Chapter 11 - The Foolish
In what kind of world are there men whose lives have been destroyed by women?
This otome game world with the crown prince and other boys. Normally, they were supposed to love the protagonist, who was a saint. They spent time getting to know each other, and had a happy marriage.
It seems that these fools overlooked something important when they rushed through things.
The protagonist, Olivia, was meant to be connected to the crown prince. It was futile to try and be an imitation of her. No doubt, it might have been better if one went through without imitating her.
I pondered a bit about the lackluster setting of this otome game world.
“Well, I understand the circumstances. So, you’re saying that I should clean up after you, correct?” I’ll end my attempts to escape from reality here. I spent a part of my summer vacation at Anjelica’s home──the Redgrave household. The current head of the family, “Vince Rafua Redgrave,” was a dignified man with grey hair that was swept back. He had a tall and well-maintained body, and had a sharp glint in his eye.
Next to him stood Vince’s son and Anjelica’s older brother, “Gilbert Rafua
Redgrave.” He had blonde hair and blue eyes, but closely resembled Vince. He was in his early twenties. Both of them glared at me. I straightened myself and made a request. “I don’t have any means of contacting the royal palace on my own. I can’t do anything at this rate. I have prepared white gold coins.” The heap of white gold coins were what I had won from the bet. It was an unthinkable amount resulting from the borrowed money and personal expenses of foolish noble children. I piled them up and had presented them to Vince. Basically, I was taking out money and asking for them to protect me. Was it shameful? If I was able to buy my life with money, then I would do it! Gilbert was about to say something, but Vince held him back with his hand. “You’ve gathered up a lot for a baron who has suddenly risen. The handicraft of the royal court indeed costs money. There’s also the fact that you took on the role of being my daughter’s representative at the duel. We’ll look after you. However, it would be troubling if you ask for us to protect this and that. You’re not under guardianship of us, and you’re not a fellow member of our faction. You followed through with my daughter’s short temper, but to say it in other words, that also means you stuck your nose into our affairs.”
I normally shouldn’t have been involved. At least, I wanted to so that, but… In my mind, I made a triumphant pose. I used my status as a student to its maximum potential, and got this dire situation to go the way I wanted it to. My life starts from here on!
“Yes. I understand. I want to be sure that my livelihood is spared and that the household doesn’t befall under any liability.”
Vince put his hands together on top of a desk.
“…Your honor has already dropped to the floor. Now you’re going to cast away your position?” Even though it was nice beating up those five, going as far as to break their hearts was spoken ill of. The duel was far from honorable.
“I’ll relinquish my rank and title as a knight. I still haven’t received it yet, but I don’t have the qualifications to receive it now.” This matter, a high sum of money and rank, and the title of a knight. I held these and used them to ask for their benevolence.
It was cheap price when considering that I had dueled against the crown prince. I could also use this to escape from searching for a marriage partner. Gilbert asked me a question. “I want to ask one thing. What is your true aim? With that much power you have, it should be possible to overcome your situation and find success in life. It might even be possible for you to ascend up to a viscount household. I’m interested in what you’d toss that away for.”
I had gotten irritated, I wanted to beat up the capture target characters, and taking the opportunity, I wanted to escape from marriage-searching hell.
I had many reasons, but I spoke without saying any of them. “I couldn’t leave his highness alone after seeing him being deceived by that woman. It’s for the sake of the nation, I suppose. I just thought that someone had to do something.”
Vince made a laugh as if amused.
“If those are your true feelings, then you’re quite admirable. Though, I would be quite troubled if you said that it was to amuse yourself. The royal court and prestigious nobles are in a mad rush thanks to you. The Redgrave family has also officially dissolved the engagement between his Highness and Anjie. He is not suitable for my daughter. Don’t you think so?”
I felt like I was being tested.
I didn’t think he was looking for anything in particular. I was fine as long as my life was spared and I was freed from having to find a marriage partner as a noble.
I beat up those five to distract myself and perhaps to even no longer be a noble, escaping from marriage-searching hell. Aah, I was certainly reaching my desired result.
“I don’t have much to say about the relation between the two of us. I personally just want him to study at the academy from now on. I hope he becomes a fine king.”
“…I see. I may be changing the topic of conversation, but I have one request.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about my daughter. It seems that this matter took a large toll on her. As a parent, I can’t watch her be worn out and lacking of spirit. I wanted to have her rest in the moderate countryside, but with the circumstances of our household, that will be difficult to arrange since we’re a little busy.”
