54 - How to Escape the Reverse Harem Cliché
Chapter 54
Aiden pointed at Evan with his finger, grinning broadly as if he were ready to fail the year at any moment.
When I shook my head frantically, flustered, and snapped that it was fine, he immediately drooped the corners of his eyes like a sulking puppy and mumbled.
“Cruel Laila. You never say anything you don’t mean.”
“Isn’t it better to be honest than to say something you can’t take responsibility for, Aiden?”
“That you’re honest like that is still annoyingly like Laila.”
At least I could breathe a sigh of relief. For now, I needed to get into the Imperial Academy and think about what to do next.
It was fortunate that the immediate crisis was averted, but what was this nagging feeling that I was missing something?
“What’s wrong, Laila?”
Even Orion’s gentle question was met with a distracted answer, my brow furrowed.
I felt like I was missing something right now, but what was it…
Just then, the door of the tent we were in swung open, and the person who had been making me feel uneasy all along walked in.
“Lady Pasianne. Come with me for a moment.”
Valerian, looking somewhat displeased, held the paper with my rank written on it that Lady Rose had just prepared.
Fortunately, I let out an involuntary sigh of relief when I confirmed that his severed arm had been reattached, as if he had received timely treatment.
Right, I had momentarily forgotten about him.
Valerian Astolf, who was sensitive to Guiding. He had received Guiding from me a little while ago, and from his perspective, my Guiding rank would be unacceptable.
Because if my rank was truly D+, I wouldn’t be able to guide an S-Class like himself.
Unless our matching rate was very high.
In the end, leaving behind the three people protesting that it was impossible, I followed Valerian into his tent.
I worried if his unit members might be lurking around the tent like before, but Valerian seemed to have handled it beforehand, as I didn’t see a single Esper on the way.
Valerian, with a reluctant expression, presented the paper he was holding as soon as I entered the tent.
It was as I expected. He seemed suspicious of my rank. The paper clearly stated my rank: D+.
“Why is this?”
But from my perspective, it was unfair.
I couldn’t control my Guiding rank, and if it truly came out as D+, what was I supposed to do?
I hadn’t absorbed someone else’s Guiding to boost my rank like in the original work; my rank was measured purely, and this was the result. This incident was truly beyond my intentions.
“How can your Guiding be D-Class?”
“This is the value measured by the Inspection Stone.”
“Are you sure Lady Rose didn’t tamper with it?”
“Tamper? What are you talking about…”
“Haven’t you already tampered with it once before?”
“…….”
“Years ago, in the capital. You received a forged certificate from Sir Restro without even undergoing a measurement.”
He still remembered that incident.
I thought about explaining that it was after my Manifestation, but knowing Valerian’s personality, I knew such a lie wouldn’t work, so I clamped my mouth shut.
“The Guiding I received from you was by no means D-Class.”
“Then what do you think it is?”
“Even if it’s Low-Class, it would be B-Class. Otherwise…”
“How can you be so certain? Then would you believe it if we brought the Inspection Stone and measured it again right before your eyes?”
“…….”
“Every time, you doubt and corner me, Prince.”
We really couldn’t be more incompatible.
Valerian was like that with Laila in the original work, but he was even more incompatible with me in reality.
He would pick fights over things that could be overlooked, and that applied to everyone without exception. To me, who wanted to avoid the original story, it felt like obsession and shackles.
And like others, I knew that if I just yielded to Valerian, troublesome matters would disappear, but for some reason, perhaps due to a sense of defiance, I couldn’t bring myself to do so.
It wasn’t just about deviating from the original story; I simply disliked situations that unfolded according to Valerian’s will.
Thus, our friction seemed to grow more intense. Neither of us was willing to yield to the other.
But this current situation was truly unfair. I was fed up with Valerian’s attitude of suspecting me without even asking, when I hadn’t tampered with anything.
“What exactly is the problem? If you had said you wanted to bring the Inspection Stone and measure it again before your eyes, I would have agreed. Instead of just shoving this paper at me and suspecting me.”
Valerian fell silent at my words. It seemed he finally realized his approach was wrong.
