Wrong Genre! - Chapter 7.2
Since House Verdic is the imperial family’s dog, it’s possible that Versha Verdic was secretly sent elsewhere, and Rueg Verdic was brought in to take her place.
As Yuri was watching Rueg with a wary expression, imagining various scenarios…
“Uh, uhh… uhhh!”
Rueg, who had been moving to clean up the fallen leaves, slipped on the grime stuck to the bottom and staggered.
Startled, Yuri reflexively extended the sword sheath as if to help him grab onto it—
“Eek!”
But instead of grabbing it, Rueg just flailed and toppled forward all by himself.
Falling face-first into the fountain water, which hadn’t fully drained yet, Rueg couldn’t get up right away and squirmed where he was.
‘…How will he react?’
Yuri hadn’t expected to get the chance to see Rueg Verdic’s temperament in this way. Now all that’s left to do is wait to see how he’d respond.
No matter how much he pretended to be innocent, getting drenched in dirty water on a cold day like this would strip away his mask and reveal his true nature.
What kind of hidden aggression would he show?
While Yuri watched him intently, holding one’s breath, Rueg slowly got up and shook the water from his hair.
Shivering and hugging his arms, he cautiously turned to Yuri and spoke.
“Um, um…”
“……?”
“D-Did you see that?”
As if begging her not to say yes, Rueg’s face, pale from the cold, gradually began to flush bright red.
“Could you… pretend you didn’t see anything?”
“…Excuse me?”
“It’s embarrassing…”
Rueg bit his lower lip, then started to mumble with his small lips.
The sight of him looked less like someone with hidden aggression and more like a small, harmless animal… Yuri couldn’t help but laugh.
“How am I supposed to pretend I didn’t see something I already saw?”
“……”
“But I won’t tell His Highness the Crown Prince.”
At Yuri’s words, Rueg’s face instantly brightened.
So that’s why he, the Crown Prince’s aide, was suddenly doing a servant’s work, well it seemed the guess that Felix had ordered him to do it was right.
Yuri strode closer to the fountain and held out a hand to Rueg.
“Come on out for now. If you stay like that, you’ll catch a cold.”
“N-No, it’s alright. If nothing else, I want to finish this job perfectly, just once… to hear someone say I did something well as an aide.”
“……”
“Yuri… I mean, Sir Everton, you should go inside. The wind is cold and you might catch a cold. Thank you for helping me drain the water.”
Watching Rueg’s bright smile, Yuri unconsciously tightened the grip on the sword.
“…Then, take care.”
“Yes! It was nice meeting you today, Sir Everton.”
Yuri turned to leave but looked back at Rueg again.
He didn’t seem bothered at all by his recent fall. Muttering how cold it was, he energetically scrubbed away at the grime on the floor with his mop as the water drained.
Yuri watched Rueg for a moment, then spoke.
“You could have just called me Yuri.”
“…Sorry?”
“At first you called me by name, but then you suddenly added ‘Sir’ to be polite.”
When had you ever cared about formalities?
Muttering deliberately loud enough for Rueg to hear, Rueg gripped his mop tightly, lips parting as if he wanted to say something, but unable to get the words out easily. Then, hesitantly, he called.
“Yu, Yuri.”
“…Yes.”
Feigning indifference, Yuri replied, and Rueg’s eyes lit up. He looked hopeful, swallowing hard before he spoke.
“We… um… I know we didn’t get along before… no, we really didn’t get along, but… could we, maybe… be friends from now on?”
So carefully.
Or, so shyly.
Hearing that ridiculous question from someone who’d just been bumbling around, Yuri barely managed to swallow an immediate response.
It was a strange, awkward feeling, like something had gotten stuck in the gears of a machine that had always run smoothly.
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