Chapter 2 : The Backstories Of The Defeated Heroines Are Cold

I’m screwed.

I had planned to gradually correct future events starting from the academy and create opportunities for

Bryden and the other “losing heroines” to get closer, but today is graduation.

As I went to my seat for breakfast, I saw a scene that made me realize it was indeed graduation day.

For someone like me, an avid reader of Loveholic, it was a sight that stood out immediately.

“Sniff… Hic…”

A girl with wavy blonde hair, dressed in an extravagant frilly dress, was sobbing as she shakily picked up a fork and knife.

Clatter—

However, her hands were trembling so much that the fork fell to the floor.

She made no move to pick it up or get a new one—she simply continued to sob at her seat.

Lenis.

The youngest daughter of Marquis Valentine from the Kingdom of Pratea.

Crying in a busy student cafeteria was far from the noble and dignified image she usually clung to.

When I turned my gaze elsewhere, I saw another girl sitting motionless at a table, staring blankly like someone who had lost their homeland.

Elfin.

An elf who hated showing weakness and was desperate to grow stronger, always striving to achieve results befitting her status.

She despised idleness and always found something to do, constantly moving her body in some way.

Yet now, she sat there like a soulless corpse.

It was a sight I could never have imagined under normal circumstances.

And then, one more person—

Lavi.

A pink-haired girl with adorable bunny ears.

Unlike the other two, she was at least eating her meal.

However, the ever-present foolish grin on her face was completely gone.

Her always-upright bunny ears drooped lifelessly, reflecting her mood.

Compared to the other two, she was doing her best to maintain her normal routine, as if nothing had happened…

But thinking back to how she had always kept her smile, no matter who bullied or discriminated against her, seeing her so expressionless now was beyond shocking.

Lenis, Elfin, Lavi.

The popular heroines of Loveholic, and at the same time, the losing heroines.

Along with Bryden and Celine, they had always been a group of five, eating together.

But now, the two were absent, and the remaining three sat far apart from each other, eating separately.

It was understandable.

After all, today was graduation, which meant that just yesterday, Bryden and Celine had confessed their feelings and become a couple.

In the original Loveholic, their relationship was established, but the story never described what happened immediately after… like today.

“It’s a promise! No matter who ends up with Bryden, the rest of us won’t hold a grudge! And our friendship won’t change!”

The four heroines had once hooked their pinkies together and made that vow in the story.

Since the original novel ended with Bryden and Celine getting together, there was no mention of what happened to the three losing heroines afterward.

I had assumed they would simply move on and continue their lives without much trouble.

But looking at this now…

This was hard to watch.

In a web novel, it could be glossed over with a simple “a few years later…”, but reality was different.

The immediate aftermath for the losing heroines, who were no longer the center of attention, was nothing but pure misery.

Seeing my favorite characters like this, drowning in such a depressing atmosphere, made my heart ache.

But even if I went over to comfort them… would anything change?

If Loveholic had already reached its ending, then given Alvis’ previous behavior, my reputation among the losing heroines was already at rock bottom.

If I tried to console them now, they’d just think I was scheming something again.

And considering how terrible they must feel at the moment, it would only make things worse.

So I decided to observe the situation for now and took my meal, about to sit down—

Then, suddenly—

“Those who resist fate will have every choice tested by destiny. If they fail to change the predetermined outcome, they will face a backlash.”

▶ Due to your choice, you will receive a Level 1 backlash.

“Wha—”

Thud—

In that instant, I felt as if someone had punched me hard in the stomach.

The pain was so sudden that I couldn’t even scream.

I just gasped with my mouth wide open, clutching my abdomen.

‘What… the hell…?’

The pain didn’t stop at one strike—it came in waves, over and over again.

It was supposed to be Level 1, the weakest of five levels…

‘Damn it, why does it hurt so much?! S-Stop…’

It was the worst stomach pain I had ever experienced in my life.

The pain started in my abdomen, spread to my upper body, and lasted for about 20 seconds before finally disappearing.

By the time it was gone, I was drenched in cold sweat.

And in that moment, I truly understood the risk of resisting fate.

If Level 1 was this bad, how much worse would Levels 2 and 3 be?

Would Level 5 just outright kill me?

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

I couldn’t accept this.

Why the hell do I have to go through this crap?

This is all because of that damn author who thought it was a good idea to make a harem story end with a monogamous ending!

No, actually, it’s the fault of the game developers who made this original-destroying, jack-of-all-trades mess of a game!

