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~ - Chapter 94: It seemed the Second Princess didn’t hate the “villainess”

“C-can that cat talk?”

…Elyne ran right up to us, eyes sparkling with excitement as she asked.

Now then, what should I do?

My options were:

① Play dumb
② Run away
③ Make her promise to keep quiet

…but…

“Waaah… so cute…”

…I could tell that the correct choice here was to win her over and make her an ally.

“Ahem… Princess Eyine, this isn’t really the place for such a talk. Why don’t we go somewhere else? Then you can talk with Cass properly.”

“! R-Really?”

Alright, great, she took the bait.

Now I just had to get her somewhere private and convince her to keep Cass a secret, there was no other way.

I brought her to my room.

“U-Um… would you please keep Cass’s existence a secret?”

Immediately, I went straight into a full-on dogeza pose and begged with all my might. Reflected in the mirror, I looked every bit the “talentless wicked prince”.

And yet…

“Waaah… she’s so cute… so fluffy…”

“Nyaa!? H-hey, don’t touch there!? Nya, nyafuuu…”

Elyne completely ignored me and was absorbed in rubbing Cass’s belly, while my partner wore the most shamefully blissful expression imaginable.

“P-prince Harold, what’s this cat’s name?”

“Huh? Oh, her name’s Cass.”

“Thank you. Cass, you’re such a cutie!”

“Nya, nya… this girl… she’s tough, nya…”

Yeah, it was no contest. Cass had totally lost that one.

“A-Ahaha… so, you’re not afraid of me anymore?”

Realizing the dogeza was pointless, I stood up, feeling a bit embarrassed, and asked with a wry smile.

“Ah… um…”

Great. I just had to say something unnecessary and scare her again. Seriously, what was I supposed to do?

“Eh? Are you scared of Haru?”

“W-Well, I…”

“My partner isn’t scary at all! He’s super nice and super cool!”

Cass wriggled free from Elyne’s arms, planted herself in front of her, and shouted. Apparently, she was angry on my behalf.

“Ah… t-that’s not…”

“I don’t want someone who badmouths Haru to touch me!”

Ahh, my partner was just too adorable. How could I not be happy about that?

“Ahaha, Cass, thank you. It’s fine.”

“But Haru!”

“U-Um! Y-you’re wrong! It’s not that I’m scared of Prince Harold, it’s just that I’m… bad with men…”

Her eyes were trembling, almost on the verge of tears, as she desperately tried to explain herself. It looked like she really didn’t want Cass to hate her.

She was shy around men, huh? Then it made sense why she was so nervous earlier. That meant she probably followed me because she had something she needed to tell me.

“Princess Elyne, you don’t have to worry about it. More importantly, I’d be happy if you’d stay friends with my partner Cass from now on.”

“! Y-Yes!”

At my words, her near-tearful face brightened into a radiant smile.

Yeah… at first I’d thought they didn’t look alike, but when she smiled like that, she was the spitting image of Lisette.

◇

“Ehehe… Cass, you’re so cute…”

“Nya… a little lower, please, nya…”

Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, Cass was completely helpless under Elyne’s affectionate petting, wearing an expression of pure bliss. No one would ever believe she was the Calamity Beast, Casparieg. Honestly, even I wouldn’t.

“So, Princess Elyne, you said you had something to tell me?”

“Ah… y-yes.”

Thanks to Cass, whatever fear she’d felt toward me seemed to have faded, and she was finally able to look me in the eye.

Still, she hesitated, opening her mouth only to close it again, over and over, as if struggling with something hard to say.

Was it because she was still uneasy around me, or because the topic itself was difficult?

And then…

“U-Um! I… I wanted to ask if you could teach me… how to get along… with my sister…”

“Eh…?”

At last, Elyne blurted it out with surprising force, but her voice quickly shrank into a whisper at the end. Even so, her request was so unexpected that I couldn’t help but let out a dumbfounded sound.

“E-Er… just to be clear, Princess Elyne, you mean you want to get along with Princess Lisette…?”

“Y-Yes!”

So I hadn’t misheard her after all.

But that was strange. In EnHaza, Lisette bullied her younger sister Elyne. They were supposed to have a terrible relationship. Elyne shouldn’t have any fondness for her at all…

“Forgive me if I’m being rude, but… Princess Lisette is often called a ‘villainess’. I would think that even you, Princess Elyne, might not hold her in high regard…”

“! That’s not true! My sister is a very kind person!”

“Whoa!?”

Startled, I actually flinched backward as the timid girl from moments ago had vanished, replaced by a fiercely indignant Elyne defending her sister with all her heart.