Is the Friend of a Friend a Stranger? - Chapter 45.1

“Why, why are you mentioning Sommers all of a sudden?”

Sylvia half-cursed herself. She couldn’t believe she said that in public like this, no matter how curious she was. ‘Wasn’t there a rumor of Owen being a flirt?’ After turning around and saying that so awkwardly, Sylvia felt that a long snake was coiled around her neck the moment that stupid question came out of her mouth.

It was a mistake. However, when she met Owen for the first time five years ago, most men like him were promiscuous, and the words naturally came out because Kali, who was clicking her tongue, was sitting in front of her. Though, of course, Kali was so drunk that she couldn’t remember meeting Owen that day.

How could she, who doesn’t know how to act, naturally make an excuse for that question? Sylvia opened her mouth without hesitation at the thought that hit her.

“You know my father came here because of the fact that Owen and I spent the night outside. I was thinking that if Owen has a terrible rumor, I might be able to avoid it in some way.”

How could she make such a genius comment? Sylvia wanted to blow herself a kiss.

As expected, Kali seemed to have fallen for her smooth words.

“Really? Your father stopped it. Well, I’m sure he didn’t do anything. I heard you insisted and spent the night separately in that strange pillar.”

“I know.”

Of course not. She had long lost her consciousness to insist on anything, and Owen was not an irresponsible person to put her completely unconscious in a stone pillar ten feet high. But Sylvia did not pour cold water on the story that Owen had probably been telling everyone for her sake.

“Let’s see. Owen Sommers.”

Kali set aside the mountainous reports, propped her chin, and lifted her fingers. She felt like she could hear Kali, who had good ears, opening a document called ‘Owen’ in her head and flipping through the pages.

“As far as I know, he hasn’t dated any knights or supporters at all.”

“None at all?”

“Yeah. Probably. He even turned down Janet politely.”

Janet. That’s right, there was that girl.

Janet said she liked Owen because he looked dangerous. At that time, Sylvia couldn’t understand why she was so passionately attracted to a man who seemed to have so many problems. Even so, Sylvia was in love with a man who was like a 100-year-old tree that couldn’t be shaken by anything. She didn’t know at the time that people could be easily consumed by anxiety.

‘So do I know that now?’

Sylvia asked back to herself, vehemently resisting the sudden thought. But the question soon dispersed without any meaning. Wasn’t she secretly looking into Owen’s experiences with women behind his back right now?

‘Don’t tell me this is also being conveyed to Owen.’

Sylvia quickly focused on the sensation she felt on her fingertips. Then, she pressed her fingers firmly with her thumb to see if there was any subtle paralysis. The day after she kissed Owen in the library, it seemed necessary to know how things related to the mana sharing worked, so they decided to set a day to look into it.

‘It says in the book that an abnormal signal would come from our body. A sense of emptiness as the mana escaped in a way that was different from our will. We have to look for it. Alright?’

Sylvia requested Owen, and he soon discovered that his fingertips seemed to become slightly numb whenever the mana sharing happened, surprisingly quickly.

‘Even if I press my fingertips hard, I don’t feel anything.’

Her fingers hurt now. Sylvia let out a thin sigh, relieved just by the fact that this disgraceful situation was not conveyed to Owen. It was a solemn reaction that did not consider Kali, who was in front of her. But Kali shrugged, as if she had misunderstood that Sylvia hated Owen terribly.

“Why, isn’t Sommers okay? First of all, he is handsome. He has that social status, but you won’t care.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course. Do you think there’s a person like that among the groomsmen your father, who only cares about your family’s name, brings? Since you like Heston, you seem to care about a person’s appearance.”

Originally, Sylvia would have cried out that no matter what Heston looked like, she would have liked him. But Heston was engaged, and she couldn’t deny the good feeling she had developed towards Owen. And there was no denying that the basis of that good feeling was his appearance. Of course, he had a unique atmosphere, but if he didn’t look like that, it was doubtful that such an atmosphere would have been created.

“Yeah. You’re right.”

As she answered in a dispirited voice, Kali suddenly grabbed Sylvia’s hand, as if she felt sympathy for the situation she was in.

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