Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance Chapter 80

Heart-pounding music echoed through the huge hall. As if waiting for this moment, couples with shy smiles gathered in the center of the hall like a blossoming flower.

 

Felix reached out to Eileen, trying to control his trembling hand as best he could.

 

“Eileen, will you do me the honor of giving me my first dance?”

 

After a moment’s hesitation, Eileen cautiously interlaced her hands with his.

 

It was a moment she had anticipated, but when she saw the heat in Felix’s eyes, her chest tightened and she began to tremble. As they walked, Eileen whispered nervously, “What if I make a mistake? I can’t really dance.”

 

“Are you afraid of making a mistake?”

 

Eileen didn’t answer right away. She was too embarrassed to say she was afraid of the stares. Felix looked down at her, then grabbed her wrist and started to lead her out of the ballroom.

 

“Felix?!”

 

A panicked Eileen called out to him, but he didn’t answer, just smirked and looked back at her. His expression was so amused that Eileen gave up trying to stop him.

 

After leading her outside, Felix finally spoke up.

 

“Eileen, are you afraid of heights?”

 

“No. Then why did you come out here all of a sudden?”

 

“There’s a place I want to show you, but it’s kind of high up. Do you mind if I carry you up for a while?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Taken aback by his boldness, she stopped laughing at Felix’s obvious excitement. He looked too transparently happy to be suspicious.

 

“Okay.”

 

Hearing her approval, Felix stepped forward and scooped Eileen up in a hug. At the same time, Felix was lifted into the air, and a panicked Eileen grabbed him by the nape of his neck.

 

“Ah!”

 

Eileen blushed in embarrassment as Felix rose rapidly. It wasn’t the flying that scared her, but the sound of Felix’s heart pounding against her chest.

 

‘Since when does being stuck like this make my heart flutter?’

 

As she pondered the question, Felix called out to Eileen.

 

“Eileen, we’re here.”

 

He brought her to the roof of the hall, where she was greeted by a full moon and a vast expanse of stars above the wide indigo roof.

 

“It’s beautiful.”

 

Pure admiration escaped Eileen’s mouth. Just as what he had shown her in the Water Lily Pavilion was only a taste, the scenery created by the sky was truly special.

 

“Eileen, would you like to dance?”

 

Felix asked, swaying to the new tune playing in the hall. Eileen smiled happily this time and joined hands with him. They danced together, chandeliered by the stars and moonlight. It was a beautiful performance, with the slightest misstep quickly lost in the night sky.

 

After the first dance, Eileen, breathing heavily, looked up at the sky with a smile on her face. The vastness of the landscape diluted the anxiety she had been feeling.

 

“The wind, it feels so good.”

 

The coolness of the night air ruffled her hair, even though it was summer.

 

“Eileen.”

 

Felix’s muffled call snapped Eileen out of her reverie.

 

“Yes?”

 

Eileen stiffened suddenly. The boy’s eyes sparkled so beautifully at her nonchalance.

 

“Eileen.”

 

She swallowed dryly, not answering this time.

 

Felix’s eyes reflected the night sky. The light from the moon and stars formed rivers in his violet eyes, filling them with brilliance. Eileen felt a shiver run down her spine as she realized what was in those eyes.

 

“Don’t say another word!”

 

She urgently clamped her hand over Felix’s mouth. Felix, flustered by the sudden silence, backed away, and then supported Eileen’s shaking body.

 

“Huh?! This is the mood I’m in right now, so, uh, next time, we’ll talk sober!”

 

Felix’s eyes narrowed as he stared down at Eileen, who looked flustered and helpless. Her face was flushed all over.

 

He laid his hand over hers that covered her mouth. Gently removing the trembling white hand, he placed his own cheek against it. The soft cheek touched his palm, sending a rush of warmth through Eileen.

 

“I’m very calm now. I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time.”

 

Felix’s mouth opened once more, his cheek brushing lightly against her palm as if in protest. Eileen watched the lips slowly open and had the uncanny illusion of time slowing down.

 

For this moment, she could hear no music from the hall, no murmur from the crowd. In the silence, where she could almost hear the moon circling, she suddenly remembered the beginning.

 

All those moments of meeting Cordelia, knowing the tragedy of the original, and working to change it. All those moments when she was driven by the conviction that saving the “heroine” of the story would give her a life of peace.

 

‘I really thought a future where Cordelia and her loved ones were safe was enough.’

 

She often thought of her existence as a second chance for her protagonists. At some point, she was convinced that meeting Cordelia was not an accident, but a necessity, and that it was her mission to save them.

