Chapter 41: CH 40

It was like a bolt out of the blue, or like windows suddenly crashing open while you’re sleeping. No matter what other kind of scenario you try to describe this as, basically, it was the kind of situation that would make anyone flustered.

Reina stared at Paul, who looked very proud of himself.

“Who suggested this.”

It’s not you, is it?

“Me.”

“Hah.”

“I did great, right?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Huh?”

“Insane, this guy, seriously.”

“…Whyyy…”

“Don’t you know what kind of relationship I have with those guys?”

“I know. You guys are awkward with each other. That’s why I arranged this trip so that you can fit in, yeah?”

At Paul’s reply, Reina just started massaging her temples.

“Ha.”

“So, it’s… no good?”

“Yeah. Absolutely not.”

How on earth should she explain this, from which point to what point?

“Ha, crazy. Seriously.”

She’s in the middle of seducing Ethan, and she was so busy that she felt like she’s about to die.

On top of that, she was now openly on bad terms with Lehman, so how much more should she try to save herself when considering what the original novel had in store for her!

And yet, in the midst of this all— Not one! Not two! But the male lead and the sub male leads were all going on a trip?!

‘Of course, no one else but Douglas is showing some signs of turning into a sub male lead, but…’

She was still scared of that one change that might be followed by another.

“You said you want to get along with them.”

“When did I…”

“Last time, you know.”

“You weren’t listening to me properly, were you? I just said it’s strange because I thought they were weirdly avoiding me!”

“Ah, right. Sorry.”

When Paul answered and even gave her a wink, Reina grabbed that sparkly wink and threw it to the floor.

“Ah… I’m going crazy, seriously.”

What should she do? Should she insist that she’s not going?

“Just in case you’re thinking of something else, this is an official gathering with the permission of the Imperial Family, so you can’t bail.”

Paul laughed heartlessly and burned her first choice immediately.

‘Sh*t. I have no choice but to go. Then, I’ll just go and stay holed up in my room…’

“And if someone like, say, Fran happens to be thinking of just holing up in their room, there’s an officially approved event schedule to prevent that.”

“…What kind of event schedule is it that you even got it officially approved.”

“To get support funds. That’s why everyone has to participate. Or, you know, you’d be suspected of embezzlement.”

“…Seriously, this punk.”

In the end, Reina couldn’t hold back her anger and grabbed Paul by the collar.

“Why the hell are you doing such unnecessary things?”

Helplessly letting himself be grabbed by the collar, Paul gave Reina a huge smile.

As Paul’s hair fluttered, a fruity scent followed and entered her senses. All of a sudden, she came to a realization.

‘This punk… Is he doing all this while knowing everything? Is he adamant about raining on my parade?’

Reina was bleary-eyed as she glared at Paul, but Paul just tried to open Reina’s eyes wider with his fingers.

“Why are you looking at me like that— Your eyes got smaller.”

“…Ha, never mind. My eyes hurt. Get your hands off.”

What more could she say to this imbecile?

“You’re going, right?”

“I have no choice anyway.”

“That’s true.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“Courtesy?”

“…Do you literally want me to throw hands right now?”

“Eyy.”

“You’re not denying it, huh?”

“No, no. Hey, I hate poison.”

“I hate you right now.”

She hated him so much to the point of detesting him.

All this guy was doing was taking her by the collar and dragging her straight to the main characters who she’d been desperately avoiding this entire time.

* * *

“Ha… Why is that guy a no show again?”

A few days ago when she heard that she had to go on a trip with Jeremy, the original novel’s male lead, and the other sub male leads, she also got the memo that Lehman’s palace tour had been moved up.

“I did hear that when it rains, it pours.”

She had already involved herself a lot with Ethan recently, but all that came untangled. Right now, she’s all tangled up with people she wanted to just avoid.

“Sorry I’m late.”

At the sound of someone’s voice from behind, Reina rose from her seat.

“It’s fine.”

Without giving him a glance, she asked Lehman.

“Did you bring your gate pass?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

She just needed to roughly get this over with, then go home. That’s her goal for today.

How long had the stifling silence been going ever since they entered the imperial palace?

By the time the air between them had become icy, a voice filled with concern reached her ears.

“You seem to be having a hard time, Reina.”

When she turned her head to look at him, she saw that Lehman was touching one earlobe with his hands.

“A hard time? Why do you think so?”

“No. It’s just, you know.”

“What do you mean by that? You have to say it so I can understand.”

As he pouted his lips and knitted his eyebrows, the expression on his face now seemed to say, ‘I know it’s kind of awkward, but how can I tell you about it?’

“You’re a member of the nine households, so…”

All of a sudden, why was he mentioning the nine households?

As Reina tilted her head to the side, he let out a small, mournful sigh.

“It must be burdensome.”

What about it was burdensome? On the contrary, she had so much money and power that she could probably dance because of it.

“Not really.”

Reina shrugged and replied casually. Seeing this nonchalant reaction, Lehman’s expression changed strangely, even though the concerns he gave her were overshadowed.

“I see.”

He looked vaguely pitiable, to the point that you’d sympathize with him.

“I guess I was worried for nothing.”

“Um… What’s this about?”

Reina somehow felt like she’s about to get herself into a fight.

“You were worried about me?”

“No… It’s nothing.”

He tried to finish it more with a slightly more troubled look, but… huh. Strangely, that expression of his seemed to say, ‘Go on, ask me more’.

So, she asked him directly.

“Why aren’t you saying it? Why do you have to be worried about me?”

Now, her tone of voice entered the realm of sounding like she was arguing with him, and those words were delivered with an unfriendly manner of speech. She couldn’t help but get frustrated by the conversation they were having—he was just circling around the topic without getting to the point.

“It’s not… I mean, to be honest, it’s because you don’t have any talents, Reina…”

“…What?”

No, this was more than just raining on someone’s parade.

“The other members of the nine households have a variety of talents besides their natural abilities, but in comparison, Reina… You don’t even have any natural abilities… Except maybe for your talents in the poison arts. But that’s actually not very useful in this day and age…”

Oh… Seems like today’s a good day.

That is, a good day to fight.