I Will Not Fall For the Villain’s Flirtations - Chapter 56

“…What?”

“I said, don’t get too excited. He’s not that kind of man.”

His advice was laughable, but the content was even more ridiculous.

Peidos Carmel was a knight with honor second only to the Pope within the Holy Kingdom, and he was the shield of the Holy Kingdom. Purely in terms of popularity, he probably surpassed both the Pope and the Great Saint.

As befitting the male protagonist, he boasted perfect specs in looks, abilities, and even character. Not the kind of man to like?

“Look over there.”

I dumbly turned my head following his finger. At the end of my gaze was Peidos, just stepping onto the stepping stones. Judging by the situation, it seemed it was the Holy Kingdom’s turn to take the lead this time.

The agreement with Lucan was simple: they would take turns being the vanguard. The intent was to halve the risk by forming an alliance until they found the relic.

Unlike the Prince of Lucan, who always sent his subordinates ahead to check for traps, Peidos always took the lead himself. At first, I watched him nervously, but gradually I became reassured by his exceptional skills. Of course, it was still nerve-wracking.

“He’s going alone again.”

“……”

“Can you handle a man like that?”

Peidos always went ahead alone or with only his closest two aides to minimize casualties, even at the cost of himself. Such responsibility and selflessness befitted a leader of the Holy Kingdom’s elite knight order.

Could you handle such a person? No. Duna Valorem, a mere supporting character, could never handle him.

But if Duna Valorem were the protagonist instead of a supporting character…

“Moreover, to stand by his side, a guardian, you’d have to become the Great Saint. Can you live a life praising that god you call a piece of crap?”

“……”

Surprisingly, he wasn’t saying I couldn’t become the Great Saint. His words were focused on something else, and I looked at him blankly. Keene was staring at me with an unusually serious face.

“Peidos Carmel’s excessive sense of responsibility is his nature. It will never change. Unless Du becomes the Great Saint, it’s a relationship bound to cause hurt.”

“……”

“So, don’t like him.”

His firm tone and somber eyes were unfamiliar. Had this man ever looked so serious before? Strangely, my heart began to flutter again. To hide my agitation, I deliberately averted my gaze.

“I-I wouldn’t dare. What’s there to like?”

In the novel, Duna Valorem was always ignored by the male lead, without any flair. The current level of their acquaintance was almost a miracle considering the original story.

But Keene spoke differently.

“Carmel has a good eye. He’s always had high standards.”

“…Always?”

His words, as if he knew Peidos personally, felt out of place. Didn’t he mention something about his nature earlier? To say such things, they must have a deeper relationship than just meeting as enemies in battle.

Would a spy from the Magic Tower have such a deep connection with the leader of the Holy Knights to the point of knowing his taste in people?

“You speak as if you know him well.”

“I do.”

Looking up at him in surprise at his confident answer, Keene added with a grin.

“There are few who know Peidos Carmel as well as I do.”

“……”

At that moment, I couldn’t understand why the portrait I saw in the Pope’s office came to mind. Was it because the smiling face resembled his? The previous Great Saint, Ren Lione, who looked strikingly similar to the man before me.

Suddenly, I thought their resemblance might not be a coincidence.

“Duna! What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

Just then, Pine called out to me loudly. Snapping back to reality, I turned towards his voice and assessed the situation.

By now, everyone except the Lucanians had crossed the stepping stones. Watching the priests carefully make their way to the other side, I hurriedly headed towards the bridge.

“Be careful, Du. There might still be traps that haven’t been deactivated.”

Keene whispered as he caught me when I stumbled on the second stone, making my confident step onto the first one seem pointless. Swallowing hard, I nodded and stepped even more cautiously.

As I slowly advanced, stepping exactly where the person in front of me had stepped, the Lucanians who had been watching us from behind also stepped onto the bridge.

But unlike before, when he always stayed comfortably at the rear, Nizaz this time pushed past his subordinates to stick right behind me. And though it wasn’t particularly difficult, he kept groaning as if he had exhausted all the energy in the world.

“Cutie, the water is so dark and scary. I feel like I’m going to fall. Hold my hand, will you?”

“……”

Ignoring his nonsense, I moved to the next stone, and Keene, standing close behind me, spoke in a voice that sounded oddly ominous.

“When Du crosses the bridge, let’s deal with that guy.”

“Don’t do anything.”

Recalling the incident at the Magic Tower, I warned him in a low voice. In a normal situation, his words might have been welcome, but this was an unpredictable ruin. Besides, I couldn’t afford for his presence to be exposed in any way.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to deal with Nizaz never came. Before I even crossed the bridge, a new incident occurred.

“Whoa!”

