Translator: Nox

39 - How to Escape the Reverse Harem Cliché

Chapter 39

A nameless irritation surged within me.

It was irritating that the male lead I had tried so hard to avoid was Evan, and it was also irritating that Evan, whom I hated to death, was pitifully dying because he couldn't receive Guiding.

Even though I had decided to adapt and live here, I was irritated with myself for still waking up each morning with the pathetic hope that I might have returned to the world I lived in.

Was my body in that world dead? If so, did Mom get the life insurance money? Did she manage to pay off the down payment with it? Did they move into the apartment we had longed for so much…

These weren't thoughts one would typically have in a life-or-death situation, but that's how mentally unstable I was.

I didn't want to cry out of embarrassment, but once the tears started, they poured out like a dam breaking.

At first, I cried out of irritation, but it eventually turned into tears of unbearable sorrow.

All the while, Evan, fidgeting restlessly, kept trying to wipe my tears, but I avoided him and let out all my tears and snot.

Sniff. After sobbing and crying my heart out, I felt a bit better. The elders were right when they said that holding everything in would lead to a sickness caused by repressed anger. After weeping aloud, it felt like a long-standing indigestion had finally passed.

"Laila..."

Only then did I hear Evan's voice. I turned my head to look through the bars and my eyes widened when I saw Evan, tears streaming down his face.

...Wait, why is he crying? What has he done to deserve this?

"I'm sorry, Laila. So please don't cry. I'm a terrible person. I was wrong..."

It's a relief that you know you're wrong.

Sigh. I don't know why both of us are in such a predicament. Shouldn't nobles of this standing—and he's even royalty—be free from such survival issues?

Since when did this novel's genre become a thriller? It's a romance fantasy novel, so why do I have to go through so much hardship?

I took out the handkerchief I had kept in my pocket and threw it to Evan through the bars.

"You stop crying too. Don't lose face as a prince."

"...I'm not a prince."

"Does denying it make it untrue?"

"You're the one who abandoned me first. I don't need those kinds of people either."

"Evan. Can you say words that are close to treason when I'm not around? I want to live for a very long time."

Evan, who had been wiping his eyes with the handkerchief, looked at my mood with a softened expression.

Regardless, I reached my hand through the bars and roughly parted his collar. Evan seemed startled by my sudden action, but it was too late to avoid it.

Only a faint trace remained of the mark below his collarbone. If I delayed any longer, Berserk might begin.

"Evan. Do you dislike Lady Rose's Guiding that much?"

"It's not that I dislike it."

"Then?"

"It feels... uncomfortable. My body keeps pushing away her Guiding."

That couldn't be. In the original story, he had good compatibility with Rose, and their matching rate was quite high.

Even after prolonged exposure to my Guiding, I am Low-Class now, and Rose is High-Class, so how could there be a comparison? This was entirely different from addiction.

Evan's next words jolted me out of my deep contemplation to assess the situation.

"He said that sometimes, if you receive Guiding from a Guide with a high matching rate, you might become unable to receive effective Guiding from other Guides afterward. Even if they are High-Class Guides."

"...What?"

"It means our matching rate might be high."

That was something I had never known.

According to the setting, the matching rate between the male leads and Laila was bound to be higher than with Rose. In the original story, Laila only began actively Guiding after Rose's death.

Therefore, such a detailed setting wasn't mentioned.

"Still, I won't drag you into this, Laila."

"..."

"The fact that you are a Guide is a secret I will take to my grave, so you don't have to worry."

"Then what about you?"

"...I was just being reckless. I'll receive that woman's Guiding. You told me to live, right? I'll live."

"Why were you so stubborn when you were going to listen like this?"

"Because I wanted to see your face."

"..."

"I couldn't properly say goodbye at the end. Or explain myself."

It was I who avoided Evan when he was about to say something.

At the time, I was too shocked by the fact that he was Andreas to grasp the situation.

"I didn't intend to deceive you. I was abandoned as a child and adopted by my uncle, neither of which was my choice. When I came to my senses... my name, my surname, everything was taken from me."

