Chapter 14
“…What on earth….”
Kenneth spat the words out shortly.
In that single phrase was a question.
He must be wondering why the two of us were together.
Unlike with londmio earlier, this time I answered.
“We came to the library together for a little outing. Because we’re friends, Eveline and I.”
“…Friends?”
“Yes! Friends.”
At his skeptical repetition, I replied with gusto and even leaned closer to Evelyn as if to show her off.
Kenneth let out a sigh, wearing an expression that said he’d never felt so disgusted hearing the word “friend” in his life.
Ah, no, this guy! Even his sigh is male-lead material.
Silence fell, and in it, a pair of burning eyes landed on me.
I could read in them the will to hand me a one-way ticket across the River Jordan right this instant, and inwardly, I danced with glee.
Dream on, Kenneth. You’ve got to give up on levitating my neck above the ground now. Heh-heh-heh.
While I was secretly doing a frantic happy dance, his gaze grew even sharper. No—this wasn’t just a glare; my breath was catching.
Right, my seasoned fantasy-novel reader’s instinct told me this was killing intent.
Good grief, this guy! A fish is throwing killing intent at me!
“Evelyn, His Grace is giving me killing intent.”
Without hesitation, I blurted out the tattletale.
At my brazen complaint, Evelyn immediately turned her eyes toward Kenneth.
Under her reproachful gaze, Kenneth faltered slightly. From that guilty reaction, I knew the killing intent I’d felt had been real.
Wait, I was just guessing, but it was actually true!? I managed to detect the killing intent of a swordsmanship genius!
Amazed by my own instincts, I couldn’t help but be impressed.
Ha-ha, as expected of my insight. I can tell like a ghost when someone wants to kill me. So why do I suddenly feel sad…?
“Your Grace, she is my benefactor and my friend. If you intend to respect me, then I ask you to treat her the same.”
Evelyn finished her calm statement and looked up at Kenneth.
From the expression on his face as he met her green eyes, I caught a glimpse of his complicated feelings.
Of course he’d be confused. The crazy stalker he’s been itching to strangle turns out to be the best friend of the pretty girl he wants to impress.
Kenneth looked like he was suffering, unable to wring the irritating neck of the person flitting about right under his nose.
Ohoho, the heroine’s shield is unbeatable.
Feigning ignorance of his burning frustration, I smiled at him like a blissfully clueless idiot.
His jet-black eyebrows—matching the color of his hair—twitched.
Handsome Kenneth, the more you get riled, the happier I am.
I’m not usually the type to take joy in others’ suffering, but this is all Kenneth’s fault. The fish has shown me a whole new world.
In the end, perhaps deciding to accept the current situation, Kenneth withdrew his gaze from me completely. It was an intentional refusal to look my way, as if he’d vowed not to glance at me even by mistake.
Well, nothing to gain from looking—only more rage. A wise choice. I commended his pitiable(?) act of turning away.
In moments like this, the male-lead position really does seem pitiful.
Or maybe it’s just sad because he’s a fish?
Anyway, the heroine must always take precedence.
If it were me, I’d punch my crush’s friend or benefactor right in the gut first—crushes come and go, but my blood pressure is forever more important.
But unlike me, fictional characters live in a world where the heroine is the only woman, the one irreplaceable love. With no alternative, they can’t even touch the sidekick glued to her.
Not that I had any right to talk, gleefully abusing that friend-shield myself, but still… a sad bunch.
That aside, with my life on the line, I had no room for sympathy.
I pressed myself even closer to Eveline, feeling comforted by her presence.
I shall never leave this prime seat for as long as I live.
Perhaps thinking I was being annoyingly clingy, Kenneth broke his resolution and gave me a sidelong glance.
I caught that fleeting look and beamed idiotically again.
Ohhh, his expression’s souring. Is my smile really that distasteful to you?
At the unmistakable “I can’t stand looking at you” face, I smiled even brighter.
Big, bright smile.
“…I’ll take my leave now.”
For some reason, it felt like I’d just defeated Kenneth.
Perhaps at the end of his patience, he declared he was leaving.
I wanted to wave him off cheerfully, but restrained myself and stayed still.
Kenneth was a more dangerous type than the crown prince, so I had to pace my sass. I’d done enough.
Just as he seemed about to turn away for good, he paused, tilting his head to fix his gaze on Eveline. Her reflection swam in the deep navy of his eyes.
After a brief hesitation, he spoke.
“Do you come here often?”
The strange question shifted the mood.
Ah, right—this is a romance novel.
I didn’t bother to butt in—not that I had any reason to—and simply adopted the stance of a silent spectator.
Evelyn replied to his question with her usual composure.
“I frequent it, yes.”
“I see.”
And then Kenneth went quiet for a moment, as if choosing his words.
For whatever reason, his hair, black as the night sky, brushed against his straight forehead.
Looking at that ever-provocative, picture-perfect figure, I suddenly thought I’d read this scene on a monitor before.
Right on cue, Kenneth spoke a line unfamiliar to the ear but familiar to the eye.
“I liked the way you spoke the first time better.”
“…Pardon?”
“I hope we meet again.”
With that, he turned without a trace of regret.
Tap, tap—his neat footsteps carried him away.
Evelyn watched his retreating back, seemingly taken aback by the unexpected remark.
Seeing her like that reminded me of how, in the chapter with this scene, I’d left a comment saying, ‘Kenneth x Evelyn ♡ Go, Your Grace!’
