Oh No, I Possessed a Male Character! (13 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 16
It wasn’t my fault that Klaus breathed fire, yet somehow I felt I had to apologize.
“I deeply apologize, Your Highness. I had absolutely no idea he would come looking for me like this.”
“Do you know him, Muzel?”
Klaus asked with an irritated expression. I shook my head.
“We’ve only crossed paths once. He’s not someone I know well.”
“Were you perhaps supposed to meet him today?”
Strangely, Klaus had many questions. For some reason, it felt off.
Still, I answered earnestly.
“In truth, Her Imperial Majesty the Empress had asked to see me after dinner, but since we both work in the palace, I assumed he’d understand if he found out I was here.”
What I really wanted to say was this:
The Crown Prince’s aide literally stayed by his side every moment of the day.
Wasn’t Rumi herself appointed as the Empress’s aide? Then of course she should’ve anticipated that sudden overtime might come up.
Even if I generously allowed that Rumi herself might not have known and made an honest mistake—
Still, wasn’t that maid originally stationed in the Empress’s quarters? How could she be so utterly unreasonable!
Klaus narrowed his eyes and stared at me.
“So, what do you intend to do about it?”
“Pardon?”
I couldn’t understand why Klaus was suddenly glaring at me.
I calmly gave my answer based on principle.
“Naturally, my top priority is to assist Your Highness.”
The answer was already decided. Who in the world would dare tell their future Emperor to step out and meet a woman they’d only seen once?
It was almost funny that Klaus even bothered to ask—did he really think I’d give any other answer?
“Yes. I knew you’d say exactly that.”
Seemingly satisfied with the expected reply, Klaus’s expression finally softened a little.
He stood up from his seat and gently pushed aside a stack of documents on his desk.
“Muzel. This much is what you must finish by the end of today. Looks like you’ll be stuck here with me, unable to move.”
“…….”
Wow. Not even a hint of humor here. Sure, Klaus’s workload was just as heavy as mine, but this was far too transparent.
With tears welling in my eyes, I bowed my head.
“I will do my utmost to ensure Your Highness can retire early.”
Damn it. Whatever it was, the male lead was clearly upset.
[This is the timeline separator]The morning after my plans with Rumi fell through, I woke up before dawn while it was still pitch-dark outside.
“……?”
Still half-asleep, I was trying to figure out why I’d awakened when I heard someone pounding firmly on the door.
“Oh!”
Instinct took over. Since I always unwrapped the cloth binding my chest before sleeping for comfort, I frantically grabbed the wide fabric, pressed it to my chest, and tied it tightly.
At the same time, I called out.
“Who is it?”
“The Princess sent me.”
I hurriedly threw on my dressing gown and tightly fastened the sash. Hopefully, my chest was decently covered.
Deliberately slow, as if I’d just woken and was still dazed, I asked through the narrow crack in the door.
“The Princess?”
The person visible through the gap was unmistakably the same maid who’d delivered the note to me before. With a stiff expression, she quickly nodded.
“You must come with me immediately. Her Highness couldn’t sleep all night.”
“You expect me to go out like this?”
“Yes.”
Her answer was firm, leaving no room for argument.
Annoyance flared, but I had no choice.
I quickly slipped my arms into a thick hooded robe and followed the maid.
Winter had fully set in, and the predawn hour was as dark as midnight. I barely managed to walk, relying on the faint glow of the lantern the maid carried.
Soon, we arrived at a certain place.
“Where is this?”
The maid answered my question.
“It’s a building no longer in use. Please go inside. She’s waiting for you.”
My eyes had adjusted well enough to the darkness. Carefully, I stepped forward.
Then, a familiar voice rang out.
“You must sleep awfully well, then?”
The tone was sharp, bristling with irritation. Rumi was clearly furious.
I shrugged toward the faintly visible shadow.
“I’m the Crown Prince’s aide—there’s no fixed quitting time, you know that. Why act like this?”
“As if I didn’t know that!”
Her voice was low but charged. This wasn’t going to be smoothed over easily.
In that case, I had no choice but to speak seriously as well.
“How could I possibly leave when the Crown Prince himself is right there watching? Even in real life, if your boss is working like a storm, you hesitate to leave. And what excuse could I possibly give? ‘I have a date with Princess Elfride, so I must go’—really?”
All my pent-up frustration came out in a long speech.
Rumi immediately shot back in a sharp voice.
“Don’t you have even that much flexibility? Could you really believe you’re actually the Crown Prince’s aide? Your over-immersion is beyond absurd!”
