The Butterfly Brooch and the Worst Confession Ever
I almost blurted it out. Oh right—the medicinal herbs. I glanced at Lena, trying to act casual as I slipped the bundle the herbalist had given me inside my cloak. She didn’t see it, right? My childhood friend’s razor-sharp instincts could send chills down my spine sometimes, but right now she was completely out of it. I snuck another peek.
“What are you hiding?”
Lena’s eyes narrowed in an instant.
…Creepy. At this point it’s basically a sixth sense. Childhood-friend instincts are no joke.
“It’s nothing. Just some reference material for the next manuscript.”
“Hmmm……”
The great Lena Youngstern just said hmmm. Normally she would’ve closed the distance in a heartbeat and grabbed me by the collar. Instead she was just fidgeting in place, shifting her weight from foot to foot. I needed to change the subject naturally. My gaze naturally drifted to the butterfly-shaped brooch on her chest.
— It’s a magical talisman that guarantees love will come true if you confess while wearing that butterfly accessory! At least, that’s what the academy students say!
I remembered the shopkeeper saying people only bought it when they had someone they wanted to confess to. But I erased that possibility from my mind in less than a second.
Not Lena. No way.
Maybe with some other young lady, but this was Lena Youngstern. She valued logic and facts above all else. The moment anything went even slightly off track, she’d show up to lecture me. Fortune-telling? Prophecies? Superstition?
“Have you lost your mind, Ian Ash?! Are you trying to ruin the family like your father?!”
I could already picture it. Crystal clear.
“That brooch looks pretty. It suits you.”
Lena’s eyes suddenly went wide as saucers.
“Wh-what? What the—suddenly?!”
“No, I just noticed it actually looks good on you. You and blue. Must be because you’re a water-attribute mage?”
“Are you crazy? For real? Why are you suddenly complimenting my looks when you never—wait, you’re doing it right now!”
Her face went from soft cherry blossom pink to a much deeper crimson. Was she embarrassed…? No, it looked closer to irritation. If your childhood buddy suddenly said, “Dude, you look extra handsome today,” you’d probably think, Ugh, gross.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, you idiot!”
I quickly took a step back. That last reaction was straight-up feral.
“So what was it you wanted to tell me? You’ve been stalling forever.”
“Th-that… it’s just…!”
Lena’s fingers were gripping the hem of her uniform skirt so tightly they kept twitching like crazy.
Huh?
That wasn’t all. She suddenly dropped her head, eyes darting everywhere while her face flushed past crimson into something that looked like it was about to explode. And her breathing—why was she panting like she’d just run a marathon?
“Hey. Are you actually sick?”
“I said I’m not! I’m fine!”
Even her sharp retort sounded dry and cracked, like she was severely dehydrated. I decided this was getting ridiculous and stepped closer.
“Hold still.”
“H-Hyaa! Wh-wh-wh-what are you doing?!”
“What do you think? Checking your temperature.”
The moment I placed my palm on her forehead, she shrank back. The heat radiating through my hand was no joke. It was seriously burning up. She felt like freshly baked bread—hot enough that it wouldn’t be surprising if she collapsed again any second.
“See? You’re boiling. Whatever you wanted to say, save it for tomorrow. Go back to the dorm, drink a mana recovery potion, and get some sleep.”
“No! I’m really, completely, totally fine…!”
Lena slapped my wrist away and stumbled back a step. Then she took a deep breath and stared at me with fierce determination. What on earth was so hard to say that she was dragging it out this much?
Finally, Lena’s lips parted.
“Ian Ash. Listen carefully.”
“Yeah, I’m listening.”
“M-m-m… mar…!”
“Mar?”
When I tilted my head in confusion, Lena squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.
“Marriage! I have something to say about marriage!”
So the moment of truth had finally arrived. The original story never described this scene, but I figured this was where Ian would push for marriage and Lena would freak out and reject him.
She must be under so much stress.
And sure enough—
“You…! After all the care I’ve given you! You can’t even wake up in the morning unless I come get you, and you’re always causing trouble!”
The resentment she’d been holding back came pouring out like a machine gun.
“I’ve been looking after you all this time, and then you go calling random girls to the infirmary!”
Yeah, yeah. Wait, hold on. Why does this scolding sound weird?
“I never called anyone.”
“The pink-haired dean, that saint with the ridiculously huge chest, and even Her Highness the Princess! Do you have zero sense of danger?!”
“They were the ones bothering me one-sidedly. There seems to be a misunderstanding, my dear childhood friend. Also, why are we bringing up chest size?”
“Hah? Oh, it must be nice to be so popular, Ian Ash!”
