I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 162 - Side Story 1

Chime—

 

I opened the door, and the lilting tinkle of a bell pierced my ears.

 

“Welcome, to Madame Jane’s Boutique.”

 

I’d seen the horse-drawn carriage parked in front of the shop before I entered, but it was doing quite well.

 

Smiling broadly, I walked inside and was greeted by the first clerk who recognized me.

 

“Oh my, aren’t you Miss Leen?”

 

“Oh, you know me.”

 

“Of course, Madame has been telling me all about you, Miss Leen, how mouth-watering you are!”

 

I scratched my cheek and smirked. I really couldn’t stop smiling.

 

“I’m sorry you’ve had such a hard time, she’s a bit of a brat, isn’t she?”

 

“If Leen is a dear friend of hers, she deserves bragging rights. After all, you saved Lagras, and by extension, the continent, from a monstrous demon!”

 

Despite the obvious compliment, I felt a bitter taste in my mouth.

 

It reminded me of the execution of Arcandus not long ago.

 

Seeing my darkened expression, the clerk hurriedly changed the subject.

 

“Anyway, if you’re here to see Jane, she’s in the workroom on the second floor.”

 

“Thank you, I’ll head up to see Jane then.”

 

“Yes, it was an honor to meet you!”

 

I waved goodbye to the clerk, who waved back at me and went up the stairs to one side of the store.

 

A single door greeted me, as if to show off the fact that an entire floor was devoted to the workshop.

 

I was about to knock lightly when, in a sudden burst of playfulness, I grabbed the doorknob and turned it gently.

 

Hoping to sneak in and surprise her while she was focused on her work.

 

But as soon as I slid the door open, as if sensing my intrusion, a white chalk flew out and grazed my side.

 

“Laura, I told you not to come in without knocking, didn’t I?”

 

Jane’s high, soprano-toned voice pierced through the doorway, her fierce glare locked on me.

 

Nosing around, I lifted my hand and brushed it away.

 

“Hi, Jane.”

 

“…Leen? Oh, my goodness, Leen!”

 

Jane abandoned the garment she was designing and ran to me.

 

“Did you come all this way just to see me?”

 

Jane giggled and cooed as she threw her arms around me.

 

I calmly patted her on the back and replied.

 

“Yes. I haven’t seen you since I returned to Lagras, and there’s something I wanted to ask you personally.”

 

“You need a dress! Where are you going?”

 

At Jane’s question, I couldn’t be happier and showed her the back of my left hand.

 

On my ring finger was the proposal ring from Carson.

 

“I’m going to marry Caon.”

 

“What?”

 

Jane’s eyes sparkled as she grabbed both my hands in excitement as if she were the one being proposed to.

 

“Oh, my gosh. That stuffy bastard finally proposed to you?”

 

“Well, it’s been less than a year since we graduated, so it’s not too late, technically.”

 

“You have no idea how hard it was for me to watch.”

 

“Oh, really?”

 

“I’m so excited for you and Carson to get married, I can’t hide my tears, I really can’t.”

 

She hastily wiped her tears away with her sleeve.

 

“More than that, I’m here about the wedding dress…”

 

I glanced at the notepad with her jam-packed schedule.

 

“You look like you’re too busy to take a break. If you have a backlog of orders, feel free to turn me down.”

 

Jane stomped her foot angrily, as if she’d heard something she shouldn’t have.

 

“What? You’re going to let some jerk take care of your wedding dress? No way in hell. I’ll make your dress, even if it means kicking the crap out of the store!”

 

Well, I was being polite, but I knew she was going to come out like that.

 

“Well, thank you for saying that. At least I’m glad what I was going to ask you to do isn’t either out of hand.”

 

“I’m sorry, Leen. I refuse to allow anything to be out of hand, and I’m going to make you wear my best dress.”

 

She was so full of enthusiasm that it was almost overwhelming. I smirked back.

 

“Don’t worry. It’s already the perfect wedding dress.”

 

“…What do you mean, already, when we haven’t even started designing it yet?”

 

“The prom dress that you made for me. You said it was supposed to be for my wedding.”

 

“Oh…!”

 

“Well, as you know, that dress means a lot to me, so I’d like you to alter it a bit so that I can wear it at our wedding.”

 

Jane, who had just realized the request, gazed at me with a touching expression.

 

“Leen, are you sure….”

 

I shrugged slightly and handed her a letter with a beautifully stamped shilling.

 

“This is a wedding invitation.”

 

‘Will you attend my wedding?’

 

💫

 

I sighed softly as I left the boutique after chatting with Jane for a while.

