The Male Lead’s Sickly Aide is My Type - Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Her heart felt like it was going to burst. Her mouth was dry, and as her breathing quickened, her body also felt warm.
What would Archen say? How would he react?
Trembling and too afraid to meet his gaze, she awkwardly lowered her head, and in doing so, she noticed his hand.
His slender fingers curled into a fist, vibrating ever so slightly.
…What did this trembling mean? Why didn’t he say anything?
She had to see his face to find out the reason. She had to see what expression he was making.
At the thought, Carinne couldn’t control her racing heart and repeatedly took deep breaths. And then, she tightly closed her eyes and opened them again.
Please, please…
“Princess, would you dance with me?”
However, when she opened her eyes, she saw the face of a completely unfamiliar man.
“Yes?”
At first, she was bewildered, but then he continued.
“I’ll take the lead.”
After a moment, she felt puzzled and replied.
“Don’t you see we’re in the middle of a conversation?”
“What do you mean…?”
Finally, her anger surged up. How dare he interrupt at this crucial moment?
“Step aside immediately.”
“Princess, please calm down…”
Despite her resolute tone, the man didn’t retreat.
He was someone who couldn’t understand her words. If that was the case, she could only ignore him. Carinne pretended not to see the man and stretched her neck to check on Archen’s condition. Still, the man met her gaze and moved his head, blocking Archen from view.
What a jerk!
What should she do?
“Princess, why are you acting like this?”
The man looked puzzled, but when Carinne widened her eyes and looked past his shoulder, he finally turned around. Even up to this point, it was enough to drive her crazy, though what he said next was a catalyst.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You were giving instructions to your subordinate, and I interrupted.”
She had endured enough. Carinne kicked the man’s foot with all her strength and then pushed him forcefully.
“Ouch! What are you doing?”
The man hopped on one foot and screamed in pain.
However, Carinne couldn’t hear any sound. She completely ignored the commotion because she was focused on the person in front of her.
Beneath golden hair that rustled, his deep blue eyes were fiercely shaking.
He seemed a bit flustered, with a slight blush on his cheeks and lips that trembled without any color. The corners of his mouth were twitching and trembling. It was a completely different reaction from when she teased him earlier. He was clearly taken aback.
Realizing this, her heart sank like a roller coaster plunging down.
‘…Ah, I shouldn’t have said anything.’
“Oops, it was just a joke, a joke!”
Carinne clapped her hands with all her might.
“Haha, surprised? I wanted to see the look on your face. Well, I guess I succeeded since I saw it. You’re not upset, are you? I had so much fun teasing you earlier that I couldn’t help but do it again. I thought this kind of prank would be okay between us, but if it’s not, just let me know. I won’t do it again next time.”
Carinne blurted out without knowing what she was saying, speaking whatever came to her mind.
Her face was burning, and she couldn’t open her eyes properly. It felt like someone had set her body on fire.
“That… was too much of a joke.”
He said in a trembling voice after a while. It was clear that he wasn’t feeling happy, whether it was due to anger or feeling hurt.
“I have something to tell His Excellency, so I’ll take my leave now.”
He was someone who always maintained perfect manners in any situation. Whenever they parted ways, there was always a light bow or an exchange of glances, but this time, there was no greeting at all. He hastily made excuses and left as if running away, without even looking back.
The cascading blonde hair and a pair of sparkling earrings gradually moved away from Carinne. Her second confession ended so unsatisfactorily, making her mind go blank.
“Princess, well then, about us…”
“Get lost.”
“….”
“Or I might tear you apart.”
“Oops.”
The man’s face turned pale, and he left without looking back. Left alone, Carinne grabbed her hair and slumped down in despair.
‘I must be crazy.’
She couldn’t bear her own sorry state. There had never been such a miscalculation before. If she thought she would regret it, she shouldn’t have even tried.
‘It was going so well. I should have said it later.’
She recalled the marshmallow story she had read when she was young.
She believed that if it were her, she would be patient enough to wait and would eventually receive another marshmallow without a doubt. Nevertheless, now, she was like an impatient child who immediately put the marshmallow in her mouth without even hearing the rules.
Carinne blamed her reckless self and bit her lip. If there was a spell to turn back time, even if she had to sell her soul to the devil, she wanted to know.
“Princess, the honor of dancing a song with me…”
“That’s enough.”
The unfamiliar man approached and extended his hand, but Carinne brushed it off and walked in the opposite direction. She was sick of dance requests. Her head was spinning, and she felt like she would get better if she felt the cool breeze.
Regardless, fate was not on Carinne’s side.
When she reached the corridor leading outside, she noticed a group of elegantly dressed noblewomen and stopped in her tracks.
“Are you making fun of us?”
“You should play pranks with some moderation!”
The furious women passed by her with quick steps. With their chins raised and haughty expressions, they fanned their faces repeatedly, and their cheeks were flushed with anger.
Carinne let out a deep sigh and walked towards the spot where the noblewomen had been.
Iris, with a gloomy expression, was there.
“Carinne!”
