.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to dodge this one. She played smarter this time and sent it straight for my legs.

Even worse, the carton was only half-empty, so some of the liquid spilled onto my uniform.

"Would it kill you to stop throwing things at me?"

"Would it kill you to stop saying nonsense then?"

I aggressively patted down the stained parts of my trousers as I replied.

"What do you mean, nonsense? Isn't it typical for third-rates to have crushes on the big bad?"

Her hand moved threateningly towards another bottle. I intercepted it by throwing in the towel preemptively.

"Alright, hands off the cartons. Let's talk this out, okay?"

Song paused, glancing between the carton and me, before withdrawing her hands with a snort. I let out a small sigh of relief, then spoke carefully.

"Good. Now, mind telling me why you're so mad?"

I hadn't claimed she had a crush on Varic just to tease her, okay, maybe a little bit. But that was beside the point; what mattered was that I had good reason for my claim.

Even though I hadn't written much about Song in the novel, I did know she'd caused some trouble for Maki. The only reason she did that was to get to Rowan, after all, in that timeline both of them had been grouped in the simulation and had grown rather close during that time.

The only reason a third-rate like her would go after Rowan was to look better in the eyes of a certain someone, Varic. Although I hadn't explicitly written about any crush, it seemed logical to assume so.

Adding to that logic, their families were very close, both were around the same age, and Varic was quite literally the golden boy.

Song sighed, her face turning dark as though recalling something rather unpleasant.

"Why would I have a crush on that psycho?"

'Hmm…'

I knew very little about Song. Unlike me, she actually had a life in this world. A life that I'd written almost nothing about in the novel.

I mentally flipped through my knowledge of Varic from the novel. Among the many things he had done, the name Song never appeared even once. Only "Baek."

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to."

Whatever she was reminiscing seemed like a touchy subject, so I had no intention of pressing her for answers.

'I guess she really doesn't have a crush on him.'

It did make me curious about her reasons for messing with Rowan in the novel. I'd written that scene without much thought, just as something to fill in the word count.

Regardless, I tried shifting onto more productive topics.

"So what do you plan on doing about the engagement?"

Her already sullen face crumbled as she considered the question. In the end she could only let out a long-suffering sigh.

"I don't know. I need to cancel it."

"Need any help?"

She shook her head adamantly.

"No. I'll handle this by myself."

"If you say so. Tell me if you need any help."

I could only scratch my head as I agreed with her. The engagement was a very personal matter to her, and I really had no reason to get involved with something like that.

'As long as her actions don't affect our agreement, or change the plot too much, I don't have to get involved.'

The atmosphere turned a bit awkward after that, until I realized something.

"Now that you need to break that engagement, my plan is actually already helping you, don't you think? Imagine if the great Varic and his cronies get outplayed by a mere slumrat, with your help, of course. It'd certainly reduce his credibility in the eyes of your parents."

Song brightened a bit at my words, but she still seemed somewhat skeptical.

"So what?"

I felt some of my smugness returning.

"So… I'm basically doing you a favor. Isn't this much enough to get rid of the favor I currently owe you? Hell, with how much I'm helping you, I think it's you that should be owing me a favor right now."

I was promptly kicked out of her room and back in the elevator for my troubles.

'How rude.'

Looking at Song's retreating figure through the still opened elevator doors, I retrieved a milk carton I'd hidden in my jacket as she chased me out.

"Hey, Song!"

"What?"

The moment her irritated face turned back to face me, I sent the carton flying.

Not even waiting to see her reaction, I slammed the 2nd floor button at the same time. The metal doors slid quickly, and just before they closed completely, I heard a satisfying smack followed by a shrill voice.

"PEASANT!"

It was music to my ears.

"That rude little…"

Song paused, barely restraining herself from cursing Victor. It wasn't worth reducing herself to his level.

'He got me right in the head.'

She rubbed her head soothingly. The carton hadn't been particularly painful, but the rat made sure he'd thrown a half-empty one at her. The milk from it spilled and stained her hair.

'Not that it wasn't already ruined.'

The girl combed her fingers through the bird's nest she called her hair. She'd have to fix it come morning.

"Again."

The hair had been alright this morning, but she'd messed it up again after seeing the state of the apartment. It was a dump, due to a situation that was mostly her fault.

She'd gone on a spree of chugging milk, in the hope that it would help her fall asleep again. A noble like her should have known better. After all, burdens weren't things that could be cured so easily.

Two weeks of not getting even a wink of sleep had told her that much.

'I need to stop this madness.'

The only reason she was even sane right now was because of the vitae injections. Regardless of how much he annoyed her, Victor had proven extremely resourceful.

Yet on top of all those issues, there was now talk of engagement.

'Why all the attention now?'

Before she'd awakened a second time, her family hadn't even given her a sliver of the attention she was getting now. It was all reserved for her much better stepsister.

There was no way she'd be letting them get away with forcing this on her. Especially not with Varic, never with him.

"I'll contact mom… yes. She can help me."

After all, her biological mother was the only one that ever cared for her in that house. She was also the one that had informed her about the engagement.

Knowing the others, they'd have just kept her in the dark about it.

She sat back on her couch, drumming up plans to handle everything as she switched on the in-room hologram projector in the room.

"Yes… I can fix this."

As with all nights, this was going to be a long one.

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