Chapter 53: Reza

"Eh? Ehhhhhhhhh!? W-who is there? I'm the eldest daughter of a Noble. If, if you dare to do something f-funny-"

"I am a guest invited by your father. I'll be waiting here. When you are done, we can talk all we want. Also, do you have the clothes inside? If you don't, I'll get outside the room." Rewen took no chances. He had to destroy the so-called "flag". Not only because he wasn't the sort of person who actively pursuits romance in a fictional world but also because according to the original plot, Rewen or more accurately "Arai Atsushi" gets forty-seven punches and kicks from the gentle lady in the bathroom.

'First of all, I'm no pervert. Maybe I am but not someone who doesn't know how to measure the risk and benefits and second of all, if I still enter the bathroom knowing that there is a lady inside, how much of a scum does that make me?'

"A-ah… you are a guest? Papa returned?"

"Correct." Rewen found the fact that the gentle lady still calls her father "Papa" quite cute. 

"Who are you? Why have I not heard from Papa? Answer me this instance! Are you an intruder? If so, as long as you admit your mistake, I'll plead for your behalf to lower your crime sentences." The gentle lady said in a stern tone.

"Like I said, I really am not lying." Rewen awkwardly laughed. 'She really is a headstrong and stubborn woman.' Even though he had read only a single volume, he had a clear grasp of her personality. Being a first-born daughter of the Terio Household, she was often undervalued and many despised her for simply being born leading her to develop a stubborn personality. 'You'd expect her to have an inferiority complex or carry a bit of hatred against the patriarchal system but she is surprisingly haughty and is supportive of her brother.'

"Really? How are you going to prove it?" The gentle lady asked in a doubtful tone, not believing his words.

Rewen was speechless. 'Do rich ladies in this world lack common sense?'

"What? You can't? I should have known." The gentle lady hurrumped and stopped the shower.

"You didn't even give me the time to think. I already told you I'm a guest. Why don't you believe it? Is it really that unreal?"

"Enough nonsense! You are an intruder. Let me just get out…"

"No! I'm bringing the proof within a minute." Rewen started running and got out of the room.

"Running is useless!"

The bathroom door opened and a long black-haired girl wearing a bathrobe came out.

She is the infamous eldest daughter of the Terio Household, Terio Reza.

Reza's eyes appeared very angry. "Where is that intruding b*stard!?" She saw the open door and immediately got out of the room.

When she looked around, she saw no one suspicious. 'Weird, who is he? Shit, I should have seen his face.' She again checked the surroundings. There were several servants cleaning the hallway. Among them, there was one overweight fatty polishing a painting with his handkerchief smearing with his saliva.

"You right there! What the hell are you doing!?"

The fatty didn't have a reaction and was engrossed in his job. 

"Didn't you hear me? I asked what the hell are you doing!?" Reza got angrier.

Finally, the fatty looked at her and pointed his finger to his body.

Reza nodded.

"I'm… just… cough… doing my job."

"That's not how you do your job. You're tarnishing the painting!"

"Sorry… cough."

"Nevermind that, what's wrong with your voice?" Reza asked suspiciously.

"I... cold." The fatty lowered his head and coughed a few more times while rubbing his nose.

"You look like you'll cough blood in a few minutes. You can go home." 

Rewen lightly nodded, then started to walk away.

"Wait. Did you see anyone running away?"

"If you are talking about the tall good-looking man, I saw him running in that direction." Pointing to his opposite direction, the fatty said in a perfectly clean voice.

"That way? I see." Looking at the back of the fatty, she felt that she was missing something.

"Big Brother Piggy!"

"Ryu? When did you return?" Reza was stunned by the sudden appearance of her brother, then recalled the words of the "intruder".

Ryu smiled happily and ran over to hug his sister whom he had not seen for a long time.

Reza returned the hug but her attention was somewhere else. 

"Wait." She said, turning her head to the fatty's direction.

"Huh? Big Brother Piggy?"

Reza almost instantly figured out everything and ran towards Rewen. "So you were the intruder! Stop right there!"

The fatty kept walking at a steady pace.

"I said STOP!!" Within two seconds, Reza already caught up to the fatty and pushed him down. However, this didn't lessen her rage. She prepared her fists. But. In the next second, she was stunned.

"You are scared, aren't you?" The fatty opened his mouth and spoke without any hint of fear.

Reza who was preparing to throw dozens of punches and kicks had an incredible expression on her face. Not understanding what he meant, she bellowed angrily. "What do you mean? Why should I be scared of you?"

The fatty gave an exasperated sigh. "Do I really need to spell it out for now? Use that brain of yours a little."

"What did you say!?"

"Not my problem if you have hearing problems. I'll give you one piece of advice. Stop thinking that you deserve better than others when you are, at the end of the day, a rebel thinking you are some kind of hot shot of something."

"Shut… up.." Reza's face was completely red. She felt raging boiling in her head. Never had someone's words hurt her this much.

"You are no different from the 'garbages' you despised. It's not a matter of two wrongs cannot make a right. Just now, you subconsciously realized that I am no intruder but didn't want to believe it. You are scared that your conviction will fail as you had always believed that no matter what, you cannot be wrong. Seriously, what are you? Some grade schooler?"

"SHUT UP!!! YOU DON'T KNOW ME! DON'T TALK LIKE YOU KNOW ME!" She could no longer control herself and punched the fatty.

Blood sipped from the corner of his lips but his expression hadn't faltered. "Of course, resorting to violence when you can't reason is the correct way to go about it. I bet you still complain why the house favors yours brother over you in your heart. Instead of reflecting upon your own behaviour, you blamed the system."

"No… I don't think so! Stop spreading lies!"

"And here I foolishly thought you would be an honest person. It's perfectly normal to have these thoughts. It's all part of human behaviour. The fact that you didn't even try to recognize your own feelings and tried thinking that you are completely devoid of those thoughts while also subconsciously acting upon it is truly disgusting. Do you really think that by projecting the image of a rebel you would let people view you as some sort of the 'more appropriate heir' to the house? You really thought that by acting domineering and stubborn, with this little bit of self-satisfaction… you think you are entitled to act entitled?"

Reza felt her vision darken as she fell on her knees. Tears rolled from her eyes as she silently sobbed. She was only a 13 year old. Even though she had no idea how, the fatty seems to have an accurate idea of her personality better than herself. If it was any other time, she would have rampaged with her fists but now, she felt somehow powerless.

'Am I really what he says I am? Indeed. I had a feeling that he was not the intruder from the beginning yet…' Before long, she got lost in her thoughts. 'Did I ever truly regretted the fact that I'm not supposed to be the heir. Now I think about it, I thought about this matter a million times. I even considered the possibility of… of how good it would be if Ryu didn't exist and… felt strangely… happy?'

Her sobs got louder, pulling her brother who was closely watching the entire drama unfold into her embrace.

The fatty, A.K.A, Rewen got up from the floor, brushed off the dirt and went back to his room without any words. 'Is this considered good character development?'

[I have no words… maybe? But what I can say for sure is that the original plot showed a much better character growth as she learns of her flaws on her own one-by-one. Slowly and steadily, she overcomes her flaws. I think it's a lot better than someone forcing her to swallow and accept her weaknesses down her throat. She might even fall into depression.]

'Is that so? I should help her out then.'

[What? I thought you didn't care.]

Rewen smiled. 'How can I possibly hate her? She is very much to my liking, as a character of course.'

[Don't you find her attractive? Why don't you use the 'Appearance Grader'?]

'As a mentally eighteen-year-old, I think it would be really scummy if I sexualize a thirteen year old.'