Chastity-Reversed Hard Mode: Surviving as a Steel-Minded Adventurer in Another World - Chapter 34: “Longfield Territory – Heroine Side (Part 1)”

Chapter 34: “Longfield Territory – Heroine Side (Part 1)”

Ursna, who had once teased Yuji with little more than casual sexual harassment, had begun directing far heavier feelings toward him.

The moment those feelings became impossible to deny was during the incident at the Longfield Count’s estate.

Yuji had been crushed beneath Count Rose Longfield’s overwhelming pressure.

He had even been subtly threatened with execution.

And yet—

He faced her directly.

He did not bow. He did not flatter. He did not shrink.

He met her head-on, rebuked her sharply…

And in the middle of it all, he even flicked the Count cleanly on the forehead.

An outrageous, beautiful move.

From her hiding place in the ceiling—where she had secretly observed everything—Ursna had struggled desperately to keep from bursting into laughter at how satisfying it all was.

And her underwear had been soaked.

He did not bend before authority.

He did not fawn.

He confronted power directly—and still kept the other person’s well-being in mind.

That had once been the ideal Ursna herself aimed for when she was still a noble lady.

The most respected image of a Shalsmel noble.

An ideal that, in reality, did not truly exist.

And yet—

That very spirit now stood before her, embodied in a man.

After witnessing that brilliance up close…

How could she possibly not want him?

I want him.

I want him completely.

I want to carry his child.

I want to raise that child with him.

I want to live beside him for years and years… and be there at the very end of his life.

If anyone is going to plant their seed in my womb, it should be him.

When Yuji grows old and reaches his final moment, I want the last thing reflected in his fading eyes to be me.

In every scene of his future life—

I want to be the one standing beside him.

The weight of those emotions felt insane.

As if a crushing gravity had formed inside her chest.

That determination—and that raw desire—would only burn hotter a week later, when she watched him stand firm against a terrifying dragon and defeat it without taking a single step back.

But that part of the story can wait.

＝＝＝＝＝＝
＝＝＝＝
＝＝

There was only one person standing in the way of Ursna’s love life.

A tiny but fiercely competitive rookie—

Irene.

To be honest, Ursna did not think much of the guild’s top-ranked members.

Yes, they had more achievements. More experience.

But in terms of raw talent? She did not believe she was inferior.

Given enough time and experience, she was certain she would surpass them.

More importantly—

They did not have enough passion for Yuji.

Or rather, not enough obsession.

What they wanted was a man with a sexy body… and his seed. It did not have to be Yuji specifically.

If another man met those conditions, they would be satisfied.

Though, admittedly, finding another man like that would be difficult.

Still—

Ursna believed that when two people of equal strength clashed, the one with stronger obsession always won in the end.

She had learned that through knight training.

It applied to swordsmanship and spear combat…

And surely, it applied to love as well.

Compared to any of the top-ranked girls, Ursna was certain her fixation on Yuji ran deeper.

If it came down to it, she was ready to throw away everything she had built as an adventurer for his sake.

Could the others do the same?

She doubted it.

That was why she had no intention of losing to them.

But Irene was different.

That girl’s obsession was no weaker than Ursna’s.

It irritated her to admit it, but Irene’s talent was not bad either.

For someone born in the slums, it was almost abnormal.

She had magic power and instinct that rivaled Ursna’s own—even though Ursna had been raised as high nobility.

Well, Ursna herself had been adopted.

But if her parents had been so determined to preserve her bloodline, it could not have been an inferior one.

Even so, until a certain point, Irene had been nothing more than a pebble on the roadside to Ursna.

Yes, she had persistence. Yes, she was talented—even if she was a little bratty.

But compared to Ursna, she had received no proper education.

She was a slum-born commoner.

In the end, the one standing beside Yuji would obviously be Ursna.

The biggest reason she believed that was simple—

Upbringing.

Fairy tales were full of stories where a poor boy caught a princess’s eye, married her, and lived happily ever after.

The story always ended there.

But if someone wrote what happened afterward?

Ursna was convinced it would end in divorce.

Because someone raised in poverty lacked refinement.

Eating with bare hands. Chewing loudly with their mouth open. Laughing crudely at the table.

They would not even know such things were considered bad manners.

They would not understand how a noble would perceive that behavior.

People are built in a way that makes it uncomfortable to live with someone whose level of refinement differs too greatly from their own.

When you are young, your head is full of romance and your lower body burns with lust.

As long as the other person has a nice face and a hot body, you overlook everything else.

