Chapter 40: CH 39

Chapter 39

Translator: Yonnee

Raw Provider: Haebaragi_syk

—

She said this before:

“Did I get some extra luck after getting cursed once?”

“Haa… I spoke too soon.”

Sighing deeply, Reina glanced at the main character, who was surrounded by many people.

After she returned to the capital, she had to visit the dean’s office to submit some documents to excuse her absence from the academy.

“Young Lord Lehman applied for a tour around the Imperial Palace. I believe it would be nice if you could show him around, Miss Reina.”

“Ha… Is the universe taking the first chance to curse me right after giving me so much luck at the Thurn Village?”

There wouldn’t be a difference even if she grumbled about it, but Reina was too busy complaining anyway.

“And why me? Jeremy and Douglas are there, too. Or maybe some other sub male lead can get along well… Ah, right. Well, they wouldn’t get along, gosh.”

Originally around this time, everyone’s getting impatient to be with, all antsy and unable to sit still. This included the salty Fren, the stereotypical lunatic Letis, that immature kid Noah, and the gruff and unfriendly Luke.

“Umm… But why did the story change?”

Strangely enough, only the main male lead Jeremy and the sub male lead Douglas had entered the Lehman-mania.

“No, I mean, there’s still two other people from the nine families to guide Lehman there, right?”

Why did she have to do it herself? After the laboratory incident, it wouldn’t be strange to say that she wasn’t on good terms with Lehman.

One of Reina’s eyes was slightly twitching, but she soon closed both eyes for a moment, then approached her destination.

“Then are you saying that you taught yourself?”

“Yeah.”

“Lehman.”

“Whoa… You’re really amazing, aren’t you.”

“I’m not good enough though, since I just learned by myself.”

“Lehman.”

“What do you mean, not good enough? You entered the academy as the freshman representative. This kid, you’re so humble.”

Was it because there’s a bunch of people excitedly praising Lehman? Reina’s voice was fading in the background. No, honestly, it seemed like they could hear her well enough, it’s just that they’re not responding to her.

After that, she tried to call him several more times, but when no answer came back, Reina eventually yelled.

“Lehman!”

“Ack!”

“Ow— You startled me!”

Those who were standing with their backs facing her then turned around in surprise, gritting their teeth and letting out a reflexive shout.

“Who the hell is screaming without any care to the… Ah… Reina.”

“Sorry. But you couldn’t hear me no matter how many times I tried to call you.”

The mood plummeted as if Reina Chantra’s untimely appearance poured cold water over their surroundings.

The only person who greeted her back with a calm face was Lehman.

“Hello, Reina.”

“I’ve been trying to call you for a while now.”

Annoyed, Reina snapped back, but really. His reaction didn’t have even a speck of apology in it.

“You should call louder, of course. I couldn’t hear you because there were so many people around.”

Yeah, that kind of reaction. Lehman had always been this way ever since the lab incident.

It was such an ambiguous demeanor that he didn’t look like he was being openly rude, but at the same time, it’s like he’s showing that he didn’t like her—without being rude about it.

“The Dean told me to guide you for your tour around the Imperial Palace. Here’s the visitation permit. I’ll be there around the first week of next month.”

She didn’t want to talk with him for any longer than that, so she quickly turned around after saying what she needed to say.

Then, as expected, whispers started to come up behind her.

“Isn’t Reina a bit too plain?”

She didn’t want to hear it, but thanks to her abilities, she could hear them crystal clear.

“You’re right. All the children of the other households are really admirable.”

‘Admirable? Aaaadmirable?? Yeah right, maybe the craziest and the most admirably deranged people in the entire Empire.’

There was a whole lot else she could say about them, but in short, they were all so crazy that you couldn’t be disappointed by the levels of crazy they had. Wouldn’t you think the same if you just looked at Jeremy, who was the male lead of the original novel?

‘How many psychopaths does it take to possess that gosh darn Lehman anyway…’

Noah, the softest of the sub male leads, even orchestrated his younger sister’s death. But these people are saying that those people were admirable?

“By comparison, Reina is…”

“A little lacking, yeah. Kehehe.”

She did nothing wrong, yet she was getting cursed at now. Well, originally, people in the nine families received nothing but admiration and praise in the front, yet the moment they turned their backs, they’d receive nothing by jealousy and scorn.

But in addition to all that, Reina was the youngest daughter of her household and wouldn’t inherit any titles. And you think that’s all? She didn’t even have a fiancé. Oh, what a perfect match for all this targeted backstabbing!

“Hey, even if it’s true, you’re saying it too thoughtlessly.”

“Did you not learn any ethics in class? You need to act customarily and genuinely.”

“What the. You only ever bring up ethics at times like this.”

How very unfortunate. Who, you ask? Well, Reina, of course.

Even if she wasn’t interested in listening to all of that, she could still hear the gossip that’s supposedly out of earshot. Life was really tiring.

“Haa… Really though, I’m being criticized too much these days.”

Before, she could be considered an extra who’s treated like an outcast, but right now, it felt like she was slowly becoming ‘public enemy number one’.

“Ah, whatever. Paul said he’s gonna come visit today, so let’s just have fun.”

* * *

As soon as she got home, Reina changed into comfortable clothes and quickly ran to the central garden.

“That guy’s gonna make a fuss because I’m late.”

With such hurried steps, the moment she entered the Chantra garden that was filled with the scent of roses, she saw Paul. He also waved his hand when he found Reina.

“Reina, we’re going to Cressen!”

“Huh?”

Not ‘let’s go’, but ‘we’re going’?

As she arrived at the table before she knew it, Reina naturally sat down next to him. Right then, he proceeded to go dadada and spoke like a lark.

“It’s been decided that this spring vacation will be at Cressen.”

“Whose vacation?”

“Yours.”

“With whom?”

“Me and the other kids.”

Perching an elbow on the well-prepared tea table and cradling her chin with one hand, Reina picked up a snack from a plate and put it in her mouth.

“Which kids?”

“Who else would there be? The others from the nine households.”

“Cough…! W-What?”

As though her eyes were about to pop out, Reina’s eyes went wide as she asked back. Then, Paul laughed at her big reaction.

“You, me, Jeremy, Douglas, Fran, Luke and Letis. We’re going to Cressen. Ah, I heard from House Jehardt that Elijah’s going, too.”

“W-Wait a sec… What? Jeremy and Douglas… And also Fran, Luke and Letis…?”

What is this, some kind of movie filming? Why was the cast suddenly coming together like this?!