Chapter 60

Released:

Even after everyone’s drinks were placed in front of them, no one dared to speak.

This was because Iris, who had been the one to propose having a conversation, remained silent and simply sipped her drink.

“Um, well… The Academy’s café is definitely… amazing. The quality is so good.”

Unable to bear the awkward silence any longer, Mancy was the first to break the ice, but there was no response.

Velia who had already fallen out of favor with both Iris and Estelle kept her head down and couldn’t even lift her gaze. Estelle, on the other hand, had decided to remain quiet until Iris chose to speak.

The sound of sipping drinks was the only thing filling the room.

“Mancy.”

Finally, Iris opened her mouth.

The first thing she said was Mancy’s name, and even that was enough to make Mancy feel relieved.

She wasn’t used to such silence, which made her all the more grateful for the slightest interaction.

“Y-Yes…! Lady Iris!”

Her relief prompted an overly eager reply, but no response came for a long while. Eventually, after Iris had finished about half of her drink, she finally spoke again.

“What do you think of Sir Theo?”

Some might think it strange to delay asking such a seemingly trivial question, but to Iris, it was a matter of utmost importance, so she couldn’t help but tread carefully.

“Oh, Sir Theo… I think he’s gentle, kind, and mature.”

Mancy shared her impressions of Theo, based on what she had felt throughout the day.

Of course, what Iris had been asking wasn’t about Mancy’s impression of Theo but rather about her feelings for him.

“I’m sure you know that’s not what I’m asking.”

Clink—

The sound of condensation dripping from the cold glass of her drink oddly felt ominous.

“Ah, are you asking… about how I feel about Sir Theo?”

“Yes.”

At Iris’s firm and composed reply, Mancy couldn’t help but feel nervous and swallow dryly.

“I… I have good feelings about Sir Theo. He’s a good person, and he’s kind. But, I-I don’t like him romantically or anything like that, so I don’t think you need to worry too much.”

Mancy’s voice trembled slightly when she insisted that her feelings weren’t romantic.

Without even realizing it, she had inadvertently revealed her true feelings.

And Iris caught on to it immediately.

“This is a place where we’re supposed to talk honestly. If you don’t intend to speak the truth, then there’s no point in continuing this conversation. Estelle, let’s go.”

Iris let out a small sigh and stood up from her seat.

“Oh, yes.”

Caught off guard, Estelle quickly stood up to follow Iris. Mancy’s face, upon seeing this, turned deathly pale.

“Wait, no…! I’m sorry.  H-He’s my ideal type…! Sir Theo is my ideal type.”

In the end, Mancy confessed her feelings; she was desperate to get Iris to sit back down. She admitted that Theo was, indeed, her ideal man.

Only then did Iris halt her steps and return to her seat.

“Ahem.”

Estelle narrowed her eyes but followed Iris’s lead and sat back down.

“Is he just your ideal type?”

“No, honestly, I’ve felt romantic feelings for him. Sir Theo is… an amazing person.”

Having laid all her feelings bare, Mancy surprisingly felt relieved. As if confessing everything had been for the best.

“Hoo.”

At that, Estelle let out an exasperated sigh, but Iris, without showing any reaction, simply waited for Mancy’s next words.

“But just because you like someone doesn’t mean you can have them, right?”

Mancy’s response brought a small smile to Iris’s face.

“I understand both of your feelings, and because of that, I have no intention of being greedy. At most, I’d only hope to remain as a friend.”

“A friend. Do you believe men and women can truly be friends?”

Of course, Iris’s smile didn’t mean Mancy’s answer fully satisfied her.

This was because Iris had never once considered the possibility of friendship between a man and a woman.

“Yes, I think it’s possible. I intend to carefully fold away these feelings I have for Sir Theo, and if, by any chance, they become obvious, I’m even prepared to distance myself first.”

“What if, by silently distancing yourself, Sir Theo ends up getting hurt?”

“I’ll confess my feelings. And then I’ll leave.”

It was clear to anyone that Theo didn’t see Mancy as a romantic interest in any way.

It was something so obvious that no one could deny it.

But since no one could predict the future, Estelle couldn’t help but feel anxious.

If they remain friends and Sir Theo ends up liking Mancy, then what am I supposed to do?

For this reason, Estelle didn’t want any other women lingering around Theo.

She wanted to have him all to herself.

In truth, even having Iris by his side was something she didn’t particularly like.

But Iris was not someone she could push away, so she reluctantly allowed it.

Now, however, she would also have to deal with Mancy, this unexpected rival.

Estelle felt a sense of despair.

