Chapter 55: Two-Timing (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 55: Two-Timing (4)
A warrior who could now throw a punch without a moment’s hesitation.
No, watching the Saintess, I approached while dragging two half-corpses behind me.
“You’re going to kill them at this rate.”
Thwack! Thud!
Hearing the sound of a human fist tenderizing another human, I couldn't help but wonder.
It was the same for me and Ellen. We were trained by the Kingdom since we were young and used tools like swords, so we were perhaps a bit less sensitive about inflicting injury on others.
But to be able to hit someone like that with bare hands, without a single shred of hesitation...
She was either born with the natural talent of a Fist King...
Or she was just a psycho.
I didn't know why, but the fact that I suspected the latter was probably just my imagination.
A psycho RoFan heroine... I felt like I’d seen that somewhere before, which made it even more of a horror story.
“Ah, right. You told me to keep them alive if possible.”
She looked as if she had genuinely forgotten, and seeing her cast healing magic on the Dark Mage she had just pulverized only added weight to my "psycho" theory.
“Look, I’m saying this now that we’re away from the Pope. Why do you keep doing that?”
I felt a bit bad about the sudden addition of a new fake lover, but wasn't our relationship bound by a sufficient contract? And yet, she kept giving me those pointed looks in front of the Pope.
“Oh, that?”
Don't tell me she actually fell for me. If she said she was jealous, I was ready to desert her, fake relationship or not.
“I do have a conscience, you know. I was trying to be helpful to you, Adam.”
“By making me look like a piece of trash?”
“Yes!”
Daisy’s refreshing smile certainly had the charm of a RoFan heroine. If this were a webtoon, there would probably be flower petals fluttering in the background. The problem was that the smile came right after such psychopathic words and actions.
“Um, that sounded like it could be misunderstood. Let me explain right away.”
“Please do. If the explanation isn't proper, I’m going to consider you a world-class psychopath.”
“Our titles have already grown so distant! I’d better explain quickly!”
She proceeded to break the ankles of the Dark Mage she had just finished healing before starting her explanation.
...A method of reducing mobility to prevent escape. She’d been taught well.
“First of all, quite unfortunately, our contract period lasts until winter break.”
“To avoid misunderstanding, let me clarify: it’s before winter break.”
If she put it like that, it sounded like the contract would stay in effect if we were together during the break.
“So stingy. Anyway, once that contract ends, our connection... will continue, but our relationship as lovers will be over.”
“I’d prefer if the connection ended too, if possible.”
“Won't that be difficult because of Ellen?”
She had a point. Seeing her act like this while knowing that, this RoFan heroine definitely wasn't the 'innocent' type.
...Violet, you bastard, you didn't get a single thing right.
“Anyway, that’s why I have to show us bickering like this during the little time we have left. That way, people won't talk when we eventually break up.”
“So you’re preparing the narrative consistency in advance?”
“Exactly. Especially since the Pope seems so interested in us...”
“I thought she knew it was fake.”
“She’s at the stage where she’s doubting her doubts about whether even the 'fake' part is a fake.”
And to counter that, she was showing us fighting beforehand.
“Then you should have told me in advance.”
“Violet told me: 'To deceive your enemy, deceive your allies first!'”
“...I think it’s best if you stop listening to her.”
“Are you trying to steal my friend now, too?”
“I told you, that’s never going to happen.”
“But that 'splitting the sky' thing... it seemed worth a try.”
I wondered why I wasn't even surprised by the content of her grumbling anymore.
“Seriously, aren't you coming to the Swordsmanship Department next year?”
“Why? Do you want me to?”
“You’re from Leon. It feels wrong for a talent suited for swordsmanship to walk the path of a Magic Spammer.”
“Wow... I’ve never seen someone actually say that to my face. If our head professor heard that, he might come looking for you, Adam.”
“I’ll just use our head professor as a shield then.”
If I couldn't call a Magic Spammer a Magic Spammer, then I’d have to call that Fire Spammer by her real name.
...What was his real name again?
To avoid any awkward situations later, I couldn't give up the term 'Fire Spammer.'
“Anyway, that’s why I acted a bit angry.”
“So you weren't actually angry.”
“……”
“Hello?”
Silence at this timing was weird.
“Ten percent.”
After a brief silence, Daisy muttered while kicking something on the ground as if embarrassed.
“What?”
I didn't hear her properly because I was distracted by the Dark Mage who jolted from being kicked.
“About ten percent of it was because I was actually angry.”
Daisy answered in a slightly louder voice, her expression full of discontent.
“So you were angry.”
“I couldn't help it. Think about it from my perspective, Adam. How would you feel if you suddenly heard I had a new lover!”
I closed my eyes for a moment and thought about it.
Emergency... total emergency!
“...Is the other person Prince Ellen?”
“No, not him!”
Emergency cleared.
“Then I wouldn't care.”
“...Oh, I see?”
Creeak.
Was it my imagination, or did I just hear something snap?
“Later, if Ellen confesses... I’ll have to give it some serious thought.”
“...That’s a breach of contract.”
“You’re the one who said contracts must be precise. I said I wouldn't accept a confession if it wasn't sincere. I never said I wouldn't think about it, did I?”
It was a threat that if he confessed, she’d say she was 'considering it' and never give him an answer.
“After you already turned me into a piece of trash...”
“To be honest, I wouldn't have done this with anyone else. I did it because it’s you, Adam.”
“Because I’m someone you can just use however you want?”
“Because you’re someone who doesn't care even if I do. Honestly, you’re not the type to be shaken by rumors that will vanish after a short stay at the Academy, are you?”
