Becoming the Guide of the Mysophobic Villain? Absolutely Not! - Side Story 12

Why did Rose have to think of Claude for the guiding to work? Why had Claude, who usually did everything Rose asked, stubbornly refused to tell her this one thing, even though he hadn’t objected to anything else?

Maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell her, but that it was something beyond Rose’s control, something he knew she couldn’t manage even if she knew.

And on top of that… she had thought Claude was mad about Irene receiving Rose’s guiding, but the moment he learned Rose had been thinking of him, his mood improved significantly.

It seemed like, more than whether the guiding succeeded, he was focused on the method by which it happened.

So, could the condition for successful guiding be…?

“Ugh, seriously!”

Irene shuddered in realization, but Claude, leaving her behind, walked away with his long strides.

* * *

What are they talking about over there?

I sat huddled in a corner of the training ground, staring blankly. When Claude said he’d take me to see him train Irene, I thought it would be fun. But I couldn’t tell what they were doing, and I couldn’t hear their conversation, so I was starting to get restless.

More than anything… the pigeon pecking around beside me was really annoying.

“Pleeeease! Mousebean, you should know, right? What kind of guy does your friend like?”

“Dunno.”

I really didn’t. Irene was incredibly popular because of her heavenly beauty, but she had never shown any interest in men.

We’d always go straight back to our dorm room after work, so it’s not like she could have secretly dated anyone. Plus, we weren’t that close, so we never talked about things like our taste in men.

And even if I did know, I wouldn’t want to tell someone like Oscar.

I was trying to ignore him, but I got so irritated that I snapped.

“Do you have any shame or not? How dare you think you could go after Irene?”

“What, huh? What’s wrong with me?!”

Oscar, too, snapped back. His arrogant face, confident in his charm, only made me angrier, so I listed everything.

“You’re inferior to Irene in every way, from one to ten! You have no loyalty, throwing yourself at any female Esper, you have no awareness, and you’re dumb! And that smirk of yours is just infuriating!”

“Mousebean, just because you’re using polite speech doesn’t mean you’re being nice…”

“Irene is way too smart and beautiful to ever be interested in someone like you!”

As I was in the middle of arguing, I suddenly felt myself being lifted.

“Oh, is it over?”

I was so used to being scooped up suddenly that I naturally wrapped my arms around Claude’s neck.

But I was still not immune to the fact that, no matter who was around or who might see, he’d press kisses all over my neck, cheeks, nose, and even eyelids.

Why, why are you like this…

No matter how much I flailed and tried to shake my head, it didn’t work. He pulled me even closer and, by the end, he was leaving kisses on the back of my neck.

Oscar, who had a front-row view of all this, naturally made a sour face. Shaking his head, he got up and sprinted toward Irene, who was standing far away.

I wanted to stop him immediately, maybe grab him by the scruff, but with Claude holding onto me tightly and showing no intention of letting go, there was nothing I could do.

“…Are you in a better mood now?”

Resigned, I started rubbing his earlobe and eyebrow as I asked. He closed his eyes, savoring my touch, a small smile curling the corners of his red lips.

“Why, what is it…? Tell me, I want to know…”

Had he gotten over his irritation by tormenting Irene enough…? That was the only reason I could think of.

As I was lost in thought, he suddenly lowered his head. Then, leaning in close to my ear, he whispered in a soft, melting voice,

“Shall we head home, Rose?”