Why does Sir Theo have to be so charming, drawing women to him like this? Is this what they call being an alpha male? Haah.

However, that didn’t mean they could take matters into their own hands and force Mancy, whom Theo had called a friend, to distance herself.

If they tried something like that and Theo found out, leaving them unable to stay by his side, the despair would be so overwhelming that they might not even want to go on living.

When did I… start loving Sir Theo so deeply from the bottom of my heart?

The emotions Estelle had thought of as trivial had already snowballed to the point where she could no longer control them. No matter how hard she tried.

It wasn’t as though she hadn’t noticed it happening, but she hadn’t expected those feelings to grow so quickly and so overwhelmingly.

“I see. Understood.”

While Estelle was lost in those thoughts, Iris’s response was surprisingly calm and straightforward.

“I have no right to stop Sir Theo from being friends with women. It’s not as if I’m in any kind of relationship with him.”

If they were dating, or if they had some promise about their future, then perhaps she might have had the grounds to interfere, but neither Estelle nor Iris had that kind of connection to Theo.

“But since my feelings for Sir Theo are significant, I wanted to warn you that if your emotions grow stronger, I might not be able to restrain myself either.”

Watching Iris casually and openly warn that while she had no intention of interfering for the time being, any overstepping would not be tolerated, Estelle couldn’t help but be inwardly impressed.

“Wow, Iris. That’s… kind of cool.”

“You’re no exception, Estelle.”

“Hah, seriously. For the record, the same goes for me. Try crossing the line and see what happens.”

Estelle suddenly wanted to take back her comment about Iris being cool.

“Honestly, so petty.”

“Who are you calling petty?”

As the two bickered back and forth, Mancy quietly thought to herself:

Haha, there was never a place for me here to begin with.

***

Somehow, Brandy and I, having ended up like ducks stranded on the Nakdong River, decided to grab a drink at a pub.

“Brandy, you’re in a bit of a thing with Velia, aren’t you?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

After ordering a beer each, I was the one to bring up the topic first.

“So… is Velia always like that? You know, into talking about other people and all…?”

Honestly, asking something like this to someone she’s in a “thing” with felt a bit off. But today’s incident had been so intense that I couldn’t just let it slide, so I cautiously asked.

“No, not at all. She’s usually quiet and doesn’t like meddling in other people’s business… Hmm, I think she was just really happy to have become friends with Mancy. I’ll apologize on her behalf for today. Please don’t think too badly of her.”

She was happy about becoming friends with Mancy, huh?

Well, when you think about it, as a commoner, forming a friendship with a noble who doesn’t look down on commoners could be seen as a significant connection. One that might even come in handy after graduating from the academy.

“Is that so? Well, if you’re going as far as apologizing, I’ll just pretend it didn’t happen. By the way, where did you grow up, Brandy?”

Since Brandy and Velia had been chatting away at the back of the class all day, I’d ended up talking mostly with Mancy, so I didn’t really know much about the two of them.

“Oh, I grew up in the Wesker County.”

“Huh? Really?”

The Wesker County was coming up a lot lately.

Well, I guess it made sense. There weren’t exactly a ton of dukes, counts, or viscounts to go around. In fact, it was probably just because I hadn’t had many friends until now that I hadn’t heard much about it before.

If I were to compare it to my past life, it’d be something like this: I live in Seoul, someone else lives in Busan, and another person lives in Daejeon. That sort of thing.

“My roommate also said he’s from the Wesker County.”

“Oh, really? I’d love to meet him sometime.”

“I’ll introduce you next time. You might think he’s a bit too loud, but he’s not a bad friend.”

Marty, mhmm, that’s right.

He’s just loud, not a bad person.

I hadn’t had enough time to get closer to him, so I didn’t know much else.

“I was born and raised in the Der Viscounty.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of the Der Viscounty. It’s known for its clean water and deep mountains, isn’t it? I heard a lot of farming families live there. What about Theo’s family?”

“My family was also just a simple farming family.”

A typical household that farmed, paid taxes with the crops, and lived by selling what they grew.

“My family worked in the fishing industry. My father used to go out to sea, catch fish, and sell them. Sometimes, I kind of miss the smell of the sea.”

Oh, so they worked in the fishing industry?

It feels like I’ve found the kind of person I’ve been looking for.

For now, I’ll wait to hear back from Uncle Duncan, and if it seems promising, maybe I’ll consider reaching out to Brandy’s family.

I’m not sure about Velia, but Brandy had a pretty good personality, which made me feel like it might work out well.

One response to “Chapter 60”

  1. Mi_Yash Avatar
    Mi_Yash

    Tq for the chapter

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