Chapter 16：Experiments and Preparations – Q of Hearts (Part 2)

HEEEY, TEITO-, I mean, adMIRal. E-Eh? Wrong game?
Jokes aside, let’s start the Otoburi revival project!

Basically, Este dropped Otoburi because he’s a lazy ass loser, so I’m picking it back up. Also Este fucking sucks and originally linked me the wrong chapter, then ended up having a rough tl of this chapter already done that wasn’t listed on ToC, so I ended up (re)doing this chapter. Este says this is a better tl and it was good practice for getting a better feel for the writing, so I guess it’s ok. So, enjoy Cleaning 16 Kai2.

Also, have some skype logs.
[3:35:40 AM] estomiya-kun: is otoburi finally going to be revived
[3:35:46 AM] estomiya-kun: amazing
[3:35:51 AM] estomiya-kun: the most amazing part is that i dont have to do it
[3:42:40 AM] Toki: I’d be excited
[3:42:42 AM] Toki: but I’m translating
[3:42:43 AM] Toki: so I’m not

---

… It’s freezing.
Though it could be said it was due to the season being winter, no matter when I visited this place, it always felt dim and cold.
It was the castle’s dungeon.
Though it was still daytime, not even a single ray of light shone in here.

“Ah, Achille… about the experiment on the tattoo, though you said it was fine, over here is…”

At the stone staircase that was illuminated by the glow of a magic torch, I descended step by step while being pulled along by Achille.
Inside the dungeon, the temperature was regulated with flame magic so that prisoners did not freeze to death.
At any rate, the reason it feels a little chilly might be because it’s only warmed to the bare minimum.

Yesterday in the room, I talked to Achille about experimenting on “Forbidden Magic Defense Tattoos,” and as a result, it seems that he made preparations for the experiments this morning for my sake. As expected of Achille… he’s a fast worker.

“This is the place where the person who, out of the kindness of their heart, volunteered to help out with Camille’s experiments resides.”
“Is there really someone like that?”

This is suspicious, isn’t it?
After all, helping out with the experiments meant having forbidden magic cast on them, y’know?
These are the experiments with forbidden magic that Achille forbade me from performing on myself, the ones that I also hesitated to perform on Achille.
A person who would voluntarily offer themselves up to such danger…
What an extreme masochist!

While continuing to pull me along by my hand, we proceeded further into the depths of the dungeon.
On the way, we passed by the cells of Miss Claire and Count Tito.
Ahead of them were the commoner extremists who had been arrested; their imprisonment had caused the prison to reach max capacity.
As we approached the deepest depths of the dungeon, the dark atmosphere strengthened, and even the torch’s light slowly dimmed.

“Is it even further in?”
“Yes, that’s right.”

Uu… was that so.
Even though I’m so not good with dark places like this.
Loud dripping noises from droplets of some kind falling down echoed loudly.
The damp odor overpowered my nose.
If I were to be imprisoned in a place like this, I reaaally don’t think I could remain sane…

“Achille, we’re at a dead end, y’know?”
“This place will be it.”
“Eh…?”

At a dead end in the deepest area of the dungeon, Achille hung his hand on an enormous iron door.
The door was rusty in several places, and I could feel the dungeon’s history.
Achille took out an old-fashioned key from his breast pocket and put it into the keyhole.
With a loud, unpleasant creak, the door slowly opened.

“Come in.”

Though I hesitated a little bit after seeing the pitch black interior of the iron door, after strengthening my resolve, I took a single step forward.
As if he realized that I was a little bit scared… Achille immediately came to my side and wrapped his arm around my back.
Though it was natural for him to do so, I couldn’t calm down at all since in this stance, we were glued surprisingly close to each other.

Using magic to illuminate the darkness with our fingertips, we walked through the darkness, and after a few minutes, we arrived in front of a big iron fence.

“We’re here.”
“I-It’s here?”

It was even further inside of the strictly maintained dungeon than I expected.
So such a peculiar person was inside a cell in this pitch black place, huh.
If I was detained in a place like this for several days, I’d go mad… maybe, that’s what they were aiming for with this room.
W-Was it a torture room?
When I looked at Achille as if asking him that, he smiled at me as if telling me not to worry.
I’m not comforted in the least.

※

“Yo, if it isn’t Camille Rhodolite.”

All of a sudden, a male voice resounded from inside the cell. It was a voice I was familiar with.
The throaty voice of a hateful man who had caused a major incident a little while ago, the one who who had given me a hard time.

“Achille… I was wondering if maybe this was the case, but the kind-hearted person who volunteered to help out with the experiment was really…”
“… Though he was previously the leader of the commoner extremists who occupied the town.”
“W-W-Why Galaf Sharohm?”

Because it was too much, my voice went shrill.
Why did the enemy, Galaf, want to help out with the experiments?
Moreover, Achille said that it was voluntary. H… How strange!
When I timidly approached the cell, I could make out his figure inside.
Though his arms and legs were shackled in chains, in addition to this kind of environment, he hadn’t broken. Instead, he was full of vigor.
The Jack of Clovers… was the owner of this tenacious force of will.

“Ah…”

The chains that were restraining him were magic items specially designed to seal prisoners’ magical powers.
Ironically, these were made from the same materials used for the tiger traps that Galaf had used to trap me.
Because he was an opponent who used forbidden magic as if without a care, I think these were natural measures.

“Hey, the heartless person standing there! I’ll do my part of the bargain, but will you keep your promise?”

Galaf shouted as he faced Achille, who was standing behind me.
Achille scowled unhappily.

“… Isn’t that obvious.”
“I can’t believe you!”
“So you’re saying that it’d be fine to pretend this conversation had never happened… it’s fine if I interpret this situation like that, right?”
“…!”

At that moment, Galaf sunk into silence.
I wonder what the deal was…
Of all the people, picking Galaf as the target for experimentation, just what in the world was Achille thinking?
I was fixedly staring at him.

“Don’t worry about it Camille. I’ve gotten permission from the higher-ups, and he agreed to it too.”
“… But is it really alright?”
“It’s alright to do it to your heart’s content. And if by any chance you fail, it’ll be okay, rather, what if you failed on purpose once or twice?”
“Hey! Are you still carrying a grudge against me! Hey, Camille. Stop dating this vindictive boyfriend, how about swapping him with me?”
“Please don’t act too familiar with Camille. Also, I’m her husband.”

How was he not affected in the least by this…
Galaf Sharohm, who could leisurely converse even in a situation like this, was a guy you couldn’t make light of.
His massive nerves were impudent, and his spirit held steady.

“Achille, can we just start the experiment already?”

If the higher-ups gave the A-ok, there shouldn’t be any problems, right.
I was reluctant to use someone else as the subject for an experiment, but right now, I was determined to perfect the tattoo that would reliably defend against forbidden magic.
After Achille opened the lock, I entered the cell, went up to Galaf, who was bound and unable to move, and ran my finger down his right wrist as I used magic to draw a chain pattern..

“Heh, skillful aren’t you. So you used this kind of thing to invalidate my forbidden magic that time, didn’t you?”

Galaf, who was looking out of the side of his eye, raised his voice, amused.
Even though my tattoos caused his plans to fail back when we went to exterminate them, he didn’t harbor a grudge against this kind of thing, huh.
What in the world could be his objective in supporting the extremists…

The chains were instantly completed. After that, all I had to do was to cast forbidden magic to test the efficacy.

---

<Previous Chapter | Otoburi | Next Chapter> 

 

Experiments and Preparations – 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’.

One Day I Became a Burikko Villainess Noble Girl, out now.
Honto tutorial here.

Think of it as throwing money at the author and Alphapolis, and getting a book with squiggles and pretty pictures as a pleasant extra.

---

…It’s cold.
There’s also the fact that it’s winter, but no matter when I visit this place, it always feels dim and cold.
The castle dungeon.
Even though it’s still daytime, there isn’t a single ray of light that reaches this place.

