TOSWB 16

Chapter : 16

I thought the original story was already over, but here comes Episode 16.

It’s not like I’d die if I didn’t come every week. And even if this is the past, isn’t Leopold someone who ends up marrying my friend and becoming one body with her? No matter how I looked at it, this was strange.

“We’re friends.”

Leopold said it as if it were obvious. The audacity of it was unbelievable.

Friends.

As if that word were some kind of magic spell—like saying it alone could make everything forgivable.

It felt like something was fundamentally wrong with Leopold’s concept of “friends”…

“……”

Really showing how friendless he is.

“Really showing how friendless you are.”

I’d meant to keep that thought to myself, but before I realized it, the honest remark slipped right out of my mouth.

“……”

Leopold stared at me without saying anything. He neither agreed nor denied it. That was a guilty look. Most people wouldn’t notice such a subtle change in expression, but I could tell.

To be honest, the reason Leopold’s idea of friendship was so warped was partly my fault—and Evelyn’s too.

I’d always been overly protective of Evelyn in front of Leopold.

Since Leopold was a prince, he’d always been surrounded by adults. As for peers his own age, the only examples he ever saw were Evelyn and me.

Thinking about it that way, I could almost understand why he kept clinging to me under the excuse of “friendship”—

…No, I couldn’t. Why did it have to be me?

I once again revisited a question I’d asked myself hundreds of times after regressing. Anyway, this would end today.

As if making up my mind, I set my teacup down firmly. Then I looked Leopold straight in the eye and said the words I’d been repeating to myself over and over.

“I wish you’d stop calling for me.”

“…What?”

Leopold’s golden eyes wavered violently for a moment when he heard that.

“…Why?”

He was silent for a long time, clearly flustered, before finally asking for a reason with a tense expression.

It had been a long time since I’d seen him look that nervous. He looked as solemn as someone about to face the finals of the Imperial Swordsmanship Tournament.

Why, he asks. I’d expected him to say, “I know already.” He was the type who hated being bothered, after all.

I hesitated, then opened my mouth.

“…I’ll be honest, Leo. At this rate, my family is going to go bankrupt.”

“What are you talking about?”

Leopold reacted as if he’d heard something completely unimaginable.

“I mean it literally.”

After hearing my words, Leopold fell silent again, as if deep in thought. Then, whatever conclusion he reached, his expression hardened into something cold enough to call severe.

“If you hate me, you don’t need to make excuses.”

“…What? Of course I—no.”

I was about to say, “Of course that’s true,” but I shut my mouth when I met Leopold’s icy gaze.

He spoke as if generously granting mercy—You don’t have to make excuses—but it felt like if I actually answered yes, he wouldn’t let it slide.

…Saying things he doesn’t even mean. How unlike him.

Of course, Leopold was uncomfortable to deal with. Not the most uncomfortable person ever—but if there were a ranking, he’d easily place in the top five. First place was undeniably Asad.

Still, that wasn’t the main reason.

“There’s… nothing like that.”

“……”

At my words, Leopold’s expression seemed to relax just a little—just barely. But the doubt in his eyes didn’t disappear.

He looked at me as if demanding an explanation. I hesitated, wondering whether I should say it or not.

“To begin with, do you know how much preparation it takes just to come to the Imperial Palace—no… never mind. The point is, a count’s household doesn’t exactly have money to spare.”

“……”

It wasn’t easy to say something like this in front of Leopold.

He’d been my old frenemy for years, and admitting I was short on money hurt my pride. I’d kept pretending everything was fine and accepting his invitations, but I was reaching my limit.

For a prince like Leopold, it probably wasn’t even worth worrying about—but for a financially struggling count’s family, it was a significant fixed expense.

…Even if I said it like this, I knew Leopold wouldn’t understand.

Thinking that, I glanced at him to gauge his reaction.

“……”

As expected, Leopold looked completely unable to comprehend it. His expression barely changed, but I could tell. He always made that face in my previous life whenever I cracked a rare joke at him.

…What an obnoxious guy.

At this point, I wondered if he was doing it on purpose. Was he deliberately inviting me here to remind me of my circumstances?

Or could it be… that he wanted to speed up the time when I’d be sold off to a duke’s family?

That thought suddenly crossed my mind—and disturbingly, it felt plausible.

