I’m Not Doing This With A Friend – Chapter 113

Author: Nikss

“Carson Lysianthus!!!”

Red-faced, I waited for him to appear. I called his name with mana in my voice, and if the Duke’s words were true, he would come running here at my call.

I fervently hoped not.

Sure enough, within seconds, a circle of magic floated into the office.

“Leen!”

Carson burst out of the circle, urgency written all over his face.

His hair was ruffled from his haste, and his top was torn open, revealing a glimpse of his insides.

In a normal situation, I would have been distracted by the sight.

Now I couldn’t keep my eyes on it calmly.

Ugh!

Why did this happen? What are you doing out here…!

In this way, I had indeed confirmed in front of Carson’s father that I loved his son.

If only that were all there was to it. It was also discovered that I had gone too far with Carson.

He said it was to cast a spell, but when he put his hand there, he said it all.

— ‘You don’t even remember him placing his hand near your heart to cast a spell?’

On the contrary, it could be interpreted as something that had happened so often that it was hard to remember.

The Duke seemed to realize that in hindsight. His voice cracked with shock.

“…Children, these days, they grow up so fast.”

Seriously, I felt like crying. His eyes widened and he glared at Carson.

“You…! Where are you sneaking in such an important spell when I’m distracted and deciding it’s the perfect time to ask?”

“Magic…?”

“Yes, magic!”

“Leen, why don’t you calm down and tell me what kind of magic it is…”

I glared at the bewildered Carson, clenching my fist tightly in anger and pounding on his chest.

“You’re going to take responsibility for me for the rest of my life, with a magic spell named Companion?”

Carson, who had been summoned and beaten without understanding anything, gaped wide-eyed at the question of lifelong responsibility.

“What? Answer me, are you going to be responsible for me for the rest of my life?”

He gently grabbed both of my hands as if realizing something. He looked pleased and overwhelmed.

“You’re letting me be responsible for you?”

I burst out in exasperation at Carson’s completely out of character expression.

“Are you laughing? I’m serious, and you think this is funny?”

Carson, who had been laughing happily, realized something was wrong and quickly shut up.

“You could have at least explained the next day that this was the kind of magic that happened that night!”

He apologizes hastily, “Sor—, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hide it, I was just so excited that day that I didn’t realize.”

“You call that an excuse? You could have told me any other day if you wanted to tell me why I should listen to your father about this magic!”

Carson looked helpless, and his eyes twitched.

At least he realized the error of his ways.

“And why are you calling me by my first name so constantly?”

“I—, it’s my fault…”

“It was making it impossible for me to go about my daily life!”

“…Did I call you that often?”

He blinked his deer-in-the-headlights eyes as if he didn’t know that.

I pinched my thighs to keep from being struck by his facial attack.

‘Ha, do you think I’m going to let you off the hook for making such a cute face every time?’

“From what you said, I wouldn’t have heard you if you didn’t put mana in it, but the fact that you kept calling me with mana in it means you were trying to harass me, right?”

Carson makes a face like a puppy caught in the rain.

“No, Leen. I wouldn’t harass you.”

Not likely to torment me, not for a very long time that night…

Realizing my thoughts have wandered off, I quickly snap out of it and shook my head.

“So you’re furious that I gave you a restraining order, so you staged a protest to see me?”

“I—, I misspoke when I said that, the mana in my body was overflowing, so I must have subconsciously released it…”

“Unconscious should be in moderation, moderation!!”

I was in the midst of venting my anger at him.

A pleasant chuckle came from behind Carson, who was being scolded by me one-sidedly.

“Pf—, pfft!”

My and Carson’s eyes snapped to the Duke, the source of the laughter.

“I apologize, I don’t mean to interrupt, so finish what you’re doing.”

The Duke was biting his lip tightly, looking like he was holding back laughter. It was a look of great amusement.

Seeing him, Carson gritted his teeth and exclaimed, “Darn you, father, are you laughing?”

“Caon. Do you have enough time to look anywhere else right now?”

The coldness in my voice made Carson turn to me, startled.

“And you, what kind of manner is that to speak to the Duke?”

“…Huh, oh?”

“I apologize for poking my nose into someone else’s family affairs, but I can’t help it when the subject is our Mister.”

“What, our Mister?”

His innocent face narrows as if he’s questioning the word ‘our’.

I ignored him and continued, “Caon. I knew you weren’t that good, but this time I’m really disappointed in you.”

“Disappointed…?”

Carson stiffened, looking deeply shocked.

There was no attempt to placate him. I chose the words on purpose to shock him.

It was then.

“Leen.”

At the Duke’s call, my anger at Carson subsided somewhat. I couldn’t be angry with a loving father like the Duke.

“Yes, you may speak.”

I sighed deeply and shifted my gaze to the Duke, then automatically took a step back.

What the hell, that burdened look.

The Duke was looking at me with a mixture of emotion and respect.

“Mister…?”

“Leen, I think I’ve been thinking wrong all this time.”

“What? About what?”

I was just thinking about the implications of the Duke’s words.

The Duke suddenly stood up and walked over to me.

And then…

He removed the ring from his thumb and held it out to me. It bore the seal of House Lysianthus.

“Will you be my daughter-in-law?”

“…What?”

‘What the heck?’

I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with my ears.

The Duke spoke seriously, as if he wasn’t joking, “We, the Dukes of Lysianthus, have been looking for someone like you.”

I stared up at the Duke with my mouth gaping open.

This wasn’t a proposal, this wasn’t a job offer, this wasn’t… what in the world?

