18 - How to Escape the Reverse Harem Cliché
Episode 18
Pretending not to, I stole glances at Orion, but Orion, who had been walking beside me, stopped.
“Wait here for a moment, Laila. I’ll go get the verification certificate.”
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
We had reached the back door of the checkpoint before I knew it. I grabbed Orion, who was about to go inside, leaving me outside. Was it right to make someone with such a bright future do something illegal? My conscience pricked me again.
In fact, I couldn’t guarantee that taking the pills the Countess gave me would solve this situation. If my guess was wrong and the guiding leaked out even after I took the medicine, it would be over. Everything would truly end in an instant.
Of course, given the Countess’s attitude so far, even if I manifested as a Guide, she would likely pay me to keep me quiet and hidden. But if that happened, it would become an obstacle to escaping the Count’s mansion.
Her surveillance would only intensify.
So, if Orion brought back the inspector’s certificate and a certificate of being a civilian, I wouldn’t have to worry about these useless things. I wouldn’t have to get tested in the capital again.
I just needed to enroll in a regular academy as planned, devise a way to secure funds, and escape the Count’s mansion before I was sold off in marriage.
But I couldn’t stop worrying about whether it was okay to drag Orion into something like this. What if I ruined his life…
“No matter how I think about it, it’s not right. If something goes wrong, you might take the fall. Besides, even if they measure me, I’ll just get a low rating…”
“Laila.”
“Yes.”
“It’s okay. Trust me.”
“……”
“I wanted to have this kind of power. I want to forget the sense of defeat from that day when I couldn’t heal your wounds.”
“……”
“Let me give you this much. Don’t make me seem too incompetent, Laila.”
Anyone watching would think he was clinging to me.
In the end, I had no choice but to nod at Orion’s pleading gaze. He then smiled brightly and, telling me to wait just a moment, disappeared into the checkpoint.
As soon as Orion vanished, I quickly slipped away from there and went to find Lena. Lena, who was surprised to see me, handed me her bag, and I took out the pouch containing the pills.
There was no time to hesitate. Thinking it was now or never, I put three pills into my mouth and swallowed them down without water. Lena, startled, asked if I was okay, but I just waved my hand dismissively, indicating yes, and ran back as hard as I could to the back door of the checkpoint.
Fortunately, Orion hadn’t come out yet. As I gasped for breath, the back door opened, and I saw someone emerging.
Was it Orion? I pressed my lips together tightly to hide my ragged breathing and wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand, only to come face-to-face with an unexpected person.
“Lady Pascianne?”
Why is she coming out of here? This is really driving me crazy.
Valerian stared at me for a long time, his expression seeming to gauge the situation, then began to stride towards me.
Seeing me panting so hard I was visibly wheezing, he seemed to have become certain of something. The speed at which Valerian approached me gradually increased.
Ah, don’t come closer! I was afraid he might sense even the slightest bit of guiding, whether the medicine was working or not, and I hesitated, trying to step back.
“Laila!”
Someone ran forward and firmly grasped me, as I was involuntarily being pushed back.
Orion, who carefully took my hand, widened his eyes, examining my complexion, then suddenly scowled and turned to face Valerian.
“What is this rudeness, Prince Astolphe?”
“Ah. You two know each other.”
Valerian uttered a brief remark in a nonchalant tone and seemed to slightly tilt his head to see me beyond Orion.
However, Orion blocked him with his body, preventing me and Valerian from making eye contact.
Meanwhile, I clasped my trembling hands together, pulled away from Orion’s back, and created some distance.
That was a close call. I almost got caught before I could even confirm if the medicine was working properly. I took a deep breath and pulled myself together.
And at the same time, I thought: I was trying to avoid the male leads, so why are two male leads confronting each other right in front of me?
The only fortunate thing was that it wasn’t a love triangle fight over Laila, as in the original story. I had to avoid that. Ugh, the thought alone is horrifying.
“I understood that Lady Pascianne was supposed to undergo Esper and Guide measurement tests at the checkpoint. I was merely curious as to why you were here.”
“Even so, it’s only natural for a Lady to feel frightened when an Esper like yourself approaches with such a menacing aura.”
“In that case, my apologies, Lady Pascianne. I have been rude to you again.”
Hearing Valerian’s voice from beyond, I could no longer hide.
After all, someone of higher status than me was calling me, so I had no choice but to reveal myself. Whether he called me out deliberately, knowing this, I didn’t know.
“It’s alright. I wasn’t too startled, so you don’t need to worry about me anymore, Prince.”
“How can I not worry? I came all the way here specifically to hear your test results.”
So that’s how it was. You really followed me all this way because you were curious if I was an Esper or a Guide?