Perhaps it was about settling affairs with those under their guardianship or people from the same faction as them. As a duke household, they wouldn’t remain silent about Anjelica’s followers betraying her.
Day after day, the parents and siblings of students have been coming to apologize, and things have been very busy.
It was a very big problem when children and clansmen sent as followers betray the head daughter.
There were many people who came to apologize to Anjelica, and it seemed that she wanted to rest somewhere out of reach.
“Your household meets the requirements for something we’re looking for. Let her come with you when you depart to home. Several caretakers will be with her.”
“Um, uh…s, sure!”
He was entrusting his daughter to a man. What did it mean? I was thinking about it, but doing anything to the daughter of a duke household was unreasonable, so just having it in mind gave me the creeps. So I decided to treat it as if she was just going on a trip, and that I was in charge.
“Thank you. Now then, you may step back.”
“Excuse me.”
Once I left the room, I felt relieved. With this, my life at the academy will end, but I was feeling the best.
If I had any regrets, it would be that I couldn’t learn about tea with my mentor anymore. He got angry at me for being distasteful during the duel, but he offered me delicious tea to drink.
“I wonder if that’s really my only regret.”
Daniel and Raymond were also on my mind. I wonder how Rukul from the third year was doing? I was also regretful that I couldn’t try out all of the popular desserts in the school cafeteria.
…It kind of seemed like I was enjoying myself at the academy before I realized it.
◇
Leon left the office.
Gilbert looked at Vince.
“Father, what do you think?”
Vince laughed.
“It’s as you said. If he was a well-behaved child who only thought for himself, then he would have stayed silent while watching at that time. There aren’t many children like him, don’t you think?”
The two looked at the pile of white gold Leon had prepared.
“…He has prepared a hefty sum of money, hasn’t he.”
“He cast away his status and honor to criticize his Highness. He was quite resolved. Furthermore, he was able to earn the humor of the foster sibling. Normally, what he did would be the thing to be criticized. All things considered, the academy has many problems now like it did in the past. There are too many children who are oblivious to the ways of the world.”
The academy holds a somewhat special environment.
Since it was a place to educate the next generation of nobles, everyone was supposed to be treated equally on the surface. Such things were impossible, though.
This special environment was out of the public eye. With people fixated on the value of their clique, there were times where incidents occurred.
It was a miniature garden where ignorant people gathered. That was where the problem rose.
The current matter that happened was an issue that turned out to become a large fuss. Then, the students who returned to their households during summer vacation would come to know reality there.
Indeed, Anjelica’s followers would likely come to know the meaning of picking a fight with a duke household.
“Well, I do think there were plenty of other ways to do it, though.”
“Is that so? Wasn’t he just enjoying himself? I think Anjie was short-sighted to have proposed a duel, but he stepped up in a situation where everyone was her enemy and she couldn’t be saved…isn’t that a touching tale? He was like how a knight should be. Only on the outside, though.”
Gilbert asked what Vince’s real intentions were.
“What are you going to do?”
Vince grinned.
“He can be a benefactor of my daughter. He can cover for her. That’s what. It would be better off for you too if you had a reliable household, like a knight one. Don’t you think the Redgrave family will be peaceful after taking him in? After all, this matter has made it clear that there are several unreliable households out there.”
The two looked outside a window.
An airship spanning over seven hundred meters was floating. They felt that it was something they have never seen made before, but the two felt an impression that it was a lost item discovered in a dungeon.
The Holfault Kingdom valued adventurers.
Leon’s achievements were something men yearned for.
“There’s a large price to pay for the power to beat up the boys of prestigious families so easily. However, how far are you willing to take him in? Are you going to prepare staff from our household for your daughter, who’s reaching adulthood?
Vince placed his hand on his chin.
“That would be nice, but a somewhat poor move. If the sharp-eared and quick-witted lot get a hold of this, they would turn restless with desire. However, the first thing to do is to clean up this mess. I’ll go to the royal court. I entrust the territory to you.”
Vince got up, and earnestly set out for the handicraft of the royal court.
◇
I was on an airship that imitated Luxon’s exterior. Its name was “Partner.” Robots with hands were managing the airship on floating pillars in the air. It was in ruins when I obtained Luxon, but Luxon collected broken machines, repaired it, and kept it in check. It also worked as a defensive, legless guardian with its spherical armor. The wind felt nice as I went to the deck. Luxon, a spherical body, floated next to me.
