OBWESB 19

Chapter 19

The Person You Must Never Make an Enemy Of, Continued

“My, how delicious.”

Placing a hand to her lips, the mature lady seated before me displayed a thoroughly elegant look of surprise.

“I am honored.”

I replied with a pleasant smile. My true feelings, however, matched my words exactly—I was utterly overwhelmed.

The origin of this situation traced back to a few days ago.

On a certain day when I had visited the castle for business, I finished a meeting with the high-ranking officials and was walking down the corridor with Tihart, my steps light. Meetings are a massive pain… The meetings themselves are bad enough, but ever since this strange ability awakened, crowded places have become my personal kryptonite. The inner thoughts of those old foxes are just so loud, so incredibly loud.

I mean, sure, it has its convenient sides… but at this rate, I’m going to develop a severe case of misanthropy.

I hate evening parties too, because the mudslinging behind those smiles comes through completely unfiltered. Since they dress up and smile so beautifully, the sheer drop-off into their true thoughts is massive and brutal.

It is pure horror to watch a woman whose beauty briefly caught my eye wear a lovely smile externally while her inner voice is dripping with jealousy and malice toward her friends.

I feel like I’m going to develop a deep distrust of women… Will I even be able to get married…?

Because of all that, having been liberated from such a tedious place, I felt like skipping out of sheer joy. (Though I didn’t actually do it.)

“Come to think of it,”

I turned my gaze toward Tihart as he spoke.

“Mother mentioned that she wished to eat your confections.”

“My, news travels fast, doesn’t it?”

They’ve already found out about the shop opening… Well, I never expected to hide it from the royal family anyway, so it isn’t an issue.

“No, that as well, but I meant your handmade confections.”

“…”

My feet ground to a sudden halt. And I very nearly dropped the documents in my hands.

“Come again?”

“The choux pastry. Dia mentioned they were magnificent, and she likely heard about them from the other young ladies as well. …So, bring some over next time. If you like, you can even use the castle kitchens.”

“So this is a done deal, then?”

“Of course. Do you honestly think Mother would back down? Make some for me too, alright?”

“Eh—”

“What? Would you prefer to have a tea party alone with Mother?”

“No, by all means! Please join us!”

And that was how the handmade confections of a mere amateur wound up being presented to the Queen and Prince of the kingdom.

When I borrowed the castle kitchens, the chefs gave me a double-take.

Well, naturally. A noble standing in the kitchen is just absurd… Even I would look twice at something like that!

“Why on earth can you even bake sweets?”

Tihart remarked, looking highly unconvinced despite calling them delicious.

“Because Beatrix wanted to eat them. When I gave it a try, it turned out surprisingly well.”

“My, how wonderful. As expected of Kaiser-kun. Tihart? You must learn to handle basic housework as well, you know?”

The Queen let out a rolling laugh. No… a man destined to become the king of a nation shouldn’t need housework skills… probably.

“Your Majesty. This is just a modest token of my appreciation, but please accept this.”

Lacking the mental fortitude to talk back to the Queen, I offered a small box as a distraction. A maid swiftly and gracefully received it and brought it to the Queen’s side.

“This is a limited-edition item from Liliana. Please feel free to share it with the consorts and the princess as well. I hope it suits your tastes.”

“My, how delightful. Thank you! I am certain the girls will be thrilled.”

“Cheril and the others were incredibly curious about it, after all. They already managed to get ahold of the flagship products to collect the charms, but they were quite frustrated that they couldn’t get their hands on the limited-edition ones.”

“Is that so? I am honored. If you ever need more, just let me know and I can arrange something, you know?”

“I’ll pass along the message.”

Cheril-chan is Tihart’s half-sister, an eleven-year-old girl a year younger than Beatrix. Since the royal family has mostly sons, she is doted on by everyone as their little princess. Well, she is a literal princess, though.

“It seems to be wildly popular and constantly sold out.”

“I am quite surprised by the unexpected reception myself.”

“Those novel macarons certainly catch the eye. Since it’s named Liliana, is it perhaps the idea of Beatrix-chan’s maid?”

“Yes, including this choux pastry.”

“Hmm.”

The Queen narrowed her eyes suggestively.

Actually… the Queen is a reincarnator as well.

When I first realized it, I was utterly shocked. The reason I found out, of course, was through her inner voice via my mysterious ability.

