I Was Reincarnated as the Prince in a Villainess Story, so I’ll Use My Cheat Knowledge to Create a Noble Lady Harem and Make Them All Happy - 26

Chapter 26: Feril Everett

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The light in the guest room flickered softly, and the fragrant steam of tea filled the space. Outside the window, evening had already fallen, and the shadows of the castle walls stretched long and deep.

On the facing sofas sat me and—Yuko Sonomura, now living as Feril. Neither of us had spoken yet. It was a silence in which both were quietly measuring each other’s breathing, wondering where to begin.

The first to open her mouth was Feril.

“…I remembered when I was ten.”

Her eyes were cast down. She gently clasped her hands on her knees, and the shadows of her long eyelashes fell softly across her cheeks.

“One morning, when I woke up, there were two landscapes in my mind. One was a world with forests, castle walls, and knights. The other had crowded trains, the swinging doors of a convenience store, and the white light of fluorescent lamps… The world I used to live in.”

“Ten years old, huh.”

“Yes. By then, the prince’s name had already come up in conversations like, ‘Another new reform,’ and I was… confused, and scared, too. Because for a ten-year-old child, ‘two realities’ are too heavy to bear, aren’t they?”

“I… I think I can understand that.”

She shook her head slightly, but her voice trembled faintly.

“When was it for you?”

“For me, it was from the moment I was born. Even as an infant, I already remembered the ‘other side.’”

Surprise clearly surfaced in her eyes.

“What…? From the very start? As a baby?”

“That’s why, for me, the question was how to ‘adapt to this world.’ You, on the other hand, had to connect the two when you were ten… The nature of the burden we had to bear was different.”

Feril exhaled softly, her gaze dropping to the table.

“The first thing I did after regaining my memories was to confirm it. When I realized that Reina-neesama, whom I adored, was the main character of the story and that she was a character I had created, I felt the ground beneath my feet crumble. But Nee-sama was…”

Her words broke off, and she smiled faintly.

“She was even kinder than the Reina-neesama I knew from the story. And she talked about you all the time. Literally every time we met. So much that it was almost annoying. She looked that happy.”

“…I see.”

“The ‘evil prince’ I wrote in my story was, in reality, a wise ruler. Milia-sama’s illness was cured by your policies, and so many people have been saved. …I couldn’t make sense of it. The ‘Crown and the Cage of Purity’ that I wrote, and the reality unfolding here… They were far too different.”

Her fingers loosened slightly, then folded together again, slowly.

“The Margrave family I was born into lacked for nothing. I had kind parents who cared for me, and Reina-neesama wrote to me often and visited when she could. That made it even harder to act. I couldn’t tell if changing anything would distort the story or if it would bring an irredeemable future.”

“Were you afraid that my policies might bring the scent of ‘that world’ here?”

“…Yes.”

Her nod carried both hesitation and fear, honestly expressed.

“The waterworks, sanitation, education… The way they felt resembled Japan’s logic… I kept thinking about who you really were. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask. I didn’t want to involve Reina-neesama, and I didn’t want to speak of something I wasn’t certain of.”

Her gaze met mine directly.

“But when I heard from Reina-neesama that she was coming to the frontier, I decided. …I didn’t want Nee-sama or Milia-sama to hear, so I came to the capital alone.”

The edge of her voice trembled faintly.

“Coming here today, talking to you—I finally understood. ‘Yuko Sonomura,’ and my memories of Japan, weren’t delusions. I was always scared, you know? That maybe I was just a ten-year-old child clinging to a bad dream. It was such a long, lonely time. I couldn’t tell anyone.”

Tears quietly welled in her eyes.

So, even the fact of her being a reincarnated person had wavered inside her all this time.

Come to think of it, that made sense. Unlike Valis, who had acted on his own to change his circumstances, she had only been able to watch the world around her change and if she regained her memories of modern Japan only after she was old enough to think consciously, the dissonance must have been unbearable.

She quietly wiped her tears with her sleeve.

“…Thank you.”

Her voice trembled, but it reached me clearly.

“At last, I feel like I truly exist here.”

In place of words, I simply nodded slowly.

“I’d like to keep this matter—our reincarnation—secret from Reina and Milia. From now on as well. Is that all right?”

“Of course. That’s why I deceived Nee-sama and came alone to see you in the first place.”

“Also…”

Valis searched for words, speaking a bit shyly.

“I’d be glad if we could stay close, from one person of the same homeland to another.”

Feril’s eyes flickered with surprise. Then, with a small, bittersweet smile—half irony, half tears—she said.

