NOVEL WEB Chapter 19 - There's Someone Else Besides Me? - 3
The next morning, Lily clung to me as expected.
“Wasn’t yesterday fun? The night view from that restaurant was really magnificent. I’m glad I made a reservation in advance.”
She recited nonexistent events while clinging tightly to my arm and acting cute. I had dinner with Cordelia and Hestia in the student cafeteria yesterday. I didn’t see any night view, just the dormitory lights.
Looking at her clinging to my arm, I had to recite like a mantra that this woman might appear normal on the outside, but was pitch black inside, to avoid thinking of anything else.
Honestly, Wilhelm’s gaze on me was enjoyable, but Hestia and Cordelia’s glares were hard to endure. I didn’t really care about the other students’ stares. Why should I?
As soon as I sat down, Hestia dusted off the sleeve of my uniform that Lily had been holding, as if shaking off dirt.
“There was dust on it.”
I looked at Hestia, wondering what she meant, and she answered nonchalantly. But her thumbnail was noticeably short and rough. Since her nails were usually well-maintained, it stood out. I quietly took her hand. Should I buy some bitter ointment during lunch and apply it for her? This time, she didn’t pull her hand away screaming at my touch.
Cordelia watched our strange behavior with great displeasure. Me, who disliked Lily’s approaches but ended up accepting them, and Hestia, who just watched. Since yesterday, she had persistently asked what had happened between us. Cordelia must have been confused—Hestia had confronted Lily as if to settle things, but instead, Lily’s actions had become bolder. It must have been even more frustrating for her that Hestia, whom she considered a friend, maintained her silence.
“Hestia. Wouldn’t it be okay to tell Lady Deneb?”
I had actually asked her about this yesterday. After all, Cordelia was also Wilhelm’s former fiancée, so she wasn’t completely uninvolved. But Hestia’s attitude was firm.
“This is an issue between the three of us. I don’t want to unnecessarily involve her when she’s already suffered enough.”
She cut off my question sharply. Hestia seemed to think that Cordelia had also suffered from Wilhelm’s violence for a long time.
From my conversations with Cordelia, I knew that her engagement had been far from smooth and that Wilhelm had never liked her. Naturally, there would have been no obsession or hitting. Wilhelm might be a deranged pervert who obsesses over and abuses people he likes, but he’s not a psychopathic criminal who obsesses over and abuses people he has no interest in.
However, Cordelia had hidden this fact from Hestia. Because she wanted to be a pillar of support for Hestia, who was struggling because of my past self. Hestia is pretty, kind, and smart, but honestly not very perceptive. She could probably be deceived even by Cordelia’s poorly constructed lies.
That fact had come full circle, returning as Hestia’s strong determination to keep Cordelia away from this incident.
It was all in her imagination, but Cordelia had suffered from the Crown Prince’s violence for a long time. From Hestia’s kind-hearted perspective, it would be impossible to drag Cordelia, who had barely escaped and was recovering, back into an incident related to the Crown Prince’s violence. Even if it meant being slightly resented by a friend.
“You’re really not going to tell me?”
“I’m sorry. But I can’t tell you.”
Cordelia’s expression soured completely. She seemed thoroughly upset, turning her back to us and sitting.
Basic Swordsmanship I class. Cordelia gritted her teeth and ignored me. Everyone knows she doesn’t have anyone else to take this class with besides me. She wouldn’t even acknowledge me no matter how much I tried to talk to her.
“Lady Deneb.”
She ignored me.
“Cordelia von Deneb.”
She ignored me again.
“Oh, come on. Cordelia!”
Only after calling her by name could I finally hear her voice.
“Why are you calling me by my name without permission?”
“Finally looking my way, I see.”
“‘Finally’ nothing. I have no desire to talk to someone who’s clearly hiding secrets from me.”
She was resolute. She seems quite upset. I would probably feel bad too if I were in her position. But I didn’t call her to rationalize her sulking.
“Lady Deneb. There’s no relationship in the world without secrets. In fact, there are things you might want to hide precisely because you’re friends.”
“No way! At least I have no secrets from Hestia.”
Cordelia declared proudly. No secrets? What do you mean no secrets? I clearly remember what she said during our last class.
“But Lady Deneb, just last time, didn’t you tell me you’d never spoken to Hestia about swordsmanship and His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“T-that’s!”
Her face reddened, as if she hadn’t thought of that.
“Anyway, that’s not a secret! That’s… that’s… right. Consideration!”
“What kind of absurd sophistry is that?”
I looked at her incredulously. She too seemed embarrassed by her own words, fidgeting with a red face.
“It’s not sophistry!”
“Then what should I call it? ‘Nonsense’ sounds a bit harsh, doesn’t it? How about ‘excuse’?”
“Anyway, it’s not a secret!”
She burst out in anger at my words. I’m the one who should be angry. I had planned to speak calmly and reasonably to comfort her, but she yelled out of nowhere. Didn’t she seem so mature when talking about Hestia last time? How can someone suddenly become so childish?
“Let’s be honest. Where is the real Lady Deneb?”
“What are you talking about?!”