“Ah-, Achille… You did say that the tattoo experiment problem would be all fine but, this place is…”

With Achille leading me by the hand, I descended the stone staircase, lit by the light of a magical lamp.
Also through the use of flame magic, it seemed that the dungeon was always kept at a certain temperature so that the prisoners wouldn’t freeze to death.
But still, the fact that it still feels a little chilly might be because they’re only warming it to the bare minimum.

Because I spoke to Achille about experimenting with “a tattoo that stops forbidden magic”, today it seemed that I would be experimenting on something he prepared in the dungeon for me. As expected of Achille… He works fast.

“There was a kind fellow who voluntarily wanted to cooperate with your experiments, you see.”

“There’s a person like that?”

How suspicious.
I mean, cooperating with the experiments means that they’d have forbidden spells cast on them, you know?
An experiment that Achille banned me from conducting on myself, as well as an experiment that I was hesitant to perform on Achille.
A person who would volunteer to help with such a dangerous experiment… is a massive M!

Still led by the hand, I continued deeper and deeper into the dungeon.
On the way, we passed by Miss Claire and Count Tito’s cells.
Beyond here are the places where those involved with the commoner extremists are held, and they’re completely full at the moment.
The further we continued in, the gloomier the atmosphere got, and the number of lamps steadily decreased as well.

“Is it further in?”

“Yeah.”

Uu… Is that how it is?
I’m not really all that great with dark places though.
I can hear the loud sounds of some liquid dripping.
A damp smell assaulted my nose.
If I were locked up in a place like this, I don’t think I’d be able to stay sane…

“Achille, you’ve stopped, you know?”

“We’re good.”

“Eh…?”

In the very deepest part of the dungeon, Achille placed his hand against a large iron door.
From the rust here and there on the door, you could feel the history of the dungeon.
Taking an old-looking key from his pocket, he inserted it into the keyhole.
With an unpleasant creaking sound, the door slowly opened.

“Come.”
Beyond the door was pitch black so I was a hesitant, but gathering my will, I took a step forward.
Perhaps noticing that I was a little afraid… Achille immediately walked to my side and put his arm around my waist.
He did it naturally, but in this posture, he was surprisingly close, so I couldn’t relax.
After fixing a light to my fingertips and walking in the darkness for a few minutes, we arrived before a large iron fence.

“We’re here.”

“T-, This place?”

The depths of the tightly guarded dungeon.
Would the person I’m meeting be inside that pitch-dark cage?
If you stayed in a place like this for a few days, you’d go craz-… Could it be that that’s the purpose of this room?
A-, A torture room or something?
When I looked at Achille questioningly, he smiled as if to say that I needn’t worry.
I’m not relieved at all.

※

“Heyy, why if it ain’t Camille Rhodolite.”

Suddenly, a man’s voice rang out from inside the cage. It’s a voice I’ve heard in the past.
The deep voice of that hateful man who gave me a terrible time during the incident a little while ago.

“Achille… I don’t think it’s possible, but could it be that the kind fellow who wanted to cooperate with my experiments was…”

“…Yeah, although he’s the principal offender during the extremist occupation incident.”

“W-, W-, Why is it Galuf Sharohm?”

Because of the shock, my voice went shrill.
Why is an enemy like Galuf helping with the experiment?
What’s more, according to Achille, he volunteered. S-… Suspicious!
After timidly approaching the prison bars, I could see a person’s figure inside.
They had all their limbs bound, and surprisingly, they seemed to be doing quite well despite the environment.
The J of Clovers… is a person with a strong will.

“Ah-…”

The chains that are binding him are a mana-sealing item for prisoners, aren’t they?
Ironically, they’re made of the same material as the steel trap that Galuf used on me previously.
He’s a person who can use forbidden magic without blinking after all, so it’s a natural measure.

“Oi, heartless dude over there! I’ll go along with your deal, so fulfil your end, yeah?”

Galuf shouted at Achille who was standing behind me.
Achille frowned in displeasure.

“…Of course I will.”

“You don’t sound believable at all!”

“Shall I interpret your words to mean… that our deal is off?”

“…-!”

In that instant, Galuf fell silent.
What do they mean by deal…?
To use Galuf as the guinea pig of all people, just what is Achille thinking?
I stared hard at him.

“There’s no need to worry, Camille. I’ve got permission from up top after all, and I’ve got his consent as well.”

“…But, is this really okay?”

“Experiment to your heart’s content. There’s no problem even if by some tiny chance the experiment fails. On the contrary, how about you *do fail once or twice?”

“Oi! You still holding a grudge, damnit!? Heyy, Camille. How ’bout you leave this vindictive boyfriend of yours, and change to me?”

“Please do not speak to Camille so familiarly. Also, I am her husband.”

So little tension…
To think that Galuf Sharohm can have such a light-hearted conversation in a situation like this. You really can’t make light of him.
His nerves and guts are incredible.

“Achille, it’s a bit unceremonious, but would it be fine if I start the experiment?”

Since we have permission, I’m sure there’s no problem.
I’m reluctant about performing the experiment on people other than myself, but I’d already decided earlier that I needed to complete a magic tattoo that protected us from forbidden magic.
Entering the cage after having Achille open the door, I drew a chain-patterned tattoo on the hand of the immobile Galuf, from his right wrist down to the fingers.

“Ohh? Pretty skilled, ey? So you used this tattoo to nullify my forbidden spells as well, that time?”

Looking on from the side, Galuf spoke in interest.
Thanks to my tattoos, his plans during the raid failed, but despite that, doesn’t he hold any grudges about it?
For exactly what reason did he cooperate with the extremists…?

I finished drawing the chains in no time. All that’s left is to use forbidden arts and test it.

 

Experiments and Preparations – Q of Hearts (Part 1)

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’.

One Day I Became a Burikko Villainess Noble Girl, out now.
Honto tutorial here.

Think of it as throwing money at the author and Alphapolis, and getting a book with squiggles and pretty pictures as a pleasant extra.

---

“Hachuu-!”

The sound of a little sneeze rang out through the empty room.
Now that the winter is approaching, the inside of the castle is getting colder and colder. I can see my breath.
Like every year, it’s the season where everybody uses flame magic.

The days went by as I stayed at the castle and did my job.
There were plenty of things I needed to do, after all, and I was close to both the castle library and my workplace now, so there wasn’t really a problem though.
To think the day would come when I would be sleeping at the castle just like my father the marquis.
This morning, thinking that it wouldn’t be great to leave the marquis estate unoccupied, I said “What if it’s just me that stays at home, and travels to the castle for work?” when for some reason Achille’s mood took a nose dive. And so, I immediately escaped to the Magic Building.

Right now I’m in the middle of seriously doing my job.
Just now I had just been exterminating an infestation of crawlers that had popped up in the rural areas of the country, and I’m just coming back from it.
Crawlers are grotesque-looking giant caterpillars.
They’re an annoying pest that occasionally pop in the countryside and eat up all the crops.
A hateful thing that shines in my ‘top 5 monsters I’m bad at dealing with’ list. Once they grow up, they end up metamorphosing into yet another grotesque thing; a moth monster.
These monsters eat not only the crops, but attack livestock and humans as well, so once they appear on the farms, you have to quickly exterminate them.

※

Now then, about the “creation of a tattoo that stops forbidden-magic”… today, I’ve finally succeeded in creating one that isn’t limited by number of uses.
With this, we should be able to deal with most forbidden arts. The scale designs have changed to a chain design.
With this, all I need to do now is cast a forbidden spell on myself to test out the effectiveness… but, unfortunately, right now I’ve fallen into a state where I can’t.

Last time, I casted a forbidden spell while looking in a mirror to test.
In that case, even if I failed, there wouldn’t be anybody hurt besides me; a relatively peaceful choice. If I immediately dispelled it, there wouldn’t be any harm done after all.

