Chapter 22

Here we are in Volume 2! We’ve made it to the middle of the story. Which means there’s only a third left after this! Anyway, hello! If you’ve already finished reading, how did you like the second volume? What do you think? Am I writing this love triangle correctly? I think I’m quite misunderstood as someone who writes only idyllic, feel-good stories. In fact, I really enjoy creating fiction featuring beautiful—but evil—heroines. How is the story going to develop from here on? Sorry, can’t tell you—I’ve only just started writing the next part. I wonder who I should consider the main protagonist. It might turn out it’s the devilish lady…or not! This is what motivates me to keep writing—not knowing what my characters will do. Letting the work develop as I write might be a critical part of my creative process! By the way, would you guess that this year I’m celebrating my fifteenth anniversary of becoming a writer? I’ve been doing this for fifteen years. Seriously! Even I can’t believe it. Making a living for fifteen years from writing fiction. Fifteen years—that’s the span of time it takes for a baby to become a high schooler. So considering only the part of my life I’ve lived as a writer, I’m a high schooler. Cool! Probably very few of you have been reading my books since I started writing. Doesn’t matter! I’m really, really glad for everyone who reads even just one of my books. If, dear reader, you just curiously picked up my book from the shelf to take a peek at the afterword—come on, give it a read! Or try any of my other novels. There are plenty to choose from by now! Nothing makes me as happy as thinking that someone out there bought my book, liked it, put it on their shelf, and still thinks about it sometimes. I am aware of the boom in digital reading, but you know what I mean! I’m planning to finish this series this year and move on to writing something else, and then something else after that, and so on. I hope you don’t get tired of me! Thank you for reading yet another of my books! Hitoma Iruma