Chapter 41: Using a Heroine to Deal with a Heroine

At this very moment.

The main hall of the Faxtius family estate was undeniably awkward.

Hall looked at Himan, who had rushed in from outside, and Himan looked back at Hall.

The two stared at each other, while Lorraine looked pitifully at Hall from within his embrace, occasionally glancing at Himan.

But Lorraine didn’t particularly like Himan, because Himan had stolen too much of Hall’s time when she was little.

If it weren’t for this cousin, Hall would have spent more time with her.

Coupled with Hall and Himan’s strained relationship in recent years, it only made Lorraine feel that Himan had let her brother down.

‘Wouldn’t it be better if this woman just stayed away from my brother?’

“Hall, what are you doing?”

After a long stare-down, Himan finally composed herself and asked.

“Nothing. Lorraine is back from a long break from school, and we were just having dinner together.”

There was no point in hiding it.

Besides, Himan’s attitude toward him these past few days had been strange. If she returned to her previous state, that would be fine too.

In short, he hoped Himan would stop seeking him out. A poor impression was a poor impression.

If she misunderstood the current situation, wouldn’t that be even better?

If she misunderstood that he was about to do something to Lorraine, Himan might, under the pretext of protecting Lorraine, ask her to stay at their house temporarily.

That way, he could be left in peace again.

So Hall continued.

“On the other hand, what are you doing at my house at this hour? Is there a problem?”

“I came to…”

Himan was about to say she came to give Hall a map, but then she looked at Lorraine, whose clothes were slightly disheveled, clinging to Hall’s chest with tears in her eyes, and changed her words: “I heard that cousin Lorraine was back, so I came specifically to keep an eye on you. It’s a good thing I came, otherwise…”

“Otherwise what?”

Hearing the budding misunderstanding in Himan’s tone, Hall didn’t explain, but instead lured her into saying the words.

‘Hurry up,’ he thought, ‘I need to use one heroine to deal with another.’

“You dare to ask! I don’t deny that you are quite capable now, and very attractive to women of your age outside, but look at what you are doing now? Have you forgotten what I told you a while ago? Don’t you dare…”

Himan glared at Hall, then glanced at Lorraine.

She could tolerate it if it was between him and Leticia, but Lorraine was Hall’s blood relative. Could Hall really bring himself to do this?

He really…

“Himan, have you ever considered a question…”

Hall slowed his speech, preparing his ultimate move.

“What? I’m talking about the problem between you and Lorraine. You should face your relationship with her properly. Lorraine is still young and doesn’t know better, but you should.”

Himan continued.

But the black-clad young man simply said.

“Why is it that I must listen to whatever you say?”

“…”

This sentence cut off Himan’s train of thought, leaving her mind as blank and shaken as if struck by the rolling thunder in the night sky.

Seeing Himan’s expression change dramatically, her words catching in her throat, Hall considered the effect of his sentence.

If Himan got angry, she would definitely say she was taking Lorraine away, that she couldn’t leave her with someone so dangerous.

That would be perfect.

But after a long silence, Himan finally said.

“You can’t indulge yourself too much…”

Himan stood at the doorway, a strong wind blowing from behind her.

The wind and rain tonight were already heavy, and with autumn setting in.

It was quite cold.

She had come in a hurry, and the parasol she brought hadn’t offered much protection from the rain.

If this were the past, and Hall had spoken to her like that, saying “Why is it that I must listen to whatever you say?”

She would have definitely flown into a rage, retorting, “If I don’t look after you, who will?”

But now, she suddenly felt a little tired.

She didn’t seem to have much of a temper anymore. Mainly, she had been exhausted these past few days.

Every day she wondered if she was being too meddlesome, wondering if Hall was really as the rumors had painted him these past few years.

In fact, she had specifically investigated the events of that year.

The first girl who reported Hall, calling him a scumbag, could no longer be found. She had apparently transferred schools shortly after reporting him.

But with her Von Braun family’s intelligence network, finding a transfer student should have been easy. Yet, that person seemed to have vanished into thin air.

According to her subordinates’ deductions, it was highly likely she had transferred to another country altogether.

How should she put it?

Even if Himan were a fool, she could sense something was not right.

Saint Louis had the best educational resources in the entire Western Continent. Why would someone go to such lengths to transfer to another country?

Was it fear of Hall’s retaliation?

Unlikely.

Looking back at the incident again.

There were indeed too many complaint letters.

At least a dozen girls were involved with Hall, but even if Hall spent only half an hour with each one every day, he probably wouldn’t have had enough time.

Not only that, but for the next year, complaint letters about Hall came in every half month or so.

Thinking about it carefully, it really didn’t seem possible.

But why didn’t he explain?

Perhaps he had explained, and she just hadn’t listened.

Because at that time she was furious. How could she have listened to anything he said? Plus, Hall became the topic of conversation among the young ladies at every tea party.

Everyone believed it was true, so she believed it was true as well.

Hall was just one person, compared to the entrenched impression the entire school, and even all of Saint Louis, had of him.

It was insignificant.

Thinking about these things, Himan felt tired.

Very tired.

Just now she had been very angry, but then she thought of all this, saw Lorraine silently hugging Hall with her arms, and the somewhat hostile look in her eyes, combined with Hall’s earlier words.

So she began to wonder if she was being nosy again.

Indeed, he didn’t have to listen to what she said.

If everything she had said in the past was a false accusation against Hall, then she was a truly terrible person.

For Himan, who had striven to become a qualified knight since childhood and aimed to join the Judgment Order, the sense of guilt was extremely strong.

All these reasons combined had left her physically and mentally exhausted these past few days.

Her voice and aura softened.

This situation was unexpected for Hall. He was waiting for Himan to take Lorraine, this little heart-shaped time bomb, back to the Von Braun household.

So he could only say.

“This is my private matter.”

He then observed Himan’s reaction, but Himan’s rain-soaked eyebrows merely relaxed a little, with no other significant reaction.

After a moment, she nodded again.

“Okay, but I need to talk to cousin Lorraine alone when I have the chance.”

“I don’t want to.”

Lorraine refused.

‘Talk about what? I won’t talk.’

Her mind was also racing.

Hall felt a bit helpless. He wondered why Himan wasn’t going on the offensive today. In the game’s plot.

In either Lorraine’s or Himan’s route, as soon as he did anything excessive to Lorraine, this big sister would be the first to charge in.

Making Lorraine live separately from him was one of Himan’s trump cards in the game.

But now, seeing Himan’s subdued demeanor.

He could only say.

“Let’s eat first.”

After dinner, Himan left without staying much longer.

She left the map in the main hall of the Faxtius estate, thinking that Hall or a servant would find it when cleaning up.

When Hall got the map, he was even more puzzled.

‘It’s like the sun rose from the west.’

However, Himan giving him something was not a good omen.

Because this kind of plot usually happened after he joined Himan’s party in her route.

It represented that he had preliminarily gained Himan’s approval.

But this approval was useless. It could even cause the system to judge that since the party now had Hall, the difficulty of sudden events could be increased, subsequently causing his death rate to skyrocket.

So he decided that early this weekend, he would go treasure hunting in the Demon God’s Labyrinth based on his memory.

A man’s gotta treat himself right.