But, last time when I finished the final test for the scale tattoos, Achille ended up seeing everything, so this method was banned.
According to him, casting forbidden magic on myself was insane.
But hey, if you don’t test out its effectiveness, you can’t use it in battle, right?
If by some chance the tattoos weren’t good enough during a confrontation with the Heroine, the situation would turn really bad.

“Hmmm, what do to?”

I was thinking about somehow getting permission from Achille to test it on myself, but… I ended up running away from him today when his mood worsened. I regret the slip of tongue from this morning.

Royce-sama and Achille are really busy working to deal with the commoner extremists, so I don’t feel right just sitting around, but there’s not much I can do to help when it comes to that.
All I can do is working on a way to combat forbidden magic, and remodelling spells to deal with the Heroine.
But if I can’t do a live experiment, I’ll be really troubled.

Even while all this is happening, the number of forbidden magic victims might have increased.
And what’s more, for some reason that Heroine has been obviously aiming for Achille and trying to win him over too.
If the Heroine cast forbidden magic on Achille… I absolutely wouldn’t be able to stand it!
As long as there’s a way to defend against it, I want to hurry up and test it.

I thought about quietly testing it in secret but… this mana sensing device known as my wedding wing is on my finger, so I’d definitely be discovered.
Uuu… Damn you Achille, to have prepared this far.
He really is a husband that overlooks nothing.

※

After finishing work, I timidly returned to my room.
It’d be nice if Achille’s mood has returned to normal.
I have to somehow get permission from Achille to experiment.

“Huu…”

I let out a sigh of relief.
It seems that Achille hasn’t come back to the room yet.

“He’s been quite busy lately, after all. I wonder if it’s overtime.”

Tossing off my work clothes, I changed into homewear.
In just my underwear, I was just about to put my clothes on, when the door opened to a clack.

“…-!?”

Turning around in surprise, I found Achille frozen in front of the door, more shocked than I was.

“-gyaaahhhhhh――――!”

If you trace it back to the start, it’s my fault for boldly changing right in front of the door though.
I didn’t think that Achille would come back so quickly after all!
In a great fluster, and still wearing nothing but underwear, I hid myself behind the sofa.

“Camille, you forgot this…”

Achille picked up the homewear that I had forgotten in my panic, and tossed them towards the sofa.
It seems that his anger from this morning hasn’t dragged out until now.

“Uuu…”

Letting him see me like this. How pathetic.
While I was changing on this side of the sofa, Achille was kind enough to wait in front of the door.
It’s great that you’re not moving from the door.
But you know, if you keep sneaking so many glances this way, won’t I start to mind it?
I wonder if you couldn’t wait outside, instead.
…After somehow getting my clothes on, I timidly left the shadow of the sofa and made my way to Achille.

“S-, Sorry about that, Achille. I showed you something unsightly…”

“Why were you changing right in front of the door? What were you going to do if someone other than me opened the door?”

Although he was nagging me, the arms that wrapped around me were kind.
Even when I show him ugly behaviour like this, Achille won’t leave me in disgust.
He’s an extremely broadminded husband that I’m glad to have.

“Camille, your hand.”

Giving him my hand like a dog, Achille’s bony, white hand overlapped with mine.
As expected… I don’t know when, but my body’s been completely conditioned to these pathetic reactions.

“…A new tattoo?”

You sure have good eyes.
It seems he immediately noticed the new tattoos on my hand.
A small, silver chain that wraps around my right wrist…

“Mn… It’s a magic tattoo to defend against forbidden magic. I haven’t tested it yet, so I don’t know how exactly how effective it is, though.”

Thanks to a certain someone, I wasn’t allowed to experiment after all.
While staring right up at Achille, he sighed.

“It seems that you didn’t decide on your own to test forbidden magic, huh.”

“I mean, you’d get mad at me, right?”

“Obviously. To think of casting forbidden magic on yourself…”

“…But Achille, you’ll need tattoos for your plans against the Heroine, right?”

“Even so… Hahh.”

Massaging his brows as he sighed, Achille suddenly stopped talking.
While hoping that he’d given up and would give me permission to experiment, I peered into his face expectantly, only to have my chin lifted up in his fingers, and my gaze locked in place.

“Ueeh?”

“…Then how about you test it on *me?”

His clear cobalt eyes stared right at me.

“Eehhh?”

“You can just draw that tattoo on me, and then test a forbidden spell on *me. Even if anything happens, you of all people would be able to deal with it, right?”

But then, if anything happens, *Achille will get hurt.
Even if only for a little, he’ll have to suffer a forbidden spell.
The magic tattoo is still in the experimental phase, so there’s no proof that it’ll actually work.
To use Achille as a guinea pig in such a stage…

“…Don’t want to. I’m not going to cast forbidden magic on you.”

My voice trembled unwillingly.
With my chin held, I couldn’t move about, so only my gaze moved away.
I mean, I definitely don’t want to have Achille do something so dangerous.
That would be putting the cart before the horse.
Even if there wasn’t any risk, firing a forbidden spell at Achille is something I just can’t do.

“Why? Isn’t it safer to have two people experimenting over one?”

“I said I don’t want to! Don’t make bad jokes like that! Even if you don’t get hurt, I still don’t want to!”

If I let go of this chance, I might not be able to do human experimentation anymore.
But if I have to use Achille, then…

“Rather, wouldn’t it be better if you cast it on *me, Achille? I mean, look, I’ve already got the tattoo on.”

In that instant, Achille looked disgusted.
Even though he said stuff about it being cast on him! Why is he against casting things on me*!
This time with dissatisfaction as well, I once again stared up at Achille.

“You sure say cruel things, huh… Just like you don’t want to cast forbidden arts on me, I don’t want to cast it on you either.”

“…Achille?”

“I’m the same, you know? Why is it that no matter how long it’s been, you still don’t understand?”

Above my eyes, on my nose, on my cheeks… Achille’s lips fell on them one after another.
In contrast to his scolding voice, his touch was so kind that I stood there with my eyes closed and accidentally forgot to resist.

“When you’re hurt, or in pain, I suffer as well, after all.”

When I opened my eyes again, Achille was making an incredibly sad expression. My chest hurts.
He usually doesn’t let his feelings show much.
All I see is his poker face, or his angry face, and occasionally a laugh.
The only one he’ll show such a pained expression to, is none other than me.

“S-, Sorry.”

Just now was my fault. I went and meaninglessly said something hurtful.
I can’t use forbidden arts on Achille. I don’t want to. Definitely not.
But despite that, in my annoyance, I told Achille to do the same thing to me…

For now, I’ll give up on experimenting on both myself and Achille.

※

“Take care of yourself more, Camille… But even if I say that, I’m sure you’re just going to be careless when it comes to your own safety, so from now on just think of avoiding danger as something for my sake.”

“Uu-… Okay.”

I parted from Achille’s hands, and sat on top of the sofa in seiza.
Although I do get the feeling that somehow I was led into a direction convenient for him, it’s obvious that this time I was at fault, so I had no choice but to obediently nod to his comment.
It can’t be helped if I suffer, but if it makes Achille sad, then I definitely don’t want to.
I don’t want to be the reason he makes that kind of expression again.

“As for the human experimentation, I’ll figure something out. You don’t have to worry about a thing, Camille…”

“But, Achille…”

If we can’t test on ourselves, then just how on earth does he plan on testing it then?
While I was looking uneasy, Achille gave me a soothing smile.

“It’ll be fine.”

---

“Camille, your hand.”
The term he uses here is the Japanese dog command for ‘shake’/’handshake’.

Also, did anybody else suddenly have the words “Riajuu wa BAKUHATSU SHIRO!” erupt from their mouth as they were reading this? No? Just me?

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

The Winter is Almost Here – Q of Diamonds (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’.

One Day I Became a Burikko Villainess Noble Girl, out now.
Honto tutorial here.

Think of it as throwing money at the author and Alphapolis, and getting a book with squiggles and pretty pictures as a pleasant extra.

