Treat the Second Male Lead Like a Stone

To say I was annoying—he wasn’t exactly innocent either.

Besides, the one who showed his hand was Brandon.

Wasn’t he the one who offered up the necklace he claimed was so important in exchange for Arkhan?

It was also Brandon’s choice to follow Peril in order to kill him and reveal himself.

Until now, I thought all of his actions had followed the trajectory of the Magic War.

Because Orphen wanted to surpass Carpea.

But there were some things that couldn’t be explained if that was all he wanted.

‘I don’t need a guide.’

There’s no need to rewrite the records.

Even though things were progressing toward the ending Brandon wanted.

“Priest Brandon?”

At that moment, Cassandra called him with a confused voice. Only then did I snap out of my thoughts.

“The greeting went on too long. Go ahead and finish your cleaning.”

When I gestured for him to go into the prayer room, meaning he should hurry up and get inside, Brandon gripped the broom so tightly it looked like it might shatter.

His expression remained gentle, but he couldn’t quite hide the malice in his eyes as he stared at me.

……At this rate, he might hit me.

Isn’t it a bit much to get this mad over something like this when he’s the one who suggested a double suicide?

But Brandon succeeded in completely hiding his emotions, as if nothing had happened. Limping back to Cassandra, he made a suggestion in a clearly worried tone.

“There’s going to be dust flying, so wouldn’t it be better for you to step aside?”

“No, it’s fine. I have time, so I thought I’d help out.”

“Y-you really don’t need to go that far……”

Watching him awkwardly scratch his cheek sent a chill down my spine.

“Lady Bianca, there you are.”

Eli’s voice came from somewhere. Thanks to that, Brandon’s gaze returned to me.

“What brings you here……?”

What’s he doing here again?

There were so many things on my mind I thought my head might explode.

Eli approached me with a relaxed face and offered a bright smile as he held out his hand.

“The Marquis seems to be looking for you.”

……Liar.

No matter how urgent it is, Cedric would never send Eli.

Not when he even told me to go back first!

“You’re saying my brother said that?”

“Oh, caught already. Truth is, I snuck out to find you myself.”

He didn’t even try to make the lie convincing, and didn’t seem to care he’d been caught. I sighed inwardly and decided to follow him for now.

“If I didn’t sneak out, I figured I’d never get a chance to talk to you.”

“If you were aiming for a ball or a party, there were plenty of opportunities.”

“Haha! Didn’t you see the Marquis earlier? He was guarding you like a hawk.”

You just don’t know……

Cedric did that because he didn’t want me to disgrace the family.

But it wasn’t something I needed to explain, so I gave another excuse.

“My family is a little strict, that’s all.”

I felt like I was starting to understand why Cedric hadn’t said anything to me about the marriage proposal.

The Roygin family was a highly prestigious one within the Empire.

Maybe the proposal came right after my engagement with Ricardo was broken off—just to test the waters.

Breaking off an engagement was never a good thing. Especially not for a noble lady already surrounded by rumors.

They must’ve expected that someone in that position would accept.

“Is it that the Glaster family doesn’t meet your standards? Of course, compared to a ducal house, we’re nothing special.”

“Isn’t it a gentleman’s duty not to ask for a lady’s reason when she refuses?”

“If it were truly the lady’s refusal, maybe. But in this case, it was the gentleman who refused!”

Even though I answered sharply, he skillfully twisted the situation like a slippery snake. He wasn’t just any opponent.

Ah, so this is why Cedric told me to avoid him.

“Then I’ll just refuse now! I don’t have time to meet anyone. Isn’t that reason enough?”

“Aha. Got it. I completely understand.”

……No, I don’t think he did.

But he wouldn’t go back on his word.

Fortunately, Eli didn’t bring up anything about the marriage proposal after that. Instead, he chatted about trivial things, and his ability to lead a conversation was top-notch.

To the point that—

I even ended up learning that the name of the puppy Eli adored as a child was Popo.

‘So very useful……’

While I could only give half-hearted responses to the flood of information, Eli suddenly burst into laughter.

“This part of you is quite similar to the Marquis.”

“Sorry?”

“I tried to get close to the Marquis at the academy, so I followed him around for a while, and the look on his face back then was exactly the same as yours right now.”

He touched his chin with his hand as if recalling the past.

“Leon didn’t like me doing that, so he spread nasty rumors about me.”

The familiar name made me furrow my brows without realizing it.

“……You’re saying Brother Leon did that?”

“Yes. It was baseless gossip, but after that, the Marquis also started to distance himself from me. Hmm, maybe you didn’t know.”

“Well, I didn’t attend the academy, so.”

“True, and back then, the Marquis probably didn’t think about you the way he does now.”

“…….”

“Anyway, because of those rumors, I even got expelled from the academy. Seems like Leon really couldn’t stand me hovering around the Marquis. Or maybe he was afraid I’d steal away his only friend.”

Leon of all people……?

Even thinking back to the time when Cedric and Leon were close, I couldn’t imagine Leon as someone who would lash out in jealousy.

Let alone spread false rumors.

“At the academy, Leon was……”

Unable to take it any longer, I let out a small sigh.

“If that incident was Brother Leon’s fault, then shouldn’t the two of you resolve it between yourselves?”

“…….”

"Even though you know I won't take this well, especially since I'm close to both of them—why are you telling me this?"

Eli responded like it was no big deal.

"It's simple. Just letting you know something that happened."

“Then……”

"Are you also aware that even the grades were manipulated through the Count Owen family's behind-the-scenes schemes?"

He cut off my words and chuckled as he spoke.

“They said he was a talent who could rival the Marquis, but I wonder.”

Could that really be true?

But I didn’t want to hear Leon’s story from someone else.

“I still don’t understand what it is you want to hear from me.”

“That reaction is exactly what I was hoping for. I just wanted to share some information you didn’t know, Lady Bianca!”

He laughed foolishly.

Thankfully, the Cardiff meeting place came into view not far ahead. Cedric, who had taken me to the temple saying it was awkward to be around Leon, was now frowning but still making small talk with him.

“Hmph, did they make up while I was gone?”

With an awkward expression, Eli stretched and walked over to Onyx. Then Onyx rebuked him.

“Lord Glaster, it doesn’t look good to be away from your guests for so long.”

“Apologies. I just helped a lost lady find her way here.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Onyx’s eyes turned straight to me.

“Lady Roygin!”

From how happy he looked to see me, it seemed his offer to introduce the temple was still valid.

While I was thinking that, I locked eyes with Cedric, who was glaring at me with a terrifying look.

He clearly didn’t like the fact that I was with Eli.

As I awkwardly approached him, Cedric clenched his teeth, unable to hide his frustration.

“I told you to go back.”

“There was nothing to worry about.”

Well, maybe not nothing……

Then, curious about Leon standing next to me, I glanced up. He was clenching his fists tightly, his expression giving no hint of what he was thinking.