She clenched her jaw and she focused on walking in a straight light to not collapse. She didn’t want to look ugly the last time she saw him. It was the pride that Elena wanted to keep until the end.

“I can’t. Let’s send her back so I can relax.”

When Cecilia saw her walking, she couldn’t stand it and pursued her again.

“Don’t worry about me.”

“You might fall again, how can I just let you go?”

Cladios held back as he saw Elena moving away from Cecilia with an indifferent face.

“To her, more than your worries… I think we will respect her more if we pretend to not know.”

“Your Majesty is saying things that I don’t like.”

Cecilia was frustrated as to whether she thought it was better. Cladios stood tall and watched until Elena was far enough away.

He wondered who she was. It’s obvious that she’s easygoing, but why are her mannerisms something only unique to the Imperial Family?

Although he wondered, Cladios did not have enough time to ponder the trivial question. It was more urgent to talk about what he came here for.

“Let me finish telling you what I didn’t say, Cecilia.”

***

At that time, there was a female student staring at Elena, who was barely able to walk with her own body and ready to fall down, and watched from a distance. The girl’s name is Mitchell. At one time, she belonged to the faction of Princess Veronica. She was now changing groups and following Abella, the eldest daughter of Duke Reinhardt.

‘What? She’s doing this again?’

She watched Cecilia, who was like a thorn, follow Elena. Although she thought Elena pretended to collapse because she was sick, it seemed to be an obvious masterpiece to get Cladios’s attention.

“I have to tell Lady Abella quickly.”

Mitchell twisted her mouth as she watched Elena move away. She was already looking forward to seeing how Abella will punish the bitch who wagged her tail in front of Prince Cladios.

* * *

Elena, only a little bit away from them, leaned on the streetlight. Her pale, tired face looked like a sick man, and it wouldn’t be strange if she fainted right then. Elena pushed a little longer and collapsed onto a bench in the square.

She’s still confused. It was a place where countless students come and go, but at this moment, Elena seemed to be alone. Her head was black. She didn’t think of anything and no sound was heard.

A little bit… Rest…

As her tension loosened, her consciousness gradually blurred. Her body and mind of Elena acted as if she was pushed to the limit and needed a rest.

She fell asleep sitting on the bench, but her dreams were haunted by recalling past memories she didn’t want to think about.

“I will no longer be hung up on Your Majesty. I can’t see Ian hurt because of me.”

Elena struggled in her nightmares. A painful groan escaped her lips. Her expression was sadly distorted, and her forehead and nape were damp with cold sweat.

“Ah!”

Elena woke up with a shout. Her breathing was unstable and her complexion remained pale as if the lingering memories had yet to fade. Still, her body felt a little less tired after a short nap.

Having trouble getting up from the bench, she felt a strange sense of incongruity. She felt something comfortable on her back. She turned her head to see someone staring at her.

“…!”

Elena doubted her eyes. It was a shame she didn’t have any energy. If she were as usual, she would fight back against the incarnation of evil.

Why is this man here?

Ren’s peculiar, greasy look, crossing his legs at the end of the bench, and staring at Elena.

When did you get here? No, what can I do?

If she were normal, she would have dealt with it quickly, but she couldn’t today. She wasn’t in good shape, so she couldn’t do her best.

“Who are you?” 

Ren spoke first.

“Why are you sleeping here?”

“…”

“I asked. Who are you.”

Feeling that she could no longer ignore Ren’s words, Elena replied, “Ah, hello, senior.”

“Introduction. Not greetings.”

“Freshman Lu, who entered this ye-”

Ren cut her off, “Isn’t it Lucia?”

“Uh, how do you know my name?”

Elena’s eyes were wide open. It wasn’t welcomed that Ren already knew the name of an identity that had been completely hidden.

“Isn’t it there?”

“Ah!”

Elena was relieved to see her name tag on her chest.

Be calm, Elena.

No matter how she looked at the situation, she met Ren by chance. No matter how intelligent he is, he didn’t have the time to find out about this identity. As she thought about her current position, her next move became clear.

“Should we not continue the introduction? First of all, your name.”

Ren continued showing interest.

Elena turned the subject and asked him back, “I know your name. Aren’t you Ren, the senior in the Department of Swordsmanship?”

“That’s not an answer to my question,” Ren shot back, embarrassing Elena.

You drive me crazy. I just can’t beat you.

Elena was not Princess Veronica, now. It was absurd of Ren, who might lead the Empire’s emerging nobleman, to go out of his way to talk to Lucia, a daughter of an inferior state. It is frustrating, but she has no choice but to stick to a low profile.

