ASE 13

Chapter 13

Evelyn was still in the crown prince’s arms.
She blinked a few times there before, unable to hide her embarrassment, she was released by londmio’s awkward touch.

Standing blankly in place, she glanced at me for a moment—then suddenly burst out laughing.

“Pfft, ahahaha!”

“Uh, Evelyn?”

“Hahahaha, a ferocious beast, you say… haha!”

Evelyn was literally laughing like a bell. A clear, clean laugh.

Hearing that pure, refreshing sound, an old memory popped into my head on its own.

Back in the day, a friend once recorded me cracking up while watching a comedy show, and no matter how many times I listened to it, it still sounded like a pig being slaughtered. It was absolutely nothing like this beautiful sound.

The vivid contrast was impossible to ignore, and I barely managed to hold back a single tear.

Right… as the heroine, you… don’t laugh like “uehekhekhekhek” like I do…

Even clutching your belly while laughing, you still look pretty—how unfair is that?

Once again, I was reminded of the discrimination baked into this world, and I swallowed my sadness.

Even if I’m lonely or sad, I won’t cry. I am the wild-rose extra, Latte.

Telling myself to keep a strong heart, I turned to see Rondemio’s reaction.

His gaze was fixed on Evelyn’s smiling face.

The crown prince didn’t take his eyes off her until her laughter had completely subsided.

Right, so you also think it’s special that she doesn’t laugh like some criminal going “ehekhekhekkehekeh.” Or maybe you’re just staring because she’s pretty?

But it’s still too early for the affection flag to be planted.

After laughing for quite a while, Evelyn even wiped away the tears from her eyes.

I was honestly surprised that my throwaway teasing had turned into a comedic masterpiece for her.

What on earth was so funny? If everyone in the world were like Evelyn, I could leap into the comedy scene right now and be a huge success.

Once her laughter had died down, Evelyn looked a little apologetic toward the crown prince. Understandable, since she had burst out laughing at something I’d said to tease him.

But the crown prince stopped her before she could apologize.

He actually seemed satisfied just from having seen her smile.

With another smile in his eyes, he said,

“You have a very beautiful smile.”

Ugh, cheesy…

…is what I should’ve thought, but somehow it suited him. So well that it unsettled me.

What the heck? Is there any line in existence that wouldn’t suit this guy?

I had a bad feeling he could pin Evelyn against a wall and say, “How much do you want?” and it would still look cool.

Where exactly is this crown prince’s limit?

Evelyn simply answered that she was honored. No real emotion in her reply. You’d think that after being embraced against that broad chest, her attitude would change a little, but she was still indifferent.

londmio didn’t seem disappointed, as if he’d expected this.

He simply said again, “Speak comfortably,” and, as if in return for having seen her smile, extended the favor to me as well.

“You too, friend—speak comfortably.”

Already forgotten my name, have you?

Well, it didn’t really matter. As long as he knew I was Evelyn’s friend.

I replied without hesitation to his graciousness.

“Alright.”

Too fast of an answer?

The crown prince gave me a sour look.

I feel like I see that expression a lot—like he just bit into a bitter persimmon.

“…You’d better go now. Any more delay and the count will be waiting.”

“It was an honor to meet you, Your Highness. Please take care on your way.”

“I enjoyed seeing you. Goodbye.”

“…I hope we meet again.”

The crown prince left with a cheesy farewell meant only for Evelyn.

I can still picture his pupils shaking at my cocky goodbye.

Maybe I went too far? I just found it more fun than I expected.

Of course, I had no plans to spout such crazy nonsense in an official setting.

In my heart, I waved goodbye, looking forward to our next meeting event.

Once londmio had gone, it was just me and Evelyn again.

Seeing my face seemed to remind her of the “bunny” joke from earlier, and I could see traces of laughter in her eyes again.

This time, Evelyn laughed softly, and we strolled around the garden together for a couple of laps.

While chatting, I felt like her affection toward me had risen slightly since the laughing fit. Unexpected, but fine by me.

After our walk, Evelyn and I went back indoors.

I thought that was the end of today’s events, since we’d already met the crown prince.

After my first meeting with the Three Fishes, the subsequent chance encounters had happened irregularly, so I couldn’t recall the exact sequence. I just guessed it would be one per day.

While I was getting ready to go home, Evelyn made a suggestion.

“Actually, I was planning to go to the library today. If you don’t have other plans, would you like to come with me?”

The library? Why the library?

Now that I thought about it, Evelyn often went to the national library to borrow ancient books.

Of course, she rarely met only books there. Being the heroine, Evelyn usually…

Kenneth!

She ran into the second male lead.

Well, this was perfect.

I’d been wanting to show Kenneth as soon as possible that I’d become Evelyn’s friend.

You need to know you can’t kill me now, buddy. Oh, I’m looking forward to this.

I answered immediately—no need to think about it.

“Sure!”

I plopped back into my chair, deciding to wait patiently until Evelyn was ready to go.

