Chapter 6: Love-Talk With the Girls

The graduation ceremony that I’d been dreading so much came and went without incident, so by next spring, I would start my second year of studies. And with my worries gone, I was now free to enjoy myself.

The sun shone gently onto the garden, the birds sang happily, and more and more couples started walking around the academy together. It was as if the whole world had come together to celebrate Katarina Claes’ success at avoiding all the Catastrophic Bad Ends.

I’m so happy... Uhm? Wait a second, why are there so many couples around?

“I heard that there always are more couples in spring,” said my childhood friend Mary, answering that very question.

The other girls and I were spending the day in Mary’s room, and the four of us were chatting together. Other than Mary and I, there was my other childhood friend Sophia and the Fortune Lover protagonist Maria, who had also become a good friend of mine.

During that pleasant all-girls tea party, I voiced my confusion about what I had noticed lately. “Is it just me, or are there more couples than usual around the academy?” Which is the question that prompted Mary’s answer.

“But why?” I pressed on. I was pretty sure they weren’t actually celebrating my victory over the Catastrophic Bad Ends. Actually, ever since Jeord took me as his fiancée to avoid lady suitors, the only romance I’d experienced was in my books... Are they doing this on purpose to taunt me?

“It could just be the season. A lot of animals breed in spring. And also, most high-ranking nobles become engaged when they’re still children, but the others start looking for fiancées after their debut in society, around the age that we are now. So these could be new couples, trying to get to know each other better.”

So it’s not about taunting me. That’s good.

And, while I wasn’t so sure what animals’ breeding had to do with anything, the part about getting to know each other better seemed to make sense. A lot of them seemed to show that cute awkwardness typical of fresh couples.

“New engagements! New couples! Oh, it’s so romantic!” said Sophia, who had also ignored the thing about animals.

“But I wonder... They’re political engagements, aren’t they? Is there really any romance in that?”

When Jeord proposed his engagement to me, my heart didn’t race with love, but with fear over what I should do next. Sophia, romantic as usual, looked disappointed after hearing my unromantic view.

Mary noticed and tried to brighten the mood. “It seems that nowadays many young people are choosing their partners out of their own will, however.”

“Really?” asked an excited Sophia.

“Yes. I’ve just heard of a lady who fell in love at first sight with a young man during her social debut ball. Struck by passion, she proposed to him.”

“Love at first sight and a passionate proposal... It’s so wonderful!” Sophia enthused.

“So even nobles marry out of love!” commented Maria in surprise.

Mary, well-informed on noble society as usual, explained that most marriages used to be political in the past, but that things were slowly changing now.

“Do you think the couples in the academy are of the love-marriage variety?” I asked her.

“Probably, yes,” Mary replied after thinking for a moment. “They look pretty close.”

If that were really the case, these would be the same type of lovers I used to frown upon with envy in my previous life. I had mixed feelings about seeing them enjoy their blooming youth like that. Before getting reincarnated here, I had only ever experienced love by proxy through my otaku media... Unfortunately, I died before I could ever go on a date with anyone.

And now in my second life, I was so busy dodging Catastrophic Bad Ends that, again, I had no time for romance. And the second that catastrophe was averted... couples everywhere. Sigh.

With four young girls getting together and chatting, you’d expect us to talk about love, but all we’d been talking about were topics like the vegetables in my field and the new dishes in the school dining hall. Why couldn’t we talk about something more... girly?

The one romantic topic we did discuss was novels, but even then, Sophia had recently started liking ones geared towards more mature women, and you could hear her using words like “affair,” “mistress,” and other things you wouldn’t expect a girl her age to say.

I finally realized that, just as in my previous life, I had been left behind in the race of love. But what about my friends? They all were incredibly beautiful, and with good personalities to boot. How could not a single one of them have romance in their lives? Or maybe they had partners, but hid them from me so that I wouldn’t feel left out. The more I thought about that possibility, the more likely it seemed... and the sadder it made me feel.

“So... don’t any of you have any romances going on?” I asked to fulfill my curiosity.

