First Year Second Semester – J of Hearts (Part 4)

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’.

Btw, ‘big-shots’ (大物) in Japan apparently all have the quality of not being fazed by the ‘trivial’ things that other people would find incredible.

Also note once again that in Japanese, you don’t address people as ‘you, but by their name. Ergo, they could be talking about both the game character, or the person themselves (or both due to intentional use of the ambiguity).

I more or less understand Camille’s story now.
According to her, she came from another world, and before she knew it she had entered a little girl, Camille Rhodolite.
And, we’re just like the characters in a story in her world…
She also said that the girl who called me out behind the auditorium also has a high possibility of being from the same world as Camille.
It’s somehow, an incredibly suspicious sounding story, but Camille is being serious, isn’t she…
And I don’t know why, but it’s incredibly embarassing.

“Sorry… I’ve always kept quiet about something so important. And for me to have read something like a romance story where Royce-sama and a bunch of other people appear… And in the beginning I even overlapped these people with you…

Camille sniffled and ended up breaking into tears again.

“Don’t hate me…”

Ahh, geez.
Why did her thought process take her there?

“There’s no way that we’d hate you, right?”

I embraced her. Camille was being obedient in my arms.

“That’s right. Both Achille and I wouldn’t hate you over something like that. Aren’t we friends who’ve spent over ten years together?”

“Uu… but, I, kept quiet about this for over ten years… -”

“Don’t worry about it. Honestly, I thought it would be something more incredible, but it was nothing that bad, after all.”

Your Highness… It seems that you’ve unexpectedly become quite a big shot.

“At the very least, you’re an important enough friend to me that I ran around sending for forbidden magic books, spending over half a day researching various things, and frantically using trial-and-error to dispel magic, for you.”

“Royce-sama…”

Your Highness…
Your spent over half a day trying to dispel the magic on us?
Like Camille, I also sent a look of being deeply moved towards His Highness.
His Highness averted his eyes, just a little embarassedly.

“You two did nothing but sleep for two whole days after all, so you two rest for a little longer. I’m going to go prepare food, okay?”

With that, His Highness promptly left the room.
I’ll sure be in debt to him for a while…

“Camille…”

After thinking about things for a little while after His Highness left, I told her about the contents of my dream.
Camille listened to my story with wide eyes… Or so I was thinking, when her face turned bright red and she began writhing about.

“UWAHH, UWAHHHHHHH, HEROINE YOU IDIOT! WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU SHOWING ACHILLEEEEEEEEEE!”

I doubtfully gazed at Camille who was screaming in a loud voice whilst writhing atop the bed.
Camille began telling me about it embarassedly.

“…That was, the tale that I told you about. It’s completely different from the reality of this world, right?”

“Yeah, honestly it was a sickening story.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry that Camille was a piece of scum.”

“No, that’s not what I mean! And, if I had to say, I was more of a piece of scum. Doing that kind of thing to you… No, let’s stop this. Even if we apologise about something that didn’t actually happen, there’s no point, Camille.”

“M-, Mmn. But I’m,”

“No matter what you are, it’s fine, you know? Even if we say you did come from another world, it’s fine.”

Honestly speaking, I don’t really believe her though. Even if that really was the case, I’ve spent more than ten years with her, so there’s nothing to be said about it after all this time.

“…Are you really fine with it, Achille?”

“Of course. I should be asking you what’s wrong with it.”

Camille looked at me, dumbfounded.
Did she really think that I’d hate her or something? If so, I’m pretty indignant.

Her face went bright red, and she immediately became to fidget. It seems that having come to this, my words have finally gotten through.

“Um, Achille,”

Camille looked at me with upturned eyes. This Camille has no relation to that kind of cunning, so she probably did it unconsciously.

“Thanks… Umm, for continuing to like me… You know, Achille? It’s not the character in the story, but the you right now that I like, so…”

Camille who was giving her all to convey her love to me despite her turning bright red up to her ears was so cute that I couldn’t help myself.
Were this anything but His Highness’ bed, I might have pushed her down.

“But still, we have to come up with a way to deal with that Heroine, huh.”

For some reason, Camille refers to that schoolgirl as Heroine. When I asked her why, replied that it’s because the girl was the protagonist of the story in the dream. It seems that the protagonists in those types of stories are called the heroine as a whole.

“You’re right! I’ll come up with a new tattoo! It’s because the tattoos up until now have been too weak that we weren’t a match for the Heroine after all!”

Because magic tattoos only give support functions in the end, they can’t truly defend against poweful magic. At best, they can only weaken impacts, or disable weak attacks.
And it seems that Camille plans on strengthening those.

“While I’m at it, let’s have you and Royce-sama get magic tattoos as well!”

And while she was at it she spouted some incredible words. Leaving me aside, you plan on giving His Highness something like a tattoo?

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First Year Second Semester – Q of Hearts (Part 4)

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’.

