I AM NOT THE LOVE INTEREST!

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Secrets Be Told

Chapter 75: Secrets Be Told

—ARIA—

The moment I finished speaking, I immediately regretted remaining conscious.

Not because I regretted what I said, absolutely not, every single word needed to be said. The problem was that now I had to exist afterward, which was significantly harder.

The ballroom remained silent, painfully silent, like the entire room had collectively forgotten what to do.

Aelith was still standing there holding the bracelet. Holding it like I had just handed him my own severed heart instead of enchanted jewelry, which was honestly making this harder than it needed to be.

Because why did he look so sad? freewebnσvel.cøm

Stop that. Stop looking sad.

You are the one who started this.

I looked away, then immediately looked back, and no, still sad.

Terrible.

Absolutely terrible.

Why did beautiful people always look like dying swans whenever they were heartbroken?

Normal people cried.

Aelith somehow looked like a tragic painting someone would pay money to suffer in front of.

My eyes flicked across the ballroom instead and suddenly realized couldn’t do it anymore.

I couldn’t stand here.

I couldn’t stay another second in this room filled with people.

If I remained any longer, I would either start crying or start screaming, possibly both, and neither outcome was socially acceptable.

So I did what any emotionally stable adult would do.

I grabbed Ren’s sleeve.

"Ren."

"My lady?"

"Take me home."

He blinked in surprise, and I tightened my grip like my life depended on it. "Take me home before I do something embarrassing."

"My lady—"

"Immediately."

We stared at each other for a long moment as silence stretched between us, until realization finally dawned on his face.

"Oh," he said softly, in that tone I had come to recognize as the exact sound of a man watching Lady Aria Valen reach her limit.

"Yes. Oh," I confirmed.

"Of course, my lady."

Thank goodness. A competent employee.

I pointed weakly toward the exit. "Retreat."

"My lady?"

"Strategic retreat."

"...."

"Emergency retreat."

"...."

"Ren, I am currently experiencing an awkward situation."

That finally did it.

Without another word, he guided me forward, and I did not look back even once.

The people in the room watched, pairs of eyes burning into my back, but I ignored them because acknowledging them would have killed me on the spot.

I passed Sebastian, who looked so concerned he would drag me out of here and hide me.

I passed Matthias, who looked like he had already decided someone deserved punishment.

I passed Ezekiel, who looked like he wanted to follow.

Absolutely not.

"No," I said sharply.

Three sets of eyes blinked at me.

"No what?" Sebastian asked.

"No following."

"...."

"I’m going home."

"...."

"Nobody do anything stupid."

The fact that none of them immediately promised that was extremely worrying, but I did not have the emotional bandwidth to investigate further.

I simply pointed at them one last time, as threateningly as a frustrated person could manage, then left.

I fled the place dragging Ren with me.

The moment the carriage doors closed behind me, something inside my soul gave up. I collapsed across the seat like a discarded doll and screamed directly into the air.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ren didn’t even flinch.

The betrayal was staggering.

I rolled onto my back dramatically. "Ren."

"Yes, my lady?"

"I am unwell."

"I noticed."

"I am so mentally unwell."

"...."

"I am emotionally deceased."

"...."

"I have passed away."

Ren sighed like a man watching paperwork come alive. I sat up again immediately. "No, seriously."

"My lady."

"I found a friend."

"Yes."

"He turned into a prince."

"...."

"He turned into a male lead."

"...."

"He turned into an execution risk."

"...."

"He turned into royalty."

"...."

"WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?" I whined dramatically.

Silence settled again as I slumped back into my seat. My entire body felt like it had given up on existence. I covered my face with both hands.

"Gwenchana..."

"...what?" Ren asked cautiously.

"Gwenchanaaa..."

"Lady Aria."

"Gwenchanaaaayoooo..."

"...I am not sure that means what you think it means."

"It means I am not okay."

"I have a feeling it is not what it meant."

I sighed loudly and flopped to the side again. "I thought he was an extra."

"...."

"I thought he was a side character."

"...."

"I thought he escaped the male lead disease."

"The what?"

"The disease," I repeated darkly. "Every attractive man in this world turns out to be important."

"...That is not a disease."

"It absolutely is."

Ren rubbed his temples like a man praying for strength.

But I kept going anyway because I was clearly not done suffering aloud. "I met a doctor. I got attached. He sent fairies. I trusted him. Now he’s a prince. I want compensation."

At that point, Ren deliberately turned his head toward the window, as if emotionally exiting the conversation.

I pointed at him immediately.

"You aren’t helping."

"I am trying."

"No, you are abandoning me."

"I am not."

"You are."

I stared at the opposite seat for a moment before finally letting out a weak breath and spoke again. "I finally found someone normal," I continued, pointing vaguely at the ceiling as though the universe itself was responsible for my suffering. "Someone safe. Someone who didn’t feel like a walking future tragedy waiting to happen."

Ren was quiet for a moment longer than usual, and when he finally spoke, his voice came out lower than before.

"My lady... do you not think I am someone safe to be with?"

That question hit me so unexpectedly that I straightened immediately, blinking at him like I had misheard. freeweɓnovel.cøm

Of all the things I expected tonight, emotional confrontation from Ren was not on the list.

I gave a small, awkward laugh almost on instinct, as my brain began actively buffering. "Ah... haha... hahaha..." I trailed off, realizing that laughter was not helping anything at all, and slowly lowered my hands back into my lap.

Ren’s fingers visibly tightened into fists, and for a brief moment, I genuinely thought I had made things worse.

The air inside the carriage shifted that made my stomach twist.

I opened my mouth quickly, scrambling for the right words before he could spiral further.

"Ren... of course you are someone safe. I just..." I stopped, because suddenly everything I wanted to say felt messy and inadequate, like trying to wrap something fragile in words that didn’t quite fit.

Before I could finish, he spoke again, and this time his voice was sharper which made my chest tighten. "Aria... have you not moved on from Sebastian that you cannot even consider it when a man starts vying for you?"

I froze.

He just said my name like that. Not that it offended me, no.

But for some reason that small detail made everything feel far more serious than what happened in the ballroom had been.

My mind briefly short-circuited trying to process the accusation, the implication, and the fact that Ren was actually talking to me like this right now.

I opened my mouth, then closed it again, completely caught off guard.

"Ren, I am not that oblivious, but... do you have...something you want to tell me?"