Chapter 50
It’s exams, who has time for such things?
“Why?!”
“Why not?!”
The twins retorted.
“No…”
Someone wants to be recognized as best friends by someone else, and not by us, by taking a test.
‘But she’s not amenable to such logical persuasion.’
And worst of all!
She doesn’t want to be recognized as Pession’s best friend in the first place!
She doesn’t even know why she needs to be recognized, and what’s the point?
‘It’ll just make him more jealous.’
“Anyway. No thanks.”
The twin joined her, looking at her in disbelief.
“I don’t believe it. Arellirin doesn’t want to be His Highness best friend?”
“You don’t want to be considered His Highness’s best friend?!”
“No, she won’t.”
“You weren’t aiming to be His Highness’s best friend?”
“It’s not an honour given to just anyone?!”
“No, I’m not trying. You guys do it a lot.”
She just wanted a friend who would invite her over and bail me out of Pession’s exercise hell.
“No way!”
“This can’t be happening!”
Ciel and Noel were frustrated.
They tried to pull the clinging twins apart, but somehow they clung even harder.
“It can’t be! A human with no sense of honour, a human with no sense of recognition!”
“Are you sure she’s not human?!”
“Of course she’s not human.”
The words almost changed the race.
“You’re lying! You want to be considered one of His Highness’s best friends, don’t you?”
“You want to pass our tests, don’t you?!”
No, she wants to find a friend.
“We’ll give you an easy 80 per cent, especially since you’re Arellirin.”
“I’ll even give you 20% extra credit.”
“Nope, no. No!”
“Why?!”
Ciel and Noel clung to her, their watery golden eyes twinkling.
“I’ll also give you the perk of automatically becoming our best friends if you take the test!”
“Oh, well. I’m not doing it.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
Ciel gasped.
“You don’t want to be our best friend?”
Noel cried.
“I won’t let just anyone do it. Being our best friend comes with interest at the Sperom Central Bank.”
The interest is a little tempting.
Her ears perked up, and then she realized. Shouldn’t there be such a thing in the first place?
“Take the test!”
“No!”
“Take it!”
“I said no!”
“I’ll give it to you very easily!”
“Oh, well. I’m not looking.”
They wanted to use the test as an excuse to bully her, but her refusal to take it seemed to wear on her.
“Oh, I’m busy. Go away!”
She tries to pull away, Ciel and Noel puff out their cheeks and glare at her pointedly.
“You’ll see, Arelliryn.”
“We’re going to be your best friends.”
“???”
Why the logic jumps all of a sudden?
“You’ll see!”
“We’ll make you admit we’re best friends!”
The twins made their villainous best friend promise and disappeared.
“Ha. Me too.”
She can’t follow the plot.
***
The collection meeting was a fairly casual affair, in keeping with the purpose of the Crown Prince’s boyhood friendship.
It was a place where the forty or so children gathered for different reasons, all in favor of Crown Prince Pession, could play separately.
So Aaron wasn’t particularly worried about the place he’d left, even if he’d had enough of the jockeying for position and fled.
“…?”
It wasn’t long before Pession appeared, a dark expression on his face.
‘What happened in that short time?’
Pession sat down next to Aaron, looking uncharacteristically shady.
Aaron felt uncomfortable, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Aaron.”
“Mmm.”
“When did you and Arellin become friends?”
They didn’t. But he wouldn’t believe him if he told the truth.
“…Today, she’s a friend.”
“Me or Arellin?”
Aaron broke out in a silent cold sweat.
‘Running away again?’
What is Pession doing to him, Aaron wondered silently.
“Does that question mean anything to you?”
“It does.”
“It’s you.”
“Thanks, pass.”
“Mmm.”
He passed, and he wasn’t happy at all.
Aaron thought he would just have to avoid or ignore Arellin the next time he saw her. He was too tired.
‘Twins are like that.’
Why did they have to do this all the way to Peshion?
