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Chapter 48
It was a familiar face.
‘Arellin.’
Harun froze in place and stared straight at Arellin.
“……”
“……”
The silence dragged on.
‘Why is she standing there like that?’
The question came belatedly.
Arellin had widened her eyes in surprise upon seeing Harun. Then they both missed the right moment to greet each other, and an awkward silence settled between them.
Neither of them was particularly sociable to begin with, so a cheerful conversation was out of the question.
‘Just ignore her and move on.’
Arellin turned her attention away, deliberately ignoring Harun.
Harun, watching her do that, ended up missing the perfect timing to ignore her back.
‘Should I just walk past? Can I leave?’
But he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
He was too distracted to just walk away!
Glance.
‘How can she ignore that?’
In the end, Harun gave up on walking past and plopped down next to Arellin. The scent of spring lingered in the air.
“?”
Arellin looked at him with puzzled eyes. Harun was equally confused.
After some hesitation, Harun asked,
“…Are you hurt?”
“…?”
Arellin’s rose-colored eyes widened in surprise.
“Speaking.”
“?”
“You can speak.”
“……”
Arellin blinked at him with expressionless eyes. Her long lashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard your voice.”
Harun shut his mouth again.
He didn’t know what to say. His cheeks felt warm for some reason, and he pressed his lips tightly together.
‘What is this?’
He was confused.
“Harun?”
Arellin tilted her head. Harun still couldn’t understand this strange, noisy feeling inside.
“Are you the one who’s hurt, Harun?”
He should have said no.
“Harun, are you sick?”
“I’m not.”
“I’m not either.”
“……”
There was a hint of mischief in her voice when she said she wasn’t sick. Harun glanced at her with slight reproach.
Arellin beamed brightly. It was the first time he’d seen such a bright smile from her.
How could he get angry when she smiled like that?
“You were worried about me? That’s sweet.”
He should have been angry.
Even though she’d rudely patted his head and teased him with her tone—
For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to be mad.
Was it because of her unusually small stature for her age, or those soft eyes that resembled spring?
“Then why are you sitting here like this?”
“Ah.”
Arellin’s face suddenly darkened.
“The twins…”
“Ah.”
Even without a detailed explanation, Harun understood everything from that one word.
The little devils of Spherom were an equal-opportunity disaster for everyone.
“Want some help?”
“How?!”
Arellin asked eagerly, eyes lighting up, and Harun answered hesitantly.
“The twins… if they’re not interested, they lose focus quickly, so if you use that…”
“Interest.”
Harun nodded.
“That’s a good idea!”
Arellin looked delighted for a second, then her expression twisted.
“But… what if they don’t lose interest?”
“?”
Harun tilted his head.
He had never considered that possibility either.
Operation: Friend Shield stumbled right from the start.
My plan had been this:
Make another friend and use “hanging out” as an excuse to avoid Pession’s physical training!
‘No matter how pushy Pession is, she can’t block my social life!’
It was a grand vision and a flawless plan!
And the moment I arrived at the gold collection meeting, I realized:
“Oh, right.”
I was in the middle of being violently envied.
Making new friends turned out to be a challenge from the very start.
And envy wasn’t the only problem.
“Arellllllin!”
“Arellelele!”
The worst villains of the gold club, the twin devils of Spherom, had their sights set on me.
It was great that I managed to flee before they drained my soul, but I had no clue how to get through this crisis—until I ran into Harun.
‘Harun is…’
Perfectly suitable as a friend.
But there was one problem.
‘He’ll always choose the crown prince over me, right?’
Both in the novel and in real life, Harun was born to be the crown prince’s loyal knight. His unwavering devotion made the heroine, Chloe, go insane with frustration!
‘A friend out of reach!’
Still, it was worth a shot.
“Harun, want to be friends?”
“Friends?”
“I came to make friends because I don’t have any.”
“……”
Harun froze like he’d short-circuited. He stared at me like he had no idea what to do.
Pity? Not a bad angle.
“I’m not asking for much. Just hang out with me sometimes.”