[You’re not going to go where those two are?] The two he were referring to were Olivia and the heartbroken Anjelica, both of whom had followed me for the summer vacation.
The other people on-board where servants who were taking care of Anjelica.
“What are you talking about? You’re going to trouble me if you expect me to say something wise to them.” [Nobody expects anything from you.] “Do you hate me or something?” [I don’t hate you, but I don’t like you either.] …If it were not the fact that this thing was capable, I would have grabbed it’s sphere-like body and tossed it into the sky.
“…*sigh* Actually, I don’t know what to say to them. The engagement has officially been broken. To make matters worse, the discussions have failed, didn’t they?”
Anjelica talked with the prince, but in the end, things did not go well.
In accordance with the duel, the prince’s relationship as a lover with Marie has ceased.
They say that love dies away when there are obstacles, but the prince continued to love her even when their relationship had ended, and prays for her happiness.
He also said some strange things about protecting his chastity.
It seems he was concerned about having a pure body. Well, I didn’t really care about such things. Some schmuck’s chastity was inconsequential to me. Wait a minute, that actually wasn’t good.
Despite how he was, he was the crown prince. There would be trouble if there weren’t a heir to the throne for the country, and in the game, Julian was the only prince who appeared…this was a dangerous problem about the a new successor!
“I don’t want to get involved since even if I said something, it wouldn’t solve anything.”
[You’re such a hopeless case that it’s actually unprecedented.]
◇
They were on-board a ship.
Olivia and Anjelica sat down on a bed in a place that seemed to be a guest room. Olivia worried about Anjelica, who was thin from fatigue and anxiety. After the duel, her talk with Julian did not go well.
It was summer vacation, so Olivia accompanied Anjelica. Now she was listening to Anjelica’s story. “It’s a funny story. Not a single one of my feelings could reach him. It seems
I was quite the fool to lose to a woman so behind compared to me. I was utterly defeated by that girl.” Julian rejected Anjelica. Even after separating them, he said that he wouldn’t stop his love for Marie.
“You’re not in the wrong, Anjelica.” “I suppose. I was just overwhelmed by a woman who snatched away my fiance. Go ahead and laugh. I suppose you could say that I won the battle, but lost the war.”
She was able to win the duel thanks to Leon, but still Anjelica lost to Marie in terms of the result. “In the end, there was no point in it. I got you and Leon involved in my selfishness.”
Olivia cast her eyes downward. “That’s not true. I was only there to voice support…but in the end, it was
Leon who was out there doing his best. There was something Leon said. He intended to drop out from the beginning.” Anjelica shed tears. “I went to where his Highness was without saying any thanks. I should have properly thanked him at that time. I really am a terrible woman. I didn’t think he was that resolved…” Olivia tenderly rubbed the crying Anjelica’s back.
◇
──I heard the conversation of the two from outside their room.
[How heart-wrenching. I don’t know if I even have a heart, but do you not have any thoughts after hearing them?] Luxon’s words struck my chest. “…I feel bad for giving them the wrong idea.” I indeed went into the duel with the resolve to drop out of the academy, but the real reason was to get away from finding a marriage partner. I wished that they didn’t think so deeply about it. I also wondered whether it was good time to go on a rampage back then, but it was a stray thought…I didn’t ponder that hard about it. [What do you plan on doing now?] “Drop out and look after my father. I’ll also be independent and live peacefully on that island I found.” […Will it go smoothly?] “Well, I’ll try. I picked a fight with the crown prince. I would need to apologize with a lot of money for them to brush it off. I don’t think I would be killed. Huh? I won’t be killed, right? So why do I feel uneasy? Perhaps I should flee sooner?”
[No, there’s no point.] This was the world of an otome game. Now that all the noisy moments have ended, I felt a little lonely. Well, my plans have changed quite a bit, but it should be fine as long as I kept doing my best. I’ve worked hard.
That was why I’ve made it up to here. I’ll leave the rest to Olivia, Anjelica, and those five guys.
It was summer vacation.
