Chapter 8 : Chapter 8
Volume 1
Chapter 8 : The Protagonists Take the Stage!
This was not Selicia’s first time meeting Muen.
In fact, even before the coming-of-age ceremony, the story had already spent an entire academic year unfolding at Saint Marika Academy.
Although they had not been in the same division or even the same year, Selicia had still heard about Muen Campbell from time to time during that year.
Of course, everything she heard was about his misdeeds.
She had also come into contact with Muen Campbell himself several times, and the conclusion she had reached was no different from the rumors: poor character, arrogant, overbearing, idle, and ignorant.
Even in front of her, a princess of the Empire, he still carried himself with insufferable hauteur and looked down on others as if through the tip of his nose.
He was, in every sense, a worthless young rake.
But today, he seemed a little different.
“Is it simply because he has become a bit more polite?”
The thought passed through Selicia’s mind only briefly before she quickly put it away again.
The only reason Muen received even a fraction of her attention was that unpleasant status of being her fiancé.
Aside from that, there was not a single thing about him worth her time.
“Your Highness Princess Selicia, you seem somewhat weary from the journey. Why not go inside and rest for a while first? The banquet will not officially begin until a little later.”
Selicia had just been about to come up with an excuse to withdraw when Muen had already offered the suggestion with graceful courtesy.
She could not help staring for a moment, and her cool gaze swept once more across Muen’s face, which looked much the same as ever.
Since when has this man become so considerate?
Back at the academy, Muen had taken the initiative to pester her several times, to the point that she had found him thoroughly tiresome.
She had assumed he would cling to her for quite a while this time as well.
“Very well. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.”
Selicia gave a faint nod, then followed the maid Muen had summoned to a guest room prepared especially for distinguished visitors.
“Hah. She’s finally gone. She really is a little frightening.”
As he watched Selicia’s figure disappear from sight, Muen finally let out a long breath.
At some point, his back had already been dampened with sweat.
“As expected of the number one heroine in the original novel. That presence of hers is genuinely terrifying.”
Merely standing in front of her felt like standing in the middle of an ice field, with endless coldness climbing up from the soles of his feet.
If she was this cold on the surface, then if anyone ever had a truly intimate exchange with her, would his balls freeze off?
Muen entertained the wicked thought for a moment.
But that was no longer something he needed to worry about.
In any case, she was someone he could only admire, never truly marry.
He only hoped his hand would not shake tonight when the time came to drug her.
After indulging in his wild thoughts for a while, Muen suddenly noticed that the crowd around him had begun to stir again.
It seemed something astonishing had happened once more, and many people were whispering among themselves.
“That illegitimate daughter actually came…”
“That woman who dueled her former fiancé not long ago?”
“I heard Count Bugarde just handed the position of heir over to her.”
“Tch! She’s both illegitimate and a woman. What right does she have to inherit a count’s title?”
“Who knows what Count Bugarde was thinking?”
“Quiet. The count is here too. Don’t let him hear you.”
The moment Muen heard those hushed whispers, his vigilance instantly rose to the highest level.
His palms even began to sweat.
He was more nervous now than he had been facing Selicia just moments ago.
There was only one reason for that.
Only one person could make the surrounding nobles speak in this way.
Muen looked toward the new center of the storm.
Even at an occasion where everyone had dressed in their finest, she still wore plain clothing.
Her black hair was draped casually over her shoulders.
Idle gossip filled the air around her ears, yet confidence shone from her brows, and disdain curved lightly at the corners of her mouth.
Her face was nowhere near as breathtakingly perfect as Selicia’s, but it was still quite pleasing to the eye.
Aside from that utterly flat chest of hers—so flat her front looked no different from her back—she was undeniably a beauty in the making.
But no one should have been deceived by that plain and unadorned appearance, which made her seem so modest among all the dazzling young noble ladies.
Because she was…
“Ariel Bugarde.”
The true protagonist of the original novel, the ultimate Soaring Phoenix who liked only women.
Not long ago, she had openly defeated the former fiancé who had broken off their engagement three years earlier in a public duel, completing an astonishing three-step leap from illegitimate daughter to first heir of a count.
In the process, she had slapped the faces of all those elders and spectators who had looked down on her and left jaws dropped all over the floor.
