Otoburi

First Year First Semester – Chapter 23

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First Year First Semester – Q of Hearts – Mansion (Part 7)

Note: Please don’t read it in the little pop-up for the reader. For some reason it doesn’t reflect my later edits (which I often make a lot of after publishing), so please click ‘view original’.

“Huhu, I’m glad, Camille. You and Achille like each other, right?”

I get the feeling that information gets leaked to Royce-sama, each and every time. How mysterious.
Did Achille tell him about it?
No matter how good it is, even Royce-sama would find it impossible to actually peep on what happened inside the carriage.

Having returned to the castle, right now I’m having tea with Royce-sama who’s finished dealing with the post-processing of the incident. Achille was apparently busy with work or something, so he isn’t here.
The tea I have in Royce-sama’s room is very delicious, and each time it feels like I’ve gained a little something for free. Today’s black tea is exquisite as well.

“I’m glad… you say? You are, Royce-sama?”

“Of course. The two of you are my important friends, after all… That you two are openly in love with each other feels like a load off my back, you know.”

“…Was there some sort of burden that you had in regards to this, Royce-sama?”

“There was, you know. You were having trouble graduating from me, after all. I got watched pretty badly by Achille…”

Achille? He did that sort of thing?

“G-, Graduate, you say…?”

Speaking of which, at the count’s hideout he said the same thing as well, but… Just what does he mean?

“I said it earlier, right? That you overlapped me with somebody else, and adored them through me. For a long time now, I’ve always been wondering about it, but am I really that similar to that person…?”

“Something like overlapping somebody similar to you, I wouldn’t do…”

Having thought that far, it suddenly hit me. Could it be…

Just one person, comes to mind.
He’s incredibly similar him… But, I’m certain that he’s different to the one that’s before my eyes in real life.

“It couldn’t be…”

Is the person that Royce-sama talked about, the in-game him?

I unconsciously, unwittingly, overlapped and compared Royce-sama with the in-game him…?
While I was aware that this world was real, I looked for points that were similar with the game’s characters, and without realising it myself, compared them.

What I’ve been holding onto for these ten years, were love for the game’s Royce… No, a yearning for him. I sended up stacking those feelings onto the real him.
And Royce-sama who’s good at reading other’s feelings, has probably always noticed this.

“Royce-sama… I,”

What a rude attitude I’ve taken towards him for almost ten years. Instead of the real person, I’ve been yearning for a fake existence of my own convenience.

“Camille, did you like that person?”

“…No, rather than love, it was just yearning, I think. I understood that being with them was impossible, after all.”

I mean, it was a game character. And someone completely different from the current Royce-sama.

“I see…”

Royce-sama gazed at me.

“I’m sorry. It must have been uncomfortable, right? To have an imaginary person like that overlapped onto you for so long…”

I’d definitely hate it. To be seen through the filter of the in-game Camille.

However, inexpectedly, Royce-sama shook his head.

“That’s not true. The fact that you’ve always been by me, and protected me, is because of that imaginary guy after all.”

“Royce-sama… You’re too kind.”

What a magnanimous prince.
Accepting even me, who was holding onto selfish delusions, and always keeping me as a friend.

“From now on as well, I intend to protect you, Royce-sama. Because you’re my friend, and an older brotherly, or perhaps younger brotherly… important person to me.”

Royce-sama softly smiled. Even now, after he’s grown up, that smile is still the same as always.

“Me too. You’re my important friend, and though older sister is impossible… I think of you like a little sister, you know.”

He just declared that ‘older sister’ was impossible for meee!

※

After my chat with Royce-sama, I turned up to work for the first time in a while and was discovered by Achille, and he speedily walked towards me. Has he already finished work or something?
He stopped in front of my eyes, and with a grave expression, placed his hands on my two shoulders.

Since that incident in the carriage, I feel that the sense of distance between us has shrunk again.
It seems that Achille is completely in boyfriend mode. He’s been treating me even more protectively than before… I can’t get used to being treated like this, and it’s embarassing.

“Achille, what’s wrong? You’re making such a serious expression.”

“Who’s the person that you yearn for?”

“Yearn for? Ah-, could it be…!”

Achille… Didn’t you hear about this too quickly?
Even though I only just told Royce-sama, what a formidable guy.

Maybe Royce-sama and Achille don’t hide anything from each other. The friendship between men is a mystery.
But still, Royce-sama, you’re too loose-lipped… Even though you’re a prince.

