot placed precariously on the railing. On top of that, it looked like it was going to tip over at any moment. What. Did the diary want me to save the female lead with my own hands? Or did it want me to wait and see the original story unravel before me? Thrown into the middle of a dilemma, my head spun.

“Hey, you!”

But after glancing at the perilously placed flowerpot again, at the urgency of the shouts, I ran. She was clearly the female lead. But there was no one around. I ran towards the blonde standing right below the railings. Of course, running wasn’t enough. But I needed to run faster and even faster. Was it because of how earnestly I prayed to reach her? I managed to grab the woman’s arm and pull her towards me.

“Duck!”

One beat later, I heard someone’s desperate cry before shatter. The sound of ceramic shattering into pieces pierced my ears.

“Ha. Ha.”

I felt something sting my cheek. Fortunately, I was just in time as I was already panting and sitting on the ground while holding onto the woman.

“Ha. Are you alright?”

I asked without looking at her. Her voice thinly returned.

“Ah… Yes. What happened?”

Come to think of it, it felt like something like this happened before. When was it? It seemed like I was reminded of the time I had saved Rebecca. Seeing how I was not even surprised, my body must have moved instinctually in response to the crisis. If I had been hit by that pot instead of her, my life could have ended just like that. For some reason, my cheek felt ticklish. I tried to raise my hand to wipe my cheek away but before I could, someone grabbed it.

“Don’t touch it.”

Raising my head, I stared at the one who stopped me.

“What?”

At last, our eyes met.

“A piece of the pot might have gone inside.”

I widened my eyes. Everything written in the original story was true–her forehead, ivory cheeks and her lips as brightly red as roses that were so curved it looked like they had been carved out of white porcelain.

“I have some ointment. From the Department of Medicine”

A woman more beautiful and brilliant than anyone who could ever exist was right before my eyes.

“Wait.”

I stared blankly at her round head. Oh my god. I had muttered before realising. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? It was only when I clenched my fists and stabbed my nails deep into my palm did I realise I wasn’t dreaming.

‘Her blonde hair was as beautiful as molten gold, as brilliant as distilled rays of the sun.’

She turned to look at me. It felt like the lines from the original story were playing in my mind automatically. There was only one woman in this world I knew to have such beautiful hair.

“Oh no… This is all the ointment I have. Hm. Is it not possible?”

‘Once your eyes–the colour of your hair–turned to face mine, I had fallen in love.’

I had finally found her. Those eyes that were staring at mine. Her eyes that were as brilliant as her hair, this was really…

“Can I put some ointment on you?”

“Huh? Yes.”

It was Rusbella.

“Thank you for saving me. I can’t hear anything out of one ear.”

“Yes…”

I found Rusbella.

“Thank you so much.”

I gently held the hand that was applying ointment on me. Rusbella, who had just been wiping my cheek with a handkerchief, looked at me innocently. I should be the one to say thanks.

“What should I do…”

For appearing.

“It hurts.”

For existing. She widened her eyes. Calling her a deer suited her well. A character much like a newborn deer seemed to fit her perfectly.

“Does it hurt? Can you endure it a little longer…”

“It really hurts though…”

Moreover, her naive, oblivious and easily fooled disposition as a result of her good intentions was consistent with the original novel’s description.

“Ah. Nevermind, I have a better ointment. Can I use that instead?”

“A better one?”

“Yes. I’ll need to return to my room to get it but…”

“Hm, instead–”

I swept my thumb around Rusbella’s wrist. I then curled my eyes before slowly pulling the corners of my lips.

“You mentioned you were studying Herbalism, right? Then you must be familiar with treatments.”

“Yes. Though I still have a long way to go.”

Of course, I knew she was just being humble. According to the original novel, Rusbella had been an intelligent and wise woman. She even managed to stand out in the academy allowing her to create her own treatment to save the male lead back when he was dying. ‘Nectar’, the medicine that could treat any ailment according to the novel. However, only Rusbella knew its ingredients and the method to make it.

“You know, I just saved you. Didn’t I? If you had gotten hit, you would have gotten seriously injured…”

I looked her straight in the eye before whispering softly. After contemplating, Rubella nodded her head quickly.

“You could’ve died. In other words. I just saved your life.”

I persuaded her firmly but affectionately. I wasn’t lying. If that flowerpot had hit her right on the head, she would have died. But she might not have been seriously injured since she was the female lead. Or someone else might have saved her. But who knows? Whether or not she would have died from that wound. I knew very well that people die more easily than most think. It was the weight only people who had experienced it before understood.

“What do you want?”

I slowly lifted my gaze. Rusbella stared back at me with a gulp.

“Something in return for what I did for you.”

I smiled brightly. Rusbella, it wouldn’t be too hard for you to provide me this.

“It’d be enough if you can give me something of equal value.”

Her hands felt warm. Something hot stung my heart.

“There’s a medicine I want but I can’t find it.”

I had finally met this world’s main character. I grabbed the female lead’s hands with my own.

“It wouldn’t be too hard, would it?”

How could I not be elated? Even when her eyes which should sparkle like sweet honey cloud over with bewilderment, I would not falter. I might come off calculating but it was more important for me to protect my people. Give me Amor’s treatment. Relaxed, I pressed her without her noticing.

“I am Ashley Rosé.”

The moment I had been waiting for had arrived.

“The princess from Kaltanias.”

‘Hello. I am an extra and I am going to rip you off.’

“Ah.”

Rusbella blinked before flashing a smile as splendid as the most splendid spring. It seemed as though flowers were flying only in the air surrounding her. Soon after, a gust of wind from behind rustled our hair. Amidst the fluttering grass and petals, her flying hair revealed her expression void of doubt and her smile that expressed not a drop of malice.

“I am Rusbella Zealo, a graduate from the Department of Herbalism.”

She grabbed my hand and nodded her head as if it was only natural for her to do so. She agreed to my proposal. I hadn’t expected this to happen. She was a wise, strong-willed and kind person. She was good at everything.

“I’ll help you with anything.”

This was good.

“Anything you ask for.”

I blinked my eyes. I could feel the tremors of the diary as it trembled in my palm.

***

“Hello. Would you like to have lunch with me?”

As if there had been a gentle spring breeze blowing, every passer-by was drawn to her soft voice. Seemingly oblivious to the surrounding gazes, Rusbella approached me. She was carrying two small items dangling in her hands. I alternated my gaze between her face and her hands.

“Miss Rusbella?

“Yes. Please just call me Rusbella.”

If I had been a real student here, it would be more polite to address her as my senior but I was an envoy on a field trip. As if she was already aware, she was not flustered when she spotted me walking around without taking part in any of the classes.

“I went to your class to find you but they told me you were in the library.”

“My class?”

I tilted my head.

“How did you know the class I was in?”

“Because you weren’t wearing the academy uniform.”

With an index finger pointing at her lips, she curled her eyes. She carried out an action only the female lead of a pure-hearted manga would do and she even shone when she did it.

“Because of it, I didn’t think you were a freshman but you didn’t introduce your major either so I assumed you were here on a field trip. You said it yourself, didn’t you?”

“Ah.”

Even so, how did she find me amidst so many classes? Whether it be her intelligence or her broad view, she was still very clever. I stared at the female lead strangely again.

The feeling grew stronger with time but I was really in the setting of the original novel. It seemed like I had forgotten that for a long time now. Because all this time I had been spending time in a setting where the original novel hadn’t started yet. It was only recently did I wonder how Rusbella was doing because my life had been turned upside down by the diary and death.

“What are you looking for in the library? Can I help you?”

Tilting her head, she spoke clearly.