Chapter 20
Roni entered the concert hall and sat down in her assigned seat. As the concert began, the performances proceeded in order with ensemble and solo pieces by instrument.
When it was Sharon’s turn, she appeared slightly nervous as she stepped onto the stage. She seemed surprised to see Roni in the audience, but soon smiled softly.
In truth, Sharon had been slightly hurt when Roni lied and said she wouldn’t come. Roni could have just told her the truth, but she’d wanted to surprise her.
Sharon sat down at the grand piano in the center and began to play. The piece, unlike Sharon’s usually lively image, was calm with a flowing and gentle melody.
Roni, gradually relaxing, watched Sharon lose herself in the music and thought she looked very beautiful. Seeing how seriously Sharon approached her craft, Roni couldn’t help but say to herself that she was impressive.
Even after Sharon’s performance ended, Roni continued to wait, hoping to see Kan perform. But the concert ended without Kan ever appearing. It seemed he hadn’t come after all.
“Sharon, your performance was wonderful.”
“You said you weren’t coming—what a surprise!”
“Thanks to me, you looked like you relaxed a little. Maybe I should show up secretly more often.”
Sharon smiled, as if agreeing, and accepted the bouquet Roni handed her. As expected, her blonde hair matched perfectly with the yellow freesias.
Sharon said she’d go greet a few people and suggested they have tea together afterward. Roni agreed and went ahead to a nearby café to wait.
Before long, Sharon arrived at the café. As they drank tea and chatted about various things, Roni suddenly thought of Kan and asked,
“By the way, do you know a boy named Kan from the violin department?”
“Kan? Hmm, I don’t really know much about students from other departments… What does he look like?”
‘…Hmm, did he give me a fake name?’
Roni recalled Kan’s face. He had hesitated slightly when giving his name. He wasn’t very childlike—his pale pink hair was tied up high, and his eyes were gray.
If not for his slightly arrogant expression, he would have had quite a cute face. Roni didn’t know why a child like that tried to act so mature, but for some reason, he reminded her of Gail when he was young, and it made her a little curious.
She considered describing Kan’s appearance to Sharon but stopped, remembering how he wanted to hide his background.
If Kan really attended this arts school, she’d have a chance to meet him again and could ask for his name then.
“No, I guess I don’t know what he looks like.”
Chapter 7: The Play of Vienna, Chapter 1 – Summer Festival
Roni, not wanting her sweet day off ruined by Allen, snuck into town with Shasha. She was out without an escort for the first time in a while and was a little thrilled.
Besides, with Shasha around, most threats wouldn’t be a problem, so she felt confident.
She was strolling around, eating street food she normally wouldn’t touch. She wasn’t picky to begin with.
Then she caught sight of a woman with familiar silver-gray hair.
‘Vienna?’
Instinctively, Roni ducked and watched Vienna.
‘Why is Vienna here?’
Vienna was carrying a bunch of stuff, walking quickly as if trying not to lose the man ahead of her.
Roni saw who the man was and her lips parted in surprise. It was Allen. He looked annoyed by Vienna following him but didn’t leave her behind, occasionally slowing his pace. He was carrying some bags too.
‘Where are they going?’
Roni thought about the date. Ah—she remembered. This was the scene in the comic where Allen and Vienna went shopping for the school festival.
She recalled that Vienna had said she would go alone, but Allen insisted on accompanying her. She had thought her interference had completely broken things between them, but it seemed the story was still following the original plot, even if slightly altered.
‘So they’re doing fine without me.’
Roni felt oddly off. The strawberry she’d been enjoying suddenly seemed to lose its sweetness.
Just then, Vienna tripped over a rock and dropped her bags. Ah—this scene too, she knew it.
Vienna would rush to pick things up, and Allen would deliberately step on them and laugh, saying, “Oops, my bad,” like he was having fun.
Roni anxiously watched the scene unfold.
‘Allen, please don’t mess this up. Don’t waste my five years of effort. If you do, the heroine will run away from the male lead!’
She was now completely engrossed in spectating the two.
Startled, Vienna frantically began picking things up. Allen looked at her, sighed, and—picked up the items without stepping on them.
‘Wait. What? What?! He didn’t stomp on them?’
Roni was taken aback by Allen’s changed behavior. Vienna looked flustered but followed Allen with a blush.
A sharp pain pricked her heart. Maybe that strawberry had gone bad after all. She did think it wasn’t that sweet.
Roni tossed the rest of the strawberries into a trash can.
Should she follow them or not? Allen didn’t seem to be bothering Vienna at all. On the contrary, he was being rather gentle.
Looks like all those lessons from his sister paid off.
Roni figured she didn’t need to worry and decided not to follow. Intervening as his fiancée might only mess things up further.
Then suddenly, Shasha jumped from her arms and ran toward Allen.
‘Aaaah! Shasha, come back!’
Startled, Roni chased after her. Shasha was already rubbing her head against Allen’s leg, happy as ever. A traitor, so close to home.
‘I get it, you’re happy to see your owner, but your mom is in a really tough spot right now!’
Roni quickly pulled a hat from a nearby stall and hid her face. She prayed Allen wouldn’t notice her and just keep walking.
Allen turned, spotting Shasha, and his face said, “No way.” He looked back—Roni was awkwardly hiding behind the hat.
Allen let out a soft chuckle. Her outfit, her posture—yep, it looked like she’d snuck out of the palace again.
“What are you doing there, Roni?”
“Huh? Allen? Wow. What a coincidence. What brings you here?”
Roni tried to act as naturally as possible but couldn’t help thinking of that famous Korean celebrity line: “Are you okay? That must’ve hurt a lot.”
Yep. Acting wasn’t for everyone. Embarrassed, she glared at Shasha, who stood innocently beside Allen.
Maybe that glare looked suspicious, because Allen stepped closer with a kind smile.
“You weren’t seriously planning to see me and just walk away, were you?”
Busted.
Allen grinned mischievously, as if to say “If you were, I’m not letting you get away with it.”
‘Why are you always like this with me?!’
Roni gave an awkward smile and changed the subject.
“Who’s that young lady over there? I noticed the school uniform. A classmate, maybe? Haha.”
“She’s not a friend. Just one of those annoying ones I told you about.”
Ah, so Vienna was one of those three annoying people he’d mentioned before.
Roni’s mood dipped. Knowing they were already acquainted back then made her feel strangely uneasy.
She tried to slowly back away, but Allen suddenly grabbed her hand and led her straight to Vienna. It was like he was saying, “Where do you think you’re going?”
‘I wasn’t expecting to meet her like this…’
Roni looked at Vienna apologetically, feeling like she had just interrupted their date. Vienna looked a little surprised to see Allen holding Roni’s hand.
‘This isn’t skinship! I mean… okay, it is contact, but it’s only to stop me from running! Totally unavoidable!’
Roni tried to send telepathic explanations to Vienna.
“Well, nice to meet you. I’m Roni Sharligan.”
“Oh, Sharligan…”
Vienna nodded as if recognizing the name. She probably knew Roni was Allen’s fiancée.
‘Hey, I want to break off the engagement too, but he won’t let me.’
Roni shot another glare at Shasha, the cause of all this. Shasha seemed to avoid her eyes.
“Hello, I’m Vienna Armis.”
Since she hadn’t been revealed as a princess yet, Vienna was using her mother’s surname. She had enrolled in the magic school under that name.
Pushing aside the surreal joy of finally meeting the heroine face-to-face, Roni tried to act as naturally as possible.
“Nice to meet you. Sorry to intrude on your date.”
Vienna’s eyes went wide and she quickly tried to explain—
