#45: Chapter 45 — The Villainess Doesn't Know the Prince's True Nature (WN)

Heroine.

That was the position every girl dreamed of. Surrounded by handsome men, loved and adored by all. A bright, kind, and beautiful maiden.

Anyone would want to scream and ask where such a flawless human being actually existed. I understood. There was a time when I hated game heroines because they felt so fake.

Yet, they did exist. Heroines were real. Rare pink hair, large glowing golden eyes, and red lips that stood out against snow-white skin. A true princess. How lovely and adorable.

You’re quite cute. Who might you be?

I tried to say that, but stopped myself.

The surface of the lake, acting as a mirror, reflected a pink-haired girl. Naturally, there was no one else here.

The wind blew, and the water rippled. I fell into a sensation of my brain being shaken around violently. The massive flow of information rushing in made me dizzy. The beautiful girl reflected on the water’s surface also twisted her face in pain. Stop it, please stop…

Unable to face reality, I crouched down. What on earth. I was… I was…

“A heroine, seriously…?”

I let out a deep sigh alongside a crude string of words.

It seemed I had been reincarnated as a heroine.

I figured the heroine of this world vanished the moment I remembered my past life. That was because a heroine had to be bright, kind, and modest. I knew that for a fact because it was written in my heroine bible.

Unfortunately, however, I did not have an ounce of modesty in me. Furthermore, my kindness was only at a normal, average level.

It was not as though I never thought, “What if this world goes crazy because of me?!” but what was done was done after all. It wasn’t like I had done it on purpose, and it must have been that kind of fate. When it came to things like this, accepting it gracefully was the smartest move. I definitely wasn’t just abandoning my train of thought halfway through.

This personality of mine came from my past life. I had forgotten my past name, but I recalled it being a descendant of a samurai family whose household motto was “Push through the path you believe in.” Whether being descended from samurai was actually true or not, I didn’t know, but they were a hot-blooded family. What a nuisance.

As the eldest daughter of that household, I was terribly strong-willed. I refused to bend myself for anyone. On top of that, I was inflexible. To put it nicely, I had a core; to put it bluntly, I was stubborn. To begin with, I had few friends. No, let me be clear. I had none.

Except for one person.

I couldn’t remember that best friend’s name either, but she was a genuinely good person. Being a great listener, she was my emotional anchor.

She looked after me until the very end when I was completely isolated from those around me, and she always listened to my worries. Though I was fine being alone, she worried about me over various things. Now, I realized I must have caused her a lot of trouble.

Though I would never tell her directly, I respected my best friend. The distance between us was just right—close enough to trade insults and laugh about being frenemies or bad influences, without prying too deeply into each other’s lives or letting anyone pry too deeply into our own. It was a refreshing relationship, but we knew each other well enough to call each other true best friends.

When that best friend of mine claimed she experienced a bad breakup, I recommended a game while laughing my head off: The Symphony Weaving with You.

It was what you called an otome game.

The setting was a fantasy world inspired by medieval Europe. It had a nobility system and royalty, but since an otome game required dreams, there was no brutal dictatorship or people relieving themselves by the roadside. Besides, it had a rather strong Japanese flavor anyway. I kept wondering why it even needed to be medieval, but well, having nobles and royalty was apparently necessary.

Honestly, it was immensely fun. It didn’t require much brainpower, and above all, the art was gorgeous. It had a good reputation and sold well, so I tried it out on a whim and got seriously hooked. I dragged my best friend into it as well.

There were four capture targets in total. Because the number was small, the story was rich, so I didn’t feel any lack of content. There was a scheming black-bellied glasses intellectual, a childhood friend who was a handsome knight, a clingy puppy-type playboy, and my beloved oshi. The yandere second prince, Dylan Vermelio.

He was probably the most extreme, and his content was the heaviest among all the princes. And yet, he was the hardest one to stumble into a bad end with. Huh? You thought he’d drag you into a bad end immediately because he was a yandere? How naive, utterly naive.

