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“Linea!“

A sea of white blossoms swayed across the meadow, rippling gently beneath the breeze. From within the flowers, a head of soft pink hair suddenly popped into view.

Eyes as blue as the summer sky curved into crescents when they found me. Smiling brightly, she lifted the flower crown in her hands and waved it.

“Pretty, isn’t it? Here—try it on!”

Humming a cheerful tune that seemed to belong to no song at all, the girl skipped toward me.

She was Luibel, the heroine of the novel I had been reincarnated into.

Rising onto her tiptoes, Luibel ignored my obvious reluctance and carefully placed the flower crown on my head anyway. Then she burst into delighted laughter.

“Wow… it looks so pretty on you!”

“…You haven’t forgotten why we’re here, have you?”

“I know, I know! We’re out here because…” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “Hmm… Anyway, we’re doing something important, right?”

I covered my face with one hand.

Ah.

She forgot again.

Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself to say the embarrassingly dramatic line I’d repeated countless times already. No matter how often I said it, I could never get used to it.

“We’re supposed to save the world.”

“Oh!”

Her eyes widened.

“That’s right! I totally forgot.”

I never imagined the heroine of the novel I’d been reincarnated into would be… this carefree.

Believe me, I hadn’t wanted to run away with someone like her either.

But there was a reason.

The novel that had become the world of my new life was infamous for one thing:

It was absolutely, relentlessly tragic.

I couldn’t remember the exact title anymore. Maybe it was something like The Saintess of a Doomed World.

After all, Luibel—the Saintess—was the protagonist.

Like any proper misery-filled novel, the story followed the world’s last Saintess as she failed to save humanity and instead spent the rest of her life imprisoned by the male leads.

The reason she failed to prevent the apocalypse was surprisingly simple.

To stop the world’s destruction, Luibel had to travel across the Empire and seal the scattered fragments of the Demon Dragon.

Unfortunately…

The male leads refused to let her leave.

Claiming it was too dangerous, they stopped her every single time.

Whenever she escaped to fulfill her duty, they’d immediately chase her down, drag her back, and lock her up again.

Seriously.

Why?

Couldn’t they just help her save the world first and live happily ever after afterward?

Apparently not.

Those stubborn idiots didn’t care about the apocalypse.

They just didn’t want her leaving them.

And so the reverse-harem romance didn’t end with everyone living happily together.

It ended with everyone dying together.

Every.

Single.

Character.

If every character died at the end…

Then what about me?

“A total destruction ending.”

“A world-ending ending.”

Now that I’d been reborn inside the novel, its ending would become my ending too.

If Luibel failed to seal the Demon Dragon’s fragments…

Then my future was nothing but annihilation.

Absolutely not.

Whether I wanted to become a wealthy merchant, own buildings, or simply enjoy a peaceful life, none of that mattered if the entire world disappeared first.

So I’d made up my mind.

I was going to save the world myself.

I already knew the plot.

How hard could it be?

All I had to do was take the original heroine and run away before the male leads could lock her up.

And that’s exactly what I did.

Except…

“Linea, when are we eating?”

…

Why did the one person who was supposed to save the world look like she had absolutely no intention of saving it?

In the original story, she’d desperately fought to prevent the apocalypse.

Now?

She simply smiled at me, looking utterly unconcerned.

“I’m hungry.”

I forced myself to think positively.

Luibel wasn’t malicious.

She was just…

Like this.

“We’ll eat after we’ve traveled a little farther.”

“Okay! But where are we going? When are we heading back to the Imperial Palace?”

She puffed out her cheeks slightly.

“Traveling for too long is difficult when you’re in the early stages of pregnancy.”

“…Probably another month before we—”

I froze.

“…What?”

“Hm?”

“…Wait.”

I stared at her.

“What… did you just say?”

“That traveling is hard?”

“No. Before that.”

“Oh.”

She blinked innocently.

“That I’m in the early stages of pregnancy?”

My mouth fell open.

Maybe that’s why people gape when they’re shocked.

For a moment, they literally forget how to breathe.

“Linea?”

Concern filled Luibel’s face as she gently grabbed my shoulders.

“What’s wrong?”

“Y-you…”

I pointed a trembling finger at her.

“You’re… pregnant?”

“Mhm!”

She nodded happily.

“That’s not funny.”

“Huh?”

She looked genuinely confused.

“Who would joke about something like that? I’m serious.”

A shy smile spread across her face as she lovingly stroked her stomach.

I stared.

Wait…

Was her stomach…

Actually showing?

“You’re embarrassing me.”

She giggled.

“Stop staring.”

“Oh.”

I quickly looked away.

In the original novel, the heroine had been pure to an almost unbelievable degree.

Meeting her in person only confirmed it.

She wasn’t clever enough to tell convincing lies.

And she definitely wasn’t the type to scheme or hide something.

So…

Was she really pregnant?

I muttered under my breath.

“Seriously…?”

