episode_0003

“Shiirai… Ayla seems strange… Why did she kneel to you, hit me, and hit Karla? And why did she listen to you? What happened between you two?”

“Nothing happened. I was surprised too. But Lulu?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you shave your chin for me? It’s starting to itch my shoulders.”

“Don’t want to?”

Hehe.

Lulu smiled brightly, looking carefree.

The place where Lulu and I are right now is the Academy courtyard where I usually eat alone.

Sitting on the grass in that courtyard feels very nice, with the mountain breeze cooling my body.

Since I don’t have many friends, and even if I did, it would be Lulu, who usually eats alone due to her fondness for Karla. Today, Lulu followed me here, asking about the whole incident.

Although I know everything, I pretend not to know as Lulu shouldn’t find out.

“Sigh… Alright. Just stay like this.”

“Hehe, Shiirain is so kind. Why are you being so gentle? Karla just rejects it when you act like this…”

“You didn’t ask for it?”

“Oh!! Cancel that! I’m going to marry Karla and have a child!”

To confidently say she’ll have a child like that, Lulu seemed shameless.

Still, I need to show interest in Lulu here to make it clear I’m not interested.

“Hehe, I’ll cheer you on.”

“Thank you!”

Just imagining Lulu’s bright smile turning into a distorted expression due to the Hooftip excites me.

Though it looks like an ordinary lunchtime between friends when we chat and share food, my mind is elsewhere.

While I treat Lulu kindly, my thoughts are focused on the Red Moon event happening a week later.

First things first, I need to get Lulu involved in the society… then I have to convince Karla.

Lulu isn’t stupid; if Karla said she’s there but isn’t, she’d probably leave the society in anger.

To prevent that, I need to persuade Karla beforehand to bring her to the society, but I can’t think of a convincing way to do it.

The current relationship between Karla and Shiirain is very strained. You can tell just by seeing her hit me in the Royal Class.

“Oh, Lulu. There’s Karla.”

“Huh? Really… really! Goodbye, Shiirain! Let’s talk again next time!”

“Yes, goodbye.”

When Karla appeared, Lulu immediately turned into the face of a girl in love, running towards Karla while waving both hands back and forth.

I also smiled and waved back.

As Lulu suddenly hooked her arm with Karla’s and gave an ominous smile, I started to worry alone.

How am I going to bring Karla to the society?

There’s nothing special about the society, and Karla isn’t particularly interested in women, so I couldn’t just drag her there because there’s a pretty girl.

Hmm… how can I get Karla to come to the society…

*Tadadadada-!*

As I pondered, suddenly, I heard someone running behind me.

Realizing they were getting closer, I turned around to see who it was.

Well, even without looking, it must be Ayla.

“Shi, Shiirain…! Did you accept my apology…?”

Yep, it was indeed Ayla.

The urgent expression on that face and the hand reaching out to me endlessly. It was saturated with obsession and exhaustion.

But there’s no trace of regret··· Perhaps Ayla still believes that my old false self is my true self, and thinking that with a personality like mine, I would easily accept an apology.

However, it’s all an act. When I possessed the special privilege of ‘Master of Acting’ by possessing the character Sii Rain, I lived hiding my true intentions.

I dealt with kids using Sii Rain’s polite speech and a slightly softened tone.

As a result, that Ayla is misunderstanding.

Drinking kimchi stew as if it were water… She seemed completely covered in flower petals.

“Ayla? Leave. Haven’t you heard that I no longer like you?”

-Swish!

“S-Sii, Sii Rain… I-I understand that much…! Just… just stay as friends… okay? Please… I’m begging you, okay…?”

Ayla quickly rolled her eyes, seemingly realizing there was no other way, then grabbed my pant leg again, pleading desperately.

Her obsession is increasingly overshadowing her exhaustion.

Like Lulu directed towards Carla earlier, it’s the face of a girl in love.

But mixed with a bit of exhaustion and obsession.

It’s so evident that one might think her eyes have turned into heart shapes due to Ayla’s overwhelming obsession.

Look at her now, kneeling just like she did in the Royal Class, pleading desperately.

This pattern was exciting at first, but the more I see it, the more nauseating it becomes… I need a new hobby.

It seems like I might have to get a little rough.

[1★ Water Magic: Water Creation]

Using the 1-star embarrassing magic skill Water Creation, which could hardly be called water magic, I dipped my hands in water and created a hundred heads.

Then, with a genuinely annoyed expression, I kicked Ayla’s abdomen with my leg.

-Thud!!

“Ugh…! Ugh… cough… cough…”

Perhaps due to the force of the kick, Ayla started coughing even more.

It was powerful enough to cause internal bleeding if done incorrectly, but I firmly believed in Ayla’s endurance, so she only coughed.

-Swish!

