Night Monarch's Cannon Fodder Bride-Chapter 23: Minor Villain

Contrary to what Severine had predicted, Alina’s face wasn’t brimming with laughter when she returned.

Bang!

The way she violently shut the door was enough to show just how bad her mood was.

Severine placed the files back on the table. As she reached the living room, Alina threw herself into her arms.

"Severine!"

The young lady stayed still, not knowing where to place her hands. Her entire body went stiff, like a wooden log. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Alina didn’t notice it until a warm hand patted on her back.

The movement was both genuine and awkward, as if the young heiress had never done such a thing for anyone before.

"Congratulations on your win." But I guess you are worried about something else.

"Thanks," Alina mumbled while rubbing her head on Severine’s shoulder.

Really like a cat... Her reaction stiffened Severine further.

She wanted to push Alina away, yet, considering her bad mood, she let the heroine cling to her for another minute.

The golden trophy was placed on the table with Alina Hart scribbled on it in elegantfont.

Deep gray eyes flickered between the winning award and the owner.

She sat on the sofa while Alina kept pacing back and forth like a trapped animal, unable to unleash her rage.

Her slanted eyes were turning red.

Was it from the urge to cry or anger? It was hard for Severine to guess.

Sigh...

"What’s wrong with you?" she couldn’t help but ask.

To make the heroine so angry... was it another novel plot?

As long as it didn’t involve her or harm Alina, Severine had no intention of stepping in. The leads, in essence, were all lunatics anyway.

Alina grabbed the bottle and drank half of it in one go. A few drops slid down the corner of her mouth.

When she wiped it away with the back of her hand, her movements were harsher than necessary.

At least the cold helped douse some of her anger.

"Met a bastard on the way," she snapped. "I should’ve fucking kicked him in the shin before he dared to spout such lies."

Bastard?

"Whose child is he?" Severine asked seriously. "Your father’s or your mother’s?"

Her always calm gray eyes were filled with curiosity.

How could they not, when there was no mention of the heroine having a bastard brother in the novel?

"What?" Alina gave her a strange look before a look of realisation dawned on her. Shaking her head, she chuckled, "No. Not the literal meaning, Your Highness. I was cursing a pervert."

Alina could more or less guess, it was due to Severine’s conflict with Damien and by extension her.

Ah, what a fucking mess. I don’t think I can hold back anymore.

All of the little incidents of inconvenience were burdening her.

Severine noticed two things then. Alina tended to call her ’Your Highness’ when she was exasperated or amused.

The second thing was Alina’s earlier words.

She never expected the girl adored by fate would be so crude and curse so often.

Well, this indeed gave her a better understanding of what might have happened to Alina.

"Who bullied you?"

Alina let out a scoff. "Inori Mion. I really wanted to give him a good beating. How dare he accuse me of cheating? He wouldn’t have done it if I agreed to his earlier proposal to be his girlfriend."

The more she recalled, the angrier she became.

After staying with Severine, Alina had learned to read between the lines of power and status. If she had actually beaten Inori up, it would only cause her more trouble. Even when she had declined his proposal, she had tried to remain polite, saying that she wanted to focus on her career.

Who would have thought Inori would directly try to sabotage her entire future? Though, he wasn’t that smart. It was obviously someone’s instructions.

And if he had smacked him earlier in rage, they wouldn’t hesitate to pin the blame on her for being violent, ruining all of her hopes.

Even if she complained to the higher ups, given the power imbalance between her and Inori, it wasn’t hard to guess which side this rotten academy would take.

"Sit down. You are making my head spin," Severine said, typing on her phone.

Mion... That family name wasn’t alien to her.

Inori was the third son of the Mion family and the youngest brother of Rivina Mion, whom Emmett had kissed on the roadside and nearly hit their car back then.

She had been too shaken after meeting Killian and Emily in the stairway, so she didn’t bother to pay much attention to flustered Rivina Mion.

What happened to them in the novel?

Severine’s brows knitted together as she tried to recall any detail.

Ah, no wonder I couldn’t recall immediately. They were minor villains.

Her gaze toward Alina softened, tinged with pity.

Inori was a pervert who pestered Alina many times. Due to Damien’s bullying, no one stood up to defend the poor girl.

In the end, it was Emmett who helped Alina out of her predicament, playing the role of ’hero saving the beauty’, and securing his spot as a good senior in Alina’s heart.

From the looks of it, Alina hadn’t recognized the connection between Rivina Mion and Inori.

If she knew, there would be another string of curses.

"Don’t worry about it anymore."

Alina stared at the doll-like face and felt choked by her words.

It was clear that the young heiress never consoled anyone before either. Her words were sincere, and yet they made her more annoyed.

"Don’t worry about it, huh?" she muttered.

What else could she even reply to that? She really needed to let go.

"Fine. Fine," she waved her hand in dismissal. "How about I treat you to dinner?"

Severine didn’t have any appetite, and there were a few files that needed her urgent attention.

However, when the words of refusal reached the tip of her tongue, she swallowed them back.

Forget it, she mused. Alina seemed to be in a bad mood. It wouldn’t hurt to indulge her once.

She still wasn’t aware how tolerant she had become toward Alina Hart, the very heroine she wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Great. Go and change your clothes. I’ll be back in five."

Before Severine could say a word, Alina had vanished into her room like a gust of wind, leaving silence filling the living room.

"... No need to leave the room," Severine murmured to herself before shaking her head.

She didn’t think Alina would drag her out to eat.

Now that she had agreed, she couldn’t bail out without any reason.

That was how the young heiress of a top luxury restaurant chain ended up standing in the street, surrounded by roadside stalls.