If They Get Obsessed, I’m Doomed - Chapter 101

Chapter 51.2

He stared at his reflection for a long time, frustration burning in his gaze. But eventually, he couldn’t stand it anymore and turned away. Seeing his face, completely exposed with all his emotions laid bare, made him feel as though he were completely naked. The thought that Ariel had seen him like this was humiliating to the point of agony.

“This is a f*cking disaster.”

Skylar cursed at himself, spitting out harsh words without hesitation. The ferocity of his tone came so naturally from his mouth that it felt as though he had been masquerading as a dignified man on the outside.

What must she have thought when she saw him like that, his face burning with emotion? Just imagining it was unbearable, yet his mind relentlessly replayed the exact moment he wished he could forget.

“You’re… too close.”

“You don’t need to look at me this closely. I’m fine.”

‘Did I give myself away?’

As he replayed the conversation in his head, Skylar let out a quiet breath of relief. He was thankful that Ariel seemed oblivious.

In reality, though, that was just wishful thinking.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound of a knock cut through his thoughts like an unwelcome intruder. Immediately after, his aide’s voice followed from beyond the door, delivering his schedule.

“Your Highness, the diplomatic banquet with the Aision royal family is scheduled for 7 PM. Would you like to arrive at the central hall beforehand?”

“Just wait. I’ll head there myself.”

Barely managing to suppress his emotions, Skylar gave a blunt reply. His face, now devoid of expression, returned to its usual icy demeanor.

̊ · : * ✧* : · ̊

Ariel sat at her desk for a long time. Outside, the sky was painted in deep orange hues from the setting sun, but she was too preoccupied to eat. Her mind was tangled in thought.

All she could think about was Skylar.

When she had turned down the position of princess consort, Skylar had told her they should keep their distance. Yet, as if mocking that decision, his favorability had risen the very next day. Despite their supposed emotional distance, the real issue was how often they kept crossing paths. If she wanted to avoid further complications, she needed to put physical distance between them as well.

‘I have to rearrange my schedule and make sure our paths don’t overlap as much as possible.’

To do that, she thought back to what she had done in the imperial palace when trying to meet Racine—the time she had slipped through an open window, hiding and fleeing to stay out of Skylar’s sight. It had been reckless, but it had worked, and she had managed to avoid him entirely. That had been the right move.

It was a drastic measure, but at the moment, she had no better option.

For now, she had no choice but to keep this up, at least until the other targets had gained at least one heart each. Luckily, Skylar wasn’t particularly adept at teleporting or tracking people, so she wasn’t at a complete disadvantage.

The reason Ariel was able to consider such actions was because of her phone. It was her ultimate cheat code, allowing her to track their locations anytime, anywhere. With it, she could plan her escape routes before accidentally crossing paths with any of the targets.

‘That’s fine and all… but I can’t walk around staring at my phone all day. That’d be way too suspicious.’

The phone naturally drew attention, and constantly checking it would attract even more.

‘It’s a bit difficult to take it out and check it all the time. It would be more convenient if there were some sort of alert notification.’

It would be great if the phone sent a vibration notification, similar to when favorability increased. That way, she could sense their approach and react without needing to look at the phone directly.

“There’s probably no such function…”

Ariel gazed at her phone absentmindedly, feeling a twinge of disappointment. After a few moments of staring at the small white device, a memory unexpectedly came to mind. On the day she returned Skylar’s bracelet, her phone had vibrated in the imperial palace corridor. And almost immediately after, Racine had appeared.

‘Is there a notification related to individual location changes or proximity?’

The thought flashed through her mind. But unfortunately, her phone didn’t send notifications about a target’s location.

‘Was that just a bug? Or was there another reason?’

Ariel tapped and observed the small system windows on her phone carefully, wondering if there was something she had missed.

“It seems like there might be a way to set it…”

As she muttered to herself, her finger instinctively tapped on the location settings in Skylar’s profile window.

『 ※ Would you like to enable individual proximity notifications for ‘Skylar von Aither Lévretin’? 』

『 Yes 』 / 『 No 』

“Individual proximity notifications?”

Ariel quietly read the message on the system screen. It was exactly the function she had been wishing for just moments ago. With a hint of anticipation, she pressed the small ‘Yes’ button.

『 You have enabled proximity notifications for ‘Skylar von Aither Lévretin.’

* You will receive one vibration when the target moves within twenty meters of you.
* No alert will be triggered if the target is already within visual range.
* You can enable or disable the notifications at any time. 』

After confirming the details of the function she had wanted, Ariel’s hand trembled slightly. It reminded her of the tension she had felt while avoiding Skylar at the imperial palace. Now, that tension might become a constant part of her daily life.

Just thinking about it made her feel exhausted. With a sigh, she collapsed onto the bed.

“If I pretend to be sick and stay in bed, maybe Skylar won’t come… at least for a day… or maybe even a few days.”

If she could, she would have pretended to be sick and locked herself away. But that wasn’t an option. The other targets, especially Racine, still had favorability that was too low.

And Devoncia’s favorability was completely unknown.

Lying on the bed, Ariel tried to figure out a way to prioritize Racine while avoiding Skylar. But no matter how hard she thought, no clever solution came to mind. Her eyelids soon grew heavy, and before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep.

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The next day…

All of her careful preparations turned out to be pointless, as Skylar wasn’t even at the academy.

Neither was Devoncia.