This prince was exceptionally smart. He was a strategist skilled enough to surpass the black-bellied glasses intellectual. He closed off all your escape routes before you even noticed, and before you knew it, lo and behold. The heroine would fall for the prince as well, leading straight to a happy ending.

The players were left baffled. What on earth was this? You weren’t capturing him—you were the one being captured instead?!

Despite representing the yandere archetype, he didn’t actually go crazy in a destructive way. Huh, was the heroine just way too easy? I had thought that, but no. It was more like the choices kept dwindling. The closer you got to the ending, the more you were forced to move exactly as the prince said. What was going on?!

I learned later on that this prince’s route had numerous branching paths, and the story after each branch was meticulously crafted.

Moreover, there were only three paths where he actually turned yandere. You had no choice but to advance without making a single wrong choice.

That was impossible. There was no way anyone could do that.

I played through it countless times. Honestly, I was already sick of refreshing princes. I wanted to see it! Wake up, Prince!

Driven by that single desire, I scoured the internet. Finding the answers here felt like losing and left me deeply frustrated, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

And somehow, I managed to find the three walkthrough methods. Driven by who knows what, I chose the heaviest yandere route.

Frankly, I regretted it. It was way too terrifying. That thing felt otherworldly. Even the bad end had an even worse conclusion. Being locked up and violated. That game really needed an age rating. Since explicit descriptions were avoided, the horror elements carried the weight. I was not to blame for screaming at the top of my lungs and pulling the plug on the power halfway through.

I developed a half-baked trauma from it, realizing just how happy a happy ending truly was. I would never wish for a bad end again.

Leaving out the prince, who was my oshi, was extremely disappointing, but I just couldn’t bring myself to pursue him. It felt as though I was being rolled around in the palm of his hand.

There was also the option of pursuing no one, but just in case, I should probably decide whose route to enter. After all, I was the heroine, and you never knew what might happen. A great feature of this game was that once you entered someone’s route, it didn’t interfere with any of the other routes at all.

The prince was naturally out of the question. Approaching someone like that was asking for trouble. Next was the black-bellied glasses intellectual who served as the prince’s aide. He was disqualified too. We would never get along because we were both stubborn. I didn’t want the clingy puppy-type playboy either… I hated playboys. Even though he would fall madly and faithfully in love with the heroine, he had a criminal record as a player, so that was a hard pass.

…Which meant only one person remained. My best friend’s oshi, the childhood friend and handsome knight, Ashwad Crillver.

Hm, my dear bad influence of a friend had pretty decent taste. He was the most normal and sincere out of the four. If I had to choose someone while considering the distant future, he was by far the most realistic person.

I was turning five years old this year. Meeting Ashwad should happen very soon.

Thinking so leisurely was what I had been doing half a year ago. Already half a year had passed. I couldn’t believe it. My fifth birthday had long since passed, and I figured it was about time to get acquainted with Ashwad.

Wait, did that mean my inner self had to be a heroine too, or else it wouldn’t work? If the prince’s route was blocked off, I suppose I was fine with that.

Exhaling a sigh, I headed toward the usual forest lake. That was the only place where my heart could find peace. I had remembered my past life right there, so I felt a strong attachment to it.

Above all, my parents had already passed away, and I was currently imposing on my father’s younger brother’s household, which made things terribly uncomfortable. It wasn’t as though they directed explicit malice toward me, but apparently my father had married my mother against everyone’s objections, and my hair color—which strongly inherited my mother’s traits—seemed to be shunned.

“I happen to like this hair color of mine though.”

Twirl-twirling my hair around my fingers, I pulled up some weeds growing nearby to float them as grass boats or tried blowing into a blade of grass to make a grass flute. Thinking that heroines were probably good at music, I idly blew into the grass flute, even though I wasn’t particularly good at it.

“….How troublesome.”

Being a heroine was no fun at all.

