Chapter 48: Beware of the Flower Girl

Unlike Baek Ahra’s worries, lunch hour ended without much trouble.

‘I worried for nothing, and I was on edge, too.’

Of course, there was a conversation in the middle where I wasn’t sure if Lee Seorin was trying to invite me to the palace or not, and Yoon Sejeong reacted to it, creating a bit of a chilly atmosphere….

‘Well, the president handled that side of things maturely.’

If Yoon Sejeong shows signs of anxiety again, I’ll have to talk to her directly, but judging from her expression, she seemed fine for the time being.

Chwalak.

I put the used utensils in the provided container.

‘…But, could she have really been thinking of inviting me to the palace?’

I don’t think she was serious about the invitation.

She said it was a joke.

Most importantly, even in the original work, Yoon Sejeong was invited to Lee Seorin’s palace only after she fell from the rooftop because of ‘Kim Hayeon’, that is, after her abilities manifested and it was revealed that she had royal blood.

Before that, Lee Seorin had been building a relationship with Yoon Sejeong through their meetings.

Perhaps, if things had continued that way, they might have become close.

However, after learning that Yoon Sejeong had royal blood, she was torn between the idea of having to break off the relationship and the desire not to.

And then, she invites Yoon Sejeong to stay close to her in order to decide her feelings for her.

Having royal blood meant that if they were to date, it would be incest.

Since this country strictly forbids incest, it was to determine whether she liked her enough to break that taboo….

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

Objectively speaking, Yoon Sejeong at the time was gaining popularity with nicknames like ‘The miracle princess from heaven’ and ‘Angel’.

In other words, she was also a suitable guest for the title of the first guest of the palace, which she had cherished and saved.

On the other hand.

There was no reason for me to be invited to her palace.

My family wasn’t a historically prominent landowner, nor was it wealthy like a conglomerate, and there was certainly no royal blood in my veins.

There was no reason for her to give up the political advantage of the first guest and invite me.

Conclusion.

The princess was teasing her inferiors.

Other than that, I was worried if there might be any variables from Sohee and Jia.

But in front of the princess, the two of them gathered all the modesty they could muster, moving their utensils and saying, ‘Hoho….’.

It had been a long time since they acted like that, since the first time I saw them in middle school.

It’s a pain to explain why they’re trying so hard to look good, but one of the reasons is that their families are in business.

No matter what kind of business it is, if you trace it back far enough, it’s connected to the royal family.

There’s nothing good about being out of favor with the princess.

The royal family of this world Korea had considerable economic wealth along with its honor.

‘I’m envious….’

If I had to pick one thing I’m envious of Yoon Sejeong becoming a princess, it was that.

Of course, right now, she’s poor enough to be supporting her household with even her dignity allowance, but soon she’ll be rich enough not to worry about that.

‘If you say, “Does money suddenly appear from somewhere just because you’re known to be a royal!”, well, there are ways to do that.

Doesn’t the saying go, the position makes the person?

Similarly, the position can also make money.

Whether it’s support from the royal family, or an apple box from who knows where appearing out of nowhere….

Ah, is this a bit dangerous?

On the other hand, my parents told me to be independent after I graduate from the academy, except for getting me a house….

‘No, even that alone is a billion times better than my previous life.’

I know it’s a spoiled complaint, but the backgrounds of the kids around me are so strong that I can’t help but compare.

Still, well.

I wasn’t going to live in someone else’s house.

When a person is born, they have to live within their means.

Weeing….

The plate I finished eating flows away on the conveyor belt.

The facilities are good.

Compared to the time in my previous life when I had to clean my own tray by hand, even this is a wonder.

After watching the plate flow properly for a moment, I turned my body lightly.

That was when.

Thud.

I bumped my shoulder into something.

It wasn’t a very hard bump, so after regaining my balance, I could immediately see what had hit my shoulder.

It was a head.

Vivid orange hair reminiscent of a flower.

And a flower-shaped hairpin pinned to the back of her head.

There aren’t many people who assert themselves to this extent without even seeing their face.

