I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 178 - Side Story 17

 

The corners of Jane’s mouth twitched up at the thought that this was getting interesting.

 

No doubt the mischievous Leen would die of amusement if she found out.

 

“He’s just nervous. Once he gets used to it, he’ll be fine.”

 

After patting Ian on the back, Jane spoke up as if it had just occurred to her.

 

“Come to think of it, I think we used to say that if we ever had children, we’d marry them off, remember, Leen?”

 

“Yes, I remember. I thought it was in the distant future, but here we are.”

 

Ian’s ears perked up at the mention of marriage. Jane chuckled to herself.

 

“It’s kind of fitting, don’t you think?”

 

“Yeah. It’s a shame we can’t marry them.”

 

Just then, Ian, who had been hiding between Jane’s legs, interrupted their conversation.

 

“We can get married.”

 

Ian, who looked exactly like Jane, clamped his mouth shut nervously and stared at Leen.

 

“Oh…?”

 

Seeing Ian’s flushed face, Leen glanced at Jane, wondering if she was mistaken.

 

When Jane nodded slightly in agreement, Leen was thrilled.

 

Oh, my goodness.

 

I never thought putting Lione in a dress would lead to this. It was such a cute illusion.

 

Even though I knew I shouldn’t do this for Ian, who would be disappointed later, I couldn’t help but laugh.

 

Leen crouched down and placed her hands on Ian’s shoulders.

 

“Ian. Auntie has an open mind, so if you two are compatible, I won’t object. Please do your best to woo Lione.”

 

With a final cheer, Leen headed off with Jane to another location to give the children time to get to know each other.

 

Ian swallowed hard, suddenly alone with Lione.

 

All these years, he’d thought no one was as beautiful as Aunt Leen.

 

With her dazzling silver hair and jewel-like eyes, it was like seeing an angel from heaven.

 

‘Why hadn’t Mom let me meet Lione until now?’

 

“Oh, hi.”

 

Ian mustered up the courage to say greetings, and Lione’s previously smiling face turned sour.

 

“Don’t talk to me, it’s annoying.”

 

“Oh, huh?”

 

Lione sat down on the couch and started reading, as if it didn’t matter to him whether Ian was embarrassed or not.

 

Well, it did. Lione appeared to be a nice kid because his mother wanted him to be, but in reality, he had inherited Carson’s spoiled ways.

 

Despite the declaration not to speak to him, Ian approached him, looking lost in the world.

 

“Why am I bothering you?”

 

Lione let out a small sigh, his eyes fixed on the book he was reading, and explained.

 

“I was having a great time with my mom, and you ruined it. You’re lucky I’m not mad at you right now.”

 

“Well, does that mean you can’t play with me?”

 

“I don’t have time to hang out with a kid like you.”

 

“…Look, I don’t mean to pick a fight, but I understand you’re a year younger than me.”

 

“Age is just a number.”

 

In response to Ian’s constant chatter, he closed his book with a loud thud.

 

He glanced at Ian and asked a meaningful question.

 

“What do you think about your dad punishing your mom all night?”

 

“Huh? How the hell could my dad punish my mom, is that even possible?”

 

This was unimaginable to Ian, who had grown up with Hans always being held tightly by Jane.

 

At Ian’s surprised reaction, Lione smirked, as if he’d seen it coming.

 

“You’re still a kid because you don’t understand that.”

 

“…I don’t know what you mean.”

 

Ian looked confused, but quickly regained his composure and approached the couch where Lione was sitting.

 

“Can I sit next to you?”

 

Obviously, Ian thought he’d been told not to talk to him because he was annoying.

 

Unable to communicate, Lione let out a small sigh.

 

“If you don’t like me, why do you insist on hanging out with me?”

 

“Because I want to get to know you.”

 

“Hmph.”

 

Lione snorted and stared at Ian’s face.

 

Ian’s face flushed a bright red from the intense stare.

 

Having been hit on countless times by girls his age, he was used to reactions like Ian’s.

 

“Do you have a crush on me?”

 

Ian’s mouth gaped open, unable to believe how quickly his secret was revealed.

