There Is No Need To Be Obsessed

♔♚♔

The pouring gaze was cruel. Coco wanted to run away from those stares right away. But he couldn’t. Coco was well aware that he couldn’t escape.

“Lick it, you filthy bastard!”

As Coco froze, Geren threw a tantrum as he put his shoe forward.

Coco had no choice but to lower his stance.

The round jet-black toe cap began to draw closer.

Coco’d rather closed his eyes.

I have to endure it.

It was unfair to Coco.

In the first place, it was Geren who had accidentally knocked over the food while approaching.

Coco just stood still, doing nothing.

Is that my fault?

He endured it thinking the bastard would stop someday.

Should I not have put up with it?

Would this have not happened if he had rebelled, telling him to stop?

A self-deprecating laugh escaped from his lips.

Like that would ever happen.

In that case, Geren would have thrown bigger tantrums and tormented him more viciously than now.

Coco knew that fact better than anyone else.

He was not an animal. He also had pride.

Knowing that he would feel humiliated, Coco felt like he was becoming an aminal himself.

But I can’t pay him.

It’s not even a month, it’s half a year paid.

His family’s livelihood was in Coco’s hands.

If that much wages were all given to Geren, Coco’s family would have to starve for half a year.

There is really nothing I can do…?

It was the moment when Coco’s lips were about to touch Geren’s shoe.

“Hold it.”

Suddenly, a soft voice descended over his head.

Coco’s movements stopped at the sound of her voice, neither loud nor small, just moderately gentle.

“Who are you?”

Geren was baffled.

For a moment, Coco thought that the woman’s voice might have been Yuphon’s, but he quickly realised it wasn’t.

Geren could never call Yuphon ‘you’. Plus, her voice was too soft to say that she was Yuphon.

Then who on earth intervened?

Coco slowly lifted his bowed head.

“…”

He swore she was the most beautiful person Coco had ever seen.

A glow emanated from her as if it had absorbed all the light inside this cafeteria.

Above all, her overflowing confidence caught his attention.

Who was that?

Then, when their eyes suddenly met, she smiled at him.

(Badump. Badump)

At that moment, Coco felt a tremor he had never felt before.

♔♚♔

Interrupting in the middle, I looked down at Coco.

He also looked up at me in return, dazed.

I smiled at him and held out my hand.

Coco’s expression then turned puzzled.

“Hold my hand and get up.”

“Ah, tha-thank you…”

“Hey! I asked who are you!”

As Coco grabbed my hand and tried to stand up, Geren roughly grabbed my shoulder. Without much thought, I shook his hand off firmly.

“…!”

Geren’s eyes widened as he didn’t think that I would act like that.

I ignored him and brushed off the food piled up on Coco’s head with my hand.

(Dripple).

Coco’s face turned visibly red as all the food fell down.

“Who are you?!”

With Coco behind me, I turned to look at Geren with a cold gaze. When my eyes met his, he hesitated, then cried out.

“Wh-what! Do you know who my father is?! What’s your name?! I’ve never seen you around before!”

Geren shouted, pointing at me.

My sudden appearance caused an uproar around me.

In fact, in terms of position alone, Geren was below me.

I was a viscountess, and he was only the son of a count without a title.

As rumours spread about me, everyone would have known that I was a viscountess.

But that didn’t work here. Regardless of your position, ranking in accordance with the Guild’s system came first.

Geren and I were both apprentices.

Even so, the reason why Geren was able to run wild so far was, of course, thanks to his relationship with Count Cleves.

I made eye contact with Geren and smiled lightly. At that, Geren’s expression went blank for a moment.

I immediately took the opportunity and parted my lips.

“What would you do if you knew my name? Would you try to kick me out?”

“What… what?”

Geren, who was staring at me dumbfoundedly, belatedly noticed my words, and asked back with confusion.

I then took one step closer.

“You said your clothes were made by designer Frea?”

“O-of course!”

“I see. Designer Frea’s clothes, that’s quite impressive.”

“A-hem!”

When I complimented him, Geren’s expression softened.

Crossing his arms and looking me up and down, he said.

“You’re a little arrogant, but you seem to know that much. How about this? If you become my person, you too will get to wear designer Frea’s clothes.”

Having said that, Geren sneaked a glance at my reaction.

“Oh my, really?”

“Of-of course!”

When I responded, Geren showed a delighted expression.

Already recognised who I was, people around me clicked their tongues, but Geren didn’t seem to notice at all.

Geren was already so full of confidence that I would be on his side.

“But will you be okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t wear Frea’s clothes alone, it would be hard to match ‘someone else’’s outfits with Frea’s.”

My words instantly caused a commotion around me.

“What is she talking about?”

“Does that mean Geren’s clothes are not made by Frea?”

“But up until now, he has been bragging that his clothes are the work of designer Frea.”

“Was that all a lie?”

In a moment of fluster, Geren shouted.

“Non-nonsense! This is definitely designer Frea’s…!”

“Designer Frea is from an ethnic minority and grew up in Peltuac, located in the barren desert. Frea did the job of making clothes for the tribe and clothes suitable for activities in the desert.”

“So what about it?!”

“Frea, who had a talent for making clothes, became deeply interested in design and left to study abroad to develop her own design there.”

And the person who sponsored Frea to study abroad was me, the president of the Cheshire Merchant.

Back in the days I was running the Guild, I was interested in sponsorship so I selected a few young talents and sent them to study abroad.

Frea was the most accomplished among them, and every year she sent me an outfit she designed herself as a token of gratitude.

On that account, no one knew more about Frea’s clothes than I did.

“The most representative features of Frea’s clothes are the soft round lines(silhouette) with an oblique neckline. And on the outside of that line, she leaves her own signature stitch, and I don’t see any of that features on your clothes.”

“It-it’s because it’s a new design! This is the first time she’s tried this kind of design!”

An unnatural smile cracked on my face.

If it was about someone I didn’t know better, I would have been able to pass it on, but…

[Thanks to you, I found my life. This stitch is developed and dedicated just for you. I will leave a mark for you on all my clothes until the day I die.]

I clearly remembered those words that Frea said to me from that time when she made an appointment with me. She said she would leave a stitch exclusively made for me on all of her clothes.

And although not well known, there was another characteristic of Frea’s clothes.

I grabbed Geren’s collar at once.

Geren, who was off guard, was dragged down defenselessly.

I tucked his collar back. The text written there was…

“It’s Frema, not Frea.”

“Frema? Frema is the name of the con-artist who has been around impersonating the designer Frea lately!”

Someone shouted. And in a wink, the surroundings fell into turmoil.