No, wait—it all started when they recklessly sold the IP in the first place!

Cursing one person after another in my mind, I took a deep breath and stood up.

If ignoring these losing heroines means I’ll just experience this pain over and over again, then I don’t really have a choice, do I?

Damn it, I still don’t even know what’s supposed to get better, but I’m already feeling the risk firsthand.

Lenis, Elfin, Lavi.

I have to talk to at least one of them, huh?

So this is another one of those choice moments?

I glanced back and forth between the three girls radiating pure misery.

Lenis Valentine.

She’s fundamentally calculating, has a serious inferiority complex due to her background, and is obsessed with maintaining a noble, dignified appearance in front of others.

If I go up to her while she’s sobbing and sniffling like this in public and try to offer comfort, it’ll just make her more wary of me—100% guaranteed.

Elfin.

Proud, competitive, and—as an elf—has a strong sense of racial superiority, looking down on humans to some extent.

To put it nicely, she’s elegant.

To put it bluntly, she’s an arrogant brat.

The only non-elves she has ever opened up to are Bryden, Celine, Lenis, and Lavi.

If I approach her now, she’ll probably just tell me to piss off.

Lastly, Lavi.

A Bunnyfolk girl who has spent her academy life being subtly discriminated against by humans, with nowhere to truly belong.

Like Elfin, she’s only really opened up to the main cast of Loveholic, but while Elfin holds herself above humans, Lavi is on the other end—beneath them.

She has a habit of blurting out whatever comes to mind, but at her core, she’s gentle and naive, just like a rabbit.

Unlike the other two, she’s less likely to immediately tell me to get lost the moment she sees me.

Alright, I’ll go with Lavi.

I was a little worried that this “Resistance to Fate” thing might pull some crap again, but thankfully, nothing happened.

As I took a seat at the table across from Lavi, who was eating her meal like a machine, she slowly lifted her head and looked at me.

Then, with dead eyes, she glanced at me once before dropping her gaze back to her plate without saying a word.

“Why the long face? That’s not like you.”

I obviously knew the reason, but since I was supposed to play dumb here, I pretended not to know.

Without even looking at me, Lavi answered immediately.

“Please leave me alone.”

“The girl who used to go around grinning like an idiot all the time is now eating alone with a face like a funeral? Of course that’s gonna catch my attention. Are you okay? Where are all your friends? What about Bryden?”

“…Bryden… ugh…”

The moment she thought about him, sorrow washed over her again, and her big, round eyes welled up with tears.

I quickly pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her. She wiped her tears and then gave it back.

“Thanks…”

“Did you guys have a fight? Doesn’t seem like something Bryden would do.”

“It’s not a fight. It’s just… something happened. I appreciate your concern, but please leave me alone.”

“Can’t do that. If I just walk away after seeing a lady with drooping ears and dead fish eyes, looking like she’s drowning in misery, I’d feel guilty all day. If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. I’ll just keep you company.”

“I don’t need company either.”

“That so? Then I’ll just talk to myself. Just pretend you called in a clown to lighten the mood.”

Lavi is a Bunnyfolk, and the Bunnyfolk have been discriminated against and mocked by humans for ages… or so the lore says.

From a modern perspective, she’s a pure and sexy bunny girl with big ears and an amazing body—basically, the perfect woman.

Looking at Lavi’s droopy ears, I couldn’t help but feel a sudden urge to touch them.

Lavi was also my favorite character, and among fellow rabbit lovers, we often joked about wanting to “suck on Lavi’s ears.”

Now that I was seeing them in real life…

At my words, Lavi briefly shifted her gaze toward me and asked,

“Even after sticking around for three years, you still haven’t given up, huh? I get Lenis and Elfin, but why are you like this with me too?”

“Hmm? So it’s fine with them, but there’s some special reason why I shouldn’t be like this with you?”

“Because I’m a Bunnyfolk.”

“Wow, that’s a new one. A person wanting to talk to another person is suddenly a problem because you’re Bunnyfolk?”

Lavi tilted her head slightly.

She probably wasn’t used to this.

Being treated as an equal, like a fellow human.

Until now, the only one who had ever treated her that way was Bryden.

At that moment, the entrance of the cafeteria started getting noisy.

Someone whistled.

Others cheered and clapped.

Both Lavi and I turned our heads at the same time.

And in that moment—Lavi froze.

Through the open cafeteria doors, Bryden and Celine walked in, hand in hand.

To be continued…