I Was Reincarnated as the Villain in an Eroge, but I’ll Live Honestly ~Because the Protagonist Was Useless, I Ended Up Making the Heroines Smile and Somehow Built a Harem~ - 12

Chapter 12: Noah Thinks Things Through 1

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“Still, between Abel and Flora, just what’s going on with this world?”

While drinking the honey milk tea Layla had brewed for him, Noah was taking a break alone in his room. What Noah was recalling was Flora’s route in the game.

If I remember right, in the game Flora was supposed to push herself too hard working at Abel’s mansion and eventually collapse…

Layla had evaluated Flora as someone overly serious, and Noah shared that same assessment.

If I don’t keep a careful eye on her, she might really collapse just like in the game’s scenario…

When Noah glanced down into the garden from the window, Flora was working busily. This wasn’t Abel’s mansion, so Noah fully understood that he might be overthinking things. Even so, he couldn’t help but worry.

After Flora collapses from overworking, she ends up running away from the mansion because of the shock of having caused trouble… But still…

While he was determined to avoid anything that would make Flora sad, there was one thing that troubled him. It was about how deeply a villain like him was allowed to get involved with a target heroine. To begin with, Noah’s goal was to live modestly in this world and eventually have a family.

He had never planned to get deeply involved with the target heroines or the protagonist. He didn’t know what kind of impact it would have on this world. On top of that, because he was a villain, he had no idea what kind of negative influence he might have on the heroines. And above all else, he firmly believed that the protagonist was the one who would make the heroines happiest.

But reality was different. He had grown close enough to Layla that she showed expressions he had never seen in the game. And now, he had even become involved with Flora.

From what I heard from Flora, Abel is kind of strange in the first place…

At the very least, in the game there had been no depiction of Abel doing anything even remotely like sexual harassment toward Flora.

A-Abel-san, you have some kind of reason behind your actions, right? Hiring Flora at the mansion means you entered her route, doesn’t it? I’m trusting you here, Abel-san!

Then, perhaps noticing that Noah was watching from the window, Flora turned toward him with a beaming smile and waved. With a slightly awkward smile of his own, Noah waved back.

※※※

Several days had passed since Flora was hired. Noah was now walking through the mansion together with Layla.

“By the way, is Canaria’s cold doing okay? Her fever hasn’t gone down yet, has it?”

“She appears to be recovering steadily, so there’s no problem. In fact, she was very grateful to you, Noah-sama. For introducing her to a doctor, and for arranging everything from her meals to her rest.”

“No, no, normally you can’t force a sick person to work, right? It would be worse if her sickness got more serious.”

As Noah replied in an entirely matter-of-fact way, Layla smiled happily.

“That’s true. However, that ‘normal’ is far rarer than Noah-sama realizes.”

“Well… Yeah, I know that.”

Noah gave a wry smile. In reality, even if maids working at noble estates fell ill, it was more common for them to continue working. Being ordered by their master to rest—let alone having a doctor arranged for them—was extremely rare. It went far beyond simply being fortunate.

With values from my previous life, there’s no way I could make sick people work. And besides, since they’re working for someone like me, I need to take good care of them.

That said, Noah was too embarrassed to say that out loud. Just then, Flora hanging laundry caught his eye.

“Hey, Layla. How is Flora doing?”

At Noah’s words, Layla placed a hand on her chin and thought for a moment.

“Let’s see… It may be unexpected, but she’s quite capable. She works quickly and accurately. She’s very serious, so we can entrust her with work without worry.”

Noah’s eyes widened at Layla’s praise. As the head maid, Layla was strict with her subordinates.

“I see. She really is working incredibly hard for her family.”

“Yes, that’s what I think as well.”

Layla narrowed her eyes gently, then chuckled as if recalling something. It seemed there was another reason.

“What is it, Layla? Is there something else?”

“Oh, pardon me… Of course, it’s for her family, but the biggest reason is that she was hired by Noah-sama.”

“I-is that so…?”

It was something he half understood and half didn’t. As if to clear up Noah’s confusion, Layla spoke while gently patting his head.

“Anyone would be happy to receive help when they’re in trouble. And thanks to her, I’ve been able to spend more time with you, Noah-sama.”

Layla’s words made Noah realize something.

“Now that you mention it, it’s unusual for you to be with me at this time, isn’t it? Normally you’d be doing other work.”

“Yes. That’s because Flora took over several of my duties. Actually—”

Just as Layla was about to explain…

“Ah, Noah-sama~!”

Speak of the devil. Noticing Noah and Layla, Flora came running over to them.

“Good afternoon, Noah-sama!”

Flora greeted them with a bright, adorable smile. Thinking how cute she looked, Noah tried to respond, but…

“…You’re sweating a lot. Are you okay? Have you been working that hard?”

Seeing how much Flora was sweating, Noah’s eyes widened.

“Huh? Oh, this? Please don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean, aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

Noah paused and glanced at Layla to confirm. She was the one managing the maids’ workload.

“Noah-sama, you don’t need to worry that much. It was Flora herself who asked to take on some of my duties.”

As if to supplement Layla’s words, Flora spoke up.

“That’s right, Noah-sama! I was the one who asked Layla-senpai!”

Clenching her fists in front of her chest, Flora spoke passionately.

“I want to work even harder at Noah-sama’s mansion! I want to be useful to Noah-sama, whom I adore, and I want Layla-senpai to be able to take it easy too!”

“I see, I see. Thank you.”

At Noah’s reply, Flora’s face immediately lit up.

“No, not at all! If anything comes up, please feel free to call on me right away!”

With that, Flora returned to her work. Her cheerful, energetic, hard-working face was so endearing that Noah couldn’t help but soften his expression. But still…

Noah shook his head firmly from side to side and steeled himself.

I need to keep a close eye on her so she doesn’t push herself too hard and collapse.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー