Volume 1 Chapter 10 part2
Although both arms of Julian’s white armor had broke, he still struck Leon’s armor.
A sense of desperation could be felt from that image.
Anjelica clutched the handrail while looking at him going against Leon, who held an overwhelmingly strong power, and wept.
“It seems….you’re being serious, your Highness. It seems you really like that girl.”
Anjelica wiped her tears and accepted that her feelings didn’t reach him.
(I see. I have to step down. If that’s what his Highness wants me to do…then I’ll resign.)
Her line of sight focused towards the other side of the circular audience seating.
She glared at the face of Marie, who held a gloomy expression.
(However, I will not approve of you. You are not someone who can stand next to his Highness. You’re only a hinderance to him. That’s the only thing I won’t allow.)
Even after resigning, she would still try to pull Marie and Julian apart. She thought about it being for Julian’s sake.
That woman had four other men near her as lovers──and someone like her should not take the position of the queen.
The woman managed to ensnare five people in a short time.
It was possible that she would further increase the number of men she had.
If Marie became the queen, it was obvious that the seeds of conflict would take a sudden increase.
Furthermore, the royal palace wouldn’t stay silent about it either.
Anjelica glared at Marie, who became pale and dismayed from seeing Julian getting worn out.
(No matter what happens to me, I will drag you down with me. I absolutely will not let you do as you please with his Highness.)
It was heartbreaking to tear apart Julian’s relationship with a girl he claimed to love, but it was something Anjelica planned on carrying out no matter what.
Thereupon──
“T, that can’t be right!”
──Olivia cried out.
“Perhaps you love Marie, your Highness the crown prince. But, but! Anjelica loves you! After all, she has been watching this fight while looking pained the entire time! It may have been hard for her, but she kept watching with a sad expression while not looking away! You can’t say that isn’t love!”
Anjelica spoke to Olivia in a hurry.
“H, hey, stop.”
She grabbed Olivia’s shoulder and tried to have her back down from her agitation, but Olivia didn’t stop.
Her voice was well-heard, and her yelling attracted the attention of others.
The audience in the arena, both students and teachers, gathered their gaze towards her.
“Why are you in denial?! Are you saying that it’s not love unless the feelings are mutual?”
“That’s enough, stop. Olivia, stop already!”
“No, please let me say this. Anjelica, your feelings are love. The one receiving the love is free to either take them in or not. However, don’t just deny it altogether!”
Olivia’s words also reached Marie.
◇
…Anger.
That was Marie’s honest feeling.
(This is why I hate good girls. Her head is full of flowers, isn’t it? Love is annoying when the feelings are one-sided! It’s very annoying. Hearing her speech is making me irritated.)
Marie disagreed.
However, when Olivia won over the people around her with her clear voice, Marie revealed a frustrated face.
──She felt like her true self was being exposed.
She became largely aware of the fact that she was being a sham.
She snatched away the position that belonged to another girl originally.
The one who originally had rich and influential boys leaning towards her was Olivia. Even though her position was snatched away, she still shined.
(What’s with her supporting a somewhat strong mob? I have everyone. That’s definitely better than being with a comical mob who just happens to be strong.)
Olivia looked straight at Marie.
Her stare was frightening.
She took just a step back, feeling as if her deceit had been seen through.
Marie felt as if Olivia was saying that she would take back her position that had been coated in lies.
──Something occurred at that moment.
“──Is that all you want to say, girl?”
Julian squeezed out a voice.
Julian replied to Olivia in a muffled voice coming from the inside of his armor. His tone was filled with fury.
“一Is it love if it’s forced onto me one-sidedly? Is it love if the girl only sees me as the crown prince? I…I’ve found a woman who will look at me for who I am. She understands me. This is love. This is what love is! Anjelica, have you ever tried understanding me? You’ve been forcing your feelings onto me. That isn’t love. Don’t get involved with me ever again!”
Marie regained herself after hearing Julian.
(R, right. I’m not in the wrong. She’s the one that’s wrong. What’s up with the protagonist standing with the villainess? If this were the game, wouldn’t they be going against each other? Just go and fight with each other!)
Julian still planned on fighting.
“So, let’s continue. This duel won’t end until one of us dies. I’ve resolved myself. How about you?!”
The grey armor simply stood while shouldering a shovel.
(Julian is the crown prince. If it were a noble, they would be able to read the situation. How would you feel about killing the prince of your own country? You’d realize that you need to lose, right?)
Thereupon, Leon…started tormenting Julian even more than before.
“You’ve resolved yourself, you say? You mean that you hadn’t been prepared in this fight? Are you saying that you’ve resolved yourself on your loss? Are you looking down on me? Actually…that’s the way duels went in the first place. We don’t take the lives of others simply due to an unspoken rule within the academy, but if we got serious, things would soon be over. Didn’t you notice? I’d be fine even if I had to deal with all five of you at once. Your fun ends here. I was being cautious since you guys were so confident of your strength, but you’re all weaker than I thought. Give me a break. When it’s like this…it seems like I’m the one who’s bullying the weak.”