Between the guilt and the awkwardness and the shame, I trembled.
Even if this is reaping what I sowed, what is this, this torture!?
Why do I have to talk to Achille about the otome game?
But for now, I should just be happy that Achille doesn’t despise me. I kind of get the impression that he doesn’t really believe me but… if that’s the case, I’m happy with it.

“That’s a really interesting story, huh~”

Royce-sama’s face suddenly appeared from behind Achille.

“You were here too, Royce-sama?”

He erased his presence again, didn’t he?
It seems that all of the conversation just now was heard by Royce-sama.

“His Highness carried us two here after we collapsed.”

“Eh-, really? Royce-sama, thank you very much.”

“I couldn’t leave you two, after all, and you had various magic cast on you too.”

“Ugeh-!”

You damned Heroine, what magic did you use? Memory erasal magic?
Despite that, I quite clearly remember what happened just now though… Maybe I blocked some of it.

“This is just from what I can understand, but a magic that looked similar to communication magic was fired at you two… Maybe it was fiction magic. Also, it looked like Achille had thought manipulation magic cast on him. I researched and dispelled that, you know.”

…Isn’t thought manipulation a forbidden art!?
I wonder if the remaining communication magics or whatever were the contents of the dream just now? If they were, then that was incredible harassment!
Because Achille defended for us, it ended at that level, but if it wasn’t for that, I might be suffering in that dream right now.
Were it not for Royce-sama, the two of us would’ve been done for, for sure.

“Thank goodness that Royce-sama was here…”

“Right? Thank goodness that I got permission for the forbidden archives~”

“Yes. Honestly, thank you very much.”

“Mn, mn, so as thanks, I’d like you to tell me about that story earlier in more detail.”

“…”

Stooop iiiiiiiit!
Any more than this and… I’ll go mad from the shame!
I mean, how do I explain the rest? That I enjoyed Royce-sama’s route while smirking away… I don’t want to tell them that~!

“Camille, what’s wrong?”

Achille noticed that I was acting suspiciously.

“Ummmm, I guess I don’t really want to talk about this too much, or rather…”

“Achille, and Camille, and I… Who else appeared? Who was it that became my lover?”

“Royce-samaa!?”

Wait, please dont just smile and stab at the heart of the matter like that!
If you say that, won’t the four different romance routes and each romance’s uhuhu ahaha stuff get revealed?
And, won’t it be possible that after finding out that I enjoyed those kind of games, Achille will think of me as some kind of unprincipled womannn?

“Geez… You’re going too far with this shame play.” [tl: play as in sexual play]

“Shame play? Eh-, is it a story aimed towards adults?”

Royce-sama has come to an outrageous misunderstanding.
I can’t just accept appearing to be a person who enjoys those kind of things… Externally, that is.

“Y-, You’re wrong! It’s nothing like that, it’s just a normal romance story.”

It was rated 15+, but let’s just leave that out.

“As for your partner, Royce-sama, it was that girl who cast magic on us earlier. That girl is the protagonist. In the case where she gets close to you Royce-sama, the two of you get married, and she becomes the queen.”

Ah-, Royce-sama looks like he’s incredibly unhappy about that.
I could hear him mutter “So it’s not Beatrix…” in a quiet voice.

“Hey, Camille… You said that was in the case where she gets close to His Highness, meaning that, there are also cases where she doesn’t?”

“Achille…”

Nobody needs you to sharply point that out.
But having come this far, it doesn’t seem like I can avoid it. If you go all the way back, all of this are seeds I sowed, so there’s no helping it. Now that it’s come to this, I’ll bravely reap them all at once.
Ahhh, geeeez, let whatever comes comeee!
Without hiding anything, I decide to tell them the outline of the game.

“Ummm… In that game, besides Royce-sama, the protagonist could also become a couple with Raiga-sama, Tria-sama, and one of the students in the Clovers class.”

“…That girl, four-timed?”

An expression of shock appeared on Royce-sama’s face.
Explaining that game going by this world’s logic, is increeedibly hard.

“Yes, though she doesn’t date them at the same time. In this world, a tale where you can read four different paths in a love story, is a little rare. The me before I was Camille knew about the contents of that story.”

Right. Just as the heroine says, I knew about Royce-sama and Achille, and when I associated with them, I unconsciously used my knowledge of the game.
When it comes to Royce-sama, I have a painfully embarassing history of overlapping him with the game’s Royce-sama, and intensifying my longing for him.

<Favourite foods and drinks>
Camille → Black tea and sweets
Beatrix → Coffee and fruits
Aurelia → Alcohol
Mei → Black tea and meat

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First Year Second Semester – J of Hearts (Part 3)

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’.

“Sav… Achille-”

“Camille. You’re okay, wake up!”

“Sa…”

“Camille!”

Perhaps because the feeling of being shaken brought her consciousness back, Camille faintly opened her eyes.

“No… Save me-”

However, it seems that she isn’t fully awake yet. Tears spilled from the corner of her eyes.

“…Camille.”

I kissed her.
I’m sure that just like me, she had an unpleasant dream.

