The True Protagonist

"This was something that might happen in the future. I'm not sure yet." Caroso shook his head.

"I would never abandon... no, I would never betray my brother..." Nimel immediately panicked. "Brother, did someone tell you something? I can explain everything!"

"I once secretly ate one of brother's pastries. That was my fault. I didn't look carefully at the time and thought that one was mine."

"When brother saw that one of his pastries was missing, he thought that maid had stolen it and put her in confinement... I was too scared to admit it, so I could only secretly bring her food..."

"Also, I really didn't mean to take brother's fountain pen. I wanted to write out a spell, but I didn't have a suitable pen on hand. Mine had broken, and I hadn't had time to buy a new one..."

Nimel rattled them off like beans from a pod, one little thing she had done after another.

She was terrified that Caroso would doubt her loyalty over these things and send her to another family once they reached the royal capital.

Although the Kolia family was rather cold, Nimel had already grown used to this life. She did not want to change families again.

Caroso's expression did not change, but his heart churned with all sorts of emotions.

So that was why so much of my ink had disappeared. Just how long was that spell?

Who would have thought that Nimel, who did not seem like the type to make mistakes, had made so many—and I never noticed.

Hah. That was my failure. I should have noticed.

"It wasn't because of those little things."

"Then... why did brother say I would betray you?" Nimel's heart pounded. "Can you tell me?"

"A prophecy."

Caroso could not explain the bullet comments, so he could only use a prophecy to brush it off.

"A prophecy... those things are always ambiguous. There are many ways to interpret them." Nimel hurriedly said, "Brother, please don't send me away just because of a prophecy..."

"Send you away?" Caroso looked at Nimel in confusion. "Why would I send you away?"

Although the bullet comments said Nimel would betray Caroso in the future, they also said the future could be changed. Caroso would never abandon Nimel over something that might happen.

Nimel had excellent magical talent. Even if she could not reach Caroso's level as the best of their generation, she was still an exceptionally rare talent and someone worth investing in.

"This... if you weren't planning to give up on me, why did you explain yourself to me yesterday..." Nimel cautiously asked. "Brother never explained anything when he did things before..."

"Because I wanted to explain. Is there a problem?" Caroso said indifferently.

Nimel hurriedly shook her head.

So I was overthinking it... He wanted to explain? Why did he suddenly want to explain things to me?

Soon, Nimel thought of an answer. Could it be that brother has started treating me as one of his own and cares about my feelings?

Or... did Father tell brother to do this?

After that, the two traveled in silence. Nimel's mind was a mess, while Caroso simply did not like talking too much.

Soon, the carriage left the city and arrived at the airport not far from it.

Airships, airplanes, and spacecraft all took off from here.

In terms of speed, airplanes were undoubtedly the fastest. However, this world had not developed planes capable of carrying many passengers; they were all small aircraft.

In terms of price, spacecraft had the greatest advantage, but they were much slower and required passengers to endure being crammed together with many others.

Considering all factors, airships were the best option.

They were faster than spacecraft, did not risk getting drenched by rain in bad weather like spacecraft did, and were sealed rather than exposed and cold like spacecraft.

Because the airship had failed to depart yesterday due to a malfunction, many people wore resentful expressions.

Some were going to discuss business, some were heading to the royal capital for banquets, and some were going to attend auctions.

Because of Caroso, their schedules had been delayed for a day.

These were not commoners who traveled by spacecraft. They were all people of status and standing, and their time was precious.

Screech!

The carriage stopped. After getting out, the driver respectfully opened the door for Caroso.

After Caroso got out, Nimel followed behind him like a little maid.

Caroso had been thinking about the bullet comments the whole way. When he got out and casually waved his hand, his thoughts and movements combined, and the bullet comments suddenly popped up.

[Holy crap, we have visuals again.]

[I was suffocating. Wasn't that black screen way too long?]

[Boss Caro, we're all men. Why are you embarrassed about changing clothes or bathing? It's not like we can peek.]

[I remember plenty of girls played this game too, right? There are lots of beautiful character portraits, and plenty of handsome ones too.]

[Found an honest person.]

[What girls? They're all men! Baby Caro, don't be scared. Change in front of me next time.]

[Boss Caro looks so handsome in formal wear!]

[Is this an airship?]

[Holy crap, it's huge—way bigger than mine.]

[Do you hear yourself?]

[Nimel is so pretty!]

Nimel was now wearing a long white dress, a beautiful emerald necklace around her neck, lace-trimmed gloves on both hands, and a lovely ornament in her hair. She looked very well matched with Caroso.

"Young Master." The airship ticket inspector respectfully bowed to Caroso.

"Mm." Caroso took out two tickets and handed them to the inspector.

By then, the driver had already taken out their luggage and was preparing to see them aboard the airship.

At that moment, the bullet comments suddenly exploded.

[Damn it! That's me!]

[Holy shit, me and my brother!]

[Me and my sister!]

[What a fucking surprise! We ran into each other here?]

[Before I lost my memory, I was Utopia's Card God!]

[Judging by the clothes, this seems to be the academy head stage, before entering the royal family.]

The bullet comments began scrolling frantically.

Looking at the strange bullet comments before him, Caroso scanned the surroundings and quickly locked onto two people.

The two wore black clothes and both had silver-gray hair. Their faces were mostly covered by masks, and their skin was entirely concealed by their clothing.

[Boss Caro, don't provoke me at this time. You can't afford to provoke me at this point.]

[A top-tier card-making master—do you think I'm joking?]

[Come to think of it, why did I end up in Azure Wolf Province?]

[Probably to purchase some materials.]

[That doesn't seem right. Could I have come to scout out Azure Wolf Province's strength...?]

[Had we already met Nimel at this time?]

[Not necessarily. There's a butterfly effect now. Don't forget, because of us, Boss Caro and Nimel left a day later.]

The two seemed to sense Caroso's gaze and turned to look at him at the same time.

After seeing the brooch on Caroso's chest clearly, the two simultaneously bowed to him.

They looked as though they had been carved from the same mold—one tall and one short, one male and one female.

"Those are... you from the past?" Caroso's expression turned strange. Weren't there only two of you? There had to be at least hundreds or thousands of you...