While Others Became Female Leads In Romantic Fantasy Novels, I Became A Closet Monster
Chapter 49
Is there such a thing as being naturally drawn to someone without them doing anything?
Just then, Joanna arrived and offered Dedrick a greeting.
「Lord Dedrick, it has been a long time.」
Dedrick and my eyes met briefly in the air.
We had already decided how to act if Joanna spoke to him.
Our concept was...
「……I would prefer it if you didn't speak to me. I don't want to be scolded by my brother Somerset.」
Patheticness!
Unlike his usual stiff tone, he mumbled while nervously checking his surroundings, causing Joanna to ask back in slight fluster.
When Dedrick bowed his head and tried to brush past her, Joanna hurriedly blocked his path.
「Lord Dedrick, first of all, I am sorry. It seems you were scolded quite a bit because of me……. But that day, the words you said to me were……」
「If Brother Somerset sees me with Lady Primrose, I'll be beaten again just like that day.」
Tears welled up in Joanna's eyes. With her pupils trembling incessantly, Joanna looked so pitiful that one couldn't help but want to comfort her.
This is how dangerous a dazzling beauty can be, everyone.
However, Dedrick seemed completely unmoved as he walked right past her.
That was when Ebony appeared and patted Joanna on the shoulder.
「He must have been bullied quite severely. He looks so pitiful with his spirit completely crushed.」
「……Get lost.」
「I just want to comfort him…….」
Is it because Joanna took an interest in Dedrick first, unlike in the novel?
‘It feels like Joanna is blocking Ebony.’
Just then, Dedrick kept glancing back and signaled to me with his eyes.
Mistaking that sign, Ebony's eyes softened as she murmured.
「I guess he wants someone to notice how miserable he is. Poor thing…….」
That's not it…….
I hurriedly followed behind Dedrick before the misunderstanding could deepen. Then, I explained the misunderstanding that had just occurred.
He only moved his lips silently without replying.
Because he couldn't answer here.
First, we entered the banquet hall.
Dedrick simply looked for a quiet corner, while I looked around the hall in fresh admiration.
「Wow…… it’s so sparkly.」
Everywhere was golden, as if flaunting the fact that they had poured money into it.
So the 'Sea' theme meant a Golden Sea…….
The brilliant golden waves were almost blinding. Expensive flowers and artworks decorating the walls, pillars and ceilings carved from gold-colored stone, and a masterpiece painting on the ceiling that seemed to depict gods caught my eye.
「It's amazing…….」
It’s an incredibly lavish banquet.
It could have easily looked tacky, but it seemed Delaney had balanced it well.
A noble is a noble, I suppose.
A moment later, the murmurs of several nobles who had spotted Dedrick reached my ears.
「That black hair…… was he the youngest son of Blackwood?」
「He certainly is the spitting image of His Grace the Grand Duke.」
「But why does he hide his face so gloomily……?」
「What does it matter if he looks like him? Isn't Lord Somerset already slated to be the successor?」
「Oh my, don't you know about the uproar earlier? Lord Somerset caused quite a scandal.」
「Since that incident, Lord Somerset and the Grand Duchess have become quiet.」
「By that logic, wouldn't it mean the Grand Duke has his eye on Lord Dedrick?」
「I heard he only stepped in because there was evidence and he had no choice.」
All sorts of stories were mixed, but in the end, the hearts of the nobles leaned more toward Delaney and Somerset.
No matter what was said, it was true that Somerset, the son of the current Grand Duchess, was in a much better position than Dedrick, who had no backing.
「Are they speaking loudly on purpose?」
Whether he knew my heart was feeling spiteful for no reason or not, Dedrick covered his twitching lips with his hand.
Just then, Ebony and Joanna, who had been bickering, entered the banquet hall.
Ebony found Dedrick immediately. She beamed when their eyes met, while Joanna looked at Ebony in disbelief.
Dedrick murmured with a displeased expression.
