This Time, I Am A Mob's Potions Teacher Who Has Become Engaged To The Mastermind Of The Otome Game - Side Story: A Secret from Her (From Noel's Perspective)

The Winter Star Festival had ended, and the usual hustle and bustle of daily life had returned.

When I arrived at the Ministry of Magic, Laurent immediately spotted me and called out. It seemed he’d been waiting for a chance to talk, and he asked eagerly, as if he had been looking forward to it.

“Hey, did you have a good time with your fiancée over the Winter Star Festival?”

“Thanks to you, I did.”

“Oh my! You’re even wearing a ring now. Someone’s feeling giddy~”

“Well, yeah. It was the first gift I received from someone special. It’s hard not to be happy about it.”

“Aaagh! You really should just explode already.”

His loud banter echoed through the area, causing passersby to turn and stare at the ring on my left hand.

Everyone was listening in on Laurent’s conversation—lively and cheerful as always.

That’s because he talks in a way that makes you want to listen.

Because he’s playing the role of bright, funny, and good-natured Laurent D’Arciac.

This colleague of mine is truly someone I can’t let my guard down around.

“So, what’s the real reason you’re here?”

When I was pulled along to the backyard behind the Ministry building, I could already guess what this was about.

He was probably about to bring up something he didn’t want anyone else to overhear.

Laurent, as if the cheerful mood from earlier had been a complete lie, suddenly became expressionless and spoke like a puppet being controlled.

“A message from our master. He instructed you not to tell your fiancée—under any circumstances.”

I couldn’t help but be impressed at how easily he could switch like this.

His voice, his way of speaking, even his expression—he could change them all in an instant. That ability might be his true weapon.

An illegal immigrant who had infiltrated the kingdom as an aide to the fourth prince of the Kingdom of Shear.

His name, his identity—everything about him is a lie.

Over the past few years, he had been preparing for the fourth prince’s arrival in the Kingdom of Nox, and yet no one had noticed.

“You went out of your way to bring that dragon for me, only to let it escape. Don’t do anything else to incur the master’s displeasure.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You just wanted to use me after I absorbed the dragon’s power, didn’t you?”

Just remembering it brings back the pain in my hand.

The day I first came face-to-face with the Fourth Prince near the border, I learned the price of tampering with the forbidden—through pain.

I had tried to involve myself in a form of ancient Shearian magic that used a dragon as a sacrifice.

“Please don’t misinterpret our master’s generosity. That dragon was a gift, offered in support of your cooperation.”

“If it was a gift, then what I do with it is my decision.”

When I realized Laurent’s true identity, he, in turn, had realized mine.

He saw through the hatred I held toward the King of Nox, saw my past—and offered a deal.

He asked that I look the other way when the Fourth Prince eventually entered this kingdom.

And I agreed to his request.

As a token of thanks, he gave me a sacrificial dragon—and a spell cast by the prince himself.

Even so, the only reason I didn’t fall into the depths of forbidden magic was because Leticia reached out to me through Jill.

If I hadn’t listened to her words—when all I wanted was power to stand against the king—I would’ve become something no longer human.

Even if I needed that power to protect her, I knew that once I touched the darkness, I would never be able to remain by her side.

That’s why I stopped midway through the ritual—and set the dragon free.

“Who would have thought that the very dragon you let go would show up at your fiancée’s side? It’s a strange twist of fate, isn’t it?”

“I’ll admit, at that moment, I regretted letting it go. It felt like being repaid for kindness with betrayal.”

When Mika reported that the dragon had appeared before Leticia, my bl00d ran cold.

I rushed to the academy in a panic, which resulted in Laurent tagging along—and ultimately, I ended up introducing this dangerous man to Leticia.

“Our king has high hopes for your achievements. Please devote that noble magical power, passed down through the royal bloodline of Nox, to the service of Shear.”

Laurent spoke dispassionately, but disappointment flickered in his eyes.

“Falling in love makes one weak, doesn’t it? You used to be strong, ruthless, and beautiful.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

He was probably right—I had grown weaker.

Leticia had become my weakness.

And the way I let myself be swayed by her every word and action—feeling elated one moment and anxious the next—it made me laugh bitterly at myself.

“When spring comes, I’ll fulfill the original plan and become a fine tutor to His Highness the Fourth Prince. So rest easy.
But if you lay a hand on my fiancée—don’t forget what that would mean.”

I had kept something important from the person most dear to me.

I never wanted to betray Leticia, who was trying to share my burden of pain. But that didn’t mean I could ever speak of Laurent and the others.

“There was a time when keeping secrets from her didn’t bother me at all. But now, it feels like a weight on my soul.”

Surprisingly, she had missed me in my absence. Maybe—just maybe—she had started to become more conscious of me. That small hope had taken root in my heart.

And yet, I had trampled on her feelings by hiding the truth.

Just imagining how she might react if she found out was enough to make my chest ache.

“…You look utterly pathetic. I can’t bear to watch.”

With a scowl, Laurent turned on his heel and walked away.