The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 179

Inside Iris’s room, trapped in darkness as the nightmare spreads.

Iris looked up at me with wide, round eyes.

She likely never expected me to react like this here.

Which is exactly why I press further.

“Lady Iris, you’re old enough to pursue what you want.

The Iris I know wasn’t someone who clung blindly to familial affection without regard for reason.”

Iris Highsirion.

During the Flame Butterfly arc, she was always a character shrouded in mystery.

An inscrutable expression, shadows cast over her face.

Yet, she consistently displayed strength greater than Lucas.

That was the impression I had of her while playing the game.

But the game is now reality.

I’ve witnessed firsthand how Iris has lived all this time.

It’s clear she’s been forced onto the imperial throne by Cheonhye Gong.

Even if she never wanted it, she had no choice but to bear the burden.

Yet, as the Third Princess, Iris has always devoted herself to her duties.

She stood before others more resolutely than anyone.

Even if, behind closed doors, she was tormented by nightmares, she lived with the dignity of a princess.

That image is firmly etched into my mind.

Not as some enigmatic final boss character—but as Iris Highsirion, the person.

Iris does yearn for familial love.

But she was never meant to spend her life shackled to it.

She’s someone who can stand tall as a princess, more radiant than anyone.

That is the Iris Highsirion I’ve come to know.

“I know being a princess doesn’t mean being perfect all the time.”

A princess is still human.

No matter how much the world praises and elevates her, there are moments she stumbles and falls.

“But the Iris I know wasn’t someone so weak.”

Iris, on the verge of being consumed by her nightmare.

I gaze at the teardrops welling in her crimson eyes and speak firmly.

“I’ve undoubtedly committed an unforgivable sin against you, Lady Iris.

I stood by your side under the false name of your cousin, Hanon.”

My hands grip her shoulders tightly.

I hold onto her, stronger than anyone, as she teeters on the edge of the nightmare.

“But I dare to ask you this—did everything I ever say to you amount to nothing but lies?”

Iris’s eyes in the nightmare meet mine.

“Were all my actions toward you truly meaningless?”

I genuinely wanted to save Iris.

I didn’t want her to fall into the nightmare, so I did everything I could.

Why did Iris open her heart to me?

Because even in the face of her discerning gaze, I always approached her with sincerity.

Hania once told me—

She knew my feelings for Iris were genuine, so at the very least, she wouldn’t be the first to speak up.

This was something I heard directly from Hania, who had always supported and protected Iris.

“Lady Iris.”

I call her name again.

Staring straight into her crimson eyes.

My hands tighten even more.

“It’s not just family who can understand and support you, is it?”

There have been people by Iris’s side all this time.

Among them are me—and Hania.

“Do the words of those around you matter so little? Is the societal construct of ‘family’ the only thing that defines this world?”

I press her further.

I shout at Iris, who, starved for familial love, had eyes only for that.

“Was everything you saw and felt with your own eyes nothing but lies?”

Iris treated me with sincerity.

What I did to help her was never in vain.

I pulled her from her nightmares and gave her more peaceful sleep than anyone else.

Iris, more than anyone, has experienced this firsthand.

“Right now, the person reflected in your eyes is Hanon Iraey—the Hanon you’ve known all this time.”

I pour out my sincerity.

I keep shouting at Iris, who is slipping into the nightmare.

“Tell me—was there truly nothing but falsehood in me?”

Iris’s hand, clutching my collar, trembles slightly.

“……No.”

For the first time, she denies it.

“The Hanon I knew… was sincere.”

Tears spill from her eyes.

“She genuinely wanted to save me from my nightmares.”

Sincerity reaches her.

My feelings had always reached Iris.

That’s why, now, she acknowledges that my efforts were more genuine than anyone else’s.

Kuuung—

At that moment, the entire girls’ dormitory shakes.

Iris’s nightmare begins to spread, affecting the surroundings.

Belatedly snapping back to reality, Iris stiffens.

If the nightmare takes over the dormitory, the students inside will be in danger.

She realizes this.

But above all, it’s most dangerous for Iris herself.

The moment she’s consumed by the nightmare, she may never return.

Kuuung!

Right on cue, the nightmare blooms from Iris’s chest.

Realizing she’s being devoured, Iris tries to push me away.

She understands that if this continues, I’ll be swallowed too.

But I reach out, gripping her shoulders and pulling her toward me.

In an instant, Iris is yanked into my embrace.

Though I’ve always been the one nestled in her arms, now I’m the one holding her.

“Wait—!”

“Lady Iris, the world isn’t connected solely by familial bonds.”

Iris frantically tries to shove me away.

But I hold onto her even tighter.

The nightmare spreads to me.

The freezing darkness tries to gnaw at us both in an instant.

“By your side, there’s me, Hania, and the other academy students.”

But I have no intention of standing by.

