After Linking the Villainess and Male Lead (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 18
“Helena!”
As soon as I stepped into the parlor, Lucas, who had been sitting on the sofa, stood up with a delighted expression and quickly approached me.
“…Lucas.”
I tried my best to hide my unease and greeted him with a forced smile.
After all, he was a guest who had come looking for me, so I had to be polite.
“Have you been well?”
“Yeah. Same as always for me.”
“I see. I’ve felt awful ever since we parted ways like that at the banquet.”
“Oh? Well… Please, sit down first.”
Not wanting to dwell on that memory again, I quickly changed the subject and gestured for him to take a seat.
We sat facing each other across the table.
“I really wanted to apologize to you. Back then, I was in such a hurry that I only thought of myself and pushed you too hard. I’m sorry, Helena.”
But Lucas, seeming utterly unconcerned about my discomfort, kept bringing up the banquet incident.
“Oh, okay.”
“I think I said some really harsh things. I’m sorry.”
He apologized repeatedly, as if genuinely remorseful.
Seeing him like this softened my heart a little.
So I gave a faint smile and accepted his apology.
“Alright. I accept your apology.”
“Really? For real?”
Lucas asked me again, beaming like a child.
“Yeah.”
“Thank you. Seriously, thank you. I was so worried you wouldn’t accept my apology—I couldn’t stop fretting. Honestly, just thinking about it made me want to die on the spot! Ugh, seriously…”
Lucas heaved a deep sigh, visibly relieved.
It was reassuring to see him return to the Lucas I knew.
“So… we’re still friends, right?”
“Huh?”
“…We are friends, aren’t we?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course we are.”
Seeing Lucas ask so cautiously, I finally smiled genuinely and nodded.
It seemed clear he had really come to apologize and wanted to stay on good terms with me.
“Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness.”
Lucas repeated the same words over and over.
“Hey, Helena.”
“Yeah?”
Suddenly, Lucas called my name with a serious expression.
Wait. That look…
I tensed up instantly, sensing another wave of unease creeping in.
“I passed the Imperial Guard selection!”
“The Imperial Guard?”
Contrary to my anxiety, his words brought an unexpected announcement.
“Yeah. I’ll be staying in the capital from now on.”
“I see. Congratulations!”
I sincerely congratulated him, genuinely happy for him.
“So… does that mean we can still meet like this from now on?”
“Huh?”
“Since we’ll both be in the capital, maybe we could spend time together more often… if that’s alright? Would it not be?”
“Well, um…”
I hesitated briefly over how to respond to Lucas’s suggestion.
Meeting occasionally as friends wasn’t a bad idea.
As long as nothing like last time happened, Lucas was always fun to talk to.
The problem was, I might be leaving the capital myself.
But Lucas clearly assumed I’d be staying here permanently.
To clear up his misunderstanding, I’d have to tell him I might not remain in the capital.
Yet I didn’t want to tell Lucas about this before telling Kaern.
Kaern deserved to hear my decision first—he’d done so much for me.
“Yeah. Let’s do that. Since we’ll both be in the capital, we can meet anytime.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
In the end, I gave in without saying anything further.
Lucas clapped his hands in delight, while I could only watch him with a slightly heavy heart.
“If you’ve got time, would you like to stay for lunch?”
“Of course!”
Feeling guilty, I invited him to lunch, and he accepted immediately.
“Do you have a favorite dish?”
“I eat anything.”
“Really? Got it. I’ll have something prepared.”
“Alright.”
And so, we had lunch together, followed by a short walk in the garden.
Since he’d come all the way to my home, proper hospitality was only right—and there was no ulterior motive.
However, contrary to his promise to visit only occasionally, Lucas started showing up nearly every day.
He claimed he had nothing else to do, as he was still awaiting his official assignment after joining the Imperial Guard.
Moreover, on days when I was out running errands, he’d wait until I returned.
It felt slightly unsettling, but I had no valid reason to turn away a guest.
So today, as usual, I returned home after running errands—and found Lucas waiting for me in the parlor.
“Lucas?”
“Helena!”
