Chapter 73

While having tea with Cerea, we're reflecting on everything so far.

We're going over all the events and routes again.

For example, with the dimwit role played by Pical, if Pical becomes more popular than me, the prince, as the "prince of the drama club" in the school, the villainous lady Cerea, who finds this uninteresting, tries to bring down Pical's popularity by interfering with the school play and causing all sorts of trouble for the heroine.

There's a scene where Pical saves the heroine from a collapsing stage set, shouting "Danger!" ... Wow, that's quite detailed.

But how can a student like Cerea collapse the set? What kind of masked villain is she?

The prince, who originally had no interest in his fiancée Cerea, learns about her actions at the graduation condemnation event and gives up on her, leading to the Colette family's downfall after the engagement is broken off.

"That's not happening. Cerea, you wouldn't be jealous just because Pical became more popular than me, right?"

"I wouldn't."

Yeah, you wouldn't. It doesn't matter if Pical is popular or not.

In the case of Powell, the musclehead, after Powell defeats the prince in the school martial arts tournament and wins, Cerea, out of spite, tells the heroine, "Tell him to lose on purpose in the next tournament!" The heroine, after much deliberation, doesn't say anything and cheers him on instead. Cerea gets furious about this and causes all sorts of trouble.

The scene where Powell, about to lose to me in the tournament, is cheered on by the heroine shouting, "Win! Mr. Powell!" and makes a comeback to win is said to be one of the best scenes in the game.

The rest is the same as with Pical. The ending where I give up on Cerea.

"This isn't happening either. He can't beat me, and I'm not participating in the tournament anymore."

"Right!"

Cerea chuckles.

Disguised as "Ninja Man," I collapse the stage with a single strike, breaking my sword before the heroine can even shout, making it completely unexciting.

In the case of Hartis, the intellectual, Hartis and the heroine study together and become close, with Hartis surpassing my grades and the heroine surpassing Cerea's. Cerea, finding this impertinent, starts to interfere and cause trouble in their studies. It's so straightforward...

"...This is the least likely to happen."

I don't tell Cerea, but Hartis secretly likes her. I feel sorry for her. I hope he finds a new love. As long as it's not the heroine.

"Basically, I don't care at all about Cerea's grades. I'd rather she enjoy her school life normally, even if her grades are bad."

"Thank you... But I want you to encourage me."

"You're so serious, Cerea."

"Because you work hard, I can too. Praise me sometimes."

"I always do?"

"Not like that..."

Okay, okay.

I pull her close and pat her head. We can't be too affectionate in public, so this is one of the rare times...

"Jack's route is also gone, right?"

"It's gone. It's reassuring to watch."

In Jack's route, the heroine approaches Jack, who already has a fiancée named Sylpha, and Cerea, upset that a commoner is after a noble with a fiancée, causes all sorts of trouble.

Jack, tired of the arranged engagement, is moved by the heroine's words that "nobles should be able to fall in love freely" and becomes deeply involved with her. The transformation from Jack's coldness to warmth is what fans love.

This has nothing to do with me, so Cerea's actions are just bullying. I don't understand why she's upset, but maybe she can't afford to set a precedent of "engagement breakups" with a noble in the same class.

"Jack really loves Sylpha, you know."

"Really, he does!" Cerea laughs.

It was unexpected that Sylpha would have such large breasts and that Jack would be into them.

When I teased him about it, he blushed and said, "It's not like I like Sylpha just because she has big breasts."

"Fine, I'm into big breasts. When I see Sylpha's, any woman would think, 'I can't compete with that.' Sylpha isn't that smart, isn't of high noble status, and isn't incredibly beautiful. But if I say I like big breasts, no one can complain. So I'm into big breasts!"

Phew. The heroine would lose her fighting spirit with those breasts. Good job, Sylpha.

"Spalutz's route is also completely gone."

Spalutz, the biology teacher, has a forbidden romance with the heroine, and Cerea, who notices this, causes all sorts of trouble for the heroine.

I have no idea why Cerea is involved here. I think it's the least important route.

"If you don't like it, just tell the principal. What a strange villainess..."

"She's a villainess, after all..."

Spalutz, instead of being a teacher, is now the head researcher at the academy. He and his wife Jane are very happy. The heroine has nothing to do with him anymore.

Spalutz, in addition to his medical research, is working on establishing "contraceptive techniques" since he's married. What a guy...

He and his wife are experimenting every night, collecting data on when to do it and when not to. Women have fertile and infertile periods, and he's trying to prove this. He's collecting data from other married faculty members. Oh my...

When I visited the academy recently, he started explaining this to us, making Jane and Cerea turn red.

That's what scholars are like... I just want them to have normal children and a happy family.

...But I might want to know the results of the research.

