Chapter 50
Who has time for some stupid test or whatever?
“Whyyy?!”
“Why won’t you do it?!”
The twins protested.
“I mean…”
Who wants to get their friendship with someone certified by someone else? And not even the person in question, but a third party—and through a test, no less.
‘But logical persuasion doesn’t work on them.’
And more than anything!
I don’t even want to be acknowledged as Pession’s best friend in the first place!
What even is that?! Why do I need to be acknowledged? And even if I were, what’s so great about it?
‘It’ll just make more people jealous.’
“Anyway, I refuse. And I refuse to refuse my refusal.”
The twins stared at me like they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.
“Unbelievable! Arellirin doesn’t want to be Prince Prince’s best friend?!”
“You don’t want to be acknowledged as Prince Prince’s best friend?!”
“Yeah, I’m not doing it.”
“So you weren’t trying to take the best friend spot?!”
“Even though it’s not a glory we just hand out to anyone?!”
“Yeah, I’m not aiming for it. You two go for it as much as you want.”
I just wanted to be invited and saved from Pession’s exercise hell, that’s all.
“No way!”
“This is impossible!”
Ciel and Noel despaired.
I tried to shake off the clingy twins, but for some reason, they clung on even tighter.
“No way! A person with no ambition?! No desire for recognition?!”
“Are you even human, Arellrellrell?!”
“Of course I’m human.”
With just one sentence, my species was nearly changed.
“You’re lying, right?! Deep down you do want to be acknowledged as Prince Prince’s best friend, right?!”
“You do want to pass our test, don’t you?!”
No, I just want to find a friend.
“Just because it’s you, Arelliririn, we’ll make the test 80% easier.”
“I’ll even give you a 20% bonus.”
“Still no. Not doing it!”
“Whyyy?!”
Ciel and Noel clung to me with tearful golden eyes sparkling.
“If you take Prince Prince’s test, we’ll also give you the bonus of becoming our best friend!”
“I said no.”
“No way!”
Ciel sniffled.
“You don’t want to be our best friend either?”
Noel whimpered.
“We don’t just offer this to anyone. If you’re our best friend, you get interest perks at the Spherom Central Bank, too.”
…Okay, that part was a little tempting.
My ears perked up, but I quickly snapped back to reality. Should they even be allowed to offer something like that?
“Take the test!”
“No!”
“Come on!”
“I said no!”
“We’ll make it super easy!”
“Ugh, I said I’m not taking it!”
It seemed they were itching to use the test as an excuse to mess with me, but since I refused to even take it, they were getting frustrated.
“I’m busy. Go away!”
I tried to push them off, but Ciel and Noel just puffed their cheeks and glared at me grumpily.
“Just wait, Arellirin.”
“We will become your best friends.”
“???”
Wait, how did the logic jump to that?
“Just wait!”
“We’ll make you acknowledge us as your best friends!”
The twins vanished with villain-level declarations of friendship.
“Ha. Seriously.”
I couldn’t keep up with this plot development.
The Spherom club was a fairly relaxed gathering in line with its supposed purpose: a social circle for the Crown Prince’s childhood friends.
About forty children had gathered for various reasons under Crown Prince Pession, and they were allowed to hang out in their own small groups.
So even when Harun escaped after suffering through a chaotic scramble for seats, he didn’t particularly worry about the spot he left behind.
“…?”
At least until Pession showed up with a dark expression.
‘What happened in that short time?’
Looking uncharacteristically somber, Pession sat down next to Harun.
Harun, who had done absolutely nothing wrong, suddenly felt uncomfortable.
“Harun.”
“Mm?”
“When did you and Arellin become close?”
We’re not close. But even if he told the truth, he wouldn’t be believed.
“…Today, I became friends with her.”
“Is it me? Or Arellin?”
Harun quietly began to sweat.
‘Should I run away again?’
Why was Pession acting like this toward him? Harun brooded in silence.
“Does that question even matter?”
“It does.”
“It’s you.”
“Thanks. You pass.”
“Mm.”
He passed, but felt no joy whatsoever.
Harun decided that from now on, whenever he saw Arellin, he would avoid her or ignore her. This was just too exhausting.
