Peace Hunter

"What if we just cancel our current agreement?" Irene asked.

"Cancel our agreement?" I asked.

Irene nodded. I paused for a moment, considering my answer. Then, a moment later, I answered Irene's question.

"No," I said.

Irene was surprised to hear my answer.

"Why? If we don't pretend to be dating anymore, you won't be in danger anymore. You won't be targeted by so many people who want to kill you for being my boyfriend. If this agreement is canceled, you can return to a peaceful academy life, Rid," Irene said.

"It's true, if I don't pretend to be dating you, I won't be in danger anymore. I won't be targeted by so many people, and my life at the academy might return to peace. But do you really want this, Irene?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Irene asked.

"I asked, do you really want to cancel our agreement?" I asked.

Irene was silent for a moment, then she began to answer my question.

"Yes..." Irene said.

"It seems you're still hesitant about canceling this agreement. In that case, I refuse. I won't cancel this agreement," I said.

"No, I'm not hesitant about canceling this agreement. I really want to cancel this agreement!" Irene said in a slightly louder voice.

Several students around me and Irene were startled by Irene's loud voice, though they couldn't clearly hear what we were saying.

"If you're not hesitant, why are you wearing such a sad expression? You also answered my question hesitantly earlier," I said.

"No, I'm not sad, and I already said I'm not hesitant," Irene said.

"You did say that, but I saw your expression myself. Your expression is different from usual. Right now your expression looks sad and you also look hesitant. When you offered this agreement, your expression looked like usual, you also didn't seem hesitant in making this agreement. But look now, when you want to cancel this agreement, your expression looks sad and you also look hesitant. Therefore, I will not agree to cancel this agreement. I would have agreed to it, if your expression looked like usual and you also didn't hesitate when you wanted to cancel this agreement," I said.

"But, Rid, if you keep pretending to be my boyfriend, you'll—," Irene said.

Before Irene could finish her sentence, I immediately touched her head and stroked it with my right hand.

"I know you're worried about me, that's why you decided to break our agreement. You had to break it so I wouldn't be in constant danger. You don't really want this agreement to be broken now, do you?" I asked.

Irene remained silent and didn't answer my question, but she continued to look at me. Meanwhile, I continued to stroke her head.

"You may not know, but not long after our relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend became known to the people at the academy, senior Nadine approached me. She said that I might be targeted by dangerous people because I was dating you. So, before I was about to be killed by Enzo and the knights of Duke San Angela in the Hevea Forest, I already knew that I might be targeted by dangerous people. Even so, I didn't care; I decided to go through with this agreement. Even though I've already experienced an assassination attempt because I've become your boyfriend, I still don't care. I still want to go through with this agreement."

"You don't need to worry, Irene. Even though I'm targeted by dangerous people who want to kill me because I'm your boyfriend, I guarantee I'll be fine. I told you about my dream, didn't I? My dream is to make this world peaceful. I want to unite all the races in this world. To realize my dream, I might have to face powerful races in this world like giants, dragons, spirits, even demons and angels. That's why I'm not afraid of dangerous people who want to target me because I'm your boyfriend. The path to realizing my dream is more dangerous than the people who want to target me. So you don't have to worry about me being in danger because I'm your boyfriend, Irene."

"Besides, Her Majesty the Queen said she's decided to cancel the entire ~Matchmaking Battle~ event, so it seems like no one will target me anymore to kill me and force me to participate in it again. You also don't have to worry about me not being able to live a normal, peaceful life because I'm your boyfriend. My life was already far from peaceful when I had the dream of making this world peaceful," I said.

I said this while continuing to touch Irene's head, while Irene remained silent and said nothing. Not long after, Irene began to speak to me.

"Why do you want to continue this agreement, Rid? There should be no reason for you to continue this agreement. You're already famous and popular throughout the kingdom, and you can certainly secure an important position in the San Fulgen kingdom after you graduate without my help. You also said earlier that Her Majesty the Queen decided to cancel the ~Matchmaking Battle~, so there's no reason for you to continue pretending to be my boyfriend. The reason I asked you to be my boyfriend was to prevent me from participating in the event. Since the event has been canceled, you don't need to pretend to be my boyfriend anymore," Irene said.

I paused for a moment, but soon began to answer her question.

"I don't want this agreement to be canceled because I still need to pretend to be your boyfriend," I said.

"What do you mean?" Irene asked, slightly surprised.