That was what I had deeply felt over the past six months. Naturally, a heroine faced countless obstacles. It wasn’t fun right now either, but once I entered the academy, villainous young ladies and the like would appear. There was no way I could play the part of a pitiful young lady. My hands would probably start moving before my words did.

As I lay flat on my back, narrowing my eyes against the dazzling sunlight, a rustling sound of grass swaying came from the direction of the forest. Panicking, I jumped up and checked my surroundings, spotting black hair near the bushes.

“Who’s there? Peeping isn’t very polite, you know.”

Don’t disturb my peace. Putting that sentiment into a glare directed at the black hair, the person cautiously revealed their appearance to me. I widened my eyes at the figure who emerged.

A boy of about my age with bluish-black hair and blue-green eyes. He was fidgeting and turning red with embarrassment.

“You… are…”

To think I would meet him right here.

“S-Sorry…”

The boy apologizing with a weak, tearful face didn’t look like he would ever become a knight in the future.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had dropped out of nowhere. I screamed in my heart that I had to seize it.

“I’m Aria. And you?”

When I stared closely at him, he trembled in surprise before opening his mouth timidly.

“I… I’m Ashwad. Ashwad Crillver…”

I somehow managed to catch his fading voice. It really was him. The handsome knight. Even as a child, his features were recognizable. As expected of a capture target, he was strikingly good-looking.

As we stared blankly at each other, I snapped back to my senses. This was no time to be dazed! I had to build a relationship with Ashwad right here. What did the heroine say again?

“Ah, um… Ashwad… kun, are you by yourself?”

I hoped you could overlook my slight communication disorder. Even in my past life and this one, I was fundamentally a loner.

“Um… yeah…”

Ashwad gave a vague and halting response.

Before even a few minutes passed, a heavy silence settled in. This silence was painfully dull. Yet, I couldn’t afford to give up here. If I missed this chance, my interactions with Ashwad would be virtually nonexistent. In other words, the Ashwad route would be closed.

I steeled my resolve.

“Ashwad, I’m always alone and bored too. Won’t you be my friend?”

That should have been a beaming smile. An angelic smile brought to life by making full use of the heroine’s face. Hey, at least react to it, will you.

Though I had mustered up all my courage, all that followed was silence. Was this some kind of penalty game? I didn’t need to say out loud how much I was tilting my head inwardly.

“…You don’t… have friends?”

Shall I just hand those exact words right back to you?

“Nope, none.”

I turned away indifferently, showing no interest. Since you’re bound to be a gentleman, you’ll surely understand my intent and become my friend without asking any questions. He was a future knight, after all.

“Why?”

….Was this guy really going to become a knight? Or were five-year-olds just universally this devoid of tact? It had to be the latter. My spirit was getting thoroughly crushed.

“Because they say my hair is creepy.”

That wasn’t a lie. Everyone in the village called it creepy. My mother apparently came from outside this village, which seemed to make her even more disliked.

“I think it’s pretty.”

Before I knew it, Ashwad was sitting right next to me. His voice was closer than I expected, startling me.

“I want to be friends, too.”

Ashwad smiling shyly looked like an angel. The destructive impact was immense. Even if he lacked tact.

And thus, I successfully managed to plunge straight into the Ashwad route.

“Does Az want to become a knight?”

By now, the times we gathered together here had exceeded the number of fingers on both hands, and we had grown close enough to address each other by nicknames. I spread a picture book I must have brought from home across my lap, staring intently at a brave hero fighting a dragon.

“Don’t you think it’s cool?”

“Yeah, it’s cool.”

I nodded honestly. Indeed, a hero (knight) slaying a dragon was cool. Any boy would dream of it at least once. Just like how girls wanted to become princesses.

“Don’t you think it’s weird?”

“Eh? Why would it be?”

Why on earth would it be weird? Besides, as a matter of fact, he would become a knight in the future, so nothing about it was unnatural.

