52 - How to Escape the Reverse Harem Cliché
Chapter 52
“Marquis Olivite, my adoptive father, constantly used me, despite my low-class status, for his own errands.”
That was one of the reasons I had been abnormally close to Berserk so often.
There was no way for me to know about House Olivite in the original work, as it wasn't mentioned.
By the time the original story began, Evan had already been reinstated as a prince, and within the parts I had read, Olivite wasn't mentioned as an important family.
But what if they appeared later? What if Andreas's actions, which occasionally led him to villainous deeds, were actually instigated by House Olivite…
“Laila. How about giving up on Lena and the servants?”
Even Aiden, who had been listening silently, seemed to be on the side of making me turn back.
“Let’s just leave somewhere with me for a while. Until things stabilize.”
“Yes, Laila. I’ll handle things here somehow, so you go away with him for a bit.”
It seemed like Evan and Aiden exchanged a glance for the first time, as if their hearts were finally in sync.
The situation must be that serious. Aiden was even telling me to leave with Evan. Considering the friction between them just moments ago, it was an unbelievable statement.
But I shook my head.
“No. They are my servants. I am their master.”
“Laila.”
“I won’t give up.”
“Then what do you plan to do? Are you going to meet them?”
Evan asked, his expression conveying his inability to understand why I was being so soft on mere servants.
“Yes. I’ll meet them and get Lena and the servants back.”
“What if Olivite oppresses you then…!”
“I can belong to Aint before that happens.”
“Laila! Do you even know what that means?!”
Aiden shouted louder than ever and grabbed me, but I shook off his hand and scowled.
“I know. That’s why I’m saying it, Aiden. I’m going to the Academy for Guides.”
“……”
“If my affiliation becomes the Empire, Olivite won’t be able to treat me carelessly. I’ll also receive compensation for such unjust acts.”
No matter how powerful House Olivite was, they couldn't carelessly mistreat a student of the Imperial Academy. Especially if that student was a Guide, even a low-class one, they absolutely couldn't touch them.
If I entered the Imperial Academy for Guides now, it would take another year to graduate. Until then, I would be protected by the Academy, the Imperial Family, and the Council of Elders.
“But doing so will break your freedom. It will disappear.”
“What’s different about now?”
Aiden fell silent at my retort.
Evan was the same. He seemed to recall how he had been talking about making me his personal Guide just a moment ago.
“Evan. You said it yourself. That all Guides are like that. That a Guide is someone who lives bound to an Esper.”
“Laila, that’s because I…”
“I was wrong. Nothing will change if I just keep running away, I was too foolish.”
Even if I ran, I’d end up in the same place. No matter how much I tried to avoid it, I couldn’t escape meeting the male leads. Instead, I only became more deeply entangled.
If that’s the case, there’s only one answer left. A head-on confrontation. I have no choice but to face it myself.
“Excuse me, but I agree with that opinion.”
The person who entered after knocking late caused Evan and Aiden to shield me with their bodies. But the woman let out a disbelieving laugh.
“What’s the point of formality between people who already know each other?”
“Lady Pascianne. I also agree with her opinion.”
Rose’s voice, lightly ignoring Aiden’s words, was heard through the gap.
I pushed Evan and Aiden aside and stepped forward to face Rose. She seemed to like my appearance, chuckling and extending her hand towards me.
“I don’t want Guides to be mere recipients of protection and die in vain, Young Lady.”
“Likewise.”
“Honestly, the Imperial Family and the Council of Elders are all annoying, but the Academy for Guides is manageable. I think you’ll do well there too, Young Lady.”
As I clasped Rose’s hand, she laughed heartily and lightly shook my hand up and down. Her palm, which I held, was much larger than mine and felt firm with calluses.
Rose, who fought as a Guide on the battlefield as much as any Esper, had relentlessly pushed herself through harsh training to become who she was.
And Laila in the original work, too. After Rose’s death, she didn’t spend her time powerlessly but trained and trained to make up for her.
The gun I can’t shoot now, the bow I can’t aim, and the sword I have no intention of wielding. Laila in the original work had mastered all of them.
It wasn’t an innate bestowed trait, but the result of Laila in the original work’s own effort and training.
“Yes. That’s what I intend to do.”
