Pretending To Have A Girlfriend? Chapter 32: Dinner (End)

Is there anyone you have a crush on?

It was a cruel question to hear from a guy you like but can't confess because he already has a lover.

Luss, Vienna, and Lily were in the sa situation.

Even if they wanted to tell Starchis that they liked him, he already had a girlfriend, so telling him could beco awkward or even make Starchis avoid them.

In the end, the three of them couldn't speak.

When no one answered right away, Starchis pointed to Lily in front of him. He did so to prevent the conversation from going back to Elza.

"Noona, do you have anyone you like?"

Upon hearing these words, Lily rembered a situation from a few weeks ago.

-"Lily Noona, do you like ?"

Her hand - resting on her thigh - tensed. She regretted not giving a proper answer at that ti.

However, Lily was already tired of regret, so she responded sowhat indifferently this ti.

"...No, I don't."

She had no intention of correcting her lie, nor did she have the intention to say that she liked soone.

Even if she thought as optimistically as she could and said she liked soone, Starchis would never imagine she was talking about him, especially when she had clearly denied him just a few days ago. Lilly didnt want to take the risk in order to just provoke so jealousy without knowing what kind of price she would have to pay for it. So, Lily just passed the question without any fuss.

"Luss, what about you?"

"... You're asking everyone here?"

"What's wrong with that? Since we've brought up the topic anyway."

Luss glanced at Vienna and Lily, checking their reaction.

Luss wondered why wasn't anyone stopping him from asking such questions and consequently preventing them from telling lies like this. Didnt their heart shatter on speaking such a lie?

Although Lily had already answered, Luss still wanted soone to help her out.

But as no one spoke, the atmosphere beca ambiguous, and Luss had to force a word out.

"...Yes."

She finally spoke the deeply buried truth. She couldn't even et Starchis's eyes.

"What? You do?"

Starchis was the most surprised.

He had always thought that he was Luss only male friend.

"Why didn't you tell ?"

"You didn't tell us either. Luss probably t soone secretly too."

Vienna replied instead.

Luss glared at her.

The person Luss said she liked was, of course, Starchis, but because of Viennas answer, it beca the nuance that she liked soone other than Starchis.

Of course, if she was asked who he was specifically, she was going to be evasive, but still

An unnecessary remark was added, making Starchis reach the wrong conclusion.

"...Really? Alright. I guess it might happen like that."

Starchis thought it was only in his imagination that he had such a sudden eting, but it was strange that the sa thing happened with even Luss, whom he had known for six years.

Well, if the sa thing happened with Luss, wouldn't the vague lie now start appearing more realistic?

What is he like?

Starchis asked with a mouthful of food.

Uh?

Tell his na or sothing like that. I told you everything too.

"Well...um, never mind. I don't want to say."

"Hey, Luss. You're being too secretive."

"I don't know."

You wont tell even though its been a six-year-long friendship?

Luss lowered her head, seemingly unwilling to say anything more, and focused on her food.

Then just tell why you like that person.

Luss - who had lowered her head - glanced back at Starchis, her ears - hidden by her long black hair - turned red, unnoticed by anyone.

"...dependable."

She spoke in a small voice.

Starchis found her shy response fascinating. He looked at Vienna and Lilys reaction, wondering if they noticed it,

They both seed completely unfazed though.

Starchis wondered if he was the only one surprised.

He wanted to tease Luss, but seeing that no one else reacted, he decided not to.

"What about you, Vienna?"

He asked the last mber.

Vienna shook her head with a "hmph" and turned it away.

Starchis took it as a refusal to answer.

"Everyone else already talked about it, but what about-"

-I have. And better than you. Vienna couldn't hold back her emotions and blurted out.

It was because she was mad at Starchis and she also wanted to provoke jealousy. And as the question was cruel to her, she also wanted to say sothing rude to him too.

Lily, who had experienced firsthand how big the price of lying was, closed her eyes tightly.

Of course, it might be a lie that could pass off easily, but it wasnt a good scene to gloat about even if a rival drowned in a mud swamp because of such a mistake.

"You have soone you like?"

Yes. More dependable than you, more cool than you, and Nicer than you. In fact Youre no match.

She answered like a rapid-fire cannon, but after blurting out those words, instead of satisfaction, Vienna was only left with an uneasy feeling.

Starchis wondered why she was acting like this.

"Suddenly, why are you comparing him with , Vienna?"

Oddly, unlike what Vienna feared, Starchis asked in a frank tone.

There was no malice. There was also no sense of discomfort or anything like that, but his tone was not like usual either.