He shot up from his seat the moment he saw me.
“How long have you been here?”
“Just arrived a moment ago.”
“Just now? But the butler said you’ve been here for hours?”
“Oh, well… I just feel at ease here, you know. Haha.”
Caught in his lie instantly, Lucas gave an awkward, sheepish grin.
“Still no assignment from the Guard yet?”
“Yeah. They said it’d come quickly, but it’s taking longer than expected.”
“I see.”
“Where’d you go?”
“Just to the shops. Needed to pick up a few things.”
“You haven’t had dinner yet, right?”
“No, I was planning to eat at home.”
“Then… could I join you for dinner today?”
Lucas asked hopefully, his eyes brimming with anticipation.
Truthfully, I desperately wanted to eat alone tonight.
But I couldn’t bring myself to refuse him after he’d come all this way, so I reluctantly nodded.
“Alright. Let’s do that.”
“Wow, thanks, Helena.”
As always, after dinner, we shared some light tea and dessert while chatting.
“So I told that guy, ‘I…'”
Most of our conversation consisted of Lucas talking while I listened quietly.
Unfortunately, I found his stories utterly uninteresting.
So, guiltily, I half-listened and half-ignored him, giving only mechanical responses.
How unmemorable was it? After parting with Lucas, not a single thing he said remained in my mind.
But today, perhaps because I’d been out for so long, I felt unusually exhausted.
Or maybe it was just mental fatigue from being with Lucas—his words simply didn’t register at all.
‘When will Kaern come back?’
I wonder what’s keeping him—it must be something important.
I didn’t expect he’d be gone this long; his absence was dragging on much more than I’d imagined.
‘Will he come back tomorrow?’
I really hope so.
I missed him terribly.
It wasn’t this intense before, but now that time felt limited, even a little more time with him felt precious—and my longing grew sharper.
“Helena?”
Lost unknowingly in thoughts of Kaern, I heard Lucas call my name.
“…Hm?”
Slightly startled, I barely managed to hide my expression and looked at him.
“Were you listening? Was it boring? Should I talk about something else?”
“No, I was listening.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Oh—our tea’s gone cold. I’ll bring fresh, warm tea.”
“No, it’s fine for me.”
“But warm tea tastes better, so…”
I was just about to stand from the sofa, using tea as an excuse to escape Lucas for even a moment.
Knock knock.
Someone tapped gently on the door from outside.
“Come in.”
Assuming it was Amy, I called for them to enter.
The door opened the instant my words left my lips—and I jumped to my feet in shock the moment I turned my head.
Instead of Amy, a man far taller and broader than her strode into the room.
It was Kaern.
“…Your Grace?”
So startled to see someone I hadn’t expected at all, I stood frozen with my mouth agape, staring at him.
Kaern fixed his sharp gaze on me for a moment, then swiftly turned his eyes aside.
With long strides, he crossed the room and stood before me in an instant.
“Y-Your Grace, what brings you here…?”
Whether he hadn’t heard me or chose to ignore me, he remained silent and locked eyes with me again.
For some reason, the air around him felt icy cold.
“I pay my respects to Duke Lavellion.”
Lucas broke the sudden silence first, bowing formally to Kaern.
But Kaern didn’t even glance at Lucas—his eyes stayed fixed solely on me.
Though Lucas hadn’t officially inherited his title yet, he was still the heir of a ducal house equal in rank to the Lavellions.
Kaern’s attitude made the atmosphere even more tense and frigid than before.
“Duke Lavellion.”
Undeterred, Lucas addressed Kaern again, his voice steady and clear.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
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If there is a person checking these comments. Can you please add a word/letter count to the bottom. Also sometimes the comments don’t stay within the chapter you read but throughout the whole book, please fix that glitch. Another, per book- hour limited to how many comments can earn cookies – it’s better you write that somewhere or give a notification to the commenter about that. The notification about the 3/3 free reads glitch too, sometimes it says 3/1,1/3,1/1 or not work. The cookies glitch sometimes too, id have 10 but when I try to unlock chapter it keeps saying I have none. Love yalls work!
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