If they really were hiding their love stories out of consideration for me, I wanted them to stop. I just wanted to talk about romance like other girls my age.

It had taken some courage for me to ask about it so directly, but everyone just stared at me and tilted their heads, thinking in silence.

They really don’t have any? Or are they keeping it from me?

“M-Mary, I mean, you’re the focus of all the balls you go to... You must have a lot of boys approaching you!”

“...Approaching me?”

★★★★★★★

Katarina’s stare had put me on the spot.

“But I am already engaged to Prince Alan...”

“Yes, but don’t you ever get approached by a stunning boy at a ball?”

“...A stunning boy at a ball?”

Now that I thought of it, such a thing did occur quite often, despite the fact that I had a fiancé — Alan Stuart. It was only for show, but no one except me and the prince knew about this.

It was just last year that Alan, realizing his feelings for Katarina, suggested that we cancel our engagement. This did not surprise me, as I had always known that Alan was extremely candid for a noble. However, I refused and proposed that we stay formally engaged. Not because we had feelings for one another, but because it was just more convenient to do so.

Since he became my fiancé when we were eight years old, I had never disliked Alan; I was actually quite fond of his honest personality (which was a stark contrast with that of his cold, calculating twin).

But no one holds a place as large as Katarina in my heart. Had I not met her, I would have likely fallen in love with Alan, who was the closest person to me next to my family, and happily married him.

However, I had met someone unique and irreplaceable. A girl who changed me. A girl who saved me. I had never had feelings that strong for anyone before.

This was why I kept my engagement with Alan. The last thing I wanted was to marry someone and be forced to part with Katarina.

Despite this, for some reason, young men continued to approach me left and right. At first I was incensed, appalled that they would even come near a girl who was already engaged. But after attending many balls, I eventually realized that these people were not like the men in Sophia’s novels, falling in love at first sight and passionately proposing, trying to take me away from Alan. They only sought the thrill of unfaithfulness.

In our noble society, that was far from the exception. Although this was slowly changing, the norm was for young men and women to be forced to marry for political reasons, often to someone that they had no regard for at all. They took this to mean that once they had fulfilled their duties by giving birth to an heir, they could play around as much as they wanted. Nobles were much less loyal to their partners than commoners were.

As someone who was — to my displeasure — considered particularly attractive, I was the target of the advances of many such nobles.

Another reason for this could be the fact that I was not usually accompanied by Alan during the balls, even though he should have been my escort. (It was not that he would refuse if I asked him to, but attending solo was more convenient for snooping around...)

Usually, I would simply gracefully dodge the moves that any of those womanizers would try to put on me, but at the ball the other day I really risked getting into trouble...

The ball, a fairly large one, was close to its end.

“Come and keep me company! Just for a while!”

“Thank you, but I’m not interested.”

This young man, reminiscent of a downtown thug, had been approaching me so insistently that both my voice and choice of words had become a bit rough from my annoyance. Failing to notice that, either because of innate stupidity or because of how much wine he had drunk, the boy continued to pester me with his breath reeking of alcohol. And, what’s worse, he had somehow drawn me into a corner of the hall with no one around.

This isn’t good... Maybe I should stomp on his foot with my heel and run...

“You’ve come this far... might as well play with me, no?” he said with a creepy smile as he pinned me against a wall. I could hardly move and was completely terrified.

“What d’you think you’re doing to my fiancée?” said Alan, heroically coming to my rescue. He pulled my harasser away from me and stared at him menacingly. In response, he just stood there with his mouth open, trying to think of an appropriate excuse, before running away as fast as he could.

“Are you alright?” Alan asked me once I finally felt safe.

Taking a good look at him, I saw that he was out of breath. He must have run here to save me as soon as he saw that I was in trouble, I thought, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you,” I said, to which he blushed, turned away from me, and grunted a reply.

Perhaps he was childish, but I was glad to have him as my fiancé, even if it was just for show. And I wouldn’t tell anyone that, on that day, I felt something for Alan that I had never felt before.

As for the harasser, I had him swiftly removed from noble society.

