"Yah-ho, I'm exhausted! Shouldn’t we celebrate a bit?"
Felyn stretched his limbs, looking a bit happy.
This was the good part about staying with dangerous women, none of the girls around him were complaining.
Even though he didn’t do anything, just stood there in the match.
The match had just ended. Felyn, Bernice, and Viloti were walking out of the arena.
Felyn’s mind was still replaying the scene from earlier.
Wasn’t Bernice a little too over the top?
It was like a fireworks show went off right in front of him.
Explosions and fire nonstop.
He saw every bit of the opposing team’s expressions change from full confidence to utter despair.
Too scary.
And this terrifying Bernice… was just Miss Daiyi’s bodyguard?
Felyn couldn’t help but take Miss Daiyi—who was living in his house—a lot more seriously now.
She had been holed up in her room lately, barely coming out.
He only cooked her meals before leaving and cleaned her dishes when he got back.
"I’ll treat you two. What do you want to eat?"
"Felyn, I want cheese stewed dew."
"I don’t think that stall sells it."
Felyn reached into his pocket for his wallet—
Only to realize he had probably left it in the resting room they were in before the match.
"You two wait here. I’ll go grab my wallet real quick."
Just as he turned to leave—
Viloti gently tugged at the sleeve of his shirt.
She didn’t know why, but her inner alarm was ringing again.
"I’ll come with you."
"It’s fine, I’ll be right back."
Viloti watched Felyn’s figure grow smaller as he walked away.
She placed her hand over her chest.
The last time was like this too…
But nothing bad happened then either.
Maybe I'm overthinking it again?
Sunlight slanted in from the windows on both sides.
The empty hallway flickered with alternating light and shadow.
Felyn walked alone through the corridor,
Hearing his footsteps echo around him.
Everything was going smoother than expected.
Competing with Bernice meant he’d rack up points quickly.
Getting into the Royal Capital Academy didn’t seem like a far-off dream anymore.
Heh, when I made it, I will definitely buy a big estate.
Maids were a must, of course.
Might as well hire five hundred of them.
"Knee hurts so much..."
A familiar voice came from the corner, tinged with a bit of bitterness.
Lost in his dreams of a beautiful future, Felyn hadn’t noticed it—
He turned the corner and, unfortunately, saw the scene.
Zervanie was leaning against the wall, carefully checking her knee.
A beautiful girl in distress!
Wasn’t this one of those classic moments in dating sims?
A noble or super popular girl showing her weak side only in front of the protagonist.
All the hero had to do was show a little concern, and boom—easy favorability points.
So, the first step when you see something like this is...
Act like you saw nothing and walk away.
Helping a grandma up gets you accused of fraud.
Helping Zervanie might cost him his soul.
"Felyn?!"
Just as Felyn was about to leave, Zervanie spotted him.
Sunlight poured diagonally over their faces, casting curved shadows on the wall.
Through the floating dust in the air, Felyn could see dirt on Zervanie’s skirt—
And blood running down her knee.
Even though he wanted to say, "Sorry, you’ve got the wrong person,"
He just couldn’t say something like that naturally while they stared directly at each other.
"Did you get hurt?"
When Zervanie heard Felyn’s concern,
The cloud in her heart instantly cleared.
Felyn still cares about me!
She tried walking toward him—
But the pain in her knee made her cry out.
She slowly moved forward, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes like broken pearls.
"Felyn, it hurts..."
She spoke softly, her body swaying slightly on purpose,
Looking like she might fall any second.
"I-I was in a hurry to find you..."
Her voice trembled.
"And I tripped and fell."
Felyn stood in place, watching the shattered Zervanie sob and wait for comfort, but he didn’t say anything.
"I might... not be able to walk anymore..."
Zervanie leaned on the wall, looking very fragile.
"Felyn, can you... help me up?"
Zervanie knew very well—
When a beautiful girl suddenly becomes weak and helpless in front of a guy,
That’s a hard thing to resist.
"Felyn..."
Felyn looked at her leaning on the wall and sighed,
Then walked toward her.
Seeing him walk closer, Zervanie’s lips curved into a smile.
Ha! You really can’t let me go after all!
Even if it hurt, winning back Felyn’s heart was worth it.
Felyn, get ready to be teased by me
I won’t let you off this time!
"It... hurts..."
She pouted and reached to rest her hand on Felyn’s shoulder—
But Felyn didn’t give her the chance.
He stopped two steps away, inspecting her wound.
