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 108 & 109

Chapter 108: Gina’s Resolve

Gina’s words didn’t make sense to me, and I froze.

“There’s no turning back…? What do you mean?”

When I asked, Gina lowered her eyes for a moment.

That wasn’t the face of someone apologizing.
She had already made up her mind.

“…Sir Hort. If you choose one person here and abandon the others… there is a chance someone will choose to end their life.”
“Eh…? Huh? End their life?”

I couldn’t process what she was saying.

“What are you talking about? That can’t be true.”

I denied it.
But Gina looked straight at me, making it clear she wasn’t joking.

“Today, Sir Hort, you learned the weight of the word ‘responsibility’ for the first time. But that is only the beginning.”
“……”
“The kindness you’ve shown… becomes the future someone starts to believe in. And the moment that’s taken away, that future collapses. When that happens, people become the most dangerous. At least two of them will choose to end their lives.”
“Two…?”

The night breeze coming through the window felt strangely cold.

I swallowed, searching for words.

“…Who?”
“I’ll speak on their behalf.”

Gina stepped closer.

The light faintly lit the side of her face.
No smile. No anger.
Just quiet eyes, sharp like a blade, staring straight at me.

“First… Lady Adelheid.”

My chest tightened.

That strong person…?

“Lady Adelheid is older than you. People around her whisper that she’s already past marriageable age. She acts like it doesn’t bother her. But deep down… she’s likely been carrying a loneliness no one ever understood.”
“…Loneliness? Commander Adelheid?”

It didn’t seem that way at all.
But that night, when she was swinging her sword alone… she had looked strong, and beautiful.

“A woman who believed the sword was all she had… found someone who understood her—you. You were the only one who saw her weakness, and stood beside her without fearing her strength. For the first time, she became aware of the ‘love’ inside her.”
“I… didn’t mean to…”
“Intentions don’t matter. Only the result does.”

Gina’s voice lowered slightly.

“If she’s abandoned… her pride will shatter. And to reclaim that broken pride, she’ll likely take her own life with her sword. And—”
“And…?”
“She may take you with her, Sir Hort.” 

“…!”

My breath caught.

Take me with her.

Just hearing that sent a chill down my spine.

“Next… Nagi.”

That smile.
The warmth when she hugged me.
My chest ached.

“Nagi comes from a foreign land. When she was alone, with nowhere to belong, you saved her. She said she found a place with you. Even with different language and culture… you told her, ‘You can stay here.’ You ate beside her. Just that alone… saved her.”
“…”

Nagi had confessed to me.
And only now did I realize she had been thinking like that all along.

“To her… you are this entire country. More than that, you’re the warmth of a home. You became the place she can return to.”
“That’s… an exaggeration!”
“It’s not. She’s lived a painful life.”
“…!”

I had heard that from Nagi before.
She had left her homeland and endured harsh days.

“If she’s abandoned, she loses the place she can return to. That’s why it becomes easy for her to think about ending everything. Not because of you… but because you became her whole world.”

I bit my lip.
The urge to protect her caught in my throat, leaving behind a bitter feeling.

There’s no turning back…

“And the one I consider the most dangerous… is Natasha.”
“The most dangerous? But I’m not that close to Natasha. She lived strongly at the orphanage. In the end, I couldn’t even tell her the truth about her father.”

Natasha, praying in the church.

Those healing hands.
That voice, like a prayer.
I hadn’t saved anything.

“Natasha was saved by you.”
“Eh?”
“In a life of poverty, with no one to rely on, she clung to you—Sir Hort, the one called a saint—and was saved.”

It wasn’t just me.
It was something the entire Fifth Unit of the Third Knight Order did together.

“She smiles in front of the children… but she’s been suffering all this time. She tries to live properly as a sister. But her support… was you. If you tell her ‘It’s okay,’ she can endure another day.”
“Me…?”
“Yes. If you disappear, she loses her reason to endure. She has a strong sense of responsibility. That’s exactly why she’ll start blaming herself… and move toward punishing herself.”

That was true.
At the temporary clinic… and at the orphanage, she had always carried a strong sense of responsibility.

But… would someone like her really break just because I was gone?

“…That can’t be…”
“It’s not that she would feel abandoned by you. To her, it would be the same as being abandoned by God.”
“Huh? God?”

Natasha’s faith was in God, not me.

“She worships you, Sir Hort… almost the same way she worships God.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“It happens. Love… and devotion… can become that heavy.”
“Ugh…!”

I hadn’t understood women’s hearts at all.

It was really that heavy…?

“Next… Fururu.”
“Fururu too? She doesn’t seem like the type to think that deeply.”

Her cheerful voice, calling me “Bra Knight” with a laugh.

“Fururu is pure. That’s exactly why she’s dangerous.”
“……”

…Pure.
That might be true.

“You expanded her world. You showed her a future. You told her, ‘Let’s make it together.’ To her, that’s a promise stronger than love. It’s her dream itself.”
“…A promise…”
“Dreams… when they’re betrayed, break a person the most. She’s still young. That’s why, if she breaks, there’s a risk she won’t know how to stop.”

