39 – 39. Swarm of Kittens (3)
Undoubtedly, their relationship wasn’t like that from the beginning.
Harnier had a very good relationship with his peers.
There were some minor issues, but still, they had never caused any major trouble.
In the past, on the day of the competition.
Harnier, who attended a gathering, learned that his peers were falling in love.
“Helli, are you in love?”
“Yes, yes?”
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“Right. Where were you looking? We were supposed to guess who would win in this competition.”
“Oh, that… Ahahahaha.”
Helli, who showed a shy face and an awkward laugh, brushed it off with a vague answer.
However, the gazes of the other peers couldn’t be deceived.
They guessed it while looking at Helli, whose eyes were fixed absentmindedly.
A girl had fallen in love.
After that, the girls teased Helly Yeong-ae with mischievous smiles.
“It’s cool how he smiles with those big, beautiful eyes…”
The women burst into laughter, exclaiming, “Oh my, how hilarious!”
Since social circles were always a gathering place for women, it was natural for discussions about romance to arise as their main interest.
Watching the sincere confession of a girl in love, they responded with empathy and familiar answers.
“You seem to be doing well in this competition. How about confessing after it’s over?”
“C-Confe-ssing?”
“Yes, confessing. Didn’t Mrs. Delina say that Young-sik has no girlfriend?”
“But…”
“I’ve seen you together often, and it’s clear you’re a good match. These days, women who capture men first are quite popular, you know?”
Love always requires a connection.
Everyone in that room believed without a doubt that a lovely couple would be born here.
Of course, everyone believed it.
“Harnie Yeong-ae will help too, right? She said she’s closest to Young-sik.”
“Yes, of course.”
Harnie was included as well.
After the competition ended, Young-sik, the brown-haired boy in lane three, emerged as the winner. Holding the torch, he now needed someone to receive this glory.
The women predicted that the torch would likely be handed over to his parents.
However, there was a variable.
The boy was approaching swiftly, step by step.
The women clutched their chests or covered their mouths in surprise.
“No way?”
“Oh my. Something so romantic?”
“Does it continue so sweetly?”
Helly Young-ae took the opportunity to approach and handed over a handkerchief. She had already shown that she was emotionally invested in the story before it even unfolded.
If she had come knowing that, it was as if a scene from a romance novel was being realized right in front of her.
Helly Young-ae was also extremely nervous.
Her heart was pounding.
Perhaps that boy was aware of her feelings and approaching her.
But…
“To Harnie Young-ae, who has illuminated this place, I dedicate the glory of victory.”
The boy kneeled before Harnie, passing right by Helly Young-ae.
To make matters worse, it wasn’t just a simple act of kneeling.
“I have admired you for a long time. I know that you have comforted me when I felt embarrassed and supported me, telling me not to give up. That’s why I wanted to repay you by winning the competition.”
Thump.
“Harnie Young-ae, please date me.”
The boy extended his hand, holding the champion’s torch.
It was a confession.
A bewildered Harnie turned her gaze towards Helly Young-ae.
Helly Young-ae’s face was shrouded in a deep shadow.
The boy’s confession was naturally rejected.
And.
“Hellye Young-ae, Hellye Young-ae!”
In order to clear up the misunderstanding, Harney chased after Hellye Young-ae, who ran away with tears in her eyes.
“You were here. Let’s have a conversation. Okay?”
“What conversation? You encouraged me, told me not to give up. And now you say you’ll help me… What a terrible joke.”
“It’s a misunderstanding! I just gave it to all the participants, and I specifically told him separately because he was the only one who arrived late. Besides, I didn’t give any special signal to Hellye Young-ae like I did to him!”
“Then why did that person come looking for you? And what about the talk of long-standing affection? Are those all lies?!”
With tears of anger streaming down her face, Hellye glared at Harney.
“Ha, hahahahaha! It must have been so amusing for you to play with me like that, saying you love someone you’ve enchanted. It’s beyond ridiculous.”
“Hellye Young-ae!”
“You wretched woman…!”
Harney vehemently denied that it was ever like that, but the conversation couldn’t continue any further.
Since that day, this incident became a hot potato in social circles.
Harney became the enemy of all the women in the empire.
Explanations were useless.
Even if he claimed innocence, the retaliation would come from those vile-hearted individuals. And standing at the center of the crowd was Hellye’s mocking laughter.
Harney sighed, recalling the past from a few years ago.
“After that, nasty rumors started to spread little by little. Stories that I was tailing other men or seducing men while enchanting others.”
“Was there no solid evidence to prove that it wasn’t true?”
“It had to be.”
“Then why not just show it?”
“…Because I can’t show it.”
“What?”
“Ugh. How can I casually bring out a love letter? Are you crazy? Show it to you?”
“…Ah.”
Of all things, it had to be that kind of evidence.
Even if it existed, it was evidence in a form that couldn’t be shown. It could even ignite a fire.
“Anyway, even if I had evidence, I couldn’t show it. I tried to explain that I didn’t have someone I love, but it was useless.”
“I see.”
After that, the future was clear.
“You must have suffered terribly.”
It would have been difficult to enter society due to the constant bullying.
If even a hint of a story about a man came out, Harnier would quickly follow with suspicion, and retaliatory acts of poor quality would continue.
Exaggeration and distortion are basic functions.
It is not difficult to magnify and change them. It would have been impossible to reverse this atmosphere, as they were openly hostile to a group.
“I can relate to this kind of situation.”
The painful experiences of my school days strangely became helpful in this moment.
“The reason I asked you to pretend to be my lover today is because I met those women on the street, or rather, because I already knew they were coming. Is it true?”
