By Zephyria 
There was no point in hosting the tea party. Whether it was Lennox, who was shamelessly continuing his clowning, or Allen, who was just staring at my face, they were both making me uncomfortable. From an objective point of view, the work of increasing the favorability of the Love interests and ruining Allen’s social reputation was progressing smoothly, but strangely, my chest felt stuffy. I just wanted to hug the fluffy tail attached to the puppy version of Carlisle and take a nap. I was glad that the only thing I had swallowed was bland tea water. If it had been a meal with proper food, I would have definitely gotten indigestion.
The tea party, where everyone except the host seemed to be friendly and getting along, came to an end around the time when the late afternoon sun was lazily setting. The returning guests all said that this was the first time they had had such a fun and meaningful tea party, and they grabbed my hand and earnestly asked me to invite them again if I ever had a similar event. I smiled gently at each of the friendly guests and said that I knew, that I wouldn’t leave them out, so they shouldn’t worry, and greeted them with composure.
“Really, Noah? I’m trusting you, Noah!”
“Isn’t that obvious? How could I dare leave out Lady Beatrice, of all people!”
“I’m glad I secured my spot as a friend in advance.”
From the outside, it seemed as if Princess Grachio had been deprived of the Crown Princess position she had been in charge of with her eyes wide open, but Beatrice, not Princess Grachio, was still my closest friend. Rather, she seemed to pity my fate of being trapped in the stuffy Imperial Palace. There seemed to be no worry that formalities such as personal glory or the family’s wealth would interfere between us. The fact that there was someone besides Nicole and Mrs. Seymour who was genuinely worried about me and cared for me, free from all calculations, was one of the most brilliant achievements of my fierce struggles.
Beatrice was the last guest to leave, and finally, all the guests had returned home. I thought that all that was left was to go back to my room and rest…
“Brother.”
“Patron.”
Wow. As soon as I saw the two people standing side by side and waiting for me, an exclamation burst out without any exaggeration. It wasn’t admiration, but a deep stuffiness that hurt my chest.
Now that I saw it, the way they smiled slyly, teasing people with their inscrutable inner thoughts, was very similar, very!
It would be useless to just ignore them and go. Considering that Allen was second and that crazy magician, who was unnecessarily good at his abilities, might do something, my head was already throbbing.
The ‘System’ whispers that it is offering a powerful magic resistance product that can instantly reject the tricks of human magicians at a low price.
(o˚̑̑̑̑̑ 3˚̑̑̑̑̑ o)
…There was such a thing? That’s tempting? Honestly, if I could just do something about the magic, Lennox wouldn’t be a big problem.
Don’t miss it, you fool! Time sale!
ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀ﻌˉ͈́ ა✧
Powerful magic resistance +50
Permanently increases magic resistance stats by 50.
It can resist mental magic and even cancel physically activated magic.
With this level of resistance, even a magician who has reached the realm of a demigod will not be able to hinder your path.
So how much is it? No, you don’t even take money in the first place. How are you going to pay the price…!
Price:
Return of 1 unused Save-Load Ticket
“Haa, I knew it…”
As expected, there was no way my life would proceed so smoothly and peacefully. To return my precious Save-Load Ticket, which I had received over a year ago and had never used because I was carefully timing it. What kind of nasty thief is this?
The ‘System’ secretly persuades you that if you haven’t used it until now, you won’t have any use for it in the future.
I don’t want to! I’m never going to return it! A hopeless System above my head, and a hopeless magician and protagonist in front of me. I felt like this was what they called being in a desperate situation.
I swallowed the sigh that was bursting out and said to the two of them at once, wanting to solve the headache at once.
“What is it? If you both have something to say, say it now. Or shut up forever and get out of my sight.”
I hoped that they would choose the latter. I knew that neither of them would disappear forever, but I wanted to get them out of my sight right now, even if it was just for the moment.
“Instead of talking here, shall we go somewhere cozy and have a serious talk?”
Lennox didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving at all. Allen, who was smiling like a doll silently next to Lennox, seemed to feel the same way. Wasn’t his specialty to say things that made people feel terrible? Why was he so quiet today…?
When I nodded in resignation, Lennox lightly snapped his fingers. We, that is, me, Lennox, and Allen, were transported to the drawing room attached to Allen’s room in the very next moment. I had never been here since Allen took over this room, but it was too familiar to me. It was the room I had used until I gave it to Allen.
“Where should I start… Ah, yes. It would be good to start from when I happened to find a servant in this place who looked surprisingly like you.”
The magician smiled brightly. The neat teeth revealed between his thin lips were dazzlingly white. It was quite contrasting to the fact that his inner thoughts were darkly sunken.
Lennox slowly opened his mouth. In a tone as cheerful as if he was trying to play the role of a kind magician in a fairy tale, telling an old story.
As you may have already noticed, my clever Patron. I am your faithful believer, filled with the desire to have only you. It has been so ever since you appeared dazzlingly through the pack of wolves and jackals gathered to insult me and declared that you were my Patron.
The esteemed you are naturally not only esteemed to me, so countless males are eyeing you. Unfortunately, I am neither a Crown Prince nor a Little Duke with a high position, nor an Alpha who can satisfy you, so I have been constantly thinking about how to get you.
No matter how high my magic has reached, if countless people who love you join forces, they may not be able to erase me from this world forever.
So I had to figure it out somehow. The only perfect way to steal you without a trace and run away, to hide forever.
It was at that time. One day, as usual, when I came to see you secretly. I found it in this very place.
“Your perfect substitute.”
Lennox murmured dreamily in a dreamy tone, as if he was still ecstatic even after thinking about it again. A thrilling blush had already spread like cotton candy on his white face. I thought he was crazy, I thought he was crazy, but this was really…
“I thought only the appearance was useful, but it even managed to acquire a noble status on its own and brought a way to develop as an Omega? Since this was supposed to take your place in the first place, I wanted to disguise him as you forever. …Unfortunately, it seems I need to modify the spell further, considering that I couldn’t even deceive Little Duke Carlisle.”
One strange thing was that Allen didn’t seem to be upset at all, even though Lennox was openly treating him like he didn’t exist and talking about him like an object, calling him ‘this’ or ‘substitute’. Allen was still, still smiling.
The number of times the two had faced each other and talked might have been more than I roughly guessed, under the guise of plotting a scheme to steal me away. It was strange. Lennox’s dark past had been completely erased, so even if falling for Allen didn’t happen… It was strange that someone with Lennox’s genius brain hadn’t recognized Allen yet. According to the Setting, didn’t these two spend their childhood together in the same orphanage in the capital? Right. When I think about it, even when Lennox first met me, he was supposed to have the impression that I resembled Allen. But this attitude and tone were as if he were dealing with a completely meaningless stranger.
“Lennox.”
Filled with bewilderment, I immediately called out to Lennox, who was lost in a frenzy of excitement, rambling on and on about nonsensical blueprints. Red eyes with a gentle light smiled at me. I asked directly.
“You… don’t you know Allen?”
“Excuse me? Don’t I know him? Of course, I do. He’s the benefactor’s son who returned home, and my precious substitute.”
“No, not that. I mean, did you know Allen before you met me…”
Before I could finish saying, ‘were you two friends?’
“Noah.”
Allen, who had been existing like a motionless ornament, finally opened his mouth.
“Shh, good boy. That’s enough. You mustn’t ask any more.”
Then he soothed me in a very adult tone.
‘Player’s favor. (´▽｀ ʃƪ)♡
‘Player’ has stopped you from asking Lennox a difficult question.
What would you like to do? (੭’꒫'( ‘﹃ ‘ )
▶Ask the question.
▶Leave it as it is.