---

“And so, His Majesty agreed, and sent me here instead, you’re saying.”

I’m a little angry.
Marrying me off in place of Camille?

“You’re angry, aren’t you… But I couldn’t consider any noble girl other than you, Beatrix.”

I don’t understand his taste at all.
Even though he was with that adorable Camille for so many years he wasn’t interested at all, and instead takes a liking to me?
I’m tall, and relatively muscled too. To think he likes a girl who swings around a sword as her job.

“Achille was in support as well. In support of bringing you, who knows about Frau Monier because of the story, into our Garnet. His judgement was correct, wasn’t it. You seem to know the thing in more detail than Camille, after all.”

…Mn, well, I was pretty into the game, after all.
His Highness Royce might think of me as a really knowledgable person but… I’m actually just a gamer.
Please don’t look at me with those sparkly and expectant eyes.

“The second is to strengthen the ties between our nations. Thanks to Frau Monier messing up various things in our country, there are a bunch of nobles who want to go to war with Topageria, you see. In particular those old, foreigner-hating bureaucrats… are a little worrying, after all.”

War…?
I can understand wanting to avoid it somehow.
I don’t want war between our two nations either. Right now I have people important to me in both countries.

“The third is that by giving exceptional conditions for the engagement, I’m using myself as bait to gain Topageria’s cooperation. Right now the commoner extremists are hiding in Topageria. In order to catch them all, Topageria’s cooperation is essential.”

I was thinking that he was a prince who did nothing but sparkle, but that isn’t the case.
He’s seriously thinking about his country.

“I really am sorry for getting you wrapped up in Garnet’s issues. But I don’t regret it, you see.”

His Highness stood up from the opposing sofa, and walked towards me.
Every movement was polished and refined. While feeling nervous, I looked towards him.

“U-, Um?”

His Highness Royce walked as far as right before my sofa, and suddenly got down on one knee.
Truly like a prince out of a fairytale. Despite the situation, he didn’t feel out of place at all.
As expected of the prince-character, Royce Garnet.

“…I want you, Beatrix.”

“R-, Royce, what are you-? Please don’t kneel in front of me!”

While smiling, he took my hand while I was panicking… and kissed me on the palm.

“…!”

Rising up through my face… was a suddenly rush of heat.

“What a thing to do…”

Because of my unrest, the voice that I protested in grew weak…
My heart is thumping away.

“I couldn’t hold back in front of you… Would the top of your foot have been better?”

“I-, I don’t have such hobbies-!”

I immediately moved my legs away.
Ever since I’ve come to this castle, I’ve just been toyed around by this prince.
Even when I flare up at him, just like this time, my pace is immediately destroyed.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me. But, I would be happy if you opened up to me, even if just a little.”

Royce’s azure eyes wavered in unease for a moment …at least that’s the feeling I got.
Even though he used his authority to force me into being his fiancée, why is he making a face like that?

What is this?
Just as I’m thinking that he’s pressuring me with a dark aura, he looks at me with pleading eyes like that…
A kiss on the palm is… an expression of entreaty, right?

I don’t understand him at all.
In my life so far, this is the first time meeting somebody so hard to understand.
Even though the in-game Royce was so much easier to understand. Even though he was supposed to be a harmless man who did nothing but smile… The man before my eyes is somehow strange.

Even after that, His Highness continued to tell me about the state of Garnet but…
More than the contents of this conversation, I was more concerned with His Highness himself.

I was concerned with him, but it definitely wasn’t in a romantic sense.
I mean that I was concerned about what sort of personality he had, okay!?

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter> </p

The Winter is Almost Here – Q of Diamonds (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’.

One Day I Became a Burikko Villainess Noble Girl, out now.
Honto tutorial here.

Think of it as throwing money at the author and Alphapolis, and getting a book with squiggles and pretty pictures as a pleasant extra.

---

“C-, Could you please stop with that? I’m-…”

I reflexively glared at His Highness Royce, but he wasn’t perturbed in the slightest.
With that gentle and warm expression still on his face, he just lowered his eyebrows a little, looking troubled.
…I’m sure he isn’t troubled at all.

“Sorry, sorry. I suppose it’s about time to get down to business. Your angry face is cute too, though.”

“Cu-…”

Cute? Me?
Beatrix was a character who you could describe as beautiful, rather than cute.
Her orange eyes slanted upwards, and her features were fierce-looking to match, so to call her cute is…
As you’d expect, I wasn’t wearing bright red lipstick right now, but even so, I think that my face should be quite villainous. The forceful types.

“And so, would it be fine to assume that you want to know why we’re engaged?”

There are various other things I’d like to ask as well, but that’s the thing I want to hear the most, so I nodded silently.
The issue of our engagement should include the details on our two nations and various other things as well, after all.
In this room filled with high-class furniture, ran a short silence.
I stared right at him.
Letting out a short sigh, he opened his mouth.

“Let’s see. First of all, have you heard from Camille about the schoolgirl named Frau Monier?”

“Yes. Roughly.”

In the game, Frau Monier was the default name for the protagonist.
A commoner girl with enormous mana…
I heard from Miss Camille about how she was manoeuvering against Garnet’s royalty and nobles.

“She was a little troublesome… and so I wanted to do something about her and the commoner extremist movement.”

“Certainly. It does involve your life.”

I’d like to avoid the guillotine too.

Thinking about it… I moved my gaze away from him, and thought back on the contents of the game.
In the game, this person sure was unlucky, huh. Getting executed for example, or losing a war and getting imprisoned…
If the heroine picked any route besides his, His Highness would unfailing meet with tragedy.
Could it be… That’s why Miss Camille learnt magic to protect him?
A certainly possibility about her came to mind.

“Ahh, if I remember correctly, I got executed in the story, right?”

His Highness spoke casually. He probably heard about this from Camille as well.
Even though it’s about him, he’s speaking like it’s somebody else’s business.
By story, I suppose he’s referring to the game.
It’s reasonable that when trying to explain the game in this world, she changed the terminology.

“…Yes. In the revolution caused by the K of Clovers and the Heroine.”

“Right, right, and we can’t let that happen, can we? So I’m working to prevent that right now.”

So he knows about this much.
Having heard about it from Camille earlier, this much is within expectations.
The problem is my engagement though…

“As for our engagement, there’s the matter of my feelings… but that isn’t all.”

“What do you mean?”

“…It’s not really something I’d like to get into with you.”

“Your Highness, I will be troubled if you do not tell me.”

“Hmmm, maybe I’d be persuaded if you called me Royce.”

This again?
Even I thought that I had led the flow of the conversation away from this… He’s unexpectedly stubborn.

“…”

“So?”

Even if I keep resisting, I get the feeling that he’ll just be having fun with it.
J-, Just calling him by the name is no big deal. I’ll say it as many times as he wants.
Or so I was thinking, but when I tried to open my mouth, I found myself at a loss.

“W-,  Won’t you tell me, …umm, R-, Ro-, Roy, ce…”

My voice went a little shrill.

“…Well, fine.”

Thank goodness…
Although he sighed, it seems that he agreed.

“There are a number of reasons, you see.”

“Yeah, please tell me everything. I heard some things from Camille, but it seemed that she didn’t understand everything.”

“That’s because Achille was keeping things from her. I thought it’d be fine to tell her but… he really is overprotective.”

An overprotective Achille… I really find it hard to imagine.
But once that exchange between Camille and Achille in the hallway came to mind, I got that feeling too.
In front of Camille, he makes a lot more expressions.
He even came to directly pick her up when she was drunk, after all.

“The first was to get your lord to stop with his proposals to Camille. I think that he was aiming for Camille’s knowledge in magic, but he kept trying to propose.”

Speaking of which, that time when she visited his room, he did say something like that, didn’t he.
It seemed that Miss Camille wasn’t very interested, but had he still not given up…?
Baka-sama uses authority for everything, so it seems like something he’d do.
And in fact, right in front of her, he once said something outrageous about doing something about her engagement with his authority.