I’d decided that I would also tell Achille the truth.
I-, It’s not perfect, but we are lovers, so I’d like to avoid weird misunderstandings.

“…I’ve said this to Royce-sama too, but it’s not a person that exists in reality, you know.”

Ah, he’s giving me a weird look. I might look like a cringeworthy woman right now.

“What kind of person are they?”

“Mnnnn, an ideal prince. He’s a little bit like Royce-sama, but… As expected, I’ve understood that they aren’t the same.”

“Hmmn… I wonder if it’s like the princes on white steeds that Déborah and Désirée have spoken to me about. Girls seem to like those types of stories, don’t they?”

“R-, rightright! He’s like that! An existence you yearn for!”

It’s a little different, but the point about being a prince that you yearn for is the same, so I’ll just go with this. If I don’t, it seems like things will get complicated.

Achille didn’t look like he was accepting it, but it looks like he’ll spare me more questioning, which saved me.

“Then, you really do like me back, right?”

“Mmn…”

When he asks me face to face, I get shy no matter what, and end up being stiff.

“Other people that you long for…”

“D-, Didn’t I say that there aren’t any!?”

No good, I was panicked and accidentally let out a bit of a loud voice. So embarassing.

“Really? You won’t cheat on me?”

“I said that I won’t, geez!”

To begin with, since it was the imaginary Royce-sama from the game, it’d be impossible to cheat anyway.
Achille… Surprisingly, I’m sort of seeing elements of a possessive boyfriend just under the surface, you know.

“You should know it too, right? I don’t have someone like th-… Ah-!?”

When I glared at Achille and was trying to refute him, I saw from over his shoulders a pair of blue eyes, sneakily watching us from a corner of the hallway.
It seems that Achille noticed the presence behind him as well, and turned around.

“Wh-… Royce-sama, what are you doing spying from the shadows!? Do you have business in the Magic Building?”

Even though he should have been resting in his room until just a moment ago. Honestly, he’s a prince you can’t let your guard down around.

“No, I was just watching over you two. I want to use you guys as a reference later, okay?”

I’m hugely questioning what exactly he plans on using this as a reference for.

“Not, ‘okay?’! Even though you’re a prince, aren’t your information gathering skills getting too good? Why was there no hint of your presence!?”

Achille tsukkomi’d Royce-sama. But, I also don’t think that Royce-sama’s presence erasing abilities are ordinary.
…But still, we sure showed him something embarassing, huhh.

Looking at the three of us together like this, I start to think that we’ve grown quite a lot since that time.
Each of us, in different directions.
The first time we met, we chatted in this Magic Building as well, huhh… Our personalities were completely different though.

Now, Achille is using his genius intellect in his job, and is going fullspeed down the path to becoming an elite.
The competence that he had when he was Royce-sama’s right hand man in the game was plenty as well, I think. The calculating side of him that was laid bare when he was a child has also calmed down, but he’s good at hiding what he doesn’t want to show, so I have no idea what he’s actually thinking though.
Royce-sama was originally a prince whose kindness was his only merit, but lately, perhaps due to Achille’s influence, occasionally he shows a highly calculating side of him.
Also, he erases his presence and moves about stealthily like a ninja, so it seems that he’s making various secret manoeuvres in places I don’t know about. I’m sure he’s already got a hold of my weaknesses. A secret intelligence-type prince… He’s ended up growing in a surprising direction, huhh…

I’m developing in the direction that I originally aimed for, and became a professional magician who’s mastering magic.
Right now I’m a student, as well as a “Red” magician, but in the future I plan on becoming a “Black” magician who can guard Royce-sama.
I’ve also g-, gotten Achille as a fiancé and lover… so my future as the daughter of a marquis also seems stable for now.
To think that I’d end up in this kind of relationship with that Achille… I wouldn’t have thought it when I first came to this world, huhh. The world is a mysterious thing.
But this world isn’t a game; it’s reality. Achille, and Royce… and I as well, are people living in reality.
Through our choices, the future is something that changes unendingly.

/First Semester END

Author’s Note: The Mansion Arc has basically finished.

*imouto*

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54 thoughts on “First Year First Semester – Chapter 23”

      2. It was impossible not to use Edge in FFIV, unless you played the GBA remake/port, the end game party consisted of Cecil, Rosa, Kain, Rydia and Edge, you don’t get to choose. Besides, he can spam throw if you stocked up on shuriken.

