[Volume 1: Ru Hasselt] The Clueless Prince

Chapter 20: An Unexpected Mentor

Ru and Ophelia looked to be quite close. I observed those two as I took a break from spell casting. Every time I looked at Ophelia, Ru was always right next to her, chatting with a gentle expression on.

Strange.

While it was great that the romance was progressing, wasn't he a bit too nice? Perhaps I missed a chapter where they grew closer?

In the game, you had to increase his interest in you by at least 60% before he even acknowledged you. In the other routes, you only needed 20%. Ru had one of the trickiest routes in the game and that with five wrong choices landed you a Bad Ending. It took me three tries to actually finish his route. And this was only normal mode. How difficult was it in hard mode?!

Ru turned his head in my direction and I averted my gaze.

Whoops, maybe he noticed me looking? Clearing my throat, embarrassed, I pretended to read through my book. I would still glance at them from time to time. As I was turning to look back, I spotted a girl who was glaring furiously in Ophelia's direction.

Ah.

Erica looked quite upset. She'd been trying to get Ru's attention for help but everyone but him approached her. He was blatantly ignoring her and the other students, favoring Ophelia.

I wonder if this might spark a conflict soon? Smiling to myself, I shook that idea off.

No way, I'm sure everything was fine.

——

Or not...

By the end of class, right as Ophelia walked out, Erica approached her with her friends. She blocked Ophelia's route. The girl blinked in confusion.

"Um, excuse me—"

"Hey, what's your relationship with Ru?" She abruptly asked. Her gaze focused on Ophelia's face which was turning red.

"Normal? I-I mean, nothing is going on. We're just..." She couldn't continue, unsure if they even were friends. I rolled my eyes as I witnessed this. Oden nudged me.

"You might have a chance, Rael!" My glare caused him to smile.

Erica narrowed her eyes on Ophelia. She looked to be scrutinizing the girl. Then she snorted and flipped her long wavy hair.

"That's what I thought. Then it's fine if I make him mine, right? I'm sure you wouldn't mind, would you? After all, you're not that close." Her lips curled into a smile.

Ophelia looked surprised, blinking a few times. It took a while for her to slowly nod. "Yeah... it's fine."

"Good. Then you better mind your own business and back away from him." She gave Ophelia a warning, still faking a smile on her pink lips.

This was not going well. I thought my pep talk would make her more confident but she's allowing Erica to step all over her! I wanted to interrupt them, but Reni beat me to the punch. She appeared from behind Ophelia, sneering at Erica.

"Whatever she does has nothing to do with you. Ophelia and Ru can decide whether or not they want something more, and you can't do shit about it."

Erica let out a laugh. "Oh please, the girl can't even talk to him without stuttering, why would he choose someone like her?" Reni gritted her teeth, watching Ophelia shrivel from her words.

"Strange coming from the girl who can't even get his attention half of the time."

Erica's eyes widened before glaring at Reni. "You—"

"Come on, let's get going."

Reni grabbed Ophelia's arm, dragging her away. She didn't seem to want to wait and hear what Erica had to say. She was done with her. Erica gritted her teeth, angry but unable to vent.