#60: Chapter 60 — The Gloomy Maid in the Teen Romance Simulation Game is Actually A Guy

“Why are you saying I can’t go?!”

“You don’t seriously think we’re going there for a vacation, do you? Have some conscience.”

Ilian argued that Kalat, a non-combat member, would only be a hindrance and told him to return to the Holy State. Kalat resisted fiercely, claiming that was absurd.

“Saintess…! You said you needed me, didn’t you…!”

Am I the target this time?

I narrowed my brows and put on a look of regret.

“I am well aware of your abilities, Priest Kalat, and your contribution back at the County. However, I am worried. That place will be incomparably more dangerous than the County.”

-Is this the end for Uncle Kalat? :(

-I actually grew fond of him

Kalat had established himself as a pushover ‘uncle’ character on the stream, and the viewers who liked him expressed their disappointment.

To ensure my affection points didn’t drop, I soothed the dejected Kalat by framing it as my wish for him to stay safe in the Holy State. Thus, it was decided that a lonely Kalat would return to the Church headquarters.

“Sniff… You must stay safe…! The Saintess, Sir Hereis, and even Sir Arianne…!”

“What about me?”

“You can look after yourself.”

-lol karma

And two weeks later. After riding hard, we arrived at Edelina’s home, the Marquisate of Peyers.

“It’s quite a unique mansion…?”

Ilian looked on with curiosity at the silhouette of the desolate stone walls visible from a distance. The protagonist let out a small chuckle and monologued to himself.

[ The House of Peyers is a long-standing ally of the Rubel Duchy. Like the Rubels, the Marquis’s family is responsible for defending the outer borders of the Empire.]

[ 'The Rubel Duchy is the first line of defense, and the other allied houses are the second.' ]

[ Thanks to that, the two families have maintained a close relationship, exchanging knowledge on how to deal with magic beasts since the old days. ]

[ 'The exchange meetings were usually held at the Duchy, and that’s where I met Edelina.' ]

[ The Marquis always brought Edelina to the meetings, saying he couldn’t leave her alone. The adults paired us up since we were the same age, and we became close because of it. ]

[ Edelina was so cute back then. ]

“The Marquisate, much like the Duchy, is within the influence of the Dark Forest. It was built like a fortress to prepare for magic beast raids. Though a separate wall was built long ago, so it isn’t used for that purpose anymore.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Oh my, it seems they’ve come out to greet us. How kind.”

Just as Arianne said, Edelina and her father were standing by what appeared to be the main gate, accompanied by their attendants.

“You’ve all worked hard traveling such a long way.”

The man who welcomed us with a benevolent tone, Marquis Peyers, looked exactly like Edelina. He had straight violet hair, blue eyes, and a gentle-looking face.

-Where are the mother’s genes?

-Fr lol

We gave brief introductions. For now, I was set up as Ilian’s maid. The reason was… well, the explanation was too complicated. The party members shook hands with the Marquis and Edelina, and the Marquis caught up with the protagonist on things they hadn’t discussed.

“It’s been a long time, Hereis. I… I’m truly sorry about Sir Robert. I should have gone myself, I really am sorry.”

As the Marquis’s blue eyes clouded with sadness, Hereis waved his hand, saying it was fine.

“You don’t need to say that. Edelina did a great job in your place.”

“I see…”

“And you haven’t changed a bit, Uncle.”

“Is that so?”

Marquis Peyers let out a mischievous laugh and then made eye contact with Arianne to greet her.

“I welcome you as well, Sir Arianne. Is Count Blair doing well?”

The Marquis seemed to be acquainted with Arianne’s father as well. He acknowledged her, and Arianne responded with a slight bow of her head.

“It is an honor to meet you, Marquis. I’ve heard about you several times from my father. He said you are a diligent and clever man who is always an example to others.”

“Hahaha! Did Count Blair really say that? Tell him I said thank you!”

The Marquis cracked up even at the textbook flattery.

“Sir Ilian, it is an honor to meet you too. I’ve heard much of the Berha Knights’ reputation.”

“Haha, thank you.”

“Ah, right. Congratulations to everyone on receiving your medals. You’ve done a great thing. You are the heroes who saved our Empire. If that contamination had spread further, the damage would have been catastrophic…”

“Ah… no. Others worked much harder than we did.”

The protagonist said this while glancing briefly at me. Was he trying to give me the credit? I couldn’t tell.

“Hey now, there’s no need to be humble about this! It was such a great achievement that His Majesty the Emperor even considered granting territory! We’re hosting such heroes in such a humble way…”

As the Marquis’s words dragged on, Edelina cut in. It was a perfect timing.

“Hereis. You have no idea how surprised I was when you suddenly said you wanted to come. Come on in. Sir Arianne and Sir Ilian as well.”

“Ah, right. Come in. I was absentmindedly keeping you all standing here.”

“Hehe. Not at all.”

As we entered the mansion under their welcome, Marquis Peyers stuck close to the protagonist’s side and whispered in a low voice so the others couldn’t hear. Arianne, with her sharp hearing, seemed to be within range to listen. For the record, I was listening through the Omniscient Viewer Perspective.

“By the way, Hereis. Taking a vacation to travel with Sir Arianne… You two aren’t in some kind of relationship, are you?”

