Volume 2 prologue part1
Prologue
Was holding a friendship with girls just a pipe dream?
Put simply, I, “Leon Fou Baltfault,” was someone who reincarnated into the world of an otome game.
The world I reincarnated into was one from a game I played just before my death.
The reason why I’m stressing this is because this world was unreasonable for guys.
After all, it was an otome game.
It was as if the world was kind towards women, and that men existed to serve them.
I would have preferred reincarnating into a world that was more lenient on guys, a fantasy world with swords and magic.
Even though I reincarnated, I didn’t receive any special role in particular.
I was one of the many others out there, a mob.
With my black hair and black irises, I was neither a beauty nor anyone who stood out.
I liked to think of myself as a high school student whose compassion was still in the process of developing.
Well, despite having said that I was a high school student, there was no such thing as a high school in this world.
However, in this fantasy world, there was a place for education called the academy.
That otome game modeled it after Japan’s high schools, and due to that, there were many game events that took place during the second term.
The school festival was one of them.
“Ah, let’s move these two desks a little more to the right.”
There were three of us working in an empty classroom, my friends “Daniel Fou Darland”, “Raymond Fou Arkin”, and me.
We brought in tables and chairs to prepare for the school festival.
After finding a trader, we had enough equipment to do some serious remodeling to the empty classroom and turn it into a coffee shop.
It was at a level different from the makeshift coffee shops by students at school festivals, and was what I thought of as a spectacle for the nobles that attend the academy.
It wasn’t that I disliked the cheap feeling those makeshift ones evoked, but making something like that would be frowned upon in the academy.
For better or for worse, this was an academy that rich and influential nobles attended.
In society, one needed to perform in accordance to what the circumstances demanded.
There was nothing I could do, there really was nothing I could do, so I spent money to prepare a cafe.
Being particular about the interior design, I prepared a tea set, tea leaves, and numerous sweets to complete it.
“Hey, Daniel! That tea set is expensive, so be careful with it!”
Hearing that he was holding an expensive tea set, Daniel trembled and complained to me.
“Don’t bring such an expensive tea set to the school! It’s only going to make my hands shaky from the anxiety.”
Raymond put on his glasses and observed the inside of the classroom.
“Didn’t you spend too much? I don’t think many students would go this far. We’re going to be in the red.”
I shook my head as if I didn’t understand what the two were talking about.
The two got irritated by my attitude.
“In the red? So what? I’m rich now. I was able to squeeze out so much from the idiotic students in this academy, after all. I have to spend it somehow, don’t I?”
Raymond was shocked.
“I suppose that bad nature of yours is to be expected, isn’t it Leon? It’s just that almost every student in the academy is your enemy.”
Daniel warned me by saying that.
“You’d better realize that they bear a grudge against you. The ones who thought you were going to lose in that duel with his Highness Julian suffered a heavy loss, after all.”
Sadly, it was as Raymond had said.
I was the most hated person in the academy.
What was the reason for that? I beat up the former crown prince, “Julian Rafua Holfault,” and the other capture targets of that otome game in a duel.
They irritated me, so I knocked the living daylights out of them.
In addition, the battle was the focus of a bet amongst the students.
I was confident that I would win, so I made a bet on myself with a large sum of money.
The two here also placed bets on me, and were able to earn pocket money.
However, the majority were idiots that thought Julian and the others would win, some going as far as to bet with borrowed money. There were also fools who bet everything they owned.
Those fools bore a grudge against me once I won against Julian and the others.
──I didn’t even do anything bad, how sad.
Normally, it would have been an act that could get me killed in the worst case scenario. However, I used my money and connections to get through the situation, and the result left me in confusion. I was praised and was told that I got a promotion.
What a strange world.
I was just a student, but also a baron and a knight officially above the sixth rank in the royal court’s ranking.
It was not a situation where I, who didn’t want a promotion, could be happy.
“No need for praise.”
Daniel dropped his shoulders.
“We weren’t praising you.”
My friends were talking to me about such things, and then two girls entered the empty classroom.
There was “Olivia,” also known as Livia, wearing a thick maid dress that she normally wouldn’t wear. It had a moderately long skirt that she held onto and slightly raised as she walked.
She had beige colored hair and something close to a bob cut.
She had impressive gentle, blue eyes, but above all, she emitted this affectionate aura that could alleviate people.
The design of the outfit tightened around the waist and hips, largely emphasizing the chest area, and was quite magnificent.
“Is it weird?”
Livia showing her dress to us while seeming uneasy stirred up a desire to protect her.
It seemed she was unaware of how devilish she was by presenting it in that manner, but even so, I thought it was fine to fall under her hands.
Perhaps this was the power of the “protagonist” in that otome game.
──Wasn’t it lovely?
“It suits you. I don’t see a problem with the size, either.”
Daniel’s and Raymond’s cheeks turned red when seeing Livia like that.
When I felt like telling them not to look at her like that, Anjie came forward in a dignified manner from behind Livia.