"Still, in every route, Cerea always appears. Good job."

"What is it about being a villainess...? When playing the game, it was really frustrating. But I think players feel satisfied seeing the villainess condemned at the end."

"The only one unrelated to Cerea is the cool guy."

Fried, the cool guy, has no conflict of interest with me, the prince, or Cerea, my fiancée. However, when he finds the heroine being bullied, he starts investigating the culprit. Through this process, he bonds with her, decides to protect her, and transforms from a cool guy to a passionate one. In Fried's route, he gathers evidence and concludes that Cerea is the bully, leading to her condemnation at the graduation party.

In other words, to pursue Fried, the heroine must be bullied by Cerea, just like pursuing me.

"...Even if I don't bully the heroine, someone in the school will."

"Right. She might have rumors posted on her back, her textbooks torn, her dance costume ripped, or water thrown on her. I think she faces many issues we don't know about, but it's not Cerea doing it."

"Even if I don't do it, will I be blamed?"

"I don't think so. Cerea isn't doing it, and we're always seen together, so she doesn't have the time. There are no lackeys who follow her every word like in the game."

"I hope so..."

Cerea doesn't have lackeys like in the game. Sylpha is her best friend, and she gets along with the girls in the literature club, but she keeps her distance from the girls in the same class who try to get close to her.

At first, the girls in the class found this a bit amusing. Since they are classmates with the prince and future princess, they want to get close and become popular.

But since we don't act superior, they can't form a group of high-ranking nobles and stand at the top of the school hierarchy.

So, the girls who thought, "Let us have our fun too," might be disappointed.

Because of this, Cerea knows that there are rumors about her being "boring," "too ordinary," and "not matching the prince."

But I wouldn't like a Cerea who stands at the top of the school and wields power as a villainess. I like her as a normal girl.

...If Cerea were a villainess like in the game, I might have disliked her and fallen for the heroine, who is a common girl. The heroine is too beautiful to be a common girl, but that's just how it is in the game.

"But, the cool guy has seen us helping the heroine multiple times. If he starts suspecting Cerea, he must be crazy."

Actually, Cerea and I have prevented many bullying events involving the heroine.

This is a new development. Since Cerea isn't involved with the heroine and doesn't bully her, many events that should have started haven't.

The heroine might be thinking, "Why isn't that villainess bullying me? No events are happening! My affection points aren't going up!" Ha ha ha!

"As for me, I have no connection with the heroine at all."

"Shin-sama, you stubbornly refuse to remember the heroine's name..."

Exactly. If I remember it, it might trigger a meeting event, and we might become acquainted, leading to more flags.

So, in this game, the heroine and I aren't even acquaintances.

This avoidance method seems very childish, but it's effective since there haven't been any events related to me.

"Do I even have any events?"

"You do. I took them."

"Really! What kind of events!?"

"...Do you remember when you came to visit me for the first time?"

"Oh, when Cerea said she was the villainess in the game?"

"Yes, you offered me sweets and ate them yourself."

"Oh, I remember that..."

"There's a scene where the prince eats the sweets the heroine brings without hesitation, and I get angry, saying, 'How dare you let the prince eat lowly food without a taste test!' Then you say, 'I trust her. A taste test isn't necessary,' protecting the heroine."

Wow.

"From then on, you only eat food that the heroine has tasted."

Hmm, that's pretty bad, even in the game.

"Yeah... I eat anything Cerea brings."

"When you ate the sweets, it was exactly like when the heroine brings homemade sweets in the game."

I remember Cerea suddenly crying and saying, "I've seen this event before."

"You eat without manners, without plates or forks, right there. You only do that with someone you trust."

"Why did Cerea cry then...?"

Cerea clings to me, sitting next to me.

"Oh, this person eats the heroine's sweets like this. I thought, 'This must be the game world, I'm the villainess, and this person will condemn and abandon me.'"

Cerea's insistence on being the one to taste-test for me was because of this.

Anyone could do the taste test. This old custom is unnecessary, and no one would complain.

If the food were poisoned, Cerea would die first.

She knew this and still did it, risking her life to protect me.

I thought it was just a childish game, but it wasn't. She was determined to be the only one to do this.

"Thank you, Cerea..."

"Huh?"

"For always being the one to taste-test for me, without fail."

Cerea turns red.

"I should taste-test for you too."

And I kissed her.

This world, whether it's a game or not, I don't know.

At least, I don't think this world is a game.

Me, a game character? Impossible. Ridiculous.

However, I have to admit that the events around the heroine are unfolding as Cerea described in the game. Only that part is like a game.

Cerea is a person from this world, not a reincarnated person.

She just remembered her past life when she turned ten.

That's what I think.

I will prove it.

By saving Cerea from such a fate.

Next: "73. Bullying, Recurrence"