Marie was told to stay in the academy, and then a messenger from the royal came to tell her about what was to be in the future. The messenger was a government official and spoke in an uninterested manner. The contents stunned Marie. “W, wait a minute. W, what do you mean by disinheritance?” Gathered were Julian, Marie, and the other capture target boys. Only the messenger was speaking calmly and in a professional manner. “It’s as you heard. His Highness Julian was disinherited. He is no longer his
Highness the crown prince. From today, he is just his Highness. It has also been decided that the other four will be disinherited by their households. His Highness the crown prince…no, his Highness has broken the engagement with Anjelica, but the women engaged to the other four sent letters too.”
Jilk, Brad, Chris, and Greg…the four of them received the letters from their fiancees with a slightly sad expression. They understood that the contents of the letter would be about their marriages being officially broken off.
Marie objected. “This is too much for losing a duel! This is too cruel!” Greg spoke to Marie in a slightly embarrassed manner. Everyone was oddly calm despite losing to Leon.
“This is fine. Marie, this is our resolve.”
“Huh?”
Chris began to speak about something they had hidden from Marie up until that point.
“We made a request to cancel our engagements a little while ago. Our households and fiancees asked us to reconsider, but it seems that they had second thoughts after this recent matter. We had decided to officially break off our engagements. However, this is good. With this, we can properly come to know each other.”
Marie was the only one that didn’t know, but everyone other than Julian was trying to keep it secret.
The result was disinheritance. They were no longer successors of their households.
Julian was the first in line to be the heir to the throne, but he was a prince that could no longer hope for it now that he had dropped considerably.
Even Jilk, who had been guaranteed a baron status after graduation, was now to be a knight. However, now he couldn’t be given an official position since he no longer had a territory he would manage.
The other three had similar situations.
With the recent event, the four couldn’t expect to be supported by their household.
Other than Julian, it seemed that they were judged solely on their utility value in inheriting a royal family. Royal families thought about making use of diplomatic marriages with those from other countries.
Julian hung his head.
“I cannot be by your side anymore, Marie. However, I will always pray for your happiness.”
Marie was attacked by a dizziness.
Marie’s misfortune was the real deal. Simply imitating the protagonist, Olivia, wouldn’t make her story come true. Her current situation was the result of her outward charm and her experience from her previous life. Greg laughed to give Julian a peace of mind. “Hey, you can leave your share of protecting Marie to me. Besides, it’s not fun to lose like this. As an active adventurer, I’ll get revenge on that damn Leon. Maybe I should go on an adventurer to search for armor that’s a lost item?”
Chris made a small smile. “Right. This may not be that bad.” Brad seemed to slightly amused. He had an expression that looked quite relieved.
“We’re just four barons in name only. Well, with the four of us, we’ll be able to manage somehow.” Jilk seemed a little sad. “Your Highness, I’m sorry. Things wouldn’t have turned out like this if I had stopped him.” Julian shook his head slightly. He had faint smile, but seemed gloomy. “You don’t need to apologize. As long as you guys protect Marie, then I’ll have a peace of mind wherever.” Kyle put his hands behind his head.
“Everyone has been thinking a lot about you. How nice it must be, master.”
While making a smile as if that’s what she was thinking, Marie had plunged into darkness. “E, err, right.” (Huh? Don’t fool around, aren’t you being idiots?! Why would you all throw away your position and fortune like that?! I mean, you’re all without an occupation in the end now, right? How do you plan on living?! As adventurers? I would absolutely hate living meagerly like that! N, now that it has come to this, I need to think of something.)
Marie, who shifted to thinking pragmatically, felt ruined when seeing the boys laughing. The government official began to depart now that all has been said and done.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.” While thinking that the amount of work she would have to do would be more than what the government official was doing, Marie felt that her ideal future was growing distant.
It was liking having four boyfriends who were going to be jobless in the future. It was too different from the result she desired. (Why did it turn out like this?! This is not the future I wanted!)
◇
The floating island I discovered was better maintained compared to when I had enrolled in the academy.
The robots were doing their best regardless of whether it was day or night, and were in the process of completing the territory.
I thought that sooner or later, I would be independent here, and while the disordered kingdom was in a panic, I would be peacefully watching, but──
“Why do they have to follow me?” When I came to see how the fields were doing as the robots were looking after them, Olivia and Anjelica followed me here as well.
Anjelica looked at the fields that had been lined up beautifully.
“Isn’t this nice? This is quite refreshing since opportunities like this are rare.
After all, baron territories everywhere seem to be hectic while in the middle of development. Even coming to look would be a hindrance.” My household was busy today due to my investment, and was in the midst of development all throughout. The waterways were being developed to improve the roads, and many various other ordeals were occurring. The harbor was also being expanded, and was getting crowded as airships were coming and going nonstop.
