Becoming the Guide of the Mysophobic Villain? Absolutely Not! - Chapter 189
Irene kept her eyes lowered, her thick eyelashes casting shadows as she silently spooned her soup. No matter how good-natured Daniel was, it seemed he couldn’t muster the courage to speak to such a stoic Irene. He forced himself to eat, trying to hide his discomfort.
He’s going to get indigestion at this rate. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Neither Irene nor Daniel—nor I, who had arranged this meeting—was enjoying the situation. Unable to watch any longer, I decided to break the silence.
“Irene, Daniel is an S-Class Esper. Not only is he incredibly capable, but he also has a great personality.”
“Yeah, I already knew that because you told me.”
“And he’s handsome too!”
“Yeah, I have eyes, I saw.”
Irene responded indifferently, still staring at her tray.
Daniel, who seemed to choke on his food, quietly cleared his throat and tapped his chest with his fist while drinking water. It was almost pitiful to watch.
“Well… Daniel, Irene is so pretty that she’s very popular. Normally, Espers treat regular office workers quite harshly, but they’re always nice to Irene because she’s beautiful.”
Daniel forced a hollow smile and responded.
“Is that so?”
And then, silence again.
…This shouldn’t be happening.
They hadn’t met alone on a deserted path under a clear night sky, but still! Daniel hadn’t been illuminated by moonlight while putting a baby bird back into its nest, but still!
In the original story, Irene fell for him at first sight and even awakened as a guide because of it. How could they be so awkward and distant now?
As I looked around frantically as I observed them, a thought occurred to me. Maybe I should step back and give them some space.
Yes, without me, they might actually talk to each other.
Seize the moment.
I looked around and spotted the long line at the serving station. Quickly finishing the fried food on my tray, I stood up and exclaimed.
“Wow, this fritter is so good. I’ll go get some more!”
Standing at the end of that line would take at least five minutes. It was the perfect excuse to give them some time alone.
But…
Clang!
I froze at the sharp sound of metal clashing. Looking down…
Daniel and Irene’s forks were intertwined.
And there were two pieces of fried food on my tray.
They had tried to offer me their own fried food the moment I mentioned getting more, causing their forks to clash.
Both of them looked up, wide-eyed in surprise.
“…Oh.”
What’s this, are you my mom and dad?
…That’s what I thought, but I kept it to myself.
I suddenly felt like a child being fussed over for not eating their food.
“…I’m fine, really,” I mumbled, staring blankly at the two fritters on my tray.
“The line is long. It’ll take forever to wait. Just eat.”
“I’m fine, Rose. Watching you enjoy the food is nice.”
“…Okay. Thank you. Thanks, Irene.”
Irene scoffed and resumed her elegant meal.
Daniel gave a light smile and started eating again.
Suddenly, I had two extra pieces of fritters that I didn’t really want.
Honestly, they were greasy and unappealing, but having accepted them, I couldn’t just leave them. So I chewed on a fritter like it was rubber clay.
Meanwhile, the table fell into silence again.
…This can’t be happening.
The fated first meeting of the male and female leads can’t be this awkward!
Rejecting this reality, I came up with a second plan.
I pretended to take a big gulp of soup, letting half of it spill onto my chest.
“Ah, I spilled soup, I need to go to the bathroom…”
“What the! Did you get burned?”
Irene grabbed my collar and growled.
I blinked in surprise and managed to answer.
“N-No, it’s not hot…”
“Come here! So careless…”
I was yanked away by my collar.
Irene pulled out a handkerchief and a small container from her bag. She opened the container, tapped the handkerchief, and a bit of white powder came out.
“…Is that laundry detergent? Who brings laundry detergent to lunch?”
“Why do you think? You need to look at yourself, Rose Valentine.”
