Chapter 11: Clumsy and lonely red-haired prince (Part 4)
Several days after Roland was imprisoned in the northern tower.
Steed invited Chloe and Roland to his room to talk about the incident.
Unlike Chloe, who was curious about what had happened and what the outcome was, Roland had a blatantly annoyed attitude.
Chloe wondered why he even bothered to come to this meeting, and didn’t notice that Roland occasionally stared at her or that Steed narrowed his eyes meaningfully when he saw it.
“So, what happened that day?”
When Chloe asked him to get to the point, Steed glanced at Roland and began to explain.
According to Steed, Matthias, his brother and the crown prince, furrowed his brow when he learned of the situation and said, “This is a punishment for real criminals.”
Moreover, he immediately ordered Roland to be released from prison.
Thanks to this, Chloe was able to rescue Roland from the prison before she finished singing the seventh song.
Gideon, the problem, was summoned by Crown Prince Matthias on the same day, but at first, he tried to hide the truth.
However, when Matthias said, “Are you going to lie to me?” he trembled and confessed the truth.
“Chloe. Actually, Gideon was trying to do something terrible to you, not Roland.”
“Me? Why. . .Oh! Is it because I threatened him by grabbing his collar the other day?!”
As Steed nods, Chloe’s frustration towards Gideon flares up.
It takes good courage to seek revenge against someone who aspires to be a villainess.
(Oh? But that’s strange.)
Then why was Roland captured?
As she tilts her head, Roland sitting across from her lets out a sigh, looking annoyed.
“Hey, it doesn’t matter, does it? Let’s not talk about that.”
“No, it does matter. We need to explain what happened properly to protect Chloe. Well, I don’t really want to talk about Roland becoming Chloe’s knight either.”
“What’s a knight. . .What a pretentious guy.”
Chloe looks back and forth between Roland’s annoyed face and Steed’s complicated expression.
“Is Roland a knight?
She wonders what they’re talking about.
She feels like she’s being left out somehow.
If the relationship between Steed and Roland has improved, that’s obviously a good thing.
Chloe leaned forward, placing both hands on the edge of the sofa.
She wants to participate properly.
She wants to be included.
“I mean, what’s going on? Please explain it to me so I can understand.”
“Sure, of course. But Chloe, don’t fall for Roland while listening to the story.”
“F-Fall for him?! W-What are you talking about?!”
Steed’s strange words make her cheeks heat up on their own.
It wasn’t a situation where such words would come out.
While thinking that Steed’s behavior is truly incomprehensible, Chloe pouts.
Her face is still flushed.
“Sigh. . .Why do you have such a cute reaction? I’m really worried. ――No, let’s get back to the topic. Gideon tried to get revenge on Chloe and invited Roland to cooperate as the perpetrator.”
“That’s ridiculous! He didn’t have the courage to get revenge himself?!”
Roland seems to remember that moment and laughs at it mockingly.
“He said, ‘If you accept and succeed, I’ll make you my henchman.’ Even though he’s a nobleman, his thought process is no different from that of a lowlife in the downtown area.”
“Roland, did you tell that to Gideon himself?”
“Of course. Then he came at me with a furious look on his face.”
“And did it turn into a fight?”
“. . .”
Roland rudely rests his chin on his hand and turns his face away.
(Hmm?)
“Chloe, that’s not it. Roland didn’t fall for Gideon’s provocation because you told him not to resort to violence.”
“What?!”
Chloe is surprised to learn that Roland held back.
(Did what I said really resonate with Roland?)
He’s quite cute in his own way.
“Hey, don’t say it like that. It’s not like I care about this girl. I just thought that guy wasn’t worth bothering with.”
Even though he says it with a scowling face, Chloe can’t bring herself to hate Roland.
“Hey, Roland. But is that all there is to it?”
The opponent is Gideon.
He’s likely to cling to them like a persistent snake.
And as expected. . .
“Gideon got angry and tried to punch Roland. Isn’t that right, Roland?”
“Tried to punch? He was moving so slowly that it was more like bumping into me. There’s no way someone as dull as him could land a punch like that in this world.”
As a result of Roland dodging, Gideon ended up diving into the fountain himself.
After that, it became a big commotion and even the private tutor was called in. . .
Gideon and his followers claimed that Roland had unilaterally used violence, and the private tutor sided with them.
At the mention of the word “private tutor,” Chloe was taken aback.
(Maybe the private tutor was the one who locked up and bullied Roland in the game. . .?)
She glanced at Steed and he nodded slightly.
(As expected. . .)
Chloe sighed softly when she learned that the event of “Roland being locked up in the Northern Tower by the private tutor” had actually happened, just like in the game.
“The private tutor only listened to Gideon’s story and reported to someone that Roland had been violent.”
“Someone?”
“Even if Gideon and the private tutor discriminate against Roland as an illegitimate son, he is still a prince. It’s impossible for them to imprison Roland in jail with their authority.”
Steed was certainly right.
“So, someone more important is involved in this matter?”
“It’s highly possible. But it will be difficult to find out who that is.”
The private tutor, of course, did not reveal anything about the mastermind behind this, and took responsibility for it alone.
