"Then I'll head back to the academy first. You take care of what needs to be done here."

"Y-yes, sir...!"

I had no desire to stay and watch Ríolíkin apologize to Reisir.

It also irritated me that not only Reisir, but even the mercenary I'd just spoken with, were looking at me strangely.

So, after assigning Ríolíkin the homework of 'getting blamed and apologizing,' I turned away.

It was a fairly natural exit, all things considered.

Thinking that, I retraced my steps with Yor when I suddenly heard running footsteps from behind me.

'Don't tell me he finished apologizing in one minute and is already chasing after me?'

For a moment, I thought it was Ríolíkin and felt irritated, but the feeling didn't last long.

I realized the approaching footsteps were light, and my furrowed brow relaxed.

"Karvaldr, wait! Talk to me for a second!"

The one who shouted and stopped me was Reisir.

Given the contents of my conversation with Ríolíkin, Reisir asking to talk felt strangely ominous.

But unfortunately, I had no choice.

If I kept walking at this pace, he'd obviously catch up and block my path, and running away would be far too strange, wouldn't it?

So I had no choice but to stop and turn around once again.

"What about the friend you worked so hard to rescue after following me here?"

"I left Helga with Ríolíkin for a bit."

"What exactly could you trust about that guy?"

"He's definitely not trustworthy. But it's not like the mercenaries are suddenly going to change their minds and try to take another hostage now, right? So I figured it'd be fine."

Reisir's expression and tone were incredibly bright as he said there was nothing to worry about.

After seeing his hurt expression and his anxious, restless 모습 earlier, facing him while he looked like this unexpectedly lightened my mood.

But since I couldn't show that, I deliberately kept an indifferent expression.

"Even so, leaving your precious friend with Ríolíkin... It's not really my place to say this as someone who instigated your bullying, but don't you find him despicable?"

"I forgave even you, so is there any reason I can't forgive Ríolíkin?"

"My, how magnanimous."

"Haha! Thanks for the compliment."

"That was sarcasm."

"You're just embarrassed."

"......"

How am I supposed to escape this damned Tsundere Image?

As I pressed my temples and agonized over that, the other person wiped the smile off his face and spoke seriously.

"Karvaldr. I think I finally understand why you refused to be friends with me and kept trying to distance yourself."

"You are currently misunderstanding something."

"I haven't even gotten to the main point yet, you know? Don't jump to conclusions without listening first."

Reisir retorted with a dumbfounded expression.

It seemed he thought I was blindly rejecting whatever he said, but that too was a misunderstanding.

To prove it, I spoke the words Reisir was about to say before he could.

"All the people you've met until now only approached you because they wanted to use you. They only saw the Ducal Family you were born into, never the person named 'Karvaldr.' Because of that, you've become distrustful of people and unable to properly exchange emotions with others, let alone open your heart to them. You were going to say that's why I can't accept an equal relationship like friendship, weren't you?"

"Uh...?"

"And as for why I keep trying to distance myself from you, it's because you're the first person to approach me sincerely wanting friendship without trying to use me, so the entire thing feels unfamiliar ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) and confusing. You interpreted my defensive attitude as me being unable to trust whether your sincerity was genuine or an act."

"Y-yeah, that's right..."

"So next, you were going to ask whether, deep down, I didn't actually want someone with whom I could share a genuine friendship instead of a relationship based on mutual use. And then you were planning to ask me to try trusting you."

"Th-that's... exactly it...!"

I could see Reisir's jaw slowly fall open. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Watching him, the thought 'just as expected' naturally crossed my mind.

"How did you know...?"

"Isn't it obvious? Because of the timing."

I had previously dropped a hint to Reisir that Karvaldr had only ever been used by others.

At the time, Reisir hadn't properly digested that hint, but now he must have not only digested it, but completely absorbed it.

Now then, let's think about it.

A web novel protagonist learns about the tragic circumstances of a side character.

He thought the person was incredibly arrogant and always looked down on others, but in reality, that person had lived a life of being thoroughly used by everyone around him.

Moreover, the person is fully aware of this and accepts it with indifference.

'A protagonist, by nature, cannot leave someone with such a backstory alone.'

Digging into that person's emotional weak spots, showering them with all sorts of sweet words, and ultimately winning them over.

This is one of the duties a protagonist must fulfill.

Then the other party falls for the cliché of 'you're the first person who ever treated me this way!' and becomes completely attached to the protagonist, placing absolute trust in them and building a deep friendship.

'...That would be the usual flow.'

I must reject that kind of development.

As if I would meekly get swept away by the mood.

Thinking that, I looked at Reisir with an expression that clearly said, 'I've already seen through all your moves. So what are you going to do now?'

I could see the surprise on his face deepen even further.

Up to this point, things seemed to be proceeding exactly according to my plan, and that was good...

"Karvaldr, you... you have incredible self-awareness, don't you?"

