I Became The Male Lead’s Female Friend

 

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

 

‘What?’

 

Mistress? Not a mole, not an informant. But as a Mistress?

 

But O’Neill, who’d actually spoken, only smiled sheepishly, and I looked at her, dumbfounded, the corners of my mouth tugging up awkwardly.

 “Haha… Well, that’s what jokes are for, they’re not funny, so stop…” “I’m not joking.” “What?” “Did I sound like I was joking? But I’m serious.” 

So… you’re telling me you’re serious about being a mistress now, and you expect me to believe it?

 “What? No, look. What?” “Is it because you don’t trust me? But even though I look like this, I’m confident about my looks.” 

‘I know she knows that she’s pretty’

 

I nodded, then snapped out of it and exclaimed.

 “No, that’s not it!” “What?” “I don’t mean just any beauty, I mean mistress. O’Neill, don’t you know what a mistress is?” 

O’Neill looked at me as if she’d heard something out of the ordinary, and then she answered with an amused, cackling laugh.

 “You, too, Princess. There’s a bit of innocence in you.” “What does that mean…” “Don’t you think I don’t know what it means to be a mistress, to stand by their side as their unofficial lover and keep watch for the night?” 

Night, night-life?

 “No, that means…” “I mean, I’m going to use my body.” 

I froze completely.

 “Honestly, was there anybody more worthy of exploitation than mine?” “…” “I don’t know about you, Princess, but the more perverted my tendencies are, the more they want me. They say they’re like a pristine virgin, but they’re so into it.” “O’Neill…” “So, Princess, all you have to do is introduce me to them, and I’ll take it from there. Whether they want me to be a lover or a plaything, I’ll gently nudge them for information…” “O’Neill!” 

I finally couldn’t hold it in and raised my voice. O’Neill’s eyes widened at the sound of my voice.

 “Princess?” “You know it’s not that easy.” “Of course I do, and I don’t think it’s just going to be a one-night stand.” “No, it’s not that…!” 

Why do we keep talking about things like this? 

 

For a moment, I felt frustrated by her appearance. It felt like I was talking to a wall. No matter how much I shouted and banged on it, it wouldn’t answer.

 

Still, I couldn’t just let her keep spinning her words around like this, so I stared at her seriously and spoke in a calm tone. 

 

“

I don’t care about the dirty people who covet O’Neill, I don’t want to push you into those people.” “But that’s the most efficient…” “Efficiency and all that aside, I just want to know what’s on your mind.” 

I paused for a moment, then asked again.

 “O’Neil, are you okay?” 

At my sincere question, O’Neill looked at me, and as I gazed into her mysterious golden eyes, I secretly hoped. 

 

Please tell me that she’s not okay. That she was just being extreme without realizing it.

 

But she shattered my expectations.

 “Was there a problem?” “What?” 

O’Neill was still staring at me with a bewildered look on her face.

 

Her brow furrowed in confusion, as if she didn’t quite understand, and then she asked me in a cheerful voice.

 “Oh, are you worried that I might get hurt?” “What? No, what kind of nonsense does that mean…?”  “You’re being sweet.” 

She gave a small, delighted laugh.

 “I can see you’re worried, but it’s not a big deal, I’m barely out of shape.” “It’s not just a body…” “Then just think of it as a tool worth using.” “…What?” “How useful? You don’t need a lot of gold or silver, or a lot of power, just your body to fulfill your purpose. Shouldn’t you be happy that it’s so cheap?” 

I stared at her blankly as she continued to speak without hesitation. Then, I ended up asking without realizing it.

 “…Are you saying that anything is okay as long as it serves a purpose?” “What? Isn’t that obvious?” 

O’Neill looked at me rather strangely.

 “I would have thought you’d know better, Princess. The end justifies the means, isn’t it?”

 

She answered straight away, her face filled with a certain conviction, as if she really thought so.

 

I suddenly understood why I kept getting stuck in conversations with her.

 

‘That’s what I really thought.’

 

It didn’t matter what she had to do to get there, even if it meant selling herself out.

 

But does she realize how self-destructive that was?

 

I realized that if one tries to accomplish one’s goals without a purpose, there would be nothing left in the end.

 

I stare at her for a moment, eyes glazed over with a strange obsession, that she was able to make up her mind.

 “I see.” “You understand, Princess. I would have thought you would…” “But not this.” 

O’Neill’s face hardened at the firmness in my voice.

 “I will do my best to achieve my goal. I agree with that.” “Then…” “But there’s a line you shouldn’t cross, at least. If you throw away your humanity for the sake of your purpose, what’s left after that?” “…” “I don’t understand, no, I don’t get this.” 

