Chapter 118
“Aren’t you curious?”
“About what?”
Though Kirine told her colleague to get back to work, they ignored her and kept clinging to her side.
“About Lord Arensis’s lover. Aren’t you curious who it is?”
“Not really.”
Knowing better than anyone who that lover was, Kirine responded indifferently. Her obvious disinterest made her colleague look at her with amazement.
“How are you not curious? Someone who hated associating with people now has a lover, not just a friend?”
“It happens.”
“How can you just say ‘it happens’ and move on? Are you really not curious?”
At their incredulous attitude, Kirine clicked her tongue and said dismissively:
“They can get together, what’s the big fuss?”
“How can we not make a fuss about this?”
As they kept shaking Kirine in frustration, she pushed them away irritably.
“What’s so amazing about that guy getting a lover? I have one too, you know.”
“How is it not amazing that Lord Arensis of all people has a… Wait, what did you say?”
When her colleague raised their voice, thinking they had misheard, Kirine responded casually.
“I said I’m not interested because I have one too.”
“Really?”
When Kirine nodded quietly, her colleague took a deep breath and fired off questions:
“What? Since when? No, who is it?”
“None of your business.”
“Are you going to keep being so cold about it?”
When Kirine remained silent, her colleague grabbed her arm and shook it.
“When did this happen! Who is it!”
“Ah, how annoying. Just do your work.”
“How can I work now? When did you have time to date anyone when you were always doing experiments and festival preparations?”
At their incredulous question about how she managed to date despite having no time, Kirine shook her head.
“Nothing’s impossible if you’re diligent enough.”
“What, are you saying I’m single because I’m lazy?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Her colleague sighed deeply at her noncommittal response.
“Wow, you’re really something… You were always complaining about being swamped with experiments and festival preparations, how did you manage to date?”
“That’s why you should hurry up and do your experiments too.”
The implication was to finish experiments quickly and use the remaining time to meet people.
Understanding her meaning immediately, her colleague clicked their tongue before finally focusing on their experiments.
***
The news that Ares had a lover spread throughout the Imperial Palace. Those who had secretly admired him while outwardly criticizing him as someone who was just pretty but had a terrible personality couldn’t recover from the shock.
Their interest centered on who Ares’s lover could be. Who could possibly be dating someone with such a bad personality? There were even rumors questioning how kind this person must be to date Ares.
‘I’m not particularly kind though.’
Kirine thought their personalities were probably similar, though she might be slightly better.
“She must be incredibly beautiful.”
“Who doesn’t like beautiful people?”
“But how beautiful must she be?”
“More importantly, aren’t you curious how he treats his lover?”
This had become a frequent topic of discussion lately.
Would Ares be affectionate toward his lover?
Some insisted he would maintain his terrible personality, while others suggested there might be a surprising twist—that he would be warm toward his lover.
‘Well, he is more affectionate than before.’
Considering how he came to her house in the evenings and even cooked for her, she thought he was quite affectionate.
Then one day, an unexpected rumor emerged.
“I heard you got a lover.”
There was a female knight who spoke casually with Kirine due to their frequent bickering with Ares.
When Kirine went out for some air, exhausted from festival preparations, she happened to meet this knight who asked her about it.
“When did you hear about that?”
“Rumors spread quickly.”
“What?”
It made sense for rumors about Ares Arensis to spread, given his fame even before joining the Imperial Knights.
But Kirine, who believed herself to be the most ordinary person in the world, never expected such rumors would spread about her.
“Well, it’s true I have a lover, but I didn’t expect rumors about it.”
Seeing her genuinely surprised expression, the female knight laughed and shook her head.
“You really… You’re still far from knowing yourself.”
Beyond graduating top of her class from magic school, Kirine was quite well-known for her appearance. Though her sharp upturned eyes made her seem unapproachable, her striking looks were enough to capture people’s attention. Her personality was also surprisingly sociable, giving her a good reputation.
The only drawback was that she was a commoner, not nobility. Otherwise, she had no shortcomings, and many people secretly wanted to court her.
Though she herself had been too busy fighting with Ares to notice.
“So who are you dating?”
“Why do you need to know?”
“I’m curious.”
Seeing the eager look in their eyes, Kirine frowned briefly before breaking into a wide smile.
“It’s fun seeing you curious. I won’t tell.”
“Hey!”
Though she heard them calling after her, protesting her response, Kirine just walked on, giggling.
‘People are so strange.’
While she understood their curiosity, she found it both fascinating and amusing that despite the rumors about her and Ares spreading at the same time, with identical content, no one suspected they were dating each other.
‘Would they notice if I wore the ring on my ring finger?’
She thought they probably wouldn’t realize even then, since the stones were different colors.
Smiling slightly, she was heading back to continue festival preparations when she saw Vincent was already there, tilting his head with obvious displeasure upon seeing her.
“I’d appreciate it if you could focus while working.”
“…”
At his disapproving tone, Kirine remained silent for a moment before letting out a short sigh.
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
Not wanting to engage in a longer conversation, she apologized briefly, causing Vincent to sigh before walking ahead.
As Kirine watched him quietly, she touched the ring on her necklace and followed. She couldn’t understand why he seemed particularly irritable today.
‘Surely not…’
Wondering if it was because of the rumors about her, she tried to gauge Vincent’s mood, but could only see his back.
‘I’ll just endure it.’
Once the festival ended, they wouldn’t see each other again. From the looks of it, Vincent didn’t want to either.
‘This might be for the best.’
Given how things had turned out, continuing as friends would have been awkward. She thought it might be better to cut ties with Vincent, as she was now uncomfortable too.
Suddenly, Vincent stopped walking. As she looked up wondering why, he abruptly turned and grabbed her collar.
“Hey, you…”
Before she could even react in shock or anger, Vincent pulled out her necklace. In his hand was the ring that matched Ares’s.
Nous_Defions
This basturd! 🤬🤬🤬