My throat went dry.
I couldn’t argue.

All of it… was because of what I had done.
I thought it was kindness.
I thought it was goodwill.
But the one receiving it saw something entirely different.

I had never thought about how they would take it.

“And lastly… me.”
“Gina?”

For the first time, Gina took a breath.

Her shoulders rose and fell, just slightly.

“I… am just as dangerous as Natasha.”
“Dangerous…?”

She was always calm and expressionless, so hearing that felt unreal.

“Yes. I will definitely break.”

Gina looked straight at me.
There was almost no emotion in her eyes… and yet, something heavy lay deep within them.

“I decided I would support you for life, Sir Hort. And you accepted that.”
“……”
“The moment you accepted it, I became yours. If you choose someone and abandon me, I can’t go back.”
“Can’t go back…?”
“I am part of the Shadows. I cannot live as a woman who has been cast aside. I don’t know how to live like that. There would be no meaning left in living.”

My back turned cold.

Colder than the night air… were Gina’s words.

“So… I’ll tell you this in advance.”
“…”
“Sir Hort. Right now, you’re not in a position where you can choose who you like so lightly.”
“…Then what am I supposed to do?”

My voice trembled.

I couldn’t choose.
But if I didn’t… someone would break?

The sting of my sister’s slap came back to me.

—Don’t give special treatment so easily.
And yet… I already had.

“…What am I supposed to do…?”

The moment I muttered that, Gina stepped a little closer.

“That’s exactly why… I want you to choose all of us.”
“Eh? All of you?”
“Yes. And if you can’t—”

I swallowed.

For a moment, I felt like I saw her resolve.

Chapter 109: Hort Decides His Goal

Gina’s words pierced deep into my chest and wouldn’t leave.

What I had thought was just “hesitation”… suddenly started to feel like “responsibility.”

The things I had done… what I believed was kindness… might have cast shadows over someone’s heart.

My sister was right to scold me.
Even now, I still thought so.

—Don’t hand out “special treatment” so easily.
Take responsibility.

That’s why I tried to think about who I liked, and who I should choose.

But Gina stopped me from thinking that way.

She told me feelings I never even knew they had.
Even so… I couldn’t honestly accept all of it as absolute truth.

The words my sister said.
The words Gina said.

If I just accepted everything and acted on it blindly… then I’d really be an idiot.

One by one, their faces came to mind.

And I wanted to tell them how I felt… and hear their feelings too.

It was true that I had acted in ways that would make them like me.
And somewhere along the way… I had started to feel something for them too.

I wanted to protect Lady Lumina… and Gina.

I wanted Commander Adelheid and Nagi to keep moving forward.

I wanted Natasha and Fururu to keep smiling.

I wasn’t skilled enough to simply dismiss all of that as “a mistake” just because of my sister’s words.

My sister’s teachings were still in my heart.
And it was me who chose to follow them.

The night breeze from the window felt cold.

Gina’s expressionless face was still fixed on me.

I took a breath and chose my words.

“Gina. I understand what you’re saying.”

My throat was dry, and my voice came out slightly hoarse.

“So… I want some time to talk with everyone.”
“Time to talk?”

Gina asked without blinking.

It sounded less like a question… and more like confirmation.

“Yeah. I understand what you said. But that doesn’t mean I understand each of their feelings. I want to hear it directly from them. That’s why… I’m not going to give an answer right now. I can’t.”

Two possibilities were in my mind.

I had feelings for Lady Lumina too.
But she was royalty… not someone I could simply confess to and start a relationship with.

The same went for Commander Adelheid.
She was from a marquis family… while I was just someone who had barely reached the rank of baron.
We weren’t equals.

Even so… if I became a Crown Knight, there might be a chance.

And the other four…

Did they really have feelings for me?
Not what Gina said… but their own answers.
If I told them how I felt… would they accept it?

Would it be insincere to say I liked all of them?

But doing nothing… saying nothing… and letting misunderstandings grow…
That felt like a greater sin.

“I… I had everything I’ve done so far denied. Getting hit by my sister made me realize something I couldn’t see before. There’s a chance I hurt someone without even knowing it.”

My cheek still throbbed faintly.

That pain wasn’t just from the slap.

It was the pain of realizing how shallow I had been.

“But still… because of what you said, Gina… I realized something. Instead of thinking someone is the most beautiful woman in the kingdom… I’ve actually been feeling something for all of them.”
“For all of them?”
“Yeah. Gina… I have feelings for you too. You’ve helped me, supported me, and tried to guide me. I’m truly grateful for that. That’s exactly why I want to talk to each of you properly… and honestly tell you what I’m feeling right now, how far I can face all of this… without hiding anything.”

After saying that, I looked down at my hands.

They were damp with sweat.
Was this wrong?
Was I just being a terrible person?
Even as I said it, it sounded foolish.

But feelings only exist because there’s someone on the other side.

“…Sir Hort.”

Gina’s voice softened.

Low and quiet… yet it made my spine straighten.

Then suddenly, she smiled.

“I am… very happy.”

Saying that, she stepped forward and threw herself into my chest.

