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~ - 26

Chapter 26: Noah Receives Hospitality at the Present Household

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“Noah-sama, excuse me. These cookies go extremely well with coffee.”

“Ah, thank you very much……”

At the moment, Noah was being entertained in a luxurious room lined with paintings and lavish decorations while waiting for Freya to finish getting ready.

Despite supposedly being treated as a guest, Noah’s cheeks were twitching uncontrollably for some reason. On top of that, he had barely touched either the drink or the sweets that had been served to him.

“Is something the matter? Freya-sama is still taking some time to prepare, so please help yourself without holding back. These are cookies our household prides itself on.”

“I-I see……”

Having been told that much, he couldn’t very well refuse. Once again, Noah took a bite of a cookie.

“I-it’s really delicious……”

Contrary to his words, Noah’s expression was stiff.

Why do nobles like these overly sweet sweets so much……? They use way too much sugar, which just makes them taste bad……

Though Noah complained inwardly, he did understand the reason. Among nobles, it was common knowledge that the sweeter a dessert was, the better it was considered. In other words, using large amounts of sugar was seen as desirable. Just like the clothes nobles wore, this was a way of flaunting wealth and power.

Even Noah, who liked sweet things, found the cookies served here hard to stomach. What made it even worse was the black coffee. There was no sugar and no milk. Because of that, the bitterness of the coffee stood out intensely. Noah was currently thirteen years old. Naturally, he was still too young to appreciate the taste of coffee.

Ugh…… This tastes awful…… It really tastes awful…… At least give me some sugar or milk for the coffee……

Crying inwardly, Noah told himself it would be wasteful to leave it uneaten and forced himself to continue. Sweat formed on his forehead as he desperately fought the nausea rising within him, but somehow he managed to finish everything. Just as he was praising himself internally…

“It seems you enjoyed it, since you finished everything. I’m relieved. I’ll prepare some more for you.”

The maid clasped her hands cutely and smiled, but to Noah, that smile looked devilish.

“Huh!? N-no, I mean, I’m already full, haha……”

Just recalling the cookies made a small “ugh” escape his throat, and he almost reflexively covered his mouth with his hand. Thankfully, no second serving was brought to Noah. That was because a sharp crack echoed through the room, the sound of ceramic shattering. At the same time, coffee splashed onto Noah’s clothes.

“I-I’m terribly sorry! Are you hurt at all!?”

“Y-yes…… I’m fine. I’m not burned or anything.”

Seeing the maid turn pale, Noah thought she didn’t need to worry that much.

Well, if she knows about my bad reputation, I guess that kind of reaction makes sense……

As he suppressed the urge to sigh, the maid hurriedly tried to pick up the broken cup.

“Try to calm down a little, okay? You’ll hurt yourself like that.”

It was obvious she would cut her fingers at this rate. Noah stood up from his chair and began picking up the fragments from the floor in her place.

If Layla saw this, she’d probably say it’s unbecoming of a noble……

He could easily imagine Layla frowning and saying, “That’s a servant’s job,” which made him let out a wry smile. However, for Noah, who had regained memories of his previous life, being waited on by others was simply uncomfortable. He glanced at Lotte and saw her gripping the hem of her skirt tightly, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Even if I came here to apologize, she did end up getting a guest’s clothes dirty. I hope she doesn’t get punished later……

And, as if on cue, there was a knock on the door and Freya appeared. Cup fragments were scattered across the floor, coffee stains marred Noah’s clothes, and worst of all, the guest himself was picking up the broken pieces. Just from this sight, Noah could easily imagine the maid being punished for her rudeness toward a guest. Because of that, he decided to act first.

“I’m sorry, it’s because I dropped the cup.”

“……Eh? Ah, what……? I-is that so, Lotte?”

Freya, her eyes wide, questioned the maid, Lotte.

“No, that’s—”

“Yes, I was the one who dropped it.”

Noah spoke again, cutting off Lotte’s still-pale voice.

“My clothes got dirty as well, so could I borrow something to wipe them with?”

“I-I’m terribly sorry! I’ll bring something immediately. And I’ll also prepare a change of clothes.”

“Ah, in that case, could you call Layla for me?”

“Understood.”

Lotte bowed deeply and left the room.

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“Mm…… Yes, this should be fine.”

After circling around Noah once, Layla nodded with satisfaction. After that incident, Noah had been guided to another room, where Layla helped him change his clothes.

“Still, Noah-sama. How exactly did your clothes get dirty? I can imagine most of it, but I’d like to confirm it with you personally.”

“Ah, well, it’s like this—”

Noah explained what had happened earlier. When he finished, Layla let out a pleased smile. Her expression even looked a little proud.

“I see, I understand the situation now. Noah-sama, you endured it very well. That was admirable.”

“……Y-yeah. I guess so.”

Is that really something to be praised for……? Well, some people might get angry over it, but I’m not really that type, right?

As he grew a little sad, wondering if people thought he was the kind of person who would get angry over something like that…

“So then, Noah-sama, what do you plan to do about this incident?”

Layla’s words made Noah blink in surprise.

“………………H-huh? No, I wasn’t planning anything in particular—”

At that point, Layla said something completely unexpected to Noah.

“There’s no one else here but me, so you don’t need to pretend. You noticed, didn’t you? That you were being harassed.”

H-harassed……!? What does that mean!?

“However, it ended with the instigator being thoroughly outmaneuvered by the ever-clever Noah-sama.”

“……Y-yeah, maybe?”

“Depending on how you move next, the Present family may find themselves in quite a bit of trouble. Ahh, how pitiful, how pitiful.”

Watching Layla chuckle to herself, Noah hesitated over whether he should tell her the truth.

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