Cinderella is... the Male Lead? - Chapter 26
The incident with the clothes quickly faded from Rona’s mind. For Rona, whose primary goal was survival, Cinderella’s intentions didn’t matter. Whether Cinderella’s actions were out of dislike or affection, she needed to get closer to ‘her’.
She consistently worked to build a closer relationship with Cinderella. Now, her goal was not just to avoid being a target of revenge but to become someone who could benefit from Cinderella’s eventual success.
“Phew, it’s hot.”
The early summer weather brought a stifling breeze that tickled her bangs. While wandering around the garden, she spotted Cinderella carrying a basket. She looked comfortable, wearing overalls and her hair tied up, heading somewhere.
Time to act friendly again. Rona jogged over to her, calling out.
“Cinderella!”
“…Ah, Rona.”
Cinderella turned, his blue eyes widening slightly as he scanned Rona up and down. Rona’s outfit was unusually revealing today, likely due to the heat.
Sticking close to Cinderella, Rona tried her best to be affectionate.
“Where are you going? Let me come with you.”
“No. You have your own things to do.”
Cinderella shook ‘her’ head and headed towards a secluded path by the mansion. Why was she suddenly acting like this? Recently, Cinderella had been quite friendly towards Rona. She never avoided Rona if she decided to follow her.
Not one to give up easily, Rona persistently asked as she followed.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“I’m going to pick some fruits.”
“Fruits? Let me come too.”
“…Fine.”
Cinderella sighed lightly and shrugged. He had been increasingly fantasizing about Rona during her private moments. Although he managed to act normal during the day, today’s revealing outfit was making it hard. But suddenly avoiding her would seem suspicious. Besides, there was something endearingly cute about her insistence.
Rona happily waved her hand and followed along, bombarding Cinderella with trivial questions as they walked. Despite ‘her’ indifferent expression, Cinderella answered each one. It was a significant change from when she would ignore or mock Rona.
Behind the mansion lay the family’s private land. Despite living there, Rona had never thought to explore it, initially too focused on their con and later too fixated on Cinderella.
Rona lagged behind, distracted by the flowers and trees. Whenever she slowed down, Cinderella would look back, silently urging her to hurry. Although ‘she’ seemed annoyed, it was clear Cinderella didn’t mind Rona’s company.
After walking along a secluded path for a while, they reached the edge of a dense forest. A large lake appeared, an unexpected sight behind the mansion. Rona hadn’t known it existed and felt it would have been a shame to miss such a beautiful place.
“Wow, there’s a lake behind the mansion. I had no idea. I should have come here earlier.”
“I come here sometimes.”
Cinderella placed the basket on the ground and looked up at a massive tree by the lake. It was so large it seemed like a spirit of the forest might dwell within. Following her gaze, Rona noticed the lush red fruits hanging from the branches.
“Oh, you’re here to pick these fruits?”
“Yes.”
With a simple answer, Cinderella rolled up ‘her’ sleeves and started climbing the tree. ‘She’ was quite adept, moving up the tree with ease. Once up, ‘she’ picked a fruit and tossed it into the basket below.
Watching Cinderella from below, Rona approached the tree trunk. There were convenient footholds carved into it. The tree was tall, but with the footholds, she thought she could climb it too. Mimicking Cinderella, Rona rolled up her sleeves and started climbing.
Seeing Rona climb, Cinderella tried to stop her.
“Don’t come up. It’s dangerous.”
“Hey, I think I can do it too.”
If Cinderella could do it, why couldn’t she? Driven by determination, Rona climbed the tree, soon reaching Cinderella’s height.
Cinderella, worried, looked down at her and cautioned her.
“Be careful not to slip…”
“Hey, I’m almost… Ah!”
As Rona reached out for a sturdy branch where Cinderella was sitting, her foot slipped from a foothold. Her small frame wobbled dangerously. The height was enough to cause serious injury if she fell. In that critical moment, a strong hand grabbed her arm. And, an androgynous voice echoed from above.
“Rona!”