“Yes. It was good to bite the men while getting rid of the strategic marriage, but my thinking was a bit short-sighted. I should have anticipated their movements and given you a heads-up beforehand…”
“It’s late.”
“…Yes.”
Harney did not deny it.
He somewhat understood why the news was late.
“With the biggest snow festival ever taking place, it must have been chaotic.”
It was Teresa Hoojak who wanted to become independent from the Count.
If the festival caused the nobles to cheer and release fake fireworks, it was clear that this side would also be in chaos.
“Um… Master Karsein.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. Thank you for helping me.”
Harney sincerely expressed his gratitude with his hands together.
“This kind of thing, really, I can never get used to it.”
It was a clean gratitude with nothing more to see.
As Karsein, as Kim Minhyuk.
He had never been able to adapt to this kind of thing.
“It’s… a huge debt. If you have any difficulties, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I will do my best to help you.”
“It won’t be that much.”
“No. It really, really is a huge debt. I can’t easily explain the reason, but…”
His attitude clearly showed his determination to repay the favor.
In that case…
Karsein decided to take a step further in this deal.
“Well, from now on, just tell me things like this.”
“Yes?”
“Saying that you took a ship wasn’t just an empty statement. Since I know Yeongae’s situation, it’s much better if I can help.”
“But…”
“That one year is also precious to me. As much as it needs to be a complete success, you shouldn’t have any problems either.”
Harnie’s purple eyes widened rapidly.
After that, she remained silent for a while and then gave a faint smile.
“Yes. It’s much better if we help each other.”
She looked around, making sure there were listening ears, and spoke again.
“But I still want to say this.”
From her mouth, adorned with a faint smile,
An unfamiliar word was once again contained.
“Thank you, Karsein.”
***
The conversation with Harnie ended safely.
There were no listening ears, and the work showed enough of Baghdad’s power, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
However, he judged that returning like this would leave a lingering sense of unease between them.
So,
“It would be nice to enjoy a festival or something.”
“How about enjoying the festival a bit?”
That was the conclusion they reached.
Although it was a bit surprising to see her sulking and questioning why they should follow her suggestion.
“Now that I want to try harnessing the power of the guide, where should we start enjoying?”
“Well…”
Actually, I didn’t know either.
But in the memorial filled with Karsein’s memories… this street seemed to be quite popular.
As they walked in that direction, they came across the shop where they had obtained the plush bear from Flora earlier.
Even the staff recognized me and called out.
“Oh, look who’s here. The young master who won the prize earlier. And the person next to you is… could it be…?”
Harnier tightly closed her eyes.
I had to say something.
“She’s my fiancée.”
“Oh…!”
The moment I said fiancée, the staff’s eyes sparkled in an instant.
“You gave a gift to your younger brother earlier, and now you’re going to give a gift to your fiancée?”
“Huh? A prize, you mean?”
“Yes. Well, it’s just that you, young master, went as far as taking the punishment instead of your younger brother and created an opportunity.”
“Unbelievable… Karsein, you…?!”
“And on top of that, when my younger brother lost all his chances, I used my last chance to win the prize… That’s what happened!”
The man, touched with emotion, hugged the teddy bear to Florah and shared the story with teary eyes. Harnie looked at him with an expression that seemed to say she couldn’t believe him at all.
“I thought you were a playboy.”
“What did you think of me?”
“I told you. I thought you were a playboy.”
Look at this.
You and I are in a romantic relationship right now.
But what if I say something like that?
After exchanging glances, Harnie shrugged, pretending not to understand.
“So, it’s the turn of the lover this time. Right?”
I haven’t said I’ll do this again, but it seems like I can’t move to another place right away.
Harnie’s eyes were already shining brightly, so to speak.
I had no choice but to explain this game to Harnie.
“Wow, it sounds fun, doesn’t it? I think I’ll give it a try since there are some things that catch my eye!”
“…Did you hear me properly?”
“Well, yes. You just have to control the marbles, right?”
She didn’t hear me.
I guess I just have to let her suffer for a while.
After a while.
Harnie wasted both chances completely.
“How could this happen…”
“Here it is, the Commander of Fish Cake.”
“Ugh.”
As Haruni ate the last piece of fish cake, he continued to shoot laser beams at the fourth prize until the end.
Unlike Arinana Clare, who spat fire from her tongue, complaining that it was too spicy, Haruni didn’t have any worries because he ate it fairly well.
However.
“I must win that prize…”
Haruni seemed eager to obtain that fourth prize.
‘It’s the fourth one…’
There’s no other choice.
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“By any chance, is it possible for me to eat this fish cake on behalf of someone else and still get the opportunity?”
“Huh?”
“You mean, Young Master? Hmm…”
The merchant, who pondered over Haruni and me, alternately.
“It seems possible, but I have one condition.”
“What is it?”
“You have to share the fish cake with someone else.”
Share the fish cake?
It’s not like I have to eat it alone?
The spicy taste may not suit the people of the Empire. Since it is used as a punishment, there are quite a few people who give up the opportunity without eating it.
It’s somewhat understandable to suggest sharing, I suppose.
“But it doesn’t apply to me.”
Even Harney, who usually eats well, was quite satisfied.
It was practically giving me an opportunity for free.
“What’s this? It’s not that difficult.”
“What?! Wait, Ka-Karsain?!”
I immediately grabbed a piece of fish cake and ate half of it.
Then I quickly chewed and swallowed the other half before offering it to Harney.
“If you just eat this, they’ll give you a chance. Just trust me and eat it, okay?”
“Huh. No… well…”
“Is there a problem?”
“What kind of person are you…!”
What is this? Seriously.
What’s the problem that’s making them act like this?