Even searching through my memories, I couldn’t find any romantic stories like the ones that Katarina was looking for.

“...I do not believe I have had any episode of the sort...” I said, which made Katarina visibly disappointed.

Not without a hint of guilt, I passed the topic onto the friend sitting next to me. “Sophia, what about you?”

“Oh? ...Me?”

★★★★★★★

“Yes, what about you, Sophia?” Katarina asked me with a sparkle in her eyes.

“...Well, I...” If Mary, a lady amongst ladies, didn’t have any story that could satisfy Katarina... how could I?

To begin with, my situation was somewhat different from that of my friends. Because of my white hair and red eyes, I had always been seen as different, as an outcast. Before I knew it, I stopped leaving home for fear of the glances that people would throw my way.

It was only thanks to Katarina, who had praised my hair and eyes as beautiful, that I had started going out again. It was only then that I realized that not everyone looked at me with disgust.

That wasn’t enough to completely undo my years of fear, of course, and I still attended parties and balls as little as I could. Unlike beautiful ladies such as Katarina or Mary, no handsome boy would ever approach me at a ball.

Just a few days ago, during the ball held by my relatives...

Attending a ball for the first time in so long, I was happy to be escorted by my beloved brother. Unfortunately, as he still wasn’t engaged, he was one of the main targets for single ladies. He was snatched away by a group of avid girls as soon as he entered the hall, leaving me alone.

Katarina or Mary would normally be with me at balls, but in this small event hosted by an earl related to my family, I had no friends with me except for Nicol. The situation made me extremely anxious; I didn’t like crowded places, I didn’t like speaking with people I didn’t know, and I didn’t have the sociable personality to engage in conversation with just anybody.

I wanted to go home, but we had just arrived and I couldn’t leave my brother alone. So I just found myself a wall to lean on and waited for him there, motionless, hoping that no one would see me.

I was enjoying the ball, in a sense. I looked at the other young men and women interacting and romancing each other... when I noticed something.

Someone was looking at me. It was a group of boys around my age sitting at a table far from where I stood. They were looking at me while talking to each other. Initially I thought that it was just my imagination, but our eyes met a few times, and I became sure that they were talking about me.

What are they saying? From this distance, it looks as if they’re laughing. Are they laughing at how I look? I’m used to that sort of treatment; I have received it since I was little... The memories of my troubled childhood resurfaced, thoroughly killing any fun that I could have been having.

I should go home, I thought, when one of the boys from that table stood up and came walking towards me! Anticipating some insult along the lines of “Someone like you doesn’t belong at a ball,” which I had heard time and again as a child, my whole body tensed up.

The boy reached me, and so that I could ignore whatever terrible thing he was going to say, I started thinking of the sweetest scene in my favorite romance novel. So, the one where the prince falls in love with the lady at the ball and proposes to her on the spot. It went something like...

“...Excuse me. S-Someone as beautiful as yourself does not have to stay alone by the wall. W-Would you not dance with me?”

I was able to imagine that scene so clearly that it felt as if the boy in front of me had actually said it. My imagination really is incredible.

But, for much as I would have liked to, I couldn’t keep ignoring reality. After all, that boy was still standing in front of me... but what for? Had he insulted me already? I was so busy daydreaming that I hadn’t even heard him.

His face was surprisingly red. Is he ill? “...Are you feeling al...” I tried to say, when my brother, who had finally freed himself from the swarm of fans, returned with a concerned expression.

“...Won’t you reply to him?” he asked me.

“Reply? In response to what?” I replied. As the boy from before heard this, his face fell and he quickly retreated from the hall. “I wonder what was wrong with him...”

Nicol asked me to recount what had happened until now, and I explained that I had been pretending to be a piece of furniture when I was approached, and, fearing that I would be insulted, I began daydreaming (very vividly) to protect myself.

“I guess I must blame Katarina’s influence for this,” sighed my brother.

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I was happy that I had somehow been influenced by Katarina.

I tried searching my memories, including that ball, for any romantic story. But, unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything.

“...I’m afraid I have nothing...” I said to a disappointed Katarina.

