About the Case of Me Being Reincarnated as a Side Character Who Got Kicked Out Immediately Of The Story, but the Heroine, Who’s My Yandere Fiancée, Won't Leave Me Alone

Chapter 43: I found it

Invited to the Roland household, the tea party surrounded by beautiful flowers went without any particular problems, and the conversation flowed uninterruptedly as time passed.

“Y’know…”

Muttering softly, I drew the attention of Arisu and the others.

“This place might be fancy, but it doesn’t feel any different from when we ate together in the school cafeteria.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Ah, I was thinking the same thing.”

“Yeah.”

Feeling that way was probably proof that I had started to relax.

If this had happened about two weeks earlier, I definitely would’ve been stiff with nerves.

However, at that moment, I was facing a bit of a problem.

To put it simply, my stomach wasn’t feeling great… In a situation like this, what words should I use to gracefully escape from this garden of beautiful girls?

“No… I should just say it normally, right?”

Once the thought hit me, I acted immediately!

Maintaining my poker face as Akito, I opened my mouth.

“Seems like I’m starting to relax… Sorry, but I need to head to the restroom.”

“Ah, okay.”

“I’ll take you there.”

It looked like Sophia would be guiding me.

Meanwhile, Arisu, picking up on my silent distress from just those few words, chuckled softly.

Tilting her head, Filia asked curiously, and Arisu responded with a knowing smile.

“He’s really easy to read. But that’s part of his charm, isn’t it?”

“Easy to read… As expected of his fiancée, huh?”

Leaving those words behind, I made my way inside the mansion.

The hallways Sophia led me through were part of the private section of the estate—areas I hadn’t approached during the last party. The space was filled with a lived-in grandeur, and I caught glimpses of various servants attending to their work.

“That’s the restroom.”

“Thanks.”

With a sharp pain in my stomach, I quickly but gracefully stepped into the restroom.

After about five minutes of taking it easy, I exited—only to find Sophia still waiting, leaning against the wall.

(…Wait, she’s still here?!!)

I could’ve found my way back on my own after just walking once, so I didn’t necessarily need her to wait.

Then again, this was someone else’s house, so maybe it wasn’t too strange for her to stay. But making her wait five whole minutes… That was kind of embarrassing.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s fine. Is your stomach okay?”

“………”

I only nodded in response.

As we started heading back to Arisu and the others, Sophia suddenly stopped and turned around.

“Akito-kun, thank you for today.”

Her unexpected gratitude left me wide-eyed, but I quickly responded, “I should be the one thanking you.”

“If you hadn’t invited me, I wouldn’t have had this time with everyone. The tea and sweets were amazing, but more than that, I got to enjoy spending time with Arisu. I should be thanking you for inviting me.”

“That’s true, but because you all came, Filia and I had fun too… so thank you.”

“…If we keep this up, we’re just going to keep going back and forth, huh? Should we leave it at that?”

“Fufu, yeah, let’s.”

Sophia gave a bright smile, then suddenly hopped a little closer to me, her beautiful eyes reflecting my face.

Dressed in a white one-piece dress, with her golden hair flowing elegantly, she looked like the very definition of a classic heroine from some grand story.

Well, she was one of the heroines of Yankano, after all.

Still, seeing her like this reaffirmed just how much of a beauty she was, rivaling even Arisu.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Hey, Akito-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“Look.”

She gestured around us.

The scenery hadn’t changed from earlier—the grand interior of the mansion, the numerous servants tending to their duties.

“In a way, you’re the one who protected all of this.”

I wanted to deny it, but… Maybe she wasn’t wrong.

If I hadn’t spoken up back then, what would have happened?

There was a chance things wouldn’t have gone as I predicted, but at the very least, everyone here was smiling now.

That was something I could be proud of.

“If we keep debating this, it’ll just turn into another endless back and forth. All I did was talk to you. The one who changed fate was you, Sophia.”

“That’s true… But I really am grateful.”

Sophia’s warm smile filled me with a sense of accomplishment—I had protected this as well.

Taking a quick glance around, I lowered my voice slightly.

“By the way… Has Filia said anything since then?”

“No, nothing at all.”