“I support Achille and Camille being together, and I wanted Camille to stay in Garnet as well.”

And so, His Highness Royce *also used his authority to keep Miss Camille here, is it?

“Well done keeping Miss Camille here…”

Baka-sama is surprisingly stubborn.
I can’t imagine that he’d easily let somebody snatch away a woman that he likes.

“Mn, so I had a chat with King Topageria. I’ll be taking a Topagerian as my wife, so stop the Second Prince from pursuing Camille, I said.”

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

The Winter is Almost Here – Q of Diamonds (Part 1)

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’.

One Day I Became a Burikko Villainess Noble Girl, out now.
Honto tutorial here.

Think of it as throwing money at the author and Alphapolis, and getting a book with squiggles and pretty pictures as a pleasant extra.

---

Um, the reason it’s hard to tell between Beatrix’s casual and formal(keigo) speech is because she normally speaks in a non-keigo, masculine voice.
I could translate ‘sumanai’ as something simple like ‘Sorry.’, but the feeling is actually closer to ‘Apologies.’ or something.
A similarly masculine thing that would be closer to ‘Sorry.’ (at least in my opinion) would probably be a more casual ‘Suman.’ or ‘Suman, na?’ I guess.

Oh, and uh, iunno how it is in other countries, but universities are largely a mark of prestige for Japanese people. So just the name of a university can make or break it for you in some job interviews. That’s why being enrolled in a third-rate university really means that you’re super, duper average.

---

Because I had finished the bout with Raiga’s knights, I returned to my room temporarily to arrange my outfit.
Putting on the light blue dress that didn’t quit suit me, I glared at the door that connected my room to his.

“It’s fine. Calm down. Calm down, me.”

I need to ask about what’s happening in this country, and ask about the Heroine.
And I need to properly ask about the circumstances behind this engagement. After that, I’ll let him have it.
I need to face him without running away… the first prince of this nation.

Pressing my lips together, I gathered my willpower as I clenched my fists.
Like that, I reached my hand out to the doorknob, and opened the door with all my power.

“Uwah-!”

I accidentally let out my natural voice, and froze on the spot.
It wasn’t a very ladylike voice, but it couldn’t be helped. After all…

For some reason… Right when I opened the door, I found His Highness standing there and looking towards me.

“Wha-… What are you doing there, Your Highness?”

Paying no heed to my confusion, His Highness smiled.
There were documents piled on his desk as well, today. I’m sure he does his work seriously each day.
Completely unlike a certain Second Prince.

“I was thinking that it was about time, and was going to head to your room, but for you to have come to me instead makes me truly happy.”

So we were trying to open the door at the same time? …Was that really it?
I had thought that this sparkling prince with the gentle features was the same as the one from the game, but…
What’s with this? There’s something about him that’s been on my mind since he invited me to the picnic.

“I was thinking of speaking to you this morning, Your Highness, but you seemed to be busy at work. I apologise for making you come as far as the arena.”

“Don’t mind it. It was a good breather for me too. Usually I can finish all my work in the Central Building, so I don’t often leave the castle, you see… And also,”

His Highness Royce looked at me with a tender gaze.
I found my reflection in his beautiful azure eyes, and realised that I was standing closer to him than expected.

“You don’t need to use polite speech with me, my bride-to-be.”

“Uu-”

Even cheesy lines like that somehow seem cool when he says it.
Right. Royce was the type of character that could say cringe-worthy lines without anybody finding a problem with it.
Even in the game, his sweet lines often charmed the fans.

“It isn’t pleasant to stand here and chat, so how about you come in?”

His Highness splendidly escorted me by the hand. His beautiful blonde hair swayed smoothly with each step.
Led by the hand, I sank down into an expensive looking sofa. I-, I can’t calm down…
No matter when I see him, His Highness Royce is always smiling and gentlemanly, but I wonder if he’s naturally like this.
I regretted not investigating him more from Camille.

But I doubt the Royce in the game would do anything too strange.
Because after all, amongst the love interests and friend characters, he was the most harmless one of all…
Incidentally, as for the ones that were the least harmless, it goes without saying that they were the J of Hearts, the J of Clovers, and also Baka-sama. But well, when it comes to Baka-sama, because of me he’s become a completely different person though.

“Huhu, you worked hard during the match. You really are strong, aren’t you.”

“Thank you very much. I lost to Raiga-sama, however.”

“Don’t mind it. He’s not a normal human after all. You can just think of him as a monster or something.”

For some reason His Highness spewed harsh words about Raiga for some reason.
Are they on bad terms just like in the game?
No, but in this world, the Hearts and Spades have become more peaceful with each other. Maybe they’re more careless with each other because they’re cousins?

“More importantly, you’re still using keigo, aren’t you?”

There was a sparkling smile on his face, but I could feel a pressure that allowed for no refusal.
…It’s happening again.
There’s this aura that allows no argument being released from him.
Previously at the academy too, because of this smile that gave me no choice but to obey, I had various things forced onto me by His Highness Royce… At least that’s the feeling I get.

“I-, I am sorry…”

“Beatrix?”

“Apo… logies.”

Why am I being criticised!?
There’s something strange about this!
Common sense dictates that I’m the one that should be criticising. Criticising this overbearing engagement.

His Highness Royce seemed to be satisfied with my words. There really is something strange about this.
Was he this sort of character in the game…?
I held this sense of displacement about him.

“Your Highness, um…”

“Mn? What? It sure would be nice if you called me Royce.”

…It’s no good.
When it’s him I’m dealing with, my vigour is somehow drained.

“Is that so… There is something that I heard from Camille that I would like to discuss.”

“Beatrix?”

“M-, Miss Camille told me… That this engagement was related to the circumstances of Garnet. I would like to ask in detail about that.”

“…Ahh, that? There’s been something I wanted to ask you as well.”

His Highness gazed right at me.
Gentle looking eyes, delicate white skin, a tall nose, and well-shaped lips… a beautiful face.

“Did you have a lover in your old world?”

“…Huh?”

In that instant, the inside of my mind turned pure white.
E-, Ehh-? “Old world”? Why did His Highness say something like that?
Does he know that I wasn’t originally born in this world? But why?
For now, I tried to play it off. Although even without trying to lie my way out of it, it’s a hard-to-believe story to begin with.

“U-, Umm, whatever could you…”

“I’ve heard everything from Camille, you know? That you and the maid at Achille’s place are from her hometown. And probably Mei as well.”

M-, Miss Camille!
What the heck are you doing, talking about other people’s circumstances? And what’s more, to the First Prince!

“And so, did you have a lover in your old world? Is that why your heart was broken?”

And Your Highness, don’t fixate on a worthless part.
The person I liked was your cousin.

“I did not… In my old world, I was a normal student, you see.”

My appearance was plain, and the insides were even plainer.
A college student who loved manga, anime and otome games, and went to a third-rate university.
I was introverted as well, in the past, and definitely wasn’t the type of have had a lover. Far from it, I didn’t even have a male friend.
Since coming to this world, because I desperately struggled to avoid an end like in the game, I’ve become the person I am now.

“I see. Then you must be smart too, huh.”

“No, that is…”

His Highness Royce had an odd misunderstanding.
In this world, by no means could everybody become a student. Only the rich or the exceptionally talented people were able to gain the status of ‘student’.
It seems that Miss Camille did a half-assed job of explaining our old world to him.

“Well then, how about a lover after coming to this world?”

“…Your Highness, I would like to change to a serious topic now.”

“I did say that I’d like you to call me Royce, right? If you won’t, then I’ll keep changing the subject to your old lovers.”

“Wha-…”

What the heck is with this prince!
For a while now, he’s been saying nothing but remarks that screw up my tempo!
I’ve been completely swallowed into his pace.
Because of that, I vigorously said something unnecessary.

“I’ve had nobody like a lover! It was just unrequited love! …Ah.”