If he had said sothing like "Vienna also had soone she liked," or "She's boasting about the person she likes by teasing , how Vienna-like.", she would have felt completely relieved. But now, she was a little alard but still angry.

"Well, there's no one else to compare him to."

"Then just say hes cool, what's the big deal?"

Even though Starchis said it like he was complaining, he playfully nudged her with his elbow, making Vienna's mouth form a small smile.

Vienna felt like she was such a fool for smiling so easily even when she was so angry.

She didn't know if it was because she had tasted only suffocating feelings for too long that even a little bit of breathing space could make her feel alive.

"Well, Lily Noona is the only one without soone then, right?"

"That's right."

"Shall I introduce you to soone?"

-Clink

"Oh... it was a mistake."

Lily dropped her fork. Her hand suddenly lost its strength at Starchis' words.

It seed that as she had tried to avoid lying earlier, another trial ca her way.

In an instant, she buried her face in her hands under the table, trying to hide her sobbing face.

"Noona, don't use that. I'll bring a new one."

Starchis got up from his seat and went to the kitchen. Lily also sat back in her seat.

With him gone, all three of them relaxed their faces and showed negative emotions, which they had worked so hard to keep hidden until then.

And at the sound of Starchis' return, they calmly changed their expressions as if nothing had happened.

Only Viennas face looked a little awkward, but it didnt matter because she was next to Starchis and was not facing him.

As he handed over the fork, Lily held his hand and made a light skinship.

"So, about the introduction-"

"-It's not necessary."

"Oh, really?"

He felt uneasy about her cold response and scratched his head.

Why is Starchis trying to introduce to soone though?

Lily asked, not letting the conversation die down. There was so irritation in her tone.

In truth, Starchis had no reason to do so. It was just a suggestion that ca to him as the conversation flowed, but he felt like he had to co up with a reason now that Lily directly asked him.

"It's nice to have soone special," he hurriedly said. And as he tried to explain further, sowhat sincere reasons ca to mind.

"... I might sound serious all of a sudden, but we're going into the dungeon tomorrow, right? Of course, we're going to succeed, but just in case, it's good to make mories with soone you like."

"What does that an?"

At Viennas words, Starchis explained further.

"Vienna, you have soone you like. I'm just saying to greet them, take a walk together, or even confess. What if you go to the dungeon tomorrow with regrets? Think about it You still have ti until lunch tomorrow."

The three won looked at Starchis in silence.

No one said anything, so he continued.

"From that perspective, Vienna and Luss have soone to do sothing with, but it seems like Lily Noona doesn't. So, I thought I'd introduce her to soone. It's not a big deal."

"Spending precious ti with soone you like...?"

Luss glared at Starchis.

Shrugging his shoulders, Starchis replied as if it were obvious.

"Yeah, that's what I did too."

Starchis rembered fishing with his brother.

The three of them had different thoughts though.

-Clink!

Beside him, Vienna put down her fork and knife.

There was still more than half of the at left on her plate.

But she was covering her mouth with her hand for so reason.

"Vienna?"

She struggled as if she were going to vomit for a while, then swallowed what was in her mouth and said, "I don't want to eat anymore."

"Why all of a sudden? You were eating well," Starchis said, surprised.

"... I have no appetite."

Starchis was taken aback. "What's wrong with you? Are you not feeling well? Are you lying to ?"

Vienna, who did not respond, glanced at him and said.

Its because Ive been eating for the whole day.

But because Vienna reacted this way just after Starchis' words, Luss and Lily realized that sohow, Vienna also knew that Starchis and Elza had sex.

Starchis also knew that Vienna was hiding sothing, but he could not figure out what it was. However, since Viennas physical condition seed fine, he didn't bother to pry.

Everyone has sothing they want to hide.

If that thing could have interfered with the B-class mission, Vienna would have said so.

Just like that, the rest of the al went on without Vienna.

***

After a while, almost all of the food on everyones plate - except for Viennas - was finished.

At first, Starchis was worried about how the dinner would proceed after Vienna stopped eating. Fortunately, after that, the atmosphere flowed smoothly as they began to talk about the past and various sweet mories they had created.

"I'll leave first," Vienna said, getting up. It was the end of the al.

"Are you leaving, Vienna?"

"It's almost ti for prayer."

Then, Vienna gave Starchis a aningful look and lightly tugged at his clothes. She seed to be asking him to go with her sowhere.

"Vienna, I told you before that I won't take you to Church anymore-"

"That's not it. I have sothing to say."

His heart raced a bit at her seemingly insignificant words. He was already worried that sothing was going on with her, so he feared even more imagining what she was going to say. Furthermore, based on her tugging on his clothes, it seed like it was sothing she couldn't say here.