That was true. In fact, these rumors were convenient because they kept mediocre people from approaching me. The guys I ran into in the Knights Department weren't the type to care about such rumors anyway.
If anything, it felt like my favorability with the RoFan leads was actually going up. Plus, the members of our club probably knew the truth behind the situation.
...Come to think of it, I was curious about Uncle Aeryun’s reaction. I’d even gained the right to boss him around from Senior Loreliya as payment for acting as her fake lover. I wondered if he knew.
“Besides, I’m paying the promised price regularly, aren't I?”
“That’s true.”
As payment for being her fake boyfriend, I was receiving Holy Water crafted by the Saintess every week. These were top-tier potions and Holy Water that even the Kingdom couldn't easily obtain.
Normally, these items should have gone to the Holy Kingdom, but with the Goddess's permission, they were being handed over to me as the price for the fake relationship. I wondered if this was really okay, but hey, the Goddess allowed it.
“I’ll ask the Goddess to give you a bit more from the batch meant for the Holy Kingdom this time, so please just bear with it a little longer.”
What did it matter if my reputation went down the drain? Unlike the Academy, which I’d graduate from in three and a half years, the shelf life of Holy Water and potions was practically infinite.
When I went back for winter break, I’d present some to the Royal Family to earn some points, and send a few bottles to my family to show some filial piety.
“I don't care if I become the Academy’s biggest scumbag.”
Did my sincere resolve reach her? Daisy’s eyes widened, and she shouted with a look of shock.
“You’re going to cheat again?!”
“You’re really fueling the tabloids, aren't you?”
I looked back and forth between the Pope in the distance, whose expression was gradually hardening, and Daisy, who was sticking her tongue out mockingly. All I could do to vent my frustration was kick the unconscious Dark Mage.
Contrary to Adam and Daisy’s expectations, the reason the Pope’s expression was frozen wasn't anger. It was quite the opposite.
‘It wasn't a love triangle? It was even more than that!’
Thump-thump.
The Pope, witnessing a love quadrangle—or more—straight out of a romance novel, felt her heart racing. When she first heard the news of Adam’s two-timing:
‘As expected of the man who caught the attention of both Violet and the Saintess!’
She had accepted the news as if it were only natural. She would have been angry if the other party had been some nobody, but the opponent was the daughter of the Empire’s greatest house. She was the fiancé of the Imperial Prince himself!
For such a person to be seduced... didn't that mean he was effectively more charming than the Prince of the Empire!
Therefore, she merely viewed Daisy’s light grumbling as simple jealousy. After all, that’s how it always went in romance novels!
“Your Holiness, it seems there are more suspicious people in the Academy. It’s dangerous, so why don't you head back?”
Even when the Saintess advised her to retreat to a safe place, the Pope shook her head vigorously, expressing her will to follow the two of them.
“I cannot call myself the Pope if I run away from a place like this. For the sake of a peaceful festival, we must work even harder!”
“Your Holiness...”
Daisy looked moved by her apparent growth, but...
“……”
Adam’s expression was grim as he thought, 'No, that just makes things more dangerous...'
‘He’s upset because I’m interrupting their private date!’
To the Pope, who was already marinated in romance novels, even that look seemed like a field of flowers.
The man who served as the shadow for the Imperial Prince, Esid, and simultaneously as the shadow for House Jeyka.
Aeryun Klyde (19).
This man, who officially operated under that name and age, shouted with a tearful face.
“You worms! Move faster!”
At his command, dozens of people vanished from the spot. These were Second-Class Agents of the Intelligence Bureau, the pride of the Imperial Family.
Though they were slightly lacking compared to the First-Class and Special-Class agents who operated outside the Empire, they were undoubtedly among the top-tier talents working within its borders.
Yet, even they had been called 'worms' throughout the entire Founding Festival. Despite being berated, they couldn't say a word.
And for good reason.
“There was another Dark Mage?”
It was because of the contact that had come from that damn Adam.
—Uncle, I’m disappointed... another one popped up.
Honestly, he couldn't help but be suspicious. It was hard enough for the Imperial Family and the Intelligence Bureau combined to find a Dark Mage.
And yet, this guy caught Dark Mages as if he were pulling radishes from a garden every time he went on a date with the Saintess. Was he farming them? Was it a world where you could farm and harvest Dark Mages now?
For a moment, he wondered if this was the best era for shadows and intelligence agents to rack up achievements.
But that thought was brief. He clutched his aching head and channeled mana into another communication device.
“My Lord. It’s Aeryun.”
—......Right. What is it?
One of the merit-holding subjects who established the Kingdom back when the Empire was still a Kingdom. The current head of House Jeyka, which held the greatest influence in the Empire. An existence even the Emperor could not treat lightly, the leader of the Noble Faction.
Drain Jeyka.
As soon as he received Aeryun’s call, he was avoiding eye contact.
“My Lord. I am aware of the talk regarding the cancellation of the engagement with the Imperial Family.”
—That’s right...
“And I suffered for a week preparing for that.”
—I am always grateful.
“But yesterday! Suddenly! The Young Lady! A lover! Even if it’s fake, the Saintess’s man! And then asdfghjkl;qwertyuiop—”
Listening to Aeryun’s desperate screams as he ceased to use human language, Duke Drain lowered the volume of the communication device and muttered.
—Is this interference from the Dark Mages? The connection is poor.
In this RoFan world full of romantic schemes, even the head of a world-renowned Ducal House could not manage his own daughter.
The only thing he could do was raise the salary of his poor laborer.