Ah, such a wistful memory…
And I wanted to go back in time and break the fingers of my ignorant past self.
Evelyn didn’t stare after Kenneth for long.
Tilting her head a few times—utterly unaware, as a true heroine should be, of why Kenneth was acting that way toward her—she turned back to her original goal and pulled a few books from the shelves.
Feeling like a friend carrying shopping bags, I took two of the heavy tomes she’d picked and tucked them into my arms.
After checking the books out with the librarian and stepping outside, we found the sky still clear. The weather was so fine it felt like a crime to stay indoors.
I was just thinking we should go somewhere fun when Evelyn suddenly took all the books from my arms, scampered back into the library, and then popped out again almost immediately—empty-handed.
Oh my, is she…?
“The weather’s so nice. Shall we get something light to eat? We can pick up the books on our way back.”
A suggestion that did not disappoint.
I nodded without hesitation. I was starting to feel hungry anyway.
The capital’s market district boasted several eateries so good that people came from other provinces just to try them.
With weather like this, it was the perfect day for a food outing.
I recalled a time when I’d gone on a mindless tour of such places, eating out three meals a day until the seams of my dress burst from the weight I’d gained.
The diet I’d had to endure afterward had been pure agony—weight control I’d never even attempted back in Korea, forced upon me here.
Though, to be fair, it wasn’t entirely my fault; the food here was just too delicious. Without MSG or stock powder, and yet so mouthwateringly good—it was baffling.
Like Korea, the food here was fairly high in calories, so gaining weight was easy.
Still, one meal wouldn’t hurt.
I resolved to take a walk when we got back to the viscounty and led Evelyn to a place I’d frequented before.
The market district was also, for the heroine, a meeting hotspot. Just as she often ran into Kenneth at the library, she often met Arwin here.
But I wasn’t thinking about that at all.
Running into Arwin in this situation would be absurd.
I’d already met the crown prince and a duke in the morning; meeting the Tower Master by lunch? Ha-ha, impossible. What is this, a “Gather All the Fish” day?
And yet—that’s exactly what happened.
“Arwin?”
What is this? Is today some kind of fish market day?
Evelyn’s lips spoke the name of Fish No. 3, and it shot straight into my ears.
It was pure coincidence that we ran into him—well, into Eveline.
Just as I’d flung open the eatery door with a mental cry of ‘Delicious Food, Here I Come!’, out walked Arwin.
…Why are you here?
At first, I was so shocked I couldn’t move.
He stepped outside, the door shut behind him, and then his eyes met Eveline’s, who was standing right beside me.
Immediately afterward, she spoke his name.
The unexpected encounter left me frozen with my hand still on the door handle.
It took me a few beats to finally lower my awkwardly suspended arm.
Good grief, this morning I’d been upset to tears that I couldn’t see him, but now—lo and behold—here he was, right in front of me!
“Eveline!”
Arwin called to her with a bright smile.
Though I was closer to him in distance, it was as if I didn’t exist at all in his eyes.
Looks like my transformation into background scenery was instantaneous. Not that it was anything new.
I, now mere air, took the chance to examine his face in detail.
The face I’d longed to see was even more stunning than I’d imagined.
This guy’s… angelic.
“What brings you here? Ah, here to eat, of course?”
Arwin grinned like a happy child, his tone warm with genuine delight.
Seeing that sunshine smile, I realized the novel’s description of him had been perfect.
He looked like the sort of person who couldn’t harm a fly—even though, in reality, he was a lunatic who could bury dozens alive with a flick of his fingers.
“And you, Arwin…?”
“I’m here to eat too. What a great coincidence, right?”
His fine silver hair swayed gently in the breeze.
The way his eyes curved when he smiled was so lovely I almost choked in surprise.
Seriously, isn’t that a bit too much? A smile like that would enchant anyone, man or woman, young or old. Have some restraint with the gender targeting…
The more I looked, the more his appearance shocked me. He didn’t match the image of a killer at all—he seemed the very opposite of death and violence.
On top of that, his face screamed “textbook gentleman,” the kind who’d never utter a crude word.
But in reality, of the three fish, he was the one who swore the most—though never in Eveline’s presence.
What kind of character is this, seriously?
“If I’d been just a little earlier, we could’ve eaten together. Did you lose your wallet today?”
“Pfft, as if. No one runs into pickpockets every day.”
Their conversation was easy and familiar. Arwin spoke informally to everyone, so that was nothing new, but Evelyn only spoke casually to him among the three male leads.
That was because Arwin had slyly dropped his family name and introduced himself simply by his first name, as though he were just an ordinary commoner: ‘My name’s Arwin.’
Just like in the original story, Evelyn treated him without formality here too.
Technically, Arwin was a commoner—adding “Hevrim” to his name didn’t magically grant him noble blood or a title.
The issue was the influence the Hevrims wielded.
The Magic Tower had always been a powerful organization, and now, under an exceptionally strong master, it was enjoying an unprecedented golden age.
Its leader, who had the Tower underfoot, was hardly comparable to a noble—more like the ruler of a kingdom.
Evelyn, unaware she was chatting with someone of that stature as if he were a friend, smiled and said:
“Besides, this time I have company.”
She gestured toward me.
Only then did Arwin’s gaze finally touch me.
Gone was the gentle smile—his crimson eyes were flat and indifferent.
He looked at me for a moment as one might glance at a pebble on the roadside, then quickly turned his eyes back to Evelyn.
