CH 3

The atmosphere that exuded from him was almost overwhelming.

Intelligent eyes. A presence that was hidden but overflowed from his position as a prince.

He looked at Sylvia with a stern expression, just as he said he hated people.

(Hiiiiiii[ 1 ], it's Arthur! He's real!)

I was in an otome game, hooray! But it was another thing to actually see a character.

Sylvia remembered the Fingertips Series, as she imagined his character. She gazed at Arthur's beauty and opened her mouth like a fool.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Heh, heh, heh!”

”........”

I was so surprised that I bit the insides of my mouth.

I felt my cheeks burning. I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl in a hole right now.

But most of all, I muttered, “Oh my God, I've met Arthur.”

The Fingertips series was a very simple game in which, after the opening, you followed the route of the first character you meet. (Except in the case of multiple strategies.)

That's why Sylvia was desperate to find Dietrich, but she didn't expect to meet Arthur before anyone else.

(But he was in the wrong place...)

The heroine and Arthur met on the balcony of the ballroom, where they talked to each other without knowing each other's identity, but somehow Arthur was here and Sylvia had already given her name.

(Not as planned. Ah, but the real thing is still cool)

A character I had only seen on a game screen, but now he was right in front of me, talking to me.

It was enough to fill Sylvia's heart with joy.

But there was no time to dawdle.

The flow of events was a little strange, but if it continued like this, she would be on Arthur's route.

He had such a beautiful face, but he was a freak of nature who could spin around until morning every day, and he really needed a break.

Anyway, the important thing now was to get out of here, go back to where I came from, meet Diedrich and do the first event.

Sylvia decided to do so and was about to open her mouth, but Arthur said before she could.

”...From the looks of you, you don't seem to be a suspicious intruder. Well, that's fine.

If you're going back to the ball, I'll be happy to give you a lift, though I'm not sure I want to.”

“No, no, no... its fine.”

I didn't want to cause another event with Arthur.

It was with this in mind that Arthur rolled his eyes, perhaps surprised that I had refused.

“Don't you want to? Even though I said I'd escort you?”

Was he saying that because he was a good-looking man, he couldn't be rejected?

If I didn't know any better, I would have been happy to ask him to escort me, but now I was not so sure I could nod. I managed to say something, though it was painful.

“Uh... Even though you're a knight, you cannot ask a stranger to do such a thing.

Besides, if I knew where it was, I could get there myself. Thank you very much for your kindness.”

I knew who he was.

Arthur was famous for being a prince who rarely appeared in public.

That's why just wearing a knight's uniform was a good disguise, but even if his face had changed, I would have recognized him.

It was impossible for me to mishear the voice of my favourite character.

Arthur tilted his head and nodded easily.

“Yes, I see. Well, if that's what you want, that's fine with me. I don't have time to waste, and I don't want you to waste your time.

The venue is just down the road on the right. There are a few bends along the way, but please ignore them all.”

“Thank you very much for your kindness. Sir Knight.”

His words were rather harsh, but Sylvia bowed in an unashamedly ladylike manner.

Sylvia was relieved to have gotten away with it, and turned to leave Arthur. But after a few steps, she was stopped by Arthur.

”...Just a minute, please.”

“Yes?”

When Sylvia looked back at him, wondering if there was anything more to it, Arthur looked surprised for some reason.

”...Sir Knight?”

“You... have a hairpiece?”

“Huh?”

Arthur was looking at the hair ornament that Sylvia was wearing.

She did not know why he was looking at it, and Sylvia tilted her head.

At that moment, the hairpiece shook with a flutter.

“Um? What's wrong with this hairpiece?”

”...The centre look damaged. Did you drop it somewhere?”

“Oh.”

Sylvia was relieved with Arthur's question.

It must have bothered him that the young lady, who did not look poor, was wearing a chipped hairpiece.

I thought it was just a scratch that no one would notice if they didn't get close to it, but he had a very good trait. He was truly remarkable.

“Well, it's not like I dropped it or anything. It was chipped a long, long time ago...”

“You're wearing a chipped hairpiece? You're intriguing.”

Sylvia, who had absolutely nothing to say in reply, could only smile.

”...It's a treasured keepsake. If you don't think it's worthy, I promise I won't wear it to any more of my soirées, so can't you just give it a miss tonight?”

No one had ever accused me of anything before, so I hadn't bothered.

But even though a chipped hairpiece was an inconspicuous blemish, wearing it to an evening party might have been unorthodox.

Especially as he was a prince, even if he didn't say his name. It might have been rude to let him see myself.

Sylvia decided to apologise quietly so as not to cause a stir, but Arthur shook his head.

“No... those flowers look very nice on you. I don't think it's disrespectful. It's ...small, but a scratch is a scratch. I can give you a new one if you'd like?”

“Huh?”

Sylvia's eyes widened at his unexpected words.

His attitude was completely different from before.

Sylvia carefully chose her words, while being surprised at Arthur, who had offered a gift to the person he met for the first time.

“No, I'm not wearing it because I want something new, I'm wearing it because I love it and it's important to me.

It has to be this one, otherwise it's useless.”

This was the hair ornament that I had been using since before I regained my memories.

If I wanted a new one, I would have bought one long ago. Somehow, Sylvia knew that she didn't want to replace it or throw it away.

“I'm sorry. But I really can't throw this. Besides—I can't ask you to do that to someone you've never met before.”

Sylvia's words were too obvious, and Arthur blinked and nodded.

“Yes... I was the one who was ungrateful. I thought it would look better on you if it was unscathed, because you are so beautiful. I'm sorry I spoke out of turn.”

”...No, it was a pleasure. Thank you very much. That's all I needed to hear.”

Although she managed to calm her composure, Sylvia was deeply impatient.

(Why? Why are you suddenly talking about this? What's beautiful!

No matter how easy the game is, I'd have to go through at least a few fixed events before he'd say something like this, wouldn't I?

I mean, I'm not going to go down Arthur's route! I don't know what you're talking about! I don't know about this event!!)

[ 1 ] Just imagine any fangirling squealing sound ┐(シ)┌