I Was A Supporting Character

TL/Editor/Proofreader: Alcatraz/Gummy/Latte

Chapter 8 This Was All Set-Up (2)

Even though the banquet’s main character, Baron Saturnos and his wife, finally appeared, less than 100 guests had gathered at the banquet hall.

It should take quite some time before the family could establish themselves within high society.

Still, thanks to Lady Saturnos’s diligence of giving the invitations herself, her hard work paid off as several nobles my age attended the party.

But upon further inspection, they don’t seem to be genuine. They probably came to catch a glimpse of Lord Ares Jupiter.

How could I speculate so? Well, it was quite apparent since the eyes of these young ladies were all glued to Lord Jupiter’s figure.

Furthermore, the gazes of the men were all focused on me. Huh.

When the banquet was in full swing, the custom that occurred to a freshly debuted young lady stepping into the social world inevitably happened to Lady Saturnos.

The young ladies immediately flocked around Lady Saturnos, who was alone; nowhere near Lord Ares Jupiter.

I decided to enjoy a glass of wine as I watched the situation unfold from a distance.

“You must have tried harder than I expected, Lady Saturnos. I thought this banquet would be completely deserted,” one of the ladies sneered.

“For such an unsophisticated invitation, the banquet is quite a show,” the other taunted.

“Well, that’s…”

As I expected, Leah Saturnos did not respond well to these vicious remarks.

The social world was truly a battlefield.

The crowds were trying to satisfy their perverse sense of superiority, aiming for the prey’s neck and having them kneel at their feet, all to fulfill their ego.

Wherever one went, there would be unprovoked malice. It was a common occurence to those in high society to feel envious of those they saw as a threat.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t intervene and help Lady Saturnos.

This was something she had to go through on her own. She had to realize that she was no longer in the shade of her parents’ protection and must be able to defend herself as an adult.

Leah’s face flushed as she barely managed to spit out a response.

“U-um… I tried to make the party suitable for the other ladies. It’s a bit lacking, but… but I hope you enjoy it…”

Sigh. I deplore her words. Especially her timid attitude. It was obvious that those young ladies were picking a fight, yet she still apologized as if she was really in the wrong.

She was apologizing and bowing her head as if she lacked pride.

Most of all, I didn’t like her incompetence when she was going to be the one to stand by my beloved Ares. I felt appalled by the fact that this woman would become his lover just because she was the female protagonist.

I hoped that, at the very least, she could become a partner that’s fitting for Ares Jupiter’s status. That way, I would feel as though their relationship was not so unjustified.

After the group retreated, I approached Lady Saturnos, who was still at loss after the barrage of scathing comments.

“Lady Saturnos. Do you have a moment?”

She gazed at me with tearful eyes, as if I were her savior. But I didn’t laugh at her.

Instead, I simply told her, “You have done nothing wrong to the other ladies, so why are you being so subservient?”

“Pardon?”

“The group of young ladies. Didn’t you know that they were deliberately picking a fight?” I told her coldly. I had no intention of comforting her.

Lady Saturnos was taken aback. She was surprised to see me confront her.

I could see her naivety solely from her response.

Just because I helped her once at the tailor didn’t mean that I was on her side.

“Well, I knew it, but I was overwhelmed…”

I was beginning to get annoyed.

She’s the female protagonist who would stand next to the person I loved, why couldn’t she be slightly more confident?

Although I was boiling with anger, my expression was cold.

“Just speak with confidence. Don’t be so easily discouraged. When someone quarrels with you, say, ‘l can’t believe you don’t recognize this classy decoration, you must have terrible taste.'”

I sincerely continued, “You are the main character of this world.”

I didn’t know how she would take my words, however this was the truth.

Nonetheless, after the words left my mouth, I couldn’t help thinking about my wretched reality.

Undoubtedly… She was the main character.

Not me.

What does it matter if I had the best dress at this banquet? And what was the value of my reputation as a social flower? In the end, I was just a supporting character whose role was to die for the two protagonists.

Leah’s eyes widened. She looked at me with glistening eyes decorated with tears.

However, my job was complete. I turned my head without giving her a second glance. I felt the need to refresh myself, so I went out to the terrace, where I could see the adorned garden outside.

“Sigh. . .”

I was exhausted from these useless emotions. I needed to raise my disheartened mood as soon as possible so that I could attend the banquet hall normally.

As I was taking a deep breath, I heard footsteps approaching the terrace.

Did I not pull the curtains down? I couldn’t believe I missed the most basic etiquette! I closed my eyes tightly as I reprimanded myself for my carelessness.

It was then, a familiar low voice reached my ear.

“Lady Uranos.”

Oh, this day just kept getting worse. Lord Ares Jupiter was here.

I made a poor attempt to smile before I turned toward the man.