I got up from my seat. O’Neill must have realized I was about to leave, because she called after me in an urgent voice.

 “Let’s just pretend today never happened, O’Neill, and forget everything I said.” “Dahlia.” “I need to go.” “You have to know how to let go of one in order to gain another.” “No,”

I said confidently.

 “I’m greedy, and so I will take them all without leaving one.” “…” “Whether it’s purpose or people…” 

My words trailed off, and I paused for a moment, then turned to her, who was looking at me wordlessly.

 “Even you.” 

With that, I turned and walked away.

 

In the back of my mind, I saw O’Neill move to grab me, but I didn’t stop. She just blurted out a last word before heading out the door.

 “Please don’t come for a while. I have nothing more to say to you.” “Princess.” 

 

‘Why did I do that!’

 

After leaving the door with such a confident step. After walking aimlessly for a long time, I was belatedly regretting and screaming silently.

 

‘Why didn’t I say something, I haven’t even gotten to the point yet!’

 

But I don’t know how angry I was at the time.

 

Not only did she want to be a mistress, but she also said that her body was a valuable tool, and that she should use any means necessary to achieve her goal.

 

She was saying things that I didn’t understand.

 

What made me even more angry was that O’Neill’s face was so nonchalant as she said these things that I didn’t think I could convince her otherwise. 

 

She had a bewildered look on her face until the end, as if she didn’t know why I was upset.

 

‘That’s weird. Is that what the original heroine said?’

 

No matter how much I thought about it, she was so different from the

‘real O’Neill’

I knew.

 

In the original work, she was a very strong person with a big heart.

 

She would never say anything self-deprecating but would be the first to reach out to someone who did.

 

That’s why the men who were saved by O’Neill were so drawn to her…

 

‘How did this happen?’

 

Did this happen because the future has changed, but the big event has yet to happen?

 

And if something has changed recently, O’Neill’s personality has been slowly forming for a long time.

 

Otherwise, it wouldn’t explain her deep-seated self-loathing.

 

If that’s the case, the original story had always been wrong.

 When? Where? 

‘I don’t know.’

 

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a clue, and now I was even starting to wonder if O’Neill was real.

 

And that wasn’t the only thing I had to worry about.

 

Because whether the original was wrong or not, I had to solve the problem in front of me right now.

 

‘First, we have to stop the legalization of gambling.’

 

Even for that, O’Neill’s help was essential.

 

I figured the best way to get information on the pro-legalization side was to sell out the ringleader, Goldman.

 

But I didn’t have any connections that would know Goldman’s internal affairs well, and the people who did know…

 

‘There was none other than Sir River!’

 

And the best person to convince him was O’Neill.

 

And even if I wasn’t going to ask her to convince him, I had to enlist her help.

 

The man you need to talk to, Lord River, was in the north with the raiding party.

 

The only way to get to the North was to use the teleportation at Bouser Mansion, and O’Neill was the one who could activate it.

 

‘Should we use the gate near the Magic Tower and go up to the north now? But in order to receive the report, I have to be in the capital if possible.’

 

A problem that could have been easily solved by asking O’Neil, ended up becoming more complicated by arguing with her for no reason.

 

I had to regret it again, something I’ve already done several times.

 

‘At least I shouldn’t have asked her not to come!’

 

But even if I regretted it like this, I couldn’t take back what I had already said.

 

There was no way I could go back and grab her by the hem of her dress and beg her to help me because it was a mistake.

 

‘No… should I?’

 

Thinking hard, I shook my head. O’Neill would be long gone by the time I finished.

 

In the end, I just sighed heavily.

 

‘What should I do…’

 

I stood by the window and stared at the sky in confusion.

 

The sun, which had been high in the sky until I met O’Neill, was now tilted low.

 

As I watched the sunset in a daze, I steadied myself.

 

‘No, there has to be another way.’

 

I wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

 

Lord River wasn’t the only one who knew the inner workings of Goldman, and even if I didn’t know anyone, I could work my way through the ranks to find someone who did.

 

And I have the money to do it.

 

Yes, it would take time, but it wouldn’t be too late if I started now.

 

If we start scraping together information on the pro-choice side as quickly as possible, organize, and stop the bill before it passes…

 

‘I can do it. Let’s show them I can do it.’

 

Like I said to O’Neill, I could do it without giving up, without losing sight of the goal, without giving up on myself.

 

‘Okay!’

 

And with that, I turned sharply to leave. I had a long way to go and a lot of work to do.

 

Soon enough, I was unintentionally confronted with a solution and perhaps the right answer.

 “Lord River?”