Chapter 192: My Tofu Pilgrimage (2)

Chapter 192: My Tofu Pilgrimage (2)

My arms were starting to go numb. The legs that had been tightly bound also began to twitch slightly.

Although my body consistently sent me distress signals, I couldn't do anything about it. This situation was my own doing, after all.

"Um..."

I tentatively opened my mouth, hoping that maybe—

"No."

"Okay."

Marghetta's firm refusal made me immediately close my mouth again. I hadn't even finished speaking yet.

"I’m not letting you go until club time is here."

Marghetta said this and hugged me tighter as if she was scolding me for already trying to run away.

It was Marghetta, so what could I do? Even if I felt a bit uncomfortable, I willingly complied.

She will let me go during club time.

She was also being considerate even amidst this. She was too good for someone like me, who deserved to be in jail.

Feeling grateful, I tightened my embrace around Marghetta, and she rubbed her face against my chest contentedly.

I feel a bit embarrassed.

I look away in embarrassment.

It wasn't because of the hug; it wasn’t our first time hugging, so what was there to be embarrassed about now?

Instead, it was the pose; it seemed rather peculiar.

It’s good that no one else is here.

I looked down at Marghetta, who was still burying her face in my chest.

She wasn’t just hugging me normally; she was sitting on my lap, her legs locking my lower body as we faced each other.

Maybe I was just being sensitive, but wasn’t this a bit strange? It seemed like a posture that could be easily misunderstood if someone else saw it.

Well, it doesn’t matter.

No one could come here without Marghetta's permission, so it should be fine.

Yes, it shouldn’t be a problem. I couldn’t push Marghetta away just because I felt a bit shy. How could I after seeing that earlier?

"Carl! Are-are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere, right? Did you eat properly?"

To keep my promise of seeing her first after being released, I skipped the Principal's office and headed straight to the Vice President's office. As soon as I entered, Marghetta threw away the paperwork she was doing and rushed to me.

It might be an exaggeration, but she checked me from head to toe. Her touch was so desperate and pitiful that I couldn't even bring myself to dodge them.

"I’m okay. There were no problems at all."

"Th-thank goodness... oh... thank goodness..."

It was only after I reassured her several times that Marghetta was able to calm down.

"Heuk... Heukk... Heuuk!"

Well, she didn’t seem to have calmed down completely.

Marghetta thumped my chest a few times while sobbing heavily. She might have been hitting me from her perspective, but it really felt more like a pat to me.

It didn't hurt physically, but it felt like an emotional attack rather than a physical one.

"You're so mean! You promised you wouldn't get locked up again! You said you wouldn't make me worry anymore!"

"I’m sorry..."

I couldn’t lift my head at Marghetta’s outburst as she poured out the sorrow she had been suppressing for five days.

Yes, I had said that. To comfort Marghetta, who was worried about my probation, I promised that it wouldn’t happen again.

Of course, it was a promise I couldn’t keep. At that time, I was just one report away from being imprisoned. The notion of it not happening again was ludicrous; I could have been locked up the very next day.

And who in their right mind would say 'I would probably be imprisoned next time' to someone saddened by probation? That would be something only the Second Prince would dare to do.

"Sit down right now."

“Ah, yes."

Marghetta then commanded sharply, her eyes fiercely narrowed.

She seemed to be trying to look intimidating, but she was honestly more cute than scary with her eyes red from crying.

Of course, I couldn’t say that to her face.

My lips curled into a smile. Just by attending, I could flaunt my relationship with Carl to the social circles. Within a day after the celebration, the entire empire and the whole continent would know.

"Do you remember the club fair? I said back then that if it’s okay with you, that I’d like to be your partner..."

I remembered. It was the monumental day when I had Carl’s first dance.

And I felt touched. He even remembered a passing comment.

"Will you be my partner?"

"I will!"

I instinctively lifted my head, and then regretted it.

I had been staying quiet because I didn’t want to show him my face, but I foolishly forgot about it.

"Thank you, Mar."

But I felt relieved as I saw Carl smile as if nothing was wrong.

***

Marghetta's mood seemed to improve the moment I asked her to be my partner.

The tears in her eyes were replaced with laughter, and she finally revealed her face that she had been burying in my chest.

Crying and then laughing...

I caught myself having an embarrassingly inappropriate thought and quickly shook my head. But it was indeed true. Seeing her cry and then laugh after did make her look pretty.

Internally apologizing to Marghetta, I quickened my pace. The conversation had gone on longer than expected, and I was running late for club time.

It’s my first day back.

To mark my return with a tardy arrival felt like a unique form of torture. What kind of torture was this?

Anyway, I hurried as much as I could and soon arrived at the club room.

"Oppa!"

"Sorry, I’m a bit late."

Louise, who had been pacing around the club room, rushed towards me as I opened the door without knocking.

"O-oh, thank goodness. I was worried you might still be in the underground prison...!"

I could only smile bitterly at Louise's sigh of relief. After all, it was only understandable to have such thoughts when the supposedly released person wasn’t seen around.

After patting her shoulder a few times to reassure her, I turned to see the other club members approaching.

I felt secretly grateful to them. I was worried that they might all come flocking for a visit during my imprisonment, but fortunately, only Louise and Erich had come.

What a sight that would’ve been.

The guard might’ve actually bit his tongue.

"Advisor, are you okay?"

Rutis was the first to approach, cautiously asking how I was doing. His face looked unusually serious.

It was strange seeing him like this, especially since he was the one who famously pulled off the ‘tofu cake’ prank after my probation. I understood, though.

Perhaps he realized that he overdid it?

It would’ve been no different from eating chicken in front of a friend who just had a tonsillectomy, or gifting them Shooting Star ice cream. It was okay to tease to a certain extent.

However, you shouldn’t tease someone who was in a severe accident and couldn’t move. It was that kind of principle.

"I’m fine."

Still, the fact that he knew where to draw the line made me feel oddly proud.

Yes, our club members are fundamentally good people.

"Aren’t you giving me anything this time? I was kind of looking forward to it."

As I teased him while enjoying the rising satisfaction I felt, Rutis gave an awkward smile.

Sorry, this is the epitome of a lame club president joke—

"I prepared something."

?

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Why did he prepare something /genesisforsaken