-Arianne’s face is turning red lol cute

-I think she can hear them lol

“U-Uncle! It’s not like that. Sir Ilian and Belita are here too, you know.”

Arianne looked a bit dejected because the protagonist denied it so firmly. Ouch.

“Belita? Are you talking about that black-haired maid? For you to call her by her first name… Don’t tell me Sir Arianne wasn’t enough?”

“No, it’s not like that…”

-Look at him lying through his teeth

-Deception lol

“Then why is it? Do you have any idea how upset our Edel has been because of your letter saying you were coming with Sir Arianne?”

Because he kept pestering, the protagonist looked troubled before finally giving a reluctant answer.

“I’ll explain everything in detail in a little bit.”

The Marquis didn’t hide his displeasure at the unsatisfying response.

“…Fine. I suppose there’s some complicated reason. I’ll leave it at that for now.”

-Why does the Marquis seem more interested in the protagonist than Edelina is?

Actually, what you see is likely the truth. While he surely wants his precious only daughter, Edelina, to marry a good childhood friend, the biggest issue is the succession of the Marquisate. If Edelina doesn’t inherit the title and marries another young noble, the House of Peyers would have to bring in a successor from a branch line or adopt one. It’s only natural to want the title to continue through one’s own bloodline. Marquis Peyers felt the same, which is why he hoped Edelina would bring in a stellar son-in-law to be married into the family. The conditions: he must not be a successor to another house, and he must have the strength to protect the Marquisate.

‘That’s exactly the protagonist.’

The protagonist is a young man who fits those conditions perfectly without a single flaw.
He’s a promising knight, and the Duchy has already fallen to Jeffrey Rubel. Plus, he’s been close with Edelina since they were kids, so his character is vetted.

‘Maybe the person who wants Edelina and the protagonist to get together most desperately right now is the Marquis.’

But while he’s been eyeing the protagonist as a potential son-in-law, the guy suddenly visits the mansion with other women?

The Marquis is probably even more distraught over the protagonist’s “woman problems” than Edelina is.

-But if even the Marquis feels this way, isn’t this going to be misunderstood in the Knights’ Order too?

-Two people putting in vacation requests at the same time? A man and a woman? People are definitely gonna be like “What’s going on between them?” It’s a total setup.

…In order to match the schedule I required, the two of them inevitably had to extend their post-medal ceremony vacations at the same time. The Knights’ Order really is going to think something is suspicious at this rate.

‘Now that I think about it, in Arianne’s route, the guy who played matchmaker for them was Frederick.’

If this reaches Frederick’s ears…

“Did you hear? The two of them took a vacation and went to see the Nilcaron Sea together. How romantic!”

Starting with that…

“Sir Hereis. Our Sir Arianne… doesn’t the way she looks at you seem a bit… intense?”

“If those two marry, their child will surely be a talent capable of conquering the continent! They’ll inherit the talent of both parents! And I shall be the mentor…!”

I can clearly see him spreading rumors like that. When a lovey-dovey atmosphere is formed within the Knights’ Order, Arianne’s affection goes up. When I was playing the game, I used to earn Arianne’s affection easily thanks to that old man, but right now, I don’t appreciate that meddling at all. I’m starting to dread going back…

‘It’s not like I can tell them to quit their jobs.’

“…Everyone.”

…?

-??

-What’s up?

“Seeing Edelina’s face makes me waver.”

-Huh?

-Dude

“Should I just go for the Edelina route?”

What on earth is he talking about?

Good grief. I wondered why he was acting so solemn, and this is the crap he says?
When Mo Je-won first started the dating sim, he said he wasn’t good at this, but now he’s developed his own stubborn tastes.

-You said you were doing the Hidden Route, stay focused;;

-Edelina is great too, though

I need to remind him to focus on the current goal.

[ ‘Sincere Life’ has donated 100,000 won ]

[ We finally got into the Hidden Route, let's look at this first ]

“Ah~ Sincere Life-nim! Thanks for the 100,000 won donation! You’re right, we have to see the Hidden Route first. That’s the right call.”

lol solved with money
As expected, the “sincere” opinions come from Sincere Life-nim
Such an easy(?) man

As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, now I have to keep Mo Je-won on a tight leash in case he changes his mind. I can’t let my guard down for a second.

“Hereis. Let’s talk for a second.”

The stream turned on while I was washing up in my assigned room. As a side note, in this world, noble bathrooms have showers with adjustable hot water. That means you don’t have to manually fetch water to fill a tub or wash in a freezing river.

‘Thank you, developers… wait, actually, I’m not thankful…’

Just as I was about to lose myself in the bliss of the warm water, the protagonist and Edelina appeared on the screen. Edelina grabbed the passing protagonist’s arm and pulled him into an empty room.

“So, Hereis, tell me honestly. Why are you here? And with… Sir Arianne, of all people.”

A monologue floated over the protagonist’s troubled expression.

[ Hereis recalled the contents written at the end of the Saintess’s letter. She asked him to keep the revelation a secret unless it was an unavoidable situation... ]

Right. And that wasn’t just to isolate the protagonist so he couldn’t get help from other factions besides me.

‘Especially in Edelina’s case, he absolutely shouldn’t tell her.’

The reason for that is… Edelina is an infidel who doesn’t believe in the Church of Ralphican.