“…That’s how you managed to charm Reina-neesama and Milia-sama, isn’t it?”

She turned her face aside, then looked back at me squarely, tears still glistening.

“But there’s one thing I absolutely had to ask you.”

“Yeah?”

“What is ‘mandatory sex education’?”

I involuntarily fell silent.

“…I believe it’s the foundation of a nation. I wanted to reduce the number of people who get hurt out of ignorance. So I thought it should be taught—not avoided—but taught properly.”

Feril gave me a look of mild exasperation, as if assessing me.

“Well, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a hint of lust involved.”

“I thought as much.”

She sighed, her shoulders lowering slightly.

“Thanks to you, the Reina-neesama I wrote—‘pure, innocent, and serious’—and that’s still true, more than ever, but… I never imagined she’d become so enthusiastic about sex education!”

“…That part was unexpected even for me.”

Valis knew all too well what had happened as a result of Reina’s “pure, innocent, and serious” nature taking that turn. At the same time, an unpleasant premonition flitted through his mind.

“…Don’t tell me, you were also a victim of Reina’s sex education—”

“Shut up! Don’t even imagine that!”

Her snow-white cheeks turned crimson in an instant as she leaned forward and slammed the table. I could only shrug in response. But then, she let out a small laugh. The heavy air around us lightened just a little.

“Well, never mind.”

She stood and, with the grace of a lady, bowed elegantly.

“Prince Valis, I look forward to our continued acquaintance.”

“The pleasure is mine, Feril.”

A faint warmth lingered where our fingertips brushed.

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The next morning.

When we passed through the castle gates, the sky was clear and high, and the road carried the scent of dry earth. Each time the carriage wheels struck the stones, they made a steady, rhythmic sound. Feril and I, accompanied by a minimal escort, were heading west.

After some time swaying with the carriage’s motion, I unfolded the map before me as if remembering something. My fingertip traced naturally toward the western edge, the border of the forest.

“The Elven Forest and the Everett family… Have you been told anything about their connection?”

Sitting across from me, Feril gently shook her head.

“No. …Even in the story I wrote, I never thought of any special setting around them.”

She spoke quickly.

“If you remember the story, you’ll know—‘The Crown and the Cage of Purity’ was just something I wrote for fun, to adore Reina-neesama, the villainous noblewoman. I only meant to write what I wanted to read—a story where beautiful noble ladies fawned and giggled over the ‘evil prince.’ I didn’t really think much about worldbuilding or settings!”

“When you put it like that, it sounds rather unromantic…”

“Well, that’s how amateur web novels are, aren’t they?”

I nodded in agreement. Still, the fact that even as a man I had found it quite enjoyable said a lot about her talent. In conclusion, there were no mentions of elves in the story she’d written. Apart from the characters’ names, there were hardly any similarities at all.

“I see.”

A century-old record of an “unconfirmed outcome,” a newly granted earldom after his return, and an appointment to a distant frontier post—each point was falling into place, yet they still didn’t connect into a clear line. The scenery outside the carriage window grew increasingly mountainous. The greenery deepened, and the air grew cool.

＊＊＊

The Everett estate stood quietly at the foot of the mountains, nestled against their base. The stone walls glowed faintly white in the morning sun, and the family crest was engraved clearly above the main gate.

When the gate opened, waiting there were Reina and Milia. Wearing traveling cloaks over their dresses, they ran toward the carriage the moment they saw it arrive.

“Feril!”

Reina’s voice carried unmistakable worry. Without hesitation, she pulled Feril into a hug, resting her cheek on her shoulder.

“I’m so glad you’re safe. I was worried that something might have happened to you.”

Surprised by the sudden embrace, Feril’s eyes widened briefly before softening with relief. She accepted it quietly, her fingers clutching Reina’s sleeve trembling faintly.

“I’m sorry, Nee-sama… We must have missed each other when I went to the capital to meet you.”

A gentle lie. But Reina seemed to sense something behind the words. Without saying anything, she simply held her tighter.

“I’m relieved to see your face. Please, don’t worry us so much.”

Milia, standing beside Reina, beamed brightly.

“Feril! It’s been so long! Hey, let’s make time for tea later, okay?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

Watching the three of them from a little distance, I felt the tension that had been wound tightly inside me begin to loosen, little by little. Reina’s affection for Feril—how deeply she cared—was contained entirely within that single embrace. At the same time, another question stirred quietly in the back of my mind.

What secret lies within the Everett family? And what is their connection to the elves?

As I stepped into the cool stone corridors beyond the gate, I tucked that question away in my heart.

The answer surely lay ahead.

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