Olivia looked at the fields with a serious expression.
She crouched down to look at the soil and our surroundings.
“How amazing. I’ve never seen land this beautiful despite people not being here.” Anjelica tilted her head. “Is that so? I thought that it was beautiful because people weren’t here, though.” Olivia disagreed. “It’s the opposite. The land can’t be this thoroughly maintained without there being people. Did robots do this? How amazing.” I nodded. It was a pain to explain, so I just agreed with her while saying
“How amazing indeed.” Anjelica took a good look around. “Huh? Something smells strange.” It seems she was curious about the smell that was being carried by the wind. “Aah, that──” I guided the two towards where the scent was coming from.
◇
There was an outdoor bath prepared on the floating island.
Only the structure had been set in place, letting Anjelica and Olivia looked at the open scenery.
The water was a little hot, which made it feel a little different from the usual bath. There wasn’t anything different to the water, but it felt like it stuck to the skin.
Olivia washed Anjelica’s hair after she let it down.
“Anjelica, your hair’s quite pretty, isn’t it.”
“…It’s because his Highness said that he liked long, pretty hair. I plan on having it be a bit shorter soon. Grooming it is a bother.” Olivia rinsed off the bubbles with hot water. “All things considered, this is a nice place.” Anjelica looked at the scenery while praising the floating island Leon held.
The setting sun was in sight, but it felt luxurious to be in an open bath while watching the scenery.
Olivia felt the same way. “It seems that he discovered it before enrolling in the academy and it made into his own territory. He plans on being independent here in the future… sorry.”
“You’re fine. His struggles are because of me. I want him to be independent here. It’s irritating that my current self can only hope that things will work out, though.”
They didn’t know how Leon’s independence would result. Anjelica could only pray that her father would handle things well. “Even so, the number of adventurers who achieve a success this ideal are few. Anything more than this is in the realm of heroes and adventurers from legends. No, even if he doesn’t do anything else, he might even become a fabled adventurer.”
This time Anjelica washed Olivia’s hair.
“Is it that grand? I had a strong impression that adventurers were people who challenged dungeons…” “Right. Perhaps that’s the image commoners have since the initial earnings are immense for them. However, rather than earning through dungeons, nobles like to venture with airships. To discover new lands and challenge unknown dungeons. Sometimes lost items from historic ruins will appear. It seems that my father and older brother were mischievous back then and went on reckless adventures, so they hold Leon in high regards.”
Anjelica looked at Olivia’s chest. Her own was big, but now that she thought about it, she remembered that Marie’s were small. (Perhaps he disliked women with big chests? No, I should forget about this already.)
“Is it impressive that Leon discovered a new island with a small boat?” Anjelica chuckled. “Yeah, it’s impressive. With what he did, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had died with just one small misstep. That was the biggest achievement made in several decades.” The third son of a baron household had made a great success. That enough was immense.
“…I envy you.” “Huh?” Anjelica rinsed Olivia’s hair while speaking her true thoughts. “You’re his lover, right? You’re always together with him, so I thought that you two were getting married. I wanted to be like you two.” Olivia’s expression turned cloudy. “…The difference between Leon and me is too great, I’m not suitable for him.” Despite being in the advanced class, Olivia was a commoner. She couldn’t be a good match for Leon, who was a noble.
To Olivia, Leon was someone in an unreachable position. Anjelica then remembered that. “My bad. That’s right. You’re the honor student.” Thereupon, Olivia spoke. “I think…Leon likes you, Anjelica.” “Why do you think so?” Anjelica waited for Olivia’s response while washing off the bubbles. “After all, he went that far to defend you. I’m envious of that. My heart aches a little thinking about whether I’ll get my turn.”
“…Liking me? That’s impossible. I’m a terrible woman. Otherwise, his Highness wouldn’t have abandoned me.” The two soaked in the bathtub after washing themselves, then they gazed at the the beautiful sunset.
◇
The two had entered the hot spring. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity. “…This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!” My eyes were bloodshot from excitement. The white steam and nostalgic scent made my soul tremble. This floating island was my field. I was free to do what I wanted. “The long-awaited event has arrived!” Luxon floated near me and spoke.
