I Became the Villain’s Childhood Friend Chapter 33

 

“If I get involved with that guy, I’ll be in trouble.”

 

“Who thinks it’s good to be involved with me…”

 

Reynold muttered.

 

In the end, Adele stepped in to mediate between us.

 

“I know you guys are close friends. I’m sorry for talking like that…”

 

At that time, the inside of the restaurant started to become chaotic. When I turned my head towards the commotion, I saw all the tea ceremony clu kids coming into the restaurant.

 

As soon as Adele saw them, she hurriedly hid herself under he tablecloth. Seeing that the tea ceremony club members were having lunch as a group, Adele must have made another excuse to skip the meal.

 

“Danae, can you hide me?”

 

Hearing Adele’s urgent voice, I nodded my head haphazardly. Then I moved the chair I was sitting in to where Adele was hiding.

 

Julia, who was passing by my seat, made a sarcastic comment towards me.

 

“How many meals do you eat at a time?”

 

Julia spoke very noble language like a princess. She scrunched up her face as she looked at Adele’s plate in front of me and the plate I was eating from.

 

I said, firmly putting the food in my mouth.

 

“Go on your way.”

 

“I’m going even if you don’t tell me, you know.”

 

Julia settled down not too far from us.

 

“Danae, can you give me an apple?”

 

She patted me, speaking in a low voice.

 

I handed the apple to Adele, who was hiding.

 

When I unconsciously looked at Reynold with his gaze staring at me, Reynold twitched the corner of his lips as if he found this situation funny.

 

“Gloria, can you please fetch me some water?”

 

“Ah, I understand!”

 

Soon, Gloria’s cheerful voice was heard. It seems that the female lead’s voice was clearly corrected, and her voice was very audible even in this noisy cafeteria.

 

I chewed the meat and quietly observed Gloria.

 

The sight of her smiling brightly and running errands was like that of a very innocent puppy.

 

‘Did they let her join the tea ceremony club to do something childish like that?’

 

Perhaps unconsciously, she felt my gaze on her and turned to look at me.

 

Gloria, who made eye contact with me, opened her eyes wide for a moment and smiled brightly at me.

 

…What?

 

She smiled at me, but I kind of avoided her eyes as well. I pulled the corner of my lips and smiled at Gloria in confusion.

 

I thought she lost favor with me because of what happened last time.

 

I stuffed food into my mouth with a face full of confusion.

 

“Gloria, apple, please.”

 

“Gloria, I’m sorry, but can you get me some water again?”

 

“Gloria…”

 

The voices of the tea club kids made me feel like I was going into neurosis. If it was that level of harassment, it would be acceptable to throw a punch.

 

Perhaps because she was afraid of retaliation from Julia and the tea ceremony club, there were no students who tried to stop them. Is the Academy unaware of this fact? Or maybe they were just ignoring it because they thought it wasn’t severe bullying, I couldn’t tell.

 

“Hey, you don’t even have hands?”

 

And when I heard Rian’s voice that followed, I paused for a moment.

 

Rian, shouting like that with his fierce face, really seemed to have a dirty personality.

 

“Do it yourself. Don’t just pick an easy kid and make a fuss.”

 

It’s really nice to say who he resembles.

 

“…”

 

In an instant, the cafeteria became quiet. I gulped down my water in the gathering silence.

 

But even for a moment, something suddenly occurred to me and I hurriedly turned towards Julia. Julia’s face turned bright red.

 

Wow, what the hell is that Rian…

 

For your information, Julia has a crush on someone. That was Rian.

 

That was probably the reason why Julia treated Gloria so badly.

 

Moreover, according to the original story, even her brother, the Crown Prince, had fallen for Gloria, and her position as the head student at the Magic Department had also been taken away by her.

 

If Rian openly helps Gloria like that, the situation will only get worse. Julia’s bullying will get worse behind the scenes.

 

Soon, Rian snatched the glass of water that Gloria was holding and gulped down the water. Then he left the restaurant.

 

That, that…

 

“That crazy guy…”

 

I cursed without realizing it. Is he doing that because he thinks Gloria will like it?

 

I swept my face with my hands in despair.

 

“I guess they really have nothing to do either.”

 

Reynold, who was watching this situation together, also clicked his tongue. I asked Reynold, who was sitting quietly in his seat.

 

“Aren’t you going to help her?”

 

“…Why me?”

 

Reynold gave me a strange look as if I was asking this question.

 

Mmhm, no. You will now throw away your life for Gloria’s sake.

 

After the commotion ended, Adele came out from under the table, straightened her hair and said.

 

“What’s really going on?”

 

…That’s all I wanted to say.

 

***

 

At Tellen Academy, students were required to join at least one club. Club activities were even calculated into grades.

 

Of course, I wanted to join a club with Adele. It was the same for Adele. But the directions we pursued were very different.

