TN: Hello everyone, I’m happy to say that life has calmed down, and I’ll resume regular uploads every monday, so without further ado enjoy.
I’m going to town for the first time in a while, and this time I’m going by alone.
Of course, Shreegan is guarding me, but he is keeping his distance from me.
You can’t have the prince get kidnapped. Apart from that I’m dressed as a commoner, a child labourer, so I don’t look like a kid you can get money for by kidnapping.
There actually aren’t any dangers for an eleven-year-old like me to walk around the town like this. There are a ton of kids walking around, mainly as laborers though.
This city is a safe one. There have been no kidnappings or child abductions in recent years. That is a testament to how well Majesty’s reign is going. The number of street urchins in the city has also drastically decreased, thanks to the orphanages left to us by my elder sister.
On the other hand, the fact of the matter is that there are many children who have to work and cannot attend school.
Just as Serea said, we need to implement compulsory education and have all children attend. This is a policy that has to be implemented over a course of a couple of decades. There are private schools that wealthy commoners can attend, but the level of education at each school is too different.
The convenience store that was opened is completely empty.
There isn’t a large variety of merchandise, and the merchandise that is here is expensive so people probably won’t go out of their way to come to a store like this.
Looks like that it hasn’t become a threat yet.
Actually no…… it can’t be helped that its like this in the middle of the day. The whole point of a store like this is that it works from early in the morning to late at night, when the other stores are closed, so you probably cant gouge the popularity unless you come at those times.
The one who probably came up with the whole idea wasn’t at the store.
I thought that she would come to see the grand opening of the store, or at least inspect it, but she might be busy as well.
Afterwards I went to a bookstore, it’s a bit embarrassing but I buy a romance novel.
I’m kind of a blockhead, and reading girls feelings is not my forte, I’m aware of that.
Honestly, I’d like to get along with Serea better, and flirt around with her, but I have no idea how to do it. It can’t be helped if someone were to call me a kid because of that. There is also no point in asking Shreegan about this, since he’s not popular with women at all.
The book I bought seems to be very popular right now.
The synopsis says that it’s about a commoner girl who enters a school for nobles after finding out that she is a bastard child of a baron. There she is bullied for being a former commoner, but she manages to bear the tough school life and in the end wins the heart of the son of a count family.
…… I wonder if it’s a fun read.
The newly opened branch of the fried chicken restaurant is a huge hit.
Looks like that girl isn’t here either. Since the tables and chairs can’t fit inside the store, they are placed on the outside making it something like a café terrace.
It seems that if you order at the counter, they will bring the order to your table. I ordered fried chicken and some fruit juice, and sat at a table.
Aaaah, this is so sugary.
I’m talking about the book!
Flipping through the pages I read lines like “I adore you…”, “The stars in the night’s sky are jealous of your beautiful eyes”, “You are the only one in my eyes……”, “Embraced her gently and kissed her softly” and so on…… it’s chock full of lines like that.
What’s with this? Do I have to say lines like this to Serea? Is that what she wants?
The phrase “I will definitely protect you” popped into my head. Those are the words I said to Serea, and whenever I remember them I think to myself “Please stop!!!”.
“Here is your order!”
I turn my eyes and I see that girl!
She was standing there with a tiny basket with the chicken, fries, and juice I ordered! Clear pink hair! White skin, big blue eyes and an absurdly cute face!
…no I was prepared to some extent, but I didn’t expect to meet her here.
“……Ah? You don’t look like one of the clerks, you aren’t even wearing the uniform.”
I started playing dumb for now.
“I do work here so please don’t worry. So what’s wrong?”
“What do you mean by what’s wrong?”
“You were looking quite strange. Hahahahaha!”[TN-1]
I might have looked strange, reading the romance novel by myself while being distressed at its content. I’m reflecting on my actions.
Besides that, unlike the first time I saw her, this time I didn’t instantly get charmed like her. I don’t feel any compulsion force from the game anymore. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Goddess. I’m so glad I got married to Serea. [TN-2]
She takes the liberty of sitting in the chair opposed to mine at the same table and puts down her own basket and cups. It seems that she intends to eat with me.
“I was just thinking of having lunch myself, so let’s eat together.”
She says, while wearing an extremely cute smile. The power of the heroine is fearsome. She makes a very flirtatious pose towards me, by pulling her elbows together, putting her palms on her cheeks and tilting her slightly.
“Ah, that’s the extremely popular romance novel, right?! I read it too!”
Aaaaaaah, this is so embarrassing.