Listening to Chloe and Steed’s conversation, Roland drinks his now-cold tea in one gulp and sinks into the sofa as if he doesn’t care.
“A prince who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It’s obvious that I won’t be well-liked. Most of the people in the palace are my enemies anyway. I don’t care who was behind it.”
“Well, you have a point. . .For now, the troublesome tutor has been fired because of this incident. It might be best to leave it at that.”
“If you poke around too much in those kinds of places, snakes will come out of the bushes.”
(Snakes coming out of the bushes. . .Does he mean that someone terrible is behind this. . .?)
Steed neither affirms nor denies Roland’s words.
There are only a limited number of people who can punish someone like Prince Roland.
(For example, the queen. . .)
Chloe also remains silent and tightly grips the palm of her hand that was resting on her skirt.
She can’t mention the name of the person without any evidence or proof.
Moreover, the person is Steed’s own mother.
“I’m sorry, but could you leave the matter of the person who ordered the tutor to me? I promise to take care of Roland if he’s in danger again.”
“Hey, don’t do anything unnecessary. I can handle it on my own. If the conversation is over, I’m leaving.”
Roland stands up with a sullen face.
“Oh, wait!”
“Hmm?”
“I didn’t expect you to protect me. . .Roland, I’m sorry for causing trouble. And thank you.”
“I didn’t protect you or anything.”
Roland speaks bluntly.
But somehow, the sharpness in his tone seems to have disappeared.
“Actually, if you’re going to say that, then you should do it for me. . .”
“Huh?”
“Ah, never mind.”
Roland stares at Chloe with a serious expression, then smiles with a smirk.
When he smiles like that, his eyes, which seem to view everything as an enemy, soften a little and give a gentle impression.
Chloe is momentarily taken aback by the change in atmosphere.
(Roland can make that kind of face too. . .)
While still smiling warmly at Chloe, Roland shrugs his shoulders lightly.
“Anyway, your singing voice was hilarious.”
Perhaps remembering what happened at that time, Roland starts to chuckle.
“I had fun, one way or another.”
“Well, I mean, I got to hear the world’s most special singing voice. You really thought it would touch my heart and make me cry.”
“You’re so obvious with your lies!”
Chloe hits Roland’s shoulder with a pat.
Roland doesn’t seem to mind at all.
(Hmm. Talking to Roland like this is actually kind of fun.)
Through this incident, Chloe feels like she has rapidly become closer to him.
The relaxed atmosphere is somehow pleasing.
When she was thinking such thoughts, Steed, who had been silently watching their exchange for a while, suddenly spoke up.
“Oh, that’s right. I haven’t formally introduced Chloe yet. She’s Duke Beltoise’s daughter and my fiancée.”
“. . .Fiancée?”
Roland’s eyebrows twitch.
“Nobles and royalty usually have a fiancé from a young age. You’ll probably have a marriage proposal from some young lady someday too.”
“Hmm.”
Roland, who had become expressionless, suddenly asked a blunt question in a lower voice than before.
“Hey. Do you like him?”
“Huh? Well, of course I do. Steed and I have been together since we were kids.”
“I don’t mean that kind of like. I mean, do you see him as a romantic interest?”
“A romantic interest?!”
(Steed. . .?!)
Coming from Roland, who seems somewhat mature, it sounds like a really grandiose question, and Chloe is surprised.
“R-ro-ro-ro-romantic!”
I really hate it now.
I’m not good with this kind of topic, so please spare me.
“I don’t understand that kind of thing! B-Besides, we’re only 10 years old!”
“Chloe. . .”
When she awkwardly pushes him away, Steed drops his shoulders in disappointment.
But Chloe doesn’t have the composure to worry about Steed.
Feeling embarrassed, she looks away, and notices that Roland, who is next to Steed, has a triumphant look on his face for some reason.
“In that case, I have a chance too.”
“A chance? What are you talking about?”
When she tilts her head and asks Roland, there is no response.
Roland is glaring not at Chloe, but at Steed.
“A declaration of war, huh. Interesting. As your brother, I’ll lend a hand if there’s anything I can do for you, but I won’t give in on this matter.”
“There’s no need to ask for permission. I’ll go take it by force, brother.”
Roland laughs challengingly, and Steed meets his gaze head-on, smiling defiantly.
After being told about love, Chloe gets flustered and can no longer keep up with the conversation.
What are they talking about with giving and not giving up?
Feeling excluded again, Chloe shouts, “Hey, stop leaving me out!” and grabs both of their arms, pulling them close.
“What the. . .Chloe?!”
“Hey, what are you doing?!”
The brothers both panic.
As expected, these two seem to get along well.
Although she failed to avoid the first trigger in the Roland route, it was really good in that sense.
Honestly, it’s also nice that she was able to become friends with Roland, who is hostile towards her in the game, and have a distance like that of friends.
Roland protected Chloe from Gideon’s retaliation, and Chloe tried to help Roland out of a difficult situation.
(They were able to act for each other’s sake in a pinch. That’s already friendship, right!)
Feeling the warmth in her heart, Chloe tightly grips the hands that are intertwined with the arms of the two men.
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