Chapter 50: A Puddle of My Own Uselessness

The world snapped back into focus for the third time.

The party was a dizzying swirl of color and noise, a nightmare stuck on repeat. The same enchanted globes spun overhead, casting chaotic patterns of light across the dance floor. The same bass-heavy music pounded through the stone, a relentless rhythm that vibrated in my bones. My system screen hovered in my vision, a silent, smug reminder of my failure.

《Protagonist Transfer Percentage: 30%》

Nothing had been lost. But nothing had been gained. I was back at the start of the end, a prisoner in the worst kind of loop. My mission was clear, even if the author’s advice was garbage. I had to stop the Lilith-bomb from detonating. Again.

My eyes scanned the crowded room, landing on the epicenter of our recurring apocalypse.

Lilith stood near a marble pillar, her small frame rigid. A faint, ethereal pink mist began to rise from the teacup she clutched, a terrible omen I now knew all too well. Her gaze was locked on the center of the room, on Eksu and Elizabeth.

I had to intervene.

I took a deep breath, the air thick with the scent of perfume and overpriced canapés. Distractions had failed. Logic had backfired spectacularly. The capybara’s last, desperate suggestion echoed in my mind.

Why don’t you take your girlfriend Sophia and have her talk with Lilith?

It was a terrible idea. It was the worst idea. Dragging her into my cursed reality felt like a betrayal. Sophia was my one small piece of normalcy, a quiet harbor in a sea of chaos. The thought of exposing her to this, to the very real danger of a timeline collapse, made my stomach clench.

But it was also the only idea I had left.

She was across the room, by the refreshment table. Her brown braid was draped over one shoulder, and she was laughing at something another maid had said. She looked so happy. So beautifully, wonderfully normal.

My fists clenched at my sides.

Fine. I would do it.

I started walking toward her, my heart a lead weight in my chest.

Sophia’s smile was like a tiny, fragile sun in the middle of my personal apocalypse.

I reached her at the edge of the sprawling buffet table. It was a masterpiece of culinary art, from towers of glittering cupcakes to savory tarts that looked only vaguely poisonous. She was refilling a tray of delicate, star-shaped cookies.

“Sophia.”

She turned, her smile widening when she saw me. It was so genuine it almost hurt to look at.

“Siegfried! Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

The words were an uncanny echo of our first real conversation.

“Worse. I’ve seen the author.”

A small laugh escaped her. She played along, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

“Is he as bad as they say?”

“He’s a capybara who gives terrible advice. Look, I need your help. It’s an emergency.”

My attempt at humor died in my throat. The panic was real, and she could see it. Her smile faded, replaced by a look of deep concern. She set the tray of cookies down, giving me her full attention.

“What’s wrong?”

I gestured vaguely with my head toward the other side of the room.

“My friend. Over there. The one who looks like she’s about to accidentally set off a magical nuke.”

Sophia followed my gaze. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw Lilith. The pink mist was thicker now, a visible, swirling cloud of raw emotion. It was impossible to miss.

“Oh. I see.”

“I need someone with emotional intelligence. The author said you have that. He also said I have the emotional intelligence of a brick.”

She couldn’t suppress a small giggle, covering her mouth with her hand.

“He’s not wrong.”

“Hey! This is serious! Will you just talk to her? Please? Before she accidentally erases this entire wing of the academy?”

My voice was tight with desperation. I hated asking this of her. I hated pulling her into my mess. She studied my face for a long moment, her expression softening with an empathy I didn’t deserve. She saw the genuine fear in my eyes.

“Okay. I’ll talk to her.”

My shoulders sagged with a relief so profound it almost buckled my knees.

This was it, the moment of truth.

We approached Lilith together. The pink mist around her was so thick it was like walking into cotton candy-flavored fog. The air was cold, crackling with a low hum of power. I instinctively braced myself for another timeline collapse, every muscle in my body tense.

Sophia, however, was the picture of calm.

“Hi, Lilith. That’s a really pretty dress.”

Lilith turned. Her fuchsia eyes, glowing with barely contained power, locked onto Sophia. The mist pulsed, a silent, terrifying heartbeat. I prepared to die for the twenty-ninth time.

“Thank you.”

Her voice was flat. Menacing. The sound of a final boss right before the battle starts. Sophia just smiled gently, completely unfazed by the apocalyptic vibe.

“I’m Sophia. Siegfried told me you were feeling a little overwhelmed. This party is a lot, isn’t it?”

Lilith stared, her head tilting. The mist swirled faster.

“He is dancing with her.”

Sophia nodded, her expression full of a soft, genuine understanding that I could never fake.

“I know. It hurts when you see someone you like with someone else, doesn’t it?”

The directness of the question seemed to short-circuit Lilith’s rage. The intense glow in her eyes lessened by a fraction. She looked genuinely confused.

“Like?”

“Yeah. It looks like you really like Eksu. It’s okay to feel that way. It’s also okay to feel sad or jealous when he pays attention to someone else.”

The pink mist began to recede. The temperature in the room rose a few degrees. I just stood there, my jaw on the floor. It was working. How in the hell was it working? It was like watching someone calmly defuse a bomb with a kind word and a gentle smile.

Lilith’s eyes welled up with tears. They were normal tears this time, not the reality-warping energy kind.

“I do not understand. I am supposed to be her friend. Why do I feel… this?”

She gestured vaguely at her chest, a look of pure, heartbreaking confusion on her face. Sophia placed a gentle hand on her arm. It was a simple, small gesture, but it seemed to ground the chaotic energy in the room.

“Because feelings are complicated. They’re not like alchemy recipes. Sometimes you get results you don’t expect. It doesn’t make you a bad person. It just makes you a person.”

Lilith looked from Sophia’s hand to her kind face. A single tear rolled down her cheek, and with it, the last of the pink mist dissolved into nothing. The teacup in her hand stopped vibrating. The apocalyptic pressure in the air vanished.

“Oh.”

The word was a small, quiet sigh of realization. Sophia pulled a neatly folded handkerchief from her apron pocket and offered it to her.

“Do you want to get out of here? We can go get some actual, non-poisonous hot chocolate from the kitchens.”

Lilith sniffed, taking the handkerchief and wiping her eyes. She gave a small, wobbly nod.

“Yes, please.”

They walked away together, Sophia’s arm linked gently with Lilith’s.

I was left standing alone in a puddle of my own uselessness.