The Villain Wants to Change Genres

Chapter 92

“…Huh? Me?”

Although he was looking directly at me, I pointed at myself with my index finger to double-check, just in case. Nadian nodded and said,

“Luwen heard rumors that you and the young master look alike.”

“Ah…”

So that’s why Luwen was looking for Norman. Was that also why he came to the library? To confirm because I was there?

If that’s the case, then meeting the president was just a coincidence.

‘So the dating rumor was indeed false?’

I was bothered by the fact that the place they went together was symbolic, but Luwen probably didn’t know that. Besides, they weren’t even sitting next to each other.

…But it still bothered me. I wondered if I should ask Nadian if he had asked whether the two were dating.

“But aren’t the president and Luwen dating? Wouldn’t he dislike me seeing Luwen separately… I feel uncomfortable meeting with the president…”

“Don’t worry about that. It turns out it was just a false rumor. Luwen strongly denied it. The president also said he didn’t know it was that kind of place.”

“Ah.”

Of course. Our Luwen wouldn’t do that to me. I had to desperately suppress the smile that threatened to appear due to the warm feeling. This wasn’t the time to smile; I had to reject Luwen’s request.

But my face kept trying to relax, so I excused myself to the children and briefly escaped to the bathroom.

‘Huh?’

After calming down, I was about to leave when I noticed my reflection in the mirror looking surprisingly satisfied.

‘…Is this something to be so happy about?’

Of course, it’s true that I dislike the president. It’s true that I don’t want to give Luwen, whom I’ve carefully nurtured, to such a terrible person… But is that reason alone enough for my expression to crumble like this?

As I tilted my head and peered into the mirror, I suddenly recalled a thought that had naturally crossed my mind earlier.

‘Didn’t I think that Luwen wouldn’t do that to me?’

It felt like… thinking that if he were to have a male lover, it had to be me.

‘Shouldn’t I have thought “He wouldn’t keep it a secret from me” instead of “He wouldn’t do that to me”…?’

Clear bewilderment could be read on my face in the mirror.

I’ve never once considered Luwen in that way before. Even though I’ve been single all my life, I know what it’s like to fall in love.

I have felt my heart flutter for Luwen… but not in that sense. It’s true that I feel good when he holds my hand or strokes me, but I’ve never imagined anything beyond that.

‘Absolutely impossible… hmm… Wait, if asked whether it’s absolutely impossible, I’m not so sure…’

It seems possi- no, what am I thinking? I slapped both my cheeks and took a deep breath. If I keep attaching meaning to every little thing unnecessarily, even non-existent facts might start to appear.

Even if the malicious rumors following me were spread intentionally by someone, didn’t Luwen suddenly have dating rumors with the president? This all happened because of excessive attribution of meaning.

‘Okay. I’m calm now.’

Once I convinced myself, I felt at peace.

‘That president guy is funny, though.’

I don’t know how he managed to pique Luwen’s curiosity, but there were plenty of places to have a conversation, yet he deliberately chose a place that would attract attention.

‘The problem is that I can’t figure out his intentions at all.’

What else could there be besides becoming the subject of rumors?

I stared at myself in the mirror, cycling through various hypotheses in my mind. Maybe he likes Luwen, or he’s trying to seduce him, or he needed Luwen’s recommendation, or he wants to connect with Fei Vinter, and so on.

But they were all ambiguous. The hypotheses I came up with didn’t require becoming the subject of dating rumors in a place that attracts attention. It either wouldn’t be a problem for achieving the goal or might even be a hindrance.

‘…Wait. What if it wasn’t about the dating rumor, but the attention itself?’

A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I let out a mirthless laugh. As soon as I brought in the fake identity, the answer became clear.

‘He doesn’t want rumors involving our family to circulate around country bumpkin Norman.’

Indeed, since I revealed myself as Fei Vinter, the number of people openly mentioning rumors in front of me had significantly decreased. They were being cautious, wondering if country bumpkin Norman might have a connection to the Vinter family.

Even though Irene became a duke despite being born out of wedlock, who knows what might happen if country bumpkin Norman were to be acknowledged as a sibling by his sister? As a result, while the number of gossipers had noticeably decreased, those showing favor towards me were gradually increasing, in inverse proportion to my performance.

Now everything fit together. He might have wanted Luwen to deny the rumor that everyone was keeping quiet about. If he knew dating rumors would circulate, was the reason for taking him to the central bench to create an atmosphere of a private meeting, making it easier for people to casually ask?

‘How much easier would it be to approach them if it’s an officially acknowledged relationship?’

Then the president could naturally use Luwen as a witness to spread the story that Norman has no connection to the duke’s family. Eventually, the rumor “The president and Luwen are dating” would change to “Luwen proved that Norman has no connection to the duke’s family.”

This way, even if it’s revealed that country bumpkin Norman does have a connection to the duke’s family, the president’s name would be completely left out, and only Luwen would remain. It’s a shift in responsibility.

Even if country bumpkin Norman has no relation to the duke’s family, the president loses nothing. Thanks to this incident, he can now flaunt his close relationship with Luwen.