 

But it was an idea that made Eileen a stranger to the world.

 

The only one who knows the world’s secrets and past. Their helper, who can only survive by helping the main characters to solve something and change it for the better. Of course, she loved everyone she had met in this life, but sometimes she felt like a stranger, like she was different from them, facing the heavy future alone.

 

“Eileen, I like you.”

 

His words cut through all the silence and touched her heart.

 

Felix’s expression was warm and affectionate, but his face was stony. She didn’t know what to say or how to look.

 

“…I.”

 

The endings of time-honored stories often end with the couple winning their love and living happily ever after. Eileen was afraid of that.

 

“First of all, he’s sweet, but he’s not like a child, and I can’t stand him.”

 

“She’s dying? So I get the house and the car? What about her eyes? She’s family, and you can’t waste that?”

 

Memories of a life she thought she’d forgotten trickled back. Her soul remembered how difficult it was to let go of love and let another love take its place.

 

There was a long silence, and then Eileen opened her parched lips, looking lost.

 

“I don’t know, I don’t know if I can make you happy.”

 

The boy’s eyes still sparkled, but Eileen lowered her head, not daring to meet them. She was afraid. She wasn’t sure if she could give him back more than that giant heart, if there would be anything left after they’d exchanged hearts like that.

 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

 

A familiar mechanical sound pierced Eileen’s ears. A dark-haired soul, accustomed to disappointment and hurt, wept in the empty hospital room.

 

Felix sat down quietly, knees bent, and gently pulled Eileen’s hand, which clutched the hem of her robe so tightly that her knuckles were white. He looked up into her face, her eyes tightly closed and her head bowed, and smiled wickedly.

 

“Eileen, look at me. Okay?”

 

Felix’s soothing voice slowly soothed her as she trembled like a frightened child oblivious to the situation. Eileen hesitantly opened her eyes. His smiling face filled her vision.

 

“Eileen, I’m already happy.”

 

His voice rang with conviction and determination.

 

“I’m not confessing my heart to you because I want to be happy. I’m telling you because I want to give you the happiness I’ve learned from you.”

 

Felix took Eileen’s hand in his and pressed it to his forehead.

 

“So don’t worry.”

 

Tears welled up in the corners of Eileen’s eyes. It was a strange feeling. It felt so real, like she was alone with Felix in the world.

 

The hero.

 

She’d always thought of him as something so far away from her. Even in the countless novels she’d read to escape reality, even in the colorful characters she’d encountered in her rebirth. Eileen had always subconsciously drawn the line at them as different from her.

 

‘I thought a future where Cordelia and her loved ones were safe was enough.’

 

If everyone else fills in the blanks with their own happily ever after, what will she fill in next?

 

“No.”

 

A teardrop from Eileen’s eye fell to the crown of Felix’s head. He looked up at her again. After staring wordlessly into her tears, Felix spoke again.

 

“I love you more than anything in the world.”

 

There was no hesitation in his eyes, no hesitation at all. He was screaming his love with every fiber of his being.

 

It was so overwhelming that Eileen was speechless, as if her mouth had been glued shut. 

 

The time and the scene before her seemed unreal. Looking into Felix’s eyes, which were focused solely on her, all distinctions between hero and heroine became meaningless.

 

“Ah.”

 

Like a myriad of comets streaking across the night sky, his heart rushed toward Eileen. In the midst of the sensation of the entire universe pouring into her, she made a decision.

 

‘I’ve decided to move on, so let’s leave the distinctions behind.’

 

As long as she chose to face the future, she was as much a protagonist as everyone else on the walk. She was determined to value herself as much as she valued her loved ones.

 

The dark-haired girl in the hospital room burst through the door. As she ran down the hall, holding her breath, her dark hair turned a light brown, and her scrubs turned into a form-fitting dress.

 

“I hear music.”

 

Eileen let out the breath she’d been holding as the eerie mechanical sounds gave way to the strains of a violin. An uncanny sensation ran through her body, as if she had finally joined the rest of the world.

 

“Felix.”

 

Eileen called out to him, and Felix rose to his feet, waiting for her to speak. But she couldn’t speak easily.

 

So many thoughts were racing through her mind in that short moment that she didn’t know what words could express her feelings. Felix only smiled fondly at her confusion.

 

“It’s okay if you don’t have an answer right away, I’ll stay with you until you do.”

 

He lifted Eileen into a light hug. Bowing slightly to Eileen, who reflexively put her hand around his shoulder, Felix continued.

 

“Eileen, just like you did.”