101st Confession - Side Story Episode 21 - Henry’s Love (2)

Side Story Episode 21: Henry’s Love (2)

At that moment, she realized that Henry liked someone and understood that she could never intrude into that relationship.

After that, well… she avoided him for a while. She didn’t have any intention to confess, but still, a disappointment was a disappointment.

Henry, being the clueless fool that he is, didn’t even bother to ask her why she was avoiding him, but instead scouted her out as a knight.

‘I’m sick of one-sided love now.’

When will this feeling go away? She even thought about meeting other men, but she didn’t have enough financial or emotional stability.

Meanwhile, being asked to pretend to be Henry’s fake lover. It’s absurd.

Rachel sank her heart and drove in the wedge again.

“I’ll never do it. I’m sorry, but ask the Duchess to find someone else.”

Her mind was so tangled that she almost couldn’t think straight. Rachel, who turned her head for a moment, didn’t notice. Henry was looking at her back with a neutral expression, erasing his smiling face.

Somehow, Henry felt uncomfortable and wanted Rachel to look at him instead of somewhere else.

“Do you happen to like someone else?”

“Are you crazy?”

The irritation resurfaced at the sight of her protesting.

“You! You know my situation very well, and you’re saying that now? I’m busy just feeding my siblings. Where do I have the luxury to like someone?”

Rachel was practically the head of the household. Her parents were around, but they had so many relatives, and there were so many places where money needed to go that they even thought about marrying Rachel to a wealthy man.

She hated being sold to a man, so she started wielding a sword instead.

Yeah, she hated men, and she hated them. She wasn’t the kind of person who would like someone.

Knowing that… Why does this bother her so much?

“I’ll pass on the trouble. So, please figure it out yourself.”

“…………But I think it’s a good idea.”

Rachel, who thought Henry would understand obediently, looked at him with widened eyes. Then Henry smirked smugly.

“If I have a lover, women will bother me less.”

“…Oh, right. Then you should hurry up and get a lover.”

For a moment, it sounded like he was agreeing to him and that ridiculous proposition.

Without resorting to having a fake lover, if he had a real one, women would bother him significantly less.

‘But… I don’t feel very good about it.’

Thinking that the conversation was over, Rachel turned her body and headed outside.

No, she tried to. Until Henry stopped her.

“Where are you going?”

“Where do you think? I have work to do now.”

“Didn’t you just hear what I said?”

“I heard it. You said it would be nice to have a lover, so you should hurry up and get one. A woman who says she likes you is worth getting run over by her own foot.”

She tried to shake off his hand, but Henry firmly held onto it and didn’t let go.

“Do you not want that?”

Rachel looked puzzled.

“I don’t want to date someone I don’t even like. I have my own principles.”

“What does that have to do with me knowing?”

“But, I need an excuse to avoid women, so I need a fake lover. Rachel, please cooperate.”

Rachel trembled. For a moment, she felt excited that he needed her, but ultimately realized that he didn’t see her as a romantic interest.

‘Ugh… I didn’t know it would be like this.’

It’s so irritating. Why doesn’t this feeling go away?

It’s been over two and a half years since Rachel liked Henry. By now, shouldn’t her feelings have cooled off somewhat?

The current situation, where every word of his feels like a stab, was very unpleasant.

Rachel frowned and twisted her wrist. She forcefully pushed Henry’s hand away.

“I absolutely refuse.”

Henry narrowed his eyes. It was evident that if she kept looking into those soft red eyes, her heart would waver. Rachel avoided him before he could cling to her sentimentally.

“50 gold coins per month.”

Straightening up-

Rachel stopped in her tracks just before opening the door.

“If you act as my lover, I’ll give you 50 gold coins per month. How about it?”

‘Is he trying to bribe me with such an amount? But…’

Honestly, it’s a lot of money. Her monthly salary is about 30 gold coins, so it’s almost double that.

Her siblings are growing up so fast these days, and some seem to want an education, so money is tight. But Rachel decided to refuse.

“I have knightly duties, and if it’s additional to my salary…”

“No. There won’t be such a thing. You do what you have to do. After all, pretending to be my lover is practically the same as you being my escort.”

“…But will you really give me 50 gold coins?”

“Yes. Separate from the salary, 50 gold coins.”

In the end, Rachel couldn’t help but waver. Plus, it’s separate from her salary, so she would receive a total of 80 gold coins per month. If she continues to act as a fake lover, she’ll have enough money saved up until next year.