[It was nothing other than a success. Is grilled fish okay for a side dish?] “Yeah, make it quick!” On top of a table was the white steam coming from freshly cooked rice. Since I had no miso yet, I made a soup with something that imitated it. Grilled and salted river fish. I’m sure that those two wouldn’t understand, but I’ve been looking forward to this the whole time… “I’m shedding tears.” [How nice. Feel free to worship me while chewing in delight.] “I’ll forgive you just this once. Now then, shall we dine?” When I tried eating it, the taste was similar but slightly different. However, it was still rice. After breaking the grilled fish into pieces with my chopsticks and placing it onto the rice, I wolfed it down.
“Ah~, this is bliss.” [You do indeed look happy. Oh? It seems that an unknown airship is approaching the harbor.]
While I was eating, Luxon detected an airship approaching my household.
Barcus was busy since the morning. “Luce, are you doing okay with the meal?” “Yeah, that’s fine, but…is, is someone really coming over? I don’t dislike it.
But, having the daughter of a prestigious household come over is a bit much.” The reason was that Leon had returned home in the morning.
Barcus, Leon’s father, was at his wits’ end.
“That idiot, to think that he picked a fight with his Highness the crown prince, and now he’s bringing home the daughter of a duke household this time. He needs to be more considerate of my own heart. If I die from shock, it’ll be his fault!”
Something like having the daughter of a duke household come over was unthinkable, so they have been in a great haste since the morning in order to prepare.
An attendant from the duke household appeared in the kitchen.
“Excuse me. Since the preparations for the room you’re lending us have been finished, the assistants here await for further instructions.” The assistant was wearing thick maid clothes. She was raised as a high class maid, without a doubt──and simply put, the assistants were from notable families that came to work for the duke household. They were knights working as retainers or those under their guardianship.
From Barcus’ viewpoint, they were not people he could treat rudely. “Well, we’re fine over here, so you can take a break. The preparations for the room will soon──”
“We’ve already finished that some time ago.” Barcus had been busy since morning. A disaster soon struck him again. He heard a high-pitched yell coming into the kitchen. “Hey, these people are servants, and yet they’re not even listening to my orders!”
Barcus covered his face with both of his hands.
After apologizing to the maid in the kitchen, he hurried towards the entrance, and there was Zola. Lutart and Merce were there too, and both Zola’s and Merce’s exclusive servants were standing by.
(Why are there so many visitors today?!)
Barcus saw Zola drawing closer to the maids from the duke household. He appeared in front of the maids, suppressing the urge to scream. “It’s been a while, Zola! What are you here today for?” Zola hit Barcus on the cheek with her folded fan. “What I’m here for, you say?! Do you even know what your incompetent son did?! The royal capital is in an uproar. How are you going to take responsibility for this?” The eldest son, Lutart, fiddled with his long hair while showing no interest. Merce wasn’t interested in Barcus either.
“N, no, that…” Barcus didn’t know how to respond. Recently, his daily life had become really hectic, and he couldn’t keep up with a lot of things.
To escape from reality, he thought about things like “Perhaps Nicks should hurry up and graduate so that he can help out~.” Thereupon, the maids gathered at the entrance, and stood in a line to greet their master. “Welcome, our fair lady.” Zola and the others turned around, and saw Anjelica.
Hiding behind her was Leon. (You should step forward!) He wanted to criticize his son, but he couldn’t interrupt, so he remained silent. “How noisy. What happened?” Seeing Anjelica squinting, there was a wrinkle in Zola’s brow. “And just where did you come from, little girl? Anyways, since that absolute moron is behind you, you’re probably not from any significant household, though. I have some business with that waste of space hiding behind you. Step back.”
When Leon was about to step forward unwillingly, Anjelica held him back with her hand.
She had a stern gaze when Leon was looked down on. “Aren’t you being quite arrogant? How about letting this little girl introduce herself?”
The corner of Zola’s mouth twitched.
“Wait, Zola. Let’s talk about this. Right, everyone come inside. C’mon. C’mon!” Barcus, stopping the conversation and forcing everyone inside, thought about how he wouldn’t forget this day in his entire life, and wept.
◇
“W, well, I see. I didn’t think that the Redgrave family’s daughter would come to a rural area like this.”
Zola, who made a complete reversal, was flustered and in a cold sweat.
While thinking in my mind about what an idiot she was, I listened to the conversation between Anjelica and Zola.
