Chapter 4 - You aren’t a man if you give up here

Translation: Thrax

Editing: Alexy

“......It’s hard for me to say this but, this is all just your delusion.”

“I don’t think it is.”

“If you say so......”

I’d feel bad for her if I pressed her with “Do you have any proof?!” here. It would basically be like telling her she has the fourteen-year-old syndrome.

“I think Shin-sama already has some clues.”

“What for instance?”

“When you were seven years old, you used a secret passage in the castle to go outside and play, right?”

I did. I really did! I really did do that!

But it’s a hidden passage, made for when the castle walls get breached during a war, and enemy soldiers enter the castle, no one but the royal family knows about it.

It’s top secret. There should be no way for this girl to know about it!

“When you went out to the castle town, there should have been some kids who were bullying a cat.”

“......Yeah. That happened.”

“There was a girl who protected the cat and all the boys started bullying her.”

“You were that girl?!”

“I wasn’t. She shouldn’t have had black hair like me.”

“......I don’t remember her hair color at all. But yeah, I don’t think she had black hair either......”

“That’s when Shin-sama said ‘Aren’t you embarrassed to be bullying a girl!?’ and he protected her.”

“So-so-so-something like that might have happened.”

“But you got hit and right after that, you ran into some guards and they saved you.”

“......Ugh...”

I’m so embarrassed. That was so pathetic. But definitely remember that happening. I got scolded a lot after that though.

“After that, you laughed and told something to the girl.”

“What did I tell her?”

“You said ‘Was I your knight in shining armour?’”

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Stop stop stop.

I did! I did say that! I ended up saying that!

Even if I was seven years old, how did I manage to say those words to a girl!?

“Why do you know that?!”

“It’s an opening cutscene. You see it every time you start the game.”

“You watch it every time!?”

“You usually skip it after seeing it once.”

That’s not the problem here.

“What’s with that. Wait a minute, isn’t that’s something only I know? The guard shouldn’t have heard that. I said it in a whisper after all.”

“The childhood meeting between the protagonist and male lead is a standard opening ‘event’ in otome games.” -review

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“That girl is the protagonist that gets enrolled in the academy.”

I’m clutching my head and the young lady is looking at me with a cold gaze...

I’m totally against that girls enrolment now.

“The cat was black and was called Kuro, right?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“That’s definitely the reincarnated heroines pet cat. She is the same as me, a reincarnated Japanese person who remembers playing the same game I did. I’m sure of it.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because in our country’s language, in Japanese, Kuro is the word for the colour black.”

......So that’s why.

“......”

“Do you believe me now?”

“......I can’t deny it anymore.”

Knock-Knock

At the best possible time or maybe it’s the worst possible time, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

Bell, the maid, came in.

Looks like she brought tea and snacks.

She pours hot water into the teapot, then she pours tea into cups. And in the meantime, silence.

......Hm, what would be ok to talk about?

“Who else did you tell this to?”

She started shaking her head left and right.

Makes sense, it’s not something you can really tell people.

“Since I’m turning down the engagement, I felt that I had to talk to Shin-sama, so I did.”

Clank! Went the tableware. Looks like miss Bell’s hand slipped.

Her face was saying, ‘What did this young lady just say’.

She looked like she wanted to say

Wasn’t your talk going well? Was the misunderstanding cleared up? Was the matter of the engagement settled?

“I understand.”

I nod my head.

“I will submit a formal engagement proposal later.”

Lady Serea has a dumbfounded look on her face.

She looks like she is full of questions.

“Thank you miss Bell. Now then, lets drink the tea.”

I drink the tea, while snacking on the fruit cake.

“This tea is delicious.”

“Thank you very much Shin-sama. So, er, about the engagement with the young lady.”

“I’ve had a very enjoyable time. During our talk, Lady Serea hasn’t lied to me a single time, she only spoke the truth from start to end. It’s very fitting for my wife. ‚I want us to be together from now on‘ is what I thought while we were talking. I want to talk to her a lot more in the future as well.”

Lady Serea silently mouthed ‘You’re kidding me’.

“Thank you for letting me meet with the young lady while she is still recuperating. Take care of yourself, lady Serea. No, take care of yourself Serea. ”

After saying that I get up from my seat.

I kneel next to the bed, take her hand, and I kiss it.

Serea is completely red.

“Let’s do this again. I’ll come over to hang out a lot from now on.”

When I opened the door, everyone from the Colette household was gathered. Why are you all here? Everyone was there, from the butlers and maids to the head of the family, Duke Hurst. Wait, they haven’t heard our entire conversation, have they? I don’t think that the walls and doors in the Colette house are that thin though, I believe in you, you know?

“Thank you very much for letting me meet with the young lady. I, Shin Midland, want to inform you that I have given an offer of marriage to lady Serea Colette. A formal offer will be delivered in the near future. I apologise for the disturbance I have caused in this house. Now then, if you’ll excuse me I will be on my way.”

With a bow, I head towards my guard Shreegan, who I have left in the reception room. Behind me I could hear loud voices saying ‘Success!!!’, ‘Big comeback!!!’ and ‘Congratulations!!!’. I need to go take care of a few things now.

When I get to the reception room, Shreegan is eating snacks and drinking tea. This guy is brazen as usual.

“I got tea and snacks from miss Bell. Ahhh how tasty.”

Well good for you. Having tea before your lord.

“It’s noisy for some reason. What did you do, prince?”

“I proposed to Lady Serea, I mean to Serea.”

“Oooh congratulations! With this both the royal family and the ducal family can rest easy.”

You are happy because you get to meet miss Bell from now on, right? That’s why you are celebrating.

“Let’s go home before we get caught up in all of this. I need to report this to the king as soon as possible.”

“Le-Let mi finish this first.”

“Eat fast.”

After I came back to the royal palace, I gave my report to my father, the king, and to my mother.

They were overjoyed.

“It was your decision to make, but if your proposal had been refused, it would have been really troublesome. You did well.”

It wasn’t particularly my decision, no matter what I said, there is no way that the result would have changed, but as expected its best when everything goes smoothly and no one opposes it.

“The lady didn’t accept yet though.”

“Don’t worry. There is no way she would refuse. It’s all settled.”

In reality though, she doesn’t have a say in the matter.

I think I made a pretty cruel decision.

I wonder what would have happened if she didn’t remember her past life at that time, if she didn’t collapse and if we just had tea like we were supposed to.

I think it would have gone the same in the end.

What would happen if she had refused? What would happen if I had refused? I think that the talks would have just continued on regardless.

Either way it would end the same......

In the end, whether she ends up happy, or ends up sad, is all up to me.

I have to work hard!

If you want to contact me or just chat, you can join the Thrax translations discord: Here