Chapter 77: CH 76

“…The Ministry of Health?”

“Yeah. Do you want me to ask my mother?”

“Count Leicester?”

Count Leicester was Paul’s mother. She’s the heir to the Bohr Marquisate, and she was currently serving as the Health Minister.

“Yeah. Even if I don’t though, they’re having such a hard time with the lack of manpower lately, so there’s a good chance you’ll get in. And she’ll like you too, Reina, since you already did something great at the Thurn Village.”

“…Wow.”

You’ve come to my rescue yet again, my savior.

“I told you before, right?” Reina asked.

“Tell me what?”

“I love you. I love you, my good friend.”

One’s a poison wielder and the other’s a healer, so either of them’s bound to wither away and die—but should she just marry Paul?

Her chances with Ethan were ruined anyway.

‘Paul doesn’t have a fiancée either…’

Reina pursed her lips for a moment as the absurd thought passed through her mind, but she soon smiled. It seemed like the situation really was getting to her, to the point that she’s wishing for something like this.

‘No matter how dire it is, how could I think about marrying Paul?’

Still, whether she’d die from the sacrifice of marrying Lehman, or whether she’d die from pairing up with someone who didn’t fit her taste—the ending’s the same anyway.

“Wanna just get married, me and you?”

Reina’s flippant proposal made Paul’s chopsticks freeze in the air. A brief pause ensued between the question and its supposed answer.

Paul looked at Reina.

“Should we?”

“…Huh?”

She was expecting him to joke around like her while saying, “Uuuugh, I don’t wanna get beaten to death by a poisonous witch for a wife though.” But here he was, answering her seriously instead. She couldn’t help but be flustered.

“That way, you won’t need Ethan, Eli, Letis, Fran and Luke.”

Her eyes blinked dazedly when a list of men was promptly recited. A strange expression flashed across Paul’s face for a moment as he stared at the frozen woman.

However, a moment’s just a moment. That expression disappeared and was soon replaced by an easy smile.

“Got you nervous for a second there, Reina.”

“……”

“I’m the one who’s supposed to be surprised at getting proposed to all of a sudden.”

Poke, poke. He poked the speechless Reina’s cheek twice.

“Are you that surprised, Reina?”

“…You’re gonna get poisoned. Real soon.”

“You can’t kill me yet though. Internship, remember?”

“Haa. You punk, seriously…”

With a deep sigh, she swept her hair up into a ponytail and asked.

“If you wanna eat more, just tell me. I’ll make it all for you.”

* * *

“I’ll be in your care from now on, Madam Minister!!”

There’s one good habit that Paul always kept, and that’s never blowing just hot air. He never failed to do whatever he said he’s doing.

Thanks to this, Reina received an internship permit from the Ministry of Health less than a week after their conversation about it.

“Mm-hm. I look forward to working with you, too. I’m not going to be the person you’ll be answering to during your internship, so… I wonder if it’s alright that I’m receiving your first greeting like this.”

Count Leicester smiled kindly and offered a teacup to Reina.

“Of course it is!! After all, you’re the very light of my life, Minister!”

“Still a lively kid, I see. Thanks to you, my Paul is a much brighter kid.”

“You don’t have to worry about Paul! If he says something about black magic or some other ridiculous nonsense, I’ll stop him immediately and kick his butt!”

“When I look back at that time, I just… I never thought that he cared so much for his departed sister like that.”

When Paul’s sister died at five years old, it was around that time when Reina had just recalled her memories of her past life.

Back then, Paul was really… Just the thought of that time still gave her chills.

“Reina. Without you, House Bohr’s lineage would have gotten cut off, you know.”

Count Leicester was talking about the version—his dark history, if you will—of Paul ‘before he got close to Reina’.

Knock, knock—

“Oh, I nearly forgot. I called the person who’ll be guiding you throughout your internship so you can introduce yourselves.”

The count set down her teacup and straightened her posture. Then, she turned towards the door.

“Come in.”

The same moment her permission was given, the door opened at once.

And at the same time, Reina’s eyes bugged out.

“Now then, this here is Miss Reina Chantra, who will be with you for the next three months starting today. You already know each other, don’t you, Deputy Director Ethan?”

Not even realizing it herself, Reina’s mouth was completely agape. She looked up at the person who would be her direct superior from today onwards.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

Why…

Why’s Ethan here?

“I look forward to working with you, Intern Reina.”

Unlike Ethan, who was greeting her with his characteristically indifferent disposition, Reina was completely and utterly out of it. Because of that, her tongue got twisted into a knot.

“Uh… Ni, nice to meet’cha, I mean, uh, yeah, sir.”

Reina couldn’t process what’s happening right now. With her wide eyes that looked like they’re about to pop out, she looked back at the count and tried her hand at telepathy.

‘W-Wait a second, Minister. Why is this person here…? Ethan’s not from the HR department, right…?’

However, whether the count heard her thoughts or not, the introductions between them continued.

“Then, take good care of Intern Reina. I’m going to be away for a while because of the epidemic, as you know.”

“Yes, I understand.”

When Ethan answered, he shot a glance at Reina—and when their eyes met, Reina jumped up from her seat so quickly that it looked like she got burned.

“Let’s go, shall we? Intern Reina.”

“Y-Yes, sir…!”

She vaguely bowed towards Count Leicester as a goodbye, then scuttled out the door to follow her direct superior.

‘W-Why are things flowing in this direction…?’

After the day that Ethan showed something similar to ‘anger’ towards Reina, she completely stopped any and all attempts at her ‘Ethan capture strategy’.

No, it would be more accurate to say that she practically gave up.

But Ethan…?

She was so bewildered that he’s here, to the point that her heart was about to drop dead.

“We have a lot of work to do, so hurry up, Intern Reina.”

“Y-Yessir!”

Reina continued to follow him, but her pupils were shaking so wildly. It’s obvious at just a glance that she’s confused as hell.

‘This situation can’t be good… No, it’s not just bad, it’s a catastrophe…!’

Her only intention in coming to this place was to avoid Lehman, but in doing so, all she did was dive right into the tiger’s mouth!