“I see… Phew.”

“Ahaha, that’s such a relieved expression.”

“Of course it is.”

Now I didn’t have to worry about being interrogated over the whole “fated person” thing.

That alone took a weight off my shoulders.

More than that, if it came down to explaining how I even knew about it in the first place, that would’ve been a nightmare.

『My family was torn apart… After that, we were constantly subjected to malice… Why do we have to go through this? What did we ever do? Don’t mess with me… Don’t look at me with those eyes that know nothing of suffering! Disgusting… Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting!!』

A scene from the manga and anime flashed through my mind.

I’d mentioned it before, but in the original story, Sophia and Filia had been overwhelmingly dark at first.

They even treated the protagonist coldly in the beginning.

Of course, that just made their eventual obsessive yandere tendencies even stronger… but sorry, protagonist. I’m really glad it didn’t turn out that way this time.

“Akito-kun, you’re kind of a mystery.”

“Huh?”

“I feel that way a lot when talking to you… Like you’re somehow different from us. I don’t know what it is, but I just get that feeling.”

Sophia smiled softly and continued.

“Talking with you is fun… Purely fun. That’s why I want to stay friends with you… What do you think?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Mmm, thank you.”

Friends, huh?

It wasn’t disappointing or anything, but maintaining a good relationship with Sophia, the daughter of the Roland family, would surely be beneficial in the future.

If we remained close, it could strengthen the ties between our families.

This was practically an investment in my future.

“Lately, I’ve been thinking more about family stuff, too.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve decided to do my best where I can. Like I told you before, there’s still a lot that feels heavy, but I’m surrounded by people I can rely on. Being in that kind of environment makes it hard to stay pessimistic.”

“That’s a good thing. Walking the path set for us comes with burdens, but we were born into our families for a reason. If you can see it as something worthwhile and feel motivated to try, then that’s wonderful.”

“Yeah… You’re right.”

It seemed like Sophia had similar thoughts.

We had already considered each other friends, but after this conversation, our bond felt even deeper.

Just as I was feeling satisfied with that, Sophia spoke up again.

“By the way, you’ve been calling us by our first names, haven’t you?”

“Huh? …Oh.”

I suddenly realized it.

I had always called them by their first names in my mind, and it must have slipped out naturally.

But Sophia didn’t seem bothered.

“I don’t mind. It feels more familiar that way.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Then… I’ll call you Sophia.”

“Please do. Filia probably won’t mind either, but I’ll ask her just in case.”

“Filia too, huh… Well, it should be fine.”

Just as we were about to return, Sophia stopped again.

“With this, I have a reason to stay by your side.”

“Huh? What was that?”

“Nothing. Let’s head back.”

“Oh… Okay.”

Upon returning to where Arisu and the others were, I found that the head of the Laurant family and his wife had arrived, apparently unable to contain their curiosity.

In other words, they were the parents of Sophia and Filia.

They seemed delighted that their daughters were getting along well with Arisu, and they were brimming with excitement as they looked forward to the future.

“The representative of the Izayoi family! We heard that our daughters have become friends with you, so we wanted to have a chat!”

“Uh, y-yes…”

“You seem to be quite an impressive young man. As expected of Arisu-san’s fiancé, perhaps?”

“He’s impressive in more ways than just one or two. After all, he is my fiancé.”

For some reason, it seemed that even I had gained their favor.

From the perspective of family matters, this was certainly a plus, but at the same time, everything was moving in such a good direction that it was almost frightening.

After that, Sophia switched places with Filia to talk with Arisu, while Filia came to stand beside me.

“That took a little long, didn’t it? Could it be… that kind of thing?”

“A lady shouldn’t ask such things.”

“Sorry.”

“Well, I don’t really mind.”

Standing next to me, Filia looked nearly identical to Sophia. I understood why, yet their resemblance was still striking.

As she gazed up at me, she casually continued speaking.

“Sophia’s cute, isn’t she?”

“Eh? Ah, well… yeah, I think so.”

“But she’s a little airheaded, don’t you think?”

“That just makes her all the more charming, doesn’t it?”

“Well, yeah. But thanks to that, I was able to find it.”