CHAPTER 56
Aslan, standing beside him, sighed like it was nothing new and wrapped an arm around Adrian’s waist.
“Oppa!”
“No, Deli! That bastard just laughed at me. I’m telling you, it’s all an act!”
At my scolding, Adrian’s face crumpled pitifully.
When I turned to check, Alperen was murmuring with his brows drooping into a pitiful arch.
“I just laughed, that’s all…”
Of course.
As always, this ridiculous sibling complex only ever picked fights with Alperen!
I snapped at Adrian, who was still throwing a tantrum and unfairly blaming him.
“Now you’re even accusing him just for laughing?”
“Sigh…”
Adrian rubbed his face with both hands in despair.
“Deli doesn’t believe me anymore… she only listens to that guy—no, to my friend…”
I ignored his whining completely and looked at Alperen.
“If my brother bullies you again, don’t hide it. Tell me.”
“We’re close, Deli.”
“Good grief! You’re too kind. How are you going to survive in this harsh world like that?”
No wonder he lost his girl to a friend and then even his life to a villainess.
Resolving to protect him until Summer appeared, I popped the bite-sized piece of éclair he’d kindly cut for me into my mouth.
“Hahaha! This is hilarious!”
Suddenly, Aslan burst out laughing, bending forward and clutching his stomach.
‘Oh no, is this guy unhinged too?’
It wasn’t funny in the slightest, yet he was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes. My guard immediately went up.
“Wow. You two are such a comedy duo. I’ve lived to see the day Alperen acts foxy, too.”
Those crimson eyes, so like Julia’s, fixed on me with interest.
For a moment, I thought if he were quiet, people might mistake him for Julia in disguise—so similar were their features.
“And now I see why you’ve been hiding her away like a treasure… She’s definitely pretty. But not my type.”
The sudden “preference rating” made my face twist in outrage.
Excuse me? I didn’t ask!
I was about to snap, but before I could, Alperen suddenly pulled me close, pressing my face against his chest.
“Deli, you should only see good things.”
“Yeah. That guy’s dangerous. It’s best not to look him in the eye for more than three seconds.”
Adrian even chimed in, and Aslan gaped in disbelief.
“Seriously? You two only get along when it comes to this? Am I some kind of plague to you? How is just looking at me supposed to be harmful?”
“Idiots pass on their idiocy just by being nearby.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Trading insults back and forth, Adrian and Alperen left Aslan shaking with fury.
And then—
“Oh my! Truly? Our Magia club can attend that event?”
Sierra’s excited voice drew everyone’s attention.
Across from her, Julia calmly sipped her tea and nodded.
“Of course. In fact, there just happened to be one spot open. I’d be grateful if you joined. I’m sure it will help your club a great deal, Miss Sierra.”
They were already on first-name terms.
Before I could even process Julia’s terrifyingly fast social skills, Sierra raised her voice in delight.
“We were so busy moving into the new hideout that we missed the application deadline. If we can attend the keepsake auction, we’ll not only receive club funding but also gain exposure to attract new members!”
“I’m glad it will be of use.”
Wait a second.
Where did she say we’re going?
Surely not…
My heart thudded irregularly.
The familiar description of the event made my palms sweat. I jabbed Sierra’s side.
“Where are we going, exactly?”
Julia’s faintly satisfied smile only heightened my unease.
Completely oblivious to my panic, Sierra explained brightly,
“They’re hosting a keepsake auction, and there just happened to be an empty spot. You might not know, Rodelia, but simply attending guarantees an enormous subsidy for the club!”
Oh no.
I remembered all too well.
In the original story, the Magia Club never survived past the first half of the year.
They were forcibly disbanded after causing an incident during the June club fair and keepsake auction—an incident so big it was practically considered terrorism.
‘If I recall, it happened because they tried some bizarre magical experiment during the event…’
There were too many red flags already.
Edwin alone was a walking disaster of magic gone wrong!
And in the original, when a high-ranking noble got caught up in it and was injured, the scandal exploded.
‘That’s when Magia was dissolved under “disturbing the public order,” and everyone scattered.’
It was clearly meant to isolate Edwin completely from his peers.
And afterward, when he was lost and adrift, he ran into Summer again—that was the start of his obsessive downfall.
‘When Sierra said she missed the application deadline, I felt so relieved… but of all times, now?!’
But blaming Julia wouldn’t help.
She didn’t know the original story. She hadn’t suggested the event with malicious intent.
To her, it was simply an act of goodwill.
Only I, who had read the novel, knew what would happen there.
This was just another instance of the story’s “force of fate” correcting itself.
Hadn’t I seen it countless times already?
‘Will it really be okay…?’
Still, I had managed to derail the subplot once before—by breaking off Alperen’s engagement and twisting the second male lead’s route.
If I’d done it once, I could do it again.
While I fretted, Sierra clasped my hands and shook them energetically.
“Rodelia, you’re definitely our club’s lucky charm! Ever since you joined, amazing things keep happening!”
Ugh. Meanwhile, my mental state is what’s exploding.
Fine. If that’s how it is, I’ll just make sure nothing goes wrong at the event. Better to stop the accident before it starts!
***
Rain pattered steadily against the window. The summer heat had finally eased thanks to the downpour, and a cool dampness lingered in the room.
“Good afternoon, Lord Daven. The weather’s a bit gloomy today, isn’t it?”
Rodelia, as always, replaced the wilted lilies with fresh ones before sitting down beside the former Duke Ainruk.
He looked exactly as he had the first time she’d met him—unchanged, as if time itself had stopped.
Just gazing at his still face brought a heaviness to her chest.
It had already been a week since Eden gave her the Summoner’s testing stone.
For all her bold hopes at the start, the stone hadn’t shown so much as a sprout of green.
Well, of course not. Why would someone like me have that kind of talent?
That discouraging thought weighed on her—until she looked at Daven lying there in eternal sleep. Then she could only rally her spirit again.
“Please wait just a little longer.”
She knew that as long as Alperen never gave up on him, just like in the original story, he wouldn’t die.
The real problem was that breaking off the engagement with the Imperial family had interrupted the supply of Holy Water.
Alperen hid it well, but she could see how much more tired he looked these days. That only made her more anxious.
So she chattered lightly to Daven, pretending it was nothing, telling him stories about Alperen.
That was when—
“You’re still here.”
“Oh? You’re done with work already?”
“The magic field felt off.”
He answered casually, but his steps were quick as he hurried to the head of the bed, checking the magical device placed near Daven.
It was one Alperen had inscribed himself, designed to sustain Daven’s dwindling vitality.
The formula was so complex that it completely cut the former duke off from the outside world.
Which meant Alperen was the only one who could touch him directly.
And since she had never run into him during her previous visits here, Rodelia suddenly panicked.
Had she somehow damaged the device without realizing it?
“What? Did something go wrong? I swear, I didn’t touch anything this time—I was really careful…”
“Hold on.”
Alperen meticulously checked the device again and again.
Finally, he muttered with a puzzled look,
“That’s strange.”
“Huh? What’s strange? What’s wrong?”
He gazed down at the sleeping Daven.
He’d rushed here thinking the magic had malfunctioned, but the device was operating perfectly.
“No… must’ve been a false signal. Everything’s fine after all.”
His reply was a little slow, and Rodelia’s breath caught in her chest.
“Whew. I was so scared I’d messed something up again, like last time.”
