On the other side of those closely linked human minds working together...
Milos glanced at Eleanor, sitting beside him, her focus already lost as her eyes drifted toward the stage.
He had been granted an incredibly rare opportunity… That's what crossed his mind at that exact moment in his life.
Surely, it was fate. It was destined for him to be here, with his one and only beloved — just him and her.
The beauty his own mind had once created and passed on to Loren, who brought her into reality as a living, breathing being.
Now she was flesh and blood, walking beside him so effortlessly, following him naturally.
His mind was still trying to comprehend everything that had happened since his first morning in this world.
Yes… if this wasn't fate, then what was?
We are meant to live together forever.
Eleanor, who had been his beloved, would become his and his alone. No one would ever come near her.
Ever since he entered the academy and descended from the airship that carried them across the western cities of the Empire,
he had been overwhelmed by a sense of surrealism so intense that his miserable expression froze completely, as if locked by invisible chains.
He tried to move, but imagine living inside a place you had only read about — a world you believed to be fiction — now standing alive before your eyes.
He was terrified, simply terrified.
Yes, he was the chosen hero, the savior. He had to act like one.
He must not be afraid. He must keep going, even if he didn't want to.
To live with Eleanor. To find a way back to his own world… to his family.
"But what's the point of returning?"
He had lived every single day as if it were his last. He had never been remarkable, never observant. He had lived the life of a complete failure — even in death.
Failed, failed, failed — a thousand times over.
But he hadn't given up. He told himself that at least he wouldn't die filled with regret.
And yet, even after trying countless times, his life never got better.
He had suffocated for so long, without ever truly living.
So deep down, he no longer wanted to go back. He wanted to stay here — to cling to the chance that heaven itself had offered him.
On his very first moment at the academy, one of the girls nearby had offered to show him around, since he looked lost…
But he politely refused. Lost… huh? He knew this place better than its creators themselves. A bunch of fools, all of them.
Yet, after thinking for a moment, he realized he was actually lost. So, after wandering around searching for the luggage platform,
he found himself completely clueless about what to do next. He had simply been following a group of people until he somehow ended up here.
But when he looked around, lost in thought, he caught her gaze — a look he couldn't read at all.
He froze. Every muscle in his body tensed as he set down his bag, averted his eyes, and started to walk away,
because his heart was about to burst out of his chest as he struggled to hide his expression.
"She… she… she's really her."
When he tried to stop and head to the luggage counter to get his tag number,
fear gripped him — fear that they might meet again. So instead, he decided to walk to any random counter, just to avoid her,
then hide somewhere until she was gone. Only then would he come back out.
After some time, he couldn't find her near the luggage rows and assumed she had already left the area.
But then she suddenly appeared in line again.
Panicking, he immediately ducked back into hiding, watching her quietly from a distance so she wouldn't notice him.
Milos was incredibly tense now. Really tense.
It wasn't like he was drenched in sweat… or acting like some kid with social anxiety and a lifelong trauma from being bullied.
"Hey, man… are you… okay? Hey, you! Wake up!"
Because of his overwhelming, tangled emotions and obsessive thoughts, he suddenly found himself sprawled on the ground, sweating for no reason at all.
One of the passing students — a guy who just happened to notice him by chance — knelt down beside him.
If that guy hadn't spotted him at that exact moment, Milos might have stayed there much longer.
The student grabbed him by the arm and half-dragged, half-carried him to the nearest infirmary, dropping him onto one of the beds so he could get some sedatives.
Even lying there, his brain wouldn't stop spinning. Eleanor's gaze — the way she'd looked at him — kept replaying in his head.
Was it hatred? Curiosity? Maybe affection? Or… maybe nothing at all.
He opened his system interface in front of him.
> [Target: Eleanor Mathews
Mission will activate upon confirmed facial recognition.]
Right. He'd forgotten. The system wouldn't trigger unless he got closer to her.
While he was lying there on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, he heard the faint creak of a door opening. Instinctively, his back straightened as his eyes darted toward the sound.
A woman stepped in.
"Your reports look fine. Nothing serious — lucky for you."
He stared ahead, eyes unfocused but locked on her.
"I'll prescribe you some pills. They'll help stabilize you. You can get them from Professor Chloe for free."
He swallowed hard. Damn it… Melody Sebastian.
He hadn't expected to meet her here.
Before him stood a young woman with soft brown wavy hair and sharp emerald-green eyes, dressed in a spotless white coat.
She was, without question, one of the heroines.
But she wasn't supposed to appear until chapter twenty. What the hell was she doing here now?
Then, all of a sudden, Melody narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, studying his face.
"…Right. I don't think I caught your name."
"Is… is that important?"
The girl standing before him blinked, a hint of surprise crossing her face.
"Well, if you don't want to share your name…" she paused halfway through her sentence, her tone suddenly cooling.
"…you'll be considered a spy refusing to identify himself. Which means you'll be detained."
What— no, what the hell is happening right now?
Milos's body jolted upright; his eyelashes fluttered as sweat gathered across his forehead.
"A s–spy? That's… that's not—"
"Pfft—hahaha…" The woman burst into laughter, amused by his startled reaction.
"Relax, relax. I was kidding. Did you really believe that? Or are you actually a spy?"
This woman was playing with him. What kind of nonsense was this? He needed to get out of here before the last of his brain cells died in this cursed room.
"Alright, alright," she said, still smirking. "I was just curious. You do look like one of the new nobles around here."
That made sense, considering how ridiculously handsome he was.
"But your clothes are far too plain… were you robbed? I just want your name so I can trace your family. Doesn't that sound reasonable?"
"Would the treatment change if I weren't a noble?"
She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Not really… I don't care about that. But in cases like yours, it's usually nobles who end up getting their clothes and valuables stolen. That's still a crime, don't you think?"
"Anyway…"
She stepped out of his direct sight, heading toward her desk.
"If you don't want to share your name, that's fine by me."
Damn it… the last thing he wanted was to get involved with this clingy woman—not at this stage.
She was the type who'd stick to the protagonist like a self-proclaimed wife, always hovering around him.
But that man was supposed to be loyal, disciplined, and faithful to a single love.
No room for a harem, not here.
Later, he took the note his prescribed medication and left for the chemistry wing,
trying to focus on what he needed to do next
the upcoming tests, the Headmistress's speech,
and how the hell he was supposed to survive both.
He needed to hurry if he was going to make it in time for the speech.
On his way there, he heard the notification sound from the phone he'd borrowed from Melody—just temporarily, until he could retrieve his own academy-issued one. She had even handed him his ID along with it.
He'd wanted to thank her, but somehow couldn't bring himself to.
Just as he was about to unlock the phone and check the message—
Ding... Ding
Another notification chimed nearby. He didn't pay it any mind at first, but then he noticed the person walking beside him suddenly stop.
A quick glance was all it took to freeze his breath in his chest,