A Monodrama for Carolyn August - Chapter 68

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 68.
“Yes, Caroline.”
“Aiden seems a bit different from his other personality.”
“……Is that so?”
He startled visibly, his ears flushing red. Whether from embarrassment or because it was a fact he’d never noticed about himself, she couldn’t say.
“Why are you so surprised?”
Caroline felt that he seemed most human right now. His NPC-like behavior still managed to frustrate her slightly, but when she was with him, their exchange felt genuinely emotional.
“Unlike the other Aiden, you call me Caroline.”
“Then what does the daytime Aiden call you?”
“He calls me Miss Caroline. Sometimes just Caroline, but he mainly says Miss Caroline. He doesn’t use the formal ‘thou’ either.”
After she finished speaking, Caroline was seized by a moment of doubt.
She had a vague sense that Aiden had once used the word “thou” to address her, but she couldn’t recall actually hearing it spoken aloud.
‘What was that about?’
“……I didn’t realize I was doing that. I apologize. From now on, I shall―”
“No!”
Omitting the “Miss” when addressing someone was quite informal, especially when meeting someone for the first time.
Yet Caroline felt no displeasure whatsoever.
“Actually, I like it—it feels warmer. The daytime Aiden already puts distance between us, and when his speech does the same, it becomes exhausting.”
“It seems we wouldn’t be able to communicate properly. He’s merely a conquest target, after all.”
“We manage conversation at teatime well enough, but when I see him next, he doesn’t remember what I’ve told him. It’s truly disappointing.”
Caroline struck her chest as she recalled how frustrated she’d felt about it.
Even though she’d already mentioned being a devoted fan, he acted as if hearing it for the first time. He didn’t remember her birthday either, playing ignorant. Each conversation seemed to wash away from him completely.
“That won’t happen with me.”
A markedly different tone entered his voice.
The man’s voice, which had been listening intently and responding with care until now, became resolute.
“I can remember my conversations with Caroline. Every detail, no matter how small. You’ll never have reason to feel frustrated.”
“My goodness, that’s touching.”
She had to hold back the tears that threatened to spill.
“But honestly, even without you saying that, I could feel it. Just from this brief conversation, I felt so at ease, so comfortable. I didn’t feel lonely at all.”
“Truly?”
“Yes! Didn’t you notice? I got a bit irritated with you, made some sharp remarks, and, well, now that I think about it, I suppose I was being rather headstrong. But with you, I could be honest.”
The only problem was that she was perhaps too honest.
Whether it was an NPC trait or the comfort of saying anything without consequence, Caroline had become quite talkative—and now she surreptitiously checked his expression.
‘Did I talk too much?’
But his face showed something different from what she feared.
“……Then I am pleased.”
Aiden bore an expression no game character could possess. In that instant, he smiled as if holding the entire world—a luminous, radiant smile. His elegant eyes curved gracefully, and his full, flowing lips drew an arc, and Caroline’s face flushed crimson in an instant.
Only then did she truly recognize that the person before her was so tremendously attractive—the very actor she adored.
“This is strange. I’m supposed to be Aiden’s fan.”
Caroline murmured awkwardly, avoiding his gaze.
“It feels like you’re being nicer to me than he is.”
“I’ll treat you even better from now on, Caroline. Whenever you need something, give me a signal. I’ll come running.”
With those words, Aiden rose and extended his hand. Accepting his escort, Caroline slowly descended the stairs.
He first went ahead several steps to check that no servants were about, then guided her to the door of her room.
“Well then, sleep well.”
Watching him fade into the distance with that gentle farewell, Caroline opened her door.
More difficult stages lay ahead, but with the 3 AM Aiden by her side, anything seemed possible.
‘Hmm, though……’
Mulling over their conversation in his room, Caroline tilted her head in confusion.
“And what’s most important to Caroline is Caroline’s own life. You attend the Academy, and you certainly have a life outside this Mansion.”
‘Did I really tell the 3 AM Aiden that I attended the Academy?’
Before she could find an answer, Caroline succumbed to the tide of sleep.
Thump-thump-thump-thump!
“Huh!”
Caroline woke in a way somewhat different from any other day.
‘What is this?’
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A violent knocking echoed through the room. Searching for the source of such a thunderous sound, as if construction were underway, she found it―
“Miss Caroline, are you awake?”
It was coming from her door.
A servant outside was knocking on her door roughly, trying to wake her. It had never happened before—not like this, so abruptly.
‘Why? Because I met Aiden at three in the morning yesterday? Was I caught breaking the Rules?’
“You’ll need to come with me, Miss Caroline. An urgent letter has arrived.”
“A letter?”
What sort of letter warranted this?
Had the servants ever made such a fuss delivering a letter in the morning before?
Caroline ran a hasty hand through her hair, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and shuffled toward the door in her slippers. When she opened it, a servant stood waiting, holding a silver tray, his expression grave.
‘Right—these people already know every word in my letters.’
They read them all before delivering them.
Whatever was written in this one to warrant such seriousness, Caroline took it with trembling hands.
[To Caroline, facing a crisis of epic proportions!
Caroline, we’re in serious trouble. Serious trouble! Absolutely massive trouble! Bigger than the School Back Mountain!!!!
Your parents are coming to the Academy in a carriage to see you after all this time. I tried to think of an excuse when I caught wind of it, but I was too late. If things go on like this, they’ll discover you’re not at the Academy—that you’ve been staying at Aiden’s Mansion.
I thought about just telling them myself, but I don’t think your parents would take it well. You’re living in the home of a man you’re unrelated to—no matter how famous he is—actually, that would make it worse—without even telling your parents?
You’d become the most unfilial daughter in history! So here’s what we do: the moment you get this letter, come to the Academy, greet your parents, and return to the Mansion once they’ve left. I’ll make it look like I’ve been staying in your room the whole time.
That’s all.
Anna Blanche—exhausted from crises happening day after day]
The ink where she’d written her name was badly smudged, showing just how frantic she’d been.
The urgency and anxiety bleeding through the letter made Caroline’s heart begin racing wildly. Her parents were quite conservative, the sort who doted on their daughter intensely.
That’s why she’d never contacted them when she first came here—to avoid their interference and worry.
‘I never saw this coming.’
Caroline pressed her palms against her forehead.
‘What do I do?’
Anna was urging her to return to the Academy quickly, act as though she’d been there all along, and come back. But would that even work?
[First. Your Summer Vacation lasts thirty days. You may leave at any point before those thirty days end. Should you feel your safety is threatened, you may stop the Play and depart at any time.]
Of course, according to the Rules—the real Rules that Aiden at three in the morning had given her—she could leave anytime, but that amounted to saying she could quit the Play permanently.
And besides…….
“Strictly speaking, it’s only possible because I haven’t issued your next Mission yet. If you accept the next Mission I present and proceed with that Play, then from this point forward, it won’t be the system guiding your game—it will be me. Your freedom to quit the game is only guaranteed while the system still leads it.”
That had been before she met Aiden at three in the morning yesterday.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————