Seeing my bewildered face, the Duke sighed and explained, “Ah, it’s not like it’s the ring of the Lord of the House, so there’s no need to feel pressured. It’s a ring given to anyone who bears the surname Lysianthus.”

As if that wasn’t intimidating enough. It was a shocking enough statement that even Carson, who had been stunned into silence, snapped out of it.

“Are you insane, father, proposing to Leen when I haven’t?”

The Duke raised an eyebrow and spoke mildly, “My son, you shouldn’t hold back, or you’ll lose Leen to another bastard.”

Carson scowled, not finding that funny.

“That’s not something you’d expect to hear from a father who does nothing but play the pitiful victim while clinging to my mother like a leech.”

“…Playing the pitiful?”

The Duke frowned, and Carson drew a sharp sneer to his lips.

“You told me you’ve been rejected by Mother dozens of times, and you’ve only just managed to win her sympathy, and that’s what you’ve done by playing the pity card.”

“You ugly little brat whose only redeeming quality is his face.”

“You do realize that applies to you, don’t you?”

“Sylvia says she fell in love with my face at first sight, so it’s all good.”

The Duke searched Carson’s face with a blatant look.

“But even your handsome face doesn’t seem to work on Leen, so that must be a minuscule advantage.”

“Leen likes my face, not just my face, but my body…!”

“Hey!”

I’ve been listening to this, and it’s true. There’s nothing he wouldn’t say in front of the Duke!

At my exclamation, Carson stopped speaking, looked at me for a moment, and then shifted the blame to the Duke.

“Leen is upset because of you, father. Get down on your knees and apologize.”

“Why is it my fault, she is angry at your words. Apologize to death, my son,” said the Duke.

I watched the two men argue in vain, until finally, I buried my face in my hands and said in despair, “I don’t know, I really don’t know anymore…”

Tears leaked from my eyes in frustration. Real tears, not the fake ones I’d made up in front of the Duchess.

“I shouldn’t let Caon get away like this, I can’t even run away…”

If I did run away, he’d be calling my name and tormenting me all day.

But on the other hand, I’d have to put my mana into it and call Carson’s name, and he’d come to me.

“If everybody wants to hate me, so be it, but this is the least I can do…”

Once the tears started, they flowed uncontrollably.

“I mean, what did I do to deserve such kindness?”

Then a voice stammered in my ear, panic, and alarm in its tone.

“Le, Leen. I was wrong. Don’t cry…”

“Well, yes, whatever it was, it was Carson’s fault. You did nothing wrong.”

I couldn’t see the expressions on the two father and son’s faces because I covered my eyes with my hands.

But just from the sound of their voices, I could clearly see how embarrassed they were.

I was about to burst out laughing. I spat out the words grumpily, my voice full of tears.

“It’s over, and now both of you can change the subject later and say that you didn’t have to let me in the house, because I’m going on a hunger strike.”

“…What? Leen, how could you do such a horrible thing?”

I yanked the hand covering my eyes away and glared at Carson.

“So you’re saying you’re going to regret letting me into your house?” I asked, half-joking.

Carson wiped my tears away with a clumsy touch. But unlike his gentle touch, his voice was firm.

“Not if I die, but you shouldn’t even think of such an extreme idea. Please take that back.”

“I’m not going to starve to death, but how can you say those drastic ideas? Please, don’t say that.”

The Duke stepped between us.

“Calm down, both of you.”

“What, Father’s out of the picture.”

‘That fire-breathing son of a bi— again!’

I quickly pointed out Carson’s demeanor.

“Caon, I told you not to be rude to the Duke.”

“…Yeah that’s right.”

Hearing Carson’s timid retort, the Duke let out a muffled exclamation.

“Wonderful.”

He gazed at me in awe, then turned to me, puzzled.

“Leen, now that I think about it, you said you pushed Carson away on purpose. You lied to me, too. Is there a reason you had to do that?”

“I…”

I started to make my habitual excuses, but stopped myself.

The Duke had already discovered that I was in love with Carson. The magic of the Companion’s Seal would make it difficult to flee elsewhere.

A cornered mouse, indeed.

Now my only option left to choose from would be Lysianthus.

I wanted to say something, but my voice was stuck in my throat.

The Duke, who had been pondering something, spoke first, “So, you said that a boy from a rival family is also in love with you, and you were worried that it would cause a rift between the two families.”

“…Did Father ever have such a conversation with Leen?”

The Duke ignored Carson’s question.

“Rex Begonia.”

I shuddered as his name came out of the Duke’s mouth.

Seeing my reaction, the Duke placed his hand on my head and smirked.

“How cute of you to worry about Lysianthus when you’re dealing with a Begonia.”

“Get your hands off her, where are you going with this?”

The Duke’s hand was quickly removed by Carson, of course.

Speaking slowly and deliberately, as if explaining to a child who knew nothing, the Duke said, “Leen, listen carefully. The only reason we’ve allowed the world to see Begonia as a rival is to relieve the imperial family of some of the burden.”

“So…it’s keeping you in check?”

The Duke nodded dully, as if he had heard correctly.

“And for the peace and balance of the Empire. For if Lysianthus were to unleash its full power, the Empire would be renamed Lysianthus.”

It was a dangerous and arrogant statement. But there was not a hint of bravado or falsehood in his words.

‘I was well aware of the limits of the things I had.’

However, given the situation, I wanted to keep my people, and I didn’t want to make them suffer.

So I was going to give it up without being unnecessarily greedy.

Because I valued them too much.

And I loved those people.

Mister…

…I mean, I never actually wanted to give up.

Not my family, not my friends, not Carson. None of it, I didn’t want to leave.