In the novel, there were many other men other than the B4 who approached Lariensa. She was pretty and lovely, so it was natural that many men had approached her.
However, the problem was the main character of the novel was Sibel.
At that time, Lariensa didn’t know what a frightening bastard Sibel was and how a student committed suicide at the academy because of him.
Because that student was the one who confessed to Lariensa the day before.
After that, all men who confessed to Lariensa committed suicide.
As a result, various articles in newspapers were pointing out the educational issues of the Cloud Academy for a while.
There was a scene where Lariensa, who later learned that it was the work of Sibel, went to him and questioned him. As Sibel’s secret has already been revealed and his obsession with Lariensa has begun, Lariensa’s life has become worse since then.
『“Why did you do that?”
“I don’t know what you mean by that, Lariensa.”
“I already know everything. Those students who died did not actually commit suicide. It was all your doing!”
Sibel laughed. Just like how he always does.
A good guy with unwanted power.
She used to believe that Sibel was that kind of guy but then he whispered cruel words to her with a contemptuous smile.
“Everything was all up to you.”
“Sibel…”
“It means everything that happened was all because of you.”
“……”
“You didn’t want them to die?”
What was he talking about? She couldn’t understand him. No… She didn’t want to understand.
“Don’t waste your smile and show it to others.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s why many people get tangled up.”
“I, I…”
“The guilt that you feel right now is your punishment.”
“……”
“You, an insect who keeps toying with me.”
Sibel, who embraced Lariensa, said terrible things with a devious smile, not his usual bright smile.
“Anyone who takes you away from me.”
“……”
“I’ll wipe them all out.”』
This can’t be… I’m glad I saved Lara from him, but I hate to be on the receiving end of that terrible fate! I want to protect Lara but I also want to protect myself!
But why does this gatekeeper keep on singing even after seeing my stiff face?
Ohh?! He’s coming even closer!
Why are you holding my hand? No way! Are you going to kiss the back of my hand?!
Now, Sibel’s expression, who was wearing a pretentious mask, sank coldly.
…His eyes look mad.
Sibel took off his mask and stretched his hand towards the back of the head of Mr. Gatekeeper, who was about to kiss the back of my hand.
I assure you guys, if that hand reaches Mr. Gatekeeper now, this man will soon die.
I didn’t want to hurt such a nice person but… it can’t be helped.
I’m sorry, Mr. Gatekeeper!
“Stop!”
I shouted before Sibel’s hand could touch Mr. Gatekeeper’s head, and before he could kiss the back of my hand.
Of course, I pulled out my hand.
“Stop!”
“……”
“Don’t do this!”
Don’t blame me too much. I’m just doing this to save your life!
“I think the date is over, so I’ll give you my answer. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel anything for you. You understand what I’m saying, right?”
“Marilyn…”
“So now, I need you to move on and forget about me.”
I’ve never thought I’d dump a man rudely.
Mr. Gatekeeper, don’t cry this time, okay?
“Ma-Marilyn! Come on, just give me one more chance…!”
Why are you so persistent when all I did was act cute?! If you keep doing this, I have no choice but to say something worse!
“How pathetic of you!”
In a romance novel that Natalie read, there’s this beautiful wicked woman who had a lot of men who courted her. What did she tell those men who courted her again…?
“Stop being so clingy to me and just get out of my life!”
My heart hurts even more when I say this…
It seems that not everyone can become a villainess.
“You… You’re really a cruel woman!”
Surprisingly, just like in the novel that Natalie read, Mr. Gatekeeper left, blowing the same lines as those men who were dumped by the wicked woman.
Mr. Gatekeeper, you looked so hurt…
If it weren’t for Sibel, I could have refused you nicely.
“…You’re trying too hard.”
We were the only ones left after Mr. Gatekeeper left, but Sibel was still angry. He didn’t even wear the fake smile that he used to wear.
“You’re very tactful. You meant to protect him from me, didn’t you?”
First of all, I said those harsh words to Mr. Gatekeeper because I had a bad feeling…
But your feelings for me have already grown this deep? Isn’t it too fast?
After our meeting at the clock tower, there was nothing to talk to each other about. Sibel even pretended not to know me in the classroom, perhaps because he knew how I was annoyed with the Sisamo.
So the last time we talked was during the festival, at the clock tower!
But you’ve grown to like me so much that you’re showing this crazy jealousy?
Even the word ‘jealousy’ seemed cute in his vocabulary.
“You attended a matchmaking party and now you’re making separate appointments with people you know little of?”
Moreover, Sibel is being aggressive towards me.
I think it’s getting a little bit dangerous, isn’t it?
“How did you know I attended a matchmaking party?”