Even so… me, Lilia, Sora, the Queen… Aren’t there a striking number of reincarnators in this world? I mean, there’s also the creator of the yokan, and the people involved with Mon Sucre, right? Especially the yokan.

‘At first, I thought Kaiser-kun might be the reincarnator, but to think the maid was the one instead.’

And despite having almost no opportunities to meet, Lilia managed to get exposed as a reincarnator instantly. It’s because you mutter things like “So cute!” out loud that you get caught.

Good job, Lilia!! You make a magnificent decoy!!!

‘I found it strange that Beatrix-chan and the others have personalities so vastly different from the game’s settings, but having a reincarnated ally by her side is highly convenient. After all, Beatrix-chan is going to become Dia’s bride in the future. A villainess flag is completely out of the question. …Still, I wonder if that maid girl is going to be alright? She damned well seemed a bit unreliable.’

I had to try incredibly hard to suppress my laughter.

Lilia’s evaluation is… Well, I completely get where she’s coming from, but I will absolutely prevent that bad ending myself, so it’s perfectly fine!!

“Come to think of it, Kaiser-kun, do you happen to have a special someone?”

Smiling beautifully with her vibrant red-painted lips curved in a perfect arc, the Queen looked remarkably youthful and beautiful—hardly believable as the mother of Tihart, who is the same age as me.

“No… unfortunately not.”

“Isn’t it about time you started preparing to settle down?”

Quiet, you! Just because you have a fiancée doesn’t mean you get to act all high and mighty!!

In the first place, I feel like I’m fundamentally incapable of getting married!!

“I am sure you have your pick of choices, no?”

“Well…”

It’s true that people approach me, you know? But if I choose the wrong person as a fiancée, there’s a high probability her family will constantly pester me to inherit the Ducal House.

Above all, because of this bizarre ability, I feel like I can’t even have a normal relationship!

Usually it isn’t so bad unless their emotions flare up, but if we touch, I can hear their inner voices even more clearly. There are virtually no nobles out there without a hidden side… Seriously, I am so over this ability…

“Could it be that there is a girl you are interested in?”

“No, there is no one.”

At my instantaneous reply, the Queen’s excited expression instantly shifted to one of disappointment, and she leaned back into her chair. Apologies for failing to meet your expectations.

‘Is Kaiser-kun really that hidden character after all?’

You’re probably wrong~.

‘It’s also possible he doesn’t have anyone because the heroine hasn’t debuted yet. Normally, it wouldn’t be strange for someone Kaiser-kun’s age to already be married.’

Ouch. That just pierced right through my heart…

It’s true that at 22, it wouldn’t be strange for the eldest son of a Duke to be married or at least have a fiancée… But the fact that I don’t even have a girlfriend, let alone a fiancée, has absolutely nothing to do with the game’s plot.

‘But it really was a shock. To think I would reincarnate as the mother of a capture target. The moment Dia was born, I suddenly remembered my past life and collapsed, causing a massive uproar. I always felt a strange sense of deja vu, like the country’s name and the noble titles sounded familiar…’

Yeah, that really is a massive shock. I was beyond shocked myself.

‘There’s absolutely no information on the rumored hidden character, though. I was curious, but if a hidden route truly exists, they spent a lot of money developing it and it made such a huge splash, so a fan disc is bound to come out… I figured instead of wasting time trying to unlock an unconfirmed route, it would be better to just look up the info after someone else cleared it, or just drop money on the fan disc.’

Oh wow… What a thoroughly adult way of thinking. But true enough, that is much more efficient.

It’s a very realistic, strictly pragmatic mindset, entirely unbefitting a dreamy otome game player.

‘In the first place, I just wanted to enjoy a sweet story to blow off stress from work. I hated getting frustrated by struggling with the playthrough, so I relied entirely on strategy guides.’

The Queen is an absolute realist.

‘I thought Tihart might be the hidden character, but this boy already has a fiancée and they are head over heels for each other. So for me, my number one candidate is definitely Kaiser-kun.’

Oh come on… I really don’t think I can ever look at a girl the same age as Beatrix as a romantic partner.

She’s more than 10 years younger than me, and she’s my little sister’s classmate, you know?!

Navigating the actual conversation while simultaneously listening to the Queen’s inner thoughts in a double-audio format, the formidable tea party finally came to an end.