This BL Novel Is Ruined Now - Chapter 166
Chapter 166
Translator: Yonnee
RP: Haebaragi_syk
—
* * *
It might be a bit cliché, but thanks to reading the novel where Lehman was the protagonist, Reina was able to gain information about some talented individuals who could be sacrificed, just like her.
So, as soon as she received approval from the prime minister, Reina immediately headed to the slums.
When she arrived in the impoverished district, she got off the carriage and was about to head to her destination.
“Noona.”
A voice that shouldn’t be heard in this impoverished district made Reina turn her head in surprise.
“Eli? What are you doing here?”
“I came because I have business here.”
“I see… Huh?”
Come to think of it, Reina changed her appearance with magic. How did he recognize her?
“How did you know it was me?”
Curious, she tilted her head, and Eli smiled pleasantly.
“There’s always a pleasant scent around you, Noona.”
“A scent?”
The woman with her hand raised sniffed at Reina’s wrist.
“I don’t smell anything.”
“Not smell, but a scent.”
“Scent… I see.”
Her reaction made her companion let out a mischievous chuckle.
“Well… Anyway, Eli.”
“Yes?”
Eli had somehow moved closer, and so Reina gently pushed the man who was positioned as if to envelop her in his arms.
“Don’t you feel like we’re getting a bit too close?”
He was the one who insisted on keeping the line between them…
“Oh… I’m sorry.”
Avoiding eye contact and tightly pressing his lips together, Eli cautiously spoke as if trying to suppress his growing emotions.
“I’m trying to keep my promise to stay back… But it’s not working well. I know I shouldn’t be greedy for the same friendship as before… I’m sorry, Noona.”
She realized that her ambiguous attitude was making things harder for him, and she tried to reassure him.
“No, Eli. I just said that because I was afraid we might be misunderstood if we got too close.”
His lips hesitated, and he let out a hesitant murmur.
“Then, Noona… Can I go with you to where you’re heading now?”
“Huh…?”
The woman blinked her eyes at his unexpected request, and he quickly raised his head, as if realizing his request was a bit late.
“Oh, no. I said something unnecessary. There shouldn’t be any danger since there are knights around… I’m sorry, Noona.”
“……”
It’s really… complicated. Maintaining a positive relationship with someone and pushing those feelings away turned out to be harder than she thought.
But fortunately, he backed away first.
“I’ll go ahead. Even though the weather is warm, it’s still winter, so be careful not to trip and fall. On days like this, it’s easy to get hurt…”
He was about to continue with his habitual words of concern but suddenly stopped.
“…I’m doing it again. Imprudently…”
With Reina standing in front of him, Eli gave a beautiful smile. Reina pressed her lips together, on the other hand.
A brief silence settled between them.
With a faint hesitation and a forced smile, the face of the woman was etched near the depths of her heart.
Seeming bothered by it, the woman finally broke the silence and her companion took a step back, raising the corner of his mouth.
“I’m fine. So you don’t have to worry, Noona.”
“……”
“I’ll go now. Be careful, Noona… I mean, see you next time.”
As he turned away, his figure looked as small as a child’s back.
‘Haa…’
Feeling guilty for loving someone, that fact was truly regrettable.
“Eli.”
In the end, Reina grabbed the hand that was slowly getting farther away, step by step. She knew she shouldn’t allow these moments of closeness to persist, but his constant effort was weakening her.
“Let’s go together. I think I’ll be less scared if you’re with me.”
As their fingers touched more firmly and they held hands, his shoulders, which had been turned away, flinched slightly.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
With a bright smile that was as dazzling as it was sudden, Eli turned around without hesitation. His cheeks blushed like a child who had received candy.
Seeing him like that, Reina swallowed a bitter smile inwardly.
‘Is it okay for him to be this happy?’
Countless thoughts swirled within her.
Liking someone is not a sin. But was it wrong to like someone who was already taken?
However, when she considered the timing of when Eli began to like her, it wasn’t a time when she was already in a relationship.
No, even if he liked someone who was taken, could she really blame him for trying his best not to show it? After all, it’s impossible to control one’s feelings like a machine…
‘I really don’t know.’
A situation where a close friend has a crush on her. Reina couldn’t think of a more awkward and complicated situation.
Looking at the cautious Eli standing beside her, Reina inwardly sighed without showing it and tightly gripped the fan she was holding.
‘No matter what, if I keep showing such an ambiguous attitude like this… Eventually, it won’t be proper for Ethan.’
Still, she was getting weak.
How would she be able to handle this relationship?
“Noona, shall we go then?”
“Ah… Yes.”
Reina replied slowly, tightly closing her eyes.
She quietly conveyed her words of atonement to Ethan, who would be in the palace.
‘I’m sorry, Ethan.’
She hadn’t made any plans, nor did she have any intention to elope, but why did it feel like she was committing a sin?
Standing beside her, Eli glanced down at the woman tormented by guilt. She lowered her head and bit her lip.
Watching her like that, Eli muttered to himself inwardly,
‘Guilt isn’t a good direction.’
So, he needed to change his approach a little.
He exchanged a secret glance with Reina’s retinue from the Bureau of Efficient Technology who were following them.
‘I should deliver a more trivial line next time, so that it’s more natural.”
He needed to infiltrate her life with less resistance and more seamlessly.
With that in mind, Eli extended his hand to his beloved.
“Noona, I’ll only accompany you to a safe area. So, you don’t have to make that kind of expression.”
Perhaps Reina’s sense of guilt was backed by her innate ‘keen intuition’, which was quite remarkable.
In other words, her ability to detect a very skillful and calculating fox.
Want to read more? Advanced chapters are available on Patreon! (for selected novels only)
≪ Discord ≫
≪ Novel Updates ≫
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
