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~ - 32

Chapter 32: Freya’s Story Part 1

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When did it start, I wonder? When the words “Because I’m the eldest daughter of the Present family!” stopped being my pride and became a burden?

My name was Freya Present. Our family of five consisted of an incredibly cool father, a mother I deeply respected, and two older brothers who were just as amazing as our parents. The Present family’s title had originally been that of a baron, but during my father’s generation our territory developed remarkably, and we were elevated to the rank of viscount.

Being promoted in rank was truly an extraordinary achievement, so Papa was envied by many other nobles. And that envy extended to me, Mama, and my brothers as well. The Present family as a whole was often the subject of whispers and gossip. I was subjected to countless heartless remarks, and at first, they hurt me deeply. But I had been taught that speaking ill of others was wrong, so I desperately endured it all.

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One day, everything I had been holding in finally burst, and I complained bitterly to Mama.

“Hey, why?! I didn’t do anything wrong, so why does everyone say such awful things to me?!”

“That’s because your papa is such an amazing person. Freya, no matter what anyone says, you must always face forward with confidence.”

“…Why is that, Mama?”

“Listen carefully and remember this. If you’re surrounded by nothing but jealousy and resentment, you’ll start to hate yourself. And when that happens, you won’t be able to take pride in yourself… No, you won’t even be able to value yourself. Then you won’t be able to try your best at anything.”

“That would be terrible!”

“Yes, it would. But you’ll be fine, Freya. You’re the child of an amaaazing papa and mama, after all!”

“Yeah, I get it! Even if people say bad things about me, I won’t let it bother me. Because I’m the eldest daughter of the Present family!”

“That’s right! Ahh, my child is such a good girl~!”

“Hey, stop it! That tickles, Mama!”

Whenever things were hard, Mama always gave me words that felt like a protective charm. And in the end, she always held me tightly in her warm embrace. So no matter what was said to me, I felt like it didn’t faze me at all. Even when other nobles spoke ill of me, I tried not to care.

While you’re busy badmouthing others, I’ll work harder and become someone amazing like Papa! You can keep on insulting people forever. How pathetic! Idiots…

That was what I thought.

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It was when I turned ten years old.

“We’ve decided to hold a dance party, partly to formally introduce Freya to society.”

“A dance party?”

“Yes, including a formal presentation to the other nobles.”

It was a large-scale party held to mark one’s tenth birthday, an ordinary custom for nobles.

“You won’t be asked to perform any particularly difficult dances. Just show what you’ve already practiced.”

“I understand! I’m the eldest daughter of the Present family, after all. I can handle anything!”

When I thumped my chest confidently, Papa hugged me as usual, wearing his sloppy grin.

“Ahhh! My daughter is just too good! My daughter is the best in the whole world!”

“H-Hey, stop it, Papa! That’s embarrassing… Geez.”

Even though I said that, being hugged made my heart feel incredibly warm.

I’ll practice a lot. I want to see Papa, Mama, and my brothers’ surprised faces. I want the other nobles to think, As expected of the Present family’s eldest daughter.

Looking back, that was probably what I was thinking. I knew nothing of failure or setbacks. I was ignorant… And invincible. On the day of the dance party, just as Papa had said, I wasn’t asked to perform anything especially difficult. It was a simple dance, something anyone in high society could manage. The dance instructor had assured me I would be fine, and I never imagined I would fail…

But I fell spectacularly, so badly that I hit my head on the floor. My birthday party was a complete disaster. I didn’t remember much after that. I only remembered my mind going blank and my cheeks burning hot. When I came to, I had been escorted to my room. And somehow, the blame for the failed dance had been placed on my partner.

Even I understood that Papa and the others were protecting me. Still, even though I could have said, “No, it was my lack of practice that caused the mistake,” I said nothing. More than that, I felt a little relieved. That was the moment I was forced to confront how small I was, how I blamed someone else for my own failure.

Even so, I could still think, “Next time, I’ll make it work somehow…” Until the day I was invited to a tea party. It was when two young ladies were showing each other their ballroom dances.

“Look, look! Amazing, right? I only learned this from my dance teacher yesterday, and I can already dance it~!”

“Shirley-chan, that’s incredible! Listen, listen! I was able to finish my history studies really quickly too!”

“Heh… Must be nice for you. Is this meant as a jab at me, I wonder?”

As I watched the two chatting happily beside me, a sigh escaped my lips along with those words.

“Ah…”

I hurriedly covered my mouth, but it was too late. Once spoken, there was no taking it back. Proof of that was the sharp pain that shot through my heart, like being stabbed with a knife. The words I had just spoken were exactly the same kind of hurtful remarks that had once been said to me.

She is better at studying than me. She is better with people than me. She is more efficient, more dexterous and able to work harder than me. 

Maybe there are lots of people like that in this world….

I think that was when it happened… When I could no longer say, “Because I’m the eldest daughter of the Present family!”

A few days later, Noah came to see me.

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Noah was my former fiancé. I had never spoken to him, and I had only seen him once—if you could even call it that. I had merely glimpsed him from afar at a tea party. My first impression of him back then was that he was trash. He hurled abuse at the nobles attending the tea party, threw food and drinks, and mocked them. As a fellow noble, I found his act to be shameful.

That was why the idea of such a person being my fiancé terrified me. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if we actually got married. But those fears turned out to be unfounded. The engagement was quickly annulled. This was nothing more than my own speculation, but I suspected Papa and Mama had worked behind the scenes. After my engagement was announced, they had been constantly busy.

Of course, people said various things once the engagement was broken off, but it felt as though a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Because of all that, when I learned that Noah was coming to the Present estate to apologize, I was honestly scared. I wondered if he was coming to harass us under the pretense of an apology, out of spite for the broken engagement. But there were also rumors that Noah had turned over a new leaf and was trying to start fresh, so I couldn’t tell which it would be.

In the end, Noah really did come just to apologize. He didn’t ask for forgiveness. He asked to let him atone for the trouble he had caused from now on.

He was far too serious. I even thought, “If you’re like this, this noble society will be tough on you,” and felt inclined to tell him that he could rely on me if anything happened. That was how precarious… How worryingly earnest he seemed.

And as I watched Noah, my heart ached for reasons I couldn’t explain. That pain became unbearable, and when I visited his estate and heard stories from Flora and the others, I finally realized why. I was jealous of Noah, who kept getting back up and trying to move forward even after failing. That realization only made things worse, and just as I was about to flee his estate…

I heard that Noah had failed the beginner-level knight qualification exam. I was supposed to be running away, but before I knew it, I was running toward Noah instead. There, I witnessed a sight that shattered my foolish sense of values. Even though he had just failed the knight qualification exam, Noah was practicing his swings while crying.

“I need to practice more…More and more…”

He said, and I couldn’t take my eyes off his profile. My nose burned, and my chest grew intensely hot. I was certain that I would remember the sparkle and beauty of those tears for the rest of my life. So I told Noah everything honestly.

I wanted to be a special existence, like Papa and Mama. But I wasn’t. Even so, I believed that unless I faced it head-on… Even if it meant holding onto cold, painful feelings… I wouldn’t be able to move forward. I wanted to remain as someone special.

And now, to take a new step forward, I was standing in Papa’s study.

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