But once things settle… once the heat fades…

A lack of education begins to grate on you.

With Yuji, she would be fine.

She did not know what kind of home or society he had grown up in, but he had proper table manners. He could respond cleverly in conversation. And when she suddenly switched to speaking Shalsmel, he answered without missing a beat.

Talking to him felt light and effortless, like chatting with a close female friend.

And yet there was sharp intelligence behind his humor.

Even Ursna, raised in noble society, occasionally found herself impressed by the depth of his knowledge.

And then—every so often—he would say or do something oddly innocent and clueless.

That gap only made him more irresistible.

It was rare to find someone so comfortable to be around.

Surely Yuji felt the same.

Even when they grew older—when desire no longer burned hot—they could remain together like best friends who happened to be married.

But Irene and Yuji?

That would not last.

Irene, raised in the slums, lacked refinement.

Even if that cheeky brat managed to get together with him, cracks would appear soon enough.

They would never stay together to the very end.

In the end, the one smiling last would be Ursna.

Of that, she had been certain.

On the first night they stayed at the Count’s estate, everyone gathered for dinner.

That was when Ursna’s prediction about the future shattered.

The meal that evening was roast beef.

Originally, Yuji and Deabolica were meant to dine with the Count’s family.

But Yuji had declined.

“I don’t really know proper table manners. I’d probably offend someone,” he had said politely.

So instead, the food was brought to the guest room for him and the others.

As expected, Yuji and Deabolica neatly used fork and knife, cutting the meat into proper pieces before lifting them to their mouths.

Ursna glanced sideways at Yuji’s smooth movements and gave a small nod.

Good.

Then she slowly scanned the room—

And froze.

“Irene. Where did you learn to use a knife?”

Ursna asked in a flat, expressionless tone.

Irene paused.

She set down her knife and fork, wiped the sauce from her lips with a napkin, swallowed what was in her mouth—

Then answered.

“Huh? Oh, this? My master taught me. Said I should know it just in case I ever had to eat with nobles. Didn’t want me embarrassing myself.”

“Oh?”

Ursna tilted her head slightly.

“Your master. The old man from the slums who taught you magic? He taught you table manners too?”

While chewing on a chunk of roast beef, Irene’s party leader chimed in.

Even this intelligent-looking mage was grabbing the meat with her hands and biting into it.

In fact, in both Irene’s party and Ursna’s party, not a single other person was properly cutting their meat.

Except Irene.

“Hahaha, don’t worry about it. We don’t understand manners anyway. Irene, just eat however you like.”

But in that room, only Irene and Ursna were cutting their meat properly with knife and fork.

“Yeah, but… if I can’t eat properly, Yuji might feel embarrassed.”

She sent him a quick glance.

Yuji tilted his head in confusion.

“? If Irene doesn’t eat properly, why would I be embarrassed?”

“N-Not now! I mean in the future! My master said if you don’t keep practicing this stuff, you’ll forget! So I’m staying sharp all the time—so someday Yuji won’t be embarrassed because of me!”

“Hmm…?”

Yuji still looked puzzled.

Watching that exchange, Ursna felt something cold settle in her chest.

Irene was dangerous.

She had at least the basics of refinement drilled into her by her master.

And her obsession with Yuji was genuine.

Looking back over the past six months, no one else around Yuji posed this much of a threat.

At first, Irene had acted almost hostile toward him.

But ever since they cleared up their misunderstanding during the carriage ride, she had been closing the distance at an alarming speed.

When Ursna saw Yuji hugging Irene from behind at the inn the previous night—like she was a soft stuffed doll—murmuring, “Irene, you smell really nice,” while sniffing at her neck—Ursna had nearly exploded and leapt in to tear them apart.

There was not a second to waste.

While they were staying at the Count’s estate, she would make her move.

Yes, there were too many eyes here—but that only meant she had to act boldly.

Tonight, she would invite him out for drinks.

She would press him hard. Overwhelm him.

If she had to, she would drag him to bed.

And once she carried his child, it would be settled.

With that undeniable fact, she would secure him for good.

—The one who would bear Eugene’s child… would be me.

As Ursna set her jaw in fierce determination, Irene was watching her from the side.

(She’s looking at Yuji like she’s in heat…! There’s no time to hesitate. I’ll protect Yuji! First—invite him for drinks tonight and push hard! Then I’ll get pregnant with Yuji’s baby, and we’ll live happily ever after…!)

It takes one horny monkey to recognize another.