Chapter 176
Pressed tightly against the wall, Pession narrowed his eyes.
Next to him, the twins and Harun were also plastered against the wall, blankly watching the same scene unfold.
“Arelline~.”
A soft, lilting voice called out to Arelline as a lovely girl smiled radiantly at her.
The girl’s name was Chloe — and right now, she was Pession’s archenemy.
When did she start talking to her that casually?!
She’d been calling her Lady Arelline so diligently before — had he looked away for just one moment and she dropped the formality?
Pession clenched his fist tightly.
“Your Highness, why are we even doing this?”
“Can’t we just go say hi to Arel?”
The twins, who had not a single grain of patience between them, whined.
But Pession was firm.
“No.”
“Why not?!”
“Because Arelline will find it annoying.”
Pession still hadn’t forgotten the days when Arelline used to build walls between them and push him away.
Even if she doesn’t anymore…
Now she smiled when she saw him, came up to him first, called him handsome, and usually did everything he asked — but lately, that very docility made Pession feel uneasy.
Because the softer Arelline became… the less it felt like she belonged only to him.
Pession’s long lashes trembled faintly.
He was happy that Arelline had more friends now, and it was good that more people liked her — but still…!
“This is severe,” said Graham, the chief attendant, watching Pession from a distance and shaking his head.
But it was already far too late.
“Our young masters, the twins, are the same way,” another servant murmured.
“Heh… thanks to Lady Arelline, the entire Spherom house has found peace again,” said the twins’ caretaker darkly.
Keeping his distance from the creepy laughter of the caretakers, Graham turned his eyes back to Pession, who still couldn’t take his gaze off Arelline.
By now, Graham was used to seeing Pession like this. He had achieved a kind of enlightenment about it.
“So, last time—”
“Ah.”
Pession’s eyes fixed blankly on Arelline, who was chatting warmly with Chloe.
Arelline had said it was nothing special — just helping Chloe shop a little.
She’s never even spent time alone with me before…
He wanted to act like the dignified crown prince he was, but those petty thoughts kept bubbling up.
He’d never once been alone with Arelline — the twins or Harun were always there — and yet she could spend time one-on-one with her?
Pession really, truly disliked Chloe.
“Maybe it’s because she and Your Highness have a similar vibe?”
“Yeah, they kinda feel alike.”
“What part of us is alike?!”
The twins, wondering if this was some kind of self-hatred, gave their opinion — but Pession turned pale with disgust.
“To think I’d resemble that thing… what an insult to royalty.”
Completely unaware that his outburst only reinforced the twins’ point.
“So how long are we just gonna keep watching?”
“I wanna go play with Arel too~.”
The twins whined, Harun stood silently at his post, and Pession scowled.
“Oh? They’re moving.”
“What do we do? Follow them?”
Common sense screamed at him to stop here and go back, but…
“Let’s go!”
Pession had no common sense left.
* * *
Surprisingly, the outing with Chloe went smoothly.
“I told you, I don’t go out much either, so I don’t really know where anything is.”
“That’s fine! I’m just glad you came with me!”
“…Right.”
Well, having me along did guarantee safety.
How many bodyguards had they sent this time?
Ever since the day I almost fainted on the street, I’d been trailed by bodyguards every time I left the house — pretending not to, of course.
Vrrrr—
Aether told me to trust only him.
But really — the only thing he can transform into is a violin.
Vrrr—!
Why is he mad? I’m just stating facts.
“I found it! Arelline, over there!”
Chloe dragged me toward none other than the Spherom Department Store.
“Ohh…”
Rather than a department store, it looked like an art museum or a palace.
Still, Spherom again? This multinational family really has its hands in everything.
The twins suddenly came to mind.
I’d heard they’d just succeeded in building a prototype car, too.
“I’ve always wanted to come here,” Chloe said.
“Yeah?”
She wanted to buy gifts for her teacher and her family.
“I even saved up my allowance!”
“Your… allowance.”
Her fifty silver coins looked adorable to me, whose sense of money had long since collapsed.
How much did I even have in my Spherom Bank account again?
“Should I buy something too?”