“I’m a noble, even if just by name…”

Ah, I understood once he put it that way. Az was a regional aristocrat who governed this territory. If he became a knight, his status would drop to that of a quasi-noble, but his own opinion on the matter was what should be respected.

As a side note, I had once asked him if it was really okay for him to hang out with a commoner like me so frequently. He had replied that it was a secret excursion. I figured I had built a fairly amicable relationship with Az.

“So what if you’re a noble? If that’s what Az wants to be.”

I didn’t know much about noble affairs. But there was no harm in letting him dream for now.

“…Thank you.”

Az smiled happily.

“There’s someone I want to protect.”

“Someone you want to protect?”

I had assumed he wanted to be one simply because he admired the hero in the picture book. I was surprised to find he had such a solid reason.

Az hugged the book tightly and buried his face in his legs in embarrassment. Even when I pressed him on who it was, he wouldn’t say a word. When he just smiled and told me it was a secret, I couldn’t bring myself to ask any further.

Just how many years had passed since then?

I had grown close enough to Az that I could proudly call him my childhood friend. Az seemed serious about wanting to become a knight, and ever since that day, he started swinging his sword by the lake. Doing it at home would draw too much attention, so this place apparently worked best for him. His short stature had shot up rapidly, and his once childish features had grown dignified.

So people really do grow up, I thought lazily as I watched Az swing his sword with one hand.

“Az, you’ll be entering the academy soon, won’t you?”

It was still a few years away, but time would surely fly by in an instant. Wait, what on earth would I do if I couldn’t even get into the academy?

The heroine is recognized for her musical talent and adopted by the Plata family, allowing her to enter the academy. Right now, playing an instrument is out of the question. The most she can do is tootle on the ocarina Az had given her.

“That’s still a ways off, isn’t it?”

Az’s blunt reply somehow makes me feel sad. Ah, he’s grown up so much…

“Besides, I’m thinking I don’t even really need to go.”

“Huh!? Why?!”

I stopped swinging my sword, wiped away my sweat, and raised my voice in disbelief. However, Az just frowns unhappily.

“Because I can’t just leave you behind, can I?”

Az’s gaze looks straight into mine, making my head spin. How can my childhood friend be so sweet? No, maybe he’s just an accidental heartbreaker.

“You don’t need to worry. I’ll somehow manage to survive.”

He lets out a booming laugh that doesn’t quite match his face and stretches out on the grass. The breeze feels great.

“Besides… I’m going to be a knight.”

Az sits down next to me as well.

“Knight or whatever, nobles still have to go, right?”

“Don’t associate nobles have to go?”

“No way. You can’t join the Holy Knights until you’re eighteen. Either way, I won’t make it in time.”

When I reply with cold logic, Az glares at me. His expression seems to say, “Figure it out,” which makes my cheeks soften once more.

“I know, I know. You’re worried about me, right? But I’m fine now. Nobody says weird things anymore.”

As the years passed, the nasty gossip in the village gradually decreased. Instead, I started feeling gazes sweeping over me from top to bottom, but well, whatever—it’s because I’m cute. On the outside, anyway.

“That’s not what I meant…”

“Then what do you mean?”

“If you don’t get it, never mind.”

His exasperated, mocking tone irritates me. Az sometimes looks down on me like this, or rather, treats me like a kid.

“You can just stay quiet and let yourself be protected.”

“Huh!? Don’t treat me like a child!”

As he says this while patting my head, I turn bright red and glare at him with a fuming expression. If he ever dares to say I’m like a little sister, I’ll blow him to kingdom come. Az just brushes me off with a casual “yeah, yeah,” which only makes me even more irritated. It really reminds me of that rude best friend of mine.

“Besides, being an associate noble has its perks too.”

If I recall correctly, Az’s strength will eventually be recognized, and he’ll be appointed as the commander of the knighthood. Along the way, he’ll be granted a peerage, so he ends up a noble anyway.

“Perks?”