I wondered if Valerian was so fixated because he had sensed my guiding when I stayed at the Count’s mansion, but if that were the case, he would have undoubtedly grabbed me and dragged me to the capital like in the original story, so that didn’t seem right either.
I felt increasingly uneasy about Valerian’s unpredictable behavior. I hoped this wouldn’t end with me being dragged away.
“Laila is a civilian.”
“……”
“Please do not take any further interest in Laila after seeing this. You, of all people, must know that it can be a significant problem for an Esper to take undue interest in a civilian.”
Orion cut off our conversation and handed the document containing the verification certificate to Valerian. Then, without looking back, he turned and examined my complexion.
“Laila. Were you very surprised? Are you okay?”
“Uh… yes. I’m okay. I wasn’t surprised.”
Orion winked at me, giving me a signal as I stammered my reply.
It meant he had handled it well, so not to worry. Only then did my heart feel at ease, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“The results came out this quickly?”
As Valerian’s voice, laced with suspicion, followed, a crack appeared on Orion’s face, which had been looking at me warmly.
With a cold expression I had never seen before, he tore his gaze away from me.
“I don’t understand what you mean. Are you doubting the checkpoint now?”
Orion, not bothering to hide his weary expression, spoke to Valerian with undisguised hostility.
Valerian read through the documents one by one, then nodded and met my eyes.
“Excuse me, Lady Pascianne, but would you confirm it yourself?”
“Valerian!”
“Stay out of this, Orion. I have authority over unregistered Espers and Guides.”
“This is overreach. Do you think it’s your right to intimidate a civilian who has a certificate? Do you think I’ll just stand by and watch?”
“Then formally apply to the Academy and the Royal Court to have me brought before the Council of Elders.”
“……”
“I am doing my job. If we’re done talking, step aside.”
Even though it was my situation, the atmosphere felt like I shouldn’t butt in, so I just watched. But as things escalated, I could no longer pretend not to notice.
Finally, pushing Orion, who stood frozen like a stone, I stepped forward to face Valerian myself.
I don’t know anymore. I needed to check if the medicine was working anyway, and given this persistent guy’s personality, he would undoubtedly pursue me to hell if I didn’t handle this properly.
Perhaps it would be better to conclude things definitively now, while my rating was low.
“Laila!”
“Give me your hand.”
I gestured to Orion, who was trying to hold me back, telling him it was okay, and spoke to Valerian.
He was sensitive to guiding, so perhaps he intended to confirm it by sensing the guiding from nearby without physical contact. At my words, he looked slightly taken aback.
Last time, he had asked for my hand, and now I was asking for his.
Valerian, who had been frowning, soon extended his hand towards me obediently.
I didn’t hesitate. To evade Valerian’s suspicion, the reason for which I didn’t know, I placed my hand on his without hesitation.
If he suspected me like he did Pascianne, I just needed to confirm it for him, just like last time.
“……”
“……”
A silence, punctuated only by shallow breaths, stretched on for quite a while.
I opened my eyes, which I had unconsciously squeezed shut, and looked at Valerian. He was looking at me with a complex expression.
“I was mistaken.”
“Ah.”
“My apologies, Lady Pascianne. …… I intend to compensate you properly for the several instances of rudeness in the past, so if you have any requests for me or my family, please contact us through the Pascianne Spiritual Body.”
Just like in the Count’s mansion garden, Valerian calmly admitted his mistake and withdrew. He released my hand, bowed his head slightly, and apologized repeatedly.
“I will be careful to ensure such an incident does not occur the next time we meet.”
“I hope there won’t be a next time we meet.”
My words, coming out quite coldly, made Valerian pause. Even Orion, standing beside me, seemed slightly surprised.
Not stopping there, I glared at Valerian with deliberately hostile eyes and said,
“As you yourself know, Prince, you have already been rude to me several times. It is unpleasant and frightening to be in such situations with you repeatedly. You mentioned compensation for your rudeness, didn’t you? I will accept not seeing you again as that compensation.”
“Understood. I will not cause any further trouble for the Pascianne family from now on.”
“Yes. Then I will be going. Orion, let’s go back.”
“Okay.”
It was a bit childish, but by leaving the scene before Valerian, I enacted a small act of revenge.
In truth, forget revenge, my legs were trembling so much that I might have collapsed if I had stayed there any longer. It was because I had forgotten that Valerian was an Esper, having spent just a few days living normally with him.
And he was a natural Esper with immense capabilities.
“Laila. Just a moment.”
In my haste to escape the situation, I had forgotten about Orion, who was following me. He caught up to me with long strides, stood in front of me, and opened his mouth with a slightly stiff expression.
“Do you know how to stop guiding?”
“What?”
“How did the guiding disappear? I can’t feel any guiding from you at all.”