Grabbing Ayla’s hair in front, I feigned a face full of anger. Then, with a tone of fear, I stared directly at Ayla and said,

“Ayla, can’t you hear me telling you to leave? Get lost. I don’t even want to look at you. You shouldn’t beg so desperately to apologize to me. It’s pathetic. Think about what you did to me. Violence, assault, harassment, money extortion, menial tasks, punching bag, verbal abuse. Should I continue? There seems to be a lot more. Isn’t that right, Ayla? This is your retribution. If you love me, what? I don’t love you anymore.”

-Thwack!

“Ugh…!”

Before Ayla could catch her breath to speak, I cut off her response by punching her abdomen.

Then, I continued speaking.

“I have no intention of apologizing. So, leave, Ayla. Our relationship ends here.”

To express my anger, I abruptly switched to informal language and then returned to formal language.

It might be confusing.

Having realized painfully that I used informal language only when expressing anger, you’ll easily understand my emotional state.

After declaring our breakup, I kicked Ayla away and headed towards the Academy classroom, ignoring her cries of pain.

Soon, classes would begin.

“…Wait, Ayla?”

As I headed towards the classroom building, suddenly a useful tool for persuading Carla popped into my mind.

Right, Ayla.

In the original work of this world, “Revenge on the Bitches,” Karla’s first wife was Ayla.

Karla’s heart leaned most towards Ayla.

Ayla was also the closest to Karla. Ayla was the first to save Karla. The first person to pour various affections on Karla was Ayla.

Therefore, in this world, it can be said that Ayla is the heroine Karla likes the most.

After the shocking event this morning, Karla would want to have a conversation with Ayla.

Since the woman he loves the most hit him, he would want to talk.

However, Ayla is currently not showing affection to any man other than me. Due to Ayla’s fear of being misunderstood if seen playing with another man, she will avoid conversations with any man.

Well, Ayla doesn’t ‘love’ me for real.

She just mistakenly thinks she loves me due to a fleeting emotion.

Nevertheless, that misconception effectively repels all men.

Karla, too, is not an exception.

Karla will try to talk to Ayla no matter what, and Ayla will try to keep her distance from Karla.

It’s because I’m afraid she might ‘misunderstand.’

“Well… If I do it like this…”

As a good idea flashed through my mind, I involuntarily smiled at the thought that things would go well.

An evil laughter that someone might describe as wicked if they heard it.

Keeping in mind that this is the Academy classroom building, I cleared my throat out of embarrassment and headed into the Academy classroom building, expecting, or rather, being certain of where Karla would be – the Academy Royal Class-exclusive training ground.

Karla, the training fanatic, would naturally be finishing up class at the training ground.

I headed to the training ground to kick off the plan.

At the core of this plan is the protagonist Karla and Ayla, whom Karla wants to meet.

Using Ayla to lure the protagonist and even Lulu.

Then, aiming for the Red Moon, we start the mischief.

*

I arrived at the Royal Class training ground, confident that Karla would be there.

And as expected, Karla was there, continuously striking a meaningless scarecrow with a sword.

– Thud! Thud! Thud!

Pathetic. All this effort is useless once you take a Hidden Piece.

Displeased with Karla’s actions, I approached her.

“Karla.”

“Hmm? Who–!”

– Bam!

“Surprised to see me?”

As soon as Karla confirmed it was me calling her, she immediately tried to strike my face with the wooden sword she was holding.

But due to my agility and peripheral vision, her attack aimed at Karla’s head ended up hitting my arm.

“Why are you here…?”

Karla asked me suspiciously, keeping her distance.

With eyes wide open, she resembled the anger I had shown Ayla before.

To convey that I didn’t come to hit Karla, I raised both hands and smirked.

“Karla, want to go to the social gathering event together next week?”

The beginning of the plan.

As I extended my hand to suggest going to the social gathering, Karla looked at me with a disdainful gaze, seemingly misunderstanding something.

“You, were you like that?”

Hmm, seems like he misunderstood a man inviting another man to a social gathering as something else. What a jerk.

“No, just suggesting we go to the social gathering together.”

“For what reason? What do you know about it? I’m not going. Take Lulu instead.”

As expected, Karla rejected my invitation to the social gathering.

It wasn’t particularly shocking as anticipated. What matters is the next part.

Mumbling to myself, I whispered as softly as possible, hoping Karla would hear the words that would hook her.

“Too bad··· I would have gone with you to Ayla’s island too···.”

– Thud!

“What did you just say···?”

As if she had heard my muttering, Karla urgently grabbed my shoulder as she turned back.

She must not have controlled her strength well, as my shoulder creaked.

Nevertheless, seeing Karla act as I had expected, I smirked from an angle where she couldn’t see.

“She took the bait.”

It was a very wicked smile.