This Novel is not my Novel

Was I that obvious...?

I felt awkward.

Not only had he noticed my anxiety about what would happen if Reisir listened to the villain, grew disappointed in me, and found me distasteful, but he had also noticed my anxiety dissipate the moment I confirmed that his attitude toward me was no different from usual.

Still... I guess I'm thankful.

Seeing him act so nonchalantly like this must mean that Reisir hadn't accepted the villain's words and defined me as "that kind of person."

The moment I thought so with relief,

"Do you like Vigdís that much? To the point that even after deciding to let go of your obsession, you still can't completely let her go?"

Suddenly, the protagonist of someone else's novel threw this question at me.

I thought he had trusted me, but I guess not.

Was his friendly attitude just a way to make me let my guard down?

If he had brought this up from the start, I think I could have taken it calmly.

"You said you wouldn't talk about what happened yesterday..."

Reassuring me like this only to catch me off guard made a wave of betrayal and sorrow wash over me.

It was at that moment that the sweet baby dragon snuggled right into my arms.

She must have keenly sensed my mood and done this to comfort me.

As expected, Yor is the best. I have no one but Yor.

Just as I reached that conclusion while burying my face in the baby dragon's mane,

"I said I had something to say about Pret, not that I wouldn't talk about yesterday's events at all..."

The protagonist of someone else's novel offered this pathetic excuse.

At this point, my anger outweighed my sorrow, and my eyes naturally narrowed as I glared at him.

Yor also let out a threatening sound toward the protagonist of someone else's novel.

"Kyaooo...!"

Only then did the original protagonist offer a proper excuse.

"No, I just asked because it didn't seem to me like you liked Vigdís that much. As long as you maintain your engagement with her, you're bound to hear things similar to what you heard yesterday over and over. Some ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) people might even look down on you. So I was wondering what reason you had for maintaining your relationship with Vigdís, even to the point of enduring such insults. I also don't understand why you were obsessed with her early last year. Anyway, I had no intention of criticizing you at all."

To spew out such a long speech so quickly without his tongue getting twisted even once, and with such perfect diction that every word stuck in my ears.

If the genre of this novel had been a modern-day idol story, Reisir definitely would have been a rapper.

It was so impressive that I momentarily forgot the seriousness of the situation and had such a thought.

"I can roughly guess why Vigdís accepted and maintains her engagement with you. It was only after getting engaged to you that she was able to enroll in the academy."

I readily nodded.

It was a fact that anyone in the know would know, so there was no point in denying it.

Tryggdrik would often say things to Vigdís like, "And you have the nerve, when you're only able to attend the academy thanks to Young Master Karvaldr."

So more than one or two people had heard this.

"But you gained nothing but dishonor from your engagement to Vigdís, didn't you? To think you offered Vigdís a helping hand because you were just too nice, the damage is far too great... Besides, your surroundings were already overflowing with people trying to use you, and you were exhausted by it all. You wouldn't have willingly entered a one-sided relationship where you were the one being used."

Karvaldr had proposed to Vigdís because he wanted something from her, so Reisir's conjecture was more or less correct.

It was just that Karvaldr hadn't been able to get what he wanted.

...At this rate, isn't he going to figure out that Karvaldr just wanted to receive the thing called love from anyone, but didn't know how, which led to his pointless actions?

If that happened, I couldn't even fathom how Reisir, with his meddlesome personality, would treat me.

No, it wasn't that I couldn't fathom it if I tried. I just didn't even want to imagine it.

It would probably be better to be misunderstood as a pushover who acted out of pity for Vigdís's circumstances...

Unfortunately, Reisir had just spoken as though assuring me that such a possibility didn't exist.

That kind of claim wouldn't work in the slightest.

"Do you not consider the possibility that I briefly held Vigdís in my heart and then emptied it?"

"At first, I thought that was the case. But if you had been so obsessed with Vigdís because you liked her so much, she would still be wary and afraid of you. But I realized that even on the day I first introduced myself to her, I didn't sense any trace of that, you see?"

"That's because the day before, I apologized to Vigdís and promised not to obsess over her anymore."

"I think that no matter how naive Vigdís is, she wouldn't have readily believed the words of someone who had been obsessed with her and let her guard down."

As I listened, I could feel a certain conviction in his voice.

It was the attitude of someone who had already found what he believed to be the answer and was now merely testing me to confirm whether his conclusion was correct.

In that case, this kind of conversation was just a waste of time.

"So, what answer have you come up with?"

I didn't beat around the bush and asked him directly.

It was just too much for me to start by saying, "Because I've never been loved by my family..." and explain all of Karvaldr's personal circumstances in detail.

My plan was to vaguely affirm it if Reisir gave the correct answer and move on.

And yet—

"It was obvious that once you entered the academy, numerous female students would chase you around with confession attacks, so you needed a fake fiancée to prevent that, right?"