He glared.
Even after giving him the answer he wanted, Pession’s expression remained shadowy and dark.
Aaron had never seen Pession like this before, though his beauty was not obscured by such a shade.
‘I’ve never seen him like this before, Crown Prince.’
Who had made Pession look like this?
“Arellin doesn’t like me.”
Pession muttered, as if he could read Aaron’s mind.
Aaron blinked, still.
‘Should I comfort him?’
But, what?
“Still.”
Pession pressed his lips together.
“I’m not giving up.”
Fists clenched, eyes hard, Pession glared at Aaron.
“I will never lose to Aaron.”
“?”
“You’ll see, Aaron.”
“?”
Why, why are you doing this to me?
Aaron became frustrated.
Just as he was about to protest.
“Aaron Aaron~~!”
“Your Highness!”
Sperom’s twin ran up.
“Listen, Aaron, well, Arellirin!”
“She won’t do our best friend!”
“She won’t do your best friend either!”
“Isn’t that too much!”
Pession was dumbfounded by the sobbing fake news.
“What? What about Aaron’s best friend?”
“I didn’t ask her that.”
“You want to know about the electric charge?”
“Yes. Very curious.”
Pession nodded immediately.
“So, do you think Ciel will ask?”
“Or maybe Noel will ask?!”
The twins bounced up and down with excitement.
Aaron suddenly felt his life threatened.
“Me!”
Aaron held up his hand.
“I’ll ask.”
The Sperom twins blinked at him, dumbfounded by his initiative. Aaron trudged into the building.
He came back out a few moments later and said.
“She not doing it.”
Luckily, the twins and Pession didn’t say anything.
“I see! Our best friend said no!”
“Your highness’s best friend said no, too!”
“Right.”
Aaron secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Good.’
He hadn’t actually asked Arellin.
Aaron wanted peace.
***
Meanwhile, the chairman was wrapped in a strange tension.
One cause.
‘Arellin is alone.’
‘She’s alone.’
‘She’s finally alone.’
It was Arellin who was alone.
Gulp.
She heard the sound of someone swallowing. The children were playing in their usual clusters, but they all knew their attention was focused on one thing.
No Pession, no twins.
Everyone had one thing on their minds.
‘Should I approach her?’
‘Should we talk to her?’
‘Is this our chance?’
But for some reason, no one felt comfortable approaching them.
The reason was simple.
‘That’s Arellin?’
The flimsy, glazed, lowly Arellin, the lowest-ranking member of the collection group, was giving off a completely different vibe.
Everyone saw it with their own eyes.
Arellin had been unrelenting in her treatment of Prince Pession and the twins.
‘You go and talk to her.’
‘No, you go and talk to her.’
Eventually, they were playing the blame game.
“Lady Arellin.”
Finally, the brave one spoke up.
“Yes?”
She had wavy brown hair and vibrant green eyes that sparkled brightly.
The children’s faces lit up as they recognized the brave young lady who spoke to Arellin.
‘Your Royal Highness, the Marquis of Belfort!’
A chill ran through the hall at the sight of Leslie, the most likely candidate for the next Crown Princess.
“I have a question, if I may ask.”
“What do you want to know?”
“What is your relationship with His Highness the Crown Prince?”
Leslie’s directness caused children everywhere to gasp and clutch their chests in surprise.
Leslie’s green eyes remained firmly fixed on Arellin, regardless of whether the world around her was turning upside down or not.
Arellin’s expression grew puzzled.
“Why do you want to know that?”
“Because you seem to have a good relationship.”
“You seem to be getting along?”
Arellin’s expression crumpled.
“Pession is…”
For a moment, the young lady held her breath and focused on Arellin’s words.
“He manages me from morning till night, bullies me, and takes care of me.”
The bomb had been dropped.
Everyone felt confused.
“…mer, what?”
“The manager of my hell.”
Thank you for the translations 💕🌸