Volume 2 - CH 6

My lips became parched all of a sudden.

Outside, the sound of the crowd has become as distant as if from another world.

‘This guy.’

Adrian Berry.

Camilla’s only son.

Shannon’s twin brother and a family member who does not share a single drop of blood with me.

“I thought I was going to die. Because I was missing you so much, Noona…”

After being hardened, I slowly turned around and moved away from him.

Adrian was such a wonderful young man that I could see why Camilla adored him right away.

His blonde hair is more vibrant than Shannon’s, and he has green eyes.

Adrian and I resembled each other so much that everyone would believe we were real siblings.

‘He was described in the book as a young innocent little boy.’

Despite the fact that his demeanor certainly doesn’t appear innocent.

‘There’s no way a grown-up man like him, who came into a girl’s bedroom just to read a book, could be innocent!’

Camilla was enraged when Adrian became close to Selina for a reason.

Adrian, who was a little too bulky, was astounding and burdensome.

“Noona, you didn’t miss me, did you?”

No. No, not at all.

He looked me in the eyes, as if he was trying to read my mind.

He stroked my head affectionately while looking me in the eyes.

I eventually forced myself to nod.

“I-I missed you…”

Adrian’s hand came to a halt for a brief moment.

He smiled and ran his thumb over my lips while staring at me obscurely.

“You’re still stuttering, huh? Lord Crawford stated that you no longer do.”

Adrian never addressed Cedric as uncle in the original story.

It was unclear whether this was because they belonged to the same knight’s order or because he simply refused to acknowledge that they were a family.

“Do you know how long we haven’t seen each other, Noona?”

His thumb stroking my lips came to a halt as I pointed to the chair.

“Fi-first, take a seat over here.”

Adrian, on the other hand, didn’t notice my hand pointing to a chair and kept talking.

“It’s been six months.”

“It’s already been that long.”

‘It’s only been six months, but why do you look so miserable?’

Anyone who sees him in this state would think we’d been apart for years.

I groaned inwardly, attempting to control my expression.

“You have no idea what I was thinking all this time, Noona. How lonely I was.”

A stepbrother who had a long-held crush on Selina.

I had no idea I’d meet such a dangerous person so immediately.

I didn’t know how the original Selina would react to him.

I was annoyed because I had no idea what had happened between the two in the past.

Selina’s feelings for Adrian were all described in one line in the original story.

[I didn’t want to be close to him.]

With only one line.

And I could only guess that his previous letter was about their last conversation.

“I can’t stand being apart from you any longer. When this training is over, I’m heading back home.”

“You… you can’t do that.”

“Why do you always say no?”

He nervously raised his voice.

I crouched like a turtle, pretending to be surprised.

Adrian, whose momentum had switched in an instant, clinched to me with an impatient expression.

“I’m sorry, Noona. I didn’t mean to be angry with you. I just miss you so much…”

He immediately apologized, looked at me, and continued speaking quickly.

“We used to have a lot of fun together when we were younger, just you and me, Noona. We always read books together, play tag, and hide-and-seek.”

“That-that’s what happened when we were young.”

“Isn’t it nice to be that way? Just the two of us, huh?”

I pushed him away with a shake of my head.

“Sa-saying you miss me… d-don’t say things like that.”

Adrian was far more aggressive than I had expected.

The original Selina must have been embarrassed to push him away the way I am now.

“M-mother will not forgive me if she finds out we met. O-only two of us.”

“It’s fine if she doesn’t forgive you.”

Ah, look at those eyes, how can the book describe him as an innocent young boy?

“It doesn’t matter if I go to hell when I die. But right now, Noona, I just wanted to be with you.”

He appeared to be the type who became more eager the more he was refused.

When I pushed him away, he clung to me even more.

“You, me, w-we… w-we’re no longer kids, Adrian.”

“Please don’t call me that. As if I am someone unfamiliar to you… Noona.”

Adrian’s voice, which began as a plea, gradually became colder.

“I haven’t seen you in a long time. Are you going to nag me like that?”

“……”

How did he appear out of nowhere, like a ghost, at a time when no one was around?

The appearance of the original sub male lead made me feel quite embarrassed.

He turned my head back to him when I tried to avoid his gaze completely.

“Please call me Eddy, Noona. Affectionately.”

His cool green eyes were fixed on me.

‘He speaks a request as if he were authorizing a command.’

I didn’t like his demeanor, so I kept my mouth shut.

Then, out of nowhere, Adrian said something that made me want to slap him.

“If not, I’m going to kiss you.”

“What?”

“You’re still easily frightened.”

Then he smirked and whispered something in my ear, as if teasing me.

“Noona, you did it for me last time. A kiss.”

…… No, Selina kissed him because she thought this guy was cute, right?

“Back then… Don’t even think about it.”

At that point, I heard a long loud boos from the stadium.

I looked outside, thinking it was the right time to divert my attention.

I’m not sure what happened, but it was a good excuse to get out of this sticky situation.

“H-how did you get here? D-don’t you have to go?”

“I went with Lord Crawford. How do you think I’d have come here if it hadn’t been for that?”

“Tha-tha-right. that’s The-then see you at home. I-I’m going to get going. ….”

I pretended to be preoccupied, grabbed a vial and a clean towel, and then turned around.

The back of my head is stinging for no apparent reason.

Let’s get away from him.

