Becoming the Guide of the Mysophobic Villain? Absolutely Not! - Chapter 279
After barely managing to stop me from crying and calming me down, Claude chased Oscar away from the tent as he had been grumbling all along. Then he immediately tried to persuade me again.
“Rose, it’s not too late, so go back. This place is dangerous, and I can’t stay by your side all the time.”
“Why are you so eager to send me back? What, because you want to finish what you were doing with Lord Oscar?”
When I responded curtly, Claude squeezed his eyes shut. The blue veins on his forehead stood out, as if he had almost sworn but held back.
“…That’s not what I mean.”
Ignoring his words, I sniffled and thought hard. If things continued like this, it was clear he would eventually send me back to the Center. What could I do to stop him?
I couldn’t win with words, and I certainly couldn’t overpower him. So…
“Weren’t you happy to see me?”
I asked as I took a step closer to him.
“That’s a given…”
He reflexively wrapped his arms around me and let out a wry laugh. I snuggled into his arms and murmured,
“It’s strange… You missed me so much, but instead of hugging me and welcoming me, you keep getting angry and trying to send me back…”
“……”
“I wasn’t tired or anything because I was so excited to see you… But it seems you don’t like me as much as I thought…”
“……”
Claude looked down at me with a look of disbelief. It was as if he couldn’t believe I was trying to flirt with him.
Of course, I’m not talented at flirting. But this time, I decided to be shameless.
No matter how much he wanted to send me back, the fact remained that he was exhausted. He was so desperate that he almost kissed Oscar, after all.
People are more susceptible to temptation when they are stressed. When on a diet, people tend to make more impulsive purchases, and during exam periods, they binge-read webtoons they usually don’t read.
In other words, while he managed to leave me behind when departing the Center, now that his willpower was weakened from lack of guiding, he might not be able to do that again.
If a person who hasn’t eaten for two months is suddenly presented with a feast, and that feast happens to be prepared by their favorite restaurant’s chef…
Even Claude couldn’t resist that, right?
“Are you really going to send me back…?”
This cute me? …I almost added, but held back. No matter how shameless I was trying to be, I couldn’t bring myself to be that brazen.
Instead, I looked up at him with the most innocent and pitiful eyes I could muster.
Claude looked at me, at a loss for words.
***
In the end, Claude decided to accept me as a temporary member of the unit.
Of course, it was only temporary, and he warned me several times that if things got worse or if I didn’t listen, he would send me back. Still, I was grateful for the permission to stay by his side, even if only for a while.
See? It’s always easier to ask for forgiveness after causing trouble than to get permission beforehand.
I packed my belongings while thinking about how much trouble I would be in if Claude found out. To be honest, I didn’t have much to pack since I came so impulsively. I even had to borrow the clothes I was wearing from the female Espers during the trip.
Anyway, with the few belongings I had, I headed to Claude’s tent.
By principle, I should have stayed in the same tent as the other Guides. Originally, there were only two Guides here, Oscar and Shana, and because they were of different genders, there were two tents for Guides. Each tent was guarded by two Espers on a rotating shift. So, technically, I should have been staying in the same tent as Shana.
But since I was Claude’s imprinted Guide, I got to stay in the tent he used alone.
I was so upset at Claude back then when he lost 400 billion Berks because he claimed to have imprinted with me, but who knew that excuse would come in handy so often.
