A Practical Guide to Ending a One-Sided Love - Chapter 22

It would be a lie to say his pride wasn’t hurt. A man who hadn’t even blinked before tens of thousands of enemies now had to run away because he couldn’t deal with just two people, Sir Allen and Sir Todd, and even now it was somewhat hard to accept.

But he couldn’t think of a more effective way to turn Leila’s heart away. A paladin groveling before street punks, this time it would only be a matter of time before her feelings fell away.

“I see. So you have circumstances you can’t speak of…”

However, unlike Bjorn’s confident prediction, Leila was still no easy opponent.

Silent for a moment as if thinking, Leila suddenly grabbed Bjorn’s hand tightly. Of course, the grip wasn’t even ticklish to him, yet for some reason his heart dropped to his feet.

“In that case, sir, let’s run away together.”

The image of her turning her back and fleeing at once was shattered to pieces.

Leila’s resolute expression showed her proposal was pure sincerity. This insane woman was saying they should escape together instead of abandoning this pathetic man.

‘Just why… to this extent…!’

Bjorn barely held onto his mind as heat clouded it. No. If he got swept up in her pace like this, everything would fall apart.

He hid his flustered feelings and deliberately adopted an exaggerated tone. It was the fallback of the fallback.

“No. Even so, showing one’s back before an enemy betrays a knight’s honor.”

It seemed this woman would only come to her senses after seeing him beaten.

Bjorn quietly ground his teeth and sent a message to Allen.

—Sir Allen, the operation has failed… just hit me.

The request was accepted immediately.

“What are you whispering about? If you’re flirting, do it after handing over everything you have!”

With a line straight out of a street thug, Allen slowly approached. Bjorn felt he had to rush in saying anything at all.

“In the name of the Almighty God, I shall punish you.”

With unnecessarily solemn words that instead sounded ridiculous, Bjorn ran forward and was promptly beaten without even a chance to react.

Allen swung the club first. Behind him Todd, who had timidly muttered “A-Are we really hitting him?” soon joined the beating with a determined face.

The thin layer of divine power wrapped around his whole body acted as armor so it didn’t hurt much, but seeing his two subordinates look strangely pleased made Bjorn a bit dumbfounded.

‘…They’re actually hitting me?’

Even knowing they were doing it while trusting his sturdiness, he couldn’t help feeling absurd. Soon Bjorn resigned himself. Perhaps to Allen and Todd this incident was entertainment in their dull daily lives.

Leila would leave carrying only disappointment in the man she liked, and Bjorn had lied to an innocent woman, but if at least those two were enjoying themselves, that was enough, he even thought.

After he gave up all resistance and endured roughly thirty punches and kicks, Bjorn lifted his head for a moment when the beating suddenly stopped.

Had Leila finally grown disgusted and run away? The situation before his eyes was the complete opposite.

“You cowards! How can two people attack one person! And you still call yourselves men?!”

Leila, who had been stomping her feet in panic, seemed to make a decision and began swinging the parasol in her hand.

“If you don’t stop, I’ll call the guards! If you don’t want the Bailey Countdom as your enemy, remove those filthy hands right now!”

Whether panicked or enraged, Leila desperately blocked in front of Bjorn.

Her hand gripping the parasol until the knuckles turned white was quite fierce.

Bjorn was not the only one flustered by Leila’s unexpected resistance.

“Uh, um…”

Todd and even Allen hadn’t predicted such a sudden situation. Moreover, they were knights at heart like Bjorn. The thought of touching a fragile lady didn’t even occur to them.

“H-Hey. Miss, we’re not actually…”

“YAAAHH!”

Seeing the two men hesitate, Leila gained courage and swung the parasol even more fiercely. Clumsy, yet brave and bold movements.

The situation reversed in an instant. Allen and Todd began getting enthusiastically struck by the silk parasol. It would not hurt but only tickle, yet the greatly flustered pair couldn’t even raise a hand.