Heh, I was excited.

It was as if I’d never planned on heading home; I was grinning like a fool when Evelyn tilted her head at me.

“You must like the library?”

Her tone carried a hint of surprise she couldn’t hide, which told me just how ridiculous my expression must have been.

Guess I really am grinning like I’m about to take off into the sky.

But I couldn’t help it—just imagining Kenneth, desperate to kill me but unable to because of Evelyn, was so satisfying.

Ugh, there I go, grinning uncontrollably again.

I clasped my hands demurely and, with a straight face, replied like a literary maiden, “I just love books.”

To be fair, I do love books. It’s just that my genre preference is B-mor, and I don’t just like it—I adore it.

Evelyn responded, “I enjoy reading as well,” with a graceful smile.

Sure, between her scholarly tomes and my spicy B-mor, there was an unbridgeable gap—but I pretended to be happy about our “shared interest.”

In my giddy mood, I even threw in a cheesy wink.

Evelyn wasn’t flustered at all by my groundless flirtation and simply answered with a gentle smile.

Touched… as expected of the heroine. She’s kind. An angel in human form.

It didn’t take long for Evelyn to get ready. Like most romance heroines, she didn’t care much for primping.

After only light grooming, she asked the servant to prepare the carriage.

I also wasn’t the type to fuss over appearances—partly because I had no one to impress—so I only checked that my outrageously curly hair was neatly braided before following her.

By the time we reached the front gate, the count’s carriage was ready.

The count, having owed Evelyn’s real father a great debt, treated her with exceptional courtesy. The prepared carriage was large, white, and so well cared for it gleamed.

I briefly considered asking the carriage handler for cleaning tips—our viscount family’s carriage looked a bit dingy in comparison—when I noticed Evelyn speaking to the servant with a slightly troubled expression.

Ah, right.

Given her preference for simple things, riding such a grand carriage for a casual outing would feel burdensome.

I quietly observed her slightly old-fashioned sensibility until we switched to a smaller carriage.

Clip clop, clip clop.

There wasn’t much to do on the way.

I sat there swinging my feet and watching the scenery pass, then suddenly launched into a ridiculous skit:
“Ku ku ku… So this is what humans call a ‘carriage,’ is it? Slightly softer than a dragon’s hard scales, I suppose. Ku ku ku.”

Evelyn, already immune to my nonsense, didn’t react much—just a faint smile.

How kind, to smile even at such bottom-tier humor. Truly, her heart is vast and benevolent.

While I was silently praising her generous understanding, we arrived in no time.

The count’s estate wasn’t far from the national library. It was one of those awkward distances—too far to walk, too close to really need a carriage.

Thanks to the kind driver dropping us right at the entrance, I was able to see the large, imposing library the moment I stepped down.

Wow… it’s taller than I expected.

After showing our identification, Evelyn and I entered, and the interior turned out to be even more spacious than it looked from outside.

The two-story space was connected by a spiral staircase that seemed to go on forever.

And instead of being filled only with books as I’d imagined, the place was decorated with sculptures here and there.

Wait, why is this place so pretty?

Despite claiming to love books, I was making it blatantly obvious this was my first time in the library, trailing after Evelyn.

Sure enough, her familiar steps led us to none other than the dizzying ancient texts section.

Just looking at the display of elaborate hieroglyphics made me feel like I was getting a headache.

Ugh, so those bizarre clusters of strokes are actually supposed to be letters?

I stood a few paces—well, maybe four or five steps—away, just watching Evelyn pick out her books.

The ancient texts were, of course, arranged by era, and the older they were, the more incomprehensible the script became.

Evelyn favored the kind of archaic language that made you question whether the people of that time were even human.

Seeing those complicated letters made me respect the crown prince, who had studied them just to win Evelyn’s attention.

Fish boy, I’ll give you credit for your persistence.

It didn’t take long for me to grow bored and start anticipating Kenneth’s arrival.

When’s he going to show up?

I wanted to explore the other floors, but what if he appeared and disappeared like Arwen did before? That would be a disaster.

Kenneth, I really want to meet you! Where are you?

Whether by fate or my wish, Kenneth appeared right then.

From a fair distance away, I saw him spot Evelyn.

Even in the gloom of our first meeting, I’d noticed it—he really did have looks to rival the crown prince. Even from here, his beauty was unmistakable.

Ugh, so handsome it’s annoying.

This was the first time a good-looking guy had irritated me.

As I was thinking this, a book suddenly fell toward Evelyn’s head.

Thunk!

Before I could even be startled, Kenneth snatched it out of the air.

How was he that fast?

In an instant, he’d moved right next to Evelyn to protect her.

Half-held in his arms, Evelyn looked understandably flustered by the sudden turn of events.

Looking down at her, Kenneth said quietly,

“…You could have been hurt.”

The scene was so picture-perfect I genuinely wanted to stab my own eyes out.

That jerk delivering such a line and actually looking cool doing it—unacceptable.