chapter 18
18 – Is there anyone else besides me?
‘All I want is at least a kiss in front of Wilhelm.’
I remembered what Seol-ah told me last night. Please fit your mouth properly. It’s obvious, but it’s not asking for a kiss, it’s asking for a word. Although her intentions might be questionable, I thought it wouldn’t be particularly difficult.
A complacent thought that, at most, they would say hello and listen to what they say. I bitterly regretted not hearing more detailed plans from her. What the hell are you up to?
“Mikhail? Why are you so upset? We decided to be friends. Last night.”
Seol-ah, no, she should be closer to Lily now. She said Lily good morning and she came over and held her hand tightly. Hestia, who went to school with me, was in awe. The gaze of Wilhelm, who was sitting in the seat, was fierce. He even practices snowball fights with a mirror, but his eyes are hotter than yesterday.
“What the hell?! Let go of that hand quickly!”
She scrambled over to her and took my hand and pulled her out.
“Mikhail! Come here for a second.”
Hestia went out into the hallway. It seems he doesn’t want to brawl in front of everyone. A chill ripples through her voice. She wakes up 30 minutes earlier than usual because she wants to go to school with Hestia, a model student, but it is rather counterproductive.
I followed her with her head bowed, her hands clasped together like a child who broke her mother’s favorite bowl.
“Can you explain? What happened yesterday and why is she so attached to you now?”
She must have sensed that my absent-mindedness yesterday had something to do with what just happened.
“No, that uh, um.”
I desperately thought of an excuse. Hestia would faint if I told her honestly that Lily was actually from another world and that she knew everything about what would happen in the future and that she was thinking of using me to snatch the crown prince.
“Mikhail, please. Please don’t keep any more secrets from me.”
Hestia said as if pleading. Her heart aches The so-called triangle of conscience in the heart rotates like a fidget spinner. Shall I just tell you everything? How did you evade it so well that you only hid the story of the earth….
The moment when I, overcome by Hestia’s sorrowful eyes, tried to open her mouth.
“Do you mind if I explain?”
Lily, who had followed us before we knew it, interrupted.
“Lady Adamas. This is a very ‘personal’ matter for me and Mikhail. Excuse me, but could you please leave for a moment?”
Hestia’s voice is sharp. Given her strong emphasis on ‘personal’, this is a very polite way of saying, “Get out of here because it’s none of your business.”
“Please listen to my story for a moment.”
But Lily didn’t back down. The eyes of the two women clash fiercely in the air. It’s been a long time since we looked into each other’s eyes like that. Hestia eventually yielded again.
“After… , as long as it’s a story.”
Hestia’s expression is not very good. She seems unaccustomed to setting her own opinion too far. She said sometimes she’s okay with being pushy. She is the biggest cause of rotting her inside, I don’t say anything, but if she lives like that, she won’t be able to die in her own name.
“First of all, I apologize. It can’t be nice to have an extramarital girl clinging to her fiancé.”
Lily bowed her head to her. Hestia froze as if embarrassed. I froze too. To be honest, I was worried that he would upset Hestia and me by saying something new, but it’s a very common sense response than I thought.
“Please raise your head for now.”
Even if the situation is better than the classroom, this is a hallway. You won’t hear much of a good thing if you show this in the eyes of other students.
“Then, it’s time to hear why someone who knew that acted the way he did.”
“Both of you must know that I am close to Prince Wilhelm.”
“So what?”
Lily first mentioned her friendship with Wilhelm. Hestia’s expression is not very good. I too became anxious. Could it be that it is a threat through friendship with the crown prince after a prior apology? When we talked yesterday, I don’t think she was such an inconsiderate woman.
“Since I am asking for help, I will be honest. I came from an American family, and there is a very good chance I will be sold to an older man with a bulging belly somewhere.”
Hestia was taken aback by her sudden self-abasement.
“What is that… ?”
“So she deliberately approached His Highness the Crown Prince. Because she was confident. It’s disrespectful, but I wanted to change my future through Her Highness.”
Hestia’s expression hardens. This would be a word that Hestia, who is a model student to the point of being determined, would not want to understand much. She even admits that it was in fact herself who induced her friend Cordelia’s breakup.
“I feel really sorry for Lady Deneb. But, please look at this.”
Seol-ah rolled up the sleeves of her school uniform top.
“This is… !”
Hestia was shocked. Her arms are covered in blue bruises. It’s not just bruises. The bite marks on her shoulder are also sparsely visible.
“How did this happen?”
I asked on behalf of Hestia, who was so surprised that she lost her words. Her words of asking her to kiss her, which she said, must include this.
And I wasn’t really surprised. Because that wouldn’t be the wound Wilhelm gave. If I had a scar like that right now, I would have shown it to me yesterday. It’s not enough time to meet Wilhelm after breaking up with me and get hurt. It is next to impossible to get out of the dormitory after roll call.
Perhaps he made such scars by harming himself all night for his own plan. I felt like giving a round of applause. How can people be so toxic
“Black… , Your Highness’ obsession… , Hi! It’s getting worse….”
Lily started to squeeze out the juice with no delay. She is completely immersed in the tragic heroine. Method acting that even Robert De Niro would admire. But Hestia, who doesn’t know anything, seems to have been fooled by that.
“Stop! Are you okay. It’s okay not to say more. Let’s calm down for a bit, and we’ll talk about it again at lunchtime.”
Hestia calmed down Lily. And, as if she expected the story to be long, she made a new appointment. More time has passed than expected.
Going into the classroom, she looked very confused.
“How is it?”
