The Circumstances of Being Chosen as the Villainess’s Favorite - Chapter 220

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Special Side Story 33
I’ll be honest about it.
After that day, Chloe had assumed Lucas would never come near her again.
And yet.
“Chloe, hi.”
“Chloe, who are you having lunch with today?”
“Chloe, Chloe, Chloe….”
Lucas called her name so relentlessly that her ears were practically worn through.
It was true.
Recently, Lucas had been glued to her side….
Even though she was openly avoiding him, he didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
‘What on earth is he thinking?’
Chloe, hugging her textbook tight to her chest as she hurried along, shot Lucas a puzzled sidelong glance.
When their eyes met, Lucas broke into a gentle smile.
“What?”
……
Chloe stared at Lucas for a moment, then heaved a long sigh.
The truth was, she knew.
Just how kind-hearted he was.
Perhaps that was why.
She found herself compelled to meddle in someone else’s affairs for once.
“Please stop doing this.”
“Huh? Stop what?”
“Being around a commoner like me will only hurt you. You’re just damaging your own reputation for nothing.”
Chloe meant it kindly—for Lucas’s sake.
She had good reason to think so, after all.
She’d witnessed it more than once: the other students whispering about Lucas behind his back.
“Why does the young lord keep hanging around that commoner girl?”
“I don’t get it either. Even if she does have House of Claudius’s patronage….”
Though their confusion seemed less resentment toward Lucas and more bewilderment at why he’d befriend a mere commoner.
Still, there was no real benefit in being associated with Chloe, who everyone was pointing fingers at.
As she thought about this while looking at Lucas, something seemed off.
“What?”
Lucas had grown serious, his eyes fixed on her.
“A commoner like you? Why talk about yourself that way?”
“I… beg your pardon?”
Chloe blinked, utterly bewildered.
Yet Lucas seemed genuinely displeased.
His pink-tinged eyes narrowed, and he spoke in a sharp voice rare for him.
“Don’t disparage yourself like that. I think there’s a great deal about you worthy of respect.”
“Is it because I study well?”
Chloe was genuinely confused, so she asked.
At that, Lucas’s brow furrowed slightly.
“That goes without saying. Surely there’s more reason than just that, isn’t there?”
“Then… why is that?”
“I admire the focus you bring to your classes, the effort you put into achieving your goals. And….”
Lucas proceeded to list all the strengths he found in Chloe without pause.
At the same time, Chloe’s face grew increasingly flushed.
“P-please stop.”
The truth was, she’d never heard such overt praise from someone her own age—not once in her entire life.
Embarrassed, she suddenly turned her head away.
“Shouldn’t you be getting to your class? Our schedules don’t overlap today, after all.”
It was a transparent attempt to change the subject.
Yet Lucas’s eyes suddenly lit up at her words.
“You finally remembered my schedule?”
……
Chloe found herself at a loss for words.
Meanwhile, Lucas checked the time and clicked his tongue softly.
“It’s a shame we have to part already. See you later, Chloe.”
Having offered a cheerful farewell, Lucas turned to leave—but then he paused, as though remembering something, and glanced back at Chloe.
Then she smiled brightly and posed a question.
“Oh right, would you like to have lunch with me today?”
A small gasp escaped her.
Chloe’s shoulders stiffened at the words.
This was utterly unfair.
How could she possibly refuse when faced with such a radiant expression?
“……All right.”
In the end, Chloe surrendered.
Lucas nodded with satisfaction, then drove the nail home once more.
“Then I’ll see you at 12:30 in the cafeteria!”
With that,
Lucas disappeared across the corridor.
Left alone, Chloe exhaled a soft sigh and shook her head in resignation.
“Really, there’s no stopping him.”
At that moment, Chloe didn’t realize
that a faint smile had already blossomed across her lips, betraying her muttered complaint.
* * *
Lucas arrived at the Student Cafeteria a little earlier than his appointed time with Chloe.
Unusually, the poetry instructor had ended class early.
‘Chloe probably hasn’t arrived yet?’
Just as well.
He planned to scout the menu beforehand and claim a good table.
If they served something Chloe disliked, he could always eat it for her.
‘Wasn’t it peas and carrots that Chloe hated?’
Just as Lucas sank into thought,
“That commoner, you know.”
That commoner.
At those words, Lucas’s shoulders went rigid.
At Imperial Lester Academy, there was only one person addressed with such a contemptuous epithet: Chloe.
Lucas’s gaze sharpened as he spun around to face the cluster of students.
‘Are they talking about Chloe again?’
The conversation was exactly what he’d feared—gossip about Chloe.
But what troubled him was that it had grown far more vicious than before.
“I mean, she’s got a pretty face, doesn’t she? That’s why she’s deliberately hanging around Lord Lucas, right?”
What?!
Lucas’s face contorted with rage.
Meanwhile, the group of students had no idea he was listening.
They tittered with crude amusement.
“She landed a good-looking guy and now she’s clawing her way up to the Upper Class.”
“Well, if things work out with Lord Lucas, then she’s made it in life, hasn’t she?”
“Wow, sounds like she’s got it all planned out.”
In that same moment, Lucas clenched his teeth hard.
‘That’s not it at all.’
Like ice water thrown over his head, his mind went cold.
The image of Chloe working so hard all this time surfaced in his memory.
Arriving first to class, staying late in the Study Room,
struggling through problem after problem she didn’t understand.
Most of all—
Lucas drew a shallow breath.
‘It’s not that Chloe harbors any impure intentions toward me. It’s that I—’
Trying desperately to compose himself, Lucas clenched his fists.
It was useless.
The surging anger bleached his vision white.
‘—have feelings for her.’
And in that instant, Lucas spoke.
“You.”
The voice that slipped from between his lips was chillingly cold—almost unrecognizable as his own.
The students, startled, turned to look.
“L-Lord Lucas?”
Lucas’s eyes flashed with a dangerous gleam.
“I will. Absolutely.”
Lucas stepped forward without hesitation.
At the sheer force of his presence, the students instinctively stiffened.
“Didn’t I tell you not to speak ill of Chloe?”
The moment those words left his mouth.
Crack!!
Lucas’s fist connected with the cheek of the student sitting in the front row, the blow sharp and decisive.
* * *
Geometry class had just ended.
Chloe glanced at the clock.
Exactly fifteen minutes remained until her appointment with Lucas.
‘I should probably head out soon.’
As Chloe was calculating the time in her head, she suddenly went rigid.
What was this — the way she was acting now…
‘It almost looks like I actually want to have lunch with him.’
Chloe hurriedly swept her textbooks and writing utensils into her schoolbag with careless hands.
‘No, that’s not it. If anything, it’s just a bother.’
It was simply a matter of courtesy — one couldn’t keep him waiting.
Besides, he was the heir to House of Claudius.
If she fell out of his favor, it could jeopardize her scholarship prospects.
‘That’s right. That’s all it is.’
With that forced reassurance, Chloe slung her schoolbag over her shoulder.
Then she set off toward the Student Cafeteria at a brisk pace.
‘Hmm?’
When she arrived, Chloe blinked.
Something seemed amiss around the cafeteria.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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