“I’m asking where the mature Lady Deneb went—the one who told me last time that I should solve problems with Hestia directly and ask her myself.”
“That’s me!”
“Don’t lie. How can a person’s mental age drop so suddenly? Lady Deneb was a mature person who gave me good advice, not a childish person who yells and spouts sophistry.”
Unable to counter my words, Cordelia trembled. This should have been the moment for me to comfort her, but how did it come to this? When talking with her, I feel like I’m becoming childish without realizing it.
“Hey, can you keep it down?”
Just when I was already getting a headache because of Cordelia, who’s picking a fight now…
“Ah, Your Highness Wilhelm.”
It was Wilhelm. He must find it enjoyable to attack me in front of others; despite his cold expression, I could see his cheeks twitching. I managed to control my expression.
“What’s this commotion in a sacred place of learning? Our fellow students are being disrupted in their preparation for class because of you two.”
He’s talking nonsense. Before Wilhelm even opened his mouth, everyone else was gathered in small groups chatting. Just think of any high school classroom during break time to understand how absurd his words are. How can a gathering of 18-year-olds be quiet without specific control?
“Ah, yes. I apologize. I’ll be more careful.”
I bowed my head perfunctorily. I’m not avoiding dung because I’m afraid of it, but because it’s dirty. And he wasn’t just ordinary dung. He hits and bites the woman he likes, then kidnaps and imprisons her because he can’t control his emotions… He’s beyond just strange. After my conversation with Seol-ah, I had resolved never to get involved with him after this incident.
“Grrrrr…!”
However, Cordelia seemed to feel more anger than disgust toward that dung. Her body trembled beside me. One of her few friends, Hestia, excluded her with secrets, and when she tried to confront me, who clearly shared those secrets, she got shut down. And finally, her detestable ex-fiancé Wilhelm personally came to pick a fight.
I slightly moved forward to shield her body. I really want to avoid a situation where she loses her temper. Wilhelm looked at her, who was about to explode with anger, and me, who had stepped in front of her, smirked, then turned around and left. I hope he trips and cracks the back of his head.
Around the time his figure disappeared among the students and Cordelia’s heavy breathing beside me calmed down, I asked:
“Lady Deneb. Have you calmed down?”
“Yes. I dislike both Hestia and you, but I hate that bastard the most.”
It wasn’t exactly an appropriate answer to my question, but from Cordelia’s calm tone, I could tell her anger had subsided. Cordelia really despised Wilhelm.
“I’m asking this just in case.”
“What is it?”
“Did His Highness Wilhelm ever, just possibly, show violent tendencies or try to threaten Lady Deneb…”
“So you’re asking if I was hit?”
She dismissed my careful choice of words.
“Yes.”
“No. He didn’t hit me at least. I would have felt better if we’d had a proper fight, giving and taking hits.”
I sighed with relief at Cordelia’s answer. I had asked just in case based on her reaction, but fortunately, he wasn’t that kind of psycho.
“May I ask one more thing?”
“What now?”
“Do you think a man who hits or bites the woman he likes is sexy…”
“Are you insane?!”
She was completely flabbergasted.
“You…! If you laid even a finger on Hestia, I would kill you!”
“It’s not me!”
I barely managed to calm her down. Judging by her reaction, it doesn’t seem like the relationship between them would have worked out well even without Lily. Her preferences seem strictly normal.
“Lady Deneb. Don’t get involved with that bastard.”
“I don’t want to either.”
“No matter what kind of trouble he tries to cause, just let it go in one ear and out the other, and come complain to me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She smirked as if she thought my words were a joke. It’s not a joke. When the incident Seol-ah mentioned happens, I plan to beat him thoroughly for Cordelia’s share too when no one’s watching.
Of course, there’s some antagonism as the secondary male lead, but more than that, I’ve learned too much about Wilhelm’s true nature. I didn’t want to know how disgusting and dangerous a male yandere would be in real life.
“I’m not joking. I’m planning to hit him someday.”
She laughed more loudly at my words. Does she feel good just thinking about it? She seems a bit more cheerful than before. Taking advantage of that timing, I poured out what I wanted to say to her. Timing is everything for approvals. I remember a colleague who submitted a leave request right after the company commander got chewed out by the battalion commander, and got a savage verbal beating.
“Lady Deneb. Anyway, even the closest friends can have secrets. Or rather, especially close friends might have secrets that are difficult to reveal. I think you understand what I’m saying. Hestia doesn’t tell you anything because she’s worried it might hurt you. It’s the same feeling as you not telling her anything because you want to be her pillar of support.”
She listened to my story quietly. After quite a long silence, she spoke.
“I understand what you’re saying. I won’t whine about wanting to know anymore.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? As you said, this is unavoidable.”
Why am I apologizing? Because I know everything but am keeping quiet, of course. Honestly, I feel like telling Hestia right now that Cordelia never received the Crown Prince’s love and therefore was never hit. But it doesn’t seem right for me to blurt out a secret that Cordelia has been keeping tightly sealed.
I tried to swallow the truths that had risen to the tip of my tongue. It seems that when both Hestia and Cordelia are too considerate of their friends, things can get complicated like this.