 

“How did you know that?”

 

“It would be weirder if I didn’t know.”

 

Lione laughed slowly, tugging at a strand of his hair, which was tied back in a tight bun.

 

“I guess I’m kind of pretty because I look like my mom.”

 

“I think you look more like Duke Carson than Aunt Leen…”

 

“Shut up. If I look like my mom, I look like her.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

Ian shrank away from Lione’s glare and slid into the seat beside him.

 

“What were you reading?”

 

Lione’s lone eyebrow rose sharply.

 

“Can’t you tell by looking at it? It’s a dictionary of herbalism.”

 

“…You find that kind of thing interesting?”

 

“Kind of.”

 

“Ah! Speaking of which, I heard that you’re that good at magic, can you show me?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

Lione was getting really annoyed with Ian’s persistence.

 

“Give it up. You can’t marry me, no matter how hard you try.”

 

“Why, because I’m not a noble?”

 

“It’s not that, in the first place, I’m not…”

 

Lione opened his mouth to say something, but fell silent.

 

He was about to say something when he noticed something shimmering in the corner of the slightly open room.

 

His mom and Aunt Jane must have come in with a viewing sphere, thinking it was too good to miss.

 

Quickly assessing the situation, Lione decided to play along for his mom’s amusement.

 

“Why do you like me?”

 

“…Because you’re pretty.”

 

“How pretty?”

 

“The most beautiful in the world. You’re like an angel from heaven, Lione.”

 

“You’ll never change your mind about that?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Even if I were a man?”

 

Ian nodded vigorously and answered straight away, then paused at the sudden question.

 

“Uh…? What do you mean, do you mean…?”

 

“Didn’t you hear me? I’m a man, not a woman.”

 

“Nonsense! Then, the dress you’re wearing is…!”

 

“Oh, this? Your mom and my dad made it together. They said they thought they were expecting a girl.”

 

“Well, that’s impossible.”

 

Flick—

 

Realizing it was an unattainable love, Ian fell to his knees and cried out.

 

Ian was six years old. He didn’t know.

 

He didn’t realize that his future would be even more painful than the pain of his first love. 

 

It would be a future in which he would be left to live in the darkness of the video sphere, embracing dark history forever.

 

🍼

 

“Dad.”

 

Arriving at Carson’s office for a mana-related matter, Lione flung open the door.

 

He opened it without knocking, expecting to be greeted with a scolding…

 

Fortunately or not, Carson wasn’t in his office.

 

“Did he hang out in Mom’s lab again since he didn’t want to work?”

 

Lione naturally turned toward Leen’s lab.

 

Suddenly, a painting on one of the walls caught his attention.

 

“…Last time, I came in without knocking, and Dad took the painting down in a hurry because he was surprised.”

 

There was a secret compartment behind the painting, and whatever Carson had put there, Lione had no intention of poking around.

 

But Lione saw it.

 

His dad, who doesn’t react well to anything that doesn’t involve his mom, was laughing hysterically.

 

I doubt he was looking at my mom’s photos or videos because he already had a separate room for storing and watching them…

 

Lione wondered if his father had hidden them away so he could look at them in private.

 

Closing the open door behind him, Lione walked over to the painting.

 

As crudely concealed as it was, the painting was fortunately enchanted to be impenetrable to even the most skilled wizard.

 

It was Carson, so that was the only way it could be locked.

 

But then again, so did Lione.

 

He was a child of the blood of such a genius mage as Carson.

 

Picking at the enchantments on the painting, he realized that if he injected a certain amount of mana into it, it would move.

 

A normal mage would have given up immediately, but it was not a difficult condition for Lione, who had been struggling to control mana since he was little.

 

“…How much should I put in?”

 

Lione summoned up the mana in his body and began to inject it into the painting.

 

However, contrary to his expectations, the painting didn’t even flinch, and Lione, who had developed an aura, generated more and more mana.

 

Eventually, the mana flickered unsteadily in Lione’s hand and exploded with a loud bang.

 

Wee-woo-wee-woo!