Chapter 142
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 142
It had been a few days since Klaus Rocheva was "quarantined" from Tulia.
He didn't really get it.
He’d suddenly heard that something—no, someone—had arrived at the castle, and he was told to stay hidden because encountering them would be awkward.
Even that message hadn't been delivered to him directly. It was practically a notification sent through some insignificant lackey.
"…Your Highness. Your Highness? Are you listening?"
One of the servants who was always stuck to that woman’s side, constantly monitoring the surroundings, asked him again.
Whether the guy’s name was Max, Grans, or Maxgrans, Klaus didn't give a damn.
Every day, Klaus was discovering anew the kind of thirst the 'Oath of Submission'—something he was experiencing for the first time in his life—could trigger.
To put it simply, he felt like he was going to die of thirst.
"You want me to stay away for a few days?"
"Um… Lady Tulia is planning for a week."
"A week?"
"Yes."
"A week? You said a week?"
"…Yes, Your Highness."
Is she insane?
This was basically telling a person to wither away and die. How could those from the Spring Continent be so heartless and cold-blooded?
"Ahem. And since you can't stay like this forever, officially, His Grace the Grand Duke and the Marquis…"
Nothing reached Klaus Rocheva’s ears.
The fact that the woman who had taken his submission at her own whim was now telling him not to come near her at her own whim was honestly making him lose his mind.
"Damn it. I'm thirsty."
"Thirsty? Shall I bring you some water?"
One of the woman’s slaves asked quickly, but Klaus didn't even bother to answer.
"…A week?"
He was supposed to live for a week without that woman?
Burying his face in both hands, Klaus took several deep breaths.
He had dug a well with his own hands in the desert and finally managed to create an oasis, only for the water nymph to kick him out and tell him to get lost for a bit. How was this any different?
"Fine, I get it for now. But tell her this: I'm right on the verge of actually going crazy."
The man—Max or Grans or whoever—flinched slightly at Klaus’s words, but Klaus didn't care.
Right now, Klaus couldn't bring himself to care about anything other than that woman.
What else could he do? He felt like he was literally suffocating.
Grinding his teeth, he proposed a minimum compromise.
"Or at least let me see her at night. Tell her I’ll stay quiet and leave quietly. Okay?"
"Th-then… a war… might actually… break out…"
Grans tried to dissuade him with sincere concern.
Because…
The Frezier family had a 'real' track record when it came to such things.
* * *
'What the hell is this situation, Ddong-byul?'
I stared up at the sky with dead eyes.
Klaus, who had just turned my stomach with that "mistress" bullshit. For now, he was one of the male leads.
Leon, who was wearing a crazed smile as if to say, "Oh, the son of a bitch who doesn't know his place is here?" Also one of the male leads.
Fortunately, the true male lead, Lisian…
He was just quietly observing with an unreadable expression.
'…Why am I suddenly remembering what happened back then?'
It was the day I had received and read a regular report letter regarding another male lead—specifically, 'Benjamin Fluers.'
[Prince Benjamin has changed, My Lady.]
The report letter contained content I never could have imagined, leaving me flustered.
[Despite his extremely disadvantageous position, several older noblewomen have taken an interest in the Prince.
It seems to be due to his naturally exceptional appearance.
In the past, the Prince would have immediately fled to his dilapidated quarters when faced with such a situation, but not anymore.]
'Huh? Not anymore?'
Then what?
[The Prince is politely but slowly utilizing the interest of those elderly ladies. In fact, he even smiles for them.
What’s strange is that he completely ignores the interest of the young ladies.
It seems something has changed deep within him, but I do not know the reason. Also, he seems to have started paying a great deal of attention to his outward appearance.]
'What? You weren't this kind of character.'
In the game, Benjamin’s setting was that he used his charming and beautiful appearance to the fullest to act slyly toward young ladies.
Then, he would attend the Imperial Banquet, show interest in Corico, and get slapped a few times.
Benjamin Fluers was a male lead whose relationship developed in that kind of way.
But he only welcomes elderly ladies?
He dislikes young ladies?
'Did his tastes change in the meantime?'
But do they usually change this drastically?
'Well, I guess he might do that to survive.'
I’d heard that the King’s interest, which had protected Benjamin even a little, had faded before long.
Seeing the text saying that he now neither smiled nor cried even while coughing up blood made me feel uneasy for some reason.
A life where you have to give your all to respect those who want to end you.