Was it a useless question to ask? For Sibel, who always controls things behind the scenes and activities in the dark?
“Is that really important right now?”
“Yes. If you wanted to mess with me, you should have come to the party and mess with me. Then I wouldn’t have to make a separate appointment as you said.”
“Then I would have killed four people, not one.”
W-What do you mean by that? K-Killing is too harsh.
Relax, relax!
“And, even if it wasn’t me, someone else has already made a big deal out of it though?”
“You even know that?”
“Stop trying to divert my attention.”
…Tsk, how quick-witted you are.
“Calm down for now. Why are you so angry? Is dating another guy something to be so angry about?”
“I just don’t understand.”
“Don’t understand what?”
“All these things that you guys do. Going to a matchmaking party, holding hands, kissing, and then getting married. Why go through so many unnecessary procedures?”
“This guy…”
“I won’t deny it. But because you’re doing those things that I just don’t understand…”
I can feel it again. A black fog rising from somewhere, and this menacing aura!
“It makes me so angry.”
Sibel stared at me and asked me outright.
“If that bastard asked you out, were you going to go out with him?”
I was going to reject him anyway. So, can you suppress your anger now?
“Marilyn Launer.”
Don’t call me by my full name! It’s ominous!
“Don’t waste your smile and show it to others.”
‘Don’t waste your smile and show it to others.’
Huh? Isn’t this the line from the novel…?
“That’s why many people get tangled up.”
‘That’s why many people get tangled up.’
Is it already decided that I would be the one who would tread on his route? Is Lariensa’s fate now being pushed upon me? Is that so, huh?
I will not let that happen!
“Hiing! No, no!”
“……”
“Marini rheally, rheaallly hatesh it when Tibbel ish sho schkary! (Marin really, really hates it when Sibel is so scary!)”
I wasn’t confident to make eye contact with him, so I closed my eyes and acted cutely. Even if my eyes were closed, it’s an additional bonus because it can still make me look cute!
“……”
I couldn’t hear a response from Sibel so I decided to open my eyes and look at him. When I opened my eyes, Sibel found himself dumbfounded by what he just saw.
Unlike Mr. Gatekeeper who fell in love with this cute act, this is the normal reaction one would have.
That’s right. It’s better to be dumbfounded than angry.
Take it, my cuteness!
“R u shtil goin to bhe angrei iff Marini dosh dish? (Are you still going to be angry if Marin does this?)”
I made all kinds of cute expressions like taking a selfie with my other hand on my cheek.
…No matter how I think about it, I think I’m into acting cute.
“Hiiing! Hiiing! Tahke itt!”
I alternatively finger bullets at Sibel as if I were holding a gun on both hands.
I just need to protect myself from a real gun, though I doubt that thing would appear in here… Even if it does appear, I’m sure it won’t work against Sibel.
“Stop it.”
“Reaally? …Can I really stop now?”
Sibel nodded with a blank face. He looked expressionless, but he looked better than before.
Covering his face with his hand, Sibel was trying to calm himself as he breathed in.
“Pfft!”
…You just laughed right now, didn’t you?
“…If you’re going to laugh, you should have done so earlier.”
If you turn your head now and laugh, I’ll be more embarrassed..
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
If you feel better in exchange for my shame, then should I say it’s a relief that nothing serious happened?
But Sibel also muttered something unusual.
“But that’s weird–”
“What’s weird, huh? What?!”
It’s very ominous if you say things like that.
“You speak as if your tongue is cut in half.”
“Just say it’s short-tongued sounds.”
“Yes, that. If someone else did it, I would have thought they were sick in the head.”
“Hoho. Is it cute when I do it?”
“…Yeah.”
It’s all lost now. I’m deep in his route already. I’m now forced to ride Sibel’s route.
“May I touch you?”
“W-Where do you want to touch me?”
“Just your hand.”
“Why?”
“I’ve got something to check.”
I was trying to make Sibel feel better, and he asked me for this earnestly. I think it’s a lot of improvement for Sibel, knowing his true personality.
Okay, sure. I’m just glad that you didn’t hurt anyone today.
I reached out my hand as a gesture of permission, and then he took my hand.
Then we stayed still for a long time just holding hands.
“Until when are we going to stay like this?”
“I’m still checking. I wouldn’t still know even if I’m gonna kiss you, right?
“Why would you ask if you know it’s not gonna work?”
Earlier, Sibel said that he doesn’t understand why one would go through so many steps just to date someone like holding their hands, kissing, dating, and then finally getting married.
But suddenly, that Sibel asked me if I could kiss him.
I want to deny it, but it seems that his feelings towards me have already grown deep…
What should I do with this?
“I’ve told you this before, but nothing good would happen if you lock me up.”