Iris brightened up when she saw her and smiled. Carinne had a vague idea of what had happened, but she asked out of courtesy.
“What’s wrong?”
“People don’t believe me.”
Iris slumped her shoulders and pursed her lips.
“But it’s true… I can talk to animals. There are fairies, too.”
“….”
“Fairies are kind beings who repay favors when they receive help. If you wish earnestly, they can grant your wishes, and…”
“Iris, you know…”
“Yes?”
She widened her eyes, waiting for Carinne to continue.
She didn’t show any signs of displeasure. At times like this, she was a truly kind friend. It would have been great if she had a bit more sense of reality.
‘And it would have been great if I hadn’t said those words.’
Carinne sighed, recalling Archen’s perplexed face. She let out a deep and heavy breath as if trying to exhale all the air from her lungs. Maybe she could confide in Iris. She wanted to pour out her heart to someone and receive comfort.
Even if Iris didn’t pick up on things easily, she was loyal, so she wouldn’t go blabbering around. And when she overheard whom Carinne liked last time, she kept the secret.
‘…Alright. It seems okay to talk to her.’
“I don’t think Archen likes me.”
Just by saying those words, Carinne felt her strength drain from her body.
“….?”
Iris’ eyes widened considerably. She grabbed her hand and pulled her into a corner.
“What do you mean?”
“I asked if he was interested in me. Just a moment ago.”
Carinne replied with a lifeless voice.
“And?”
“His reaction was completely indifferent, so I brushed it off as a joke. What should I do now?”
Her confident flirting had ended in a joke, and her plan to tease him had met a swift failure.
However, that wasn’t the only problem. The Ashite Flower Festival was only a few days away. To find out his secret by luring him on that day, she had to maintain a friendly relationship with him.
But…
‘I’ve become his enemy.’
In one moment of carelessness, everything had collapsed. Instead of becoming close friends, she would have to make sure he didn’t avoid her on the day of the festival.
When she started sobbing, Iris seemed slightly surprised.
“Carinne…”
Iris reached out and patted her back. There was a sympathetic expression on her face, even though it seemed as if she didn’t understand.
Carinne felt the touch on her back and buried her face in her hands.
“Everything’s ruined…”
“It’s strange. If it were me, I wouldn’t reject you.”
Iris tilted her head as if she couldn’t comprehend.
“What reason could there be to reject you? Or maybe, perhaps, he also has the same feelings for you? Maybe he’s afraid of being rejected, so he can’t bring himself to say anything.”
“….?”
“I mean, maybe he likes you too. Maybe he didn’t want to say anything because he was afraid of being rejected like you.”
“….”
“You played it off as a joke, right? But who knows, maybe he would have preferred if you hadn’t treated it as a joke.”
Was that possible?
Well, it was a plausible guess. Think about Martha and the King. They liked each other but believed that the other person couldn’t possibly like them back, so they kept their feelings to themselves.
“…Could it be that Archen likes me, too?”
The look in Archen’s eyes when they met was clearly filled with longing. It could explain why he seemed bewildered. After all, she had unexpectedly flirted with him, so he must have been taken aback, whether he liked her or not.
“Oh, I see…”
It was a good thing she confided in Iris.
The next time they met, she would have to be more direct and find out. No, that would have to wait for a little while later. First, she had to uncover his secret on the day of the festival.
“Princess…”
At that moment, a stranger approached and spoke.
This made it the eighth time.
“Go away!”
She didn’t need to hear the rest. When she raised her voice and chased the man away, he immediately ran off without a care. Regardless of her changed reputation and all that nonsense, she was starting to get annoyed.
Carinne pursed her lips and complained.
“I don’t understand why they’re behaving like this.”
Even if her reputation had changed, it was sudden and confusing. What happened to everyone? As she thought about the clueless man from earlier, her irritation grew.
Iris tried to comfort her.
“It seems like people are paying attention to you because you’ve been kinder lately. You’re beautiful, come from a good family, and have a lot of wealth. Your only flaw used to be your personality, but even that seems to have changed.”
It wasn’t exactly a flattering remark. Carinne was about to say something, but then she saw the innocent expression on Iris’ face, like a newborn fawn saying, ‘I don’t know anything.’
Iris didn’t mean any harm with her words.
“I didn’t want to bring this up, but when I first sent out the invitations, no one replied.”
Iris didn’t stop there and continued with her rambling.
“So I was wondering what to do, and I sent another invitation saying that you and Duke Lucas would be attending the party.”
“And then?”
“We got responses. Everyone came to the party, thanks to you and Duke Lucas.”
What? Well, the young ladies were interested in Lucas, let’s say that’s true.
But still…
‘What about me? Have I become a celebrity without even knowing it?’
Carinne thought about all the men who had asked her to dance today. She could definitely be considered a celebrity, but none of the women seemed to be interested in her as she thought back to the girls who had walked past her earlier.
They merely ignored her. Since the men came to see her, the women must’ve come to see Duke Lucas at the party…
It was annoying.
Frustrated, Carinne grabbed her hair and pulled at it in exasperation.
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