Chapter 156

Exam (3)

As a veteran who had even participated in the Allied War, Elena was a seasoned warrior who had crossed countless life-and-death lines.

No matter what kind of dangerous situation she found herself in, she could quickly think of at least one way to preserve her own lifeline.

Of course, even for her, there were moments that could be called exceptions.

“……Uh, so.”

With pupils shaken as if by an earthquake, I stammered as I opened my mouth.

No matter how confident I was in my social finesse, it was undeniably awkward to try to make excuses after getting caught openly acting sly toward my friend’s husband.

Noel’s gaze slowly swept back and forth between Aiden and me, my hand subtly resting on his shoulder.

As if she were carefully trying to grasp just what kind of situation this was.

…Although I strongly felt that doing that would not help steer the situation in a good direction at all.

Even just looking at her hand hovering near the hilt of her sword made it eloquently clear what she was thinking right now….

“…….”

“…….”

Watching Noel with her eyes briefly closed, a chill ran down my spine.

It felt as though I was witnessing reason and instinct clashing fiercely as she tried to somehow comprehend the current situation.

‘……No, no, wait.’

No matter what, reaching for a sword without even hearing an explanation was a bit much, wasn’t it?

Thinking that, I hurriedly tried to speak, but I felt a hand stopping me.

Aiden, who had been standing there blankly until now, suddenly grabbed me by the chin and pulled me back before I could open my mouth.

I also noticed him subtly shaking his head from side to side.

As if telling me not to say anything.

As if the situation would only worsen if I spoke here.

“……?”

…Huh.

Wait.

At Aiden’s sudden intervention, I blinked blankly and stared at him.

What.

As I kept looking at him, wondering what on earth he meant by that, Aiden opened his mouth in a calm voice.

“I was the one who asked for it, Dame Noel.”

…What kind of insane thing was that to say.

If he put it like that, it made us sound like people who had been plotting an affair.

While I stared at Aiden with my mouth hanging open, he continued.

“I simply asked her to give me a massage because my shoulder was a little stiff. It doesn’t mean anything beyond that.”

“…….”

Wouldn’t it have been better to at least make the excuse sound a little more sincere?

To anyone listening, it sounded like the most transparent cover-up imaginable.

This man was supposed to be quick-witted, so what was with this half-baked response…!

“……??”

However, what I understood even less was the fact that although Noel’s face flushed red and blue after hearing that, her reaction did not escalate into anything more vicious than before.

Frankly, if I saw my friend subtly pressing herself against my own husband like this, even I would have seen red.

And if the husband in question said something like that, it would have been perfectly natural to be dumbfounded.

“I-Is that so?”

Noel seemed to be slowly considering Aiden’s words while forcibly suppressing all those emotions.

As she tried to calm her anger with deliberate deep breaths, Aiden’s flat voice dropped again.

As if he had already experienced her reacting like this countless times, and clearly knew exactly how to handle it.

“You’re overreacting. Nothing happened.”

“…….”

Watching her somehow steady herself with deep breathing at those words.

…From the standpoint of another woman, I could clearly tell what kind of situation this was.

Honestly, it was a situation where she had every right to be angry.

In fact, it would have been stranger if she wasn’t.

Wasn’t she afraid of doing exactly that?

Afraid that if she did get angry, she might receive some kind of negative feedback from this man.

It meant she was that deeply smitten.

‘……Hmm.’

Let me be honest.

…He really did seem like a playboy.

Even if he was an inexperienced fool when it came to romance, the fact that a woman like Noel had fallen for him to this extent could only be explained as his own talent.

But if I were to say he seemed to be maliciously exploiting that, well.

To say he was cleverly manipulating Noel would be a stretch, since everything he had said so far was nothing but the truth.

It was true that nothing had actually happened.

Aiden himself had truly done nothing.

Even though I had openly left the door wide open, he hadn’t approached me at all.

“…….”

And no matter how much of a playboy he might be, right now it only looked like he had used that disposition to save me.

No, to be honest, I was the one at fault. Looking at the situation alone, Aiden had really done nothing, and I was the one who had kept trying this and that to test him for no reason.

…And yet.

Hadn’t he gone so far as to place the premise that he had asked for it onto himself, taking the blame instead?

Honestly, as someone watching, it hurt to see my friend surrendering that much initiative to a man, but based on everything I had seen from him so far, there was no grounds for me to judge him negatively.

“…….”

No, more than that.

Why was this man helping me?

I couldn’t understand the reason to begin with.

Until now, he had acted as though I barely existed, as if he had no interest at all.

