My Childhood Friends Are Trying To Kill Me

Huge thanks to Kolurija, Kofi-supporter, Dani and Meggy for the kofi! ^_^ Sorry for the late update, I thought it would be better to give a mass release of all the bonus chapters!  4 chapters, today!?

***

That morning, Lelia changed her hair and eye colors using the items from the “Alchemy Lottery” game.

Originally it was silver, but now her hair was a light pink and shorter. Also, her olive eyes were changed to a light brown.

Lelia looked in the mirror and was relieved.

Although she was slender in size, she looked like a frail handsome boy who she thought looked like a man.

Kalix’s gaze also turned to Lelia.

He had a rather puzzled look on his face.

That was because when Lelia was dressed as a man she really looked like Leo.

‘They must be real cousins.’

Romeo thought the same thing, but he glanced at Lelia in wonder. In the awkward air, Kalix and Romeo began to exchange wordless conversations.

Lelia turned her eyes to above Romeo’s head.

[We’ve had a lot of encouraging moments, but….]

The figure that was [-200] was already up to [-59].

If it switches to the positive, she will be able to proceed with the quest like Kalix’s.

Knock, knock

Romeo went to check on the sudden knock on the door.

A servant bowed his head and said, “Your Majesty would like to invite you to dinner tonight since he heard that you have a guest here. I’ll pick you up at the appointed time.”

“I see…”

Romeo nodded and the servant left with a smile.

When the door closed, Lelia was furious.

“Why did you accept a dinner invitation?”

The emperor will surely be there, as well as Julianna, Cedric and Damian. She thought she might run into them since she entered the Imperial Castle, but this was too sudden.

Lelia felt uneasy, Romeo attempted to calm her down and said.

“Don’t worry, the two of us will go to dinner without you, so you will be here alone. I can tell them you need to sleep because you weren’t feeling well.”

“……!”

When Lelia blinked, Romeo grinned.

As Romeo said, it was a great opportunity.

At least she won’t see Emperor Perseus in the cabin again.

***

“How do you like this dress, your Highness?”

At Princess Julianna’s room, the ladies were busily picking out dresses.

“No, the yellow dress looks better on her.”

“Isn’t that dress too childish?”

“What are you talking about? It’ll look good on her.”

Listening to the ladies, Julianna carefully chose her dress.

The newly hired ladies-in-waiting for Princess Julianna were all noble daughters. That is because the emperor himself ordered new women to be hired to care for Julianna properly.

“I’ll just take this dress.”

Julianna chose the yellow dress that the Countess had chosen for her.

As the Countess smiled proudly, the rest of the ladies glanced at her enviously.

The ladies helped Julianna change her dress with great gentleness. Julianna relished the hands of the ladies who were grooming her, recalling Ruth’s face in her head.

Important guests were to attend this evening’s dinner.

They were young men who played a great role in the Dragon extermination, and Ruth was included among them.

Julianna wanted to look good for Ruth, but she didn’t want to be too forceful.

Because the ladies said men don’t like women when they approach too aggressively.

[Brother Cedric and Brother Damien were good examples…]

Her older brothers turned away from the younger girls as they looked at them sweetly.

That’s why she paid more attention to her appearance today. She wanted Ruth to be anxious when he saw her looking this beautiful.

Two of the four young men, who caused an uproar in the capital, have decided to stay in the Imperial palace a little longer.

After hearing this, her brothers said, “I knew this would happen. Romeo and Kalix have a crush on her, don’t you think?”

“Ah… I’m absolutely against it. They don’t have good personalities, so they’re going to trick our Julianna. No, no. Even if people bad mouth me!”

Julianna was giggling at her brothers’ agitation.

Even if the two really like Julianna, as they say, it had nothing to do with them.

‘My favorite is Ruth…’

The ladies brought her a mirror to show her the finished makeup.

Julianna smiled shyly as she looked at herself in the mirror.

‘I wish they really liked me. Then Ruth will be jealous.’

***

It was dinner time, people gathered one by one at the dining hall. It was a small dinner, but the atmosphere was as splendid as any banquet.

“Didn’t your guest come with you?”

When everyone sat down, Emperor Perseus asked Romeo.

Romeo feigned a sad expression.

“He suddenly said he was not feeling well, maybe he was tired from the trip. I’m on my way back from confirming that he’s asleep.”

“After dinner, I’ll let you leave early.”

“No, don’t worry. He’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep. If he’s not feeling well by tomorrow morning, I’ll tell you through the servant. Thank you for your consideration.”

Romeo’s perfect etiquette had people glancing at him.

The attendants began to deliver food as the musicians’ started to play.

Emperor Perseus looked distracted from time to time.

Because of what happened last night he seemed lost in thought.

The last day of the banquet was on Emperor Perseus and Elizabeth’s wedding anniversary.

Twenty years later, he still missed his first wife.

He couldn’t stand the longing and went there. In his dream, his dead wife appeared in front of him.