“Nn’u”

Like that, I gently pat her hair, and she gradually calmed down.

“Don’t cry, Camille.”

“Nn… Achille?”

Camille was looking at me with a just-woken expression, but that for an instant, fear was mixed into that expression was not something that I missed.
Does the fact that she was writhing in her sleep mean that she saw a nightmare just like I did?
It couldn’t be… the same dream?
What I did in the dream could surely be called the actions of a piece of scum.
Camille’s actions in the dream were quite terrible too, but what I did in the dream went far beyond the realm of revenge.
It couldn’t be, that that’s what she was frightened of?

“Achille, Achille… I’m sorry.”

“Nn…?”

The first thing that came out of Camille’s mouth was an apology, but why is there a need for her to apologise to me? …I don’t get it at all.

“Camille… What are you apologising about?”

After Camille raised herself into a sitting position, she began speaking to me with a deadly serious expression.

“You despise me, right? I was a liar after all, and I did something to you two that means it can’t be helped if you hate and curse me.”

“…”

Could it be…?
I could guess what her words were implying. It seems that Camille was admitting what that schoolgirl said as truth.
No matter what that girl said, Camille didn’t insert a single rebuttal…
Even though I thought that woman’s contemptuous talk about Camille being a bodyswapper was just nonsense.

“Camille, calm down… Try speaking slowly. I promise that I won’t hate you no matter what.”

“…-”

It seems that she doesn’t trust my words. Camille averted her face to the side.
Whenever something inconvenient happens, she’ll immediately run away… It’s a bad habit Camille’s had since we were young.

“…Camille.”

I turned her back straight at me.
At first she averted her eyes, but eventually, she resignedly opened her mouth.

“I haven’t said this to anyone but… I wasn’t born Camille Rhodolite…”

I unconsciously held my breath. It’s an idea that I can’t believe no matter what.
But, I stayed quiet, and waited for her next words.

“I was originally in another world, and I ended up becoming the three year old marquis’ daughter, Camille Rhodolite, in this world… When I met you, I was already the me I am now, so I’ve always kept silent though.”

“Camille…”

Thank goodness… Hearing her words, somewhere inside me, I felt relieved.
It seems that the Camille I’ve always associated with is the Camille in front of me now.
Right, there’s no doubt that the Camille I love is her.

“I think that schoolgirl is from the same world as me.”

That Camille is a person from another world is something that I still can’t fully believe.
I mean, no matter how you look at her, she’s a normal person. She’s just a little covered in tattoos.

“…Then, about you knowing about us?”

“Uu…”

Hearing my words, Camille’s expression, couldn’t get any more… any more uncomfortable.
Like that, she opened her mouth reluctantly.

“…You’re similar.”

“To what?”

“T-, To… how do I say this, to a story in the world I was in. There were characters that were just like you and Royce-sama.

“A story?”

“…Umm, it was a romance-ey story that girls would probably like. You two were characters that appeared in the story. Achille was the friend of the protagonist, and Royce-sama was one of the protagonist’s lover candidates, and depending on how things went, he became the protagonist’s husband. And Camille played the villain who got in the way of that.”

“It couldn’t be, that dream…”

That revolting scene appeared in my mind. I did mentally back away a little hearing words like ‘lover candidates’ and ‘depending on how things went’, though…
While I was thinking these things, Camille continued to explain.

“The relationship between you and Royce-sama was similar… and in the story where Royce-sama became the protagonist’s husband, they cooperated to save the protagonist from Camille, and eventually the protagonist went on to become queen.”

Like I thought, the story that Camille is talking about really does resemble the dream I had.

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First Year Second Semester – Q of Hearts (Part 3)

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’.

Before I noticed, I was in a familiar room.
If I’m correct, this is the academy’s cafeteria. I don’t usually use it, but I know of it.
Why am I in a place like this?
Even though I should have been behind the auditorium until just a moment ago…

Just as I was thinking that it was mysterious, I could hear some girl going kyaa kyaa and making a fuss.

“Royce-sama~ Don’t say something like that, and let’s eat together~ Here, say AA~HN♪”

There I was, tempting Royce-sama in a sugary, burikko voice…
Eh-, what is this? What is this?
I was wearing a goth loli outfit with the chest area undone, and holding a spoon by Royce-sama’s mouth.
Because of the impossible scene, I could do nothing but blink.
Royce-sama had a stiff smile on.

…*

The surroundings changed.
This time, it was me treading on the Heroine’s dress at the party.

“What’s are these rags~, I wonder~? Worn out curtains, I wonder~? My, how rude of me♪ There was a person inside, wasn’t there? She was one with the rags so I didn’t noticee♪”

Is this, me…?
No, that’s not it. I’ve seen this scene before…
This was something that happened between the Camille Rhodolite in the game, and the heroine Frau Monier.
If I remember correctly, this was when the Heroine who had come with Royce-sama to a noble’s dance party was bullied and stepped on by Camille. It was a scene where Camille intentionally spilled wine and various other foods on the heroine’s dress. She really does have a bad personality, huhhh, Camille.
Well, I also spewed something worse than food on the Heroine’s dress, so I can’t really speak too self-importantly either though…

“How nastyy. Please try your best not to show Royce-sama that outfit, okay~? If he was beside a dirtied woman like you, wouldn’t he be embarassed?”