A long silence stretched between us. I was still fuming, and Valerian wore a complex expression.
“I apologize. I crossed a line by mentioning tampering.”
Even that apology, delivered as plainly as ever, was tiresome.
“I’m tired of hearing your apologies, Prince.”
“…….”
“I saved you with that insufficient rank, and instead of any thanks, you accuse me of tampering… It’s fine. Bring Lady Rose here, and let’s have a three-way conversation. Then my grievance might be resolved.”
Of course, I didn’t say that because I truly wanted to receive thanks from Valerian. I wasn’t in a position to expect such things. How could I, with my status, dare to expect it from an S-Class Esper?
I was just tired of clashing like this every time.
I knew it too. Unlike others, I acted so abrasively only towards Valerian because he was the true male protagonist in the original work.
I attached a trivial reason, but in reality, I was pushing him away out of anxiety that he might become intimately involved with me.
“In any case, that is an area where I must apologize to you, Young Lady. I am sorry.”
“Yes. I understand. So, the Inspection Stone…”
“Laila.”
He called my name in a low voice, and I involuntarily followed his gaze.
Valerian still had a complex expression. He seemed confused himself.
“The reason I misunderstood you, Laila, was because your Guiding felt special.”
“…….”
“If your rank is low, yet it completely filled my Guiding gauge. If that is why I am confused right now…”
I anticipated the next words that would come from his mouth.
“Laila. It means our matching rate is high.”
Matching rate. A value measuring the compatibility between a Guide’s Guiding wavelength and an Esper.
Given the scarcity of Guides, how difficult would it be to find a Guide with a high matching rate with oneself? Most Espers lived believing it was nearly impossible.
Therefore, it was natural to cling to a Guide with a high matching rate.
“I want to test the matching rate between you and me.”
However, I never expected these words to come from Valerian.
In the original work, Valerian, despite knowing his high matching rate with Laila, who joined the team late, refused to receive any Guiding from her.
The reason was that he already had Rose, a Guide, by his side.
Although Laila was a Guide Valerian himself had discovered and brought in, he did not recognize her as a team member. In a way, it showed his resolve, and in another, it showed his strict separation of personal and professional matters.
This was despite the fact that Rose and Valerian’s matching rate was at most 53%, while Laila and Valerian’s matching rate was close to 98%.
Thus, the Valerian of the original work avoided and refused Laila’s Guiding until Rose’s death.
“Laila.”
“You have Lady Rose, Prince.”
That was why this situation was bewildering.
Even now, Rose and Valerian were fighting on the battlefield as part of the same team. Although they commanded different units, Valerian’s Guiding was entirely Rose’s responsibility.
So why was he asking me for a matching rate test? This was different from Valerian’s established character. He wasn’t someone who cared about matching rates, so why?
Interrupting Valerian, who was trying to persuade me with an unfamiliar expression, I spoke first.
“If, as you say, our matching rate turns out to be high…”
“…….”
“Then what happens to Lady Rose?”
I didn’t want to take her place like in the original work.
No. I didn’t want to guide Valerian in the first place. What I used to save him just now was my last Guiding.
“It has nothing to do with Lady Rose. You will simply become my dedicated Guide.”
“I don’t want that.”
“…….”
“What about my opinion? I don’t want to be your dedicated Guide.”
Despite my words, Valerian’s expression remained unchanged.
He didn’t get angry, nor did he look at me with pity. He simply watched me calmly.
In a way, my request was absurd. Having been dragged this far, I couldn’t hide the fact that I was a Guide, and it was even harder to do so in front of Valerian.
No matter how precious Guides were, a Low-Class like me stood no chance against an Esper with a monstrous rank like Valerian.
Still, I wanted to resist, just once. I could refuse, at least once.
“You’ve been receiving Guiding well from Lady Rose until now. Why are you looking for another Guide now?”
“It’s not about another Guide, it’s that I need you, Young Lady.”
But it seemed Valerian felt the same way.
Our conversation had been going in circles since the beginning. Because both Valerian and I refused to budge from our positions.
Unless one side exerted stronger pressure or the other side relented, it was an issue that couldn’t be resolved.
