CH 53

53 – Awareness and Jealousy (2)

[Adilun's POV]

For the first time, I felt a surge of jealousy that ignited a fiery feeling in my heart. 

As much as I wanted to lash out at Selina and grabbed her hair, I knew I couldn't do it.

If I acted that way, Physis would only get in more trouble.

Moreover, the acting we had been doing at best would also be turned into nothing. So I calmed down as much as I could while holding on to the last shred of reason.

However, since it was all my plan so I had no choice but to endure it, but my expression was gradually frowning.

The fortunate thing was that she couldn't say anything about whether I frowned or not because I staged a big fight with him yesterday.

As I struggled to contain my jealousy, I noticed Selina whispering something to Physis.

Seeing how friendly they looked, I almost exploded in anger again, but I managed to hold it back.

However, the situation did not end there.

As if there was honey applied to Physis’ body, she continued to cling to Physis’ side, with a feverish expression on her face.

I wouldn't be able to hold back my anger if I saw more, so I turned my head away. The fact that I had to watch this all day made me extremely sad and angry.

'Idiot. Why don’t you suggest something like this?'

If I hadn’t asked him to act like that, the person next to him would have been me.

Around the time I was so discouraged, I started to hear someone’s voice in my head.

– Adilun? Are you okay?

It was Physis’ voice. 

'What?'

I looked around in surprise, and my eyes met Physis, who was dancing with Selina. He kept looking at me without realizing it.

His eyes softened momentarily, and I began to hear his voice in my head.

-That’s right. You don’t have to look around like that. I did it just in case... but fortunately, it worked.

'Mind magic? No, that can't be because Physis doesn’t know magic, right?'

Physis was a knight who had awakened mana, so it might be that he conveyed his thoughts to me in a different way that I didn't know.

Either way, it was a relief.

Since Physis was the one who noticed my condition first, I saw no reason not to share my thoughts with him. So, I conveyed my thoughts to him.

- Physis?

-Yes.

– How did you use Mind magic?

-I had recently learned it. And I was just using it today… …By the way, you look so bad, is there anything wrong? You've been acting strange since yesterday.

– Oh, nothing. It’s just that the banquet hall is a bit uncomfortable. What about you? Did you get anything?

-I didn’t get anything else… … This woman in front of me is quite annoying. She has been bothering me since yesterday. I want to step away from her right now.

Little by little, my pent-up anger and momentary fire began to dissipate.

-Does Selina Idenea bother you that much?

-Yes. She keeps talking about things I’m not interested in, and she keeps trying to bring out gossip about you, Adilun. And also, I've been keeping the magic tool with the recording function you gave me earlier.

-Good job. But if it's too bothersome, it's okay to slowly distance yourself. You already danced with her once, right?

-That's true too. But... I want to take a look at the influential princesses around me, but I can't seem to do it.

-Are you saying you’re going to lay your hands on another princess in front of me?

– Oh no! It just wants to make sure that no one is against you!

I deliberately sent him a joke, but he shouted at me as if he was very embarrassed.

– Hehehe. I was just joking. Hehe... But Physis.

-Yes?

-Thank you for your concern. And I’ll take Selina Idenea off for you.

-What?

I stopped talking to him and turned my head to see Selina smiling as she spoke to Physis after the dance. 

'Yes. Since Physis said he was annoyed, I have to take care of it myself.'

'Shouldn’t I do that much for him, who is suffering for me?'

I immediately turned to Selina, forcing my face, which had been slightly loosened because of him, to harden again.

Then there was a bewildered noise around me.

Maybe they wondered if I would hit Physis on the cheek again today. No. It won’t happen. I just wanted to talk to Selina a bit.

Little by little, the distance between Selina and me got closer, and finally, when I arrived in front of Physis and Selina.

Physis looked at me with a slightly puzzled expression and asked.

“What is going on here? Are you going to slap me again?”

“No. You didn't do anything today, so you can leave. Princess Selina Idea?”

“Ah yes?”

“Can you talk to me for a second?”

But then Selina turned her gaze to Physis. 

'This bitch is like a fox. Are you beckoning Physis to stop me?'

“Don’t just try to put Physis as a shield, and follow me when I say it nicely. I just have something I want to say.”

She looked at me with rather creepy eyes and bit her lip for a moment before nodding.

“Yes.”

* * *

[Physis's POV]

After the rather bloody confrontation between Adilun and Selina, as the two walked out of the banquet hall for a while, I began to see the princesses staring at me in earnest.

Apparently, as soon as the stumbling block called Selina disappeared, they seemed to be trying to approach me right away.

“I… … Sir Physis. Would it be alright if we danced a song?”

Among them, the first to strike was a woman with light purple hair. Judging by the way she looked, I could tell that she was one of the princesses Adillun had described before.

Isla Isvante.

She had a somewhat gentle impression, but it seemed like she had something to say to me.

“Yes. Why not? By the way, I’m sorry, but I don’t know who the princess is. Could you please briefly introduce yourself?”

Just in case, I asked her who she was. If I told her that I knew her, Isla, whom I had never met before, might find it strange.

“Ah yes. I am… … Isla. My name is Isla Isvante.”

“Yes. Princess Isla Isvante. May I know what caused you to ask me to dance?”

“Ah yes. Well, I heard that you actually fought Princess Rodenov.”

Seeing me and Adilun acting out of the blue, she brought up the story as if a little uneasy.

“Fight? No. To be precise, I was beaten one-sidedly.”

“I saw that scene. I think that Princess Rodenov also made a mistake. But I hope you don't think badly of her.”

“Can you tell me why? It’s hard for me to understand if you say that right away.”

“Ah, that… … Yesterday, I heard you talking with Princess Selina. That’s why I knew that Sir Physis was quite angry with Princess Rodenoff.”

“Yes. therefore?”

“But the Princess Rodenov I know wasn’t that bad. So I wonder if the Lord has any misunderstandings with Princess Rodenov…”

“Misunderstanding? Princess Isla, have you met Adilun a lot?”

“No. That’s not it.”

“But then why should I believe and listen to Princess Isla? You seem to have suffered less Adilun than me right now?”

I took her hand and turned her around gently. She stiffened a bit and said,

“Yes. I know that I am not qualified to come out and talk like this. Still… … Princess Rodenov once rescued me from a predicament. So, I knew then that she was not someone who enjoys oppressing others and taking away their freedom. So Sir, please don’t think badly of Princess Rodenov.”

To be honest, if I had really fought Adilun, her words would not have been worth listening to. She couldn't just show Adilun's good side in front of me just because she had seen it before.

But right now, I was just pretending that I fought Adilun. So there was no need for me not to listen to her now.

Rather, she could be a rare ally among those who rejected her, so I decided to listen to her story.

“For now… … Okay. After the dance, please tell me the details.”

“Ah, yes.”

She smiled broadly as if she was happy that things were going her way.

However… … For some reason, the more I looked at her, the more she seemed like an innocent princess. It wouldn’t be nice to talk like that normally. Saying that someone you hate was a good person and that it was just a simple misunderstanding, only made the other person angry.

'Well, I was not really angry with Adilun, let’s move on…'

If she genuinely favored Adilun, she could be seen as her ally, so it might be better for me to be friendly with her.