“Oh, I forgot to draw the curtains. That’s why you didn’t know I was here. My apologies.”

“No, I knew. I saw the Lady coming this way.”

I stared at Lord Jupiter. He was smiling softly and had an intrigued expression on his face.

“Well…. So, do you have anything you want to say to me.. ”

Then he shook his head slightly and said, “l don’t have any particular intentions, but I heard what you said to Leah a while ago.”

“Ah….”

The smile on my face disappeared. Was he going to ask what I meant by telling her that she was the main character?

“l wanted to say thank you for your help. She needed a mentor who could teach her of the harsh reality of high society. It was something I couldn’t do,” he smiled.

Mentor, ha! What an ironic word, since I was a villain.

When I didn’t reply, he went on awkwardly, “And… I was very impressed with what Lady said, ‘You are the main character of this world.”‘

Ah, what a relief. He interpreted my words in that way. He made me anxious for no reason.

I replied with a smile, “It is an analogy I made so that I can push her to be more confident in herself. I quoted it from a book.”

In truth, I heard it from the ‘author’.

Hearing my response, Ares replied with a bright smile, “Lady Uranos must be the main character of this world as well.”

Haha, I let out a laugh unconsciously. I could have given him a definite answer.

No, I was not the main character. I was a supporting character.

But how could I ever reveal this fact? Instead, I just gave him a casual smile.

“Lord Jupiter is also the main character.”

Unlike his words, which are just superfluous flattery, I spoke the truth.

Now, I really needed some personal space.

Lord Jupiter seemed to have no intention of moving, so I asked him stiffly, “If you stay here, people may target your lover again. Why are you not hurrying back to her?”

“My lover? Who are you talking about?”

Lord Jupiter asked with a confused expression.

I was rather surprised that he still felt the need to ask something so obvious.

“Oh, of course, it’s Lady Saturnos. Both of you kissed in the downtown area… People already know everything you both did in public. What else could I be talking about?”

“Ah, that is a misunderstanding.”

He regained his smile.

“Obviously, it is true that we had an incident in the downtown area, but it is nothing more than an accident.”

“What? But what about the rendezvous that followed.. .?”

“Sigh. Actually, I was troubled because of that. I didn’t expect that even My Lady would think of it that way.”

His expression turned into a frown. I didn’t know that this person could be so ignorant and dense as to not realise how his actions were seen by others.

His explanation continued despite my thoughts.

“Maybe because Leah came from the local manor, she is rather naive and follows people very well. That’s why I am quite accommodating of her bright personality. When we talked, we somehow were able to get acquainted quickly.”

Perhaps it was due to my clouded judgement, however, in my mind all I could hear from him was excuses. So I smiled coldly and cut off his words, “It sounds like you’re making excuses. Is there a need for that?”

“l don’t want to be misunderstood, so I just felt the need to clarify before more rumors appear.”

The smile on his face disappeared at my comment, however, ignoring his stiff expression, I pointed out one more thing.

“You say that I misunderstood, however, out of all the young ladies around you, Lady Saturnos was the only one who called My Lord by your name. Anyone who hears that will involuntarily consider both of you as a couple.”

“Isn’t there anyone close to My Lady who calls you by your given name?”

There was, but they were my close friends.

“l am just friends with Leah. I came as a partner today because she had no knowledge about the customs in the capital.”

Now he might describe her as a friend, however I knew for sure that soon he would fall in love with her. But I couldn’t say, “Look and see, you’ll love her.”

It seemed as if I was jealous of Lady Saturnos when I thought about it more. At this point I decided to act as if I had accepted his explanation.

“Ah, you are right.”

I replied courteously with an indifferent smile.

However, instead of being relieved, Ares frowned and said to me, “l don’t think you believe me. You seem to have a different opinion.”

I came to the terrace to refresh myself, not to exhaust my emotions. I wanted to flee as quickly as possible.

“Look, I apologize if you think I don’t believe you. However, in the future, My Lord will have to clarify this to other people. I’m not the only one who misunderstood your situation.”

His expression sank.

To begin with, there are many misunderstandings that occur between men and women. I was aware of that as well, I even had to draw a line a few times with other people.

Nevertheless, he refused to admit that he had broken those boundaries for Leah Saturnos.

Frankly, it was quite disappointing.

With nothing else to say, I walked away from him, who was in deep thought, and left the terrace.

I needed to recall the contents of the original novel.

The plot was simple; love sprung up between the two protagonists when they accidentally kissed on the street. They got closer, became friends, and even called each other by their names! There were certainly many things that could cause them to fall in love.

Hmm? But didn’t Lord Jupiter make a strange remark just now?

If he thought of Leah as a friend, then what about her? Did she think of him as a dear friend as well?

If both of them were not in a romantic relationship and kept being friends, how would the future unfold?