25
“…A-Amazing.”
Genevia muttered blankly as she stared at the crime scene that had been cleared out in an instant.
All around the abandoned warehouse, a heap of thugs lay unconscious—completely wrecked after being taken down by Sion.
“Where are the kids?”
Sion asked as he sheathed his sword behind his back.
Genevia, who had been momentarily spaced out, suddenly gasped—"Ah!"—and hurriedly ran off in a certain direction.
“Wait, it’s dangerous to go alone!”
Startled, I shouted after her.
Despite how she might look, the female lead was canonically a healing priestess with zero combat ability.
At that moment, Sion quietly spoke.
“There’s no sign of anyone else nearby. She’ll be fine.”
“Phew, is that so?”
As I visibly relaxed, Sion looked at me intently.
“Huh? What is it?”
“That’s not like you ”
He said, tilting his head slightly with a suspicious look.
“You usually look at people like they're cows or chickens, but you seem oddly concerned about that priestess. What’s gotten into you?”
“Cows and chickens, seriously…”
Well, he wasn’t wrong.
In this world, the only person I really paid attention to was Sion.
But Genevia wasn’t just any ordinary NPC—she was the female lead of this world.
'And not just any female lead. She’s supposed to be your destined match, Sion.'
Of course, I couldn’t say any spoilers out loud due to the system’s restrictions, and more than that—I could already imagine Sion’s reaction if I did.
So instead, I just shrugged with a clueless expression, pretending I didn’t understand what he was talking about at all.
“Huh? Me? Not at all!”
But when Sion narrowed his eyes at me, I got flustered and started rambling.
“I-I mean, we met under such circumstances—it’s fate, right? So why not try to build a good relationship with her? Who knows, maybe someday Genevia will become super important to you?”
Sion completely ignored my words, as if they weren’t even worth responding to.
His cold reaction made me panic on the inside.
"Sion, you never know what might happen, right? Genevia will be working in the Grand Duke’s castle from now on, so you’ll probably see her around. If you treat her too coldly, you might end up regretting it later—"
“I’d rather spend that time doing something productive.”
“…Still, don’t you think she deserves some credit? I mean, she threw herself into danger all alone just to help those kids. That takes a lot of courage.”
“Anyone can do that. It's something that must be done.”
“…But since we already ended up helping her, why don’t we continue supporting her a little, so she can adjust better when she gets to the castle, yeah?”
“Sorry, but I have no intention of bothering with something that troublesome. If you want to, I won’t stop you.”
“……”
Seriously… you’re the one who’s supposed to be developing a romance with the female lead, Sion. What’s the point of me getting close to her?
Frustrated by Sion's stone-cold reaction, I let out a long sigh.
Just then, Genevia reappeared in the distance, leading a group of children.
“I’ve rescued all the kids!”
Unlike her earlier blackened, thorny demeanor, Genevia now wore a radiant smile as she held the children’s hands.
Well, that part of her hasn’t changed.
Genevia gently addressed the children sniffling behind her.
“Now, this is the knight who helped us. Come on, kids—let’s thank him properly.”
At her words, all the children's big, dirty eyes turned to Sion at once.
“Th-thank you!”
“Thank you for saving us…!”
“Waaah— I miss my mom!”
The moment they laid eyes on Sion, who had all the poise of a gallant knight, the kids finally seemed to feel safe. One by one, they began to sob.
Genevia gathered them in her arms, holding them as tightly as she could.
***
Not long after, Garen arrived at the scene with a few knights in tow, responding to the message Sion had sent.
Under the knights' protection, the children were either returned to their homes or placed in shelters within the city.
As I looked up at the night sky, now fully dark, I murmured,
“Ugh, the whole day’s gone by already.”
We came here just to do some shopping, and somehow ended up meeting the female lead and solving a human trafficking case—what a wild day.
It wasn’t what I had planned at all, but in the end, I’d say we still came away with some meaningful results.
For example…
“Ahem, excuse me.”
Genevia, shyly stepping toward Sion—that's something.
Genevia awkwardly mumbled, unable to meet his eyes.
“…Thank you. For helping me.”
Unlike her earlier suspicion toward Sion, she now seemed deeply moved by his actions.
And maybe it was just because she was shy about expressing her gratitude, but there was a faint blush coloring her lovely face.
Sensing the subtle tension in the air, I widened my eyes.
No way, is this what I think it is?
I quickly glanced up at Sion and screamed internally—
Sion! This is your chance! Take that fluttering maiden's heart and drive the stake in! It’s time to start your romance!
As if by some miracle, my telepathy got through—Sion looked at Genevia and opened his mouth.
“You seem to be misunderstanding something.”
“…Pardon?”
‘Huh?’
Sion spoke with his usual emotionless tone.
“I was rescuing the children of the North. There's no reason for me to receive thanks from you.”
“…Ah. I see.”
