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~ - 28

Chapter 28: Noah Gains Freya’s Interest

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“Why… Why…?!”

When he turned around, Freya was standing there with her mouth twisted into a frown and her hands clenched tightly.

“Uh, well, that’s…?”

“Normally, this is where you’d make us accept your apology… So why, why are you being so… Like this… Now I’m the one who—”

Noah couldn’t quite grasp what Freya was trying to say, and he froze in place.

What is Freya talking about…? I know it has something to do with the dance party, but…

As Noah was thinking that, Freya rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand, scrubbing at them. She looked lonely, like a child who had lost her way.

“………………”

Noah slowly drew in a breath before opening his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I don’t really understand what you’re trying to say, Freya. I’ll be guessing here. Are you okay with that?”

Freya gave a small nod.

“…Because I want to become myself, I guess.”

“…Huh?”

Freya jerked her head up in surprise. A question mark practically floated above her head.

“Just hearing that doesn’t make sense, right? Sorry. What I meant was—”

Just as Noah was about to explain in detail, the maid Lotte entered the room, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Noah-sama, the carriage is ready. Layla-sama is waiting in the carriage—… Is something wrong?”

Having returned to the room, Lotte cast a suspicious look at Noah. Before he could respond, Freya spoke up.

“N-Nothing’s wrong!”

“B-But…”

“It’s f-fine, Noah. Really, nothing’s wrong, so don’t worry. You’re heading back, right? I’ll see you off.”

“Hey, w-wait—okay, okay, I get it.”

Freya pushed Noah’s back almost forcefully. She probably didn’t want to talk about it anymore. And so, still feeling unsettled, Noah finished apologizing to Freya, his fiancée. While the carriage rocked along on the way back, Noah suddenly realized something.

“Oh, I forgot my clothes. I left them borrowed, didn’t I?”

“I’m sure someone from the Present family will deliver them later. You can return the clothes then. More importantly, tomorrow is your knight exam, Noah-sama.”

At those words, Noah’s expression tightened. Tomorrow was the day of the beginner-level knight qualification exam.

“Yeah, I know. I’ve got to do my best.”

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Seeing off the carriage carrying Noah and the others were Freya and Lotte. Freya kept staring at the carriage and didn’t move from the spot. Then she muttered quietly,

“…He’s changed.”

“Yes. I was surprised as well. Thanks to that, we were completely outmaneuvered.”

Just as Layla had predicted, the Present family had no intention of accepting Noah’s apology. Originally, the plan had been devised by Freya’s father—Vincent, the current head of the Present family. Based on Noah’s past behavior, they had assumed he could be easily driven away.

That way, there would be no need to accept his apology. However, the plan failed because Noah had changed from an arrogant boy who looked down on others into someone sincere.

“Why didn’t he make us accept his apology…?”

As Freya murmured this, the carriage was no longer visible where she looked. Even so, she narrowed her eyes, trying to see farther into the distance. Freya herself didn’t understand what she was trying to see. She just couldn’t bring herself to look away.

There was only one thing she knew for certain.

Why can’t I take my eyes off him…? And…

Freya clenched her hands tightly. A grinding sound escaped from between her clenched teeth. If she didn’t distract herself with something else, what welled up from deep in her chest made it unbearably painful. What surfaced in Freya’s mind was the dance party held on her tenth birthday. The pathetic image of herself falling spectacularly in front of everyone kept replaying in her mind.  It was a past she didn’t even want to remember. Only bitterness remained.

That day had been burned vividly into her heart and memory, refusing to fade. Because of that, both within the Present family and among the nobles who had attended the dance party, the incident had become a taboo subject. So Freya had buried it deep in her memories, trying not to recall it. And yet, Noah’s words—“Because I want to become myself, I guess”—had brought it back.

As the setting sun sank lower and shadows began to fall across Freya’s expression…

“…My lady?”

Lotte wasn’t the kind of attendant who would miss her mistress’s unease. She gently took Freya’s hand and held it.

“…He went home without his clothes, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Can I go deliver them tomorrow?”

“I don’t mind, but you don’t need to go personally, Freya-sama—”

“I’m worried about him.”

The moment Freya said that, Lotte’s expression visibly twisted.

“…L-Lottie, why are you making that face?”

“I-It’s nothing… R-really, n-nothing at all…!”

Grinding her back teeth, Lotte replied with barely concealed hostility.

“What is it? If there’s something, just say it. I don’t mind.”

“My lady! When a bad person does something good, they just do it to make them look even better! You must not… You absolutely must not be deceived!”

Only then did Freya finally understand. She let out an exasperated sigh and explained why she wanted to deliver the forgotten clothes herself.

“It’s not like that… There’s just something I want to confirm.”

“Really? It’s not that you’re starting to care about him as a man, right? If it’s someone you choose, my lady, I would never complain, but even so… There are minimum standards! He must be at least 175 centimeters tall, handsome, of a higher rank than the Present family, and skilled enough with the sword to protect you from any enemy—”

With an intense expression, Lotte grabbed Freya by the shoulders and shook her. She was clearly deeply worried. Freya cut her off.

“Okay, okay, I get it…! First of all, boys like Noah aren’t my type, so don’t worry! You’re overthinking this, Lottie.”

After calming the still-agitated Lotte, Freya decided to head to the mansion where Noah lived the following day.

I just want to find out why I can’t get him out of my mind…

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