“Ha….”
I let out an involuntary, hollow laugh. Of all people, I never expected to hear this from Rumi.
“You’re the one who needs to stop over-immersing! You’re not Elfride—you’re Durumi!”
“At least I haven’t lost my mind so completely that I’d break a promise with my real-life friend just to play around with the male lead, Eojin.”
Rumi stepped right up to me. Only then could I clearly see her face.
Meeting her gaze, I refused to back down.
“Who’s playing around? With mountains of work left, of course the aide should stay and work! I was pulling an all-nighter myself—didn’t the maid tell you that?”
“I sent you word you were still in the office precisely so you’d come back! After sending that many signals, you should’ve taken the hint!”
“My boss happens to be the Crown Prince. What sort of excuse would possibly work with him? Tell me—what’s so important it could outweigh the heir to the throne as an excuse?”
My head ached. How could I possibly reason with such unreasonable stubbornness—this insistence that she must always come first, no matter what?
Even in real life, leaving work on time is hard. How many people could honestly tell their direct boss—the owner’s son—that they have plans with a friend and just walk out?
Maybe because Rumi had barely engaged in any real economic activity and was essentially a nominal freelancer, she couldn’t grasp the subtle difficulties of workplace dynamics. Or perhaps her lingering depression narrowed her perspective.
Still, if she understood I hadn’t deliberately stood her up, wouldn’t that be enough for her to empathize as a friend?
But the real spectacle came next.
“Hic!”
“Huh? Hey, are you crying?”
Seeing that I wouldn’t yield, Rumi began sniffling again!
She soon broke into pitiful sobs.
“Jin Yi, you… hic… were really awful. Sob!”
“Huh?”
“How can you be so selfish? After you… hic… sent that letter, do you have any idea how much… sob… I worried?”
“Uh… um…”
Ugh, I’m going crazy. Now that she’s crying like this, what am I supposed to do?
I hadn’t intentionally ignored Rumi out of malice—I’d explained my circumstances clearly—yet somehow, I’d become the villain.
“Ha.”
I stared at her, utterly dumbfounded.
Right. Arguing about who was right or wrong wasn’t worth it. Better to wrap this up quickly and get back to my room—standing here in my nightclothes on a freezing winter morning, I was about to freeze to death.
“Alright, alright. Rumi, I’m sorry. I’ll definitely keep our promise next time—now let’s just talk.”
“Waaah!”
“Oh, stop crying already! I said I’m sorry, didn’t I?”
“Sorry, hic… and that’s it? Do you even understand how much I worried? Sob!”
Rumi couldn’t stop crying easily.
“Ugh….”
I’m seriously going to lose it.
Since I’d already bowed my head, lowering it a bit more wouldn’t hurt. I apologized to Rumi once again.
“Fine, I was thoughtless. I won’t do this again—really.”
“Hic…!”
Argh! At this rate, I’ll be here comforting her till sunrise!
I quickly changed the subject.
“The day you came to the Crown Prince’s quarters, the male lead was furious. He said you hadn’t even grasped the palace’s basic rules.”
Rumi sniffled loudly once, then replied with a voice still thick with tears.
“That’s no big deal. He might’ve been briefly shocked, but it worked out well in the end.”
“Worked out well?”
That was unexpected. I couldn’t understand—how could it be “good” when the male lead’s opinion of her had clearly plummeted?
Rumi lifted her chin. Though tearstains remained on her face, she looked rather proud.
“At least now I’ve left some kind of impression in the male lead’s mind. Whether he likes it or not, he’ll keep paying attention to me. That’s how his interest in me starts.”
“Uh… really?”
Her words hit me like a slap to the head.
Rumi stared at me as if I should’ve known better.
“In romance novels, the female and male leads usually get entangled exactly like this. Especially when they start as enemies—it’s practically a rule.”
I pressed my hands to my dizzy head. It was so absurd I couldn’t even think of a reply.
Rumi, however, was brimming with confidence.
“Just wait and see. Now the male lead will slowly start coming around to me.”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
Waiting for rumi to either mature up for once or to just get out of the picture 🫠
Waiting for rumi to either mature up for once or to just get out of the picture 🫠
“If he had never learned that Muzel was a woman, he might have mistaken it for deep friendship”
I had this thought, and this semi confirmed it for me: Klaus seems to like Muzel no matter the gender. He maybe bi, but it maybe only for Muzel. Like Shang from Disney’s Mulan