Standing by the window, I felt her arms wrap tightly around me.
In her maid uniform, she pressed her cheek against my chest.

“Sir Hort… this is the first time you’ve told me you have feelings for me. I have always… had feelings for you.”
“…Gina, thank you. But can I ask something? I have feelings for all of them. Even so… is that alright with you?”

Gina gently lifted her face from my chest and looked up at me, her eyes moist.

“Of course. I don’t mind being last. Just being able to stay by your side… that alone makes me happy.”
“Why… would you go this far for me?”
“Because, Sir Hort… you gave me color.”
“Color?”
“Yes. As a member of the Shadows and a body double, I was trained in espionage. But those who serve as shields for their master are only given the bare minimum in combat ability. Because if someone in the shadows becomes too strong… there’s a risk of rebellion.”

I remembered the time Gina had been taken by goblins.

“When I thought it was all over… Sir Hort, you chose to save me, not Lady Lumina. Me, who was nothing but a shadow. For the first time… someone acknowledged me as a person. You gave color to my existence.”

I couldn’t fully tell if those were the words of someone in love.

But one thing was clear—
She truly cared about me from the bottom of her heart.

“I’ll talk to everyone. Until then… can you wait?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you. I’ll hear everyone’s thoughts. I won’t just decide on my own that ‘they’ll be fine.’”

I gently released Gina and placed my hand on the window frame.

The wood was cold… and my fingertips tingled slightly.

“Gina. You said there’s no turning back, right? Then I won’t turn back either. I won’t run from my sister’s words… or yours. I won’t pretend I didn’t see it. I won’t act like I never noticed.”

If I’ve realized everything… then I’ll face it head-on.

If, like you said, they accept it… then I want to be honest with my own feelings.

“Understood. Then, I’ll take my leave for tonight.”
“Yeah.”

Just like when she arrived, Gina left through the window.

♢

The next morning, I went to see my sister.

“Hort?”
“Sis… first, thank you for scolding me.”
“Eh?”
“I thought about it all night… and I’ve come to my own answer.”
“Your answer? Let me hear it.”
“Yeah.”

My sister had been angry because I used what she taught me on people I didn’t truly have feelings for.
In other words… people who weren’t “special.”

Maybe… even with this answer, she would get angry again.

“I have feelings for all of them.”
“……………”
“And so… I’m going to talk to each of them, to confirm how they truly feel about everything I’ve done.”
“So… does that mean you’re going to date all of them?”

I swallowed.

Behind my sister, I could almost feel the presence of someone overwhelmingly strong.

But… I didn’t want to hesitate here.
I didn’t want to lie.

“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll tell them I have feelings for all of them… but will they really accept that?”
“…Haa… I don’t know either, but if those women do accept you, then what are you planning to do?”
“When that happens… I’ll become a Crown Knight.”
“Hah? That’s the strongest knight in the entire kingdom! It’s not something you can just decide to become!”
“Even so… I’ll do it.”

The moment I said it firmly, my sister froze—then pressed a hand to her forehead.

“…Haaahhhhhhh…”
“Isn’t that sigh a bit too long?”
“Of course it is!! Hort, do you even understand what you’re saying right now!?”
“I do. This is about my life, isn’t it?”

My sister stood up and walked right up to me.

Then she grabbed my cheek and pinched it.

“Ow ow ow ow! Sis, that hurts!”
“It won’t get through unless it hurts!”
“Get through!? What are you talking about!?”
“Yes, exactly! You’ve got the ‘I’ll carry everything myself and solve it’ disease!!”

She let go of my cheek and poked my forehead.

“Do you even understand what a Crown Knight is!? The strongest in the kingdom! The kingdom’s shield!”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t ‘yeah’ me!! It’s not something you can become just by saying it!!”

Rubbing my sore cheek, I nodded seriously.

“Exactly. That’s why I’ll become one.”
“…You’re not listening at all, are you?”
“I am. I heard everything. And even after that… I’ll still become one.”
“That’s not the point! Saying that is what’s completely off!!”

My sister grabbed her head in frustration.

My brother-in-law quietly poured tea and handed it to her.

“…Calm down.”

She took it, drank it in one go, and set it down.

Even my sister was being calmed by him.

“…You’re serious about this?”

At his question, I nodded.

“I am.”

My sister slammed the table.

The loud bang made my back straighten instantly.

“You’ve always been like this! Trying to do everything at once! Think about yourself more!”
“Sis. I’ve already decided. Not for the most beautiful woman in the kingdom… but for the women I’ve come to love, I’ll become one.”

The path to becoming a Crown Knight wasn’t easy.

But this wasn’t because Lady Lumina said it.
Nor because Gina said it.

This was my own goal.
I chose it myself.

“I want to be someone I won’t be ashamed of… for the women who accept me.”

My sister let out a tired sigh.

“Haa… do whatever you want. But remember this—we’re on your side. I don’t know what those women will say to you. But your family’s on your side, so don’t do anything stupid.”
“Thank you.”

I shared my resolve—and my gratitude—with my sister and brother-in-law, then left their house.

Using the last day of my break… to go meet them.