…I’ve done it now.
By the time I noticed that things were bad, it was already too late.

As for His Highness Royce, he gave the nastiest smile today.

“I-, I apologise, Your Highness.”

“Don’t use keigo or ‘Your Highness’; even though I’ve told you so many times already… Shall I have you practice here until you can say it properly?”

“P-, Practice?”

“Right. Maybe I’ll give you a penalty for every time you make a mistake… Like… Ah, I’ve got it.”

W-, Who is this? Who is this man in front of me?
This person who’s casually talking like a sadist is… His Highness Royce, right?
I’m getting this feeling that I’m catching glimpses of something dark behind his smile, but it’s just my imagination, right?
I mean, the Prince Royce in the game was… definitely not this sort of person.

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

My Lord’s Engagement – K 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’.

One Day I Became a Burikko Villainess Noble Girl, out now.
Honto tutorial here.

Think of it as throwing money at the author and Alphapolis, and getting a book with squiggles and pretty pictures as a pleasant extra.

---

Oh geez, I really don’t want to enter a place like that.
A circular arena with wriggling and sweat-covered muscle-loving knights (Raiga’s knight brigade) is a world that I have nothing to do with.
And in the middle of this, the shining Beatrix was too dazzling in a certain sense, so it was hard to approach her…
In a different way than Camille, she’s also quite the strange woman.

Perhaps because of the various incidents I got involved in when I was little, I like strong women.
Women who wouldn’t easily die even if they got involved with the first prince.
Camille also fits those requirements but… she has Achille after all.
And what’s more, perhaps because I’ve always been watching her since we were young, I don’t have any romantic feelings towards her.

“My, Royce-sama. Are you in the middle of a break?”

Mei who was relaxing on a bench inside the arena called out to me when she found me.
Perhaps because of Raiga’s consideration, she was covered from head to toe in warm-looking and fluffy clothes to avoid the cold.

“Yeah, basically. Were you watching Raiga, Mei?”

“Yes. I brought refreshments, so I’m waiting here until the match ends.”

By her side were six guards, probably prepared by Raiga.

“What’s Beatrix doing over there?”

“Oh, Beatrix-sama is having a bout with the knights. That’s how they’re training. All the knights were interested in fighting with a foreign swordsman, so they were enthusiastic as well.”

“I see…”

“Right now, Beatrix-sama has yet to lose. As you would expect from the guard of a Topagerian prince, isn’t it?”

When I turned my eyes to Beatrix, this time it was Raiga that she was facing.

“Will you also participate, Royce-sama?”

“Hmmm, I’ll sit this out. I’m bad at swordsmanship, you see.”

While Mei and I were chatting, Beatrix and Raiga began to spar with quite the intensity.
Both Beatrix and Raiga were using what seemed to be blunted practice swords.
She parried Raiga’s sharp attack with flowing movements.
Just by going toe-to-toe with Raiga, you could tell that she had real ability as the guard of the second Topagerian prince.

But Raiga had the advantage in physical strength.
When I looked again, I found that she had a bitter expression after blocking one of his attacks head on.
Although they were basically equal in swordsmanship, she was being pressured by his power.
Like that, Raiga flung away her sword with all his might. Clanging sounds rang out as the sword tumbled on the floor.
It seems the match ended.

“To be able to fight against Raiga that equally…”

Words of admiration slipped from Mei’s lips.
With a towel in her hand, Mei trotted over towards Raiga.

“Mei, you shouldn’t run while pregnant!”

I ran after her in a fluster.

..*

Beatrix and Raiga were chatting happily in the middle of the arena.
Apparently they had grown closer through fighting. I’m feeling a little unamused.

“Thank you very much, Raiga-sama. It was an honour to meet swords with such a strong person.”

“I should be saying the same about you. As expected. It’s a waste for you to marry Royce; how about entering my knight brigade?”

“I am happy for your words.”

Beatrix’s cheeks lightly flushed.

Raiga, you bastard. Mind not soliciting other people’s fiancées?
And Beatrix… you’re supposed to clearly refuse in situations like that, you know?
I recalled the scene of the girls’ meeting in the academy park a while ago.
If I remember correctly, Beatrix’s type was close to Mei’s…

“Good work, Raiga-sama~ Everybody else too.”

Mei approached Raiga with a smile.
A cosy atmosphere floated amongst the knights.

“Mei…”

Raiga immediately ran over to Mei with a broad smile. Who the hell is that?
He’s even more lovestruck than expected.

I called out to Beatrix who was staring at them, as dumbfounded as I was.

“Hey, Beatrix. That was a pretty good match.”

“Your, Highness.”

“There’s a little something I’d like to talk to you about, so could I have a little time after this?”

“…This is good timing. I too had something I wished to speak to you about.”

Beatrix nodded in assent.

“Royce.”

While embracing Mei in his right arm, Raiga looked towards me.

“I know that your fiancée is precious to you, but let her have a breather once in a while. It isn’t good to stifle her to death.”

I know that much, at least.
But it’s dangerous right now. I want to shut her up in her room as much as I can.
I don’t think she’ll take an attack lying down, but… I don’t want to lose her.
No matter how trivial it might be, as long as that possibility exists, I can’t be careless.
I’m not as composed as Raiga is, after all.

“Beatrix, I give you permission to come and go as you please to our knight brigade. You can drop by whenever you want, and it’ll be good practice for my subordinates too.”

“…Thank you very much.”

It seems that Raiga had taken a liking to Beatrix as a warrior.
Arrogant as usual, though…

I decided to return to my room for a while with Beatrix.

---

<Previous Chapter | Imouto | Next Chapter>

My Lord’s Engagement – K of Hearts (Part 1)

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’.

One Day I Became a Burikko Villainess Noble Girl, out now.
Honto tutorial here.

Think of it as throwing money at the author and Alphapolis, and getting a book with squiggles and pretty pictures as a pleasant extra.

---

For the longest time now, I’ve been regretting translating 伝達魔法 as communication spell instead of as transmission spell. I’ve been regretting it since chapter 7 actually, but it’s too late now…

---

The small white bird passed through the wall and perched on my arm.
It was a communication spell from Achille.
The message that was transformed by magic flowed into me.

“I see. So Beatrix was…”

Ever since I met her at the entrance ceremony, I’d always thought of her as a strange woman, but…
When I heard this from Camille, I was surprised.
Beatrix had turned out to be from the same place as Camille as well.
No wonder these two sudden got along, despite having absolutely nothing in common.

Certainly, if it’s the academy headmaster, then might be able to stop that Frau Monier.
However…

“Although he apparently used to be quite the big shot…”

Right now, he’s turned into a simple shut-in.
His age is unknown after all; I wonder how long it’s been since he last did anything.

When I was young, I heard about the Headmaster from my magic tutors at the castle.
That he was a magician powerful enough to change even the appearance of his body, and his age.
As well as the fact that he had once lent his power to the country and saved it.

When I entered the academy, I had spoken to him once.
Dragged out of his room because a member of the royal family had entered the school, despite being in the middle of a greeting, he always looked restless and wanting to return.
A pathetic attitude that was unimaginable for the head of the school.

“I guess it’d be better to hear the details from her directly.”

Achille had just sent a communication spell.
It was probably for his interest as well, but he had taken Beatrix and I into account.

“It was a pointless worry.”

At the moment, I’m in a pathetic situation where the two of us aren’t even close enough to worry about that.

Beatrix doesn’t think well of our engagement.
I’d expected this, but having it actually thrust before my eyes is quite disheartening.

Earlier, I had made a deal with the Topagerian King.
Having caused a great deal of harm to Garnet, and had directly attacked Camille and Achille on campus… the Topagerian noble girl, Frau Monier.
In order to avoid the war that would have broken out because of her, I had him send Beatrix here.