The two faced each other, and sat on sofas with a low table between them. “Much obliged. However, it’s quite strange to hear about a wife that’s constantly away from the residence. It’s also hard for me to understand why the eldest son doesn’t help out with work. What is the eldest son, Lutart, doing currently? I don’t see him being a soldier, so perhaps he’s doing civil service?”
Lutart was not here. Zola cast her eyes downward. “R, right now he’s studying for the future of the royal capital.” “I see.” Lutart was nineteen. Merce was twenty. Both of them weren’t married, and lived in the Baltfault household’s residence within the royal capital. Though it was called the Baultfault household…it was more like the Zola household. The residence in the royal capital where Zola and the others were living was prepared by my father.
It was nice being able to see Zola getting embarrassed, but just then, my father told me “Do something,” with his eyes. “L, leaving that aside, what business do you have here?” Zola behaved modestly and asked about what she was doing.
Anjelica made a tiny smile. “I’m just sightseeing. I went to a newly discovered floating island today. There was a hot spring, and it was a nice place.”
Zola made an expression of delight.
“If you’re happy, then I’m happy.” “Yes, so I’ll be in your care for a short while.” Zola froze after hearing that. “H, how many days are you planning to spend?” “I don’t really have a plan. I suppose it will be until my household comes to contact me. Be at ease, I will pay lodging expenses for having a baron household letting me stay here. Of course, it will go to the barons.” When hearing that, Zola said “By all means, make yourself comfortable,” but…she took her children back to the royal capital the next day.
To be honest, it delighted me to see Zola scurrying home. When I applauded Anjelica, she had a complicated expression. I shed tears when she said “It seems you had some hardships,” but my father and mother looked at me with a calm gaze while not understanding.
Couldn’t they have been a little bit kinder to me?
◇
The floating island was my territory.
“You don’t need to go out of your way to use the hot spring, my house has a bath.” I went to go see the two, who had taken a liking to the hot spring. They went there on an almost daily basis. Anjelica smiled. “Isn’t it fine? This is a place that people rarely come to. Besides, it feels a little pleasant on the skin.” Of course. This was the world of an otome game where women dominated men. Turning that around, if one was able to earn the favor of women, they would be able to find success. And the one who gave beauty effects to the hot spring was…Luxon!
Luxon really was useful. “The beauty effects are quite outstanding, aren’t they. Alright, I’m going to make easy money off of this in the future.”
“You really do like to think in terms of money.” As I made that decision, Olivia touched her warm cheeks. “My skin became smooth. Furthermore, the milk we drank after getting out of the bath was delicious.” “How nice.” They seemed to have enjoyed it. Well, thinking about it the other way, it meant that my territory might only be seen for its hot spring. Since there were no tourist attractions at my parents’ household, the two would probably be bored there.
Anjelica looked at Olivia and got close to her. She touched her bare skin. “Your skin is quite nice. I’m jealous, Olivia.” Olivia seemed to be having fun, and allowed her to do as she pleased. “Aren’t you quite pretty yourself, Anjelica? I’m jealous of your beautiful hair.” Seeing the two having a pleasant chat while being lightly dressed from having just gotten out of the bath was…a scene that I was thankful of being able to see. I’ll store this spectacle I was seeing today into my memory. I’ll store this within the hard drive in my head. When I looked at the two, Olivia looked at me. I was glad that I didn’t reveal any sign of tension. At times like these, I made a poker face. I was a gentleman, after all.
“What’s wrong, Olivia?” “Um…it’s ‘Livia.'” “Huh?” Olivia told me to call her by a nickname. “Call me Livia.” She said so while looking at Anjelica and me. It made me feel a bit uneasy. “I, is that bad? Back at home, everyone called me Livia, so I wasn’t sure about being called Olivia…”
Aah, I see. She wasn’t used to being called that, and it felt like she was being treated as a stranger. Anjelica smiled. “In that case, call me ‘Anjie.’ People who know me well call me that.” Anjelica allowed us to use her nickname. “Um, is that okay?” While I was surprised, she nodded as if it was natural. “I’ve caused you trouble, and on top of that, I’m indebted to you. If you don’t want to do it, you can call me like before. Well, I suppose you wouldn’t want to get acquainted with such an unpleasant woman like me, though.” It seemed like Anjelica, who was being self-deprecating, was putting on a brave front after the uproar of the duel.
Olivia──Livia made a slightly angry face.