One of Nizaz’s men lost his balance and fell into the water. If only it had ended there, but unfortunately, he seemed to trigger something in the water, causing an ominous sound as the cave began to shake.

Gwooooooo.

“What’s that!”

“Is it a trap?”

As the priests grew agitated at the activation of some unknown mechanism, Peidos, who was at the forefront, urgently turned around and shouted.

“Everyone, form a barrier and hurry across!”

With that, he began to move faster. Watching him nearly run across the bridge, risking danger, I also quickened my pace.

However.

Splash!

At that moment, water suddenly shot up from various parts of the lake like fountains. Moreover, though the lake had been shallow enough for the stepping stones to be visible, a large amount of water began to pour in from somewhere, causing the water level to rise rapidly.

“Ah!”

Several people were swept away by the rising water. As the mages hurriedly materialized holy power into rope shapes for rescue, a giant whirlpool erupted, sending everyone reeling.

“Du!”

In the critical moment, I felt someone grab my hand with great force. Desperately clinging to that hand, I was unfortunately swept away by a surge of water right in front of me.

“Ah!”

Thankfully, I didn’t feel any heat from the explosion. But losing the grip on the other person’s hand, I began to be carried away somewhere.

“Ah…”

To make matters worse, I started losing consciousness. As my vision blurred and water filled my nose and mouth, I inwardly sighed and slowly closed my eyes.

* * *

‘Sister, sister. I’ve been thinking.’

A girl with her hair cutely tied in pigtails stopped her dictation and spoke to me. It was a trick she used whenever she didn’t want to study, but looking into those blue eyes that sparkled like the sea under the sunlight, it was nearly impossible to cut her off coldly.

With a light sigh, I gestured for her to continue. Receiving my silent permission, Hemosi grinned. Well, it wasn’t good to push too hard anyway. For kids with short attention spans, it often had the opposite effect. Sometimes, listening to unrelated chatter like this could be more helpful in the long run.

‘No matter how much I think about it, I believe Josh likes you, sister.’

‘Josh?’

‘Yeah! His face turns red whenever he sees you.’

Feigning ignorance, I widened my eyes, though I already knew. It was obvious from the frequent handwritten letters, the flowers left at our door on non-special days, and the small gifts he brought back for me whenever he went out of town. You’d have to be a fool not to notice.

‘You’re really popular, sister. Everyone in Liche knows that. Even Ratney and Asse said they like you.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. But among them, Josh is the best. Not just because he’s my brother, but because Ratney and Asse are too mischievous.’

I shook my head as if I couldn’t believe it. At least Josh was my age, while Ratney and Asse were Hemosi’s age, a full seven years younger than me.

What could I do even if I became the object of their puppy love?

‘I want to be like you when I grow up, sister.’

‘Like me?’

‘Yeah. You’re pretty, you read well, and you’re good at arithmetic.’

‘Hmm, you’re not wrong.’

I was moderately pretty and moderately smart. It was true that I had a fairly good reputation in the village.

But that was all.

Just enough to shine in the eyes of a child. The life of Duna Valorem was as ordinarily extraordinary as my previous life as Seo Jia.

I gently pinched the soft cheek of the child with my thumb and forefinger.

‘Even if you flatter me, you still have to finish your dictation. I promised your mother I’d make sure you could write a birthday letter with more than five lines this year.’

‘Hing.’

Hemosi buried her nose in the paper, looking dejected. Watching her adorable expression, I stifled a laugh.

‘Hemosi.’

The door suddenly burst open, and someone entered. Hemosi’s head shot up at the sound of heavy men’s shoes.

“Oh? It’s my brother!”

The girl, who was particularly fond of her brother, ran out with a beaming smile. Josh lifted his sister high into the air, spun her around once, and then gently set her down, careful not to hurt her.

Watching the affectionate siblings, I propped my chin on my hand and chuckled. They were so kind. If only his appearance were a little better, I might have just married him.

“You’re helping Hemosi study again.”

“Yeah.”

Josh, noticing me, smiled sheepishly. Despite the fact that it was something I voluntarily did because we were close and Hemosi was adorable, he always felt sorry for taking up my time, even when I reassured him.

Josh approached the table and looked at me with endlessly warm eyes. His gaze, full of affection, always seemed to drip with honey.

“Duna, you…”

“Huh? What? I can’t hear you.”

For some reason, I couldn’t hear his voice well. Frowning, I looked at him again, and his face, which had turned blurry, came into view.

What’s this? Did something get in my eyes?

As I rubbed my eyes irritably, he leaned forward and spoke again.

“You’re really…”

“Huh. What about me?”

And then, the words that followed made me doubt my ears.

“A cutie.”

…Huh?