"What are you even talking about right now...?"

"Could it be you've been waiting all this time for someone to come and say those things to you?"

"I told you that's not it! Didn't I clearly say you were misunderstanding?!"

Without realizing it, I became agitated and raised my voice.

I really feel like I'm losing my mind.

How on earth did he arrive at that conclusion?

"If that's not what you mean, then what is it?"

"What do you mean, what is it?"

"I'm asking why you let people cling to you and use you, yet become wary when I approach you sincerely wanting to be friends."

"Haven't I told you over and over again? I just don't... th-that... like you..."

Remembering Reisir's hurt expression, the words 'I hate you' no longer came out as easily as before.

So, without realizing it, I hesitated and softened the wording.

'This has completely gone to hell, hasn't it?'

Yor must have sensed it too, because she slapped her forehead and shook her head side to side.

On top of that, she let out a mournful sound.

"Hyaaa..."

'What was even the point of preemptively saying the protagonist's lines to avoid the cliché?! At this rate, I'm just a self-aware tsundere, aren't I??'

A wave of shame washed over me because I knew perfectly well what Reisir must be thinking about me, and my face flushed hot.

This truly couldn't have become a worse situation.

At this point, a simple 'I hate you' wouldn't hurt him anymore, so why did my heart suddenly have to become so weak?

"Last time, you said you disliked me so much that even hearing my voice annoyed you, but your opinion of me has improved a lot, hasn't it?"

"...Be quiet."

"Come to think of it, you also told me back then not to talk to you unless I had business with you, right? But you let it slide when I grabbed you by the collar, you comforted me, and you even helped save my friend. And now we're standing here having a perfectly normal conversation, aren't we?"

"No, that's..."

"That's?"

"......"

I feel like I should rebut him somehow, but no words come to mind.

Rambling and making excuses at a time like this wouldn't improve the situation in the slightest.

It would only drag me deeper into the mire.

"A-anyway. I have no intention of becoming friends with you."

"Why?"

"Uh... can't a person simply not have a reason...?"

"......"

"......"

"You're really embarrassed right now, aren't you?"

"...Be quiet."

"I'm not even talking loudly, so why do you keep telling me to be quiet?"

"......"

Even if I fail to distance myself from him now, once he withdraws from the academy, we'll naturally drift apart anyway.

So I had already resolved not to stress over it too much or become anxious.

But being treated like a tsundere and teased like this was a hardship I had never anticipated. Therefore, I had no plan prepared to deal with it.

"Haaah..."

A sigh escaped me, and my head drooped.

No matter how much I think about it, escaping the Tsundere Image seems impossible.

The same goes for getting my true opinion across to Reisir: 'I really, genuinely don't want to be your friend!'

It's obvious he won't believe a single word I say.

"Yor, key."

I said, holding out my palm.

The 'key' I referred to was the key to the Personal Training Ground I had rented for Reisir.

I had asked Yor to keep it for me in case I forgot to bring it on a suitable occasion to give it to him.

'Since the situation is already beyond saving anyway, I should just hurry up and give him what I came to give.'

When Yor shook the Yeouiju, a jingling sound rang out and a key dropped into my palm.

I tossed it to Reisir.

Just like Vigdís, Reisir easily caught the key.

"What's this key for?"

"It's the key to a Personal Training Ground."

"Why are you suddenly giving this to me...?"

"I prepared it as compensation for the bullying last semester."

"If you give this to me, where are you going to train?"

It seemed the original protagonist had misunderstood again.

He mistakenly believed I was giving him my own Personal Training Ground.

"You're making me repeat myself. If I prepared it as compensation, then obviously I rented a separate training ground for myself as well."

"But the rental applications for personal training grounds should've closed a long time ago?"

He was probably asking why I was only giving him compensation now when I had prepared it so long ago.

"The timing was bad. Around the start of the semester, I couldn't give it to you because I thought you'd mistake it for a gift from a friend instead of compensation. And after that... even if I tried, it didn't seem like you'd accept it..."

"So now you're giving it to me as a gift commemorating our friendship..."

"Don't misunderstand. I already paid to rent it, and it'd be a waste of money if it went unused for half the semester, so I simply thought I should hand it over before it became too late."

Surely he won't interpret even that as me awkwardly hiding my embarrassment, right?

The thought 'is it really normal to be this tense and worried over something like this?' crossed my mind, but instead of easing my nerves, only self-reproach washed over me.

Reisir looked back and forth between me and the key in his hand before smiling brightly.

"Since you're calling it compensation for the bullying, I'll use it without feeling burdened. If this had been a gift right after we became friends, I would've felt too burdened and refused it."

"I have never become friends with you, and I am not emphasizing the word 'compensation' out of consideration for your feelings."

"Mhm, right. I know."

No. He doesn't understand at all.

That's probably why he's looking at me with an expression that says, 'How much longer is he going to keep this act up?'