“……”
“Only sometimes.”
“……”
“If it’s too much, just once is fine.”
He had a cold, expressionless face that made him look like an unapproachable, handsome ice prince. But after talking with him a bit, I could start to read his expressions.
Harun was thinking it over.
“Do you not like me?”
Flustered, Harun’s face turned red.
Just a little more push and I think I’ve got him. As I stepped closer, Harun backed away, his face reddening even more.
“O-okay, friends.”
“Yay!”
Nice, I secured one friend!
“Thanks!”
Might not be usable often, but I now had a hidden card in my hand! Overjoyed, I grabbed his hands and shook them enthusiastically. Harun’s cheeks turned even redder.
Why does he keep blushing like that?
Is the palace too warm?
“Harun, are you feeling sick?”
I was just about to reach out to check his forehead when—
“Ahh!”
A familiar voice rang out in my ears.
Pession had appeared out of nowhere, eyes wide in surprise as she looked back and forth between Harun and me.
“Arellin.”
“Yeah?”
“Why… are you with Harun?”
“We decided to be friends starting today.”
“……”
Pession’s expression contorted like she’d just chewed on a lemon.
The Little Devils of Spherom.
Twins Ciel and Noel blinked in confusion at the scene before them.
“Ciel, what exactly are we looking at here?”
“Noel, I have no idea.”
Even for the twins, who were born into immense wealth and raised without a single care thanks to their family’s influence, this was a first.
“Arellin, wouldn’t it be better to just give up?”
“Shouldn’t you be the one to give up, Pession?”
Arellin had run away the moment she saw the twins at the club. But shortly after, when they came back from looking for her, this baffling sight greeted them.
Arellin and Pession were in a heated standoff—over Harun.
“Arellin, how about leaving Harun and coming to sit next to me?”
“Why don’t you give up on Harun and come sit by me instead?”
They were both fighting over the seat next to Harun, who looked incredibly uncomfortable caught in the middle.
It looked like they were fighting over him, but when you listened closely—
“What do you like about Harun, Arellin?”
“He’s kind.”
“Do you like everyone who’s kind?”
“Well, Harun’s handsome too.”
“More handsome than me?!”
“Harun’s more my type.”
Pession stood there in shock.
The twins were confused.
“Weren’t they just fighting?”
“Your Highness cried, didn’t you?”
‘But when did they get this close?!’
After getting caught sneaking into House Halbern last time, the twins had been under strict surveillance and couldn’t get close, so this was all new to them.
Meanwhile, Arellin and Pession’s fight continued.
“Arellin.”
“What?”
“You like Harun more than me?!”
“Yeah.”
“Why?!”
“You really don’t know?”
Pession fumed.
“Harun.”
Finally, the fire jumped to Harun, who had stayed silent the whole time.
“Come here. Sit over here.”
“……”
“That’s an order from the crown prince.”
How petty.
Pession had never acted like this before. The twins, deeply moved by the drama, munched on imaginary popcorn.
Arellin protested.
“Why are you treating Harun like that?!”
“What am I doing?”
“Don’t boss Harun around.”
“It’s fine, he’s my friend too.”
“He’s my friend too!”
“I’ve been friends with him longer!”
As their childish squabble continued—
“Both of you, stop…”
Harun, finally at his limit, stood up.
“Stay out of it, Harun!”
“Stay out of it, Harun!”
It didn’t help at all.
With Arellin and Pession glaring at each other, Harun froze again as the twins jumped in.
“Your Highness!”
“Arelllllin!”
“Harunnn!”
“Is this a love triangle?!”
“What?!”
The twins’ golden eyes sparkled with curiosity, and both Pession and Arellin screamed in disbelief.
But before they could explain, the twins tackled them.
“Let us join!”
“We want in too!”
“Let’s make it a love pentagon!”
The seat war exploded into chaos.
“Wait, who are we fighting over again?”
“Isn’t it Harun?”
“Harun! Be mine!”
“That’s not it…”
Harun was suffering all over again.
