episode_0013

As I entered the ballroom with Sheryl, numerous chandeliers gleaming brightly welcomed us with open arms.

The ballroom was grand. When I had arrived a little earlier, I hadn’t seen its exact size as I had only glimpsed inscriptions on the curtains high above.

And true to form, the ballroom was indeed massive.

Sheryl seemed to be taking in the sight of such a large space for the first time, her eyes sparkling as she surveyed the ballroom.

“Wow! It’s huge! Is this really the ballroom?” she exclaimed.

“How should I know? I’m just a commoner,” I replied.

“Oh, sorry. Should we walk around a bit first? We’re too far out here. We can sit down after a short walk and enjoy the ball from there.”

“Alright.”

Sheryl casually took my hand, and without pulling away, I walked with her through the ballroom.

Looking around the ballroom, I saw numerous nobles conversing in their beautiful dresses and suits.

Most likely, they were discussing business matters, family affairs, or perhaps even succession issues. This gathering was where most nobles came to find companions for their heirs. There was no place like this ballroom to build relationships and foster friendships among young children.

Therefore, every year, this ballroom would be packed during the ball. Some noble families even tried to persuade royalty to consider marriage proposals, but the royals typically declined.

Earlier, Yustetia, whom I had met, had also received several engagement and marriage proposals, all of which she had turned down because the king held her in high regard.

In fact, in the novel, due to various objections from the king, not a single man had been engaged to Yustetia, and she had played a significant role in rejecting them.

The main issue was the king himself, and Yustetia had also refused engagements.

The person Yustetia liked was someone who could “protect her.”

However, the suitors from noble families who proposed to Yustetia were either lacking in reliability or only skilled in combat. They were not the dependable type she sought.

Interpreting further, it seemed like she was looking for someone with stats of S-rank or higher in endurance, stamina, and vitality… Finding such a person wasn’t impossible since there were quite a few of them.

But the problem was that the person needed to be “young.”

If someone had stats of S-rank or higher, they were usually at least 10 years older than Yustetia, who was 20 years old.

Exceptions existed, like Ayla. She was a disaster, right?

Some geniuses achieved an S-rank at 25, and true prodigies even at 21.

However, what Yustetia sought was a man who was either her age or younger, with exceptional stats in endurance, stamina, and vitality. Young people with all S-rank stats were hard to come by, making it difficult for Yustetia to marry until the end of the novel.

By the time she turned 30, her romantic feelings had completely faded, and she didn’t bother finding someone to marry. Yustetia used to be a queen, mind you.

So, the story goes that Yustetia’s siblings had to bear heirs… or something along those lines. It has nothing to do with me, though.

With these thoughts in mind, as Sheryl and I reached the center of the ballroom, some nobles began to take notice of us.

They were probably intrigued by our appearance.

I hesitated to say it myself, but I was undeniably handsome.

A beauty, a real heartthrob, just incredibly cool.

It was described in the novel that I had looks comparable to the protagonist’s, so that says it all.

If the protagonist had red hair, I had pure white hair symbolizing purity, paired with orange eyes resembling pumpkins.

Moreover, being good-looking on top of that, it was no wonder I was popular in the novel.

Having possessed such a character, people couldn’t help but notice me… People with white hair were rare, and most of them were either beautiful or impressive.

Because beings with white hair all inherit the genes of the first beauty and handsome man from the past.

Although one inherits their parents’ blood most strongly, if the genes of those ancestors are heavily involved, white hair can appear even if the parents have different colored hair.

Both the beauty and the handsome man had white hair.

The genes of the first humans still remain abundant, causing changes in hair color. It’s a bit strange, but… it’s fantasy, so let’s just go with it.

“Excuse me… do you happen to be a member of any particular family?”

As I was giving out TMI, someone tapped my shoulder.

Turning around to look at the owner of the finger, I saw a man who seemed to be the head of the Hujak family touching my shoulder.

Hmm, seeing a woman with pink hair behind him, it seems like she asked her father to talk to me.

But, I am a commoner.

“I am a commoner. Please don’t mind me, as I am just a humble commoner. Well then.”

After politely greeting the head of the Hujak family, I quickly moved away with Shuril.

Shuril seemed a bit flustered when I suddenly dragged her along, but she seemed to understand after I explained the situation.

What I said was that the person from the Hujak family almost tried to arrange an engagement with me, but I ran away because I didn’t like it.

Since commoners have no power to refuse engagements, escaping like this is the best way. I apologize. I hope you find a better person.

“Huh? Isn’t that Sirine and Senior Shuril?”

As we were walking away from the Hujak family, a sweet and cute voice called out our names.

The owner of this voice is Lulu.

“Lulu?”

A maid with a refreshing bright green dress that complements her green hair. Lulu appeared in front of me.

“Yeah, I’m Lulu. And Carla is here too.”

And Carla was with her as well.

Looking closely at Carla’s face, she still seemed not in a good mood. It’s fortunate she didn’t snap back; once Carla gets angry, it lasts a long time.

“…Sirine, when will Ayla arrive?”

Upon seeing me, Carla didn’t ask about me but only inquired about Ayla.

Yeah, I know very well that you like Ayla. But damn, wouldn’t it be upsetting if I were ignored too?

“You said it, so shouldn’t you know?”

Still, I had to maintain my usual concept, so I smiled as kindly as possible and replied.

“…I see. Alright.”

Carla, slightly disappointed by the fact that Ayla hadn’t arrived yet, slumped into a nearby chair.

Leaving Carla behind, we started our conversation.

“Miss Lulu, how are things going with Carla?”