—An incorrect answer came out.

"Why on earth did you come to that conclusion...?"

"First of all, you're the youngest son of the Austri Ducal Family, aren't you?"

"Ah, and so..."

"And on top of that, you not only have an exceptional mind but also handsome looks."

"......?"

"You give off an arrogant and aloof impression, but you get embarrassed easily. You pretend to be indifferent but can't hide your meticulous and thoughtful side. It's fun to tease you, and the more I see you..."

"S-Stop teasing me...!"

"I'm not teasing you."

He had just said with his own mouth that it was fun to tease me.

The protagonist of someone else's novel feigned innocence as if wondering why I would say such a thing.

So very detestably.

"Anyway, the reason you excessively controlled Vigdís's relationships and acted so obsessively was all a performance to demonstrate just how madly you love her, and that bearing your love is an incredibly agonizing task, right?"

Even if I said no, it felt as though he wouldn't believe me.

"And since you explained these circumstances to Vigdís and asked for her forgiveness, she was able to believe you when you said you wouldn't be obsessive anymore, wasn't she?"

I had revealed the general circumstances, but it wasn't like that.

"And the reason you can't say anything right now is because you're too embarrassed to admit that the problem is that you're too amazing and too popular, right?"

The very situation of having to listen to this was just humiliating.

But then again, it's understandable why he'd misunderstand.

Although Karvaldr had been branded a defective product, just as the protagonist of someone else's novel had rattled on, he was a direct descendant of a ducal family and possessed outstanding looks.

If I had immediately broken off the engagement with her simply because it felt unpleasant to keep a character who contributed to Karvaldr's death in the original novel by my side, I imagine it would have caused a very tiresome situation.

From the perspective of the original Karvaldr, who yearned for love, getting engaged to Vigdís could be called a huge mistake, but...

In any case, it was fortunate for me.

Whether Reisir having this misunderstanding was also fortunate... I wasn't so sure.

I didn't want to continue the conversation on this topic any longer, and I had nothing more to say, so I decided to change the subject.

"More importantly... shouldn't we start talking about Pret now? You read his information with your skill, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Thanks to eating lunch quickly, we had some time to spare.

But because the protagonist of someone else's novel had brought up something unplanned, all our spare time had long since evaporated.

Reisir himself seemed well aware of that fact.

Seeing as he didn't waste any more time teasing me and immediately brought up the following.

"Pret said his full name was 'Pret Hulid,' right? That's fake."

"That was an alias?"

"His first name is 'Pret,' but the last name is wrong. 'Pret Grymur.' That's his real full name."

"Somehow... that's vaguely suspicious."

"Pfft! Right? If you're going to use an alias, it would be safer to just change the whole thing. Why change it so vaguely?"

If I showed a surprised reaction just because the last name was different, I might actually arouse suspicion that I was acting.

But since I couldn't simply brush it off calmly either, I gave a passable reaction.

At this trivial comment, Reisir burst out laughing as if it were funny while also expressing his confusion...

Why else? Because if you suddenly changed a supporting character's name just because his real name was revealed later, it would confuse the readers.

The answer naturally came to mind.

But telling this to the protagonist of someone else's novel was out of the question.

So I pretended to only half-listen and let it slide, prompting Reisir to continue his story.

"Besides the fact that his original surname is different, did you find out anything else?"

"Pret's 【Disguise】 skill doesn't just change the color of his Ether; it can also change his physical appearance."

"That is... an extraordinary skill."

"His claim that he could handle a trap he'd never seen before because he'd handled a lot of contraptions for tricks in a circus troupe was also a lie. On his general skill list, there was a skill called 【Trap Master】. And it was even S-rank."

In the original novel, when Pret appeared, that skill was SS-rank.

It seemed that since his appearance had been moved forward, the original author had adjusted Pret's skill grade in consideration of the protagonist Reisir's level.

Still, now was the time to feign surprise.

I deliberately widened my eyes and stared at Reisir, and he continued with an expression that said he understood my reaction.

"And he has an A-rank general skill called 【Phantom Glide】, with a description saying he can move without making a sound. Plus, he has a 【Stealth】 skill that can hide his presence, and skills like 【Infiltration】, 【Lockpicking】, and 【Parkour】 are registered too. Besides those, he also has 【Lip-reading】, 【Ventriloquism】, and 【Voice Modulation】 skills..."

I knew all of this as well.

So it wasn't surprising in the least, but I maintained my wide-eyed look and let out a small gasp.

To make him mistakenly believe that I was utterly amazed.

"Oh! He has the 【Acrobatics】 skill too, but unlike yours, there was no mention of a cat."

"......"

I couldn't help but make a solemn face, but it wasn't a problem.

Not only was it not a moment when I had to act surprised, but Reisir didn't merely take my reaction for granted; he was snickering and clearly enjoying it.

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