The Talentless Wicked Prince Wants To Survive ~ The Only Way For Me, Reincarnated As The Punching Bag Third Prince In A Romance Smartphone RPG, To Live Is To Not Break Off My Engagement With The Duke’s Yandere Daughter Who’s Stronger Than The Heroine~

“I’m terribly sorry for intruding until such a late hour.”

After finishing dinner with Sandra and the rest of the Chevalier family, I bowed deeply at the entrance.

In the night sky, the waning moon shone brightly, and the air outside was a little chilly.

Even so…

“…”

Just like during dinner, Duke Chevalier and Cedric kept casting me those looks as if they wanted to say something… it was kind of unbearable.

“Prince Harold, please don’t apologize. You’re already our son now, isn’t he, dear?”

“Mm? W-well, yes…”

Prompted by Lady Norma, Duke Chevalier nodded reluctantly with a complicated expression. It seemed he still had some feelings about my engagement to Sandra.

That said, it wasn’t because I was the so-called “talentless wicked prince”, but simply because he didn’t want to give up his beloved daughter.

I could tell because there wasn’t the slightest hint of contempt in the way he looked at me.

If that was the case, then I’d just have to accept a doting father’s jealousy. I didn’t like it, though. I really didn’t like it.

“Haru-sama. I shall see you again at the palace tomorrow.”

“Yes. See you tomorrow at the palace.”

Sandra and I nodded to each other with firm resolve.

If there was even a chance that King Eival intended to tear us apart and tie my beloved fiancée to Wilfred, then all we could do was fight.

“Well then, I’ll be going… wah!?”

Just as I was about to step into the carriage, Lady Norma suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.

Uh, well… Sandra would definitely blow a fuse if she heard this, but Lady Norma was… how should I put it… much more well–endowed than Sandra. Overwhelmingly so. No heroine in Engage Hazard could possibly compete.

And so, my face was currently buried in Lady Norma’s chest. Completely.

“L-Lady Norma…”

“Prince Harold… my dear sweet son. This is your home as well, so please come back anytime. And make sure to show me your happy face when you do, all right?”

“Ah…”

Lady Norma’s motherly kindness and warmth made tears threaten to spill from my eyes again.

But… I wouldn’t cry anymore.

As long as I had Sandra by my side, this warmth would always belong to me.

Because I… had finally found it. This warmth.

“Yes, I promise. Um… Mother-in-law…”

“Fufu, it’s a promise then.”

She gently stroked my hair, and I couldn’t help but smile.

But I really had to go.

“Everyone! Please excuse me! I’ll come again soon!”

“Yes!”

“We’ll be waiting!”

Reluctantly letting go of Lady Norma, my mother-in-law, and waving to everyone, I left the Chevalier estate.

◇

“Oh? Brother, were you out somewhere?”

The moment I returned to the palace, of all people, I ran into Wilfred. Marion was naturally right beside him.

“Ah… perhaps you were visiting my future sister-in-law?”

“That’s none of your business.”

Deciding it wasn’t worth talking to him any longer, I spat the words out and started walking toward my room, ignoring the two of them.

But then…

“Come to think of it, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. What do you think of my fiancée… Sandra?”

“Brother?”

Yes… this was something I’d wanted to know for a long time.

Why did this person do that to Sandra when we were children?

It’d happened eight years ago, when we were six, so Wilfred might not even remember anymore.

But if he did remember, yet still called Sandra “sister-in-law” and flirted with her like that, then I really had to wonder just what kind of nerve he had.

And it made me suspect that maybe Wilfred knew about King Eival’s true intentions.

“What I think…? She’s your fiancée, Brother. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Wilfred looked puzzled, glancing at Marion beside him.

From that reaction, it didn’t seem like he knew anything about the king’s scheme. He also apparently didn’t remember what had happened eight years ago.

…Maybe I was just overthinking it.

“Sorry for asking something weird. See you.”

Leaving the two behind who were tilting their heads in confusion, I finally returned to my room.

Then…

“…Haru, did you notice? That idiot, he smirked after looking at your back.”

“Cass?”

Cass frowned deeply as soon as I entered.

Which meant…

“Prince Harold. It’s possible that Wilfred harbors improper feelings toward the young lady. There must be a reason for what he did when he was a child.”

“Monica…”

She was originally Sandra’s maid, and like an older sister to her.

Of course she would know about what had happened eight years ago, having heard it from Sandra herself.

“In that case, it’s clear now. He’s our enemy, someone we absolutely must eliminate.”

When I’d regained the memories of my past life, of Haru Tachibana, I’d made a vow.

That I would never break off my engagement with my beloved fiancée, who wasn’t a heroine and only had a single still image in the game.

And… that I would never get involved with the protagonist, Wilfred, or any of the other heroines.

But now that I knew Sandra might be in danger, I had to revoke that second vow.

If it meant fighting as the disposable rival to the protagonist, just like in Engage Hazard, then so be it.

And I’d show them…

…That even a disposable pawn could bare his fangs.