My Childhood Friend Told Me to Go Marry the Most Beautiful Woman in the Kingdom, So I Seriously Started Improving Myself—and Somehow Ended Up Making Women Fall Hard - Chapter 01: Parting Ways with My Childhood Friend

Act 01

Chapter 01: Parting Ways with My Childhood Friend

I had someone I had always loved.

She had been by my side since we were kids, and I never once doubted that I would marry her someday.
Supporting her and becoming her husband had felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Rina was beautiful, capable, and perfect. 

Her soft blonde hair flowed down to her waist. Her clear, dignified blue eyes held a calm brilliance. Her posture and manners were flawless, and she had graduated at the top of her class from the Royal Academy of Magic. Blessed with outstanding magical talent, she had become a royal court mage at a young age and was already well known throughout the kingdom.

Everyone called her “full of promise.” Everyone admired her.

And I, her childhood friend…

People said my looks were decent enough. I had even been told that I didn’t look out of place standing beside Rina.

But I had zero experience with romance. No—Rina was the only one.

I didn’t have any special talents.

I was good with the sword, ranking fairly high at the academy, but never good enough to take first place.

My magic was average at best, and compared to Rina, it might as well have been nonexistent. If I had any strengths at all, it was that I listened properly when people talked, and that I could handle all kinds of housework after taking care of Rina for so long. Maybe also the fact that I couldn’t say no when someone asked me for help.

I hadn’t really noticed these things myself, but those were about the only qualities people ever praised me for.

I had always stayed by her side.
I thought that was enough.

At least, until Rina told me goodbye…

♢

One day, Rina asked me to buy her something sweet, so I planned to pick it up and then go meet her.

Graduation from the academy was drawing close, and we were about to walk our own separate paths.

I was becoming a knight-in-training. Rina was heading toward life as a court mage-in-training. Each of us would soon be going to our own workplace.

I imagined buying her favorite sweet muffins and drinking tea together. With that pleasant thought in mind, I headed toward her house—

And that was when I saw her being held in another man’s arms.

“Wha—?!”

I froze on the spot, staring until the two of them finally pulled apart.

The man released Rina, stole a kiss from her lips, and then walked away.

We weren’t lovers. We were just childhood friends.

Even if she got a boyfriend, I wasn’t in any position to complain.
I understood that.
I really did.

But still…

“Rina.”

After the man disappeared, I called out to her.

“Hort? Why are you here?”

“I was coming back from the market. I thought we could have tea together.”

“…I see.”

She looked a little awkward, yet she still carried her usual calm, dignified air.

At the edge of the royal capital, bathed in the evening light, a deep gap formed between Rina and me.
Her profile, colored by the sunset, was as beautiful as ever—and somehow looked more grown-up than before.

“Who was that just now? Your boyfriend?”

“Huh? You saw that?”

“Yeah. You were kissing.”

My chest tightened.
It hurt.
Even breathing was painful.

“That’s none of your business.”

None of my business…yeah.

So that was it—Rina had never seen me as a man.

The man she had been kissing was someone a year above us at the academy:
Magnum Flabo Galactica, the duke’s son.

Even I knew his name. He had graduated as a court mage-in-training just like Rina. Tall, handsome, wildly popular with women—and constantly surrounded by rumors.

“So tell me… are you really fine staying like this?”

“Huh?”

The question was so sudden that a stupid sound slipped out of my mouth.

“This won’t do.”

“What won’t?”

Rina crossed her arms and said it plainly.

“I don’t think you’re worthy of me.”

“Worthy…?”

“Yes. If only you were the kind of man who could marry the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. Hey—why don’t you try becoming that man?”

For a moment, I honestly didn’t understand what she was saying.

What was she talking about?
Marrying the most beautiful woman in the kingdom?

“T-The most… in the kingdom?”

“That’s right. You’re half-baked right now. I’ve always hated that about you. If you’re going to aim for something, then aim to become a man even the most beautiful woman in the kingdom wouldn’t be able to leave. You’ve been standing next to me all this time, haven’t you?”

