Wrong Genre! - Chapter 17.1
“…Yes?”
“Even Versha Verdic never walked alone inside the imperial palace. Something like what happened today could always happen.”
At Yuri’s words, Rueg remembered the letter Versha had left behind.
[ P.S. If you’re going to work, make sure you stick close to the Crown Prince. ]
Had Versha written that because she knew something like this could happen?
As Rueg lowered his gaze in confusion, Yuri gently patted his head and continued,
“The name of that man from earlier is Mason Dorivance.”
“…What?”
“His reputation is extremely bad, and there are rumors that he does illegal things.”
“Illegal things…”
Rueg repeated, staring at the spot where Mason had disappeared.
Come to think of it, Mason had said those things because he mistook Rueg for Versha, and he’d talked about betrayal…
‘Did Versha report him…?’
In the past, Rueg would have assumed that if Versha was involved, she must have caused some trouble.
But now that he knew she’d done her job well, his judgment was a little different. There was no way Versha would have been involved in something bad.
Getting hit by Mason, even briefly, was incredibly painful and frightening.
How terrifying must it have been for her to pretend to be on the same side as someone like that, and even report him?
‘You were amazing, Sister…’
Maybe the real reason Versha suddenly disappeared was because she didn’t want to face things like this anymore.
As Rueg grew somber, lost in thought, Yuri continued,
“There have actually been cases where people targeted by Dorivance have disappeared.”
“Disappeared…?”
“Yes. In any case, those rumors about him doing illegal things may not just be rumors. So if you can, don’t go around alone, and be careful. Versha Verdic had more enemies than you’d think. I was able to save you this time, but there’s no telling what might happen next.”
It sounded like nagging, but Rueg could hear the concern mixed in and nodded emphatically.
“Thank you for worrying about me.”
“……”
“You should be careful too, Yuri. Okay?”
At Rueg’s words, Yuri tilted their head a little. Seeing that, Rueg quickly added,
Mason had said so himself. Just one word from him and Yuri could be called before the Duke.
Rueg didn’t know what the relationship between the two was, but from the way Mason had used the Duke to try to threaten Yuri, Rueg realized Yuri could get in trouble because of him.
“You should worry about yourself. I don’t even understand why you’re acting like you’re worried about me in the first place.”
“Because we’re friends.”
“…Excuse me?”
“We might not be super close yet, but… just like you saved me today, I worry about you too. If you got in trouble because of someone else, I know I’d feel really bad.”
As Rueg rambled on, lips swollen and face puffy, Yuri was left speechless. Rueg looked so pitiful, trying to smile even through his injuries, that it made something inside Yuri restless.
“…You should get to work. Aren’t you running late already?”
In the end, Yuri blurted out something abrupt after a long silence, simply not knowing how to respond to Rueg’s words.
“Ah!”
Luckily, Rueg took the cue and ran with it.
“…W-What time is it?!”
Rueg shot to his feet, stumbled for a moment, then regained his balance.
“Thank you so much for saving me today. I’ll be sure to repay you for this! But today, I’m really late, so… I’ll be going now!”
Without waiting for Yuri’s reply, Rueg turned and ran off in the opposite direction.
Watching Rueg quickly vanish, Yuri let out a hollow laugh. Embarrassingly, Yuri realized that the hand that had instinctively reached out to steady Rueg as he stumbled was now hanging awkwardly in the air.
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