「What is wrong with her……?」
「……Bear with it, Didi.」
Strangely, the first meeting isn't going that well…….
How very interesting!
I was curious about how they would get entangled, or if this would be the end, but right now there was something I had to worry about more than a love story.
Where is that boy?
‘……Found him!’
Thanks to diligently looking around, I was able to find the boy I wanted.
A boy sitting quietly in a corner with his head bowed, just like Dedrick. I pointed at him and spoke.
「Didi, do you see that red-haired boy?」
Dedrick gave a tiny nod.
「I want you to become friends with him! It’s my intuition, but I think he’ll be a very, very good fellow.」
That boy was the second son of the Marquis Tusnela family, Eugene Tusnela. However, he was set up to have no friends because he was naturally timid and frustrating.
Most of all, Tusnela was currently in a state where only their honor remained, to the point that being a Marquis family was meaningless.
Delaney openly looked down on that family, but that would change soon.
‘Because six years from now, an enormous amount of Mana Stones will be discovered on the land that boy purchased!’
And top-grade ones at that!
If electricity was the essential energy in the world I lived in, Mana Stones were that energy in this world.
Mana Stones, which were indispensable for daily life.
Thanks to discovering a mountain of them, they become filthy rich. With immense wealth added to a family that only had honor, they rise to become a powerful family in an instant.
‘But Eugene is the son of a despised concubine.’
His situation was exactly the same as Didi's right now. The only difference was that the concubine—that is, Eugene's mother—was still alive and exercising some influence.
This situation was a bit peculiar; normally, Eugene's mother should have been the primary wife.
She and the Marquis were quite in love. However, the current Marchioness used schemes to make her a concubine and treated her poorly besides.
And she will pass away soon.
By the Marchioness's schemes.
‘If things go well, I might be able to prevent it.’
I could at least have Didi warn him to be careful.
‘Originally, Eugene also ends up going to Herba Academy as if he’s being kicked out because of his stepmother after his mother dies.’
The two were originally supposed to meet there, become friends, and become reliable pillars for each other.
But what’s wrong with meeting earlier!
Since Eugene also becomes the head of the family after graduating from the Academy and getting rid of his siblings!
At the same time, he stands by Dedrick's side and helps him take down Somerset and the Grand Duchess.
‘Let's take this chance to build a connection early!’
「What if you approach him first?」
Since Eugene's family is currently insignificant, Delaney won't pay much attention.
She'll probably just think that those in similar circumstances are playing well together.
When Dedrick continued to not answer, I turned my head in wonder to find him standing still with a sulky face.
Why are you pouting?
「This is all for you! I'm telling you, it'll be good if you get close in advance. I feel a very good vibe from him! It's the Closet Monster's hunch!」
Only then did Dedrick move slowly. I followed behind him and said.
「But I'll stay a bit away. If I walk around like this, I feel like I'll accidentally bump into people.」
As Dedrick got closer to Eugene, I pressed myself right against the wall.
「Good luck, Didi!」
I cheered him on in a loud, ringing voice. Not like anyone else could hear it anyway.
When someone approached him, Eugene slightly lifted his head, which had been buried deep.
Upon confirming Dedrick's face, his eyes went wide.
「Oh, uh…… Lo, Lord Dedrick…….」
「……Nice to meet you. Eugene Tusnela.」
「You, you know my name……!」
Whenever Somerset and Axel saw him, they were always busy being sarcastic and calling him a bastard instead of his name.
The reason Eugene attended every banquet despite being treated like that was because his mother wished for it.
Because she hoped that he, who had no reliable backing, would build connections even in a place like this.
Hearing his name called for the first time in a long while, Eugene seemed moved.
「It, it is an honor…….」
「……Our circumstances are the same, so there's no need for it to be an honor.」
But Somerset, who had approached before anyone realized, cut off Dedrick's voice and mocked them.
「My, I wondered where that underground moldy smell was coming from. It was coming from these two!」
