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Chapter 3
‘Even if it looks reckless, that’s exactly the kind of warmhearted meddling heroines are known for.’
The girl, who looked like she had absolutely nothing to rely on and yet still rushed in to protect the boy, shouted loudly at the thugs.
“Don’t you feel ashamed ganging up on one person like that?!”
Watching her, I couldn’t help admiring her inwardly.
Even though she herself was trembling in fear, she still raised her voice to protect someone else.
‘Of course it’s brave. But…’
If things went wrong, both of them could end up in danger.
It was kind, but also incredibly reckless.
“Now we’re threatening two people instead of one, so I guess we don’t need to be ashamed anymore?”
What kind of bullshit was that?
The absurdity almost made me curse out loud.
And right on cue, a knight appeared and grabbed the arm of the thug who had been about to raise his hand.
The knight’s gaze shone sharply as he looked down at them, causing the thugs to flinch and stumble backward.
After that, things unfolded exactly as expected.
The knight subdued them in an instant.
‘Thank goodness. If he’d looked weak, I was planning to call more people.’
But that didn’t seem necessary.
Only after confirming all three of them were safe did I finally leave with peace of mind.
Thinking her job was done, Coco skipped away with light steps, completely unaware that the boy she left behind—Diego Milake—was glaring unpleasantly at the place she had disappeared from.
The image of the girl who had stared at him for a moment before hurriedly hiding behind the corner remained deeply imprinted in Diego’s mind.
‘She saw me and just walked away? She even stood there watching first? Ridiculous.’
Diego’s face twisted into a scowl.
‘None of these idiots can recognize someone important when they see one. Pathetic.’
If she had helped him, it would’ve been no different from grabbing hold of a golden lifeline, yet she failed to recognize his value.
‘She’s not even worth remembering.’
And yet, unlike the thugs, the girl’s expression—as if she were measuring or evaluating something—continued flickering in front of his eyes.
Turning away from the lingering image of the already vanished Coco, Diego also left the alley.
And so, little by little, resentment toward Coco quietly piled up.
Completely unaware of that fact, I continued on my way lightly.
Even though all those unexpected incidents had delayed me, I still couldn’t skip going to the temple.
Perhaps because the days were shorter this season, darkness had already settled heavily over the streets.
Guided by the glow of the streetlamps on my way to the temple, I ended up running into yet another person.
‘Why am I meeting so many people today? Especially in places this remote…’
A sharp, irritated voice was spitting out curse words nonstop.
The voice was quiet, but far too clear to ignore.
When I subtly turned my head, I found myself locking eyes with a boy dressed in priestly robes.
“……”
“……”
A brief silence passed.
Then suddenly, the boy sniffled and immediately began acting.
‘…I already heard everything.’
After hearing that colorful stream of profanity moments ago, his rapid change in attitude left me speechless.
There were plenty of male leads who acted kind in front of others while secretly being manipulative villains behind the scenes.
So this boy was probably another male lead candidate too.
Even his silhouette radiated handsomeness.
I barely held back a sigh.
Not once or twice.
This was the third time.
If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just taken my usual route.
‘And I even arrived before the heroine again. If I knew what novel this was, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near them. Seriously, what kind of novel is this? It’s definitely a reverse harem, though.’
It felt too suspicious to dismiss as coincidence.
‘This has to be one of the major events from the story.’
Maybe it was even the important first meeting between the heroine and the male leads early in the novel.
Since it was a reverse harem, they’d naturally become involved with her one after another.
That meant I needed to avoid them even more.
I’d already ignored two of them. Ignoring a third wouldn’t be hard.
I’d long since thrown away any lingering guilt.
Besides, this boy didn’t even look like he desperately needed help.
So I tried to ignore him and head straight into the temple.
Then—
“E-Excuse me… Sniff…”
D-Don’t call me.
Even with my eyes trembling, I kept staring straight ahead and continued walking.
But the boy didn’t care and called after me pitifully.
Compared to the boy who had been spewing curses earlier, his current voice sounded like an entirely different person.
I paused for just a moment, wondering if I’d mistaken him for someone else earlier.