In addition to criticizing him, he also made a complete fool out of Julian and the others.
Marie thought for a bit.
(W, who is this guy? He’s a completely terrible, naggy person who complains about others, like my older brother!)
“Could it be that you didn’t prepare yourself before, but now that you’re losing you are? I know that you’re being stubborn, trying to win by using your life as a shield. However, it’s quite apparent that you’re faintly hoping for me to back down when you said that. I suppose that I’d have to accept defeat when realizing that I can’t kill you, the crown prince, right? How nice. You’re his Highness the crown prince, so you use that to win battles. I will commend your stubbornness in using your status to the maximum degree while still claiming that you didn’t want to born into royalty!”
Everything in the stadium had a thought in their heads.
─This guy is the worst.
Though he was harshly torturing him, there was no fault to his argument. In fact, Julian didn’t talk back, nor did he move. There was the faint hope that Leon’s heart would waver at least somewhat.
However, Leon hadn’t budged one bit.
“Look, tell us that you lost. Beg me to let you win because you don’t want to be separated from your cherished Marie. Tell me that you didn’t expect to lose, and that you beg for forgiveness. No wait, you can even make it an order as the crown prince!”
Julian refused.
“T, that’s not possible! This is a sacred duel. It is courtesy for both of us to fight!”
“Huh? Are you saying that I should do what you want and admit defeat? Your Highness Julian, how harsh of you~. No matter how you look at it, wouldn’t admitting defeat here be an insult to this sacred duel~? We can’t just turn back after coming this far. Or perhaps you’re going to make a perfect speech that will move me deeply? Well, I don’t think my heart will waver, though. Despite there being five of you, hearing you makes me want to tilt my head and treat it as a joke. My heart has not moved a single millimeter. On the other hand, I am impressed by how often you can make lame speeches!”
The mood in the arena worsened.
The crown prince’s displeasure grew as Leon agitated him. The cries of “Your Highness the crown prince, finish off that guy!” gradually grew louder from the girls in the audience.
(This guy is revolting. It seems the worst kinds of men are everywhere.)
Many girls and boys were booing Leon.
◇
I breathed a small sigh inside Arroganz.
Luxon talked to me like I was the worst person.
[You had a lot to say, didn’t you. Are you feeling the greatest right now?]
“I do think I said too much. However, I’d be bothered if those five didn’t realize their own situation at least a little bit. These guys will be the center of the country in the future.”
Right, I would be bothered if these five remained the same as they were right now. At least, I’d be bothered if they didn’t realize their position of being at the top of the top.
Furthermore, it would be bad if they didn’t calm down at least a little…and if Marie keeps deceiving the five.
[Were you trying to force yourself as a villain? Was it fun?]
“…To be honest, it was really fun. Well, I don’t think I’ll do it again, though.”
With me as the villain in the arena, the voices supporting the prince were strong.
…That was fine.
Julian approached me while the people around booed me.
He tried to strike me, so I caught the blow.
“…Your Highness Julian, I will not back down.”
“Let go. Let goooo! You beast of a fiend who doesn’t even know the way of the knights! Even if I can’t win against you, I don’t plan to stop fighting this──”
Arroganz pinned down the rampaging white armor.
It was really good that there was this much of a difference in ability.
“Shall we have a serious discussion? Do you really think that you’ll find happiness this way?”
“W, what is it you want to say?!”
He claimed that both his love for a woman who had other boys with her, and him insulting his fiancee was genuine love. I shed a tear when thinking about how this guy was going to be the king in the future.
The people around still thought of him as a student, so they didn’t really realize this. No wait, perhaps the ones that did realize didn’t want to think about it too deeply.
It was obvious that in the future, something would trigger with Marie being in the center of it.
If a girl who was surrounded by five boys had a child, whose child would that be? It would certainly raise some doubts, and such doubts would definitely become a central topic amongst them.
If that happened, what would this guy do?
Would he come to his senses and find a woman to make a heir to the throne with?
Well, there’s a long ways to go before that.
Even though he’s the crown prince, having backers is necessary in this world. Powerful ministers and leaders──the feudal lord nobles.
The government wouldn’t run smoothly with a king that people don’t accept.
Factions or things of a similar nature can be serious for a king.
Furthermore, after doing some investigation, it turned out that the largest backers of the crown prince were the Redgrave duke family. Anjelica’s household.
They unified factions and had them support the prince.
This guy was willingly making an enemy of his biggest supporter.
In the game, this was where the saint came in, but the problem was that Marie wasn’t a saint. She was only a reincarnated person who was doing well.
In other words…a mob just like me.
She was going to mess up at some point. No wait, she was partially on the way towards that already.
I felt like I was going to have to clean up after Marie’s mess.