Shadow Queen - Chapter 38

“That look looks like someone I know.”

“…!”

Elena quickly controlled the anger that she expressed, unable to control it for a moment.

“Sorry, I was going to go without your permission.”

“Even the voice.”

Elena’s lips dried up as she watched Ren narrow his eyes. It was more suspicious to deny it here, so Elena forced herself to smile and shudder.

“Who looks like me? Then she must be gorgeous, right?”

Elena smiled insincerely as she turned around. It was a frivolous smile that she’d never done while posing as Veronica. It was due to concerns that Ren might be suspicious of her if she did not show the opposite personality of Veronica.

“…”

Despite Elena’s performance, Ren didn’t respond.

One second, two seconds. Less than a few seconds feels longer than a few hours. She was worried that Ren may have noticed.

And finally, Ren reacted.

Laughing. Ren laughed. He showed an innocent smile. It was when Elena couldn’t take her eyes off Ren and stood blankly at the unexpected response. Ren suddenly took off his school uniform coat.

‘What else are you going to do?’

As Ren, who has a very ingenious way of harassing people, she was wary of what other harm would have happened. As Ren threw it, he put his coat over Elena’s head. Like a raincoat that blocks the pouring rain.

“It’s raining.”

“…”

Elena couldn’t smile or cry and stood with a troubled look. She was more anxious because she couldn’t understand why Ren was doing this.

“Now you’re going, aren’t you?”

“… Can I go?”

“Go.”

Ren beckoned her to go. Elena pulled out carefully, not letting go of the tension. Ren did not move with his arms crossed, as if he had no intention of arguing anymore.

“I’ll be on my way then. I’ll leave you now.”

She said good-bye and tried to run away in a hurry.

“You owe me.”

When she looked back at Ren, who made her nervous by talking about debt, he was smiling evilly like a devil. The smile looked as if a child were happy with a new toy.

Elena hurried off, feeling goose bumps all over her body. Could there be a worse day than this? It was a terrible day that she wanted to turn back if she could.

Elena rushed to the library’s archives in a rush to avoid the rain.

It was not until the lock on the record room door was firmly fastened that the tension was lifted, and she slid on her back. Elena threw Ren’s coat, which she was holding, roughly.

“How did it get tangled up like this…”

It started with meeting Sian by chance. If she had dealt with it more wisely and calmly at that time, she would never have drawn Ren’s attention. What’s more resentful is that she can’t blame anyone. All of Elena’s minor mistakes snowballed and led to the current situation.

“Calm down. Calm down, Elena. Huuu. What if you regret it?”

Elena had a thought shift. There is nothing more meaningless than loosening a thread that has already been tangled. Once twisted, the thread can not be as bad as it used to be, even if it was twisted again.

“If it gets tangled, let’s go with it. I don’t have to solve it.”

If she had been so frustrated, she wouldn’t even have the resolve to seek revenge in the first place. The evils of her last life shook Elena in different ways, but nothing changed. Rather, it became an opportunity to make the heart stronger and stronger.

Elena, who succeeded in controlling her mind, took off her disguise and returned as Princess Veronica. She was going to tell Anne that she fell down in the rain, although she might be suspicious of the torn stockings and the school uniform that was dirty in muddy water.

“This is the real challenge.”

Elena’s expression was irritated by Ren’s uniform coat. She wanted to throw it away right away, but she couldn’t do this or that because she didn’t know when Ren would ask her to return it.

“Let’s keep it for now.”

Elena’s gaze, which was hanging from the closet with his coat hanging on the hanger, headed to Ren’s name tag on the left chest.

Jiiiiik.

Elena, who took off his name tag without any hesitation, grabbed it with her small hand. Still, she put her anger in the trash can to see if it could be relieved. Only then did she feel a little better, so she came out of the recording room with a light step. The rain-soaked clothes were still wet, so it was chilly, but when she left the library, the sunlight was bright as if it had never rained.

Anne was surprised to see how Elena looked when she came back to the dormitory.

“What the hell is going on, miss? No, why did you hurt your leg again?”

Beyond the torn stockings, the flesh of the knee was peeled and bloodstained. Ann rushed to bring emergency medicine at a time when the scar on her body was considered a shame.

