CH 228

–Suddenly, strength drained from my body.

“What in the world …, you’ve been tormenting me as a trauma from the past!”

It was an exchange that lasted only a few minutes.

But in that one scene, I lost all feelings for my mother.

I used to think of her as my parent, even though she was such a human being.

I used to think that she was my parent, that I had to listen to her, and I was convinced of that.

But now I don’t even care about my mother.

“There was no point in prioritizing such a person over Shiho.”

Regrets keep pouring in.

In the first place, the feud between my mother and me was one of the reasons why I was in this situation.

I once said,

“I want my children to love me. But if I don’t love my parents, I can’t proudly say to my children, “I want you to love me”. So no matter how I am treated, I will cherish my parents.”

Because of those words, I could not reject my mother’s commands.

I had to connect with Kurumizawa – I couldn’t deny it, and I couldn’t reject it, and now I’m the result of being used so much, hurting Shiho, and bothering Kurumizawa-san.

I was trying to cherish my mother so much.

I should have had more stubborn beliefs, but in a single moment, those beliefs were shattered.

The chains that bound me to my past were, upon closer inspection, riddled with rust.

In other words, that’s what it was all about.

“What are you wondering? Kotaro is nothing more than that, you know? He’s just a ‘sub-character’ just like me.”

On the other hand, Mary-san was smiling wickedly at me when she saw me behaving badly.

“Kotaro is just a stage set for the story. So, beliefs can be shattered at any time, and thoughts can be rewritten to suit the story. There was nothing unusual about that. It was just the same this time.”

With a disgustingly metaphysical look, she was giving me a high-minded lecture.

“However, this time Kotaro was mistaken and thought he could be the main character–of course, I’ll deny that’s true. Because the only two main characters in this story are Ryoma and Shiho.”

“…I know that.”

Even without being told, I was made to realize to the point of disgust.

I was just a “mob character”.

This story made me understand that.

“If you know what I mean, then I have nothing more to say. Phew… Is this the end of my role? Oh dear, it’s not worth it for a handyman like a cheat character to be used in a good way and then become invisible again when her turn is over.”

With a smirk, Mary-san suddenly hunched my shoulders.

I tried to pull away, but I couldn’t move because of the effort she was putting into it.

Her physical ability must be much better than mine.

She gave me a friendly look, as if she thought I was her best friend.

“But I’ll be watching Kotaro’s story for a long time. I’m interested in how it ends. … Hopefully, there will be a proper ending.”

“…Hope there’s an ending? That’s a given.”

“It’s not a given. Think about it. In this world, the majority of stories are not finished. There are as many stories as there are stars, but only a fraction of them are completed. Of course, those stories are huge, but the world is filled with more unfinished stories than that.”

… Somehow, I get it.

Mary-san’s words now were not superficial, as usual.

It was from the heart.

“Injury, illness, or accident happened to the author. Sales of commercial works were poor. The author lost motivation. The author can no longer come up with ideas for the rest of the story, and so on. A story that has stopped forever in that state is called cancelled, right?”

“… So you’re saying my story is going to be cancelled?”

“I hope not.”

Again, like that, she irresponsibly implies.

I really wish people would stop saying disturbing things and making me anxious.

And the worst part is that she really means what she just said.

The words are a little too heavy for me to just laugh at the impossibility of such a thing.

“Mobchara-kun, who is the same sub-character as me, a mob character who has been discovered by the main heroine, and what kind of story will you go through to complete your romantic comedy?”

After saying that much, she finally left.

“Well, that’s that, so I’ll see you at … the next time I have a role. Bye-bye.”

I guess she didn’t want my comments.

She said what she wanted to say and walked away.

I let out a sigh and closed my eyes before I saw her leave.

“… Really, I wonder what will happen.”

It’s not that I’m anxious about it, though.

But I myself am concerned about the outcome of my love with Shiho.

Of course, I believe it will be happy.

But I don’t know if I’ll ever be happy now… My confidence may be a bit lacking…