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~ - 30

Chapter 30: Freya Learns About Noah

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It was something Freya noticed while she was being guided to the guest room.

“Wow… There are really few people around today…”

She looked out the window of the room toward the garden, but there were no signs that it had been tended by gardeners. Not only that. Even to Freya’s eyes, it was obvious that, for the size of the mansion, the number of people working there was strikingly small.

There were especially few guards. It was enough to make her worry whether security would really be all right in case of an emergency.

For such a large mansion to have no family living here… So the rumors were true after all.

It was well known among the nobility that Noah’s father—the head of the Maycraft family—did not get along with his son. More precisely, he doted only on the children of his legal wife and ignored the rest. In other words, he had no affection for the children born to mistresses or concubines. Even so, completely abandoning them would look bad, so he at least provided them with food, clothing, and shelter.

I definitely wouldn’t be able to endure that…

Just imagining Noah’s position as her own caused Freya’s breathing to hitch unevenly, and she instinctively pressed a hand to her chest.

“No, this is indeed the correct number of staff for our household.”

“I see…”

“Yes. This is something Noah-sama chose himself. You might like to ask the other maids about it as well.”

While they were talking, they arrived at the guest room. Layla said she would prepare some tea and left the room.

A short while later…

Knock, knock.

Along with the sound of knocking, one of the maids entered carrying drinks. It was Flora.

“…Huh? It’s not Layla?”

At those words, Flora gave her a wry smile. As she served Freya, Flora explained the situation.

“Well, originally the head maid was supposed to handle this, but did you know that today is Noah-sama’s knight qualification exam?”

“Yes, I heard. It’s the beginner-level knight exam, right? I didn’t think it was something worth worrying about that much. My older brothers passed it easily.”

“Yes. It’s just a simple test where you demonstrate the forms you’ve practiced, so I did tell her there was nothing to worry about.”

As she said that, Flora’s gaze drifted toward the window. Drawn by it, Freya looked down into the garden as well. There, she saw Layla pacing around restlessly. By the time Freya murmured, “Ah,” it was already too late. Apparently not watching where she was going at all, Layla walked straight into a tree, putting on a spectacular display of clumsiness.

…Somehow, my image of Layla keeps changing more and more.

When Freya first met her yesterday, she had seemed mature, extremely beautiful, and sharp-witted. At the very least, she didn’t look like that now.

…Wanting to monopolize the person she loves and be the most important one… Doesn’t that make her look kind of childish?

Thinking that, Layla suddenly looked rather cute to Freya, and she let out a small snort of laughter.

“I think I understand why you came now. You’re right. She does seem pretty unsafe like this.”

“My apologies.”

Although Flora said that, her expression suggested the opposite. There was a gentle warmth to it, like laughing fondly at a child’s mistake. Then, just as Flora said “Excuse me” and was about to leave the room…

“Um, could I ask you something?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Uh…What do you think about Noah?”

I want to know more about him. If I do, then surely this painful feeling will…

She believed it would be resolved.

“What do you all think of Noah? I mean, setting aside now, his personality used to be pretty bad, right…? I mean, I know I’m asking something strange…”

Flora looked momentarily blank, but perhaps something in Freya’s unusually intense expression struck her, because she began speaking seriously.

“Well… I love him, you know? But that’s not what you want to ask, is it?”

At Flora’s words, Freya nodded.

“Well… Hmm… I’m someone who was hired relatively recently, so… Ah, please wait just a moment!”

Flora left the room, then returned with a dark-skinned maid. Her name was Canaria. She was a veteran maid, second only to Layla, and had been working there since before Noah reformed.

“You wanted to hear about Noah-sama before he changed, correct?”

Freya nodded at Canaria’s words. She had likely already heard the details from Flora. Without asking Freya anything further, she began speaking.

“Well… I’ve worked at this mansion since before Noah-sama changed, and yes, he was terrible. I’ve been subjected to verbal abuse more than once or twice, and I was tossed around by his selfishness many times. But he did apologize to me.”

Resting a hand against her chin, Canaria spoke as if organizing her thoughts.

“I suppose, for me, that’s where it ended. This is something the head maid once said: failures aren’t shackles that stop a person’s feet. They should be seeds that nurture the heart.”

“So Layla said something like that…”

“I think the people who could accept those words are the ones who remain working here. There are probably people who can’t forgive him, but I think it’s okay for me to forgive.”

Canaria spoke with a gentle smile, as if reminiscing about the past.

“Flora, you should speak as well. If Layla talks, her personal bias will mix in quite a bit, and for conversations like this, the opinion of someone who didn’t know Noah-sama before his reform is probably necessary.”

Following Canaria, Flora began speaking.

“It’s true. I don’t know the old Noah-sama. But I owe him a great deal. I love Noah-sama because he always looks out for maids like us, so I don’t care about what happened in the past!”

She declared it firmly and confidently.

“What really matters is using past failures to move forward into the future, isn’t it?”

“Well, Flora, you do say something nice once in a while.”

“Hey, that ‘once in a while’ part was unnecessary!”

Freya watched the exchange between the two of them as if it had nothing to do with her.

Now I finally understand… Why I was so concerned about Noah.

Forcing a smile, Freya thanked them both. After confirming that they had left the room, she collapsed forward onto the desk.

“…This is the worst.”

Realizing the source of her worries didn’t make her feel better, it made things hurt even more. Their words felt like they were being coldly hurled at her past self. It hurt too much to keep it inside, and she let it spill out.

“I was overlapping myself, who failed at dancing, with Noah, who failed at relationships…”

If only it had ended there, Freya couldn’t help but think. Even after making a huge mistake, Noah was desperately moving forward, while she herself remained stuck in place. Once she noticed it, she couldn’t pretend not to anymore. If her footing slipped even slightly, an image of falling into a bottomless abyss—never able to climb back out—wouldn’t leave her mind.

“He’ll probably pass today’s knight exam too, and keep changing more and more…Don’t leave me behind.”

While everyone else kept moving forward, she was still standing still. And then she realized even her ugly feeling of not wanting to be left behind.

She didn’t want to know feelings like this. She wanted to be someone proud, someone others admired… Like her father. She wanted to be strong and smiling no matter what… Like her mother.

Still slumped over the desk, Freya fell into a deep sleep, as if sinking to the bottom of the sea. And while Freya slept, Noah returned home.

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