“Ah, no I still haven’t even read the first page yet. I was just flipping through it.”
“I thought it was a wonderful love story about overcoming an impossible difference in status……” She say’s in with an enraptured expression with her extremely cute face. [TN-3] It’s fascinating to watch her expressions change from one to another, but I’m not sold on her constant smiling. I’d say she is going overboard with it. I’m more fond of Serea’s more reserved smile.
“I feel really sorry for aristocrats.”
“Why so?”
“Because they get married without knowing true love. Marriages that are decided by parents, marriages between families, political marriages. There is no love in those.”
That’s very rude of you. There are many couples who love each other even if they are in a political marriage. It’s the same for me and Serea, so don’t lump everyone in one box.
“I think it’s much better when two people truly love each other, nurture that love and finally get married, don’t you think so?”
“……I think so too.”
“I knew it! You think so too!”
“Yeah”
“I wish some nobles thought so too!”
What is this girl saying?
“Even if you were to say something like that to me, I can’t really say much about that.”
“Is that so? For you to be reading such a grown up book even though you are younger than me, you must be pretty well off.”
Aaah, that’s how it is. It’s still rare for a kid like me to be able to read and write in this country.
“Didn’t you say that you read it too……?”
“I did, I read it while studying and using a dictionary though.”
“It’s the same for me.”
“Is that so……?”
As I thought, I can’t think of this as anything but her coming to talk to be because she knew I’m the prince. You sly……
“Aren’t you going to eat? It’s reeealy tasty! This fried chicken our store’s signature dish.”
After saying that, she started cutely munching on her food. Then she drank some juice through some kind of stalk.
“What’s with the stalk?”
“It’s a straw. You use it to suck up a drink. You didn’t know that?”
“……I drink it normally.”
Is there any point in sticking a stalk into your drink and sucking it up through that? Why wouldn’t you just bring the cup to your mouth and drink it properly.
“I really want to put some ice into this. It’s really tasty when it’s chilled.”
Ice is basically only available in winter, but at that point, I don’t think anyone would want to drink things chilled anymore. There are wizards who can make ice, but you can’t really hire such a person to make ice part-time in a restaurant. It’s just not possible right now.
As was thinking that, Shreegan suddenly sits down in an empty seat next to me.
“Sorry for the wait little brother. Here is your share.”
He then gives me the paper bag and the juice he had, and pulls mine over to himself.
Oh yeah, I need a poison taster, don't I?
She got spooked by the sudden intrusion of this very scary looking guy.
I start eating the chicken Shreegan nibbled on without hesitation.
"I-I-Is that, um, your older brother?"
"Yeah?"
"I think he looks too different... "
"You’re pretty rude, girlie. No matter how you look at it, we're brothers. Look, our faces are identical"
Don't hug my shoulder Shreegan. Your face is too close!
“O-Oh……I’m sorry.”
After that, everyone continues eating in silence……
Shreegan’s sheer presence is intimidating.
“Thanks you for the food……”
The girl who finished eating quickly got up from her seat and went back to the restaurant.
“You saved me there big bro.”
“That’s the first time I was told something like that. Most people say that eating with me makes the food worse.”
“It’s surprising that there are guys who are able to say that straight to your face.”
“Well anyone that hangs out with me for a while would figure out I’m a nice guy right?”
I wonder if they would……
Though it seems that miss Bell did figure it out.
That means that Shreegan has friends close enough to say things like that to him. I’m kind of envious…
“Who was that girl just now?”
“She’s a girl that works at the restaurant.”
“Nice being you little brother, you are pretty popular. Even if you do nothing, girls swarm to you.”
“That’s nothing more than a nuisance to me. I already have a wife after all.”
“Such a waste…… A prince could even have a harem if he wanted.”
Listen here, what would be the point in having so many women?
"If you're going to read, you should read books like this too!"
Saying that, he pulled out a book and placed it in front of me.
"It's about a super strong adventurer who constantly invites women into his party, becomes very popular and builds a harem!"
Shreegan, your desires are so obvious.
“……I’m just surprised you read books to be honest.”
“Hey, that’s rude.”
Yes yes. You should be more careful about what you read Shreegan. Miss Bell might not appreciate you reading stuff like that.
[TN-1] Why are you straight out laughing at the (in your mind) the main capture target?
[TN-2] Thank God, or rather thank the Goddess, would be quite a short story if he were to fall in love with her right now, when he went to her totally unsupervised for no apparent reason.
[TN-3] Can you stop complementing her in every single sentence you talk about her please, that would be nice.
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