Camilla would look after him anyway, but the more I talked to him, the more convinced I became that I shouldn’t be involved with him.

Just in time, an apprentice priest who was watching the final came down the stairs with his mouth covered.

“Blergh, ugh…”

The priest, taken aback, leaned against the wall and began to vomit.

I had a bad feeling about it.

Who was killed?

The Raven?

Or is it the man in the quarantine room…

“Noona.”

Adrian called to me calmly from behind.

“You’ve never regarded Countdom as home.”

His next words made my heart sink.

My legs grew heavy, as if they were tethered to the ground.

I didn’t dare to look back because I could feel his gaze piercing the back of my head.

“And us.”

“……”

“It’s been five years since we last met.”

Outside, I could hear roars.

I clenched my tight fists and looked back.

Adrian looked at me with cold eyes, as if he’d never smiled or laughed before.

Fortunately or unfortunately, his lips were tightly closed and didn’t say anything.

Adrian was just staring at me, his eyes indifferent.

Then he turned around and vanished like a shadow.

* * * * *

“It was dreadful. This will go down in history as the worst martial arts event ever.”

The apprentice priest spoke in a gloomy tone as he watched the final match between The Raven and The Berserker.

That’s what the priest explained.

The Raven and The Berserker who went up to the arena did not fight.

“They seemed to be having a conversation facing each other.”

The Raven’s trademark was the so-called “death smile.”

I also saw him smile like a crazy person.

“The smiling Raven suddenly knelt down… shedding tears. Then there was that.”

“Kingdom of Castaques! Forever!”

Then he shouted loudly and committed suicide.

Something unexpected happened, and the crowd fell silent as if they were sleeping.

They only booed later, but the winner had already been determined. In a way they didn’t expect, in vain.

The priest wrinkled his brows as if he was trying to remember something.

“I shouldn’t have watched it. I was intrigued because everyone was buzzing about the finals…”

“That’s something that could happen, Aaron.”

I gave the apprentice priest a stabilizer pill.

He quickly took and swallowed it.

‘You must have earned the money as you wish, huh.’

However, it will not end as the temple had hoped.

Although the Empire and the Kingdom of Castaques have reached a truce, a fierce war between the two flared up only a few years ago.

Count Crawford was also in charge of guarding the border with the Kingdom.

People didn’t want to hear the name Kingdom Castaques because of the war’s aftereffects.

Furthermore, the West Monastery’s most important event, the martial arts competition, was ruined in this circumstance.

Serves them right!

Furthermore, the temple’s humility did not end there.

Because The Berserker was declared the winner, he has been assigned to the Holy Knights.

“Did he say he’d joined the Holy Knights?”

“Without a doubt. In any case, it’s a great honor for a Toono.”

The Vice-Commander of the Holy Knights, on the other hand, objected.

He stated that the final match was not properly dealt with.

“I’ll test your skills and talents!”

As a result, he drew his swords and marched to the arena.

“Someone may have pushed him back. Because the finals were so mediocre.”

In the end, the audience benefited from the fight between the two.

However.

“That person… He’s completely insane. He really toyed that knight during the battle.”

The knight was humiliated in front of a large crowd, but he managed to save his life by fleeing to the grandstands.

The crowd erupted in celebration of The Berserker’s victory.

That was the whole summary of the final I heard.

‘Is that man really obediently joined the Holy Knights?’

It’s going to be an issue.

Since that man despised the Holy Knights Order, accusing them of being a bunch of fanatics.

“But why would The Raven do such a thing? Did he know how powerful his opponent was?”

“I’m not sure. That was completely unknown to me.”

“Oh, Miss Selina has never seen the match, has she?”

The apprentice priest smiled awkwardly and followed me into the prison to clean it.

My hands were occupied, but other thoughts raced through my mind.

‘After all, Valhail Castaques is the man in the containment room.’

It was too obvious to me why The Raven, a member of the kingdom’s armed forces, knelt in front of him and shouted hurrah.

‘Valhail Castaques.’

This was due to his status as a member of the Kingdom of Castaques’ royal family.

The so-called Royal Blood!

* * * * *

Valhail and the Holy Knights set out for the temple.

I didn’t see him leave, but I was told he went on his feet without shackles.

After thinking about spending more time in the monastery, I decided to return to the countdom.

‘If it hadn’t been for that guy, Adrian…’

Adrian, who joined the White Knights Order on Camilla’s strong recommendation a few years ago, is now undergoing rigorous training.

He was training in a place close to the monastery.

The fact that I had no idea when Adrian would come back to see me was terrifying.

I’d prefer to return to the countdom.

Because even if I’m within a 100-meter radius of Adrian in the countdom, Camilla will despise it and take care of it on her own.

The goal of visiting the monastery for the first time had been fulfilled, so there was no reason not to return.

Valhail, on the other hand, could be picked up from the Holy Knights later, as Shannon did.

Adrian was the issue.

‘Did he realize I wasn’t the original Selina?’

Adrian, on the other hand, remained silent.

He was simply being trained quietly.

‘That makes me even more nervous.’

Penny, Camilla, Shannon, and Cedric all believe I’ve changed, but they have no idea I was a completely different person.

But Adrian’s strange gaze, which was staring at me, was clearly doubtful.

‘I’d better not run into him as much as possible.’

Even if I were an acting genius, it would never be easy to deceive someone who has a long history of liking one person.