Serdian swept her up in his arms and spun away in a blur—?!
"..."
Caught completely off guard, Lucillea stared at him blankly.
"Uh... um, thank you for sav—"
Before she could even finish thanking him, Serdian cut her off.
"If you can't even control your own body, what exactly are you carrying around?"
"Huh?"
Only then did Lucillea realize his gaze was fixed on her necklace.
"You saw it?"
"After all that commotion? It would've been stranger not to see it."
Carefully lifting the chain with her fingertips, she showed him the necklace.
"Then do you know anything about it? Why is it doing this? I picked it because they said I'd need it to live in the Grand Duke's estate, but why is it suddenly acting like this?"
"..."
Serdian frowned as he studied the necklace.
"How would I know? I've never seen anything like it before."
"Oh... really?"
Lucillea's shoulders drooped, and she pouted.
"So the genius heir doesn't actually know everything..."
"...What?"
Serdian bristled, opening his mouth to retort before closing it again with a sigh.
"Either way, you'd better get rid of that necklace. Unless you want to be slammed into a wall again."
"Yeah... I probably should."
She couldn't exactly throw herself at wooden doors every time she came to the library.
Turning her head, Lucillea looked toward the wooden door she'd seen moments earlier.
Then—
"Huh?"
The door was gone.
Where did it go?
She looked around in confusion.
Had she mistaken the location?
No matter how much she searched, the enormous wooden door was nowhere to be found.
All she could see were walls covered in cold, dark blue wallpaper.
Startled, Lucillea ran to where the door had been.
What in the world happened?
As she frantically felt along the wall, Serdian asked,
"What are you doing?"
"Didn't you see the wooden door that was here?"
"Wooden door?"
Lucillea pointed at the empty wall.
"The reddish-brown door! The one so tall it almost touched the ceiling! With the gold handles side by side right here! Don't tell me you didn't see it!"
Rather than looking convinced by her vivid description, Serdian's expression only grew more serious.
"...Did you hit your head?"
"No, I did not."
Shooting him an annoyed look, Lucillea turned back to the wall.
There was truly nothing there.
What is going on? Was I seeing things?
As confusion swirled through her mind, Cookie suddenly interrupted.
[Nope! I saw it too! I definitely saw it!]
Lucillea whipped around toward Cookie, who had taken refuge on top of a bookshelf.
Right! Cookie saw it too!
That meant she hadn't imagined it.
She ran her hand across the wall again.
There really was a wooden door here.
For some reason, it had simply vanished.
Her eyes fell to the necklace.
The thing that had been thrashing around wildly moments ago now hung completely still, dim and lifeless.
You're not ordinary at all, are you?
[Lucy! Throw it away right now! It's dangerous! You almost got flattened against that wall!]
A dangerous object...
Lucillea couldn't entirely disagree with Cookie.
And yet, at the same time, her curiosity only grew.
It's true that this necklace nearly got me smashed into a wall.
But the power it had displayed—and that vision of the reddish-brown door—felt far too strange to dismiss as mere danger.
May seemed to know something about this necklace.
I'll ask her when I get back.
Stuffing the necklace beneath her clothes, Lucillea turned toward Serdian.
The moment she did, he visibly flinched and took a step backward.
Walking over to him, Lucillea grabbed both of his hands firmly.
"Thanks to you, I survived today. I won't forget this. If you ever need my help someday, tell me. I'll repay this debt somehow."
"Got it?"
Serdian frowned.
"...You're not seriously planning to keep that necklace, are you?"
"Hm?"
Lucillea grinned.
"Are you worried about me?"
Because she might get hurt because of the necklace?
Serdian let out a disbelieving laugh and pulled his hands free.
"I'm not worried about you. I'm worried about the Grand Duke's estate. You and that weird necklace might blow the place up."
"Pfft."
Lucillea burst out laughing.
"As if that would happen."
Then she noticed the books scattered everywhere, victims of the necklace's rampage.
"Ahhh! It's a disaster in here!"
Quickly retracing the path she'd been dragged along, she began gathering books from the floor.
If a librarian came back and saw this mess, things would become very troublesome.
Cradling a stack of books in her arms, she called out to Serdian.
"I wasn't joking about repaying you."
"..."
Once she'd collected a decent number of books, she straightened up and continued.
"Well, you probably don't need my help right now."
Then she spun around to face him.
"So how about this? No matter what you do in the future, I'll always be on your side. I'll believe your words no matter what."
"What?"
How was that? Pretty generous, right?
Lucillea puffed out her chest proudly.
Serdian brushed back his bangs with a sigh.
Then, fixing her with a cool gaze, he asked,
"Why?"
"Huh?"
"You've barely known me. What exactly do you know about me?"
Wow.
Why is this guy so prickly?
Serdian's miserable childhood had been mentioned several times in the original novel.
Hey, you. You're no match for me.
Had he spent nineteen years being beaten?
Had he died after getting hit by a car while trying to run away?
Most importantly—
Have you ever been transmigrated into the body of a villainess from a novel?
Had he ever sat face-to-face, trying to befriend the very person destined to cut off his head?
I've survived a much longer hell than you have.
And who knew how much longer it would continue?
I'm not fragile enough to be hurt by your sharp tongue.
Suppressing those thoughts, Lucillea smiled lightly.
"I didn't know May for very long either. But sometimes you just get a feeling. A feeling that someone can be trusted. It's instinct."
Serdian scoffed.
"Sounds more like the kind of cheap sentimentality that gets you stabbed in the back."
Lucillea shrugged.
"Maybe. But if you're always afraid of being betrayed and keep hesitating, you'll never make friends."
Unlike you.
Serdian looked at her with dark, sunken eyes.
"I don't need friends."
"That's what the current you thinks. Are you sure the future you will feel the same way?"
The future Serdian would work awfully hard gathering allies and talented people.
But he answered without hesitation.
"I don't even know what will happen to me tomorrow. Why should I worry about the fate of my future self?"
"I don't think that's true. You seem incredibly meticulous. I'd bet you've already planned everything you'll do after your coming-of-age ceremony."
"..."
For the first time, the smooth line of Serdian's brow twisted noticeably.
Seeing that expression, Lucillea smiled with satisfaction.
"What? Am I wrong?"
"You—"
"Going to ask how I know so much about you again?"
"..."
"Are you really that curious?"
"..."
"If you're curious..."
"..."
"Hehe."
Smiling brightly, Lucillea walked toward him.
"Then let's be friends! Friends, friends!"
But Serdian immediately retreated, backing away as though avoiding something filthy that had splashed toward him.
"..."
"..."
Lucillea stared alternately at his retreating feet and his face.
"That's so mean. What am I, some kind of monster? Why are you backing away?"
"Because I have absolutely no intention of being friends with you. So don't come any closer."
"You're going to regret this. Do you know how useful I am?"
"I don't keep people around based on whether they're useful."
Oh?
What's that line?
Look at him acting like the male lead.
Lucillea's eyes sparkled as she took another step forward.
"Wow. That was such a cool thing to say!"
It was exactly the kind of line a male protagonist would deliver.
"Yep. I definitely have to be friends with you!"
"What?!"
You don't judge people by usefulness? Perfect! Then keep me around!
If we become close enough, maybe when the day comes that he has to cut off my head, he'll hesitate two or three times longer.
Beaming, Lucillea extended her hand.
"Come on! Let's shake hands to celebrate our friendship!"
Serdian answered instantly.
"Get lost."
Get lost.
Get lost...
Get lost...
"..."
His cold voice, spoken through clenched teeth, echoed through the silent library.