But if there was a girl who was sure to have some such story, it was the beautiful, popular, and talented Maria.

“Maria, what about you?”

“Oh? ...Me?”

★★★★★★★

“Yes! A girl as pretty as you must get approached by boys all the time!” said Katarina, excited.

“...That’s not really...” I mumbled, struggling to find an answer.

As a commoner, I was different from the nobles around me. I didn’t attend balls like my friends did, so I didn’t really have the opportunity for romantic encounters in the first place. A normal commoner would have such chances at school or work, but because of my magical powers, I always stood out... so much so that I had no friends, let alone love interests.

Now, chatting happily with my wonderful friends felt like so much of a miracle that I didn’t really think of finding a boyfriend anymore. Of course, as the only commoner in the academy, the noble boys would never even take me into account.

It wasn’t that I had no interest in love; I enjoyed reading the romantic stories in the novels that my friends recommended to me, and I thought that being part of one would be a wonderful thing. But I was so happy with my life that I hardly felt like asking for more.

Only a year ago, I’d had to withstand bullying and insults. But now that I had Katarina and the others to protect me, I had nothing to fear anymore. They were all high-ranking nobles, and they were all enthusiastically on my side, Katarina especially so. She was like a hero from a book, saving a tormented damsel... Where before there were bullies, now there were more and more kind people.

One day, I had stayed behind in the classroom after the lesson to ask a question regarding something that I had not understood. After that, the teacher asked me to help with bringing some heavy things to the dormitory. I agreed without thinking twice about it, but after a while I could feel my arms getting tired. I regretted accepting the task unconditionally... I should have told the teacher that I could only bring half of it at once.

“Hey, what are you doing with that?” asked someone from behind me.

I turned around to see a boy from my class. “I was asked to bring this to the dormitory...” I replied, and he silently took the weight off my hands and started walking towards the dorms. This all happened so fast that I was utterly confused, and I ran after him.

“E-Excuse me...”

“To the dormitory, right?”

“Yes... Thank you.”

I had hardly ever spoken with him, and yet he was so kind to me. I thanked him with a smile and he bluntly muttered, “Sure.”

We walked together for a while, and I offered to bring at least some of those heavy things myself, but he refused. Just as we came close to the dormitory, he suddenly asked me a question. “Say, Maria, are you... are you seeing anyone in the student council?”

“Seeing anyone? What do you mean?”

“Like, you know, d-dating anyone...” he explained, blushing.

“D-Dating?! N-No, I don’t do anything like that...” I replied in flustered surprise.

“I see...” he murmured to himself, and then he went on, walking faster than before.

Actually, he had not been the first boy to be so kind to me as of late. Some would help me carry heavy things, just like he did, some would help me with my student council duties... They would all help me and then just disappear.

I came up with a theory as to why this was happening: Katarina and the others in the student council were very kind, and as they represented the whole academy, the other students were influenced by them.

Not only were my friends, who were now in their second year in the student council, wonderful people, but they even made those around them better...

I tried to search my memories for anything that could be interesting, but, unfortunately... “I don’t think I have any stories like that. Sorry, Katarina,” I apologized.

“There’s no reason to apologize! It’s not a problem at all!” she hurried to say.

★★★★★★★

After hearing the replies of Mary, Sophia, and Maria, I could only sigh.

I thought that they were just being considerate by keeping quiet about their romantic lives, but it turned out that they really were in the same boat as me... which still, somehow, made me glad that at least I wasn’t alone. If these three beauties couldn’t find any love, it just made sense that I, with this villainess face of mine, couldn’t either.

And a damsel in distressed being saved by a hero rushing in to save her, being proposed to by someone who fell in love at first sight with them at a ball, being loved by an army of boys, and then being treated nicely by everyone could make sense in a novel, but it was too unrealistic to happen outside of books. The best we could do here was to get together and talk romance.

I was relieved to know that everyone around me was as unfortunate with love as I was. Tomorrow I’d be able to focus my energy on tending to my field, as usual, as the couples breezed by.

Satisfied, I ate another cookie.