I Transmigrated into the Nameverse, and My Name Came with a Time Limit - Chapter 15

“If you had enough nerve to abandon your childhood friend who was driven alone to the North and decide to become engaged to the Crown Prince, then by now you should have proudly become the Crown Princess at the very least, shouldn’t you? But after being cast aside like that, why are you now sneaking around and trying to do something bizarre behind your former fiancé’s new fiancée’s back?”

Leonhardt ground his teeth and spat the words out.

Seeing the strangely blazing look in his eyes, a chill ran down Mina’s spine. Why is he this angry?

While wondering that, Mina suddenly recalled the situation in the novel where their marriage had once been mentioned half-jokingly, half seriously between Louise and Frida. If the carriage accident hadn’t happened, perhaps it might really have proceeded just like that. But even so, wasn’t he reacting a little too harshly?

“No, it’s not that I was trying to do anything secretly… He suddenly appeared and started pressuring me…”

“Pressuring you? For what reason?”

The moment Mina stammered, Leonhardt immediately seized on her words and shot back.

“What possible reason would he have to pressure his former fiancée, whom he already broke off with, while hiding from his current fiancée? Go on, tell me.”

A grinding sound slipped through his tightly clenched teeth. Leonhardt was once again struggling to restrain the urge to press her with more warnings.

He didn’t even understand why so much anger was rising inside him.

Her pale complexion, the body that had grown far thinner than he remembered, the intimidated gaze, and the trembling hands clasped tightly against her chest. For the eldest daughter of the prestigious Wittgen Duchy, it was an appearance that looked far too miserable. All of those things, obvious at a glance, displeased him greatly.

And when he had seen her earlier in Leopold’s arms, he had nearly lost his mind. She abandoned me for that lecherous idiot, so why is she clinging to him again? This time, she would have to give him a proper answer.

“N-No, that’s…”

“Were you abandoned by your fiancé and now you’re still pathetically clinging to him? Do you have that little pride?”

Leonhardt sneered.

“That’s not it!”

Mina shouted without realizing it. It felt a little unfair when he harshly pressed her as if she were some kind of criminal without even knowing the circumstances. If anything, she was simply the victim of Leopold’s nasty wandering hands!

“If you’re not clinging to him, then why were you openly in the arms of your sister’s man? Are you planning to start an affair now?”

Leonhardt growled.

“I said that’s not it! Actually, it’s all because of my Name…!”

While hastily arguing back to defend herself, Mina suddenly froze and clapped a hand over her mouth. In her anger, she had blurted out confidential information herself! Of course, she had planned to tell Leonhardt the truth eventually since she needed his help, but she had never intended for it to slip out like this.

Leonhardt narrowed his eyes at Mina, who was now sweating coldly.

“Name? You said Name?”

“N-No, I mean…”

“Answer me properly! Are you saying a Name appeared on you?”

Under Leonhardt’s burning stare, Mina finally nodded.

“Where?”

“Uh…”

Mina’s face instantly flushed bright red.

“I asked where it appeared. Why can’t you answer?”

Leonhardt frowned as he watched Mina acting suspiciously. Seeing her face turn as red as a carrot while she couldn’t even properly meet his eyes, irritation suddenly surged inside him.

‘Damn this Name!’

Leonhardt ground his teeth inwardly. It truly was a disgusting phenomenon. Suddenly he remembered the story his mother once told, about how she had suffered in her unmarried days trying to avoid the Emperor’s pursuit because of this damned Name. If Karl hadn’t manifested the Name of his current Empress, Tilda, who knew what might have happened, considering Karl’s persistent nature.

Grinding his teeth in irritation, Leonhardt suddenly realized that Mina’s hesitation might actually be because of where the Name had manifested. For example, a place that would be embarrassing to easily tell another person about. After all, he had often heard stories about people suffering because a Name appeared on an intimate part of the body.

“If it’s hard to say, just point to it with your finger. Show me where.”

Hearing Leonhardt’s words, Mina doubted her ears. Is he serious? But judging by his completely cold expression, it didn’t seem like a joke at all. She couldn’t possibly bring herself to point at it with her own finger, but confessing the location out loud was even more impossible.

‘That disaster just happened because I couldn’t even say it to the Crown Prince, so how am I supposed to say it to a childhood friend I haven’t seen in eight years, one I even cut ties with…!’