Her hands were behind her back as she showed herself.
“It emphasizes the chest too much, is this okay? Perhaps something more low-key would be better?”
“Anjelica Rafua Redgrave,” also known as Anjie, wore a maid outfit.
Anjelica was a woman from a duke household, and it was unexpected for her to wear something like a maid dress.
However, it seemed that a lot of rough things were going on for the daughter of an esteemed household as well.
“It seems you’re getting used to the attire, Anjie.”
While Livia looked amazed, Anjie explained why with a smile.
“It’s because I had worn a maid dress before.”
“You did?”
“I spent two years in the royal palace having to learn manners through apprenticeship.”
It seemed that the daughters of esteemed households had it tough as well.
She had a strong-willed look and a sharp glint in her eyes.
Her red irises gave off a sense of power, contrasting with Livia’s gentle looks.
The two really were on opposite ends of the spectrum──after all, she was originally a rival in that otome game. No, not really a rival, actually.
She was the foe.
If Livia had the role of the protagonist, then Anjie was the “villainess.”
They originally were supposed to compete against each other for a man.
Rather than a rivalry, perhaps it was more accurate to say their relationship was that of enemies.
Livia was a commoner, and her being able to enroll in an academy for nobles was extraordinary.
As opposed to that, Anjie was a so-called top-class woman from a duke household.
The two were originally supposed to be enemies, but now they’re close friends thanks to “certain someone.”
──I wasn’t referring to myself.
The one who caused it was another person who reincarnated.
“Anjie, you’re from an esteemed household, right? Why did you have to do that, then?”
“There are a lot of things that daughters from noble families have to do. My position in particular requires many things from me. Leaving that aside, doesn’t that outfit suit you too, Livia? The impression of innocence that it gives off is quite nice.”
Anjie embraced Livia.
“I like this uniform a bit too.”
Livia, slightly bashful from being hugged, looked delighted.
As I was watching the two of them,
“What a precious sight this is.”
I muttered my thoughts out loud.
Like a douse of cool water, that scene alleviated my heart, which had grown hectic from marriage-searching hell.
Raymond also had the same view as me, as his glasses glittered.
“How nice.”
Daniel nodded.
“Quite nice. Are these two really girls from this academy? Are we not dreaming?”
It was understandable that Daniel couldn’t believe it.
The girls in the academy, especially the girls in the advanced class, were cruel. No joke, they were really cruel.
Leaving that aside, those two were also helping me out in the coffee shop.
While the academy was modeled after the high schools in Japan, the classes were closer to the level of a university.
Due to that, it wasn’t possible to have tasks divided by class, so they were instead divided by groups of people.
While the five of us were working on a cafe, others were also working in groups to carry out an exhibit.
Anjie looked at us.
“Leon, are you guys not going to wear uniforms?”
“We will, but those folks out there were acting the same as ever. They kept hoping that I would get cheap outfits instead.”
Livia seemed apologetic once I answered.
“Did we blow our budget on these outfits? Hmm, I suppose we didn’t have to buy outfits this expensive.”
Daniel laughed at Livia’s innocence.
“No, there would be no meaning to it if the outfits were plain. I mean, this guy here has loads of money to spend.”
Raymond also agreed.
This is his hobby. It’s something that he likes to overspend on. With this, the other groups doing a cafe would look poor in comparison. Quite the overkill.”
Even Anjie looked at me in amazement.
“You’re crazy about tea, Leon. There are a lot of boys like that, but you’re the craziest amongst them.”
I was not crazy about tea.
I was simply charmed by mentor’s mannerisms in tea.
My mentor was a teacher in the academy and a perfect gentleman that taught the boys manners. I wanted to be a gentleman like him one day.
“I still have a long ways to go.”
“Except that this isn’t a matter of cultivating skill, but a matter of how much money and time you’re willing to sink into tea.”
Anjie was cold.
“Before this too, you left both of us behind and went to go buy tea leaves with that teacher.”
Daniel and Raymond both made an expression as if they wanted to say “You must be kidding.”
“You, don’t neglect your obligations towards those two.”
“I’m so envious that I feel like attacking you during your sleep.”
No, in the first place, I went to buy the tea leaves that day for their sake.
Leaving that aside, unfortunately, I couldn’t make any romantic relationships with the either Livia or Anjelica.
Livia felt slightly down.
“The three of us had tea on that day. The tea was good, but the sweets were so delicious that I’ve recently been──”
Anjie embraced Livia.
“I’ll like you even if you get plump, Livia. It’d be fine for you to gain a bit more.”
Livia had teary eyes.
“I want a good figure, like the one you have, Anjie.”
“It delights me to hear you say that. However, don’t you have some nice legs yourself, Livia?”
“Y, you think so?”
As the two were chatting with each other, Daniel and Raymond sent a gaze filled with envy towards me.
Well, they shouldn’t have.
After all, those two were the only ones I couldn’t go out with.
──It truly was something that was out of my control.
The social status of those two were too different from mine.