In this incident, Topageria was clearly the one at fault.
But honestly speaking, Garnet was at a disadvantage. Although we have a long history, we’re a small country.
Compared to Topageria, we’re lacking in both money and resources, and the only advantage we have is our magic knowledge and technology…
Because of that, Topageria had wanted the second prince to marry Camille, who was both the daughter of the Magic Building’s leader, as well as a capable magician herself.
Although, even in magic itself, Topageria had the lead in knowledge and technology when it came to magic items and potions…

Although this wasn’t voiced openly, amongst the nobles that knew this truth, were rising voices of discontent towards Topageria.
Amongst them were even those shouting for war.

But war would be terrible.
As for why it would be terrible, if we really did break into war, the one that would lose would be Garnet.
It’s embarrassing, but we aren’t a match for Topageria in both war funds and population.
Although all our magicians are talented, the other side has Frau Monier and other forbidden art users.
Even if by some slim chance we won, the losses would be enormous.
I didn’t want to turn this country into a battleground.

“Hahh, it feels like I’m the only one troubled…”

My father the king wasn’t very useful when it came to this.
Right now my father was busying himself with crushing the weakened Royal Prince faction after all.

“I wonder if tomorrow would be good…”

I’m going to have a proper chat with Beatrix… I’m pretty reluctant though.
I’m sure her knowledge will be useful.

“Hahh.”

To think that just talking to my fiancée would be linked to my job.
I’m getting a bit sick of myself.
Even that Achille can treat Camille without bringing calculated loss and gain into it.
But I’m not as skilled as he is.

※

“Is Beatrix in?”

The next day… I decided to meet with her before my determination from yesterday wavered.
After spending all morning finishing my work, I immediately headed to her room, thinking to meet her, but,

“My apologies… Just now, we allowed Beatrix-sama to leave. We are in the middle of looking for her, but…”

Her maid looked away awkwardly.

“What? …Just where did she go?”

Beatrix had apparently left the room without telling the maids anything.

The castle is dangerous right now. If she was going to go out, then I’d have liked for her to have told somebody.
I had thought that having an overly restricted security would put her on guard so I tried decreasing the guards, but it seems it backfired on me.
This maid is skilled to a degree in martial arts and so I placed her here as a guard as well, but…
Beatrix is also an expert martial artist, so she was probably skilful enough to slip through the gaps in the defence.
…Maybe I really should keep a strict guard from now on.
I decided to reconsider the security plan around her room.

“If you’re looking for Beatrix, she was at the training grounds, you know? She’s with Raiga-sama, so isn’t it fine?”

While I was troubled, I was told her location by Camille who passed through by chance.
It really helped.

“With Raiga?”

As hardcore martial artists, I guess they’re getting along…
Raiga isn’t really the type to get friendly with people though.

“Yes. It seems she didn’t want to have her skills grow blunt by sitting in her room all day, so after discussing it with Mei-chan, Mei-chan said that she would discuss it with Raiga-sama for us.”

…To think that while I was being hounded by work, the women had an exchange like this.

“Well, it’s fine though. Royce-sama, is Achille in?”

Apparently Camille had come here because she had business with Achille.

“If you’re looking for Achille, he headed for the Central Building just a little while ago.”

Because of the ring, Achille can determine Camille’s location, but the opposite isn’t true.
He apparently plans on adding that function to the wedding ring.

“I seee… Thank you very much. Even though I thought that I’d get to meet him if I came here…”

Camille lazily activated search magic to find Achille.

“You have business with him?”

“Yes. There’s something that I’d like to check with him for work… Shall I search for Beatrix as well?”

“Hmm… I’d be really glad if you did. I’d love to be able to use it too, so when you’re free, could you teach me?”

“Any time.”

Camille entered the room with the maids, and grabbing one of Beatrix’s belongings, she used her magic.
The floating ball of light moved out of the room.

“Well then, I need to look for Achille, so I’ll be leaving.”

“Mn, thanks.”

She followed her ball of light towards to Central Building.

※

It’s quite rare for me to have anything I need outside of the castle.
Most of the time I can complete my job inside the castle.

“What good weather…”

I felt that I could understand Beatrix’s desire to leave her room a little.
I continued to follow the light. Some guard soldiers were following me from behind.
There was no guarantee that my uncle wouldn’t try something stupid after being cornered and weakened.
I’m not bad at magic myself, so I think I could defend myself, but it wouldn’t do to have a repeat of the time with Count Tito after all.

I passed through the soldiers’ training area and continued further in.
How weird. Even though Camille said that she was at the training area.
Floating in the air, the light continued towards the arena.

The arena was a place used for things like matches between soldiers.

“It couldn’t be.”

I hastened my pace.

“YAHHHHH!”

“Next!”

“TARGHHH!”

Even though there was no match together, the arena was crowded with soldiers.
And in the dead centre was…

“Hmph, the knights of Garnet aren’t bad either, huh?”

With a fiery gaze and a smile from the depths of her heart, wielding a sword in two hands was my future wife.

---

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My Lord’s Engagement – 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’.

One Day I Became a Burikko Villainess Noble Girl, out now.
Honto tutorial here.

Think of it as throwing money at the author and Alphapolis, and getting a book with squiggles and pretty pictures as a pleasant extra.

---

“Camille?”

Carrying Camille to the two-person room that His Highness prepared for us, I lowered her onto the bed.

“I’ll bring you water, so stay right there.”

When I tried to leave her side, the cuff of my shirt was caught.

“Achi, lle, don’t go.”

Camille’s raspberry eyes were gazing up at me, moist and upturned.

“…What a difficult drunk.”

I immediately folded.

“As long as you don’t want me to, I won’t be going anywhere.”

When I combed her silky hair with my fingers, she narrowed her eyes in pleasure.
And she just continued to cling to me.

“Achille…”

What is this? So cute.
It seems that the plan that His Highness suggested at the entrance ceremony was actually realised.
I thought that getting Camille drunk to have her act spoiled was much too risky for a person like her though.
But it seems that since she’s weak to alcohol, getting her drunk on sweets instead of liquor is just right.

“Camille, what did Beatrix mean by 『going to the academy』?”

“Nnnn, it’s a seeecret.”

Seeing Camille giggle as she looks at me is incredibly, incredibly cute, but…
I’d better wring the answer out of her here, even if by force.
I get the feeling that if I leave this be, absolutely nothing good will come of it.

“Camille? Properly answer please.”

I looked at her eyes and slowly spoke.

“…You won’t stop me?”

Camille asked me as she leant against me.

“Mn, I won’t stop you.”

Is it something that I would stop her for?
In that case, I’d better stop her whatever the cost.

“I want to go see the Headmaster.”

The drunk Camille was unexpectedly obedient.
The normal Camille probably wouldn’t answer honestly unless you forcefully tied her up and forced it out of her.

“The Headmaster?”

“Right. He’s the secret character, so I’m going to have him stop the Heroine.”

“Secret, chraacter?”

By ‘Heroine’, she means that schoolgirl, right?

“Right. He’s the only one who can match the Heroine.”

I don’t really know about the secret character or whatever, but it seems that it’s somebody from the story in Camille’s old world. It seems the Headmaster appeared in the story as well.
Just like His Highness and I.

“Beatrix told me about it. That the secret character was the Headmaster, and was stronger than the Heroine.”

“…I see. So Miss Beatrix was the 『same』 as you, huh.”

After we were attacked by the schoolgirl, Camille told His Highness and I.
That in fact, Miss Beatrix was also from the same place as her.
This was also one of the reasons that His Highness took her as his bride.

Hearing the details from Camille, I found out just how serious this matter was.
Apparently this stupid girl was planning on marching alone into the base of somebody who might still be a dangerous person.
…I’m really glad that I found out before she headed there.

“I calculated it all. When I met him last time, I didn’t feel any hositilty.”

“That doesn’t mean that everything would work out, you know?”

Camille’s thinking was fundamentally too naive[amai]. As sweet[amai] as the candy that she loves.

“It’s finee I said.”