Everything I’ve gained through countless life-and-death struggles now resides within me.

The mark of the Flame Dragon etched into my skin begins to radiate heat.

In response, the remnants of the ancient dragon resonate with the flames, igniting.

Eyes like a brilliant yellow lizard’s gleam.

Scales of the Flame Dragon emerge across my face as my form shifts.

A raging inferno erupts.

Yet, the nightmare continues its relentless advance.

“No! Stop—get away!”

Iris cries out in a pained voice.

But if I were going to flee, I wouldn’t have embraced her in the first place.

“I’ve been remiss in introducing myself, Lady Iris.”

The bandages of disguise unravel.

My true form is revealed.

At first, I tried desperately to hide it.

But now, I unveil myself to forge a new, sincere bond with her.

“I am Vikarm Niflheim.”

White hair streams behind me.

Now towering over Iris in both height and build, I can envelop her completely.

Iris’s eyes widen as they meet mine.

Of course—she never expected this person to be here.

At the same time, another flame begins to rise from my body.

A fire unlike any before.

The Ashen Flame, once corrupted by the Evil God.

Now, it blazes fiercely to melt away the nightmare.

The Flame Dragon’s fire tinges with gray.

The Ashen Flame sears through the nightmare.

But the nightmare doesn’t yield easily.

It fights back, struggling to extinguish the Ashen Flame.

In response, the flames burn even brighter.

This is the fire I inherited from Vulcan.

I refuse to be overwhelmed by some nightmare planted by the Evil God.

Kwaaak!

At that moment, Iris also begins resisting the nightmare.

She, too, doesn’t want it to consume everything.

The nightmare thrashes.

It had finally found a chance to bloom within Iris, but now it refuses to be subdued.

“No one lives on dreams alone.”

I speak to the nightmare as the Ashen Flame roars higher.

The blazing fire drives its fangs into the nightmare.

“Wake up.”

Crack!

The nightmare fractures.

Shatter!

With that, it finally shatters to pieces.

Fragments of the nightmare scatter in all directions.

Bathed in the Ashen Flame’s light, the shimmering shards are, for this moment, as beautiful as a dream.

Iris rests her head against my chest.

Her eyes, deprived of sleep for so long, slowly begin to close.

The warmth she’s always felt when falling asleep.

That warmth embraces her now.

“……Hanon.”

She murmurs the name she’s always called me.

“……It’s Hanon.”

Hanon—the cousin she believed me to be.

My warmth reaches her most truthfully.

Before long, Iris drifts into sleep.

Not the nightmares that tormented her, but a peaceful slumber.

With Iris asleep, the surroundings return to reality.

The nightmare fragments crumble into dust and vanish.

Click!

At the same time, the locked door swings open.

“Lady Iris!”

Hania bursts in, her face frantic.

Beads of sweat cover her forehead—she must have strained herself trying to open the door.

Noise filters in from outside.

Earlier, the entire dormitory shook due to Iris’s nightmare.

The students are now hurriedly evacuating under the maids’ guidance.

Hania’s eyes meet mine.

She freezes at the sight of my true form, which she’s seen once before.

At the same time, she notices Iris, sound asleep in my arms.

“……Hanon?”

When Hania calls my name, I nod.

Her expression twists with conflicting emotions before she finally closes the door.

Leaving it open would let others see me.

“What the hell happened?”

“Lady Iris found out who I really am.”

Hania swallows hard.

At once, she understands why Iris’s expression had been so dark lately.

She’d vaguely assumed it was the nightmares—but it was because she’d discovered the truth about me, the only family she thought she had.

Hania exhales a long sigh as she looks at the sleeping Iris.

“Is Lady Iris… going to be alright now?”

“For the moment.”

Unfortunately, I can’t say she’s completely fine.

Once a nightmare takes root, it’s always ready to reawaken.

To truly eradicate it, we must eliminate the source.

‘Cheonhye Gong.’

He must be destroyed.

Hania quietly studies Iris’s sleeping face.

Then, she walks over, pulls out a blanket, drapes it over her, and sits beside me.

“I’ll have to apologize when Lady Iris wakes up.”

“Yeah. Think she’ll accept a grand gesture?”

“I don’t know what a ‘grand gesture’ is, but Lady Iris is kind.”

Hania smiles faintly as she looks at Iris.

“I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”

If nothing else, Iris has a knack for attracting good people.

“By the way, Hanon… is that your real form?”

“Seeing your ex-boyfriend’s true face—how does it feel?”

“Annoying.”

I guess that’s how exes are.

Hania lets her peach-colored hair fall forward as she rests her face on her knees.

Then, she grins.

“Still better than before, though.”

Of course—it’s Vikarm’s face.

“Wanna get back together? It’d be like dating a whole new guy.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

A scathing ex-girlfriend indeed.

Amid our quiet laughter,

Iris sleeps with the most peaceful expression she’s ever worn.