Chapter 38

It happened without warning.

The mansion had suddenly descended into an uproar. When Erika asked a servant what the commotion was about, she was told that Harold had arrived to visit.

That alone was not particularly unusual; he had visited many times to meet with Tasuku or Itsuki. However, the concerning part was that he had shown up while those two were away.

According to Kiryu’s report, Harold appeared to have urgent business. He seemed uncharacteristically restless, exuding an intense, forceful aura that brooked no argument.

As Erika listened to the description of his behavior, she felt an unsettling sense of dissonance.

"Where is Lord Harold?"

"I have shown him to the guest room, My Lady."

"I see."

Erika hesitated for only a moment after Kiryu left. Then, she stood and stepped out of her private room.

Even as she walked toward the man who habitually avoided her—a man who grew overtly displeased whenever their eyes met—there was no trace of trepidation in her stride. She had long since bid farewell to the frailty of flinching at such things.

Arriving at the guest room, Erika knelt in seiza and spoke through the closed sliding door.

"Excuse me."

Would he drive her away with his usual contempt? Or perhaps he would simply ignore her?

If he was as agitated as Kiryu suggested, she might be subjected to a volley of harsh, biting words. Even so, she had no intention of backing down today.

Contrary to her expectations, however, Harold’s response was a single, clipped word.

"Enter."

Startled by how easily she had been granted admission, Erika froze for a heartbeat before sliding the door open.

"It has been a long time, Lord Harold."

She bowed her head deeply.

Harold let out a heavy sigh before tossing a question her way.

"What are you plotting, coming to see me of your own accord?"

Harold was convinced that Erika hated him. Since he had gone out of his way to ensure that result, it was only natural for him to reach that conclusion. Therefore, he assumed she would never visit him by choice.

If she answered honestly—that she had no grand reason and simply wanted to see him because she was worried—he would likely kick her out. Thus, Erika matched his tone.

"I have no such intentions. It is not as if I came here by choice."

"Then what are you here for?"

"Lord Harold is my fiancé and a guest of paramount importance to House Sumeragi. Since the head of the house and my mother are absent, I shall serve as your host."

"Unnecessary. Spending time with the likes of you is a nuisance."

He rejected her immediately, but Erika held her ground. Leveraging her position as his fiancée, her duty to the Sumeragi name, and the consequences of Harold’s own unexpected arrival, she lined up a series of plausible justifications.

"For the Sumeragi to fail in treating a guest with due hospitality would be a stain on our honor. That said, as your visit was quite sudden, we haven't been able to make proper preparations. I ask for your understanding."

"……"

Sensing that Erika wouldn't budge even an inch, Harold fell silent. He likely understood that the fault lay with him for visiting without confirming anyone’s presence first.

Taking his silence as consent, Erika lit the fire in the room's built-in hearth and began to heat the iron kettle she had brought.

Harold remained mute, not even bothering to look in her direction. As Erika watched his profile, she confirmed her suspicion: he was not his usual self.

While his displeased expression and furrowed brow remained, the suffocating pressure he usually used to intimidate others had vanished. In its place was something that almost looked like vulnerability.

Harold, a man who never showed weakness, was currently so dejected that he couldn't even maintain his usual mask in front of her.

Anyone familiar with Harold’s typical conduct would have been floored by the sight.

But Erika was different. She knew.

She knew that even a man like Harold could be plagued by doubt and shed tears in secret. He merely hid that fragility behind a wall of arrogance and insolent behavior. He lived in a world so solitary that he felt he had no other choice.

And because he was that kind of man, Erika wanted to be the one to support him.

"Here you are."

She added the tea leaves to the boiling water, poured a cup, and set it before him.

Harold didn't touch the tea or the sweets, remaining locked in silence. Eventually, just as the green tea began to lose its warmth and Erika reached out to replace it, he finally spoke.

"……How do you feel about the hand you’ve been dealt?"

The words were barely a whisper, as if he were talking to himself. His gaze remained fixed on the empty air, but the question sounded like a plea for help.

It was an inquiry completely unlike him. Normally, he wouldn't show even a surface-level interest in how others thought or lived.