“I fell down in the rain.”

In case Elena was sick, Anne carefully sprayed disinfectant and applied ointment. Elena, who looked down at Anne, mentioned May who was not here.

“This is all because of May. The dog seems to be making my day worse.”

“I know. She’s so careless.”

Anne secretly responded and scolded May. She did not forget to appeal to Elena.

“I’ll go down and get some warm water. You’ll feel much better if you take a bath.”

“As expected, you’re the only one I can count on. Then please.”

Anne left the bedroom with a big smile and warmed up the water. Soon, Anne said she was ready and took Elena to the bathroom.

She felt much better after she soaked herself in hot water. Finally, Anne served her tea, and today’s accumulated fatigue went away. However, not all the emotional pain accumulated from the past life had disappeared.

“I didn’t expect that meeting.”

Reminiscing about the past, Elena laughed painfully. The past days, when she was dry from the wait without hesitation, was very painful. But today, Sian was looking for Cecilia first. Even though it was all past, she was crazy with envy. She felt so pathetic that she had intervened between those two people.

“Everyone is happy when I’m gone. Just me.”

Elena felt better when she pushed herself to play the villain. Now she had confidence that she could be brave even if she ran into Sian.

Elena, who finally found the rest of her mind and body, turned her gaze. As time had passed, the sunset suddenly became dark and the sky was dark. It was around that time that May, who had been kicked out by Elena saying she didn’t want to see her, returned to the dorm.

“Where have you been! Go up and empty yourself to the lady!”

She could hear Anne’s lecture downstairs to the bedroom on the second floor. It was funny to hold May like a rat with Elena’s trust on her back.

Knock, knock.

Soon she heard a knock.

“My lady, this is May. I’m coming in.”

May opened the door carefully, and then checked under the stairs to see if Anne was eavesdropping outside, and came inside.

“What happened?”

“Here you are.”

May crossed the parchment with a full report. Elena, who received the parchment, coughed low and suddenly screamed.

“You don’t hear me tell you to get out? Get out of here!”

This was a prearranged postponement. Elena deliberately scolded her loud enough for Anne to hear. In the meantime, she touched May’s cheek with a sad touch, perhaps because she felt bad about hitting her cheek during the day.

“Get out of my sight because I don’t want to see you!”

Elena, who had been shouting fiercely, nodded as if this was enough, and May quietly retired after being polite.

As soon as May left the bedroom, she went down to the first floor with a wounded face. Anne did not dare to speak to the appearance of crying at once, and May was locked in a room where the maids lived.

Elena shifted her eyes to the parchment with the report written on it. It would be nice to be briefed directly by May, but she needed a justification to send her out without any doubt as she had to leave the academy to work. And the most obvious cause was Elena’s anger.

“As expected of May. It’s a lot more neat than I thought.”

There were about ten people who May visited and helped today. Those who had been suspicious of the sudden kindness reportedly could not erase their dazed feelings as soon as they received help. Some even expressed their gratitude with tears, saying that a miracle had happened.

“Yeah, it’s better to pay the debt slowly than to write it off at once. That way, they’ll feel more grateful.”

May even took care of the parts Elena didn’t tell her to take care of, and the small but important part of her was what she had expected.

“L.”

Elena translated the words symbolizing her initials in the ancient Imperial language. Sooner or later, all the great masters of the time will be helped by L. The kindness received was immediately appreciated. If the gratitude grows, it is a grace that human beings cannot ignore.

Elena plans to give them a favor, not a debt. It was believed that it was the only way to win the hearts of the masters of the era, who were united with pride that wouldn’t move even if she gave them a billion dollars.

“You don’t have to want to, but I’ll help you as much as I can. So that when L stretches… You can be my wings.”

The next day, May was kicked out of the dormitory. This is because Elena shouted for her to get out and that she hated to see her. May, who had not been able to put her foot in the dormitory for as long as four days, returned at night, boiling to her knees and begging. I won’t make that mistake again. Please forgive me. Only then did Elena, who was a little soft, reluctantly forgave her. May said, “Thank you so much,” and added, “I’m sorry. This was the four days Anne saw and went through.