Then—
“C-Coco, right?!”
“Huh?”
This time he knew my name?
Startled, I reflexively turned my head.
The boy stepped out from the dark alley, revealing himself.
Purple hair.
Purple eyes.
‘…What kind of role is this guy supposed to have?’
This man possessed beauty just as captivating as the previous two.
But he looked too pretty to be a main male lead, while at the same time standing out far too much to merely be a secondary lead.
And after consecutively meeting all these major-looking characters, I couldn’t bring myself to believe he was just some ordinary extra either.
‘Wait… Ah! Is this that rumored person? The genius with enormous divine power?’
Because I frequented the temple so often, I occasionally overheard rumors about the prodigy named Hedwin.
Apparently, he possessed several times more divine power than most people, and his talent in theological studies had made him a highly promising priest-in-training from a young age.
Most of the praise centered around his beauty.
Still, it wasn’t a topic I cared much about, so I’d mostly ignored the gossip.
‘His setup definitely screams male lead, but the name doesn’t sound familiar at all…’
No novel came to mind.
While I was lost in thought, Hedwin grabbed my sleeve and began pouring out his story without even waiting for me to ask.
He was so tall that I practically disappeared in his shadow.
At this hour, anyone misunderstanding the situation might have thought I was in danger.
But contrary to appearances, this one-sided conversation was simply him lamenting his miserable circumstances.
“Ever since I was born, I’ve been blessed by God with immense divine power. So I swore to devote my life to serving Lady Isadora in repayment for that love and grace. But lately… it’s become too difficult.”
Hedwin sniffled softly as tears streamed down his face.
Rather than feeling sympathy, my first thought was amazement that such vulgar curses had come from those pretty cherry-like lips.
But I quickly pushed that thought aside and focused on how to escape this situation.
If I acted like I knew his true personality, I might end up trapped in an even more troublesome relationship.
Erasing the earlier curses from my mind, I cautiously asked,
“Do those people ever physically hurt you?”
“Huh? O-Oh, no! Nothing like that! It’s just… jealous stares and hostile words…”
Then emotion welled up inside him again, and he sniffled.
“The envy and jealousy are so overwhelming that I can barely endure it anymore. I want to quit… I truly did my best. I swear to heaven I’ve done nothing wrong to them. Then why do they hate me so much? Coco… would it be okay if I gave up?”
At his question, I quietly looked up at him.
If he unleashed even one of those curses from earlier, the ones crying would be those other students, not him.
Hedwin was a commoner who’d received attention for his talent, so it was obvious noble-born students were jealous of him.
And people raised like that had probably never heard language like his before.
More importantly, my own life was already difficult enough.
Honestly, Hedwin’s worries sounded like luxurious complaints to me.
Maybe someone would criticize me for being twisted, but even so, I envied him for having the freedom to struggle over something like this.
Hedwin insisted he’d done nothing wrong, and maybe that was true.
But I knew something he didn’t.
That wasn’t how hostility worked.
People could hate you even when you’d done absolutely nothing wrong.
‘Because that happened to me.’
In my previous life and this one.
Even though I’d done nothing, I’d constantly received the hostility of others.
By now, I was used to it.
Which meant I had simply become numb.
There had never really been anyone by my side.
Well, except Oried.
But Oried was someone I had to protect—not someone who shared the burden of my life.
Hedwin, on the other hand, had plenty of people who cared for him alongside those who envied him.
I’d seen priests praise him countless times.
And yet instead of turning to those people, he had grabbed me and started pouring out all his complaints.
Since he knew my name, there was no way he didn’t also know I rotated the same three outfits and survived off meals from the temple.
Which meant he knew perfectly well how poor I was.
And yet he still chose me to unload his troubles onto.
Given my circumstances, his worries simply didn’t resonate with me.
More than anything, Hedwin had already made up his mind.
He said he wanted to quit, but then asked me, “Would it be okay if I gave up?”
What he really wanted was validation.
He had already decided to give up and simply wanted someone to reassure him that his choice wasn’t wrong.
‘Even if someone gave me his talent and put me in the same situation, I would never quit.’