Come to think of it, I’d never given anyone gifts before.
I immediately thought of Mehen when I saw a fountain pen and bought one.
As I browsed, I picked up little things for people who came to mind.
If I only gave one to Mom, Dad would sulk.
I chuckled thinking of Dad’s constant ambushes of face smooches.
Then for our house guest — a box of friendship chocolates.
Should I get something for Pession too? The twins would make a fuss otherwise. And Harun, maybe as well…
“Arelline, can you even carry all that?”
“Hmm.”
Maybe I did buy too much.
“It’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Like this— help!”
At my call for help, one of the bodyguards pretending to be a customer approached immediately.
“Please take these.”
“Leave it to me, my lady.”
As the guard took the pile and disappeared, Chloe gave me an incredulous smile.
“You really are a highborn noble.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, there’s just… a vibe.”
Chloe smiled prettily, dodging the question.
She had the same habit as my father — attacking with charm when flustered.
It annoyed me deeply, but… she was cute, so I let it slide.
“I wanna buy something for Lord Harun too!”
Watching her pick out Harun’s gift, I fell into thought.
In the original novel ‘My Childhood Friend Became Obsessed With Me’, Chloe first met Harun at a childhood friends’ gathering, developed a crush, and then ended up tangled with Pession instead.
Since Chloe already liked Harun now, I could guess how that shift began.
“So you were sightseeing in the capital when you got into trouble, and Harun helped you?”
“Yeah!”
She said she later found out Harun was part of the same childhood group and joined because she wanted to get closer to him.
“Why was Harun there, though?”
“He was patrolling the city with the guards — helping out as part of his duties with House Muivisk.”
“Oh, right — Duke Muivisk is stationed in the northern fortress now.”
“That was the first time I saw him,” Chloe said with a shy smile.
A springtime smile, like petals fluttering in the breeze.
Anyone could tell she liked Harun — which made me feel oddly conflicted.
Was this the pull of the original story?
I’d been wondering how those two ever got involved… and now, well.
Watching Chloe giggle, I asked quietly:
“What do you think of Pession?”
Her expression immediately turned sharp.
“Why bring him up all of a sudden?”
“Just curious.”
“I don’t like him.”
She said it flatly.
Even switched to polite speech to emphasize it.
“I really, really don’t like him. Don’t you think so too, Lady Arelline?”
“Um… not really.”
“He’s so spoiled — probably because he was born with everything, he thinks the whole world revolves around him.”
“Well… that’s…”
To be fair, Pession did have everything.
And since he was the male lead, the world did kind of revolve around him.
“He’s unnecessarily talented too!”
That’s rich coming from you, the female lead.
“And I don’t like his face either. He’s prettier and handsomer than me!”
—complained the heroine who was easily as beautiful as the male lead.
“Arelline’s too good for him!”
Her glare burned with such animosity that I could only laugh awkwardly.
Honestly, I didn’t even know anymore.
* * *
After returning from the outing with Chloe, I left the mountain of gifts in my room, grabbed one box of chocolates, and quickly slipped into Halbern’s secret archive.
“Why are you here again?!”
The baby elephant spirit was still sulking and squeaked angrily when it saw me.
“Wanna eat this?”
As everyone knows, the best way to deal with a cranky creature is to feed it something sweet.
When I offered the chocolate as a bribe, the little black-eyed elephant squinted and stared at it.
“Oh. There’s a story inside.”
The dream fairy, Mac, snatched the chocolate with its trunk and happily munched it, and I relaxed.
“So, will you give me the entry pass now?”
“…”
“Want another chocolate?”
“Tch.”
Apparently deciding resistance was futile — or maybe the bribe had worked — Mac pulled out a balloon-like object and tied it around my wrist.
“This is the pass?”
It really felt like I was at an amusement park.
“Does your dad’s pass look like this too?”
“Kids and adults get different ones! Grown-ups get badges.”
“Ah, I see. So that’s the difference.”
Without this pass, I couldn’t go anywhere outside the archive labeled with my name.
The more I learned, the more it felt like an insanely advanced security system. No wonder their secrets never leaked.
“So, where do you wanna go first?”