It could be said that from birth to experience, from personality to appearance, she had been built exactly according to the perfect template of the word “protagonist.”
“Well, if it isn’t Young Master Muen. We met again. Have you been well lately?”
With that wild and unrestrained curve still hanging from the corner of her lips, Ariel walked up to Muen.
Though she had to tilt her head up slightly because of their difference in height, there was none of the humility others showed him in her eyes.
She did not even bow, as though she were greeting an old and intimate friend.
But Muen knew very well that his relationship with Ariel Bugarde could not remotely be described as good.
The only reason Ariel spoke to him that way was that she truly did not care in the slightest about his status as the Duke’s son.
“You insolent thing, how dare you speak to Young Master Muen like—”
Naturally, this was the sort of moment when some villainous hanger-on was bound to jump out, below a few words, and hand the protagonist the perfect chance to put him in his place.
Sure enough, one of the young noblemen standing beside Muen seemed eager to curry favor.
Before Muen had even said anything, he was already preparing to step forward and teach this ignorant bastard a lesson for not knowing her place.
But Muen shoved him right back down.
What a joke.
At a moment like this, how could he possibly keep letting other people draw hatred onto him?
“I have naturally been very well, Miss Ariel Bugarde.”
Muen still wore a flawless smile, and he gave Ariel an impeccable noble bow.
“I am touched that you should ask after me.”
“Ah—you…”
The moment Ariel saw how courteous Muen was behaving, she immediately looked as though she had seen a ghost.
What in the world was this?
Since when had this bullying young master—who mocked her every single time he saw her—become so polite?
And he had even stopped calling her a lowborn bastard and addressed her by her full name!
Her full name!
Could that little walnut-sized brain of his actually remember her full name?
“Has he finally grown a brain… or is this some kind of scheme?”
Ariel stroked her fair chin and cautiously let her gaze circle around Muen, as though afraid that the moment he smashed a cup to the floor, two hundred axemen would burst out and chop her into mincemeat.
But Muen paid no attention to Ariel’s suspicious stare.
Instead, he quickly shifted his gaze to the inconspicuous-looking girl who had arrived with her.
Big.
Very big.
So big they seemed like mountain ranges rising one after another.
That was the first thought that entered Muen’s mind when he looked at the girl.
She was practically Ariel’s complete opposite.
The dress stretched tightly over her chest so alarmingly that one could not help worrying whether what lay beneath might burst free on the spot.
It was so eye-catching that people would almost fail to notice her pretty face, pure and delicate, the sort that naturally stirred pity and tenderness.
“Good evening, Miss Lia,” Muen said with a smile.
“Huh? How does Young Master Muen know my name?”
The girl named Lia blinked adorably and asked in surprise.
“How could I possibly not know the names of tonight’s important guests?”
Muen’s manners remained as faultless as ever, leaving the girl slightly at a loss.
But Muen was certainly not doing this out of politeness alone.
More importantly, it was because of this girl’s identity.
Lia Angel, the protagonist’s childhood friend.
On the surface, she was only the daughter of an ordinary baron, not someone of particularly exalted status.
But in truth, Lia was already one of the Life Church’s candidate saintesses.
She was currently undergoing what was called a mortal trial, which was why she had concealed her identity and remained by Ariel’s side.
And since she stood beside the protagonist, it was only natural that she would go on to become the true saintess of the Life Church later in the story.
The status of a saintess was far higher than that of Muen, who was merely an ordinary Duke’s son.
“Muen Campbell, what are you trying to do?”
Ariel stepped in front of Lia, those sharp, imposing eyes fixed tightly on Muen.
“I’m warning you—do not get any crooked ideas about Lia!”
“How could that be? I was only greeting her.”
“Who would believe a word of that from you?”
“Well, if you refuse to believe me, there is nothing I can do.”
Muen gave a helpless shrug, then once again thoughtfully pointed the two of them toward the interior.
“In that case, please go inside first. It is cold out here. It would be a pity if two beauties like you were chilled.”
“You—”
Ariel’s eyes widened abruptly as she stared at Muen for a long while.
In the end, she could not help shivering.
She grabbed Lia by the hand and strode inside, not forgetting to spit out one last remark:
“Putting on that delicate little act—disgusting.”