“What… did you say?”
“By now you should tell me.”
Cedric took something out from his chest and held it out to me.
“Ah! My fountain pen!”
I never thought I’d get it back, but since he’s giving it to me, I should take it. It’s a high-quality handmade item worth well over ten thousand torka anyway.
But when I reached out my hand, Cedric smoothly pulled it back and took it away again.
“Ah.”
“I stopped by the chapel for several days trying to return this to you, junior, but I couldn’t meet you, so I finally went to the cafeteria today. I don’t know your name, but I remember your face, so I was checking one by one. But whether I should say I was lucky or unlucky, I discovered you being bullied.”
“I’ve told you several times, it’s not bullying! Cain Astol is really my friend!”
“You don’t have to cover for him. Astol’s notoriety is quite high even within the student council. Improper uniform, bad attitude, illegal extortion and threats on campus, bringing in prohibited items, etc.”
No, when you say it like this, Cain looks like some unprecedented villain, but… he’s… he’s…!
Right. He is a villain. Not wearing his uniform properly was routine, he’d skip class at the drop of a hat to go play around, and he was the guy who cast the ‘just one bite’ skill on innocent students. His mouth was big, so the problem was that one bite was really big too.
“Right. Last year there was an assault case too.”
“That was mutual fault though…!”
I quickly searched my memory. Right after entering the high school division, there was an incident where Cain beat a classmate nearly to death. But that was because the other side first insulted the Astol Count family, calling them shameful people who would do anything for money.
And it was an insult directed at the Countess Astol, not the knights. Anyway, Cesare stepped up to help with that, and afterward it was smoothed over well with my financial treatment, so the rebellious Cain who had been drifting started hanging out with us from then on. Since Cain wanted to hide the detailed circumstances, it wasn’t widely known, so we seemed to have gotten the villain label by association too…
‘In the original work we looked like merciless villains, but we have our own circumstances too…!’
“I heard that gang backed by Yanox was getting cocky, but I didn’t know they’d be this ruthless.”
‘Excuse me, but I’m one of those ruthless gang members? And I’m the money source, the left arm at that?’ I wanted to say, but the moment Cesare was mentioned, Cedric’s face instantly took on a murderous look, so I couldn’t say anything.
Making the atmosphere awkward here wouldn’t do any good, and the best thing was to look as ‘non-villain’ as possible to clear Cain’s charges.
*Knock knock.*
Just then, a servant who looked like Cedric’s dedicated butler came in from outside the door and started bringing breakfast on a trolley.
I just focused on the thinly sliced ham, grilled asparagus, and eggs benedict with poached eggs as the main dish, with marmalade drinks, cheese, fruit, etc. being set before me. Because Cedric kept staring at me uncomfortably.
“Whew. Right. Let’s think about that matter later and eat first. My chef’s skills are of course the best, but I don’t know if it’ll suit your taste, junior. You don’t seem to have ordinary tastes.”
“I eat anything well, so it’s fine.”
Before transmigration maybe, but for me who has memories of Hell Joseon, specifically the lower-middle class, there was no food I couldn’t eat. I said I ate cookies, but I was still hungry, and the continuing stares were hard to endure, so I quickly put food in my mouth. I was planning to persuade him carefully while eating.
“…Delicious.”
Admiration flowed out without me realizing. As expected, the rumor that the special-grade dormitory chefs’ cooking was amazing wasn’t a lie. The cafeteria food was excellent too, but that was really a meal, while this felt more strongly like a five-star dish.
While eating frantically, I noticed that Cedric was only holding his fork but not touching the food.
“Why aren’t you eating, Senior Cedric?”
“I’m going crazy with curiosity about your name, junior, so I can’t eat, and I’m waiting to see when you’ll tell me. It’s the answer time I’ve been looking forward to, and I don’t want to hear it while merely eating eggs benedict.”
Purple eyes sparkled toward me. Only then did I realize that what Cedric had been muttering earlier were names starting with L that he’d thrown out to guess my name.
‘He saw my initials on the fountain pen. Tsk. I can’t run away from here either… But I might get scolded by Cesare…’
Thinking about what would happen if Cesare found out I was meeting alone with Cedric, whom he hates so much, made me feel a bit depressed. Still, the atmosphere was such that I couldn’t not tell him my name, so I had no choice but to reveal it.
“Well, if you go that far… My name is Lionel, senior.”
Cedric let out a short sigh and tilted his head back slightly. It was clearly an expression of disappointment.
Is my name crappy? I felt bad thinking he might think I look like a pig and my name is crappy too, but Cedric soon speared the poached egg with his fork and let out a gentle laugh.
“I’m sorry. It suits you so well that I was rude. All the names I’ve been thinking of until now look tacky in comparison, so I’m frustrated. Lionel… Right. There’s no name that suits you better than this.”
It must be incredibly difficult to eat poached egg with flowing yolk and asparagus cleanly with a fork, but he was achieving that difficult feat.