Camille left the scene while ridiculing the Heroine.
In fact, after this, the Heroine actually gets discovered by Royce-sama and they go to his room and kiss and do various other things, though.

..*

The scenery changed again.
It’s the scene where Camille called the heroine to the roof. Camille was unhappy about the Heroine whose love for Royce-sama was reciprocated, and tried to separate the two of them by having hired men attack the heroine and turn her into ‘damaged goods’.
In the end, she failed though, and after being caught, she was treated mercilessly by Achille…
See? Before she started her evil deeds, Royce-sama and Achille appeared to save the Heroine.
Royce-sama magnificently brought down the hired men with his sword, and saved the Heroine. Speaking of which, this Royce-sama could use a sword, couldn’t he? …And this Achille was a non-combatant. Because I’ve been looking at the two in reality, somehow seeing these two from the game feel a little off, huhh.
The moment that the men had judgement handed down on them, Achille began apprehending Camille. The moment his opponent is a noble girl, he gets confident huh… Damned Achille.
When Achille looks at Camille, his eyes are cold as ice.
If, I myself was looked at like that by him… I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to bear it.

..*

The scene changed,and this time a place like a dungeon appeared.
It’s the scene where Camille was punished. It’s because of this scene that 『Carte à Jouer』 was given a 15+ rating.

“Mn…?”

I had thought that before, when I noticed something off.

“Huh? Why, am I in these chains?”

It wasn’t Camille’s figure that was there, and for some reason it was me myself that was chained up in the dungeon… When did this happen?

“Wh-, Whyyy!? Wa-… Royce-sama, Achille, get these offf!”

However, the two of them didn’t react. Royce-sama looked disinterested, and Achille was looking at me like I was a piece of dog shit.
Y-… You heartless guy!
Right, these two are the Royce-sama and Achille of the game. The two of them hate Camille.
…Oh crap. I’ll be violated at this rate! And afterwards, because of this Camille was socially ruined even futher.
Even if this is inside a dream, I’ll absolutely pass on this!

“Achille, please! Save me, I said!”

However, Achille just looked at me with cold eyes.
…What should I do?

“Ah-!”

I remembered something important.
Right, this is inside a dream, but it’s possible that he might look at me like that in reality. Because I’ve always kept secrets from him…
That I came from another world, that I knew about Achille and the others because of the game…
If they knew that I one-sidedly used them as an outlet for feelings of romance through the game, I’m sure they would definitely not feel anything good at it.

“This is no good… I’m definitely going to be hated.”

The men are approaching, and Achille and Royce-sama have left. Even so, I unconsciously looked to them for rescue.

“Achille… Save-”

..*
“Camille!”
..*

Suddenly, a voice resounded around the cell.

“Achille?”

Even though he should have left earlier, why?

“Camille, wake up.”

It seems that I’m hearing it above my head. When I faced upwards, even though it was a dungeon, there was light coming down.

“Achilleee-!”

I yelled towards the light. The moment I did, the light expanded.
And like that, the dazzling light enveloped me.

<Supporting Character Introduction>
Aimée Afriat
The head maid of the marquis residence.
She’s been around the longest of all the maids, and right now reigns over them as the strongest servant-sama.
Is a woman who can really do her job. You can find out most things about the marquis house if you ask her.
Has a good build. Loves sweet things.

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First Year Second Semester – J of Hearts (Part 2)

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’.

The schoolgirl began talking proudly before Camille.

“That woman over there isn’t Camille Rhodolite, you know. She’s a fake. She’s a villain who’s continued to deceive you until now.”

The girl spoke to me while pointing at Camille.

“Hey, Current Camille Rhodolite-san. You’re not a person from this world, right? Just like me, you’re a fake who took over and switched bodies with someone else, right?”

Despite ridiculous words being spoken to her, Camille didn’t talk back to the girl.
…Strange. Camille isn’t the type to stay quiet when people falsely accuse her of things. Even though she would normally talk back and make fun of them…
Her face is bright red. She’s chewing on her lip, her two hands are clenched, and she’s trembling.

“Would you please not say strange things to Camille?”

“Oh? …But, she isn’t denying it, is she?”

Certainly, just as the girl says, Camille just stood there taking it all and didn’t deny it.

“…Camille?”

She looked up at me with a terrified expression.
While I was preoccupied with Camille, the girl raised her hands into the air a second time, and by the time I noticed it was too late.

“I’ll… show you how she really should be.”