Even if you use that lovely voice that tickles a man’s heart, it’s pointless.
Even if everybody in the world believed her words, I alone won’t.

“Then you plan on meeting another man alone despite being married? That’s immoral, you know?”

“Ah-…!”

Hearing my suddenly lowered voice, Camille backed away while trembling.
It seems that even drunk, she can still sense the changes in other people’s atmosphere.
I really wish that she would direct that sensitivity to danger towards her own actions.

If you’re going to run away from me, then you could just avoid sticking your neck into danger to begin with.
I grabbed Camille’s arm as she tried to escape.
She’s drunk right now, so her movements are sluggish. I easily caught her.

“Eh-… Ah-, you’re wro-, it’s not being immoral-”

“Am I not enough for you?”

Her eyes were swimming.

“That’s not, it so-, not it-…”

But well, I wasn’t worried about her cheating on me or falling in love with someone else anyway.
Camille doesn’t have that sort of capacity. She’s become like this with just me alone.

But her lacking sense of danger is lethal.
If I don’t correct this while I still can, I get the feeling that one day something will happen that I can’t undo.

“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t notice.”

I’m sure that from Camille’s point of view, I’m giving quite a smile.

“So like I said, that’s not it… -HYAA-!”

Camille was putting some distance between us and desperately trying to resist, but… being a person who uses magic for everything, she was really weak.
Without her magic tattoos, she probably wouldn’t be able to defend herself directly.

Incidentally, her magic tattoos don’t work on me.
She kindly adjusted her tattoos so they wouldn’t work on me alone.
I’m happy that I’m that special to her.
After all, it’s useful in situations like this.

“I’ll work hard so that you won’t feel uneasy.”

“Sto-, it’s fine even if you, don’t work so hard, so-”

Camille tried again to fruitlessly run away.
When I relaxed the power in my arms, the force she put into it made her topple onto the bed.
She doesn’t seem to be feeling unwell, so there probably isn’t any need to nurse her.

Now then, enough of questioning Camille…

“It would probably be better to relay this information to His Highness, huh.”

I sent a communication spell to His Highness.
It would be fine too to just head there myself, but if by some chance His Highness and Miss Beatrix were in the middle of something, it’d be bad.

I’m already getting no breaks because of his burst of anger, so it’s hard to find time to relax with Camille, after all.

---

“I’m sure that from Camille’s point of view, I’m giving quite a smile.”
Originally ‘ii egao’ which literally means ‘nice smile’, but usually when it’s written in katakana, or else in the wrong context, instead it means a dark or evil smile. I tried to carry this across by writing ‘quite’, but I know that some people aren’t English natives and yeah. Thought I’d explain just in case.

---

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My Lord’s Engagement – 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’.

One Day I Became a Burikko Villainess Noble Girl, out now.
Honto tutorial here.

Think of it as throwing money at the author and Alphapolis, and getting a book with squiggles and pretty pictures as a pleasant extra.

---

“To start with, this is about the Headmaster Bad End but… it’s also known as the Romance Target Annihilation End.”

Things suddenly got heavy again.
Judging from this other name, it’s probably nothing good.

“The Headmaster was cornered emotionally, and wanting to monopolise the Heroine, he massacred the students that made a move on her.”

“Uwahh…”

Apparently unsatisfied with just erasing the rival characters, it seems the Headmaster even attacked the romance targets.
By ‘cornered eotionally’… Not wanting the Heroine to get into any romantic relationships? Just how narrow-minded is he, this Headmaster.

As I thought, it really was nothing good.
Royce-sama and Achille were probably included amongst the massacred students.
It really is the worst ending.

“After that, the Headmaster abducted the crying and screaming Heroine, and disappeared. The last scene was the expressionless Heroine locked in a building somewhere, and the Headmaster with a satisfied smile, but…”

It’s an ending where nobody but the Headmaster is happy.

But the fact that the Heroine just obediently let herself be carried off means that in other words, the Headmaster is stronger than the Heroine in a certain sense.
From the way Beatrix is speaking, it sounds like if we drag him out, he’ll become quite a war asset.

“And so, about the Happy End but…”

“Yeah.”

“Roughly speaking, although she was getting hurt, the Heroine accepted the Headmaster with her biiig heart, and in the end she stopped the Headmaster from running around and killing students with the power of love. While wounded all over.”

“To be able to wound the Heroine all over… The Headmaster really is amazing, huh.”

“The result was that the school wasn’t destroyed, and all the students were safe. The Heroine quit the school, and after marrying the Headmaster, she kept an e-… she supported him. Garnet and other countries targetted her, but they couldn’t match the combined Headmaster and Heroine, and the academy broke away form its various bonds, and continued to develop independently after that.”

In other words, in this route the Heroine eventually became his wife, huh?
It’s an otome game, so it can’t be helped, but just how convenient does this Heroine have it?
The rival characters would turn in their graves…

It really was rough, but Beatrix basically gave me a general understanding of the “secret character” but…

“It really would’ve been better had I played it myself, huhh…”

I can’t stop regretting it.
From what I heard, it seems that she couldn’t remember the details.

But it isn’t as though reality will go like the game.
Even the Headmaster, from what I’ve seen in real life, doesn’t seem to be stuck to the Heroine, and always seems to be a hikikomori.
Even now, of the rival characters and the other students, not a single one has been killed.
This point is something that I’m glad isn’t like the game.

“I think I should go have a talk with the Headmaster.”

With determination in my heart, I straightened my posture on the couch.

“Eh-, Miss Camille?”

Beatrix was looking at me with eyes widened.

“At present, Royce-sama and Achille haven’t gotten involved with the Headmaster after all, and he hasn’t targetted them either. From what I can see at least, the situation has changed, and I don’t think things will go like in the Headmaster End.”

So I want to test the waters to see if he’ll lend us his power while it’s still possible.
Even if I don’t get a positive response from him, whether or not he’ll join hands with the Heroine… is something that I want to know.

“Even so, there’s no guarantee that the Headmaster is completely safe, you know, Miss Camille.”

Beatrix was flustered, and tried to stop me.

“But… the ones that know about this at the moment, are only me, you, and the Heroine, right? And right now there’s no way that you can leave the castle.”

Beatrix is Royce-sama’s treasured fiancée.
She’s currently being targetted by the members of the Anti-King Faction who oppose Royce-sama as well as those old men who are trying to pair Royce-sama with their own daughters.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I don’t know as much about it as you do, Beatrix, but I do have knowledge of the game. Now that various things have diverged from the game, I don’t know how useful it’ll be though.”

“Miss Camille?”

“Like people say, ‘strike while the iron is hot’. I’m going to fly to the academy for a little, so…”

“Y-, You can’t, Miss Camille… Are you planning on sneaking out of the castle without the permission of your Danna-sama and His Highness Royce?”

“Ehhhhhh… But I mean, if Achille finds out then he’ll definitely oppose, after all.”

Because at any rate, I have too many previous offences.
If things go badly, this time he might realy lock me in my room.

“Isn’t that even more reason not to!?”

“B-, But…”

Although mumbling and making excuses, I left my seat.

“…Nn?”

My head kinda feels, more hazy than before. Did I catch a cold as well?
It felt like the moment I left my seat, my head suddenly grew even hazier.
Why is my body suddenly feeling so hot?

“Miss Camille? What’s the matter?”

Noticing that something was wrong, Beatrix peered in on my face with worry.

“Beatrix… Nn, my body is kinda,”

I tried reaching my hand out to her.
But before I could stretch out my whole arm, I collapsed towards her.

“M-, Miss Camille?”

“S-, Sor… ry”

I tried to part my body from Beatrix in a fluster, but I was finding it hard to muster the power.

This has happened before… Today was a lot better than that time though.
The incident with Dominique in the past floated into my head.
But ever since then, I should have abstained from drinking so… why?

Even today, I shouldn’t have drank anything but tea.
This Camille-body of mine is incredibly weak to alcohol after all.

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