“Yeah, you don’t have to enter a political marriage.”

“Ah,” I say, giving a single nod.

“What’s with that blank response?”

“Even nobles can fall in love, you know.”

“That’s not what I meant… I mean, you can marry commoners too…”

“Well, you don’t really have to worry so much, I’ll probably be able to get into the academy too.”

When I blurt that out, Az whips his head around toward me with great momentum.

“Eh, why!?”

“No reason.”

The possibility isn’t zero.

“What is that…”

He sighs with a face that’s a mix of disappointment and relief. Just how much does he worry about me? My cheeks unconsciously relax.

He’s a busybody who takes care of everything, and my proud childhood friend. Whether he sees me as a romantic interest remains a mystery.

It was actually that very ocarina that led me to the Plata family. Did I get better because I practiced alongside Az’s training…?

Coincidentally, the head of the Plata family was visiting the Crillver household while touring this territory, and I was tooting away on it as usual. This village is small, but it has decent local products. They must have been here to inspect those things.

The head of the family, who loves music, seemed to take a huge liking to the sound of this ocarina and declared that they would adopt me. Eh? Just from this? I wasn’t the only one who thought that. Az, who was acting as their guide, looked completely shocked as well.

However, it seemed my worries were unfounded.

They suddenly shoved a violin-like thing into my hands and smiled, saying, “If you can play this, then sure?” This violin-like instrument apparently happened to be the head’s absolute favorite. Quite the cunning move.

I didn’t show it on my face at all, but I was panicking on the inside. I had never played a violin before. Az looked at me with a troubled expression too, but since things had come to this, there was no helping it. When it’s time to do it, I get it done.

In short, the heroine was amazing.

I learned firsthand what it means for the body to move on its own. I could play songs I didn’t even know, and the head of the family was moved to tears. When Az asked me when I had practiced, I wanted to ask him the exact same thing.

I successfully earned admission to the academy. I’ll get to spend three whole years with Az. What a wonderful thing. When I told him, “We get to stay together again,” he just gave a blunt “Yeah.” He’s definitely blushing.

However, on the day of the academy’s entrance ceremony, an incident occurred.

“So Az, good news or bad news—which one do you want to hear first?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I want to hear why Aria is in my room.”

Fufufu, there is nothing a heroine cannot do! Even sneaking into the boys’ dorms!

Seeing my smug expression, he shook his head with an exasperated “good grief” just like some other time.

“Hah, go home. Sneaking into the boys’ dorms is practically asking to be attacked.”

“It’s fine. If worst comes to worst, I’ll just kick him!”

I didn’t care about Az’s menacing glare at that moment.

“So, was it the good news or the bad news?”

“Right. Which one do you want to hear?”

Despite everything, Az actually listens to what I have to say; he really is kind.

“The good news.”

“I reunited with my best friend.”

Az tilted his head in confusion—“Best friend?”—but then seemed to remember earlier events and nodded in understanding.

“You mean Bell?”

“Yeah. Bertia Tybus.”

“Use honorifics, will you? Besides, can you even become best friends with the young lady of the Tybus house? Isn’t she the second prince’s fiancée?”

Normally, you can’t. Even if I tried talking about past lives, Az wouldn’t understand. I just glossed over it vaguely. I’m so glad Bertia is my best friend. And on top of that, she remembered her past life too, which is even more of a relief.

“Now, next is the bad news.”

“You brushed past the good news awfully fast.”

“This is a terribly important matter. It’s no exaggeration to say I came to Az’s room specifically for this.”

“Heh.”

Seeming interested, Az opened his eyes a little wider.

“Az, as much as it pains me to say this since you became friends with Bell, you shouldn’t get close to her.”

At my words, Az widened his eyes even more in surprise. Though he somehow looked a little happy, weirdly enough.

“It’s rare for Aria to say something like that. Why?”

“Because you’ll be killed.”

When I said it with a straight face, his expression shifted to something slightly displeased and disappointed.