"Although the ~Matchmaking Battle~ that would have killed Her Majesty the Queen and the entire San Lucia family has been canceled, the assassination plot still has the potential to proceed. Her Majesty the Queen said there is still a mastermind behind the plot. This mastermind is the one who turned Lord Duke San Minerva and Lord Duke San Angela into demons,"

"Therefore, Her Majesty the Queen and Uncle Louis, the head of the San Lucia family, will be more vigilant because the mastermind behind the assassination plot has not been captured. The mastermind is likely preparing another plan to kill Her Majesty the Queen and the entire San Lucia family. Uncle Louis and Brother Asier said they would protect the entire San Lucia family, but they would not be able to protect you and senior Nadine, who is currently a student at the academy. Therefore, I will be the one to protect you both. I still have to pretend to be your boyfriend so I can be close to you and protect you."

"Now I want to ask you, if I had agreed to cancel this agreement and we no longer pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend, what would our relationship be like after that, Irene?" I asked.

"Of course, we'll be strangers again. I'll try my best to stay away from you. I'll stay away from everyone else, too. I don't want you to get into any trouble because of being close to me," Irene said.

"I knew you'd do that. I can still approach senior Nadine without being in a relationship with her first, because she's approachable. But with you, I have to be in a relationship with you first to get close to you. That's why I decided not to break this agreement and continue pretending to be your boyfriend. That way, I can get closer to you and protect you," I said.

Irene fell silent upon hearing my words.

"By the way, you intended to do that to keep me and the others safe, right? It turns out that behind your cold demeanor and expression, you're actually a caring person. Isn't that right, ice princess?" I asked.

"Stop teasing me," Irene said.

I laughed at Irene's words, continuing to stroke her head.

"I won't let you become the person you used to be, Irene. You already have many friends at the academy. Just because you're a member of the targeted San Lucia family doesn't mean you have to distance yourself from me and the others. I'm sure the others won't let you distance themselves from them, especially Chloe. You two are closer than ever. Leandra and Lily don't want the lady they serve to become the same again, either."

"You can be close to them because you're my girlfriend, and they were originally my friends. In other words, you can be close to them because of this fake relationship. If you intend to distance yourself from them or break off your friendship because we're no longer pretending to be dating, then it's better for me to continue pretending to be dating you so you can maintain your friendship with them. I don't care even if I have to pretend to be dating you for a long time, as long as you stay close to them," I said.

Irene fell silent again after hearing my words. Even so, I continued.

"Actually, I have another reason why I want to continue our fake relationship. For some reason, I feel like this fake relationship shouldn't end. I don't know why, but I feel that way," I said.

Irene remained silent, but not long after, Irene began to speak.

"Hmm, I see," Irene said.

Irene then lowered her head as I continued to stroke her head. For some reason, I felt Irene smile.

"So, what about it, Irene? I've decided not to break our agreement. Do you still want to break our agreement?" I asked.

Irene remained silent, looking down. Then, a moment later, Irene lifted her head again.

"Ok, I'm not breaking our agreement. We'll continue our relationship as pretend boyfriend and girlfriend," Irene said.

"It's good that you've changed your mind, Irene," I said, continuing to stroke Irene's head.

"By the way, Rid, how long are you going to keep stroking my head?" Irene asked, looking at my hand that was stroking hers.

Hearing Irene's words, I immediately raised my right hand and stopped stroking her head.

"Ah, I'm sorry for being rude. I didn't realize I'd been stroking your head all this time. It must be uncomfortable to have your head stroked like that," I said.

"No. I'm not saying I don't feel comfortable having my head stroked; in fact, I don't mind. I'm just curious about how long you're going to keep stroking my head," Irene said.

"Well, if you hadn't asked me that, maybe I wouldn't have stopped stroking your head," I said.

"Hmm, I see. I shouldn't have asked that," Irene said in a low voice.

I couldn't hear her words because of her low voice.

"What did you just say, Irene?" I asked.

"It's nothing, I was just talking to myself," Irene said.

Meanwhile, around Rid and Irene, several students were looking at them.

"I don't know what they're talking about, but looking at them together is somehow really cute."

"Yeah, Rid even stroked the Ice Princess's head, and the Ice Princess didn't seem to resist being stroked like that."

"Even though the Ice Princess has a cold personality and expression, seeing her head being stroked is actually quite cute," the people said.

The people continued to stare at Rid and Irene as they were talking. Among them was Nadine, who was also looking at Rid and Irene. Nadine looked at Rid and Irene with a smile. Then, Nadine left the place.

-To be continued

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