She wasn’t joking. Her tone was light, but her eyes were dead serious.
She had been holding this frustration toward me for a long time.
After knowing her for so many years, I could tell. She truly meant it. She seriously wanted me to become a man who could marry the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.

But that was impossible. I wasn’t talented like Rina.

I was the third son of a baron’s family, with no chance of inheriting the title. That was why I had studied at the academy to become a knight. Somehow—just barely—I had managed to earn the qualification of knight-in-training.

Rina, on the other hand, was a court mage-in-training, but in reality, she was on a fast track to success after graduation. 

In other words, my existence had probably become a burden to her.

The man from earlier looked every bit like an elite—well-dressed, handsome, and confident.

“So that means…”

My throat tightened.

“…I’m not good enough?”

Silence. Just a brief pause.
But it was a fatal one.

Rina looked away.

“Yeah. The Hort you are right now isn’t enough.”

Whenever she tried to hide her true feelings, she avoided eye contact.

Which meant that, to her, I had become someone unnecessary.

Proud and ambitious as she was, she wanted to cut loose a man like me—someone who simply drifted along.

That silence was my answer…

“I see. I get it.”

“Hort!”

“Rina. Thanks for everything, up until today. See you.”

I ran, as if trying to escape her words.

That day, I learned something for the first time.

She had never planned to marry me—not even once.

We had always been together.
She had been kind to me.
She had relied on me.
She had smiled with me.

But that was only because we were childhood friends.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.

Something deep in my chest quietly—yet steadily—broke apart.

I loved her.
I wanted to stay by her side for the rest of my life.
I would have thrown away my life to protect her.

But… she didn’t want that.

What she wanted was for me to marry the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. Strangely enough, that resolve settled calmly in my heart.

I had already lost everything I could lose.

But there was still one problem.

“…Who even is the most beautiful woman in the kingdom?”

The princess? A duke’s daughter? Or maybe the saintess?

I had no idea.

The standard was far too vague.

So I came to a simple conclusion.

I’d meet every woman who was called a “beauty” in the kingdom—one by one.

Starting the very next day, I stopped going to Rina’s house, the place I used to visit all the time.

I disappeared from Rina’s life.

♢

Side: Rina

That day, I let myself be swept away by sweet words.

Magnum kept talking to me, again and again. He was capable, popular with women, and carried himself with confidence and ease.

“You’re smart and talented. You know that, right?”

He was the heir to a ducal house—a high-ranking noble.

Talking with him was exciting. He had a kind of charm that was different from Hort’s.
Not the quiet, steady way Hort always listened to me.

Still, I never thought he would kiss me.

It just… happened. I was suddenly pulled into his arms, and before I could react, he kissed me.

I stood there in a daze.

“I’m looking forward to your answer.”

It was a confession.
No—more than that, it was a proposal with marriage in mind.

And then Hort showed up.

Why…? Hort didn’t get angry.
He quietly listened to my selfish words. 

All I could do was watch his back as he walked away.

The next day, Hort was gone from my life.

Normally, he would come see me without me saying a word.
If I was tired, he would silently make tea for me.
If I was busy, he would wait without complaining.

…I had only meant to push him forward.

The most beautiful woman in the kingdom.

“For Hort, the most beautiful woman in the kingdom is me, right? I know I’m not honest. But Hort always stayed by my side anyway. Even when I was jealous of others, even when I was treated badly, Hort was there—that’s why I could keep going. That’s why I said it. Just like with Magnum, I wanted Hort to confess to me… so why won’t he come see me?!”

—Become a man worthy of me.

That was what I meant.

And yet… why did you disappear?

Something deep in my chest stirred uneasily.

Anxiety. Irritation. A strange, unfamiliar sense of panic.

I didn’t know.

I never realized that those words would be the ones that made him vanish from my life.

And from that day on—

I started hearing rumors that Hort was meeting women I didn’t know.

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Afterword

Hello, this is the author, Iko.

Please read up to chapter 15 (๑>◡<๑)
I promise it’ll be interesting!

Thanks for your support.