“But, at least I won’t just do that one thing. What else do I have to do for you?”

Just acting the same as usual won’t cut it for pretending to be a fake lover.

It seemed Henry thought the same as he grinned and stepped closer.

“Of course, you’ll have to accompany me outside the mansion or attend important events as my lover. You’ll be by my side as usual, but there will be some level of physical affection. For example…”

After pondering for a moment, Henry carefully held Rachel’s rough hand.

“Like holding hands like this.”

Then, he unexpectedly kissed the back of Rachel’s hand.

“A quick hand kiss.”

It all happened so suddenly that she couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Rachel, who belatedly came to her senses, blushed.

It was the first time Rachel, who usually wore a stoic expression, was so flustered.

No wonder Henry felt pretty good about it.

“You, you…!”

“What’s the big deal? Even if we’re not lovers, it’s something we can easily do as a greeting at parties.”

“I’ve never attended such parties before.”

“Huh? You’ve come with me a few times.”

“I went and danced only with you. No one came up to me because I was a commoner.”

“……”

Henry looked apologetic for a moment, and Rachel let out a deep sigh.

“I get what you’re saying, we’re just going to be normal and then act like lovers in front of everyone else, right?”

“Huh? Uh…….”

Rachel, who had been lost in thought for a moment, lifted her head with determination.

“I’ll do it. But I have a condition.”

“What is it?”

“When we suddenly engage in physical contact like that, you should give me a heads-up.”

“No, how can I do that when there are people around…”

“I won’t do it.”

“…Fine, I’ll do it. Yeah, I’ll do it.”

Rachel’s gaze narrowed as she witnessed Henry’s immediate change in attitude.

“But if one of us genuinely starts liking someone else, we’ll stop pretending to be a couple from that day onward.”

Henry’s eyebrows twitched. He wiped off his smile and looked straight at Rachel.

“What’s with that look? You’re not seriously considering playing fake lovers with me for life, are you?”

“…Not really.”

“It’s just a temporary measure to keep women at bay. It can’t last a lifetime. And I’ll have to get married someday too. If we keep doing this, I’ll miss the marriageable age.”

“Marriage…? I thought you weren’t interested in marriage.”

“When did I say that?”

“When we were at the Academy.”

Did she say that? It was a bit fuzzy in her memory. But if it was during the Academy days, it made sense.

It was when her parents kept nagging her to marry into a good family.

“Well, things are different now than back then. I’ll just marry within my means.”

“What do you mean by ‘within your means’? What’s wrong with you?”

With the slightly annoyed tone, Rachel blinked. Seeing his expression even angrier than hers, Rachel burst into laughter.

But Henry couldn’t take his eyes off Rachel in that state.

“Why are you getting mad? I didn’t say anything wrong.”

“Henry. I’m a commoner. I have talents, which is why I can even serve as your guard. If I didn’t have talent with the sword, I would’ve been sold off to a man long ago.”

Rachel is quite objective about herself.

Despite being poor at home and having siblings born one after another, it was difficult to make ends meet even with her parents working hard to earn money.

Although it’s quite miserable to end up being sold off to a man, Rachel doesn’t resent her parents. They only considered such means as an absolute last resort.

If Rachel resented her parents, she would have cut ties with them long ago, but seeing how hard they work to support the family…

‘Quite something too.’

But what can she do? Her family is right in front of her, struggling.

“I want to find my happiness once my siblings become independent to some extent.”

“…And is marriage the means to that?”

“Everyone says so.”

Honestly, Rachel has never lived her life as she pleased, so she doesn’t know how to find freedom and happiness. She just vaguely thinks that if she follows what others say, she might find herself among them.

Seeing Rachel lost in her thoughts, Henry clenched his fist tightly.

The situation where Rachel seemed to be within his reach yet elusive was quite uncomfortable. It felt like he could grab her hand if he reached out, but even that felt like an illusion.

‘Why is this happening?’

He had felt this way a few days ago too.

When circumstances arose and they, excluding Rachel, went on a monster subjugation mission with other knights, some of the knights showed interest in Rachel.

It was infuriating to hear Rachel’s name being mentioned by many.

At that time, he thought it was just because they considered Rachel as a close friend and nothing more… but could there be some other reason?

This feeling tingled at his fingertips. He wanted to find an answer right away.