Since that day with the slave bread, it’s been like this.
Should I even say anything?
As I was pulling out my textbooks from my bag, ignoring her, I hear a familiar voice nearby.
“Kim Deok-Sung.”
I look up.
There’s Shinozaki Rin, the beautiful girl with a navy ponytail.
“What is it?”
Isn’t everything already over with the whole dogeza drama?
Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?
Shinozaki Rin bows her head, her fists tightly clenched.
“You…”
She suddenly raises her head.
Her white cheeks turn red.
She points at me and shouts,
“Be my man!”
“What?”
What on earth did she just say?
My man?
My expression crumples.
I can’t help but laugh in disbelief.
“Hey, Rin.”
I look at her and say,
“Are you crazy?”
What did I do wrong in a past life?
“What, what did you just…”
Rin’s face stiffens.
Her navy eyes tremble.
She clenches her fists even tighter.
“Are you… rejecting my confession, Kim Deok-Sung…?”
Was that just now a confession?
Hell no. This is driving me nuts.
How is it that not a single day has passed peacefully since I reincarnated?
I press on my temples.
I can already feel a headache coming.
One tsundere is enough to handle.
But now, even a Japanese girl is getting in on this.
This is insane.
What kind of thunderstorm is this out of a clear sky, first thing in the morning?
“Yeah. I’m rejecting it.”
Do I really have to say that?
When Rin hears my answer, she bites her lip.
She looks shocked.
Why is she the one who’s shocked?
Shouldn’t it be me that’s angry?
This is ridiculous.
Did she actually think I’d accept such a confession?
Talk about a double standard.
‘Now I understand why public confessions are crap.’
I remember a senior from college who put a public confession slide at the end of our economics group project PPT and confessed to a junior while we were presenting.
The poor junior burst into tears and ran out of the classroom, turning it into a sea of laughter.
It was funny back then, but now that I’m in the hot seat, I get why she ran out.
I’m sorry for laughing at your feelings back then.
‘This is driving me insane.’
Is this some form of “I’ll punish you for rejecting my confession” kind of thing?
Bam.
Shinozaki Rin slams both hands on my desk.
Geez, that startled me.
Rin looks at me and says.
“What’s wrong with me that he rejected me? Just say it, Kim Deok-Sung. I am the noble daughter of the prestigious Shinozaki family in Japan. I have enough money, power, and social status. My appearance? I’d say I’m a beauty, and… I have confidence that my chest size is no less than that of a knight princess!”
Rin places her hand on her chest.
Her large bust confidently shakes over her white shirt.
But seriously, why is the dialogue like this?
Did she just call herself a beauty? Why is she talking about her chest size? This is driving me crazy.
“And I’m a virgin, with no dating experience. You’re my first partner! Is it because I lack femininity? Is that it?”
What? Virgin? Femininity?
These lines have me questioning my hearing.
I’m starting to feel dizzy, beyond just a headache.
As the saying goes, when anger surpasses its limit, the head cools down, and my whole body feels cold.
What kind of sin did I commit in my past life to endure this auditory torture from such a refreshing morning?
Ah, right.
I sinned by being an unfilial child.
Mother, Father, I’m truly sorry for being a light novel nerd.
“Did Kim reject Shinozaki’s confession just now?”
“To think he flat-out rejected the Samurai of the Cold Wind’s confession, unbelievable…!”
“Poor Shinozaki…”
“Kim, isn’t he a pervert? They say he strolls around the campus every night with the knight princess dressed as a maid, with a leash on her!”
“Did Shinozaki suffer from Kim too? It seemed odd from the start…”
I can hear the murmurs of the surrounding students.
Typical banter between extras in a light novel.
But now that it’s become reality, and the subject is me, it’s driving me insane.
‘Did I really find this amusing? I must be crazy.’
What? A leash? Walking?
Are they out of their minds?
Every day, they bring a new level of absurdity like it’s some ridiculous dystopia.
“Damn…”
My head is spinning.
I’m on the brink of losing my sanity.
Just as I was about to let slip a curse in Korean as a reflex, I hear a familiar voice.
“How disgraceful, Shinozaki.”
I turn my gaze.
There stands Olivia, the platinum-haired beauty, looking confidently at Rin.
“To cling on after being rejected. There’s really not a shred of dignity in this disgrace. The name of the esteemed Shinozaki family and your alias, Samurai of the Cold Wind, are crying out, Shinozaki.”
Olivia’s cold voice reverberates in the classroom.
An icy silence falls like a bucket of cold water.
Rin’s face hardens.
According to character settings, Olivia and Rin are rivals and close adversaries.
Neither of them particularly likes the other’s existence.
Olivia stepping in makes sense now.
I feel a bit relieved.
Yes, this is it.
Well done! Tsundere!
Olivia has never looked more beautiful than today.
This is what you call a true rivalry.
“Shut your mouth, Bonaparte. It’s not your place as a third party to meddle in this.”
Rin glares at Olivia, growling.
The Shinozaki family name holds a mixture of affection and resentment for her.
Since a third party like Olivia brought it up, her switch has been flipped.
Since Olivia was mumbling, the switch was pressed.
“Oh my, a third party? Shinozaki, didn’t I mention that yesterday?”
Thwack.
Olivia places her hand on her chest.
This feels a bit uneasy.
“I’m his exclusive maid. Naturally, I have the duty to block access from strays like you.”
Right.
I knew it would be like this.
Every word she says makes me want to vomit blood.
I was the crazy one for underestimating Olivia for even a moment.
