I Became The Male Lead’s Female Friend Chapter 127

 

Ruth Fedex stared straight ahead, startled.

 

Although she had always had a more outgoing personality than most, she was never able to let it show as much as she did in this place.

 

Leona had been rather lively when she was in the capital, but that was more of an exaggeration of her personality than anything else. She was more energetic than the other division commanders, but not to the same extent.

 

The same was true of the other division commanders, of course.

 

Perhaps it was the relief that the war was over, or perhaps it was the gentler mood of the capital, but they tended to show a side of their personalities that was more in line with their nature.

 

Sometimes he wondered if they were the same people who had slaughtered their enemies so mercilessly on the battlefield.

 

But it was a spell that would soon be broken. They would have to return to the North someday, he thought, and once they were back in this dismal place, they would return to their old selves.

 

But the reality was not what he thought it would be.

 

“Kyahaha! That ugly bastard!”

 

“What do you mean, bastard, what if someone overhears?”

 

“Let them hear, I’ll tell the whole neighborhood!”

 

‘Bastard?’

 

And it was very different.

 

Leona, who was now laughing so hard that she was holding her belly, and Ethan, who was holding back his laughter, unable to stop himself, because they were laughing harder than in the capital city.

 

Ruth stood there with a bewildered look on his face. It was Leona, surprisingly, who noticed him first.

 

“Oh, Sir Ruth!”

 

“You’re here?”

 

He snapped out of his reverie, and would have hastily returned the greeting, were it not for their strange behavior.

 

“Yes, yes, but what’s the matter…”

 

“Why did you come now, we’ve been having so much fun!”

 

“Yes, it has been exciting, with one case after another.”

 

For some reason, they were overly pleased to see him.

 

Ruth glanced at them strangely as they surrounded him in a flurry of excitement and chattered about this and that.

 

What on earth had happened to them, Ruth wondered, to change their mood as well as the Ducal household?

 

It didn’t take him long to find out.

 

“So, I mean, what has happened so far…”

 

Leona was the first to speak up.

 

She was the one who could barely catch her breath, and she seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself, something rarely seen in the past.

 

Ruth’s amusement was short-lived, however.

 

“Ka, Kassar?”

 

That’s when Ruth realized that Kassar had become the object of the dukedom’s amusement.

 

It was a shocking revelation.

 

Who was Kassar?

 

He was the first division commander of the prestigious Knights of Bouser, and a vicious bastard who had risen to that position as a mere stranger.

 

As talented as he was, he was also a nasty bastard.

 

This led to many confrontations with the other commanders and even with him. Later on, he finally gave up.

 

But there was one person who would sharpen her sword for him.

 

That was Leona Selvig, that woman.

 

More feisty than the other division commanders, she was Kassar’s favorite target.

 

She’s a pushover, so Kassar’s tactics are not without consequence, and her stress levels are at an all-time high.

 

But then the tables were turned. Leona, who had expected to be more miserable after meeting Kassar, was all smiles.

 

“How cool! You should have seen him embarrass himself in person!”

 

“After all, the one who opened the door himself and walked out, the one who didn’t move until the other person fainted…”

 

“That’s why our Princess is so great! All my worries have been in vain, she knows what she’s doing, and I can’t handle it!”

 

His eyes narrowed at the title, which had suddenly changed from ‘Princess’ to ‘Our Princess’.

 

“The Princess, why?”

 

“Oh, because this all happened when the Princess and Lord Kassar got into a fight.”

 

“Two, two people fought?”

 

“Yes… Sir Kassar has some… well, he has some sort of grudges.”

 

“Oh, so that’s why…”

 

“A little argument.”

 

Ruth’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.

 

He’s always been conceited, but I never thought he’d be so arrogant.

 

Although they claimed to be kind to each other, I never thought they’d be so rude to the princess, especially since she’s the heir to the position of next Duke.

 

I hadn’t expected such behavior from someone in a similar, if not lower, position to His Excellency, so it was a bit of a shock.

 

It was fortunate that the princess graciously dismissed it as a joke, or it could have led to a family dispute.

 

‘I’ll have to speak to her later.’

 

Even then, of course, it was obvious that she’d ignore him, but there was no way he’d be more rude than this.

 

Leona and Ethan’s chatter continued.

 

“Well, at least our princess kicked some serious butt!”

 

“She’s kind of scary. The nickname is one thing, but she’s spreading rumors about it all over the place.”

 

“That bastard must have threatened her with his fists again. Our princess is very generous, giving him such a cute nickname.”

 

“Cute?”

 

“That’s cute enough. Do you know what it was before that sweet nickname?”

 

“What was it?”

 

“King boobs. Hahahah!”

 

Ruth couldn’t say anything, because Leona had never looked happier than when she said it. Before Ruth could stop them, the nickname almost made him burst out in laughter.

 

Between the two giggling division commanders, Ruth tried to keep a straight face and pictured the Princess’s face.

 

I thought she was just a gentle lady with a soft smile and a bit of a boisterous personality…

 

‘Indeed, she is a formidable woman.’

 

He was almost embarrassed that he had been so worried about her just a moment ago, and wondered if he shouldn’t have been the one to stop her.

