Chapter 17 …
Our day passed by in a whirlwind.
Everyone busied themselves with their respective tasks. From what I heard, it was Chloe who was in charge of tracking the protagonists’ movements.
Lucian was working on erasing any traces of the rebels from the mansion, while Adrian was busy recalibrating the magic within the estate.
And me? I had shockingly little to do. The only difference from usual was that I was lying in Adrian’s bedroom.
How did that happen, you ask? The culprit was none other than Lucian—that darn old man.
Lucian had said it was suspicious for a couple on the run to be using separate bedrooms.
It was so obvious he was teasing that I ignored him and got up, telling him to stop fooling around.
I thought that would be the end of it, but to my surprise, the other two agreed with him. Chloe I could understand, but when Adrian actually said he thought it was a good idea, I almost fainted.
Lucian himself was so surprised that his jaw practically dropped as he asked over and over if Adrian was serious.
“See? Who told you to tease in the first place….”
The memory of that expression made me snicker under my breath. After laughing quietly for a while, I let out a groan. Reality suddenly hit me again.
I clenched my teeth and thought about the cause of my current situation.
That damn system. That cursed author. Those annoying protagonists. How could those three elements align so perfectly just to make my life miserable?
Just thinking about that trio was enough to irritate me, and I was stomping my feet on the bed for no reason when I heard a knock.
“You may come in.”
The door opened, and Adrian entered. At first glance he looked the same as usual, but there was a slight weariness in his expression. I jumped out of bed and walked toward him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. You can stay lying down. I still have some things to do.”
“I can’t sleep anyway. I’ll just sit here.”
I plopped down onto the sofa in front of the table. Adrian sat across from me and looked at me.
There was something on his face that suggested he had something to say, so I stared at him intently. He averted his gaze.
Why is he acting like that?
Still not looking at me, Adrian spoke.
“How is your body feeling?”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“That’s good to hear.”
After my response, he pulled out some documents he had brought with him. Before he could get fully focused, I asked him something that had been on my mind.
“Adrian, can I ask you one question?”
He set the documents down on the table.
“Yes.”
“Are you really sure you don’t want to do the magic oath?”
Adrian looked at me with a puzzled expression.
After our meal, I had asked them again if it wouldn’t be better to go through with the oath.
But all three of them refused, saying it was fine.
At the time, I was genuinely happy—it felt like I had earned a good deal of their trust. But looking back, it wasn’t necessarily something to be happy about.
“Aren’t you trusting people a little too easily?”
“…”
In a situation where they couldn’t even be sure I was truly on their side, they made such a decision. It might be fine because it’s me, but if it were anyone else, this would be dangerous.
“What would you do if I betrayed you?”
Adrian’s gaze deepened. I couldn’t read his thoughts.
At least, he didn’t seem angry—that was a face I already knew. He wasn’t surprised either. So, was he… flustered?
“Would you… betray us?”
His voice sounded oddly indistinct when he asked me. I answered him clearly.
“No.”
Adrian lowered his eyes. He didn’t look at me as I carefully asked,
“Are you upset?”
“There’s no reason to be. And if you were to betray us, I think… it can’t be helped.”
I knew he would say that. That was just the kind of person Adrian was. And that’s exactly why I couldn’t stop worrying.
I stood up and placed both my hands on the table, then leaned closer toward him.
“Adrian. Don’t forgive. There’s no such thing as ‘can’t be helped.’”
“…May I ask what you mean by that?”
“I mean, if someone betrays you, you kill them without hesitation. They broke their promise.”
That way, you’ll survive. And you won’t get hurt anymore.
“…Even if it’s you?”
“If I were to betray you, then of course you should.”
He didn’t respond, but I felt my point had been made.
I started to lean back to sit down again when Adrian suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm, making me stumble.
My heart started pounding loudly at the sudden touch. I looked up in surprise.
When my eyes met his, it felt like my heart dropped.
He looked angry.
His face was as cold—no, even colder—than when I had seen him back in that storage room. He seemed genuinely displeased by the hypothetical scenario of me betraying them.
“Uh… Adrian. I’m not going to betray you. What I said was just… a simple example.”
I smiled harmlessly, but that only seemed to make things worse—his frown deepened.
He had never shown such a clear expression before, and it made me tense up.
Adrian slowly leaned closer toward me.
As his face grew closer, I instinctively tried to pull back, but his voice froze me in place.
“Every time you talk like that—”
He stopped for a moment, swallowed, and continued.
“—it irritates me. Do you know that?”
