I Became The Male Lead’s Female Friend Chapter 140

 

Why did Rudrick suddenly attach Kassar to me?

 

In truth, the reason was simple.

 

I had asked him a long time ago to give me a trusted knight.

 

Until I was preparing for the party, I had been preoccupied with the hunt for the fiendish insect.

 

I had planned to search the Duke’s manor for all the information I could find, and then venture out to gather it myself.

 

But I was new to the north, and I hadn’t brought a knight to escort me, trusting only Rudrick, so I needed a knight to accompany me.

 

‘I’ll think about it.’

 

At my request, Rudrick thought long and hard before agreeing.

 

In truth, I wouldn’t have minded just any knight, but thankfully, he seemed to be thinking things through.

 

But somehow, at the behest of Mrs. Fedwick, the matter had fallen through the cracks, and now he wanted to put another knight in my place.

 

A knight with whom I have a very bad relationship.

 

“Kg, Sir Kassar, you mean as my escort…?”

 

“Yes.”

 

He nodded at my quizzical look.

 

“Because of the way things have turned out. Even if the masterminds have fled, there may be remnants.”

 

“And my opinion?”

 

“Didn’t I mention before that we could use a bright knight in northern geography? He’d be a good guide.”

 

“And my opinion?”

 

“If he has no other use, we can use him as a porter.”

 

“How about my opinion!”

 

The way Rudrick treated him, as if he wasn’t even there, made Kassar cringe. But he refused to yield.

 

“But Your Excellency, the demon wars will begin soon, and if I, Your Excellency’s right-hand man, am missing, it will be a great loss to the power…”

 

“It’s not necessary.”

 

“However, as the commander of the First Division, I am also obligated to lead the troops and participate in the battle…!”

 

“Kassar.”

 

Glancing back at him, Rudrick growled in annoyance.

 

“Will you take your troops and stay on the sidelines for ten minutes?”

 

“I’ll escort them.”

 

I smirked as Kassar answered without a second thought. No, where in the world would he go, and even a proud man like him would immediately lower his tail.

 

Power feels so good when it’s like that. I could bend stubborn people like Kassar to my will.

 

No, that’s because he’s Rudrick.

 

‘Well, it’s not all bad.’

To be honest, he’s the best I’ve ever had as an escort.

 

Even though Rudrick had said he didn’t need him, he was the first captain of the Bouser Knights.

 

He was the second-strongest knight after Rudrick, and his skills were recognized by everyone in the Knights.

 

Honestly, Rudrick was more than capable of filling in for him, and under normal circumstances, he would have been indispensable as a major force in the Knights.

 

But to have such a powerful man as that as my bodyguard, just so I could enjoy some kind of privileged vacation…

 

‘You have to like this, or you don’t.’

 

It was good to be safe with a strong man, but there’s a difference between being physically comfortable and mentally tired.

 

“Shouldn’t I consider it an honor to be escorted by the most powerful man in the Knights and right-hand man of the Duke?”

 

All this time, I’ve had to put up with his cocky personality.

 

Tiredly, I stared at him, then narrowed my eyes suspiciously, feeling that his tone had somehow changed.

 

“Thanks, but… what’s with the tone?”

 

“What’s the big deal.”

 

“They say when a person suddenly stops doing something they’re not doing, they’re doomed. I’ll send the money through a representative.”

 

“Are you crazy?!”

 

Seeing him red-faced from the joke made me feel a little better.

 

When I thought about it, I realized that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep him around.

 

I often secretly think that I should tease him to relieve my stress, but he hesitated and said, “Well… I guess I was wrong about you before.”

 

“…What?”

 

“Yes. I can’t admit that you’re pretty or anything, but your head seems to be a little messed up.”

 

“Isn’t there something wrong with your head?”

 

“If that’s even a compliment!”

 

He coughed and looked away, genuinely concerned by the comment.

 

“So, don’t pay too much attention to that.”

 

“…”

 

“Honestly, didn’t we do everything we were supposed to do? It’s not like it’s our job to keep an eye on things, and if you’re going to miss out just because we had a little party, doesn’t that mean you were out of your mind in the first place? I’m sorry.”

 

At a loss for words, I stared at him. So this… this was supposed to be comforting?

 

I said in a quivering voice, “Sir…”

 

“Ha, quite the consolation for someone so skilled. What is it?”

 

“Since when do you call us ‘we’?”

 

He huffed, stiffening.

 

“That, that’s…”

 

“You said you didn’t like it when we chanted, but then you left it out, and now you feel like you belong more than anyone else…” 

 

“No, it’s…”

 

“You say you hate it with your mouth, but you’re honest with your body, so why don’t we try chanting again?”