“It has a noble yet lyrical sound, soft yet resolute. It’s a good name both phonetically and poetically.”
The basics of etiquette are that when you receive a compliment, you should return it equally. But perhaps I was nervous, because my tongue got twisted and my words got garbled.
“Thank you. Senior Cedric’s name is also phonic… and cool.”
Are you doing a virus test?
What’s phonic! It’d be big trouble if it were positive, huh?! I was on the verge of tears at my own stupidity and dullness popping out anew. However, using the nouveau riche special of shamelessly pushing forward at times like this, I moved my fork nonchalantly.
“…Kup.”
But Cedric seemed to have already heard it and had the expression of someone doing a try-not-to-laugh challenge. Professional that he was, he barely put his hand to his mouth and cleared his throat, hurriedly changing the subject.
“Ahem. When did the bullying start? It doesn’t seem like just a day or two.”
“It’s not bullying. Cain is really a close friend of mine. You misunderstood us joking around, Senior Cedric.”
“Junior Lionel. Astol is a family no different from street thugs. Improprieties often occur even at the imperial palace.”
Street thugs? Improprieties? My hand cutting the yolk hesitated.
“Astol is quite a large knight family, but there are some problems with their chivalry. Cain Astol, who grew up in such a family tradition, wouldn’t be any different. On top of that, the personality of someone who hangs out with that gloomy Yanox…”
‘What personality? What’s wrong with a personality that hangs out with Cesare? And our Cesare is gloomy?!’
The arm bends inward and the crayfish sides with the crab. So there was no way I’d feel good when he was badmouthing my friend and Cesare out of nowhere. Feeling a surge of emotion, I immediately put down the fork and knife I was using.
“Excuse me, but Senior Cedric, what is your reason for declining private tutoring at the imperial palace and enrolling in the Imperial Academy?”
“……”
“As I understand it, I heard you wanted to cast aside your rank temporarily and build connections candidly. Your current actions seem very contradictory.”
“Contradictory?”
“I know the reputation of Count Astol’s knights is bad. But they are also honorable people who have received proper knighthood in the Torusian Empire. And honestly, for you to keep in mind that Cain is from that family… doesn’t look good. If he were from a different family, would you have misunderstood like this, senior?”
At my words, Cedric frowned with a somewhat frozen expression. Seeing the deep furrow in his brow, I thought I was too impolite and quickly bowed my head, trailing off my words.
“Cesare Yanox too… hasn’t done anything that bad yet… He’s not gloomy. They’re good friends.”
Let’s set aside for now whether Cesare is really a good friend. Clearing Cain’s charges comes first.
After a long heavy silence, Cedric spoke first.
“…But Astol choked your neck and made you imitate a dog. If that’s not bullying, what is it?”
This person is persistent!
“That’s because it’s my, specialty… Um… it’s a bit embarrassing, but I’m really good at imitating small dogs… so I often show it to close friends… We just foolishly imitate dogs and play around among ourselves…”
How many Koreans could say ‘My hobby is imitating small dogs’ in front of the president? But that’s what I’m doing right now.
No matter how much I’m Hell’s mouth, I know this is an embarrassing act. My face must be redder than a beet right now.
That crown prince has probably only heard elegant words like ‘My specialty is violin,’ ‘My specialty is magic research,’ ‘My specialty is swordsmanship’ throughout his life, so I felt unnecessarily sorry.
“There are people whose… specialty is… imitating small dogs…?”
Glancing at the trailing-off Cedric, it seemed cognitive dissonance had set in his brain too. Eventually, he seemed to decide to deny the reality he faced and gently soothed me.
“Junior Lionel. You don’t need to go so far to cover for him. Astol is…”
Ugh, geez. You really don’t get it! Tired of explaining any further, I finally demonstrated my specialty. Because it’s better to hear it once than explain a hundred times.
“Just listen once. Woof! Grrrrr…. Yap! Yap yap! Whine…! Yap!”
“……!”
“Whiiine…. Yap yap! Yap yap yap!”
At my specialty of imitating a white Maltese, the noble crown prince seemed so shocked he held his fork and couldn’t say anything. He looked like he’d drop his fork if someone tapped him.
So you should have listened when I was talking. Okay?!
“…I’m good, right? This is really my party trick, you know? There are several versions. That was a Maltese and next is a Pom. Yap! Kyung, kyung!”
With the intuition that stopping here would lead to an extremely awkward time, not knowing what to do, I just demonstrated the nouveau riche special of shamelessness again until a good idea came to mind, barking like a dog. With the self-abandoning sentiment of ‘since my image is already ruined, enjoy my party trick,’ I made sounds with quite sincerity.
“Kyaoong? Kyaong!”
After the Pomeranian who thinks they’re the prettiest in the world comes the miniature pinscher. I was about to raise the corners of my mouth tightly to show my canines like an angry miniature pinscher…
“Lionel Mellans.”
A chillingly low voice came from behind me.