At my answer, Rose gave a faint smile and released my hand. Then, she clicked her tongue and shook her head towards the two people behind me who were likely wearing displeased expressions.
“How could Espers like you understand our feelings?”
“Rose. Don’t keep provoking Laila’s feelings. Unlike you, Laila is…! Anyway. Stop doing useless things.”
“What does that matter? Lady Pascianne has already manifested as a Guide, and she intends to take up arms to protect herself. Do you have the right to stop her?”
“It’s not that we want to stop her, but once registered as a Guide, you live a life without freedom. Because of that…!”
“What if you’re kidnapped while unregistered?”
At this point, Rose stopped her casual tone and stared intently at Aiden, murmuring chillingly.
In that brief moment, Rose’s expression changed noticeably.
“Then you truly won’t even dream of freedom. Your very existence will be erased from this world.”
“……”
“Adrian. If the Young Lady is kidnapped, do you think you can find her? Don’t delude yourself. What can you do, being merely an A-rank?”
“……”
“Espers like you don’t know. You speak so easily because you don’t know.”
She declared with an expression of disgust and then walked straight out of the tent.
In the suddenly somber atmosphere, I let out a sigh, and the two behind me remained in a long silence, lost in thought.
“Aiden. This is my choice. If any problems arise from this, I will be the one to take responsibility.”
“Laila.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t make this decision lightly. I wouldn’t do that.”
Aiden pursed his brow and remained silent at my words.
What I said to him was not a lie.
It wasn’t a choice made simply to escape the immediate crisis. The word ‘opportunity cost’ was one of the most important words in my life.
Before choosing anything, I always carefully compared options and made rational decisions; it was a matter of my survival.
From the moment my parents divorced and abandoned our cozy home when I was young, I had to enter an invisible battle to avoid losing anything more.
I was at a different starting line than friends who entered school holding both parents’ hands. I didn’t have time to whine or throw tantrums. Of course, my mother tried to fill that void, but it was something she couldn’t fill alone. Ultimately, I had to fill the remaining emptiness myself.
That’s why, when I transmigrated, I chose to run away.
It wasn’t just a matter of personal preference, like not liking the male leads.
The important thing was that I hadn’t finished reading the novel and didn’t know how the ending would unfold.
Moreover, how many hardships did the female protagonist have to endure to grow? I didn’t want to become a harem protagonist at such a cost, so I made the most rational choice I could.
“Will you really be okay?”
Finally, Aiden seemed to have made up his mind, breaking the silence to ask my opinion.
He met my gaze as I nodded and even forced a smile, pulling up the corners of his lips.
“Is it because of my family? You hated the Imperial Academy. Yet you’re going there? Because of the servants?”
Surprisingly, it was Evan who couldn’t accept this fact.
Aiden tried to lighten the mood as if it were for the best, but Evan stared at me with a stiff expression.
“I’ll go and release your servants instead. Isn’t that enough? It was my family, so if I say so…”
“Evan. It’s just a coincidence in timing, but it’s not solely because of your family.”
“……”
“In the first place, it’s the law to register with the Empire upon Manifestation. I intend to follow the law now.”
Evan also fell silent at my words. He looked at me with an expression of disbelief, but with the law brought up, he seemed to have nothing more to say.
I didn’t need to explain things in detail to Evan. The best choice I had made in the current situation was to enter the Imperial Academy.
This way, my status as a Guide would be publicly declared, and perhaps I might even uncover the intentions of the Pascianne Family, who had vehemently tried to hide it.
Most importantly, I had learned that running away blindly like this, without knowing anything, wouldn’t solve anything.
Things happened quickly. Rose, who had gone outside, returned with the Inspection Stone from the encampment.
The problem was the person who followed her in.
“…Laila?”
Orion’s eyes widened as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have, and he rushed towards me.
Just moments ago, he had looked exhausted, having reluctantly followed Rose to receive Guiding, but now he was looking back and forth between me and Aiden with an expression of disbelief.
“How is this… why… since when, why is Laila…”
“I was going to ask if you were doing well. Why do you look like you’re about to cry, Orion?”
Orion’s face looked as if he were about to collapse on the floor and weep.
Seeing how gaunt he had become, I thought the battlefield must have been tough, but then seeing him cry at me made it feel like it was all my fault.