"I know."

"...I only had one ability. Mind Reading."

"..."

"There was a Berserk incident, the day you came out of the academy to find me. That's when my Teleport ability manifested. Before that, I only had Mind Reading, Laila. Please believe me."

It was difficult to hate Evan, who was spilling his secrets without me even asking.

I just nodded and listened to his story.

"The Guiding consumption was greater than usual. I was on the verge of collapsing, so I ran out of the academy without thinking. Because I was afraid... you would get hurt. That you would die caught in my Berserk, Laila."

"..."

"But the Manifestation Pain came along with it. That's why the Guiding consumption became so incredibly high. Because the Teleport ability that manifested late was High-Class."

"What... is the rank?"

"S."

I expected it. I expected it to be high, but I didn't expect it to be that high. That explained why it didn't work well when Rose first tried to Guide him.

It was a complete mess. The addiction from my Guiding, our high matching rate, and in the midst of it all, being High-Class like Rose.

"I received contact from my family."

"Your family... the Marquis Olivite's household?"

Evan nodded at my question.

"They said they were making medicine. It seems they didn't expect me to become High-Class, let alone have two abilities. They said they were hastily making medicine after hearing that Guiding from a High-Class Guide wasn't working. A Guiding supplement."

"...I see."

I nodded. Come to think of it, it was about time for that to appear.

A Guiding supplement is a medicine that can substitute for Guiding.

While they are available on the market even now, I hadn't thought they would be very effective for someone High-Class like Evan. People tend to come up with stratagems when cornered.

The Marquis Olivite's household wouldn't want to lose Evan to the Imperial Family like this. They must have known well that Evan's Guides had died or run away, so perhaps they had been preparing a Guiding medicine beforehand. With added effort, the supplement might be ready soon.

"So, Laila, don't come here anymore."

"..."

"This is enough. I'll break the contract. The penalty for breach of contract, three thousand gold coins..."

"It's fine. You haven't graduated yet. Let's put the contract on temporary suspension."

"..."

"When I broke the terms before. You should have canceled it then, but you couldn't. Let's consider it settled."

"Uh... yes."

Evan, who had been staring at me with a bewildered expression, suddenly reached out his hand towards me.

"Can you... just hold my hand once?"

"The Guiding..."

"Not Guiding."

"..."

"I just want to hold your hand, Laila. This might be the last time."

The word "last" moved me.

I placed my hand over Evan's, which had come close, and he intertwined his fingers with mine.

We had held hands like this for so long that his gloved hand felt not foreign, but familiar.

"Laila."

"Why?"

"What do you think of our meeting?"

"Why such a sudden question?"

Our meeting? What kind of sentimental question is that?

I unconsciously furrowed my brow at Evan's uncharacteristic question and hesitated to answer. No, rather than hesitate, I was flustered, not knowing how to respond.

However, perhaps he wasn't expecting an answer from me in the first place, as Evan began to share his thoughts on his own question as if asking and answering himself.

"I think we were bound by fate."

At the word "fate," I flinched with a frown, then quickly composed my expression and replied.

"...Yes. It's possible."

"Why are you always so indifferent?"

"I played along enough."

"Fine. I don't expect this kind of thing from you either."

He's sulking again. Evan scowled and started to let go of my hand.

At that moment, I tightened my grip and pulled him slightly towards me. Evan, startled by the sudden strength of my grip, looked at me with wide eyes.

"I'm not necessarily agreeing with your opinion, but I'm not disagreeing either."

"What does that even mean..."

"It's fate, I suppose. They say even brushing shoulders is fate."

"Is there such a saying?"

"Yes, there is. Anyway... if I'm a Guide and you're an Esper, and as you said, our matching rate is high. That would be a kind of fate too."

"..."

"Still, I don't want to live by fate. I won't walk a path I didn't choose."

Saying that, I let go of Evan's hand.

He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his held hand, then looked at me and smiled faintly.

"Then I'll believe in that fate."

"What?"

"Laila. Let's make a bet."

"Here you go with another strange idea...!"

"I feel like you're my real destiny."