Chapter 4

Shall We Sign a 100-Year Contract of Friendship?

I thought I had reached the finish line of the novel, but I was back at square one. Claudia was not only uninterested in the male leads, she despised them.

How could the female lead hate the male leads? They were supposed to end up together! That was what “fate” was, wasn’t it?

On top of that, she made promises of forever to the extra who had been marked for death! How far was she going to upend the storyline of the novel and thwart her destiny?

You have to choose one of those men so I can live! I like you, Claudia, I do. But not enough to go up against the three male leads. I can’t handle them! Just look at me. I’m scrawny. I’d get trampled by those behemoths. I’m one hundred percent sure I’ll die!

I tried to think of a way to change her mind, but when I asked her why she didn’t like any of them, she said, “What do they think love is? Is it disrespecting others? Showing love by not showing an ounce of respect? They just want to possess me. It’s like all they want to do is win a trophy. I don’t care if they fight! I just wish they’d stop and leave me alone!”

She then burst into tears. Claudia was so upset that I could even see her eyelashes tremble. I felt bad.

“I’ll never be able to love people like them, even if it’s a matter of life and death!”

I couldn’t say anything to that. The male leads of FBD would typically be like, “I’m giving you my love, so why are you pushing me away?” or “I don’t care if it’s not what you want.” or “Why? Because I love you.” or “I don’t care what you think of me. You’re mine.” Or some other stuff like that.

I felt like I just got whacked in the head by Claudia’s words. She was right though. I thought that even though this was now my reality, I was still just in the world of a novel and these were its characters. That was why even if the male leads of FBD had terrible personalities, I assumed Claudia would end up liking one of them eventually, since she’s the female protagonist. I had completely ignored how she might be feeling.

Lucas, Benjamin, Constantine...

I thought they were great as the male leads of the novel, but they would make terrible boyfriends in real life. They only worked as characters because it was fiction.

“Do you... dislike them that much?”

“Yes, I despise them.”

She wasn’t wrong to.

Maybe I should be honest with her too.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t date any of them if I were you either. Men like that are so...” I couldn’t help but wince as I mumbled.

What did it matter if they were good-looking and socially high-ranking? Even if they had nothing, I’d rather be with someone who was considerate and kind. Someone who respected me as a person. As soon as I had that thought, I realized that’s why the female protagonist had chosen me. I felt heavy with guilt.

Over the past year, I did try to help Claudia avoid misfortune in my own way. I encouraged her to speak up for herself and to take a stand for what she really wanted instead of going along with what she was told to do. That was how I thought we’d all be able to avoid the original ending. However, I assumed she’d naturally end up with one of the male leads even though she had become one of my closest friends. I tried to ruin Claudia’s life so I could save my own. I genuinely felt so bad that I had to apologize for my actions.

“Claudia, I’m really sorry. That was upsetting, wasn’t it? I’m sorry I tried to make you choose one of them.”

I could have made excuses and said I didn’t have a choice because I wanted to live, but I couldn’t deny that I had wronged her.

“It’s all right. I’m sure there was a reason. I know you’re not the kind of person to do that for nothing.”

She smiled faintly, whispering that I didn’t have to look so apologetic. I hung my head in shame, but Claudia carefully lifted it back up, then spread her arms out.

“Irene, may I hug you?”

I was taken aback for a moment, but I nodded. She didn’t hesitate to hug me tightly as she buried her face in my shoulder. Her luscious silvery hair gently shook and glistened in the light like satin.

Haa... Now I really can’t nudge her into doing anything.

I got to be in the arms of the most beautiful woman in the empire, but it was going to cost me my life. Who would be the one to kill me? The prince? The duke? The paladin? My future seemed bleak, but I felt pretty good in that moment. Maybe I should just roll with this. Maybe dying in the arms of a beautiful woman wasn’t such a terrible way to go.

Knowing I was heading toward certain death again, I swallowed a sigh with a vacant look in my eyes like I had given up the will to live.

That was when Claudia suddenly broke the hug and said, “I just did something terrible, didn’t I? I didn’t even ask if you wanted to be with me!”

Oh, so she finally noticed.

Truthfully, I had been trying not to make it obvious to her, but I was very flustered. I suppose I understood where she was coming from since three guys she didn’t even like kept hitting on her. She simply let herself go without thinking about the ripple effects.

Well, it’s too late now.

The news will have already spread like wildfire through society that Claudia kicked the empire’s most eligible bachelors to the curb. And that she chose to be with the daughter of an insignificant noble family. Which meant I had just lost my chance to get married too, didn’t it? Was I destined to be forever alone in this life too?

At least I have an excuse this time. I mean, even before all of this happened, I wasn’t exactly flourishing on the dating scene. I never really had any game. I was just well-known among girls. I was always shy around guys and could hardly say a word to them. I bet I was born under a "forever alone" star or something. Maybe I was destined to be born this way. Or I received blessings from the God of Singles that rendered me hapless.

As I was thinking that to myself, Claudia unclasped her intricately designed necklace and hung it around my neck while asking, “Irene, will you be with me forever? As friends?”

My heart raced at the confession of this extremely wealthy woman. It had never sped up for any man, but it did at her words.

“...Gladly.”

Did I just say that? I must have momentarily lost my mind.

“That makes me so happy!”

Claudia let go of me for a moment to smile brightly and then hugged me tightly like I was a teddy bear. She began to rattle off a list of things that she had always wanted to do with me. In short, she wanted us to live together and have fun every day, but of course her plan didn’t have any monetary restrictions in the slightest. Zip. Nada.

“One dress isn’t enough. There are so many dresses that I want you to try on, Irene,” Claudia whined at me. Then in a more serious tone, she asked, “It’d probably be better if I just bought the boutiques, right?”

W-what?

As a poor person who could never understand, my heart dropped to my feet.

Yeah, who needs men? All you need is money and friends! I’ll remain forever solo!

“Claudia, shall we sign a 100-year contract of friendship?”

So what if I was in danger of being murdered? I was fated to die anyway. Why was I pretending to be scared in the first place? You need to grab life by the horns.

If I die, I die. Just kill me! Kill me!

Ah... but how exhilarating it was. Everything felt so fresh and new. Having a rich friend was simply the best! Though in return for money and a lifelong friend, a gloomy future awaited me.

* * *

Felix Chamberlain was the eldest of the Chamberlain family. He was Claudia’s only sibling, and the youngest ever Deputy Secretary of the Department of Magic. He was a born genius with immense mana and exceptional talent in magic. He wasn’t arrogant, even though he was a genius. He was a sincere and kind person with a positive reputation and known for his leadership. And like many fictional older brothers, he adored his little sister. In short, he was a unicorn—a being too perfect to truly exist! So... what was that unicorn currently doing in my front yard?

I couldn’t believe my eyes at first. Did I somehow die and go to heaven? At least, that was what I was thinking while I tried to shake off sleep from my eyes. I even pinched my cheek to see if I was still dreaming. That was when I locked eyes with the unico—I mean, Felix.