 

Before he could say anything, I shouted at the top of my lungs.

 

“Love!”

 

“Beat it!”

 

And then he stormed off. 

 

I had to stifle a laugh as I realized that he hadn’t forgotten his escort duties and hadn’t completely disappeared from view.

 

‘Did I look so grim?’

 

Kassar, who had probably never spoken a word of comfort in his life, was the first to say it.

 

Even Rudrick didn’t give me a worried glance until I left his office.

 

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t deeply distressed.

 

Never before had I been so openly toyed with by another person, and worst of all, I cringed at the thought that my poor choices had caused Rudrick so much harm.

 

But when I think about it soberly, the real culprit was Mrs. Fedwick.

 

No matter how much I blamed myself, it would always come back to haunt me if the real cause wasn’t addressed.

 

‘I know. It’s not like I’m going to stay depressed forever.’

 

It’s a mistake, we’re all human.

 

How many times have we been taught that the important thing was to choose to rise above the mistake or bury it?

 

‘Let’s do what we’ve always done.’

 

I stood there for a moment, thinking. I divided what I could and couldn’t do right now.

 

As I prioritized them, one after the other…

 

The answer came quickly.

 

‘First, I need to find the fiends.’

 

🌸

 

I’ve been a little distracted by everything that’s happened since I’ve been here.

 

Wasn’t one of the main things I came here for in the first place: to find the fiendish insect?

 

My priority was to woo Lord River, but I decided to put that on the sidelines for now.

 

Of course, I still had a crush on Lord River. But crush and suspicion were two different things.

 

No matter how much I thought about it, Sir River was hiding something, and I couldn’t stop thinking about that look I saw at the end.

 

‘That look must have been…’

 

For a moment, I thought of him, but then I felt my stomach turn and quickly shook the thought away.

 

Then I got busy again as I decided on my next goal.

 

As I had planned, I would first get all the information I could from the Duke’s residence. I was hoping to find some clues here, but that seemed to be difficult.

 

After the death of the previous Duke, the manor had returned to its former dismal state.

 

Rumors abounded of traitors among its occupants, even the now-disappeared Maid of Honor.

 

Anxiety would only make things darker, not brighter.

 

The mood at the ducal residence grew sharper and sharper as the purges began in earnest.

 

Every day, Bouser and the imperial forces were shouting and plotting, and the raiders would often venture out into the forest several times a day, sometimes not returning for days.

 

As a result, the Duke’s residence, which was always full of people, was typically empty, and there were fewer people on whom I could count for information.

 

I was wondering what to do about this, and whether I should go outside for now.

 

Unexpectedly, it was Kassar who solved my problem.

 

“The Demon Bug?”

 

With no one else to ask and no books to look up, I asked him in passing. I wasn’t expecting an answer, but his response was unexpected.

 

“I’ve seen it before.”

 

“Oh, I see… What?”

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

I stared at him with my mouth agape. But the bombshell had been dropped, and it had been a nonchalant one.

 

“No, I mean, how can you…”

 

“Am I just a normal person, and didn’t I tell you that before?”

 

“About what?”

 

“That I lived there.”

 

Oh, right…

 

The thing about Kassar was so unimportant that I heard it once and forgot about it.

 

I should have listened more carefully. I smirked and nudged him.

 

“But where did you… where did you see those?”

 

“I was pretty far into the woods when I saw it, and it was glowing blue in the dark, and it wasn’t even a glow-in-the-dark bug, but it was crawling on the ground, and I caught it, and it was that thing.”

 

“Wow, you should have caught it and sold it. Those things sell for a lot of money at auction.”

 

“Expensive? These assholes say bugs are worth nothing… No, not this.”

 

After a moment of cursing, he coughed and turned back to me.

 

“Then why are you looking for them?”

 

“Because I need a fiend myself, and I’m not trying to sell it because I’m broke like you.”

 

“…”

 

“I need to get one because I’m going to use it as an ingredient… and I think I only need one. Do you know where they come from?”

 

He was about to laugh when I interjected a joke, but then he listened to the rest of my sentence and thought for a moment.

 

Unusually, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and started to think about it in earnest, which made me feel unexpectedly grateful that he was taking it seriously.

 

His eyes widened.

 

Then he smiled, and I felt my spine tingle as I looked him in the face.

 

“I think I might know…”

 

“Really?”

 

“I don’t know, and I don’t think I do…”

 

“Hey, wait a minute.”

 

“So, if you do know.”

 

He asked, one corner of his mouth quirking up.

 

“What would you do for me?”

 

What, you bastard?