Irritates him…?
I couldn’t believe those words came out of Adrian’s mouth.
Coming from someone who almost never openly expressed negative emotions, the impact was strong.
“I… irritate you?”
My voice trembled pathetically.
“Yes. I don’t like it. I don’t like the way you talk like that. Or the way you smile.”
…Was he indirectly telling me he couldn’t even stand to look at me?
“Adrian, did I do something wrong?”
“Yes.”
I knew it. Asking him what he’d do if I betrayed them had crossed a line.
I scrambled to take back my words.
“I won’t betray you. Seriously! If I do, you can just kill me, okay?”
His frown only deepened.
So much for taking back words—maybe that really was a god’s domain. I wanted to fix this somehow, but I had no idea how.
Adrian stared at me with an angry face for a long time, then finally released my arm and stood up from the sofa. He headed toward the door.
“Adrian?”
Startled, I called his name, and his footsteps stopped. But he didn’t look back.
“I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
“Did I mess up that badly? What exactly did I do wrong?”
“You should figure that out yourself.”
“Would it kill you to tell me?”
“Yes, it would.”
Sometimes he acted so childish that I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
“Stop playing word games.”
“I don’t do things like that.”
His annoyingly handsome back was starting to get on my nerves.
But his tone didn’t quite sound like anger. It was something else.
Just to make sure, I asked cautiously,
“Adrian. This might sound crazy, but… are you sulking?”
“…”
Adrian turned to look at me. His usually pale cheeks were flushed red.
He really was sulking? That Adrian?
I couldn’t believe it—I had to ask myself multiple times. But by then, his expression had already returned to normal.
“I am not sulking.”
“Alright then. But let’s talk, okay? Won’t it be uncomfortable if we leave things like this?”
“…”
“Adrian. We’re lovers, aren’t we? Lovers should talk. Avoidance is a bad habit. Come here.”
“It’s not real.”
Each sentence he spoke made it clearer that he was sulking.
“Fake lovers are still lovers in the end.”
“…I don’t understand what you mean.”
Yeah, that was nonsense.
“I like you so much, Adrian. Is this how you treat someone who likes you?”
“I don’t feel the same way.”
Cold-hearted, much?
“It’s okay if you don’t like me. I still like you.”
“…”
“You said you don’t like how I talk or smile… but I like seeing you smile, Adrian. Even though I’ve never actually seen it.”
“I didn’t say I dislike everything you say.”
“Well, I like everything you say. Even this side of you.”
My cheeky words made him frown again.
“You really are a strange person.”
“I told you, I’ve never met anyone as strange as you either.”
I patted the space beside me.
“Come on. Let’s talk, strange person to strange person. Don’t stand so far away.”
Adrian hesitated for a moment before slowly walking over. It seemed he had calmed down a bit.
“I want you to be happy. You, Al, and Chloe too.”
“That’s a foolish thing to say.”
He said that, but it didn’t seem like he disliked hearing it. Sensing the timing was right, I delivered my final blow.
“Even if it’s foolish, it’s not impossible. I’ll make it happen.”
“Make it happen?”
“Yes. One way or another. Of course, I don’t have much to offer, but I’ll help however I can.”
Despite my sincere words, Adrian pressed his lips tightly together and stayed silent.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“You… I really dislike you….”
No matter what I said, I couldn’t bridge that distance.
The way Adrian kept pushing me away felt unfair. Just as I was about to sulk myself, a notification sound chimed and a window appeared.
[You have reached 100% completion of the Hidden Quest.]
I looked back and forth between the window and Adrian.
Why now…?
[Congratulations!
You have successfully completed the Hidden Quest <Supporting Role’s Ally>.
You are the savior of the rebels’ lives!
As a reward, you will receive the rebels’ lives and ???.]
Success? Really?
[Reward ??? is delayed due to system overload.
?/~+ time required.]
I didn’t care what the reward was. The important thing was—I had completed the hidden quest, and the three of them would live. That was enough.
I slumped back against the sofa and let out a hollow laugh.
The system alert sounded once more, but I didn’t have the energy to check it.
What could be more important than winning the heart of Adrian, something I could never truly have?
“Young Lady.”
A sharp voice cut through my giddy mood and brought me back to my senses.
Adrian approached and handed me the shawl that had been draped over the sofa.
When I looked up at him, I saw that his gaze was directed toward the door.
“They’re close. I should go greet them soon.”
He didn’t need to say who “they” were—I already knew. Finally, the status window I had been ignoring came into focus.