Why did I ever have any expectations in this insane world?
If I hadn’t hoped, I wouldn’t have been betrayed.
Damn it.
“Here she comes! The exclusive maid declaration!”
“Is the rumor true?”
“Does that mean the rumor about dressing in maid outfits at night is also true?”
“The knight princess… This is a bit shocking…”
“Kim! Total degeneracy!”
“Scum! Pervert! Trash!”
The chaos is compounded by Nishizawa Eri’s insults from the side.
I feel nauseous.
When the exclusive maid thing was mentioned at Ground Zero, there was no one around.
But now, in the middle of a classroom packed with cadets, an exclusive maid declaration?
Am I really going nuts?
I can’t understand the mindset of a tsundere at all.
“I’m so embarrassed I could die.”
I want to go back.
I often think about wanting to go back, but never as desperately as I do today.
This is truly the utmost disgust.
My face is burning with shame.
My hands are trembling uncontrollably.
I can’t take it anymore.
“Shut up, all of you! Just everyone here, shut your mouths. It’s giving me a headache and is super embarrassing.”
As soon as my words drop, the classroom quiets down as if cold water has been poured over it.
Shinozaki Rin, Olivia, Nishizawa Eri, and all the other cadets close their mouths as if it’s a promise.
All the cadets’ gazes are fixed on me.
Yeah, that’s better.
I lift my head.
I still see Shinozaki Rin standing in front of me.
“Hey, Rin.”
“Did you call me?”
“No matter how I think about it, there’s absolutely no reason for you to like me, right? I wouldn’t even want to deal with a rude woman like you.”
It’s not empty talk; I genuinely dislike her.
She’s not as bad as Nishizawa Eri, who constantly throws insults, but considering what she’s done to me, I truly cannot like her.
Rin’s expression hardens.
She bites her lip.
“You suddenly show up, claim you can’t acknowledge my skills, throw a challenge during practice, and when you lose, you go and do a head dive, and now you’re saying you actually liked me? Do you think that makes any sense?”
“Well, that’s…”
Rin’s words falter.
I guess, even for her, this situation doesn’t make sense.
Yet there’s only one reason she’s fixated on me.
“Even if you say all that, there’s no way I’m marrying into the Shinozaki family as a son-in-law and changing my name. Stop sipping on your kimchi soup before you choke. Just imagining marrying you is terrifying.”
Shinozaki Ichiro.
It’s probably because he ordered her to do so.
I didn’t think that just because I refused back then, that guy would back off easily.
Unless it’s the Ichiro who learned kindness after being saved, the current Ichiro is close to being the antagonist.
But to think he would resort to such disgusting means to stab me in the back.
I can’t believe they’d hit me from behind like this.
I never saw it coming.
“Damn it.”
It’s clear that they’ve given some gross command like “seduce Kim Deok-Sung and bring him in” straight out of a light novel.
That damn father of theirs.
I’ll definitely need to deal with them someday.
Both Rin and that old man.
“Ugh······.”
Rin drops a cringe-worthy line that sounds like it’s straight out of a Japanese anime.
She really knows how to push my buttons.
“Fine, just return to your seat.”
In situations like this, it’s usually the teacher who steps in and sorts things out.
But why the hell is that damn teacher Mayuzumi late today?
At that moment.
“······I heard you’re going to the cherry blossom festival with Bonaparte.”
Rin’s voice cuts through.
The cherry blossom festival?
Considering the rumor made it all the way to Rin, Han Seo-Jin must be efficiently handling things.
In this crazy world, the most competent normal person is undoubtedly our proud National Intelligence Service agent, Han Seo-Jin.
I’m proud, South Korea!
“So?”
“I-I want to go too!”
Rin declares, placing her hand on her chest.
You want to go together?
She just threw a fit, and now she’s not bored?
Amazing.
I need to cool my head.
Setting aside my feelings about her, participating in the cherry blossom festival is a welcome idea.
The more slaves I have, the less I have to do.
But there’s a problem.
“W-Wait a minute! What kind of scoundrel talk is this!!”
“It’s my master’s business. I’d prefer if the devoted maid stepped aside.”
It’s clear that Olivia and Rin don’t get along.
Controlling two figures like oil and water is a pain.
Aren’t they just throwing catastrophic insults at each other right in front of me?
And can we stop with the devoted maid nonsense?
“Shut up, both of you.”
Like ghosts, Rin and Olivia immediately fall silent.
They only listen when it’s moments like this.
“Hey, Rin. Even if I tell you not to come, you will, right?”
“That is······. Ah, never mind.”
Rin stutters and avoids my gaze.
It’s obvious she’s lying.
To her, following the master’s command is a top priority.
She’s definitely going to show up, no matter what I say.
My head hurts.
Why do these damn things keep happening?
As expected, that protagonist is behind all of this.
If only Olivia’s naked body had been the only thing I saw, it would have been a happy world for all of us—me, her, Rin, everyone.
Damn it.
“Don’t even pretend you’re not going to attend. Rin. Seriously, if you don’t want to die.”
Even if I want to speak gently, I can’t help it.
Rin bites her lip.
“Ugh······.”
“Don’t start that nonsense either.”
She clenches her fists.
Anyway, the water has already spilled.
I can’t deal with the association president Ichiro right now, so I might as well make Rin act like a slave.
“Then just come. It’s the same whether you come or stalk me.”
“Wait a minute! What kind of nonsense are you talking about·····!”
This time it’s Olivia who protests.
Just as I expected.