“Not great~! Carla is so focused on Ayla that she barely talks to me. I asked her about the dress, and she just said ‘It looks nice’ without even looking… really mean!”

“That’s too much. But since you like him, you shouldn’t give up, right?”

“Of course not! Hehe~”

With a confident tone and a snort, Lulu’s confidence seemed to reach the sky.

Watching Lulu like that, I couldn’t help but imagine.

“Lulu… I wonder what she looks like?”

It was the appearance of Lulu’s ‘Hufip.’

Should I plead? Should I become desperate? Should I go crazy? Should I cling on? Should tears flow? Everything about it appeals to me to the point of madness.

Ah, I almost got excited again.

As my mouth was about to break into a smile, I stopped myself with my trademark poker face. Leaving Sheryl and Lulu behind as social club leaders, I decided to step outside.

“Senior, Lulu. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Huh? Sure, go ahead.”

“Where to…?”

While Lulu coolly told me to go and come back, Sheryl gave me a suspicious look.

What’s going on? Sheryl isn’t usually like this. Shouldn’t she see me off coolly?

Clearly, five months ago, even if I said I was going to meet a girl and come back, she wouldn’t react and just tell me to go and return safely. She used to be normal back then, so why is she acting like this now?

Thinking that there must have been a change in her feelings, I replied with as much falsehood as possible.

“The restroom.”

“…Sorry.”

The restroom is a cheat code, and Sheryl is a fool.

You shouldn’t stop someone who says they’re going to the restroom, right? If you stop someone going to the restroom, that’s akin to being a criminal. It’s socially condemned, isn’t it?

Using the cheat code of the restroom, I slipped out of the social club and made my way to the backyard where I could see the red roses growing in the garden.

This garden was personally tended by the king, who loved red roses dearly.

The reason I had come all the way here, leaving the social club behind.

“It looks nice.”

A beautiful light emanating from the moon, showing off itself.

In this garden, you can see the moon.

Although you can see the moon from the entrance, there are too many people gathered there, making it hard not to attract attention.

That’s why I waited here until the lunar eclipse arrives. Soon, the red moon will envelop this social club, as planned.

Lost in staring at the full moon hanging in the sky,

-Step, step.

Someone’s footsteps echoed through the garden.

Certainly, there shouldn’t be anyone wandering around at this hour, so who could it be?

-Tadadadada!

The sound drew closer. And instead of walking, it turned into running.

Startled by the sudden change in footstep sounds, I immediately turned my head to look at where the sound was coming from.

“Huh?”

There, I saw neither the expected beast-like demon nor an ordinary child nor an outsider.

“How do these clothes look?”

With her hair not just slightly tied up as usual but completely divided into two strands, fluttering in the wind, eyes shining like blood, the girl who ran towards me, fitting in with the red roses. It was Ayla.

I wasn’t particularly surprised by Ayla’s appearance.

She did mention coming to the social club, but didn’t specify where she would be coming to.

However, it wasn’t that I wasn’t surprised by Ayla’s appearance.

It was because Ayla’s face was filled with joy.

Despite thinking that she had deceived me, I wasn’t feeling a bit unhappy because of Ayla’s evident happiness.

‘Why does she look so pleased?’

It was because Ayla’s face was filled with joy.

Surely, the setting I saw in Ayla’s character profile played a role in her current elation.

Ayla, who had once been hated by the protagonist in the novel, briefly fell into despair but regained her composure by rationalizing the hatred she received.

So, she wanted to see Hufip, but she didn’t expect to show me this side of her. It’s annoying.

“Um… maybe you don’t like being talked to…? Then… sorry…”

No, I’m not annoyed anymore.

Her joyful expression turned gloomy as soon as she saw my expressionless face.

Like a dog with its tail between its legs.

What’s this? I thought I had rationalized it, but seeing myself made me gloomy.

Did I not rationalize properly?

Well, it’s none of my business. I could only feel joy in the fact that the seal hadn’t been broken.

But now, you are not the main focus. The main character is Lulu.

-Thud!

That’s why I immediately pushed away Ayla, who was next to me, and distanced myself, looking at her with a contemptuous gaze.

“Ayla, do you have no shame? How many times do I have to say I dislike you for you to stop approaching me… Should I give you some reward for your futile efforts?”

“Oh, no, I just… wanted to apologize…”

“Apologize? Do you think your actions can be forgiven just by apologizing? Think about your sins. Well then, I’ll be here, so decide whether you want to go to the guild leader or not.”

“I’ll kneel down and think about it.”

“What? Yes, do as you please.”

After pretending to act, I once again made it clear to Ayla that I disliked her, then looked up at the sky.

“Huh?”

The sky I gazed upon was strange.

The sun, which was clearly emitting white light, had turned ‘red.’

“A blood moon…!”

A lunar eclipse. Upon realizing that a lunar eclipse had arrived, I immediately decided to execute my plan and told Ayla, who was kneeling, an important figure in this plan.

“Ayla, Karla will come looking for you soon.”

“Why, why…? Don’t talk to her…? I’m confident I won’t…!”

“No. Please talk to Karla appropriately. Play along for a bit and then send her back here. Understand?”

“Uh, uh… She won’t get jealous…?”

“She might. But I’m sure she won’t direct it at you.”

“…Ah…”

Ayla’s expression turned lifeless again upon hearing my words.

Well, it’s none of my concern. Now that Karla is the only one left to bring, the plan is about to begin.

“This should be fun… I’m getting excited… Thinking about Lulu’s seal being broken…”

Turning away from Ayla, I raised the corners of my mouth in a position where no one could see, preparing to activate the mark as I entered the guild leader’s chamber.

Evilly laughing, indeed.