“It won’t be fun to know about me. I don’t have much to say.”

“You… You think you’re funny?”

As Elena kept talking, Ren looked her up and down. The untamed glare was intimidating.

“No…”

“But why do you keep pushing back? Do you not want to introduce yourself?”

Elena had a frog stuck in her throat. She couldn’t come up with a decent way to get out of this situation.

It was then, heavy raindrops fell and wet Elena’s nose.

Rain?

The sunny sky disappeared and was covered with dark clouds. The number of raindrops that fell from one or two has increased exponentially and soaked their shoulders. Elena was grateful for the timely rainshower.

“I’m not feeling well, so can I postpone my introduction?”

The raindrop became thicker. Students who were having a leisurely time in the plaza ran to the nearby buildings to avoid the rain.

“Isn’t it considerate of you to be fooled by a junior’s excuses? Well, then goodbye.”

Elena’s goodbye was paired with an inconspicuous smile as she tried to escape without looking back.

I’m glad he didn’t catch me. The crisis seems to have been averted… Uh? Uh!

Elena’s feet, which were rushing to walk away from the bench, got caught in something.

“Oh!”

Her unbalanced weight was carried forward and fell. She reflexively reached out in front of her, cut open her palms, and the stockings that hit the ground were torn.

“I didn’t tell you to go?” Elena looked up and saw Ren, who had deliberately tripped her, looked down and smiled, “Your eyes resemble someone I know.”

“…!”

Elena’s anger was about to go out of control. She took a second and brought her emotions back under her management.

“I’m sorry. I was going to go without your permission.”

“Even your voice.”

Elena felt her mouth go dry as she watched Ren narrow his eyes. The denial here would make her more suspicious, but she was forced to try to laugh it off.

“Do you like her? Then she must be very pretty?”

Her laugh was frivolous and she would never do it while acting as Princess Veronica. If she didn’t show the opposite personality of Veronica, it would increase his doubt.

“…”

Despite Elena’s desperate acting, Ren didn’t respond.

One second, two seconds.

Those few seconds felt longer than a few hours. Elena felt that Ren had noticed, so she was preparing a way to defend herself and make excuses.

Finally, Ren responded.

He laughed.

His laugh wasn’t evil. Elena couldn’t take her eyes off Ren as she stood in a stupor at his unexpected reaction. Then, he suddenly took off his uniform coat.

What else are you going to do?

Ren has a very ingenious way of harassing people, so Elena was wary of not knowing what kind of harm she would face. Throwing her off, Ren placed his coat over her head, like a raincoat that blocks the rain.

“It’s raining.”

“…”

Elena had an esoteric expression, neither laughing nor crying. She was more anxious because she couldn’t understand his reasoning.

“Do you want to go?”

“… Can I go?”

“Uh-huh,” Ren even beckoned her to leave.

Elena didn’t relax even as she slowly excused herself. He kept his arms folded, unmoving, as if he had no more intentions of harassing her.

“Then, I’ll go,” she said goodbye and tried to run away in a hurry.

“You owe me.”

Looking back at Ren, who made her anxious about her debts, he laughed like a demon. His smile looked as delighted as a child who had just received a new toy.

Goosebumps rose all over Elena’s body as she hastily left. 

Could there be a day worse than this?

***

Elena went to the library’s archives immediately, intent on avoiding the rain. It wasn’t until she locked the door that she became relieved, and slid her back down against the door. She roughly threw Ren’s coat somewhere in the room.

I accidentally got involved like this…

It started with meeting Cladios by chance. If she had been smarter and calmer at that time, she wouldn’t have caught Ren’s attention. She couldn’t be resentful or blame anyone. All of Elena’s minor mistakes swelled like snowballs and caused the present situation.

Let’s stay calm. Keep calm. So what if I regret it?

Elena had a change in her thoughts. There is nothing more meaningless than untying a string that’s already knotted. Once knotted, the string is not as straight and stiff as before, even if it is untied.

If I get entangled, we’ll just move as I’m entangled. There is no need to try to loosen it.

If she hadn’t been so resentful, she wouldn’t even resolve to seek revenge in the first place. The evils of her past life shook Elena in different ways, but nothing changed. Rather, it became an opportunity to steel her resolve.

Having succeeded in controlling her heart, Elena undressed and returned as Princess Veronica. Her torn stockings from when she fell and the muddy school uniform may be suspicious, but she could circumvent Anne by saying she fell in the rain.

The real difficulty is getting rid of this.

i need to sleep but gotta pump these chapters out so do me a solid and donate Kofi