At that cold, buzzkill of a response to what was meant to be a warm thank-you, a vein visibly popped on Genevia’s forehead.
“I see.”
Watching the female lead’s expression go sour, I turned my gaze toward Sion.
‘…Sion. Are you, like… an actual T-type personality?’*
Genevia, now fully treating Sion like he was invisible, looked at me instead—the little creature sitting on his shoulder.
“You're… Ms. Lin, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Where are you headed next?”
“…Well.”
My brain kicked into overdrive.
At this rate, the "first meeting event" between Sion and the female lead was going to be an utter disaster.
This was supposed to be the moment where they built mutual affection, maybe even started their slow-burn romance. Instead, they'd done nothing but stack negative impressions. I couldn’t let it end like this.
I need to do something. Anything!
That’s when I saw it—Lafren’s city lights glowing in the distance.
Thinking quickly, I shouted.
“How about we go grab something to eat?!”
And right on cue, my stomach let out a monstrous growl.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgle—
It was absurdly loud—far too loud for such a tiny body like mine.
Sion and Genevia both looked at me, startled by the thunderous sound.
A wave of shame washed over me, but I forced myself to stay upbeat.
“Um, Elda told me! There are a ton of amazing restaurants in the plaza over there! Let’s check one out, yeah?”
Whether it worked or not, I was committed to creating a date-like atmosphere.
I had to salvage this failed first meeting.
“Uh… a restaurant?”
Genevia glanced uncertainly at Sion, not looking too enthusiastic.
Sion, with his usual dispassion, replied.
“Fine. We skipped lunch anyway. It’d be good to eat something.”
With that, Sion strode out of the abandoned warehouse, still carrying me on his shoulder.
Genevia hesitated a moment, then followed behind us.
***
Even though it was night, the Lafren city center was as bright as day.
After finishing our meal in awkward silence, the three of us stepped out of the restaurant.
For a moment, I forgot my mission and offered my honest review of the food.
“Hey, that place was actually really good!”
“…Not bad.”
“Honestly? Yeah. It was way better than anything I’ve had in the capital.”
“Right? Next time, let’s all come again together!”
“……”
“……”
A little while later, we blended into the crowd and wandered through the plaza.
This was the result of me insisting that I had to finish the shopping we missed earlier.
Honestly, I’m dead tired… but I can’t go back like this.
I looked around, searching for anything that might turn into a cute, romantic moment.
“Something, anything that could lead to a lovey-dovey development…”
I muttered to myself while scanning the surroundings as if my eyes could pierce through walls.
And just then, a loud vendor’s voice boomed from a nearby stall.
“Come one, come all! Direct from the capital! Limited-time half-off sale on Madame Chonelle and Madame Goodhee’s latest fashion line!”
“Oh my gosh!?”
“No way! I have to get one of those!”
“Honey, hurry up!!”
At once, all the women shopping nearby turned wide-eyed and swarmed toward the booth.
As the crowd surged in one direction—
“Wah!”
“Lin!”
—I almost got knocked off someone’s shoulder, but Sion quickly shielded me protectively.
“Ahh!”
Genevia, too, was shoved by the throng and lost her balance.
In the nick of time, Sion reached out with lightning reflexes and caught her.
“…!”
Yes, Sion! Nice catch!
I clamped my hands over my mouth.
Genevia, who had nearly fallen to the ground, looked stunned and mumbled.
“Th-that was scary…”
She then looked up at Sion, who had caught her.
This moment—no matter how you viewed it—was clearly a romantic trigger, a classic “start of something” scene.
I fixed my gaze on Sion with intensity.
Sion! Please…!
But after confirming the crowd had passed, Sion casually let go of Genevia.
“Let go already.”
“Ah…!”
Like dust being brushed off, Genevia was dropped aside. She glared sharply at him.
“You— I almost fell!”
“No. You did almost fall, and I caught you. And now you're scolding me for it.”
“Ugh, seriously.”
Genevia grumbled under her breath, borderline cursing as a vein twitched on her forehead again.
Watching the two of them, I blinked slowly.
…Ah. It’s hopeless. Completely unsalvageable.
“Lin. Let’s go back.”
Sion dusted off his robe and spoke.
Waves of fatigue washed over me, and I nodded obediently.
“…Okay.”
Like a defeated soldier, I waved weakly to Genevia.
“…Take care. See you again.”
“Thank you again, Ms. Lin.”
Genevia smiled as she said goodbye to me. Then, after one last icy glance at Sion, she turned and walked away.
Sion, unfazed, also turned his back and left with the same indifferent expression.
Watching them both, I began to feel genuinely worried about Sion’s future.
🍓; *This is a shorthand way of asking about someone's MBTI personality type, specifically whether they are a T-type—meaning Thinking (T) rather than Feeling (F). Or In korean there is a word say “너 T야?”, they’re usually reacting to something that seems overly rational, blunt, or unempathetic—often playfully or teasingly.
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