 

“Well, I’ve got the wedding dress and Jane’s invitations out of the way. Next up, my aunt and uncle.”

 

Clearly, even with Lysianthus organizing the entire wedding, there was still a lot of work to be done.

 

The invitations had only just begun to be sent out, and they would be traveling for a few more days.

 

I also need to practice in case Carson faints at the wedding.

 

Prepare to welcome Grandpa Caris, who will be traveling from Abascanthus to Lagras for the wedding…

 

“Ah, don’t stress. As soon as Armeria is in the house, we’ll have to start screwing with Erhan.”

 

I strolled down the street, wondering how I could scratch his temper.

 

It was then. Someone called my name.

 

“Leen!”

 

Turning my head at the familiar voice, I naturally linked arms with the other person.

 

“Hey, Caon?”

 

Unlike my arms, which were stiff with tension, Carson’s mouth opened quite naturally.

 

“Did you wait long? I purposely came out late because I thought you and Jane had a lot to talk about.”

 

“Don’t worry, I was just leaving, too. By the way, did you get Fjord the wedding invitation?”

 

I was on my way to Jane, and Carson was on his way to deliver the invitation to Fjord.

 

When I asked him if it went well, he opened his mouth with a strange expression.

 

“Uh, yeah. Except for the weird thing he said.”

 

I tilted my head at an angle.

 

“Strange things?”

 

“When I asked him if he were ever going to get married, he mumbled something about how sub-male leads are destined to be solitary for the rest of their lives.”

 

“Oh my, how many romance novels has he read since he graduated?”

 

“Well, Professor Walter’s a big fan of romance novels, so maybe they’ll get along surprisingly well.”

 

“Professor Walter was an adult-only novelist.”

 

“…Has he cut the bones yet?”

 

“I don’t know. He doesn’t stay up that late every night. If he did, wouldn’t it be better if he cut it first?”

 

“Leen…!”

 

I chuckled at the red-faced Carson and then asked what came to mind.

 

“That’s right, Caon. Where shall we go for our honeymoon?”

 

In response, Carson wrapped his arms around me like I was a rag doll and blurted out.

 

“I don’t care where, as long as I have you, Leen. It’s the length of our honeymoon that matters.”

 

“Really?”

 

I’ve got a steady stream of income coming in from the medicine I’m selling, and I don’t need to work…

 

Carson hasn’t inherited the title yet, so he’s not too busy.

 

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take this opportunity to take a long break.

 

“Speaking of which, Caon. Shouldn’t you be inheriting the House of Lysianthus soon?”

 

“…I don’t need a dukedom or anything. Can’t I just stay in Leen’s service for the rest of my life?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“I’m good at cooking, cleaning, and night work, Leen.”

 

He looked at me with pleading eyes as if begging me to take him away.

 

“What kind of man turns down a ducal position because it means less time with his lover?”

 

“Here.”

 

Carson pointed to himself with a thumbs up, all too confidently.

 

It was a gesture that would have gotten him in trouble if the Duke knew.

 

“Well, but it’s obvious that you’ll have your hands full if you inherit the dukedom… so I don’t think it’s a bad idea to put it off as long as possible and then take over.”

 

“Leen…!”

 

“After all that trouble, we should enjoy our honeymoon, don’t you think?”

 

Saying that, I smiled brightly.

 

💫

 

Carson’s magic quickly brought us to Count Armeria.

 

The butler informed me that my aunt and uncle were in the mansion, but I sought out Erhan first.

I needed to de-stress.

 

“Hello, how are you, dear debtor?”

 

“Hic!”

 

Erhan made a strange noise and stumbled backward when he spotted me.

 

“What are you doing here? Oh, the debt is not due yet!”

 

“What does it matter if I come or not, if I say I’m coming to my own home, and besides, can you pay it back by then?”

 

“Wa, wait and see, if this business goes well, I’ll be able to pay you back! The days are numbered when you can blackmail me with that much money.”

 

What kind of balls does he have, after all the times he’s screwed me over.

 

I clicked my tongue in my mouth and said wisely.

 

“Yeah. I want you to pay off your debt, but you know what, if you enlist the help of Lysianthus or sell my name in the process, I won’t let you off the hook.”

 

I patted Erhan on the shoulder, taunting him to cheer him up.

 

“Your brother Luca’s been studying pretty hard lately, don’t you think you should be careful not to lose to him?”

 

Of course, my aunt, and uncle were already thinking of handing Luca the county title.

 

Hope tastes best when it’s built up and then crushed in one fell swoop.