‘……He really is a strange person.’

That was all I could do—quietly acknowledge it.

As for my evaluation of this man.

I could only think that I would have to watch him a little longer.

▣

-System Message

▶ The Affection Level of target ‘Elena Ba Del’ increases.

▶ The effect of ‘Skill: Weaver of Fate’ is activated.

▶ You can copy one skill!

“…….”

Huh.

It was a System Window I hadn’t seen in quite a while.

Thinking that, I slowly scanned the window floating before my eyes.

‘……Come to think of it, lately.’

Even for me, blatantly copying a new person’s skill like this felt rather unusual.

How should I put it? Unless it was a special case like Milene, I hadn’t even tried anything like this recently.

“…….”

And yet people called me a playboy and whatnot.

Sometimes living in this world felt this unfair…….

Fortunately, the person in front of me was clearly someone who at least recognized that sense of injustice.

The pipe clenched in the mouth of the pink-haired priestess wearing an eyepatch spread thick smoke into the air.

Seeing Noel’s expression—clearly holding back the words that smoking was forbidden in the Imperial Capital Command—Rania smirked and waved the pipe lightly.

“Apologies, Lionhearted.”

“……It’s, fine.”

Though she looked on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Noel barely managed to answer.

“If I don’t smoke, I’ll die.”

“…….”

When she put it that way, there wasn’t much to say in response.

At Rania’s words, Noel’s lips shut tight like a clam.

Both she and I had more than enough sense to pick up on the hidden meaning between the lines of what had just been said.

‘……It feels like.’

As if there was another reason hidden beneath it—something beyond simple nicotine addiction.

Come to think of it, I didn’t think I had ever seen this person without that pipe in her mouth.

I had just assumed she really liked smoking, but perhaps there was another reason.

“……So, you said you wanted to see me?”

That was that, but it would be better to hear the main point sooner rather than later.

After what had just happened with Elena, and knowing full well that me being close to another woman was stressful for Noel in various ways.

“Ah, right.”

Rania leaned her body slightly forward and brought her face in close toward me.

“Do you remember what I asked you before?”

“……Pardon?”

“I told you that if we met again later, you should tell me ‘what had changed.’”

“…….”

…Oh.

Come to think of it, I did recall having that conversation when I first entered the Holy Crown Kingdom.

Originally, she had asked that in order to identify the traitor during Act II, but afterward I never had another opportunity to come into contact with Rania, so I had completely forgotten about it.

“It seems a little different from what you intended, but in any case, I figured the time had come to hear it.”

“……Pardon?”

“There’s someone who has definitely changed compared to last time. You.”

As she said that, she leaned even closer toward me.

It was already close enough that Noel, who had been quietly watching from the side, began clearing her throat in discomfort. But what Rania did next was enough to make that throat-clearing almost turn into a scream.

She grabbed the back of my head firmly and pulled me forward until our foreheads pressed together.

“……?!”

The moment our foreheads collided at a distance close enough for our breaths to mingle, I could clearly feel Noel’s shock from nearby.

But this time, even I couldn’t quickly pull away out of consideration for Noel.

Right in front of me, Rania removed her eyepatch, and her eye shimmered like a kaleidoscope.

Split countless times—into thousands, tens of thousands—those fractured eyes did not break their gaze from me, as though peering deep into my soul.

Within them was a sanctity so profound that even I couldn’t look away.

It was clear she wasn’t doing anything threatening.

-System Message

▶ Target ‘Rania’ is scanning you.

…The System Window itself was saying as much.

However, the words Rania spoke after staring at me for a long while were not something I could simply ignore.

“You’ve almost stepped beyond being human now. Looks like you’ve been influenced quite a bit by making contact with the gods.”

“……Pardon?”

“Have you never wondered? Why, out of all the others, you alone can so clearly perceive the ‘form’ of a god.”

“…….”

For now, what I was most curious about was how Rania even knew that.

This priestess had a peculiar talent for casually revealing information I had never even spoken aloud.

But judging from what followed, it was obvious that something else demanded my attention far more urgently.

“……The Outsider will come to you soon, Aiden Kellermain.”

“…….”

“The one who granted you the ability you possess will soon come to you.”

“……What do you mean, come?”

“You’ve been nurtured enough. Now it’s coming to rub against you.”

“No, I mean, what does ‘rub against’ even—”

“At the very least, that’s not something to discuss in front of your future wife.”

“…….”

Hmm.

Wait.

Weren’t we just talking about some terrifying Outsider a moment ago?

The nuance suddenly felt strange.