My perfectly reasonable defense didn’t seem to reach Lena’s ears at all. When I gave her a look that said what exactly are you trying to say?, she snapped back.
“A-anyway! You’re usually sloppy, you have perverted tendencies, and you’re seriously lacking in so many ways, but…!”
“But?”
“I would never, ever want to… m-m-marry someone like you! However—!”
“Hold on, Lena.”
However? With that kind of lead-in, it was obvious what came next. She was probably under family pressure and had no choice but to accept a political marriage. Deep down she must hate the idea of being tied to a third-rate piece of trash like me for life, but out of long-standing loyalty as childhood friends—or perhaps a sense of responsibility as the eldest daughter of the Youngstern family—she was forcing herself to make the sacrifice.
She was definitely about to say something dramatic like However, I’ll sacrifice myself for the family or However, let’s at least keep it as a formal engagement.
What a good kid.
Before Lena could finish that terrible self-sacrificing line, I gently cut her off.
“Don’t worry, Lena.”
“Uh… yeah?”
Lena, who had been biting her lip while staring at me, looked up with a bewildered expression. I gave her the most reliable, mature, childhood-friend-protecting smile I could muster.
“I’ll stop the marriage. Don’t worry.”
The character Ian Ash will never tie you down.
“Lena, do you know what the greatest tragedy for a woman born into a noble family is?”
“What is it, ma’am?”
“It’s that she cannot love with her whole heart. In other words…”
“……?”
“If she can love with all her heart, then a noble title becomes meaningless.”
After that conversation, Lena began to dream of love. A love so powerful she could give up everything for it. Of course she knew reality wasn’t that beautiful, so she told herself it was only a dream. It should have stayed that way.
But for the past several days, Lena Youngstern’s mind had been completely out of control. Ever since she realized she was seeing Ian Ash as a man, her reason had been thoroughly paralyzed.
Was this feeling love? Lena couldn’t be sure. But one thing was certain.
Jealousy. She was insanely jealous.
It was the first time in her life she had experienced such a vicious, sticky emotion. The scene she had secretly spied on while pretending to sleep in the infirmary had been enough to burn her heart pitch black. The dean’s subtle skinship, Saint Arina’s blatant worry and touches, and even the princess who showed up afterward.
I can’t lose Ian.
Her possessiveness blazed like wildfire. The sloppy, high-maintenance guy she had been feeding, clothing, and taking care of all this time—that was something only she had done. How hard had she worked to raise him!
Of course Lena knew. That this affection mixed with a desire for compensation was a shameful thought unbecoming of a noble lady. That this kind of jealousy was completely unhealthy. But!
If she stayed quiet like this, those fox-like women were going to steal Ian away forever.
So Lena had gathered her courage. She had even spent a fortune on the blue butterfly brooch that was rumored among the academy students to have a “100% confession success rate.” Normally she would have scoffed at such superstition, but Lena was desperate.
While waiting for Ian under the shade of the tree in front of the dormitory, her heart felt like it would burst out of her chest. When he finally approached, Lena had honestly intended to confess her feelings.
“…calling random girls…!”
But why? Why did every beautiful word in her heart turn into sharp thorns the moment they tried to leave her mouth?
Marry me. I want to be the only woman by your side.
That was the line she had practiced hundreds of times in her head. Yet what actually came out was nothing but criticism and venomous resentment aimed at Ian.
“…After all the care I’ve given you…!”
Stop, Lena Youngstern.
She tried to shut her mouth somehow, but the words that had built up like water behind a dam kept pouring out. This wasn’t good.
“I would never… want to marry someone like you! However—!”
Lena somehow pulled herself together. So. So at least the next words had to be…
However, because I like you, I’ll stay by your side.
She was just about to finish her confession when—
“Don’t worry, Lena.”
Ian’s gentle, worry-filled voice cut her off. Lately Lena had noticed that his smile was surprisingly warm and reassuring. Wearing that very smile, Ian delivered his verdict.
“I’ll stop the marriage.”
It felt like her heart had dropped to the floor with a thud. No. That wasn’t what she came here to say. She hadn’t thrown a tantrum asking him to stop the marriage!
She moved her lips to explain, but her throat was so tight no sound came out. Her vision blurred instantly, turning hazy. A single hot droplet rolled down her cheek and fell onto the back of her hand.
“Lena, are you okay?”
She saw a flustered Ian reaching out. But right now, with this miserable feeling of rejection and tears streaming down her face like an idiot, she couldn’t face him.
“Idiot…! Moron!”
She wasn’t yelling at Ian. She was yelling at herself. Lena spun around and ran away.