The schoolgirl drew some unknown magic circle, and fired it this way. It’s similar to communication magic, but I don’t know what kind of magic it is.
I immediately covered Camille and used defence magic but… the girl’s magic power was of a volume impossible for one person.
Unable to defend completely, some of it hit.
I was on my knees, and the girl smiled fearlessly.

“My, my, even though you’re supposed to be bad at magic… You’re strong, aren’t you? You’re a talent(card) that I’m wanting more and more. I’ll come invite you again, so I’d be happy if you accept it next time.”

Like that, the girl gleefully left the area.

My body is unsteady. It seems that Camille who’s in my arms was hit with some of that woman’s magic, so she’s unconscious.
For her to be shaken enough that she didn’t immediately use defence magic, is not normal.
However, I could only keep conscious up until there.

※

Is this a dream?
I’m looking at myself.

I was walking happily together with Royce-sama down a hallway in the magic academy.
His Highness seems a little different somehow. He has this hard to describe ephemeral feeling… and is upfront in his behaviour.
He doesn’t seem like the person who would even by accident, have a hobby of peeking on and stalking the girl he likes, or whipping a middle aged man.

The me in the dream was talking to His Highness about the future.
The contents of the conversation were close to what I have planned in mind now, but I feel that it’s a little too idealistic. You have too many dreams, and it’s kinda embarassing you know, Me.

And then, a pink figure appeared.

“Ah-…”

It’s Camille. Her atmosphere seems kind of different.
For one thing her hair is tied into two, and wearing a frilly dress the likes of which I’ve never seen before, she’s clinging to His Highness and flirting with him.

“Wai-… Camille, what are you doing cheating so openly!?”

I accidentally let out a voice, but Camille paid no heed and wrapped herself around His Highness’ arm. Was it intentional that she nonchalantly pressed her chest against him?
His Highness is smiling troubledly.
As for me… What? Aren’t I frowning incredibly unhappily!?
Moreover, it doesn’t look like the reason is jealousy.
I’m gazing at Camille as though I’m looking at garbage.
No matter what, I can’t imagine myself looking at Camille like that.

..*

The scene changed.
This time what I see is myself relaxing in the courtyard.
His Highness is lying on the lawn the same way, and sitting by his side is… Eh-?

“Why is it that woman!?”

The schoolgirl who tried to invite me to her cause behind the auditorium was chatting to His Highness with a smile. Chatting to the woman, His Highness’ cheeks were red.

“Your Highness… What happened to Miss Beatrix?”

However, it seems that they couldn’t hear my voice. Not one of the three turned my way.

..*

Once again, the scene changed.
This time, with an impatient expression, I was running towards the rooftop of a tower near the school. His Highness who is running by my side with a sword in hand was there too. I don’t really get it, but for now I followed the two. I intended to follow the two up the stairs, but rather than running, it felt more like my body was floating.
Having reached the rooftop, I follow the gazes of His Highness and I.

The door to the room at the end of the stairs was open.
There, were Camille and that schoolgirl.
Camille was standing with a number of men in wait. It looks like thugs she hired with money.
It seems that the two of them haven’t noticed His Highness and I.

“Goshhhhh. Royce-sama you knowww~? Loves Camille, you seeee~ So there’s no room for a dirty looking Ugly like you, is thereee~?”

“Uuu…”

The schoolgirl was collapsed on the stone floor, and Camille was overlooking her with arms crossed…
It’s obvious that Camille is harassing the girl. Camile… what on earth are you doing?

“Ahahaha, suits you right~ Like I thought, garbage should be like garbage♪”

The words that came out of Camille’s mouth who was ridiculing the powerless girl who was trying to stand up, was completely unlike her.
Camille gave a sidelong glance at the men surrounding the girl, and signalled them.
S-, So sly! It’s definitely not a performance that Camille could handle!
As expected, this is definitely a dream.

“Heyy, won’t you fuck this woman? Mess her up, enough so that she can never show her face to Royce-sama again♪”

The men nodded at Camille’s order, and then advanced on the girl while licking their lips.

“N-… No. Save me-”

The girl shut her eyes, and then screamed His Highness’ name.

“ROYCEEE-!”

In that moment, His Highness flashed his sword.
Uh, Your Highness… When did you suddenly learn to use something like a sword? His Highness is a magic type, you know?
He went, ‘It’s heavy~’ and immediately gave up on the way of the sword, you know?
Ignoring the voice in my thoughts, His Highness rapidly mowed down the men.

“S-, Strong… Even though it’s His Highness…”

In an instant, His Highness defeated all the men.
And watching from behind him was the other me… Why is he just spectating while His Highness fights? There are a lot of things I want to tsukkomi about.

“Royce…”

The schoolgirl was nestling against His Highness who had run over, and Camille was retreating with a paled face.
I who was watching up until now, moved to cut off the escaping Camille.

“Oi, Me! What the hell are you doing treating Camille so violently!?”

In a panic I tried to pull Camille over, but my hand passed through her arms.

“Geh-, what is this? I can’t get a hold.”

A dream where I have to see Camille in a pinch is the worst.