I let out a long sigh.
Then I pulled my sleeve free from his grip and answered coldly,
“No matter what I say, you’re going to give up anyway, aren’t you?”
I deliberately spoke sarcastically.
Instead of giving him the answer he wanted, I pointed directly at the truth he was trying to avoid.
As expected, Hedwin’s face immediately turned red.
Then he shot back defensively.
“That might not be true! How do you know my feelings wouldn’t change if someone comforted me?”
“I don’t.”
“You…!”
Hedwin stopped himself mid-outburst and shut his mouth.
‘Guess he realized getting angry at someone for saying “I don’t know” would be ridiculous.’
I turned toward the temple, intending to end the conversation there, but Hedwin stepped in front of me.
Wasn’t this conversation already over?
“What now…”
I dragged out my words irritably, and Hedwin’s eyebrows twitched upward in displeasure.
“You’re not going to comfort me?”
“You do realize comfort isn’t like ordering food at a restaurant and getting it instantly served to you, right?”
I answered carelessly out of exhaustion, and Hedwin’s face reddened even further.
He looked genuinely furious.
‘Did repeating his own tone back at him make him even angrier?’
Even so, I had no intention of softening my attitude, so I remained silent.
“At least say something…!”
Unable to contain his frustration, Hedwin raised his voice.
But I interrupted him before he could continue.
Simply ignoring him might not be enough to shake him off.
In that case, the only option was to say something harsh enough that he’d never want to talk to me again.
Looking straight at him calmly, I added,
“You said it yourself earlier. ‘How do you know my feelings wouldn’t change?’”
“What does that have to do with—”
“You asked me that while already assuming you were going to leave the temple.”
“…Ah.”
A look of defeat crossed Hedwin’s face.
Watching him, I continued,
“So what exactly am I supposed to say to someone like that? If you want to give up, then do it. And if you want comfort, go talk to a priest.”
After I shut down every argument one after another, Hedwin opened and closed his mouth before finally falling silent.
He bit his lip tightly and continued glaring at me resentfully.
Ignoring his stare, I turned away.
Just then, I spotted the heroine in the distance.
A relieved sigh escaped me.
I’d hurt him, but the heroine would probably heal that wound.
‘And honestly, if he quits over just a few words like this, then maybe he shouldn’t pursue it at all.’
Hedwin had a temple standing firmly behind him.
Of course I knew that words could kill people too.
My cold, almost mocking words could become poison to him.
But still…
I’m truly sorry, but—
‘I really don’t want to comfort him.’
I hadn’t found anything myself yet either.
I was simply struggling forward with vague determination.
So how was I supposed to comfort someone else?
I wanted comfort and support too.
Leaving behind the seemingly angry Hedwin, Coco headed toward the temple before glancing back slightly.
Thankfully, the heroine was already approaching Hedwin.
“Um, if you’re a priest-in-training… Huh? Were you crying?”
The girl had been about to ask something but looked startled upon seeing Hedwin’s reddened eyes.
Hedwin looked at the girl briefly before turning his gaze back toward Coco.
At the sight of her walking away without even looking back once, he frowned deeply.
‘Give up? Is that really something you say so easily to someone crying in front of you?’
Even while the girl offered him a handkerchief and comforted him, Coco’s cold demeanor refused to leave his mind.
His pain had been genuine.
He hadn’t pretended to be pitiful just to receive sympathy.
He had truly wanted comfort.
After being pushed around by noble-born priest students, he had finally opened up to someone for the first time.
But as he remembered Coco’s icy attitude, the resentment inside Hedwin gradually transformed into stubborn determination.
‘Like hell I’ll quit! I’ll succeed just to prove her wrong!’
Ironically, Coco’s cold words became the catalyst that solidified Hedwin’s resolve.
Even after leaving so coldly, I still felt somewhat bothered by Hedwin.
I’d worked hard to avoid getting involved with the male leads, yet I had gone out of my way to snap at Hedwin, who looked like one of the male lead candidates.
‘…I think I messed up.’
What if I accidentally end up influencing the original story in a bad way because I acted sarcastically?
