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~ - 34

Chapter 34: Freya Settles Things with Abel

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“Hey, Papa. Do you know why Noah failed the knight qualification exam?”

It suddenly crossed my mind, so I asked my father about it. Given how serious Noah was, I thought it was strange that he wouldn’t have prepared properly for the knight qualification exam.

“Ah, more or less. Well, he’s done quite a few bad things in the past, you see. It seems there were various circumstances.”

“What do you mean? It’s not like he simply lacked ability, is it?”

“You know that the knight qualification exam includes mock battles, right?”

“Yeah. The participants fight each other to assess their skills, right? But winning or losing wasn’t supposed to matter, was it?”

“Because the number of participants was odd, he ended up having to fight an active member of the Knight Order… On top of that, the one he fought was the Knight Commander himself.”

“Then what, he was disqualified because he got beaten one-sidedly? That’s awful! Noah is only thirteen years old! No matter how you look at it, that’s just too much…!”

At my words, my father gave a sly, meaningful smile. Then he lightly shook his head and explained why he was smiling.

“Surprisingly, he fought the Knight Commander evenly, from what I heard. And yet, he was still failed. If I’ve said this much, you can figure it out, right?”

“…So they intended to fail him from the start, regardless of his actual ability? That’s horrible! Who did that?! Where is he?! I’ll go punch him myself right now—”

“Wait, wait, wait!”

My father hurriedly stopped me as I tried to rush out of the room.

“A noble who bears a grudge against Noah bribed the knight who decides pass or fail. At this point, no matter what you say, they’ll just pretend nothing happened.”

“But…!”

It felt so frustrating, almost like it had happened to me, that my fists clenched tightly. My father patted my head and spoke with a wry smile.

“That’s noble authority… And its ugliness, its filth. Because you’re too straightforward, Freya, I want you to remember this. From here on out, you will absolutely run into this kind of unreasonable injustice.”

“But,” My father continued.

“Isn’t this exactly when you learned what to do from him? I don’t like Noah, but the fact that he can handle something like that at his age is truly impressive. That’s something I acknowledge.”

“You’re right… You’re right. Thank you. Then I’ll think about how I can cheer him up!”

Ignoring my father’s frown, I immediately headed for Lotte.

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When Freya found her personal maid, Lotte, it seemed Lotte also had business with her and came jogging over.

“Ah, my lady. You have a visitor.”

“Oh, did Noah come to see me?”

While Freya’s voice bounced with anticipation, Lotte’s expression tightened.

“N-no… It’s not him. It’s Abel-sama.”

“Oh, I see… Please show him in.”

Hearing that it was Abel and not Noah, Freya’s tone dropped noticeably.

Things with Abel are kind of awkward… I don’t really want to talk to him. He seems to hate Noah, too.

A short while later, Abel entered the guest room.

“So, Abel, what brings you here today? Did you come to hang out again?”

“No, that’s not it. I came all this way because I was worried about my childhood friend.”

“I-I see… Thank you. But I’m fine, you know? Nothing really happened.”

At Freya’s words, Abel nodded in satisfaction.

“Yeah, exactly. There’s no way Freya would get messed with by some trash like that.”

At Abel’s “trash” remark, a crease formed between Freya’s brows. Oblivious to her reaction, Abel kept talking.

“So you rejected his apology and kicked him out, right? Knowing Noah, he probably made a pathetic scene, bawling his eyes out. Damn it, I should’ve joined in and said a thing or two to him—”

Cutting off Abel’s animated rambling, Freya spoke.

“…No. I accepted Noah’s apology. I was persuading Papa until just now for that very reason.”

Freya replied in a calm, even voice. But her emotions were the complete opposite. She was on the verge of exploding. At her words, Abel’s eyebrow twitched.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? Why did you accept his apology?! You even went so far as to convince your parents?! Hey, did he threaten you or something? Why didn’t you talk to me ab—”

“He didn’t do anything to me. Please don’t jump to strange conclusions.”

Once again cutting Abel off, Freya spoke. Looking straight into Abel’s eyes, she continued slowly and confidently.

“And Abel, don’t ever badmouth Noah in front of me again.”

At that moment, Abel’s expression twisted. Ignoring him, Freya went on.

“I don’t care what you think of Noah. But to me, Noah is someone I admire. Even you should be able to understand something that simple, right?”

“…Are you making fun of me?”

“Oh my, did it sound that way?”

As Abel’s face turned bright red, Freya let out a small chuckle.

Oops, that’s not good. I shouldn’t provoke him… But it really makes me angry when Noah gets badmouthed.

“Why are you saying such crazy things too?! Why can’t you see that you’re being tricked?!”

Abel grabbed his head, muttering to himself. 

“Ah, geez… Flora, Layla too. Why does everyone just walk straight into misery on their own…?”

“So, was your only business here worrying about me? If so, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. ”

After letting out a long breath, Abel spoke to Freya again.

“N-no… That’s not it. This is the real reason. Stop associating with that piece of trash and stay by my side! You don’t have to try so hard anymore! I’ll protect you!”

“I refuse. Of course I hate that.”

I’ve heard those words somewhere before… Oh, right. He said something like that when I returned Noah’s clothes. Funny, isn’t it? Before, just Abel raising his voice scared me a little… But now, I feel nothing.

In fact, it was strange that she had ever felt intimidated at all. And yet, Freya was vaguely aware of the reason.

It must be since I met Noah. The old me disappeared somewhere after that.

Freya responded to Abel calmly.

“You know, I should at least have the right to choose. Do you really think there’s even one single reason for me to choose someone like you?”

Gradually, Freya’s voice grew louder. She thought it was because someone was trying to sully the precious person she admired that her blood was boiling like this.

“Who do you think you are, anyway?! ‘I’ll protect you,’ ‘stay by my side’—hah! I don’t want that at all!”

“W-wait… F-Freya? Why…?”

With eyes blazing in anger, Freya glared at Abel. Perhaps frightened by her, Abel took a step back. More likely, though, he was shaken by the fact that yet another heroine had been taken by Noah.

“Didn’t it ever occur to you that I’d be disgusted by being told not to try anymore just because I failed once or twice?!”

Grabbing Abel by the collar, Freya unleashed her fury on him.

“I am Freya Present, the eldest daughter of the Present family! I want to become like my beloved Papa and Mama! And more than anything…!”

Within those emotions was even regret. Why had she ever been afraid of someone so small like him? Because of that, tears pooled slightly at the corners of her eyes.

“I want to become a strong person like Noah! *Ssomeone who stands back up no matter how unreasonable or painful things get!”

Pausing there, Freya took a deep breath, then shouted at the top of her lungs.

“The way you talk is nothing but an insult to me! Don’t badmouth the benefactor who helped me!”

“—Hii!”

Abel collapsed pathetically onto his backside.

“A-again…Because of Noah… Damn youuu!”

Shouting in frustration, Abel stormed out of the guest room. Watching his retreating back, Freya muttered quietly.

“Hmph. You’re the one who’s making yourself look pathetic.”

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