"What are you all doing here?"
When Rhianne heard her brother's voice, she happily escaped from Calvin's hands and ran towards her brother. She quickly hid behind his back with her arms hugging his waist. Francis looked at his sister before turning his head to observe their visitors. He made a quick conclusion about the situation.
"Are you visiting us just to disturb Rhianne?"
"Yes."
"No."
The Lancester brothers both answered his question. Just like what he thought! At first, Francis was confused about why did Calvin with his brother visited their house. Calvin mentioned that he needed to look at their college pictures which were very suspicious from the start. If Calvin really wanted to see it, he can just visit the official webpage of their school and look in the photo gallery on it.
Keith really wanted to punch his brother in his face for making things worse. Calvin knows that Francis is always suspicious of him because he really thought that he is always bullying Rhianne. It all started when he gave the flowers to Rhianne, but that was really unintentional and an accident! But Calvin always makes it looks like he is really bullying Rhianne even though he did not do anything at all. Why does he need to be the older brother? It was obvious that he is more mature than him!
Rhianne tugged at her brother's shirt to get his attention. She feels bad for the young male lead right now. It was obvious that Calvin was messing up with him and Francis is being unfair to Keith even though he did not do anything wrong. Since she was the only adult here, even though she was in the body of a twelve-year-old kid, Rhianne needs to stop it as soon as possible.
"Let us invite them inside to have some snacks. Mother made a cherry pie earlier. It is really delicious!"
Francis does not want to, but seeing Rhianne looking at him with expectant eyes, he let out a sigh. He looks at the Lancester brothers before inviting them inside. Rhianne looked at Keith, who was obviously sulking right now. While the brothers were bickering with each other, Rhianne slowly had regained her normal self and think of the situation in a calm manner.
So what if that young boy is the male lead? Rhianne does not need to be afraid of him since he is not related to Rhianne Cartel's miserable fate in the story. The one she needs to be wary of is only Andrew Gartin. Thinking about it, being friends with the male lead is not a bad idea. Maybe she can borrow a little bit of his male lead halo which she can use to avoid her miserable fate.
Rhianne told them to wait for her as she fetched the pies in the kitchen. After a few minutes, Rhianne came back while holding a tray with a whole cherry pie on it. Keith naturally helped her to bring the tray to the table while still avoiding looking at her. These actions Keith did not miss the two older brothers, but they did not give their comments on it.
After eating the pie, they were all surprised when Rhianne stands up and held Keith's arm. Keith flinched a little but did not dare to remove her hands. She told him to follow her and instructed the two older brothers not to follow them. Before they can even react, Rhianne and Keith were already gone.
Rhianne brought the young male lead to the library to have some privacy. Rhianne is aware that she was the main reason why he was acting like this. But she also told herself that it was not completely her fault for why she acted like that.
Looking at the young male lead in front of her, she can't help but let out a sigh in her heart. The book described the male lead as independent, straightforward, matured, and resourceful. But the male lead in front of her is a shy, easy to bully, and fidgety young boy. A complete opposite to her expectation.
'But it is not really weird. Currently, he is still a kid, so that explains it.'
"Hey."
Keith was surprised when she suddenly spoke at him.
"...What is it?"
"I just want to apologize for earlier. I am just a little... surprised."
After that, no one speaks again. There was an awkward silence between them. Since she did not like it, Rhianne talked again.
"As you know, I can't remember a lot of things. I sincerely don't know if we know each other. So if I did something to offend you, I am sorry. I did not mean it."
"No. That was..." Keith wanted to refute her words, but Rhianne spoke again.
"So is it okay for us to be friends?"
"Ah?"
"You do not want to?" Rhianne did not wait for him to recover from his continuous shocking experiences today. "I thought you wanted to be my friend."
"O-Of course I want to—"
"Then it is settled then!" Rhianne smiles as she held Keith's hands. "My name is Rhianne Cartel. I hope we can be good friends in the future."
"...."
'Why does it feel like I am being tricked by a swindler here?'
Obviously, Keith really wanted to become friends with her. But the way she talks with him felt like she is actually forcing him to be her friend. She does not even give him time to think about what was really happening and already decided on the outcome. Keith did not mind it, but it felt really weird.
Rhianne did not pay attention to what he was thinking. Right now, she was secretly celebrating after establishing a friendship between her and the male lead. If they become close with each other, then Rhianne is sure that she can always ask for his help if the situation in the future gets bad. Since he is the male lead, his destiny and fate will surely be good.
With this, the male lead and the supporting character become friends.