Considering Luwen’s idolized position in the academy, he can bring country bumpkin Norman down again while simultaneously elevating his own value.

‘Using Luwen like this is unacceptable.’

Until now, I had no intention of taking what happened in the academy outside. I was content with regaining my peace and burying the president within the academy. Regardless of his personality, being the top student in an academy full of outstanding talents is proof of how much effort he put in.

‘I know how hard it is to study medicine, so I was going to let it slide to some extent.’

Of course, I wasn’t planning to use petty methods to interfere with his job prospects.

‘Maybe I’ll let him climb as high as he can on his own after graduation.’

As for what to do after that, I’ll think about it once I have him in the palm of my hand… I massaged my cold face with my hands to soften it, then left the bathroom.

Rejecting the meeting with Luwen wasn’t difficult. It was originally up to me if I didn’t want to, but I made the excuse that I didn’t want to because I was worried about the rumors, just as I had told little Norman. Luwen is a kind and gentle person who considers others, so he won’t look for country bumpkin Norman if I say this.

* * *

‘I didn’t expect this.’

I pressed down on my hat with one hand, afraid it might fly off. My vision was almost completely obscured, only able to see the ground, but I had to hurry. Just as I knew Luwen’s location because of people, the same could be true for him.

The distance I had to travel doubled as I searched for less crowded paths, worried that someone curious about the outcome might report my location to Luwen.

In the past week, Luwen has already appeared at the medical department twice. He didn’t come every day, just briefly asking if country bumpkin Norman was there before leaving, but the uncertainty of when he might come made me anxious.

Moreover, those few visits became the spark for my rumors. The rumors that I had momentarily suppressed by living like a library ghost not only reignited but exploded into brilliant fireworks.

Luwen wasn’t entangled in my unsavory rumors because his reason for looking for country bumpkin Norman was so obvious, but I was the problem. People started saying that country bumpkin Norman was the one who spread the rumor about resembling Fei Vinter. They argued that otherwise, there would be no reason to go to such lengths to avoid showing his face when a brief appearance would suffice.

‘Actually, it’s so plausible that I can’t even feel wronged.’

I’d probably think the same if I were them. How strange must it seem that country bumpkin Norman, who’s been studying to deny rumors, is now avoiding proving a rumor that might be beneficial to him? It shakes the plausibility of country bumpkin Norman’s story.

In the end, people started saying that all my hard work studying was just an act to change my image. Because of this, even my roommates began suggesting that it might be better to meet Luwen.

‘It’s troublesome in many ways…’

With less than a week left until the exams, I feel like locking myself in my dorm room and not attending classes. It’s not like I’ll encounter problems I don’t know just from missing a few lectures.

What stopped my hurried steps was a large foot blocking my path. I swallowed a sigh at this intentional action. Since I started walking alone to avoid advertising my presence when moving in a group with my roommates, I often encountered guys like this.

“Found you. You’re Norman, right?”

“No, I’m not.”

As I tried to pass by, my arm was suddenly grabbed. He forcefully turned me around and immediately removed my hat.

The large man lowered his head to look at my face. A blue tie swayed in my field of vision.

‘He’s from the Swordsmanship Department, isn’t he?’

No wonder he was so big. These guys were annoying because they required more time to let their guard down completely, unlike those from other departments, as their attacks would be blocked otherwise. He wasn’t even controlling his strength properly, and my captured arm was throbbing.

“Looks like it’s you.”

“Ugh… I said it’s not.”

I pretended to be weak while slightly increasing the distance between us. It was important to maintain an appropriate gap, as getting too far would put me out of range.

‘I need to finish this quickly and get back since I’m short on time.’

Seeing me scared, instead of loosening his grip, he held on even tighter.

“Ah, it hurts…”

“I heard you’re looking for a sponsor? How about me? I have the ability to sponsor someone like you.”

Ah, so he believes that rumor? This was the most common type among the various guys approaching me. I didn’t care which rumor they believed in.

“…Really?”

“Want to know who I am?”

Not at all. I pretended to consider, rolling my eyes before gesturing towards him, as if I was about to accept his proposal.

Then, with a slimy grin, he seemed about to start boasting about his family. The timing was right. I immediately kneed him in the groin. It was a martial arts technique using the footwork I learned from Dedric. At this close range, there was no way to miss. Moreover, he was completely off guard, so it landed perfectly.

Whack-

It connected.

“Aaargh!”

What a delightful scream. It’s a pain no man can avoid. He doubled over, clutching his groin with both arms, gasping for breath.

As much as I wanted to watch him writhe in pain and sneer, it would be troublesome for me if he recovered, so it was time to flee.

‘I can’t miss the timing to escape.’

Just as I was about to move my feet to run away…

“It is him. I hear screaming from over here. What kind of person are you to only care about finding Norman? If I hadn’t heard that Norman went this way, you would have just walked by no matter who was screaming, right?”

“Shut up.”

The person answering the meddlesome voice was Luwen.