“Ah~ sorry. I bumped into you because I wasn’t looking ahead?”

A voice high enough to be grating on the ears.

And a sarcastic tone as if she wanted everyone to hear.

When I took a step back, I saw a familiar face there.

“…I didn’t expect to see that face again.”

“Hey. What are you talking about? This is just a coincidence, okay? You don’t think I purposely showed up in front of you, do you~?”

My mouth rots in real time at that beaming smile.

Ah.

Come to think of it, I haven’t been angry once in the past week….

“Get lost. Or, do you want me to smash that face again?”

“Kyaa~ scary~.”

The woman, who laughed like a madwoman with a kya, was looking at me with lifeless sunset-colored eyes.

“But would that be okay? Ah, my Sohee is right there. Soh…!”

Seize!

I roughly block the mouth that was trying to call Sohee by raising her hand.

And with my other hand, I grab her hand and leave the restaurant.

It’s a good thing.

There aren’t many people around.

…No, she provoked me because there were no people around.

Soon, I returned to the back of the restaurant, where there was no sign of anyone, and pushed the woman who had been dragged along against the wall.

“…Pfft! You’re really a prince, aren’t you? You’re full of vigor.”

“Shut up. But why the sudden bullsh*t? Huh?”

I cross her two hands and hold them with one hand so that she can’t do anything foolish.

And, I put my knee between her legs so that she can’t do anything with her legs either.

As a result, I could feel her disgusting breath being blown at me, but it wouldn’t take long to face her, so it didn’t matter.

‘…I was wrong.’

I thought it was resolved because she hadn’t shown her face once since then.

I had seen her face from afar, but I thought we wouldn’t run into each other because we were in different grades and didn’t have any clubs.

And, most of all.

Because there was no mention of her appearance anywhere in the original work.

Because there was no mention of the three characters Han Yurim, the youngest daughter of the Hanseong Corporation and a second-year high school student at Aria Academy, anywhere, I had inadvertently let my guard down.

“Bullsh*t…our Hayeon is still so foul-mouthed?”

Squeeze!

I roughly grab the hand that was trying to free the bound hand.

“We’re not still on terms to say that, are we?”

“…Then, are you on such terms with the president that you were grabbing her chin?”

“Well, at least she’s much more beautiful than you. I might have fallen in love at first sight.”

At my sarcasm, lifeless sunset-colored eyes capture me.

The me reflected in her eyes had such a cold face that I wondered if I could make such an expression.

It was the same face I had when I hit her face in middle school.

“…I’m warning you for the last time.”

However, I couldn’t hit her again now.

Being led by emotions and hurting those around me, including myself, was enough once.

Touching her wasn’t worth carrying all that.

“If you touch the kids around me again….”

Squeeze.

I put strength into the hand holding Han Yurim’s wrist.

“Just know that I really won’t forgive you this time.”

As I said that and released the hand and foot that were blocking her, the mouth that hadn’t been smiling at all laughed again with a kya.

…No, calling that a laugh was an insult to the word.

This was just the muscles in her mouth moving according to the built-in memory.

Because Han Yurim’s eyes looking at me weren’t smiling at all.

“Hayeon is still the same~. When I saw that the number of girls around you had increased, I wondered if you had changed. But you haven’t changed at all, have you? Huh?”

Tap, tap, tap.

I thought she was fixing her slightly crumpled shoes, but she was actually messing them up again.

As if that wasn’t the purpose.

“Yes, yes. I’m glad. That you haven’t changed at all from the Kim Hayeon I knew. Then, see you later?”

With those words, Han Yurim left with an extremely aligned gait.

A person who had seemed looser than anyone else just a moment ago was now showing a gait like someone obsessed with order.

‘…Strange.’

Clearly, the Han Yurim I knew was a broken person.

A person who is not broken would not bully someone to the point of suicide.

But, this look was different from that.

Strangeness.

When I saw her attitude just now and her back, I couldn’t help but feel an unknown sense of foreboding.

‘…Should I talk to Baek Ahra about this.’

It was the moment when the reasons for going to the disciplinary committee room after school increased.