‘I get the twins, but…’
Why was Pession acting like this too?
Glance.
Even though Harun had given him the answer he wanted, Pession’s face was still clouded and dark.
His handsome features weren’t diminished by the gloom, but Harun found this version of Pession completely unfamiliar.
‘Not even when the Emperor scolded him was he like this.’
Who in the world had done this to Pession?
“Arellin doesn’t like me.”
As if reading Harun’s thoughts, Pession muttered.
Harun blinked silently.
‘Should I try to comfort him?’
But then, what?
“Still.”
Before Harun could say anything, Pession clenched his lips.
“I’m not giving up.”
With his fist tightly clenched and determined eyes, Pession glanced at Harun.
“I’ll never lose to you.”
“?”
“Just watch, Harun.”
“?”
Why… why is he doing this to me?
Harun was completely baffled.
Just as Harun was about to say something in protest—
“Harun Harun~~!”
“Prince Prince!”
The Spherom twins ran over.
“Listen, Harun! You won’t believe this, but Arelliririn!”
“She said she wouldn’t be our best friend!”
“She said she won’t be Prince Prince’s best friend either!”
“Isn’t that awful?!”
Faced with their tearful, exaggerated gossip, Pession swallowed the lie whole.
“What? Then what about Harun’s best friend? Did she agree to that?”
“We didn’t ask that.”
“Are you curious about that, Prince Prince?”
“Yeah. Very curious.”
Pession nodded immediately.
“Then should Ciel go ask?”
“Or should Noel go ask?!”
The twins giggled excitedly.
At that moment, Harun felt like his life was in danger.
“I’ll do it!”
Without even realizing, Harun raised his hand.
“I’ll go ask.”
While the twins blinked blankly in surprise at Harun’s rare act of volunteering, he walked into the building.
A little while later, Harun came back and said,
“She said no.”
Fortunately, the twins and Pession simply accepted it without saying much.
“Just like we thought! She refused to be our best friend too!”
“She rejected being Prince Prince’s best friend too!”
“Yep.”
Harun quietly sighed in relief.
‘Thank goodness.’
…He hadn’t actually asked Arellin.
Harun just wanted peace.
Meanwhile, the hall was filled with a strange tension.
For one reason.
‘Arellin is alone.’
‘She’s all by herself.’
‘She’s finally alone.’
Because Arellin was sitting by herself.
Gulp.
Someone audibly swallowed. Though everyone seemed to be hanging out with their friends as usual, their attention was clearly focused on one spot.
With Pession and the twins absent—
Everyone had the same thought.
‘Should I approach her?’
‘Should I talk to her?’
‘Is this my chance?’
But strangely, no one could bring themselves to do it.
The reason was simple.
‘That’s Arellin?’
The weak, helpless Arellin, who had always ranked at the bottom of the Spherom club’s hierarchy, now exuded a completely different vibe.
Everyone had seen it with their own eyes.
How she treated Crown Prince Pession and the twins—without hesitation or mercy.
‘You go talk to her.’
‘No, you go talk to her.’
They kept pushing the task onto each other in a silent standoff.
Then—
“Lady Arellin.”
Finally, someone brave stepped up.
“Hmm?”
Her wavy brown hair and lively green eyes sparkled brightly.
Everyone’s expressions went pale when they recognized the girl who had spoken.
‘Lady Belfart, daughter of the Marquess!’
Lesley, the most likely candidate to become the next Crown Princess, had arrived—and her presence chilled the hall like a bucket of cold water.
“I’m curious about something. May I ask?”
“What are you curious about?”
“What’s your relationship with His Highness the Crown Prince?”
At Lesley’s bluntness, a wave of gasps and heart-clutching kids followed.
Ignoring the chaos, Lesley’s green eyes stayed locked on Arellin.
Arellin’s expression twisted.
“Why do you want to know?”
“You seem close.”
“You think we seem close?”
Arellin’s expression grew more and more sour.
“Pession is…”
The hall collectively held its breath, listening closely.
“He’s the one who manages, bullies, and looks after me from morning to night.”
A bomb dropped.
Everyone was stunned.
“…Wh-What?”
“He’s the manager of my personal hell.”