With irritation creeping into my voice, I challenged him.

“If this ends up speeding up the time when I get sold off to a duke’s family, are you going to take responsibility?”

“Huh?”

Leopold blinked his large golden eyes. He looked genuinely shocked by the unexpected question.

His already-large pupils widened to their limit. He just stared at me, completely stunned, without saying a word. For the first time, Leopold actually looked like a thirteen-year-old—though only on the outside.

Seeing that overreaction, I became certain. All of this had been a scheme to hasten that outcome.

In my previous life, once I entered a political marriage with Asad, Leopold had been able to eliminate that wolfish man—who had been eyeing the heroine Evelyn—without lifting a finger.

If I were to be married off earlier, right now at thirteen, sold to a duke’s family, then Leopold would have neither a reason nor a need to clash with the second male lead, Asad.

Ha. So that’s what he was after.

What a despicable bastard! Even without pulling tricks like this, Leopold was destined to marry Evelyn anyway!

…I really do hate him. Just because he’s the male lead, does that mean it’s okay to use me and throw me away like some disposable extra?

I looked at Leopold while suppressing my trembling anger.

Leopold—who had never once shown any sign of agitation—was now darting his golden eyes around. His lips twitched as if he were searching for words.

“…I—”

After staring at me with shaken eyes for a long while, Leopold seemed to make up his mind and was about to say something.

“Anyway!”

“……”

I cut him off before he could speak. Leopold looked at me with a slightly hollow expression. I met his gaze firmly and continued.

“There’s no reason for you to go out of your way to see me, right? You seem busy too. So let’s just stop—”

“That’s not possible.”

Before I could even finish, Leopold interrupted sharply, as if the matter wasn’t worth further consideration.

Seriously? I’d swallowed my pride and begged this much, and he was still this adamant?

I’d learned painfully in my previous life that despite his beautiful appearance, Leopold was utterly merciless—no blood, no tears, no compassion. I’d been fooled by that face more times than I could count. Now I was being reminded of it again.

“……”

“……”

I glared at Leopold in disbelief. For reasons I didn’t understand, he had no intention of backing down.

When he had that look in his eyes, nothing anyone said would get through to him. As far as I knew, no one could beat him when it came to sheer stubbornness.

“……”

In the end, I swallowed my frustration and decided to retreat—for now.

I didn’t know what his goal was, but if he had some reason he absolutely had to keep calling me out… then at the very least, I wanted to change the location. The Imperial Palace had too many eyes watching.

I sighed and spoke while looking straight at Leopold, who was staring back just as unyieldingly.

“…If it’s just for tea, it doesn’t have to be the Imperial Palace, right? There’s our count’s estate, and—”

For now, I wanted to stop coming to the palace. …I didn’t want to accidentally run into Asad again. And there was always the chance Leopold and Asad might cross paths.

Leopold really, really, really hated Asad. About a hundred times more than he disliked me. Which made sense—they were rivals over the same woman.

If those two ever met, even by chance, something serious was bound to happen. I didn’t want to be anywhere near that.

“Wait. The count’s estate?”

In the middle of my attempt to persuade him, Leopold suddenly cut in, as if something in my words had caught his attention.

“Yeah.”

“……”

I nodded casually, but Leopold frowned slightly, as though he’d heard something unfamiliar. A crack appeared in his usually blank expression.

I tilted my head in confusion as I looked at him. Why react to that of all things?

Don’t tell me he meant, Why would I go to such a shabby place? It would be irritating, but he was royalty.

Taking a small step back, I said,

“Well, of course it’s not like this place, but it’s still a noble estate. It’s not somewhere you couldn’t come to—what’s wrong?”

I was adding an explanation, but Leopold’s expression didn’t ease. If anything, the more he listened, the more strangely distorted his face became.

Finally, unable to hold it in, I asked him in confusion,

“…What’s so strange?”

“This time… you’d open the door?”

“What?”

When I asked cluelessly, a flash of disappointment passed through Leopold’s golden eyes.

“…It seems you don’t remember after all.”

With a bitter expression, Leopold lifted his teacup to his lips. What was he talking about all of a sudden?

Looking into his golden eyes, which seemed to be lost in the past, I finally realized what he meant.

At that moment, a memory brushed through my mind—a memory from my previous life that I’d completely forgotten.