I Became The Male Lead’s Female Friend – Chapter 135

Author: Nikss

The plan I had in mind was simple.

‘I’d do what I’ve always done, disrupt the perpetrator.’

Any way we get there would be fine. Whether it’s Kassar’s shenanigans like before, or we do it quietly between us.

But the most important thing was that we didn’t let anyone else see us.

If possible, we should be able to sneakily put the culprit’s tinkering back to normal without anyone noticing anything unusual.

The party preparations would go off without a hitch, and the closer the event approached, the more impatient the culprit would become.

The closer the party got to the actual day, the more nervous the perp would become.

That’s when we needed to hit him.

When he’s distracted and doesn’t have time to think. That was the time to set the trap.

We’d make it easy for the perp to do his trick, and when he was in a rush, he’d come to the spot to do his trick…

“Isn’t it better to catch him, then?”

“No, listen a little longer.”

It’s not that I haven’t thought about it.

But no matter how desperate you are, you’re not going to just show up unprepared.

Besides, it would be even worse if we just stormed the scene and the perpetrator escaped without being caught, and there might be an accomplice lurking somewhere.

“Catch him while he’s off guard, gather evidence.”

And it took Hestia to prove it.

“Hestia, didn’t you have one of those things before, the clear sticky stuff that’s hard to remove once you get it on?”

“Oh, that’s right, I made it by accident when I was mixing ingredients, but it was useless as a medicine, so I threw it away.”

“Can you recreate that now?”

“Um… yes. The ingredients I brought from the capital are enough for that, but what do you want to use it for?”

I chuckled and answered, “To put on things the perp will touch.”

Hestia understood at once what I was talking about and nodded, but the other two were still dumbfounded.

Hestia was the first to explain, “It’s normally transparent, but when you pour a certain drug into it, it turns blue. It’ll be perfect for identifying the culprit.”

“You can make something like that?”

“Well, I didn’t make it, it just happened to come out of a failed attempt…”

Seeing Hestia scratching her head in embarrassment, I smiled proudly.

Having good allies really does make life easier.

“Anyway, do you have any idea what we’re going to do now? So our goal is to lure the culprit in and get him to touch the sticky object.”

“So…”

“And we’re going to need you to do some work for us.”

Cecil’s eyes widened to the size of fire glasses.

“Me, me?”

She hadn’t expected to be asked to do such a big job, even though she was in the most obscure of positions. But her position made her the perfect candidate.

Of all of them, Cecil was the only one who knew the inner affairs of the Duke’s household, and who could penetrate the ranks of the others so naturally.

Her task might be the most daunting of all. She has to lure the culprit and keep an eye on him at the same time.

And she had a reason to keep an eye on everyone around her.

‘Maybe the culprit is among the Duke’s guests.’

It was only when the candlesticks were replaced that it became clear. It wasn’t so much that the candlestick had been replaced with a defective one, but the spot where it was placed.

Cecil had told me, as if it were a matter of course, that broken or defective items were put in a warehouse. The existence or location of that warehouse was known only to someone who worked in the ducal residence.

Which made Cecil all the more necessary, since she was the key to this operation.

“Do you think I can…do…do such a great thing…?”

Cecil was trembling as she listened to my explanation. I took her hands in mine, locked eyes with her, and said over and over again.

“It’s okay, you can do it, you’re the most reliable and trustworthy girl I’ve ever known.”

“Princess…”

“It’s okay if you make a mistake, I’ll figure it out. If you don’t trust yourself, why don’t you trust me?”

“Well, that’s…”

“And if things go well, will you come to the capital with me?”

“I’ll stay awake and keep an eye on everything.”

Just then, Cecil and I were holding each other’s hands and making a touching scene. Kassar interrupted us.

He’s leaning against the doorway, his head turned away as if he’s not interested, but his eyes are twinkling strangely as if he’s been listening to everything I’ve said.

“And me?”

“What?”

“What am I supposed to do? You’re not going to give me a job that’s less important than that stupid city girl, are you? You’d better think about it, because you’re not going to get anyone else like me to help you out.”

As he said this, he raised his chin proudly, and as I glared at him, he smiled softly.

“Of course, there are other things you can do.”

“Yeah.”

“And that’s important, of course.”

“I’m sure it is.”

“You’ll just have to carry on as before.”