 

Adele said she had a lot to gain from the club, and she wanted a club with lots of activities. The club she wanted was a terrible club with study sessions once a week.

 

On the other hand, I wanted a club with no activities and a quiet atmosphere.

 

So in the end, we decided to join what each person wanted.

 

Adele looked through the club promotional materials with me and picked up a piece of paper as if she had found the perfect club for me.

 

“What about Arlea?”

 

“Arlea?”

 

Adele nodded her head slightly and handed me a leaflet.

 

“It’s a small club, just like you wanted, and looking at the promotional material, it seems like it’s not an active club.”

 

I received a promotional leaflet from Adele.

 

[Ministry of Culture – Arlea

 

Main activity: Developing thinking skills

 

— Interested students should contact the deputy director, Rosie, a second-year student in the Art Department.]

 

It was a bit surprising that, unlike other clubs, we were asked to come to the deputy director rather than the manager. I checked the front and back of the promotional leaflet and asked Adele.

 

“But how do you know it’s small?”

 

“Ah, that’s…”

 

Adele lowered her voice.

 

“Senior Rosie is Klein’s daughter.”

 

Only then did I understand what she said. Because Klein was once the name of a notorious death row inmate.

 

“I know it’s a newly opened club. But it’s not yet known who the manager is or who the members are… Is that fine, though?”

 

I nodded my head. I didn’t want to make a fuss in the club.

 

So, I was determined to join a different club from Reynold. For the club he was in would clearly be noisy.

 

“Don’t tell Reynold that I’m going to Arlea.”

 

“I have a heavier mouth than you thought.”

 

Adele nodded slightly.

 

At that time, Adele glanced out the window and opened her mouth.

 

“Oh, it looks like the Art Department class just ended?”

 

As she said this, I looked out the window without thinking and saw students coming out of the Art Academy building carrying art supplies.

 

“Just in case, go and find that senior now.”

 

“I guess I’ll do so.”

 

I added that I would buy snacks from the cafeteria later and quickly walked to find Senior Rosie.

 

Even if I dropped out before the graduation ceremony, I had to work hard until then. When the school warning flies home…

 

It’s scary to even think about it.

 

Dad would definitely have Rian watch me 24 hours a day.

 

Because Dad saves dignity more than he looks.

 

In fact, if you’re going to save face, shouldn’t you not have this many illegitimate children?

 

I hurriedly ran to the Art Academy building.

 

I quickly checked the name tags of students leaving the building.

 

… I guess she hasn’t already gone back.

 

I entered the Art Academy building. Of course, I could visit her another day, but since I was here, I wanted to go and apply for the club.

 

Moreover, looking at the monotonous activities, I thought that I might not be the only one who thought it was a good club, well.

 

When I entered Lecture Room 1 out of breath, there was a female student organizing books in the classroom.

 

As I snooped by her side to see the name tag hidden in her hair, she looked at me, unable to hide her puzzled look.

 

“…What are you?”

 

“Are you by any chance… Senior Rosie?”

 

She narrowed her brows and nodded slightly. I let out a sigh of relief and got to the point.

 

“Hello, Senior! My name is Danae, a first-year student in the Magic Engineering Department. I came here because I wanted to join Arlea, which you run.”

 

Senior Rosie, who was looking at me with her inscrutable eyes, slightly tilted her head.

 

“So you’re the illegitimate daughter of the famous Lerdonia family.”

 

“…”

 

I was quite surprised, as it was my first time seeing anyone talk about me being an illegitimate child to my face, except for Rian and Julia.

 

Senior Rosie held the books in her arms and opened her mouth.

 

“Come to the second studio in this building by four o’clock next Monday. That’s the club room.”

 

Perhaps because I was so bewildered, I answered ‘yes’ without even realizing it.

 

I should have said I wouldn’t go in!

 

But when I came to my senses, Senior Rosie had already left her place.

 

I suddenly came to my senses and quickly left the classroom to find Senior Rosie. But since I didn’t know anything about her schedule, it was almost impossible to find her in this large school.

 

I wandered around for a while and returned to the Magic Academy building.

 

No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t seem like I was going to join a club run by a deputy director who talked about being an illegitimate child from the first meeting.

 

I have to somehow find Rosie before Monday…

 

As I was walking down the hallway helplessly, I found Gloria soaked in water at the end of the hallway.

 

Gloria, her eyes very red, was walking helplessly down the hallway.

 

‘…Is she crying?’

 

Gloria, who was smiling and running errands for the tea ceremony club kids at the cafeteria last time, had completely disappeared.

 

I held my breath at the sight of her.

 

‘Should I comfort her?’

 

However, I promised myself that I wouldn’t be associated with the characters of the original story, and as a child, I faithfully kept my promise. I was also reluctant with Sylvester.

 

While I was thinking about it, I walked past Gloria. But she didn’t walk for long and stopped dead in her tracks.

 

Without realizing it, I turned behind her and looked at her back.