Chapter 3

I never thought my plan would be this successful. She liked me so much that she didn’t want any of those guys! I never once imagined this scenario happening. I couldn’t believe I stole the female protagonist’s heart. I succeeded where the male leads—the guys who were arguably perfect in every way—had failed. But I fell into despair because I knew I’d basically signed my own death warrant. What was I supposed to do?

I froze like a statue in the middle of the ballroom that was so silent you could hear a pin drop. The gazes of those three men pierced me painfully. Incidentally, I became the reason Claudia outwardly rejected their proposals.

“C-Claudia? Isn’t it dangerous to declare that you won’t get married?”

“Why is that dangerous?”

Because my life is at stake here!

“Irene, you look like a little squirrel right now! How cute!”

Claudia looked at my horrified expression and giggled innocently like a little girl. She then proceeded to squish and pinch my cheeks. It seemed like she didn’t realize that she and I weren’t the only ones in the ballroom.

Hey, I know you’re slow-witted and dense, but look around you! You declared that you’re going to live with me for the rest of your life, but it looks like they’re about to go on a witch hunt with me as their target!

“Oh, the Carandi Boutique has a new collection for the season! I found a dress that would look so good on you! I’d really like to give it to you as a gift... You’ll accept it, won’t you?” Claudia proceeded to add that she knew I’d accept because I was nice.

Contrary to the way she looked at the guys, she was positively beaming now. She had a rosy color in her cheeks, and her smile looked lovely like a fully bloomed peach blossom. I nervously glanced around the room while she kneaded my face, and locked eyes with three pairs of dilated pupils.

Eek!

I gasped and hid behind Claudia. I took comfort in the fact that I was smaller than her.

“You’re going to live with that for the rest of your life?” said the crown prince.

Prince Lucas Dar Rian Roccitante, to be exact. He smirked while referring to me as a “thing,” and stared at me with his red eyes that glistened like a snake’s. My throat felt conflicted by his piercing gaze as I watched him walk toward me.

“I hope I misheard you, Claudia. Because if not, I don’t know how long I can hold back from breaking that little fiancée of yours in half.”

Did he really mean that? Was Lucas really treating me like a love rival? I had squealed in delight when I’d read about his possessive dark streak. But now my silent screams took on a new meaning.

I turned pale and patted my neck. At the same time, Lucas looked at me with a murderous glint in his eyes as he reached for me. He was like a beast getting ready to kill. I was petrified thinking he was going to rip my throat out, but Claudia slapped his hand away. The sound of her slap echoed around us as everyone stared in bewilderment.

“Don’t touch her, Your Highness.”

“What?”

“I won’t stand for it, even if it’s you!”

Lucas silently stared at his reddening hand. It seemed like he had frozen and couldn’t move from the shock. Even though Claudia was the daughter of Count Chamberlain, she had slapped the hand of the prince. The ripples of murmurs around the room were increasing.

I’m so screwed... I thought to myself while hiding my face behind her back.

“I didn’t even realize there was someone else standing next to you,” Duke Benjamin Remberg said as he lazily tilted his head. “The eldest of the Amber family? What an interesting preference you have.”

Frankly, I would have preferred if he got mad like Lucas. Hearing that was somehow even more terrifying. He looked like a beast crouching before it pounced on its prey—tenacious and focused.

He took his time staring at me, as if to say he was letting me be for the time being, but that he would be coming for me soon.

“It was quite unfortunate that the servants were the ones put up for collateral instead.”

My heart lurched because I knew what he was referring to.

I found out about it later, but the debt snowballed after Viscount Amber’s business venture failed, so he sold off whatever he could for any sort of income. The bank and his friends, however, refused to help him. So with his back against the wall, he turned to Carlisle, the city of chaos.

He borrowed from a financial institution with ridiculous interest rates that was owned by Benjamin. I was among the list of items put up for collateral. That was why the Amber family hurriedly tried to sell me off through marriage before going bankrupt since that would have been better than becoming a slave. So Benjamin was implying that if the debt hadn’t been paid off, I would have become his slave.

Yeah, I knew he was the lord of the criminal underworld, but he was basically just a loan shark. Of course, I also figured he was doing other shady things besides that too. Come to think of it, wasn’t it supposed to be a secret that he was the lord of the criminal underworld? Why was he making it so obvious? I guess I was the only one who understood his cryptic response since I was the only one who knew all the details. It seemed like he was aware that I knew a lot about what was going on, seeing how he said that to clock my reaction.

How much does he know...?

I felt scared. I might be the explainer of everything, but I would be no match for the information network that the boss of the criminal underworld probably had.

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he gently whispered, “You should be grateful to Claudia. No, maybe you should be feeling resentful instead.”

Claudia sharply cut in by saying, “Your Grace, are you trying to intimidate Irene right now?”

“Well, aren’t you quick to catch on. Is this the power of love?” Benjamin unexpectedly responded with a compliment.

However, when she didn’t show any sign of backing down, he put up his hands as if to surrender. Meanwhile,

The paladin of the Great Temple, Constantine, stared on in silence.

He didn’t intimidate me like the prince, nor did he threaten me like the duke. With his piercing blue gaze, he simply stared down at me slowly and pinned his gaze on where my vital organs were. It felt like the temperature dropped at least ten degrees around me. I heard you could kill someone with holy power if you were skilled enough. Since he had the most holy power after the high priest, he could kill me with a snap of his fingers.

If looks could kill, I would have already been sliced into pieces and tossed into the lake. And that wasn’t just a metaphor. That was what was in store for me in the near future. I couldn’t stop shaking as I clung to Claudia’s dress. Startled, she looked back at me and patted my head reassuringly.

“There’s no need to be scared, Irene,” she said as she turned her upset gaze upon the three men. “I don’t know why everyone is declaring ownership over me.” Then she grit her teeth and ground out each proceeding word as she continued, “I don’t like the three of you! In fact, I don’t want anyone! I don’t belong to anyone!”

She really sounded like she was sick of all of them.

“You say you like me, but everything you do is anything but that! You’re overpowering and scary, and you have no intention of respecting me! You’re all barbaric!”

I, of course, understood where she was coming from. If those ultra-possessive scary guys confessed their feelings to me, I would have run away without looking back. But... she was still the female protagonist. And this was a reverse harem story. Which meant it was a novel where several guys were supposed to fight for her love. However, the plot of reverse harem stories typically occurs because the female protagonist isn’t assertive enough to choose one man.

That was why I was trying to prevent the conflict from happening by guiding her to choose one of them. I thought I had come up with the perfect plan. Of course, it got dragged out because it seemed like Claudia was disinterested in the men, but I thought if I brainwashed her enough about the charms of the male leads, she might actually just choose one. And if you’re still asking “why?” it’s because... This! Is! A! Romance novel!

In order for the romance novel to end, the male and female leads are supposed to end up together, right? It should end when the two become a couple.

“The only person who can have me is Irene. Now and forever!”

Ah... Why is she saying things like that?

Claudia grabbed my hand and left the ballroom without looking back. I suddenly felt like I’d become the scum of the earth. A wedding crasher who had swooped in to steal the bride.