Perhaps he was projecting his own struggles onto her. If he was truly this tormented, this cornered…

"I am grateful for my current circumstances. I have no complaints about being born the only daughter of House Sumeragi."

Depending on her answer, she might have been able to comfort him. The reason for his distress was a mystery, but the fact that he was suffering was undeniable. Had she sympathized with his plight—had she provided the empathy he lacked—she might have offered him a cheap, easy salvation.

But she didn't want to see a Harold like that. She felt such a thing was beneath a man who had walked his path with such fierce pride; it would be as if Harold were ceasing to be himself.

Though she knew it was a selfish impulse, she couldn't suppress it. More importantly, she intuitively realized that if she indulged his weakness now, she would never truly be able to stand by his side.

And so, Erika pushed back. She decided that he didn't need a kindness that merely coddled him; he needed to find the answer through his own strength.

"Be honest. Those don't sound like the true feelings of someone forced into a marriage they never wanted."

In truth, Erika viewed her engagement to Harold as the primary reason to be thankful for her birthright. However, she couldn't say that to save her life.

Harold looked at her with blatant skepticism, clearly not believing a word she said.

"I was born into House Sumeragi and have lived a life of comfort thanks to this family and its people. I long ago resolved to suppress my own heart if it meant repaying that debt."

These were Erika's honest feelings. Indeed, even if Harold had been the vile person he pretended to be, Erika would have discarded her personal happiness to marry him if it served her people.

The fact that the man before her had "ruined" that resolve in the best way possible—while simultaneously plotting to break off the engagement—was a profound irony.

"Besides, if we are speaking of such things, you are the one who truly loathes this engagement, aren't you, Lord Harold? I am not so dense that I haven't noticed how much you despise me."

Perhaps taken aback by her bluntness, Harold muttered a soft monologue.

"……How? How can you accept a reality that should be unacceptable?"

Because I met you.

That was what she wanted to say. Knowing his true character—how he would willingly soak himself in infamy to protect what mattered—she had been irrevocably drawn to him. She had been captivated by his iron-clad conviction, and before she knew it, she had fallen in love.

It was because she felt this way that she couldn't stand to see him so broken. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, both as a person and as a man.

It was a volatile mix of affection and devotion. Erika desperately fought down the impulse.

She couldn't. If she spoke those words now, she would only be piling more burdens onto a man who was already buckling under the weight of the world.

To compose herself, she cleared her throat with a deliberate cough.

"I believe your strength is magnificent, Lord Harold. It would be a lie to say I don't envy it."

The sudden shift in topic and the unexpected praise left Harold looking genuinely bewildered. It was a rare, precious expression.

However, he quickly retreated behind his usual wall of thorns.

"Hmph. Do you think flattery will get you anywhere now?"

"It is my honest opinion. You carve out your own destiny with your own hands. I lack such power, and I truly admire you for it."

It wasn't just about his raw willpower. It was his broad perspective, his ability to analyze the present and see through to the heart of a matter as if he were predicting the future. It was the knowledge that created miasma-resistance drugs and revolutionized agriculture.

None of it was ordinary. She remembered something Tasuku had once said:

“He is brilliant, but he is far too exceptional. At times, that very power will leave him isolated.”

That was why Erika made her choice. To ensure he was never truly alone, she wanted to become his equal—someone who could support him.

But that wasn't enough. Seeing him now, she felt that truth with painful clarity.

"But no matter how exceptional a person is, there are limits to what one can achieve alone."

"……"

"Just because you can do everything by yourself does not mean you must. Lord Harold, you need to learn how to rely on others."

Harold was likely capable of doing almost anything on his own. Because of that, he had never seen the need to ask for help. Or perhaps, he simply had no one to ask.

But if he continued like this, he would eventually reach his breaking point and shatter. That fear gnawed at Erika’s heart.

"Don't talk as if you know me, girl."

"It is true that I do not know everything about you. But isn't the reverse also true?"

"What?"

"You don't realize that there are people who would give anything to help you."