"The bleeding’s stopped. It just hurts a bit, that’s all. You should sit here and rest. I’ve got something else to do."
Zervanie’s expression froze.
"You... don’t want to help me?"
"Eh? Why should I? Isn’t it better for you to sit down like this? I bet if I ask one of your fans, they’d be thrilled to patch you up."
Zervanie was stunned.
She had never been treated like this before—
Not as the top idol of the Siveshus Empire,
Nor as a noble lady.
Faced with her own injured and fragile self,
Felyn just turned to leave?
"Wait, Felyn!"
Zervanie almost shouted.
Her voice echoed through the empty hall.
She rushed to grab him—
But the pain in her knee made her stumble again—
And she fell hard.
This time, it really hurt.
Felyn paused when he heard the noise behind him and turned around.
He saw Zervanie curled on the floor.
The normally dazzling, ultra-popular idol now looked so pitiful.
"Felyn, where are you going? Why are you leaving me all alone?"
Zervanie pushed herself up with both hands, her skirt spread out on the ground, shimmering under the sunlight.
"Do you... do you like them? You're going to celebrate with Bernice and the others?"
Saying that, Zervanie almost couldn’t breathe.
"I’m kneeling here hurt in front of you, And you’re going off to date other girls? Do you... like them?"
She looked up at Felyn from the floor, trembling slightly.
"I don’t like them."
Felyn answered.
"Tha... that’s good."
Zervanie crossed her hands over her chest, her lashes still wet with tears fluttering slightly.
In front of such a beautiful girl, hearing her say, "It’s so good you don’t like other girls"—
Surely any boy’s heart would skip a beat.
That’s what Zervanie thought.
I’m like this already, come help me up!
Forget those two women, okay?
Come take me home—
Let’s relive the good old days, can’t we?
Felyn sighed again.
He walked a couple steps toward her, stopped in front of her, and lowered himself to her eye level.
The shimmer at the corners of her eyes
Made her icy blue eyes even more dazzling.
"Zervanie, there’s something… I think I should say it out loud."
"Fine. Since we’ve gotten to this point, might as well lay everything out today."
"Let me guess what you're thinking." Felyn leaned back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling, "You miss how tolerant I was toward you. You liked Felyn who was always gentle and caring. You thought I might still have feelings for you, so you kept trying to pull me back into your life. But you failed. I wasn’t very warm to you. Still, you weren’t worried. Because you believe you’re the prettiest and most famous girl around me. You figured I’d fall for you eventually. But just now, you realized the young ladies around me are amazing too, and you started to panic."
Felyn paused, scratching at the window frame before continuing.
"You thought if you played up your injury, I’d feel bad for you, and let my guard down. Once I made physical contact, you wouldn’t let go. You’d cling to me and act cute. I might not fall for you right away, but I’d at least start to remember you."
Felyn slowly straightened up and added,
"Not a bad plan, but don’t forget..."
He stared into her eyes.
"In a way, we’re in the same profession. I know all your tricks."
"N-no! That’s not it! I didn’t..."
Zervanie tried to explain,
Clutching her hurt knee,
Her voice trembling.
Nothing was going the way she expected.
She knew arguing with Felyn was pointless—
But if she did nothing,
She’d be in real trouble.
"Don’t make me sound so evil..."
Her eyes reddened. She lowered her head.
"I really wanted to marry you… Don’t say I only use your feelings. I’d give you lots of money..."
Felyn pushed open a window and leaned out.
"I don’t need it, Zervanie. Thanks to Viloti and the others helping me lately, I think I really have a shot at getting into the Royal Capital Academy. Once I get in and learn Divine Arts, I won’t have to do this line of work anymore. I could become an adventurer or a priest, Take on missions and live pretty well."
Zervanie clenched her fists tightly.
What kind of promising life is this?
What kind of life doesn’t need me anymore?
How did it end up like this?
She thought after Felyn left her, he’d struggle—
His future would be uncertain.
But now, the way he looked...
It was like he didn’t need her at all.
"I’m leaving. They’re still waiting for me."
That sentence hit Zervanie like a hammer.
Felyn was going back to those girls.
Even after leaving me, he still had them.
That wasn’t what she wanted.
His fading footsteps echoed in the hallway—
Each step pounding on Zervanie’s heart.
At some point, clouds had covered the sun.
The hallway grew dim.
Zervanie sat alone on the cold floor.
"At least, at least I reached my goal today."
She tried to comfort herself.
At least no other girl had taken Felyn’s heart yet.
But...
But there was no space for her either.
(End of Chapter)