“The usual… what?”

For a moment, Kassar sounded caught off guard.

“Technically, my Lord, you’re the one in charge of ambush, distracting the perpetrator while disrupting his schemes.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t have to do anything special, you just do what you’re supposed to do, yell, throw things, and be a prick.”

“Huh?”

“And tell them all the reasons why…”

I smiled broadly and nailed it, “They’ll start a rumor that all the commotion was caused by you.”

Kassar’s jaw dropped, “Me, you’re crazy…”

“Well, I think we’ve all got our roles figured out, so now…”

“Are you crazy?! How can you expect me to do such a stupid thing!”

“Whoa, but you were always an idiot.”

At Cecil’s timid muttering, Kassar glared at her with a scowl.

“Will you shut up?!”

“Go, princess!”

“Ugh, don’t start fighting already, we’re allies now.”

“Who, who, says we’re allies…!”

“Let’s just disband and cheer together.”

“Cheer?”

I smirked at Hestia, who shook her head, and then launched into an ambitious cheer that I had been preparing for some time.

“Love! Courage! Hope! The Crusade!”

“…”

“One by one, put your hands on top of each other while shouting this, how’s that, easy?”

“Uh…”

But no one responded to my words, and it was a long time before I heard the last word.

But I wasn’t about to give in, so I added, “Ten gold coins if you join me.”

“I always think your ideas are wonderful and great.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Me too… I’ve been thinking about it, and I think it might be something worth doing…”

“Hey, hey!”

“Okay, everybody’s in favor, then let’s do it!”

I took a small, deep breath, leaving Kassar alone with his sulking, and then faced the center of the room, looking like I had the world at my feet, and stretched out my hand.

“Love!”

Cecil exclaimed softly, laying his hand on mine.

“Co, courage…!”

Hestia followed suit, “Hope!”

And finally, Kassar.

We clasped our hands together and looked at him at the same time, and he broke out in a cold sweat as he felt the gaze of the three women firmly upon him, and his eyes narrowed…

“Are you crazy?”

“I’m dying!”

🌸

The cheers eventually fizzled out, but the operation went more smoothly than expected.

It was all down to three active threads. My offer to take her to the capital was quite tempting, and she forgot her timid nature and scanned her surroundings with all her might.

Thanks to her, I was able to easily spot any changes or oddities in the party.

Of course, it was inevitable that Kassar would interrupt me.

“Lord Kassar, why again…!”

“Lord Kassar, no matter how much I hate you, this is really…!”

“Lord Kassar, I can’t stand it anymore…!”

“Lord Kassar, you’re a bully!”

At the same time, my acting skills were improving day by day.

At first, I was passive, tearfully trying to stop him, but later, I was openly arguing with him, and finally, I was fainting on the spot, surprising everyone around me.

Even Cecil, who knows it’s all an act, looks at me with concern and asks for instructions.

“You’re not really sick, are you?”

I just shrugged and smiled.

And there was another reason why we were fooling everyone. We’d been meeting separately to continue the lecture.

“You have to be tougher there.”

“What, what?”

“You know what you’re good at, giving someone a slap while saying, ‘You despicable wretch, get the bloody hell out of here now’!”

“Please just say something normal, eh?!”

So Lord Kassar’s stress level was bound to skyrocket.

At first, he was passively breaking things because he was embarrassed, but then he became annoyed and was breaking things out of frustration.

As if that wasn’t enough, the other Knights seemed to take it out on him as well, with even the division commanders gossiping behind his back.

“What’s with the mess?”

“He must have a headache.”

But even though this was happening every day, Rudrick didn’t do anything about it. It may seem like he’s looking the other way, but I instinctively knew.

He was staying put to make it easier for me to accomplish what I was trying to do.

Maybe it was because Kassar had already spoken to Rudrick in hushed tones, and I was okay with that, too. After all, Rudrick, the Master of the House, would have to finish the job.

And so it was that Kassar and I worked diligently to put up a cover story and thwart the culprit’s plans.

The date of the party was getting closer.

‘Good.’

The preparations for the party were going well, although Kassar’s vandalism had slowed things down a bit. At the same time, the perp’s impatience was almost at its peak.

I immediately called for Cecil.

She stood in front of me as if she had been waiting for me, listened to my instructions, and then said confidently.

“Just leave it to me.”