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          1. >Ninjas
            >Doing barely any damage
            >Ever

            Nigger, Ninjas are ridiculously OP in ANY game. Especially in Final Fantasy.

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      1. more like achille should be the prince with his manipulating people skills and royce is the right hand man gathering info from the shadows.

        actually, when i think about it again, that might actually be quite the dangerous combination.

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    1. It’s probably used for Beatrix… Using Camille and Achille as reference, but I doubt it will be useful enough.

      On the other hand, Royce is becoming more and more like a ninja. Ninja and Prince… quite surreal, but I think it suites him

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  12. So Royce has been studying how to break the wall from Achille and Camille’s antics huh…

    Well Bea, our stalker ninja sadist prince who’s picking up a bit of possessive (not yandere k) traits is coming for you.

    And Camille, I get a feeling depending on perspective, you might even be a ‘pet’ in someone else’s eye (Achille the owner)…
    p.s. recently I’ve been overlapping Camille and Jibril (NGNL) :v

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  13. What a good way to finish the arc. Camille and Achille are finally in a official relationship in which they both are lovey-dovey, or at least Camille is in deredere mode.

    We finally get some action happening with all the political stuff.

    And Royce shows his sadistic ninja magus skills. He is coming for you, Beatrix. :D

    Thanks for the chapter and all of these translations!

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  15. It took her a darn long time to realize that in real life things weren’t stuck and only permitted to go in the same way as in the game.

    With out even trying she pre-fixed both Royce and Achillies. Royce got his confidence and can stand on his own instead of being a shy sparkling puppy. Achilies is less calculating and jaded and uses his skills for a good purpose, heck he’s even moving up by marrying into a higher status family. They are both in good scenario mode.

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    1. Well, both of them WERE like that before she met them.

      It’s more or less her influence that shifted them to who they are today.

      Achille doesn’t become jaded with nobles because here’s one oddball who pretty much break all the etiquette of nobles (solo a dragon, magic tattoo, etc) so he doesn’t fall into downward spiral from the things he suffer at the hands of those envious of his talent.

      Royce is easier to see, he decide to start becoming strong after seeing Camille injured to protect him. Although his stalking habit and the bold but not spoken out approach are probably copied from Achille (how he stalked most of Camille’s schedule so he can go home together, and him trying to hint his feeling to her…)…then he honed his stealth skill to be able to leisurely watch how it goes without disturbing them…
      Although I wonder where he started to gain the S side ‘ x ‘

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  16. Royce becoming S ninja forceful prince (and the S isn’t for super but for Sadist) was totally an unexpected on the beginning, we could guess that Achille would be an elite, but for Royce was to become like that is quite unbelievable XD
    Poor Bea… or not, since Royce isn’t as gentle he appear to be, but… he is an S…. maybe if she is an M or like hard they may be ok XD
    Now I wonder about the siscom, Mei becoming so pure (because she swapped) made him care for her (since in the game it didn’t really seem like he cared for that much) and became a siscom that didn’t like when their master got to get her as fiancee and run away, though running away just improved the danger that his sister was exposed… now if he got it, what will he do?

    Thanks for the chapter aniki!

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  18. Thanks for the chapter Imouto-chan~
    May the God of Translation bless you with magnificent hands.

    P.S
    Please continue this wonderful series~

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  23. :v Unrelated to burikko, but what’s the source of that “Actually 25 yrs old man” image you post in your status page a few days ago?

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  25. Replying to your status update:

    Just curious, how many chapters until it’s out of the ‘cheap cliffhanger’?

    Or you’re just translating on the go and you don’t know either?

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    1. the thing about going to a university over an hour away is that i have a lot of commute time. sometimes i get a seat (yay, laptop time) and sometimes i don’t (meaning that i have a lot of time to read things on my phone), i’ve started reading 3 chapters ahead (instead of my usual 1 or 2), and can confirm that cheap cliffhanger finishes 3 chapters from now.

      tldr; will have 7 chapters up possibly by end of the week.

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  29. I really have enjoyed this novel! It’s amazing so thank you soo much for translating!! XD but I have to wonder, should I continue reading from here? I had hoped that the prince would also like Camille but I think Beatrix is cute too :3 Will a rival appear for Achille? Will the other nation boy develop more? Thanks again!!

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