Read Novel Full Chapter 36
Chapter 36
I’m Happy, But…..
“…..haah, I’m so tired……!!”
Leaving the hall and sitting down on a bench nearby, Francesca sighed greatly.
While she was relieved that the situation had been resolved, but that was still her first reaction. She was irritated, nervous, and actually had to put in some physical effort. There was no better way to summarize her feelings other than [tired!].
She stretched her legs out in front, and although it was lacking in manners, she wiggled her toes left and right to relax herself.
The moment she felt a bit chilly, Leonardo very naturally took off his coat and put it over Francesca’s shoulders.
“………Thanks.”
“if you’re still feeling cold, you can always cling closer to me you know?”
“I think I’ll pass on that……..”
Leonardo seemed to be only joking as he lightly laughed hearing her rejection.
“But still, you really keep being unpredictable as always. You’re like a bullet that ricochets around the place randomly.”
“I have a feeling that that’s not meant to be a compliment, is it!?”
Normally, Leonardo would unleash his barrage of contrived flattery. But, this time his analogy was a bit too odd yet specific which ironically made his words seem more genuine.
“……….I wonder if Ricardo will really keep the secret.”
As Francesca hung her head and muttered, Leonardo spoke up.
“Well, he is a stupidly thick headed man after all. If he has decided that it would be courteous to keep your secret, he really might stick with it till the end.”
“That’s reassuring to hear………..still, to be honest, I was looking forward to tonight a bit you know?”
“You were?”
“……..Well, I thought maybe I’d have the chance to make some friends here, you know….”
But in the end, things ended up like this. She was genuinely sad about that.
(Even in this world, I just can’t seem to make any friends huh………)
Leonardo continued to stare at Francesca for a while, and finally opened his mouth again to say this.
“……….if you really want one so much, should I become one?”
“?”
At his words, Francesca simply tilted her head in confusion.
” ‘become one?’ become what exactly?”
“Well, obviously I mean…”
Even under the real full moon, Leonardo’s moon-like eyes still held a light of their own.
No, his eyes seemed to shine even brighter than the real thing, as he looked straight into Francesca’s eyes.
“I’ll become your [friend] is what I’m saying.”
“…………”
Hearing an unexpected suggestion, she simply blinked blankly.
“Leonardo, will become my friend……?”
“……….if you want.”
Even Leonardo slightly lowered his eyes, and showed a rare hesitant, self-deprecating look on his face.
“My bad. You don’t really want——-…”
“………..!? Really…….!?!?”
“!!”
Hearing those truly beautiful words that she had only dreamt of hearing, Francesca leaned in filled with excitement.
“Do you actually, really mean it!? Leonardo, will you really be my friend……..!??!”
“——-…….”
Her eyes were sparkling like crazy, and were staring at Leonardo from a close proximity.
It was Francesca who was trying to confirm if he was really okay with that.
And yet, for some strange reason, Leonardo’s eyes in that moment seemed to look like a young innocent boy’s as he looked down at the excited Francesca.
And then, he gently smiled.
“If that is your wish, yes.”
“YAAAY……..!!”
Hearing the response of her dreams, Francesca’s cheeks turned red with happiness.
“Thank you Leonardo!! Then from now on, will you go with me when switching classes, and have lunch with me during break as well!?!”
“Sure, I will. I promise.”
“……….!! And, and, I want to go to school with you as well, and return together as well!!”
As Francesca spoke in high spirits, Leonardo was slightly amazed.
“Going to school and back together eh………..”
“Also, will you also take detours when coming back from school to go hang out!? We can go shopping, ooh, and give gifts to each other as well!!”
“………..You, that’s..”
Leonardo wanted to say something but then began to laugh out loud.
“HAHAHAHA!!”
“Eh!?”
Francesca began to panic. Had she said something strange she began to wonder.
“Do friends not do that kind of stuff??”
“………..who knows?”
Leonardo raised his head again, and held Francesca’s hands as he spoke.
