~Chapter 9~
Yushen stood in front of me, his silver hair shining in the sunlight and his uniform looking perfect.
The person who caused all this trouble showed up right when I was upset.
It was the perfect time to let my anger out.
“You started the rumor, didn’t you?”
I didn’t miss my chance and asked right away, glaring at him.
“If I started it, there wouldn’t be so many holes in the story.”
But Yushen stayed calm, as always.
I knew it wasn’t really him. He tried to hide my existence in the temple, so he wouldn’t do something like this.
Still, I was annoyed and just said it.
He explained himself again, like he really thought I believed he was the one who did it.
“I don’t do that kind of dirty thing.”
“I know. You’d get nothing out of it if you did.”
“Then, who do you think started it?”
“What, are you asking me if I started the rumor?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Why would I? I’m the one who’s getting kicked out because of it.”
Did you forget how much I tried to avoid being connected to you?
I looked straight into his purple eyes, showing how serious I was.
We stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Yushen looked away first, his face showing a strange, hard-to-read emotion.
But soon, his face was back to blank.
“…I didn’t think someone would break the rules that day.”
My eyes went wide.
Was he… apologizing to me?
Thinking of his true nature, I felt like he was.
He always worried more about others than about his own reputation.
But for him, I’m supposed to be the wanted witch Leana… do I count as “others?”
Anyway, because of that rumor, I lost my place to stay overnight.
‘…Wait.’
As I organized my thoughts, I realized something important.
Yushen already knows who the real culprit is!
If he knew, that means he found out about the rumor before I did.
That means Yushen pretended not to know, even though he was already suspicious of me.
He knew everyone was avoiding me, he knew I wouldn’t hear the rumor, and he probably knew I’d get kicked out.
…Maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but he’s at least a little responsible for me being kicked out.
“You knew about the rumor, didn’t you? Since when?”
“It hasn’t been long since I found out.”
“But you knew before I did! Why didn’t you help me?”
Yushen blinked a couple times, then tilted his head.
“Did I have to help you?”
He looked so innocent, like he really didn’t understand.
He just blinked at me, not giving me the cold look he used to.
Maybe that’s because we made a secret agreement and now things are more complicated.
“You’re the one who got in trouble because of the rumor.”
“……”
“I could get kicked out of the temple and it wouldn’t matter. But you’re the captain of the Luche knights. It would be a big problem for you, wouldn’t it?”
Even if I didn’t explain every detail, I knew he understood.
Recently, I realized there’s one thing in both Korea and this fantasy world: reputation.
‘The name Yushen Willen is one of the most famous in the empire.’
That’s because being the Luche captain is a big deal, but also because the Willen family itself is famous.
His family saved the empire during a big war 20 years ago, making them powerful.
So, even though he isn’t the heir, just being from Willen makes Yushen famous everywhere.
And on top of that, he’s the best knight captain, even better than his brother.
He earned his position on his own, but I still didn’t like him much.
But because of his reputation, he should have stopped the rumor.
He must know his name is tied to a lot of people’s money and honor.
‘Yushen doesn’t care what people say about him, but if it’s about his family, it’s different.’
I don’t know all the details about his trauma, but I do know his father hates having any stain on the family name.
Yushen usually watches his father and brother Conrad closely, so why didn’t he act this time?
I didn’t want to get involved in his family business, but I was still annoyed he didn’t do anything to stop the rumor.
“If you just forgot and it wasn’t on purpose, that’s kind of sad.”
Not that I’d show him any real sympathy. I just made a sarcastic remark.
Because nothing would change, no matter what I said.
“So what was the rumor, exactly? Is there something I still don’t know?”
“What did you hear?”
“I already told you—it’s something that would cause you trouble.”
“Oh, something that would cause me trouble?”
Hmm? He didn’t react much. Did he really know about the rumor?
Maybe… he doesn’t know and is just trying to get info from me?
His lukewarm answer made me suspicious, so I asked back.
“So you know something different?”
“It’s not different… but the rumor isn’t just about that. There’s also talk that you’re involved with black magic.”
I thought maybe the assistant priest just made that up to kick me out, but now I realized it was a real rumor in the temple.
It felt strange for people to mix black magic into a romance rumor about me and Yushen.
“I get rumors about you and me. But what about the black magic? Isn’t that your people’s fault for not shutting up?”
“……”
“The assistant priest said I used black magic to seduce you. Does that even make sense?”
“…Most people would think of a love potion before black magic.”
Yushen was right. Normally, people would think about illegal “Cupid” potions before black magic.
But someone purposely added black magic to the rumor.
It seemed even Yushen didn’t know who did it. If he couldn’t find them, I definitely couldn’t.
There aren’t many people who’d even know enough about me and Yushen to make up that kind of rumor…
‘…Was it Leana?’
No proof, but I was pretty sure.
Why did she tell me to survive for a year, then try to ruin everything for me? Does she want me to die?
‘If that’s it, then I’ll just hang on even harder.’
I’m not going to let this world go how Leana wants.
And to do that, I knew exactly what I had to do.
Stay away from the original male lead, Yushen.
I know it’ll be hard, but I have to do it. The more I’m around him, the more it helps Leana.
‘Wait… maybe getting kicked out of the temple is my best chance to escape from Yushen!’
I can’t be sure I’ll really escape. After all, as the main character, Yushen is “programmed” to chase Leana.
Stories like this don’t change that easily, so I doubt this world is any different.
That “programming” might make him get in my way when I try to go home.
But what can I do? In the original story, he was supposed to hunt me down.
If I look at it another way, maybe I’m also an obstacle in Yushen’s path.
So I’ll just have to put up with this much trouble.