“You can’t say that about yourself. Anjelica──Anjie, you’re a wonderful lady.”
“You’re saying nice things to me …His Highness didn’t look this way, though.”
She felt down after being so forcefully rejected by the one she liked. Actually, her being able to to act that tough was quite praiseworthy.
All things considered, it was quite curious that the villainess was surprisingly decent. Thinking about it, the reason why the protagonist was bullied in the game was because she approached her fiance…Well, anybody would get angry at that.
Perhaps it was also because they didn’t like a commoner being in the academy, and there might have been some other reasons, but I didn’t really remember.
Perhaps it was because she didn’t have any sub-race lovers accompanying her, or that she didn’t own any high-class items?
The villainess had no lovers, was earnest, and was a rich beauty…Was Julian really okay with abandoning her and picking Marie?
“Anjie, you shouldn’t criticize yourself so──”
“…I’m the worst. His Highness said that he was happy, and yet when I think about him, I can’t forgive him. When I wonder just where I went wrong, I can’t help but hate Marie. I’ve thought many times over about getting revenge. Even though I’m supposed to love his Highness, I sometimes find myself hating him. Now I don’t know if I really do love him. It would be natural for him to cast away a woman like me. I would hate someone like me as well.”
Livia was worried, but I went to work.
“I think you’re fine, though.”
“Huh?”
“Well, when thinking about what they did, I think I’d only forgive them if I got to knock their lights out.” The people in the academy were getting roused and arbitrarily blamed Anjie, but when thinking about it, the real fiend here was Marie. It was definitely not a good thing that she deceived men who already had fiancees.
No matter how much this world favored women, that wasn’t allowed. “You want revenge? Great! Let’s go full-out!” As I supported her, Livia criticized me. “What are you saying, Leon?!” Anjie was slightly surprised. “It’s okay to…take revenge?” “Let’s do it!” “You can’t! Leon, don’t tempt Anjie!” I asked Livia a question. “It’s not right to just sit here and do nothing about it though, right?” “Y, you’re right, but…” In reality, it was over for someone when they made fun of the noble community. I wasn’t sure if it could be called revenge, but at any rate, the duke household was going to begin work on numerous things now. They would think about dealing punishments, but that matter was different from this. This was a matter of Anjie’s feelings.
“I know the best method of revenge.” Anjie gritted her teeth.
“R, really?” “Anjie, don’t be swayed by him!” Livia told us that revenge was bad, but I told her to calm down and then explained. “In this world, the best way to get revenge is to make yourself happy.” “…That’s revenge?” Anjie looked at me with a doubting gaze, so I unveiled the smattering knowledge of my previous life. This was what my knowledge culminated to. “In the first place, it takes a tremendous amount of effort to make the other party unhappy. Even if you take revenge on them, you’ll have nothing left yourself, resulting in mutual destruction. Rather than having all that effort be for naught, you’re better off using it to seek your own happiness.” Livia tilted her head. “Um, and that becomes revenge?” “In society, there’s this thing called karma. Julian and the others will likewise receive punishment, and they’ll have to face reality even if they don’t want to.” Making enemies of a duke household didn’t mean that their backers would sit still and do the same.
Anjie pondered about it. She still doubted it. “…It’ll be revenge if I become happy?” I nodded. It was healthier than running around trying to seek revenge. Or rather, since things would get serious for Anjie if she tried to get revenge, I wanted her to let it go so that I wouldn’t get rolled up into it.
“Make no mistake. Once they understand reality and are at their worst, flaunt your happiness. It’s a struggle until Julian will look at you and will regret abandoning you! It’s a more refreshing sight for a bitter heart compared to inflicting pain and torture! Just imagine Julian in anguish, begging to be back with you!”
Perhaps imagining it, Anjelica seemed eager. “R, right. I’ll make a display of how happy I am!” Livia, perhaps in agreement, supported Anjelica. “Right! If that’s what revenge is, then I support you. Anjie, let’s do our best to seek revenge!”
“Yeah, we’ll surely get revenge! Against Marie, his Highness, and the other four!” Seeing these two smiling while taking about revenge made me ponder. The refreshing scene of two beauties smiling together…didn’t really suit with what they were saying. If I were to speak honestly…the scene of the protagonist and villainess holding hands while smiling and swearing revenge was frightening. Could this be the birth of the strongest team? I felt just a little bit of sympathy for Marie and the others. …I was the one that started this, though.
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