‘I’m sure I must have seen it wrong..’

When he came to his senses, he’d already been carried to his room by the knights.

But there was something strange.

A knight who came to pick him up had fainted at the door of the cabin.

Also there was a small disturbance at the northeastern gate around the same time.

The search took place all morning, because someone might have hidden away inside the Imperial Palace. However, there were no signs of intruders or missing objects anywhere.

‘It’s weird.’

What he saw last night was too clear to be a dream.

That’s why he ordered the soldiers to look for a green-eyed woman who entered the Imperial Palace.

Fortunately, nothing was amiss, but security for those entering and exiting the palace was several times stronger than before.

They searched the interior of the palace, but there was no trace of anyone. The criminal had already escaped from the palace. Therefore, only the entrance to and from the castle were being thoroughly monitored.

He also ordered a wizard to investigate the cause of the incident.

Perseus looked over those who attended the banquet. Today’s meeting was arranged to find a young man who could be Julianna’s fiancé.

Cedric and Damien are not married yet, but they already have a fiancée.

Now it was Julianna’s turn.

To be honest, Perseus never wanted Julianna to marry, but the Empress was being stubborn.

Empress Marianne, who was sitting next to him, was looking at the young people one by one with a kind gaze.

In particular, there was a lot of disappointment in her eyes towards Prince Romeo.

When she asked Prince Romeo a while ago, he said he had a fiancée. He certainly looked mature compared to Cedric and Damian, who were still very childish.

On the other hand, Julianna looked explicitly at Kalix sitting next to Prince Romeo.

Kalix was eating without manners, but Julianna was trying hard to get his attention.

[T/N: Kalix is awesome xD]

‘You didn’t even look at me once.’

Julianna clicked her tongue quietly.

She tried to show him how elegant and dignified she was, but he blatantly ignored her gaze.

‘Is he doing that on purpose? Should I move on to the man called Romeo?’

But she heard Romeo has a fiancée.

Julianna glanced around in annoyance.

Her eyes met with Ruth, who was looking her way.

Julianna turned her head the other way in a coy way. Just before turning her head, she felt refreshed at the confused expression on Ruth’s face. She hated how hesitant Ruth was in getting close to her.

‘That’s why I’ve been staring at Kalix all day…’

‘Brother Cedric and Damien made fun of me. They say he doesn’t like me.’

She got sulky and glared at her brothers sitting across from her.

While staring at Kalix, the two felt Julianna’s gaze and shrugged.

‘Julianna…’

Meanwhile, Ruth glanced anxiously at her profile. His eyes again turned to Kalix with resentment.

“…….”

Kalix, who had been under the eyes of many people, could not resist putting down the tableware quietly.

Romeo, sitting next to him, covered his mouth with one hand and asked quietly.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’re all looking at me. Are they trying to pick a fight with me?”

“Hang in there…”

Kalix looked around with a fierce look in his eyes because he was displeased for some reason. Most of the people turned their heads.

Cedric and Damian, on the other hand, still stared at him like he was their enemy.

Damn it.

Kalix wanted to leave right now.

It was unpleasant and reprehensible that everyone looked at his eyes, which had turned into an unusual color.

He turned his mind around and thought of something else.

‘Is she doing well?’

Earlier she reminded him of Leo.

Feeling thirsty for no reason, Kalix gulped down his champagne.

***

Thanks to Kalix’s efforts, Lelia arrived at the cabin smoothly and was looking for her ingredients.

[95%]

Watching the gauge rise nervously, she looked out the window.

[I’m happy!]

Emperor Perseus will not be able to come here because he was attending the dinner.

100%

Lelia clasped her hands as she looked at the screen in the air.

[Please work.]

It would be a disaster if she couldn’t find her final ingredient here.

A smiling alchemy tool and speech bubble appeared with a ringing sound.

Special material found! o(*’▽’*)/☆

Special ingredients are cleared!

We’ll give you a 20% discount on 100,000 crystals as a reward! (*•̀ᴗ•́*)

She felt relieved by the following message. She was so glad that her legs felt weak.

[If I hadn’t found it here, I wouldn’t have been able to cure my grandmother…]

Lelia plopped down in the old chair next to her.

She had to get back to her room quickly, but she thought she’d be fine for a little while.

[This place is the same as it used to be…]

Unlike yesterday, when she was upset that Emperor Perseus was here. She was in a good enough mood to look around the cabin today.

Lelia quickly captured everything with longing eyes.

What happened as a child came to her mind as if it was yesterday.

She thought she had no memories with her mother, but now she saw that she missed all of them hiding in this space.

Lelia gazed absentmindedly for a long time before leaving the cabin.

She didn’t forget to lock the door like she did when she first came.

She thought it had been a short while, but it seemed she was there for a long time. Unbeknownst to her, the sky had turned black.

Lelia hurried to her room.

When she got close, she had to stop walking because of an unexpected person.