'Benjamin, you’re like my tear button…'
Thinking about the past made me feel a bit sorrowful. It was just as I was wiping my eyes while reading the letter.
"…Hey."
Leon Frezier’s lightly trembling voice pierced my ears.
'Oh, right.'
He was right in front of me.
"Huh?"
"Why… why are you crying…? Wait, what’s that? A letter? D-don't tell me you sent a love letter and got… rejected?"
'What kind of bullshit is this now?'
I frowned as I looked at Leon Frezier, whose face was genuinely shocked.
"It’s not a love letter."
"Then what is it? Let me see."
"I can't show you."
"Hey! Then it is a love letter!"
With a complexion as pale as someone who had stared into the abyss of terror, Leon Frezier dashed out before I could catch him.
"Brother! We have a problem! Tulia is crying! She’s crying because she got dumped!"
"Hey! That’s not it!"
I ran out to correct him, but Leon Frezier was, unfortunately, a talent among talents who took first place in the Academy Swordsmanship Exam every year.
Furthermore…
"…Father. Grandfather. I’ve heard that Tulia was rejected by some young lord. They say she even… cried."
When even Lisian, who had heard the news, stepped forward with a serious face, Father and Grandfather asked with heavy eyes.
"Which family did he say it was?"
"I wish to declare a territorial war, Your Grace."
"I shall permit it in the name of the Family Head."
I barely managed to come running and shouted.
"No! It’s not like that! Dad! Grandfather! Lisian! You brat, Leon!"
'I feel like things aren't much different now than they were back then…'
The scene from back then, where things suddenly turned urgent just because I shed a few tears over a letter about Benjamin’s situation…
And this time, three male leads are actually here together?
And if they beat each other up and have a sword fight and one of them dies, my Main Quest will be completely shattered?
Naturally, my anger turned toward Klaus.
'This guy, I told him to just stay tucked away for a week, but he couldn't even hold out that long, seriously.'
Are you even a male lead acting like this?
Huh?
Are you really one of the male leads?
Huh?!
A guy who would have endured not just a week but a month for Corico—is he ignoring me because I’m Tulia?!
It’s activating!
The Villainess’s Inferiority Complex!
The Villainess’s Rage!
I clenched my teeth, my fists trembling.
"Klaus Rocheva."
"Yeah."
"Will you stop saying weird things? They’re my biological brothers."
"Ah. Your blood siblings."
"Yes!"
You crazy bastard!
"I got it."
"You got it? Is that all?"
"What else do I need to do?"
"Apologize, you lunatic! Apologize!"
"Sorry."
A short apology. And his face was still buried in the crook of my neck.
His actions were so nonchalant that I finally realized why this 'Hidden Male Lead' had appeared before me.
Given Tulia’s rock-bottom personality, it was clear that staying with this guy would lead to death by high blood pressure.
'Ddong-byul did this to drastically increase the difficulty of my quest.'
I see.
I see, you crazy Ddong-byul.
Furthermore, even though this guy saw Leon Frezier wearing a psychotic smile with a grim face, he didn't let go of me until the end.
He really seemed like a patient suffering from some kind of side effect.
'This guy, if he’s away from me for a long time…'
Does he lose his mind as if he’s wasted on alcohol?
Just as I was about to grab Klaus by the collar and ask, I found the answer myself the moment I whipped my body around.
'I guess it’s true.'
His eyes, as blue as the ocean, were slightly unfocused as if he’d lost it.
It didn't feel like he was drunk from binge drinking. Rather, it was a state closer to being on the verge of madness from a severe lack of sleep.
To put it simply, his eyes were steeped in the thirst and madness of, say, a 12th-year PhD student who had been caught by the wrong tenured professor during an integrated Master's-PhD program and hadn't slept even 10 hours in 10 days.
In short, he was not in his right mind.
'Is this submission thing a drug rather than an imprint?'
Is that why you’re picking fights in every direction like this?
It was then.
"…?"
At the same time my body, which had been held by Klaus, was suddenly yanked away.
From a place no one expected, a knee kicked Klaus.
"…!"
A cold yet merciless force.
The surprise blow accurately struck Klaus’s ribs, and I let out a dazed sound at the same time.
"Huh."
So, the one who snatched me away from Klaus and held me in his arms was Lisian.
And the one who kicked Klaus was…
Lisian?
'…Now, this I didn't expect.'