That absolutely couldn’t happen.
But beyond that fear, I genuinely felt a little sorry for Hedwin.
Mentally, I was an adult.
Meanwhile, he was still just a kid.
His worries were exactly the kind teenagers had, and part of me thought I’d been too harsh.
After agonizing over it for a while, I eventually approached one of the priests.
‘I feel bad, but I can’t apologize now. The best thing is to avoid getting any more involved. Hopefully he’ll just forget about me. And for that to happen, the priest and the heroine need to comfort him enough that my existence fades into the background.’
Besides, I did feel guilty for speaking so harshly…
Carefully, I tugged on the priest’s sleeve and handed him a yellow handkerchief.
“Hedwin is crying over there. Please go comfort him.”
“Hm?”
The surprised priest asked back, and I spoke clearly.
“Please don’t focus only on him. Take care of the other priest students too. If you’re only going to pay attention to Hedwin, then at least protect him properly. The others are bullying him because they’re jealous.”
“Ah…”
The priest let out a sympathetic sigh.
When I first met Hedwin earlier, he’d been cursing to himself alone but acting innocent in front of me.
That meant he was probably pretending to be well-behaved in front of the priests too.
He must have kept carrying everything alone until he couldn’t take it anymore and finally grabbed a random passerby to vent to.
The priest looked deeply shaken by my words.
It was obvious my assumptions had hit the mark perfectly.
After falling silent with a darkened expression for a moment, the priest stood up and spoke gently.
“Thank you, Miss Coco.”
Since I visited the temple so often, there were almost no priests who didn’t know me by now.
“Bullying like this is difficult to solve alone. Someone in authority needs to step in and mediate.”
Hedwin was still a minor.
He was too young to handle everything by himself.
Even adults struggled to deal with subtle ostracism.
After speaking calmly, I bowed politely to the priest and left.
Completely unaware that I had unintentionally planted negative feelings in the hearts of multiple male lead candidates.
“I cleared all three gates!”
Now I probably wouldn’t get involved with the original story anymore.
Excited, I headed into the temple.
Without realizing I had quietly become the common enemy of several future male lead candidates.
I had ended up meeting all the people who looked like the male and female leads from a romance fantasy novel.
People I had never once encountered before—all in a single day.
And every single time, I had met them before the heroine did.
I almost ended up helping them too.
‘With appearances that extraordinary, they’re definitely romance fantasy male leads.’
But blond hair with red eyes, black hair with blue eyes…
There were way too many characters like that to narrow it down to a single novel.
‘Purple hair isn’t exactly common, but…’
Still, I had no idea.
Even the names didn’t sound familiar.
And there were way too many pink-haired heroines out there too.
Considering how the male lead candidates kept ending up in danger and being rescued by the heroine, their first meetings were probably major scenes in the story.
Yet no matter how much I thought about it, I still couldn’t remember which novel it was.
At this point, was I just stupid?
Other reincarnated protagonists remembered the original plot effortlessly and made tons of money, but my memory was like a goldfish’s.
Feeling frustrated, I smacked my head repeatedly.
Then I grabbed my throbbing head and groaned.
‘…I hit myself too hard.’
Still, whatever.
I didn’t know which novel they belonged to, or who exactly the heroine and male leads were.
But at least I’d successfully avoided every cliché situation.
I could relax now.
After all, it was already over. Someone ordinary like me would never meet them aga—
‘Wait. Whenever people say stuff like that, they end up meeting them again.’
I immediately shut my mouth before I could finish the sentence.
Before accidentally raising another death flag, I forced myself to think about something else.
Soon enough, my thoughts filled with the land surrounding the road to the temple.
There were several plots I had my eye on.
Mostly land whose value had crashed so badly that nobody paid attention to it anymore.
Completely unaware of the incredible treasures hidden beneath the surface.
Only land like that would be cheap enough for me to buy myself.
So before anyone else snatched them up, I needed to hurry and gather money—and find a trustworthy proxy.
This time, instead of selling the information, I planned to keep the land for myself.
After all, real estate brokers earned decent money…
But the true winners were always the landlords.
No—
The landowners.