Kill me? Me? That frail young lady?“

“The one who will kill you is her fiancé, the Second Prince. That prince is dangerous. He’s insane.”

Yes, today I met the prince who used to be my favorite character… and fell into despair. It was great that his fiancée Bell was my best friend from my past life, but…

Even I don’t know how you’re supposed to interact with him to turn out like that, but this yandere is in his final form. Meaning, he’s the heaviest kind of yandere. The confinement-ending type that gave me chills. And we’re just one step away from that!

A prince who has fallen into yandere-dom is terrifying. He kills people casually. He’ll kill the original villainess, and if necessary, he’ll even kill the capture targets. Behind the scenes, he was called the Grim Reaper.

And Az has caught his eye!

I know the reason why. Why the prince fell into yandere-dom. It was because Bell showed absolutely no interest in the prince whatsoever.

To trigger the most difficult and heaviest yandere transformation, you have to alternately choose options that maximize affection points and options that don’t raise them at all.

Bell must have thoroughly racked up the prince’s affection points while maintaining a completely aloof attitude. The prince is a bit to be pitied, but she really is my best friend. Her dry side hasn’t changed a bit.

My best friend’s favorite character is Ashwad. She must have been plotting to get him and Az together, heheh. To be fair, she probably thought the prince and I would end up together so it couldn’t be helped, but let me make it crystal clear: I do not want to get anywhere near a yandere-fied prince. Or rather, I am not letting Az get near him. I can feel a threat to my life.

“The prince is going to kill me? That’s stretching it…”

“It’s real!”

There’s a non-zero chance he could be killed today, for all I know. It’s genuinely terrifying.

“That’s why I’m staying here today.”

“Huh?”

“I’m sleeping here. Both Az and I have single rooms, so no one will notice.”

What would happen if Az was killed while I wasn’t looking? I’d regret it for the rest of my life. I might be weak, but maybe I can manage something using my face. I don’t have much sex appeal, but something will work out.

As I was psyching myself up, I heard a massive, booming sigh.

“How did you grow up to be such an idiot?”

“Wha-what do you mean, ‘idiot’!? If nothing happens, I’m never coming over to stay again!”

While I was squawking and fussing as usual, my wrist was suddenly grabbed hard. Az’s face was right in front of mine, and I gasped in surprise.

“Hey, do you even realize? I am a man.”

Az spoke in an unusually irritated tone. I started to regret that having a sleepover with a teenage boy might indeed have been a bad idea.

“……I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I was careless.”

“Try pulling something like that with another guy. I’ll make sure you can never get married.”

“What is that supposed to mean!”

“What? Want to find out?”

Az smiled with a smug, teasing grin.

How utterly shameless. Was he a closet pervert all along? This guy really had the wrong upbringing.

Just as our usual argument was about to start, a light knocking sound echoed.

We looked at each other’s faces. Who could that be?

“Good evening. Sorry for the late hour! I’m Dylan Vermelio from the second year. I’ve got something I’d like to talk about for a moment, is that alright?”

What on earth! The prince (murderer) is brazenly approaching us himself?!

I underestimated him! An attack from my blind spot. He’s an upperclassman, and a prince to boot; if he says he has something to talk about, you have to open the door. Pretending not to be home is out of the question. As first-years right after the entrance ceremony, we’re definitely supposed to be in our rooms.

Even Az muttered, “Are you serious?” and I was shaking as much as a smartphone on vibrate.

“E-either way, we have to open it. Aria, hide.”

Eh, no, way! When push comes to shove, I intend to protect Az (by deploying my face)!

“Where on earth is the scumbag who uses a woman as a shield…”

As Az and I were arguing, a clicking sound came from the door. Both of us turned back toward the door like rusty wind-up toys.

Standing right there was the prince, flashing a full-blown smile. The prince was twirling a key ring on his finger.

“You weren’t answering, so I just opened it.”

That innocent smile of his feels terrifying.

