Transmigrated As The Villainess' Boyfriend With A... SSS Harem System?

Canaria hugged me. Her tears soaked my uniform. I didn't care.

"Thank you, Dariel. Thank you... I hope Garchi can move on."

She pulled away. And after drying her eyes, Lady Canaria left to join the rest of the students.

Staying in the corner, I watched from afar.

Fendrel was still with the terrariums. The nobles kept observing the creatures enthusiastically, pointing with their index fingers at the ones they claimed as their new companions. Some picked the same one and started arguing.

Everything proceeded normally... until Ardwyn approached the center of the classroom.

"Enough," he said. His voice made everyone turn toward him. "A student has died in the vicinity of our academy. And the guards tell us that 'classes continue as if nothing happened.'"

With everyone's attention, Ardwyn jumped onto a pot filled with dirt to gain height.

"I'm not going to wait for the Empero Council to find the culprit," he said, looking down at all of us while moving his hands energetically. "I will find him." His golden Empero pulsed around him. "If anyone here knows something, speak. If anyone has seen something, say it. Because as long as the killer is loose, none of us will be safe."

There was silence. Then, someone clapped, and the applause spread among everyone like a virus until the entire classroom was clapping.

The nobles looked at Ardwyn with a gleam in their eyes. Hope? It was the same gleam children get when seeing their heroes.

After all, Ardwyn was a hero in the original novel. Charismatic. Attractive. Brave... Attributes that could work against you if you were blinded by arrogance and lacked analytical skills.

Lianza also clapped, albeit without enthusiasm. Out of obligation. Layda clapped while keeping that shy smile that made me so uncomfortable. Why did no one notice this side of Layda?

My hands stayed still.

My silence wasn't disagreement. I knew something Ardwyn didn't: the killer was here, among those clapping.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

After class, I headed to Canaria's quarters.

The door was ajar. Inside, a small room. Made bed. Desk with books. A litter box in the corner. And on the bed was Garchi. Small, about six months old. Green eyes.

Approaching, the cat looked at me. He neither meowed nor moved. He just watched me with those green eyes that had seen what I saw the night before.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I extended my hand. Garchi sniffed it. Then he curled up against my bandaged palm.

His body was small. Warm. Trembling.

"Hello, Garchi," I whispered. "My name is Dariel. I'm going to take care of you from now on."

The cat meowed softly.

Petting him, his fur felt soft and white. Like touching a cloud. He curled closer to my hand. Seeking warmth. Seeking someone.

That made something in me break.

Garchi had grown up without parents, and now his owner had just died. He himself had found the corpse. He had curled up on his cold lap. And now he was in an empty room, alone and insecure in a world that was unknown to him.

I had also lost everything upon transmigrating and getting this second chance. And although I hadn't lost an owner, I had left my entire world behind. My life. My mother, who called me daily to check on me and ask if I had eaten.

My mother...

She never missed a single day. At seven in the evening, when I arrived from work or college. She told me things that seemed mundane. Whether I had slept. If I was okay. If I had washed my clothes... Her notifications popped up on my phone while I was reading the web novel The Throne of Ashes and Thorns. Sometimes at the best moment. Sometimes at the worst. But I had always found them annoying.

'Did you eat?' 'Did you sleep?' 'Are you okay?' 'Call me when you can.'

Annoying. Unbearable. Constant.

I missed them.

I missed them with every fiber of my being.

Garchi kept welcoming my pets with enthusiasm. He meowed again. Curled up against my chest. I held him close.

On the other hand, I...

There are moments when every gentleman cries. And when you realize that those people are no longer around, and that what you perceived as 'annoyances' was actually love... that is one of those moments.

Letting the emotion flow, tears slid down my face. I had never let all of that out before.

"I lost someone too, champ," I whispered to him. "But I promise you something, Garchi. You won't be alone. I will protect you too."

The cat stayed still. Warm against my chest. And although his heartbeats were resolute, they were also those of someone scared.

A resolute heart, but a frightened one.

Like mine.

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