“It’s really strong.”
As soon as Hestia turned her back, Seol-ah stopped crying and quietly whispered to me. She is truly a great woman in many ways.
As I entered the classroom, Wilhelm glared at me like he was going to kill me again. Hestia must have felt that gaze as well, and she looked at Wilhelm with her disgust-filled eyes. I lightly ignored it and sat next to Hestia.
“What’s up?”
As soon as we sat down, Cordelia asked a question. It would not have been a very pleasant combination in her situation.
“Ah, Miss Cordelia….”
Hestia looked at Cordelia with her warmest eyes and patted her on the shoulder.
“I had a hard time, really.”
“Mikhail, what’s wrong with him?!”
I didn’t respond to Cordelia’s question as I was taken aback and just smiled. How should I explain this?
–
“I’m going too!”
Cordelia sighed when Hestia said that she had something to talk about with Lily during lunch. Hestia tried hard to persuade Cordelia to prevent a dizzying situation in which the victim of the man who had been taken away was present at a place where he would reveal about the man’s private affairs after stealing someone else’s man, but she was stubborn.
“I don’t want to lose my fiancé and friends to that b*tch!”
At those words, Hestia flinched too. However, she caught up with Lily on her promise that she couldn’t take the new person without consulting her. She was eventually freed from her after she said that he would play with her until the roll call after school. Not a kid
We waited for Lily at the fountain in the middle of the campus.
“Did you wait long?”
“No. She didn’t wait that long. Let’s go quickly.”
Hestia was oddly hurried. It seems to bother her to leave Cordelia alone.
It was Lily who guided us this time as well. Hestia and I still didn’t know anything about the stores near the academy. Tomorrow, I will send a letter to my house asking for an explanation of the commercial district near the academy.
Lily took us to a restaurant with her private room.
“I thought it would be more comfortable to talk this way.”
I asked an attendant to guide me to the deepest room.
“So, can I ask for an explanation?”
Hestia opened her mouth as soon as the waitress who took the order stepped away from her seat.
“His Highness the Crown Prince told you that… , I know what to do with violence. So what does that have to do with Mikhail?”
Lily began to explain calmly.
“Even if His Highness, the Crown Prince, clings to me and beats me, I can’t escape from You. Everyone knows me as Your Highness. Everywhere I go, my every move is being reported to him. Perhaps this meeting will be the same.”
Lily trembled. It’s the right acting at the right time. She doesn’t have a great actress.
“No one wants to stand up to His Highness the Crown Prince. Except for Mikhail here. When I saw Mikhail stepping out for Lady Deneb, I thought it was this person.”
“Couldn’t it be that he provoked Lady Deneb on the eve….”
“Right. I feel really sorry for Lady Deneb. It’s not enough that you stole your fiancé, so you’re using it like this.”
Wow, this is how you solve it. This doesn’t completely exonerate her, but at least it’s a better picture of her than arguing with her to bully her for no reason. I was in awe of myself.
“Then, all of the constant flirting with Mikhail was to get away from His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Yes. I thought that if I showed off my friendship with Mikhail in front of everyone, His Highness would not treat me carelessly. I wouldn’t want to lose the archduke family and enemies because of me alone.”
After Lily’s words, Hestia quietly fell into trouble. She licks her fine lips.
“I understand. I know you know…. Ugh….”
“Hestia?”
“Then why did you step forward… , No, but if it weren’t for Mikhail, Miss Cordelia….”
“Hestia, are you okay?”
Hestia raised her head and looked at me. Trembling pupils. She let out her sigh.
“Okay. I’ll lend you Mikhail. Instead, there are conditions.”
It sounds a bit like lending. Of course, I didn’t make the mistake of spitting it out of my mouth. Hestia seemed disturbed enough without my help.
“Excessive skinship is absolutely prohibited. For now, it’s only possible up to arms. And most importantly, please act only in front of me. It’s absolutely, absolutely, absolutely forbidden for the two of you to do this in a place where I’m not there.”
“Are you really okay?”
“I don’t like you very much.”
Hestia firmly declared.
“However, knowing that you are suffering from exposure to violence, you cannot pretend not to know. That’s all.”
After she finished her words, she collapsed on her table and crumpled. She has no choice but to cooperate with Lily, but she probably didn’t want to do that in her true heart. After all, I was cheating on her, so I couldn’t say anything.
Lily also looked a little surprised. She was more surprised that she readily accepted her permission than she thought.
After a while, the meal was served. Hestia said nothing. Lily and I both kept our mouths shut. The three finished their meal in silence.
After the meal, Hestia left her seat to go to the bathroom.
“Are you satisfied?”
“What.”
“She tricked her into going ahead with her plan.”
Involuntarily, I spoke in an aggressive tone.
“You are also an accomplice.”
I couldn’t say anything about her words.
“And it’s not all lies.”
She once again lifted her sleeve and showed her arm.
“This, because I was really hit, hurt me.”
“Yes?”
“Wilhelm That crazy bastard is beating me up. Hit me and just cry saying I’m sorry.”
I couldn’t say anything. The world of romance is difficult.
“Why didn’t you say anything yesterday?”
“There is a saying that if you want to fool your enemies, you have to fool them first. Well, you didn’t seem to believe it from the start.”
“Then what are the bite marks?”
“That bastard really asked. Kkap! I thought it was s*xy when I saw it in the book, but it hurt when I was actually bitten. Lily, this is a very toxic b*tch.”
“Is that s*xy?”
“Someone likes you?”
“Wow.”
I didn’t say anything more. The world of romance is really difficult.
–