Had I forgotten part of the novel?

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Luibel asked.

Then it hit me.

Like lightning.

“…Oh.”

I’d been reincarnated here years ago.

Of course my memory of the original novel wasn’t perfect anymore.

How could anyone remember every little detail?

“Linea?”

She looked at me with worried sky-blue eyes.

Their innocence snapped me back to reality.

“N-no.”

I forced a smile.

“I’m fine. I just… blanked out for a second.”

“…Anyway.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you!”

I desperately held together the fragments of my collapsing sanity.

Okay.

First things first.

Let’s figure out the situation.

“Luibel…”

I hesitated.

Asking Who’s the father? felt far too blunt.

Instead, I awkwardly gestured, hoping she’d understand.

Immediately, her cheeks flushed crimson.

She covered her face with both hands.

“It’s so embarrassing to say…”

Then she whispered,

“But… I actually don’t know.”

“…What?”

“I was incredibly drunk that night.”

She smiled sheepishly.

“So… I don’t remember who it was.”

“…”

“…What?”

I slowly raised a hand.

“Wait.”

My lungs suddenly felt too small.

I needed a second.

After several deep breaths, Luibel watched me curiously before copying my breathing.

“Is this a healthy breathing exercise?”

Please.

Just…

Please don’t.

“Think carefully,” I said through clenched teeth.

“You’ve got plenty of men chasing after you.”

“There has to be one who comes to mind.”

“I’m sure it’s one of them.”

“I have men chasing me?”

Her eyes sparkled.

“Wow! I had no idea I was so popular!”

I covered my eyes.

Don’t get angry.

Don’t get angry.

Luibel had always been this oblivious.

Her head was practically filled with flowers.

That’s just who she was.

“So…”

I took another breath.

“When exactly was this?”

“It was about three months ago.”

She tapped her chin.

“At Baroness Veil’s party.”

“There were so many fun people there!”

“They kept offering me drinks…”

“So I kept drinking…”

“Hold on.”

I frowned.

“Who’s Baroness Veil?”

“I’ve never heard of her.”

“I don’t really know either.”

She shrugged.

“I just got an invitation and thought it sounded fun.”

“Anyway, I got really, really drunk…”

“And then…”

Her cheeks turned bright red.

“…Well.”

“I’m sure you can imagine the rest.”

No.

No, I absolutely could not.

But Luibel only smiled bashfully instead of explaining further.

…Fine.

Whatever.

It wasn’t my baby.

The father was probably one of the male leads anyway.

Maybe Jess.

Not my problem.

The important thing was preventing the end of the world.

I just had to escort pregnant Luibel safely to the Demon Dragon fragments.

Once we arrived…

She would perform the sealing ritual herself.

…Right?

“Ah!”

Luibel suddenly clapped her hands.

“I forgot to tell you something.”

“Linea.”

“I can’t use holy power anymore.”

I stared at her.

“…What?”

“I can’t use divine magic anymore.”

“So I can still travel with you…”

“But…”

She scratched her cheek awkwardly.

“What was it you wanted me to do?”

“Oh, right.”

“Seal something?”

“I don’t think I can.”

“…”

“…You can’t use holy power?”

“Mhm.”

She nodded cheerfully.

“It just happened.”

“But don’t worry!”

“I can still help with everything that doesn’t require holy power!”

“Why?”

I nearly shouted.

“Why can’t you use it anymore?”

“That’s the most important thing about you!”

“It’s the whole reason I brought you with me!”

Even after hearing me reduce her entire worth to her holy power, Luibel didn’t seem offended in the slightest.

She simply smiled.

“I’m not really sure.”

“Maybe because I’m pregnant?”

She gently rubbed her stomach again.

“It feels like all my holy power has gathered here.”

“To protect my baby.”

“…Do you even understand what it means if you can’t use holy power?”

“Hmm…”

She tilted her head.

“Not really?”

“It means you can’t perform the sealing!”

“And if you can’t perform the sealing…”

“The world ends!”

“Do you know what that means?”

“We all die!”

“Everyone dies!”

Luibel simply smiled.

“Linea…”

“People die eventually anyway.”

“So while we’re alive, we’re supposed to live without regrets.”

She looked up at me with an innocent grin.

“I’m getting hungry.”

“What should we eat?”

“My appetite’s gotten so much bigger lately.”

I tried to take a deep breath.

I couldn’t.

Finally, I exploded.

“Luibel!”

“You’re the heroine!”

“You’re the protagonist of this novel!”

“You’re supposed to follow the original story!”

“So why aren’t you?!”

“WHY?!”

She laughed as though I were saying something silly.

“Linea…”

“What have you been talking about all this time?”

“Then tell me why!”

“At least give me a reason!”

“You must be hungry too.”

She smiled brightly.

“People get cranky when they’re hungry.”

“Come on.”

“Let’s go eat.”

…

Could the world still be saved?

With her?