..*

And then, the scene changed once again.
Camille was locked in a dungeon. There was no power in her, and looked just like the Count’s daughter, Claire.
A number of men were inside the cell. It was like a recreation of the treatment Camille had given to that girl.
And watching expressionlessly from outside the cell were His Highness and I.

“Achille, isn’t this going too far?”

“I’m just returning to Camille what she tried to do to Frau. We can just bribe the men later.”

After giving a single unhappy and cold glance at Camille, I quickly turned around and left. His Highness followed after.
Even if I know it’s a dream, it’s a scene that’s more unpleasant than anything.

Hearing Camille shriek from inside the cell, I turned around in a panic, and found the men approaching Camille.

“Wai… Stop!”

Even if I yelled, the men didn’t stop.
It seems that nobody will recognise my existence in this dream. I passed through the cell bars, and tried to tear the men off, but as expected my arms passed through them and couldn’t do a thing.

“Get away from Camille!”

Even though it’s in a dream, I can’t stand that Camille has to face this horrible treatment.
And moreover, that the one who gave the order was myself in the dream…

It’s a nightmare… This is, a nightmare.

This kind of thing, I would definitely not allow it to happen…

※

“-, stop!”

The hand that I tried to grab them with once again found nothing but the air. Like that, I felt gravity, and fell…
-Pompf!-

…I collided with something soft.

Mn? Pompf…?

“Achille!”

When I turned my gaze towards the voice… I found His Highness.

“Is this reality?”

Have I escaped from that sickening dream?
When I looked around to see where I was, I realised that it was the familiar room of His Highness.
It seems that His Highness found me collapsed, and carried me to his room.
Of course, I don’t think that the person who carried me was His Highness himself, but one of his guards though.

“…Reality? I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but this definitely isn’t a dream.”

Saying that, His Highness grabbed my two cheeks and gave them a long pull.

“…P-, Puease let gow.”

It’s His Highness. Without any feeling of misplacement, I understood that it was the real His Highness.

“Achille, you were having a nightmare, you know? …Camille as well, though.”

“Camille?”

“Look beside you.”

Following His Highness’ finger, I looked to the other side of me… and found Camille lying atop a blanket.
She still hasn’t woken, and is having a nightmare. It seems that there are no injuries.

I felt relief from the bottom of my heart that Camille was safely beside me.

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First Year Second Semester – Q of Hearts (Part 2)

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’.

I’ve decided to go with Plan A, due to more or less overwhelming support for it.

“Camille, wait a moment!”

After I finished speaking with Mei, Royce-sama called out to me.

“What is it? Royce-sama…”

“I think something a little bad for you just happened.”

Bad for me? I wonder what he means.

“Hey, Mei. It’s nice to see you this lively, but don’t push yourself, okay? Your body isn’t just yours now, after all.”

Royce-sama said that with a smile, before pulling me outside by the hand.
It seems that he knows about Mei’s pregnancy as well. Has he heard from Raiga or someone?

“Camille, Achille was brought behind the auditorium by a girl you know! As the fiancée, I think this is where you should step in.”

“…Confessing where people can’t see you, huhh. Isn’t this as usual?”

When I said this, the ends of Royce-sama’s eyebrows dropped in disappointment.

“Camille, that’s no good you know. It’s because you’re like this that the other noble girls haven’t given up on Achille. It looks like a loveless engagement that they have a chance of worming into…”

“Mmmn…”

What Royce-sama is saying certainly does have a point.
I’ve always left it alone when Achille gets confessed to, or surrounded by noble girls.
Thanks to that, I suffered some unpleasant feelings at Déborah’s wedding reception.

“I understand. I’ll go see how things are.”

“If you’ve decided on that, then let’s go! I have the responsibility of seeing you two through.”

Eh-… Royce-sama too?
Just like that, I was led by the hand by Royce-sama behind the auditorium.

※

“I refuse.”

The moment we arrived behind the auditorium, Achille said that.

“Isn’t that great, Camille? It looks like Achille clearly rejected her.”

Royce-sama whispered to me with a smile.

“It seems that way, huh.”

“Why? Even you should think that the state of the country is abnormal. Are you refusing because of your viscount’s family? Or is the cause that fiancée of yours? Honestly, I’m constantly amazed by that romance-obsessed woman. To be picking up men even in a different world… She can’t distinguish this world from a game, can she?”

Wha-… Could that girl, possibly be the Heroine?
A lovely girl with fluffy curled hair… It seems it really is her.
Even though she’s in front of Achille, she’s saying stuff like “game”.

“Are you insulting Camille?”

“The one being insulted by that woman is you.”

A cold sweat ran down my back.

“…May I ask you what you think you know about my fiancée?”

“Your fiancée knows everything about your upbringing. Your personality, the actions you’ll probably take, your behaviour, and as a result of these, the future you’ll probably meet as well; she knows all of these, and on top of that has gotten close to you, you know? That woman.”