Harold had grown too comfortable with isolation. He kept everyone at arm's length, seemingly believing that being alone was his natural state. It was a fixed mindset likely born from a lifetime of being unable to trust anyone.

Imagining how painful that path must have been made her heart ache.

But now, he had allies. Tasuku and Itsuki were at the top of that list. Erika knew her family; she knew they genuinely respected and liked Harold. He was finally in a position where he was allowed to trust someone other than himself.

"Just once is enough. Please, take a look at the people around you."

If he did, he would surely find someone worthy of his trust.

Erika felt a sharp pang of sadness, knowing that her own face would likely not be among those he found.

---

(“No matter how exceptional a person is, there are limits to what one can achieve alone,” huh…)

Erika’s words looped in Harold’s mind.

It was a painfully sound argument. Harold was well aware that while his physical stats were off the charts, his actual brain was pretty average. He was only managing to stay afloat because he was abusing his "cheat" knowledge of the original game.

On the other hand, that knowledge was a double-edged sword. To Harold, it was just a game script, but in this world, it was the equivalent of divine prophecy. It was a power that only lasted until the game's ending, but if the wrong person got wind of it, the consequences would be catastrophic.

Naturally, Harold had tried to handle everything himself to keep his "future memories" from being discovered.

But as Erika said, he had reached his limit. At the very least, this current mess wasn't something he could resolve solo.

He flopped onto his back.

It wasn't that he’d never relied on anyone. He wouldn't have been able to save Clara and Colette or implement the LP farming method without the help of Norman and Tasuku.

But he hadn't exactly given them his full trust.

The reason wasn't just about his secrets being exposed. He was also terrified that if he relied on them too much, they would deviate from their roles in the "Original Story," causing the entire timeline to collapse.

(But isn't it a bit late for that?)

Thinking back, Harold’s very existence was an anomaly. Because of him, Clara was alive, the LP farming method existed, House Sumeragi had been saved from the miasma, and he had joined the Knight Order three years early.

Most of those changes were necessary to kill off his own death flags.

This time, he had been paralyzed, weighing the lives of Robinson and the others against the integrity of the Original Story. But fate had forced his hand; he was now being dragged into the very battle where they were destined to die.

He had run to Tasuku in a panic, but maybe this was the answer all along. Erika’s lecture had brought it into focus.

Trying to dodge every single flag alone was impossible—both for the world and for his own sanity. Allowing others to actively intervene, even if it wasn't in the "script," might actually be the solution.

It was a fundamental shift in strategy: as long as he could eventually take down Justus, he would have to tolerate the story going off the rails.

Was it a mistake? The further he strayed from the script, the more he lost his greatest advantage.

But the world was already changing. The biggest threat was the possibility that Justus’s plan was moving faster than in the game. If that was the case, Rainer and the others wouldn't grow strong enough in time.

He refused to just walk into a fight with the Stella Clan and die without a plan.

(……Fine then. Let’s go for broke! I’ll save Robinson’s squad, delay Justus’s plan, and power up Rainer’s party all at once!)

If he failed, he’d die. But that was nothing new; he’d been living with a target on his back since the moment he woke up in this body. Conversely, if he succeeded, he could pave a much smoother path toward the True Ending, even if it looked different from the game.

He realized he’d been far too fixated on playing it safe. Trying to get the best possible result without taking any risks was a pipe dream. Since he was trying to overturn a destiny of certain death, he had to be willing to bet everything on the line.

He felt a strange sense of clarity. If he couldn't do it alone, he’d use every resource—and person—available. It was a simple conclusion. He was done being afraid of the ripples his actions caused.

The darkness seemed to lift, and he knew he owed that to Erika.

“No matter how exceptional a person is, there are limits to what one can achieve alone.”

“Lord Harold, you need to learn how to rely on others.”

“You don't realize that there are people who would give anything to help you.”

He was amazed she could say all that to a guy she supposedly hated. She really was a kind, incredible girl—no wonder she was one of the most popular characters in the game.

Getting on her bad side might have been a real waste of an opportunity.

Despite his situation, Harold found himself letting out a small, wry smile at the thought.