“Let’s do it all, and lots more. Tell me everything and anything you have wanted to try with a [friend], we’ll do it all.”
“Sure! Uwaah, what do I do? This is the first time I’ve ever had a friend in my entire life……..”
“……….Also.”
Leonardo chuckled, and brought his lips close to Francesca’s ears and whispered.
“………..please promise me that from now till forever, I’ll remain the only bad man that can trick you like this.”
“………?”
A warning from a friend.
She wondered if he was simply stating that he wasn’t going to deceive her again maybe?
(What do I do……….I finally got a friend. Finally!! My own friend!!……..ah but.)
Her heart was dancing with excitement, but she also had other things on her mind.
(——-there’s a lot I need to tell him, as a [friend].)
Francesca cast down her eyes, because she recalled the events that had occurred just a while ago.
(in the game’s scenario, it was Leonardo that had caused this event. Or at least that was what was told in the game, that Leonardo had used his skill that can control and dominate others and made the people in the party go berserk.)
But, that was impossible.
(Leonardo had used that skill on me directly.)
And skills had limits to how many times they could be used.
After using it once, you couldn’t use it again for quite some time.
And depending on the strength of the skill, the cooldown time was even longer. So for a rarity 5 rank character’s skills, the cooldown would take pretty much an entire day.
(And according to the game I am the only one that can regenerate someone’s skill usage in the entire world.)
And in fact, even after living in this world for so many years, she had yet to hear about anyone with such a skill.
(If Leonardo had actually used his skill on the people in the hall, he would not have been able to use it again on me on the balcony.)
Of course, there was a possibility that Leonardo possessed a skill that could inflict a similar berserk effect among the two skills that she didn’t know about.
But, if she had to make a guess based on the [game’s balance in her previous world], it was hard to imagine that one character would have 2 such similar skills.
Since three is the maximum amount of skills anyone could have, if 2 of those were like these, it would severely decrease the chances of people paying for the gacha to roll that character.
(Of course, there’s even the possibility that Leonardo himself didn’t do this but had one of his subordinates do this. Like my kidnapping incident.)
That’s why, she couldn’t make a judgement as of now.
But right now, a new possibility had been generated inside Francesca’s mind.
(In the game, Leonardo had been designated as the [mastermind] from the very opening.)
Under the shine of the full moon, she gaze at his moon coloured gold eyes.
(——–But, isn’t it quite the common trope that in the final stages of a game, the [real enemy] is revealed who was actually behind everything…….?)
Was Leonardo even actually the main mastermind and villain of the game?
(Within the story that I had played through while I was still alive, they had only released 5 out of the planned 7 parts. There was always a possibility that the real villain of the game would get revealed in the remaining parts.)
And if that really was the case.
(Then the real enemy was somewhere else. Hiding. And if we’re following such tropes, isn’t the mastermind revealed to actually be someone who was always close to the main character………?)
She almost choked on her own thoughts.
Francesca had read and played through a lot of highly rated stories in her past life. It really wasn’t that rare of twist in many where the main villain was revealed to be someone you had thought of as a close ally.
(There’s a good chance that among all the people that I interact with in the first act of the game, the real mastermind is hiding among them………not just Ricardo, but even……..)
“Francesca.”
Leonardo smiled sweetly, and stretched his hand towards Francesca.
“Let us head to the carriage stand. To tell you the truth, I had already noticed that both your father and little bro had secretly snuck into the hall beforehand to check the situation the moment we entered the hall.”
“………Papa and him……….?”
Her voice almost choked again.
“Of course, when we entered, they quickly exited in secret to make sure you didn’t notice them though.”
(So they were here too. In this hall.)
A strange unease spread inside her heart, as she hung her head slightly.
Of course, there was always the chance that the game’s scenario was straightforward and that Leonardo really was the main villain. Just because he became her [friend] doesn’t mean she suddenly started to fully trust him or anything.
But still, now that the possibility of the contrary existed, doubts had been born inside her mind.
While walking alongside Leonardo, she was deep in thought.
(………..Just who is the real mastermind then………?)
————