Chapter 48
I blinked.
What was that just now…?
Once again, those were words I didn’t remember.
I clenched my fist tightly, trying to gather myself.
“I know it’s hard for you to accept, Lady April. But those people aren’t the ones. Come here. If our side isn’t to your liking, I can recommend others.”
Evelyn was earnestly advising me.
What should I say?
Ah, the performance of the foolish Lady April wasn’t coming through.
I started to think of reasons why Evelyn might be trying to help me.
I guessed that Evelyn’s favorability toward me was under 50%, lower than that of the others in the heroine’s faction.
We hadn’t known each other long, and my favorability didn’t increase too easily.
Evelyn was the villain in the game, and while she was beneficial to me, she still cared about status and could be quite overbearing. Despite being clumsy, that wasn’t the issue.
To me, Evelyn was merely the holder of the second key. Someone I had approached to determine my course of action.
But now, Evelyn was approaching me as a human being.
I felt doubtful about myself.
Even though I wanted to believe Evelyn was a good person, I thought that if she were a bad one, it might harm my mind. I thought of reasons why I shouldn’t trust her.
What gnawed at me the most was the fact that just like the people in Yeniel’s faction weren’t sincere with me, neither was I fully sincere with Evelyn.
In a moment, I thought.
What if, like Sian said, I had joined Evelyn’s faction instead of Yeniel’s?
Then I wouldn’t be suspicious of Evelyn as I was now.
“Why?” I asked coldly, laughing skeptically.
“Why, Lady Evelyn, are you trying to help me?”
I knew it myself.
This was not something Lady April would say.
Suspicion increased by 3%!
Total suspicion is 4%.
See, since this isn’t something Lady April would say, the suspicion increases.
Favorability means nothing, and suspicion rises intermittently, threatening my life.
“Well, because you said I was your friend. Lady,” Evelyn said, in a ridiculously simple tone, recalling that she was clumsy.
She was so clumsy it almost seemed foolish. The unexpected words made me feel dazed.
“We are friends, and you said so, Lady. A friend is precious, must be treated well, and treated according to one’s heart. There’s no reason. I just want to help Lady April. Is that not enough?”
I felt a strange feeling at Evelyn’s persuasion.
‘What does she believe in?’
She had just approached me to take the second key.
She was deciding whether to take it or leave it based on my evaluation to exit the game.
And then, Evelyn stared directly into my eyes, as if she had guessed something.
“I’m not talking to ‘April Sharon,’ I’m talking to you, Lady.”
I thought I had lost.
This wasn’t a game, but it was the first time I had lost to someone.
Evelyn was strange.
I remembered the enjoyable times I had spent with her, even as I decided to observe the second key today.
Regardless of things like favorability or suspicion, I spoke according to my heart.
“Ivelyn, on the third floor, even if I want to move together, we can’t. If your heart doesn’t change by the end of the third floor—”
I whispered softly.
“April wants to go out as a friend with Lady Evelyn.”
Would Evelyn understand what this meant?
It wasn’t just about switching factions.
Looking directly at me, as if seeing me, not April, Evelyn convinced me.
I realized she wasn’t like Yeniel or his group.
“From the second floor, it’s far. I’ll make sure you say it when you get to the third floor.”
Evelyn returned to her poised expression.
Yet, I felt she was a bit relieved, as if my answer had pleased her, her shoulders relaxing slightly.
“Yes, we’ll talk in more detail later. For now, let’s take care of your wound. Don’t worry, I won’t let you show it to this fool.”
“Fool?” I muttered, as Duke Kyle grumbled, but Evelyn ignored him completely.
At that moment, her eyes widened as she spotted someone.
“Yurel! How long has it been since I told you to come? So slow!”
“Sorry, my lady.”
I hadn’t sensed him approach at all.
I looked up at the man who appeared silently behind me.
The slave knight Yurel, looking indifferent, gave a slight nod to Evelyn.
“Late, for a slave?” Evelyn sneered.
“Sorry, my lady.”
“Did you get what I asked for?”
“Sorry, my lady.”
Yurel answered mechanically, then slowly said, “Ah.”
“Yurel!”
It made sense why Evelyn was called the villain. She scolded Yurel in a familiar tone, as Duke Kyle gave him advice.
“Evelyn, you should listen when she’s angry; she talks about her business while doing so.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Kyra! Yurel!”
Working with a faction like this, where they were always bickering, made me wonder if switching to Evelyn’s side was truly the right decision.
Evelyn, who had been irritated, took the box from Yurel and showed it to me with a grin.
“Let’s treat your wound, Lady.”
And then, the precious elixir was right there.
‘Huh?’
My eyes trembled involuntarily.
I hadn’t considered the ‘treatment’ Evelyn mentioned to be very important until now.
In the game, bandages, hemostatic agents, antidotes, and such were all items used to stop abnormal status.
But the elixir in front of me was different.
An elixir that restores all status and health—an overpowered item, with only five existing in the entire game.
Current health: 6.2%
Does this mean my health will be 100% here?
“April doesn’t need treatment!” I backed away slightly.
Of course, the more my health increased, the more my attack power would decrease.
But Evelyn wasn’t concerned at all and kept approaching.
“Maybe it’s better to treat it in a simple way, since the banquet hall might open. The ointment hurts. This elixir is from the other world, but it works. I used it to save Kyle when he almost died.”
Again, 100% health means 100% loss in attack.
“April doesn’t need treatment!” I said firmly.
“What? What do you mean…?”
Just as I sincerely yelled, luckily, Duke Kyle intervened.
He suddenly stiffened his expression.
“Are you crazy?”
“Why is that, Kyle?”
Duke Kyle, as though there would be no more matters, swatted the fairy butterfly off his finger and cut it with his sword.
“At 5 o’clock, the door will open. Everyone, come by that time. The door leads to the banquet hall. But Lady April…”
“Why?”
Prince Azeph’s favorability increased significantly!
Strategist Sian’s favorability increased!
I brushed past the rising favorability notifications and answered naturally.
“No, there isn’t anyone. But why do you ask?”
“A crazy person sent a strange threat as a warning. Well, we should head to the banquet hall. It’s better to get there earlier than 5 o’clock. Just in case, we’ll take you there.”
“Yes!”
As we started to go, I remembered the existence of the axe spear.
“Ah!”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to get April’s axe spear!”
I had left it at the auction house since it was so heavy and large, and I didn’t want to accidentally injure someone with it, but after seeing all the bizarre weapons the survivors had brought, I thought I could bring it next time.
When I brought the axe spear, Duke Kyle began teasing Evelyn.
“Evelyn, there’s the axe spear over there.”
“Why are you mentioning that?”
“Why did you want to watch the auction so badly? If you stood where you were earlier, it would have been easy to see if anyone was going near the axe spear over there…”
“Shut up.”
Evelyn kicked Duke Kyle’s leg.
“Evelyn! Did you protect April’s axe spear?”
I clasped my hands and looked up at Evelyn, since she was taller than me and wearing high heels.
“Ugh.”
Evelyn’s favorability increased significantly!
“Thank you so much!” I said with a bright smile, and Evelyn, unexpectedly, was flustered.
“It’s nothing. The axe spear seemed valuable, so I was worried it might be sold at the auction. I’ll be going now.”
At that moment, the gaze of slave knight Yurel met mine. His expression was indifferent, with no emotion directed toward me.
Yurel suddenly gave me a thumbs up.
Yurel’s favorability increased slightly!
‘What?’
I had no idea what had caused his favorability to rise.