I unconsciously took a breath.
She’s wrong… That’s not it. The reason I didn’t tell Achille anything isn’t because of the reson she said.
But, I stiffened and stayed right where I was.

“So what?”

Achille probably doesn’t know what the Heroine really means.
I wanted it to stay that way.

“Achille Jade! You’re being tricked, you know. By that woman. That woman calculated everything to get close to you. To make you hers.”

“She’s wr-…”

I had no intention of tricking Achille.
But, the reason that I didn’t tell him the truth was exactly that. If he knew the truth after all this time, would Achille scorn me?
I don’t want to be hated by him… Why am I feeling this anxious…?
It’s the first time since coming to this world that I’ve felt terror from something other than physical danger.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to be somebody who is so stupidly involved in romance, you know? You want to change this country, right?”

“Certainly, I do think that I would like to change the country, but… I have no intention of working with you. At any rate, if I was going to change the country, I would do so with a different method.”

“How regretful. I’m disappointed… You’ve been completely led by that woman, haven’t you. Even though I thought I could use the J of Hearts.”

..*

“Huh? They don’t seem to be talking about love, do they…?”

Royce-sama who hadn’t noticed that I was trembling due to the danger I had invited on myself, muttered in bored disappointment.
Royce-sama, you followed me here half for fun, didn’t you?

At that moment, the Heroine who seemed to be unhappy with Achille’s reply suddenly raised her hands into the air.

“!”

It was the action of creating a large scale magic.
I immediately pushed Royce-sama into cover, and ran towards Achille.

A magic circle was forming in the air.
That’s an incantation for quite a high level spell, huh…
Memory sealing magic. It’s not a forbidden art, but it’s theoretically better to weave it into the realm of forbidden magic, and is the magic being cast right now.

“Achilleee! It’s dangerouuus!”

“Eh-… Camille?”

While catching sight in the corner of my eye, of Achille who was turning in surprise, I cast the memory seal magic in reverse to seal the Heroine’s magic.
I think Achille by himself is enough to deal with it, but the opponent is the Heroine who possesses a lot of magic power. I can’t be careless.

“My, you were here too? …You got in the way, huh?”

The Heroine… Frau Monier, turned my way, and smirked in ridicule.

“This is great. Since you’re here, shall I unmask you before your  fiancé? Bodyswapper-san?”

<Heroine-like Guess>
In Frau, the Heroine’s mind,
1: Camille’s appearance and behaviour are strange → She’s a bodyswapper (and has the knowledge of the game)!
2: Achille and Camille are getting along → Even though Achille is supposed to ruin Camille, things are like this. It’s strange → The love-obsessed Camille has used the knowledge of the game to woo Achille!
or something like that.

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First Year Second Semester – J of Hearts

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’.

The second semester began, and each person returned to their room in the Hearts Class dorm.
Unlike the other students, the inside of my room is almost the same.
Even if it’s the same, there’s no problem after all.

The degree of calm in my dorm room compared to my home is proportional to the amount that my stepmother and Dominique aren’t able to meddle. Camille’s room is closeby too.
It seems that the interior of Camille’s room is also mostly unchanged.
However, when it comes to her room, because of her magic tools or magic experiments, the look of her room can completely change even if her decoration remains the same. In a way, you could say she has great sense.
In contrast to us, His Highness has completely changed his room to his tastes. His room already looks like a completely different one from his old one.

If I remember correctly, it’s almost time for the opening ceremony, huh…
Putting on my coat, I left the room.

“Achille.”

Just as I left, I met with His Highness.
It seems that Camille has already left.

“Hey, how far have you gone with Camille? I wonder if she’s more or less getting used to romance as well.”

“…We haven’t gone anywhere, but during the summer break, she got a bit more used to it.”

When I was making Camille do her homework, I decided to try hugging her through the whole thing after all.
During the last few days of the summer break, it seems that she got used to it too, and started sitting on my lap as though it was natural.

“Today’s news: Raiga’s given up on his rights to succession.”

“Raiga-sama did?”

“Mn, only we of the royal family know right now.”

“And why is that?”

“Because he became a papa! I’m sure it’s to protect Mei, huh! He probably wants to avoid unnecessary conflict.”

His Highness smiled from the depths of his heart.

“Apparently his fiancée, the Q of Spades Mei Zakro is pregnant.”

“Pregnant?”

Even those two aren’t even married just, just when did they start doing those kind of things I wonder…?
Or rather, even though they’re both still students… They’re really too haphazard.

“Oh? Achille, you look like you don’t agree.”

“No, I feel that it is a happy thing that the number of succession candidates has lowered.”

As a person supporting His Highness, it’s one of the things I couldn’t help worrying about.

“Really? I was sure that you were unhappy because you were jealous of Raiga.”

“…I am not that selfish, you know? If Camille wants to continue going to school, then I will wait until graduation.”

“But if you did it now, then you wouldn’t need to worry about the Topagerian prince stealing Camille anymore, right?”