Az quickly pulled me behind his back as I stood there trembling. Az flashed an accommodating, polite smile meant for outsiders.

“Is something the matter? For the Second Prince, Lord Dylan, to personally come all the way out here.”

“Fufufu, I just wanted to talk to you guys for a sec?”

I’m going to die…

Az stepped further forward to shield me even more as I stood there like a dying ember, staring off into space.

“Me… ‘guys’, plural?”

“Well, right there, aren’t you? Right, Lady Aria?”

When I peeked my head out from behind Az’s body and looked at the prince, he smiled at me. That’s a pretty severe breach of etiquette, but hey, this is the academy. Status doesn’t matter here.

“I had no idea you two were so close. Well, that makes things convenient.”

The prince, giggling, looked so unrealistically beautiful. Seeing him in person makes my face turn red even without trying.

“…Why are you blushing?”

“Well, because he’s handsome.”

Though I glared at him in reproach, my type is people like the prince, you know? Of course my heart’s going to flutter a little.

“I’ll take that as a compliment. By the way, I have a request for you two.”

“A request?”

It’s here… Is this a death threat?

Wait, isn’t Az’s gaze getting sharper? If he glares at the prince like that, it’s going to get dangerous.

“I want you two to get along with my fiancée… Bell.”

“Eh?”

I let out a squeak of utter astonishment. The request was so unexpected that I was shocked. Even if he didn’t go as far as saying he’d kill us, I figured he’d at least tell us to stay away.

Az seemed to have been only half-convinced that the prince was going to kill him, and shrugged as if to say, See?

“No need to look like that. Did you really think I’d tell you to stay away from Bell?”

I did.

“Well, I suppose I should issue a warning, though.”

Murmuring that, the prince crossed his arms, and the entire atmosphere around him shifted completely. What is this? Is this what they call killing intent? Haha, I can’t stop shaking.

“If you lay a hand on my Bell, I’ll erase you.”

His face practically wrote out: Dare to get in the way of me and Bell, and I’ll fucking kill you. Too terrifying. You shouldn’t say “erase” with a smile like that.

Suddenly, I looked up at Az and jolted. He was making an incredible face too. His gaze toward the prince was far too sharp, practically enough to shoot him dead. He looked like a wolf baring all its wariness. Honestly, he’s just as terrifying as the prince.

I don’t want to get close to either of them…

I tried to shrink back half a step out of reluctance, but Az grabbed my arm and stopped me from retreating.

“I have someone I love, so I won’t be laying a hand on Lady Bertia.”

You have someone you love?! I swallowed the shout just in the nick of time, contenting myself with looking up at Az in a flurry.

“I suppose so. Well, better safe than sorry.”

“I will protect her with my very life. Even if it’s against His Highness…”

After letting out a single breath, Az glared hard at the prince.

“Even if it’s Your Highness, I will never forgive anyone who lays a hand on her.”

Has his brain finally turned to pure muscle? What’s he going to do if the prince gets mad? Even if he’s a yandere, he’s still a prince of the realm. Even in an academy with no social distinctions, unwritten rules definitely still exist.

He must really like that girl…

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

That’s all I came to say, the prince laughed with an amused look, showing no signs of anger, and turned toward the door. We somehow managed to survive that. Thank goodness.

“Oh, and Lady Aria.”

The prince spoke up as if remembering something, making my heart shrink.

“Y-yes!”

“You’d better head back to your room for today.”

The prince’s smile as he stared right at me was terrifying. This guy is officially a terrorized target now.

“You might get eaten by a wolf, after all.”

“……Eh?”

A wolf? Meaning Az? Well, considering his age, I suppose so. A teenage boy’s rationality is fragile.

The moment the prince walked out and the door snapped shut with a bang, the strength drained right out of my body.

“Ahhh, that was terrifying!”

“You think so?”

In contrast to me collapsing onto the sofa, Az stood with his hands on his hips.