 

Then Ethan said something out of the blue.

 

“By the way, did you hear the rumor?”

 

“Why? What is it?”

 

Leona looked at Ethan with a twinkle in her eye. Ruth listened curiously, pretending not to.

 

“You know, the reason Lord Kassar has been harassing the Princess.”

 

“Isn’t it because of what happened before?”

 

“I suppose that’s part of it… But there’s another reason, too.”

 

“What?”

 

Two pairs of bewildered eyes turned to Ethan at the same time. 

 

Ethan hesitated as if he were wary of what to say, and then, after a cautious glance around, he lowered his voice.

 

“That he likes…”

 

Ruth almost couldn’t help saying, ‘Who is it?’ But the question soon vanished from her mouth.

 

Because right behind him, a chilling voice was asking instead.

 

“Who– who?”

 

🌸

 

Rudrick hadn’t been in a good mood for days.

 

He could count on one hand the number of times he’d been in an upbeat mood.

 

The only time he’d been in a fairly pleasant mood was when he was in the capital, but at some point, his spirits had gone back to their usual state.

 

And Rudrick knew exactly when it was.

 

When he left the capital and headed north. It was when he realized his true feelings for Dahlia and saw with his own two eyes that she was attracted to another man.

 

‘It was a sickening feeling.’

 

In retrospect, it had been bothering him from the beginning.

 

Why did it bother him so much when Dahlia’s eyes sparkled when she saw Goldman, the way they’d been so eagerly trying to excuse themselves as a business?

 

Maybe it was because he already had his heart set on her, but then again, maybe it was because he’d been so nervous that this would happen.

 

Especially since I’d heard her answer so confidently by the stream.

 

— ‘I’m willing to accept it, because I choose to believe.’

 

Rudrick almost choked up when she said that. They had just met, and she had chosen to believe, so why couldn’t he?

 

Why does he hate it?

 

He tried to keep his mouth shut, but his heart sank and he couldn’t help himself.

 

—  ‘I don’t want to play with you anymore…’

 

I regretted it afterward, but in hindsight, it seemed like a good choice.

 

At the very least, his words had shocked her, and she had occasionally shown signs of being aware of him.

 

Seeing that, Rudrick decided to forget his greed. If he could make her aware of him little by little like this, perhaps one day she’d see him instead of that bastard Goldman.

 

But there would be another interruption.

 

“Where did you hear that?”

 

Rudrick sat at his desk in his office and looked at the division commanders standing in a row in front of him. Ethan Miller, sweating profusely under his piercing gaze, spoke up.

 

“Well, it seems that there was an argument between the Princess and Lord Kassar the other day…”

 

“An argument?”

 

“Yes… It was loud enough to be heard outside the room, and was overheard by those who happened to be passing by at the time.”

 

“What?”

 

“They say that he deliberately stirred up trouble because he had feelings for the princess…”

 

Bam—!

 

The sound of the desk slamming shut made Ethan gasp and flinch. Looking at him with his eyes tightly closed and head bowed, Rudrick gritted his teeth.

 

‘You bastard…’

 

He had warned her that he would kill her if she messed with him like that. 

 

Aside from the fact that he was disrespectful and argued with everyone, he was only doing it because he was interested in Dahlia.

 

Somehow, from the first time I saw him, I thought he was strangely passionate about her, and it didn’t stop there, he went to visit her several times.

 

‘So you got all sorts of distractions?’

 

I wondered if Goldman had gotten so busy since coming up north that he’d finally gotten Dahlia’s attention.

 

That was the reason he’d been distracted, and it made him feel like a fever had risen to the top of his head.

 

Rudrick rubbed his chin with a grim expression and muttered.

 

“I’ll have to send them to the outskirts.”

 

“Yeah, yeah? What’s that…”

 

“Get that bastard…”

 

“Your Excellency—!”

 

The door swung open just in time, and all eyes turned to one place.

 

There stood Kassar, scowling at them.

 

“Kassar, when you enter His Excellency’s office, you knock and ask permission before you…”

 

“Shut up! That’s not the point, Your Excellency! That crazy… How about that woman?!”

 

“That woman?”

 

Rudrick stammered, but Kassar’s eyes were closed and he couldn’t see his surroundings.

 

“Yes, that crazy woman!”

 

Not a few people had been harmed by that unscrupulous human…

 

“Hey! Calling the princess a crazy woman, is that what you’re talking about, you wretch!”

 

“Why are there so many interruptions today… Shut up, you stupid girl!”

 

“What, stupid girl? You King boobed bastard?!”

 

“Wha— King… You want to die?!”

 

“Yeah, try dying once, you die, and I die…”

 

“Shut up.”

 

As he appeared, a raspy voice echoed through the chaotic space.

 

At the same time, Kassar and Leona, who had been fighting viciously, stiffened, and the other division commanders, already white with fear, turned toward the source of the voice.

 

There was Rudrick, arms crossed, expressionless.

 

“Kassar.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“What kind of trouble did she cause you?”

 

He paused for a moment, and then, as if seizing an opportunity, he answered coldly, his face smug.