Even though I’ve gone to the trouble of holding myself back, His Highness says nothing but things to sway my determination.
He probably doesn’t mean anything bad by it, but I wish he would stop irresponsibly inciting me.

“…No matter what you say, Your Highness, I place importance on Camille’s wishes.”

“Hm~mm, well, I get the feeling that Camille isn’t dissatisfied with you either, after all. I completely intend on getting in the way of the meddling from the neighbouring nation for you two, you know.”

And in truth, because His Highness has been stopping them behind doors, up until now there have been few large movements by the neighbouring country.
I’m thankful to him for this.
I wish that Topageria would just give up already.

※

“Achille Jade.”

Just before I entered the auditorium, a schoolgirl called out to me.
It’s a face that I recognise.
If I remember correctly, she was the person that Camille was drunkenly associating with at the entrance ceremony.
After that, I had to apologise and reimburse her for her uniform and various things like that, so I remember her.
She came and talked to me about weird stuff as well, after all.

“Achille, I’ll head in first, okay?”

His Highness probably thinks that I’m being courted by one of the noble girls again.
He disappeared considerately into the auditorium.
Certainly, this chain of events would normally lead to a confession, but…
But I feel that the girl in front of me has an atmosphere different to those noble girls.

“I need to have a talk with you.”

“…Please keep it short.”

First of all, the girl looked around, before leading me behind the auditorium.
It was dark here, and there was nobody around.
Is it something that she wants to that badly keep a secret?

“What do you think about this country?”

“…Is this, a solicitation of some sort?”

Religion, or a political movement? …We only just entered second semester, so I wish she would just give it a break.
Outside of work, I don’t want to get involved with such bothersome things.

“That’s not it. No, perhaps it is…”

The girl played with her curled cinnamon hair as she talked.

“I want you to become our ally. Speaking simply, I want you to work with us to save this country…”

Her olive eyes gazed at me strongly.

“…The extremist faction of the commoners?”

They’re surprisingly close by, huh.
The extremist commoners are steadily gaining supporters, and even now within town, though there are those that don’t directly participated in extremist activities, they support the extremist in the shadows.
I don’t know how involved she is in the movement, but it would probably be better to be careful.

“Calling us extremists is quite rude, isn’t it. Though we certainly do get called that. You’re from the commoner class, so you should understand as well, right? The unfairness of this world…”

“…”

Why does this woman know about my background?

“Even though the orphanage you lived in was managed by the country, don’t you think it was a terrible environment?”

What’s with this woman? For her to know even about the orphanage.
The orphanage that I belonged to should have collapsed a few years after I was taken from there. That’s why there are few people who know about that place now.
Despite that, why does she know about how the orphanage was back then…?

However, whatever she says, I’ve already decided on my reply.

“I refuse.”

Hearing my words, her solitications became even stronger.

“Why? Even you should think that the state of the country is abnormal. Are you refusing because of your viscount’s family? Or is the cause that fiancée of yours?”

Her face twisted into a sneer.

“Honestly, I’m constantly amazed by that romance-obsessed woman. To be picking up men even in a different world… She can’t distinguish this world from a game, can she?”

“Are you insulting Camille?”

I have no idea what this woman is saying, but it’s certain that it’s nothing good.
Though Camille vomited on her uniform in the past, there should be such a thing as choosing your words better.

“The one being insulted by that woman is you.”

The corners of the woman’s mouth rose in confidence for some reason.

“Her real form, do you know it?”

“…May I ask you what you think you know about my fiancée?”

To the end, I didn’t let my veneer of grace crumble.
I’m actually becoming a little irritated though.

“Your fiancée know everything about your upbringing. Your personality, the actions you’ll probably take, your behaviour, and as a result of these, the future you’ll probably meet as well; she knows all of these, and on top of that has gotten close to you, you know? That woman.”

Well, Camille knows that I’m an illegitimate child after all, and we’re childhood friends so she knows my personality as well. And as for my future, we’re planning on getting married.
On top of that, we move together.

“So what?”

“Achille Jade! You’re being tricked, you know. By that woman. That woman calculated everything to get close to you. To make you hers.”

“Hahh…”

‘To make you hers’, is not something a young girl should be saying.
And, if I had to say, the one making anybody his is me.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to be somebody who is so stupidly involved in romance, you know? You want to change this country, right?”

The girl talked fervently about the danger the country was in.
Gee, all of the things she’s mentioned are things that I obviously know already, though.

“Certainly, I do think that I would like to change the country, but… I have no intention of working with you. At any rate, if I was going to change the country, I would do so with a different method.”

Not overturning the country through extremist activities, but soundly bettering the country from within.
Even if it takes longer, if even one less sacrifice can be made, I would choose that path.
And tentatively, it’ll be a country that His Highness will be managing after all.
I don’t want to do anything to mess it up.

“How regretful. I’m disappointed… You’ve been completely led by that woman, haven’t you. Even though I thought I could use the J of Hearts.”

The woman muttered that with cold eyes, before raising her hands to the air.

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