Starchis apologized to Luss and Lily and headed for the door.

"Take care, Vienna."

"See you tomorrow, Vienna."

Vienna slightly bowed her head and left the room with Starchis.

After going through the first floor and out of the inn, they walked so more before Vienna stopped and looked back at Starchis.

Having dinner with him this evening, she had changed her mind.

It was precisely the mont when she put her fork and knife down.

Previously, she had tried not to acknowledge Starchiss lover sohow, either in denial or in anger, but now she thought she should just let things flow a bit.

Reacting to everything was too stressful and exhausting, so she thought she would not even try to do so.

What had been hardest for Vienna was the feeling of being deprived every ti Starchis had a new experience with Elza. But now, she acknowledged that it was natural.

And she prepared herself to endure many more heartaches.

Vienna knew that she would never love anyone other than Starchis. And since she would love him for the rest of her life, she decided to quietly wait until he broke up with Elza.

Maybe they would never break up. Even then, Vienna had decided to wait. She was accustod to patience. After all, she was a saintess.

But still.

There was a reason why she had co out of the inn alone with Starchis even though she'd decided to wait.

It was because if she was going to wait for a long ti after today, wouldnt it be okay to leave good mories for the last ti?

Its like one last big breath before diving into deep water.

Vienna looked up at Starchis and pondered what she should say to achieve her goal.

Starchis also waited patiently for her to speak first.

"....Starchis that"

Tell , Vienna.

Actually, I am scared.

Vienna wasn't talking about the dungeon. She was afraid of how long she would have to wait for Starchis to break up with Elza, or what she would do if they didn't break up.

But Starchis took it as a fear of the dungeon.

He thought it was possible since Vienna was quite delicate.

"So, Starchis. I have no right to wish and there's no reason to grant it, but could you do one favor?"

"What is it?"

"It's nothing special. I'm just scared."

Then, taking a deep breath, she said,

"Hug tightly... So tight that it breaks ."

Hundreds of questions and thousands of things to say swirled around in Starchis' mind, but he couldn't say anything.

How hard it must be

He wondered how hard it must have been to say sothing like this.

And how earnestly she needed a hug that she even brought him to a place where they were alone.

Starchis couldnt co up with an excuse like he cant do it because his girlfriend doesn't like it.

Because Elza was not real.

When he weighed sticking to a lie versus appeasing a struggling party mber, the answer ca easily.

Starchis opened his arms wide.

And as soon as he opened his arms, Vienna hugged him.

Starchis also held her tightly in his arms, thinking it was a cheap price if her fear went away with sothing like this.

And he thought his decision was even more correct when Vienna shed tears in his embrace.

Vienna prayed silently with tears in her eyes.

You need to break up quickly, Starchis. Ill have a hard ti waiting.

****

After the two of them left, Luss and Lily had a conversation.

What do you think Vienna wants to say, Luss?

I dont know.

Once Starchis was gone, the atmosphere sank even further.

"... Making choices is rciless. To end up like this because of one mistake."

Luss nodded in agreent with Lily's muttered words. She also thought the sa.

"Did you see him trying to introduce to soone?"

"I did."

Lily laughed bitterly. "Oh, Starchis. How happy you looked when you asked to be soone elses?"

Luss couldnt answer.

Every word Lily said pierced her heart.

"Luss, I've made a decision."

"..?"

I just Ill just wait for Starchis.

"What?"

Lily looked at her.

"I'm not the only one thinking this. Vienna probably feels the sa way too."

"W-what do you an wait?"

"I'll wait until he breaks up with that woman, Elza. He's so happy with her. Is it right to ruin their relationship like that?"

Although her rival was taking a step back, Luss heart felt uncomfortable.

She felt as if she would have to take a step back as well.

"I won't wait," Luss declared. But Lily just sighed and laughed.

Hearing her own laugh that sounded hopeless, Lily felt herself becoming more and more crazy.

"Even if you don't wait, what will you do?"

Lily got up from her seat and lay on Starchis' bed.

His scent filled the air. She didnt even think to hide it from Luss and took a deep breath.

"Will you confess your feelings? Will you seduce him with your body? Will you badmouth Elza? There's nothing you can do, is there?"

"..."

"I don't know if anything could be done right now. So, I'll just keep waiting, no matter how long it takes," Lily said, closing her eyes while still laying on the bed.

anwhile, Luss said again as if casting a spell on herself.

I I wont give up.

Lily looked at her with burning-red eyes and replied.

Dont misunderstand, Luss; I didnt give up either. But just Im going to use my power later- at the right ti... Right now Im a little tired.

End of Chapter

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