“I’ve never said I’d lock you up, isn’t it ironic when you say that?”
“That’s how ominous your presence is!”
“…Ominous? I am?”
…What’s wrong with you?
Usually, he used to think little of anything I said or just laugh at it, but now, for some reason, his reaction was different from other times.
At first glance, he looked angry, but I clearly felt different from anger.
“Why? I’ve been trying my best.”
Don’t tell me… are you hurt? Because I said your presence is ‘ominous’?
“You told me not to lock you up. That’s why I didn’t do it.”
“T-That’s right, I did.”
By the way, confinement isn’t really supposed to be done.
“But I allowed you to touch me just now.”
“Also…”
That’s a matter of course, Sibel.
“But my presence is ominous?”
“You just said…”
“Why?”
“……”
“Because I tried to kill that bastard earlier?”
I think he’s starting to get mad again.
“If you still think that my presence is ominous even though I didn’t kill him, it would be better if I just…”
I put my thoughts into action before Sibel continued his next words. I put both of my hands on Sibel’s face. I don’t like the fact that I have to tiptoe because he’s tall, but I can’t help it because it would look weird if I hold his shoulders.
“This is a carrot.”
[T/N: Just to clarify, know that in the previous chapters, she compared Sibel to a beast and took a carrot-and-stick approach to tame him. So, this line corresponds to her holding his face and that this is a “carrot”.]
“……”
“And what I said about you being ominous… I just said it out of anger.”
It was true that Sibel’s presence was very ominous, but I should still lie a little to survive and keep Mr. Gatekeeper alive.
“But it’s true that every time you talk like that, it’s a little scary. Do you want to become a scary person?”
“…Yes.”
“…What?”
“I said, yes.”
Are you trying to be perverse?
…Let’s not get annoyed for now and just let it slide.
“You may want to be, but others won’t. They don’t want to be with scary people so they run away.”
“But you’ve never been scared of me.”
“Earlier, you were really frightening. You act like you’re going to kill someone else.”
“Exactly how many days have you been together that you’re trying to protect him from me?”
“I don’t want Mr. Gatekeeper to die, but I’m thinking of you, too.”
“Me?”
“I don’t want you to kill people.”
“Why?”
“Uhmm…”
But I think he already killed someone…
I don’t want Sibel to commit murder, though. Not at least since he met me.
That way, people around me will be safe and I will be able to feel a little more at ease.
“For your sake and mine?”
“I can see you’re forcing yourself to come up with a reason.”
“It’s not like that.”
…You’re really quick-witted.
“I would feel uncomfortable if I find out that you’ve hurt someone and I’ll have a repulsion against you. You’ll get angry if I refuse to see you, right? Surely, that would be the case.”
“……”
“And that would make me hate you even more. Then, this vicious cycle would only go on and on and on. So, for the sake of our relationship not to end, don’t hurt anyone else.”
“For our relationship…”
Sibel smiled again and asked me a question.
“So, what’s our relationship?”
Our relationship is somewhat ambiguous and I don’t see Sibel as a man for me to date either. Although, Sibel’s feelings for me have already started, but not me, so it’s not like we’re lovers or something.
Taking that into consideration, there is one normal relationship left that we can call ourselves.
“We’re friends.”
“…friends.”
“Don’t you like it?”
“I don’t think you remember, but we’re already friends.”
“What do you mean?”
“The day I returned your coat when you threw it away in the trash.”
Oh, I remember!
‘I’m glad it’s just a misunderstanding. Then, Marilyn.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Can we be friends?’
‘…Huh?’
After that,
‘Are you reluctant to shake hands with me?’
In the end, I decided to be “friends” with Sibel.
‘Alright, let’s do it. Friends.’
“B-but that was when you were still pretending to be a kind guy to me! I didn’t know who you really were at that time, but now that I know you, this time, I want to be friends with you for real!”
In a hurry to make excuses, I scratched the back of my head with embarrassment.
“From now on, we are really friends.”
“Hmm–”
“…You don’t like it?”
“No, it’s not bad.”
Thank god…
I hope this saved me and Mr. Gatekeeper from danger, right?
Mr. Gatekeeper. Live well. You have to live the life that I gave you well!
“Sibel.”
I took my hands off Sibel’s cheeks and opened my mouth as I watched Sibel listen to me like an obedient child.
“As my friend, promise me three things.”
“What else are you going to say again?”
“First, promise me not to hurt anyone no matter what happens.”
Sibel’s nodding face showed signs of calmness. He keeps his promises, so I think I can trust him.
“Second, if you’re angry or upset with something, release it to me.”
This means not to take it out to others like before. Sibel nodded while I looked at him to see if he understood.
“Lastly, let me know right away if I said something that hurts you.”