The Villainess Who Was Dumped Got Married into My Family, a Mob Noble from the Frontier, and Turns Out, She's an Amazing Capable Wife? - Chapter 120: The Former Member of the Reverse Harem

Chapter 120: The Former Member of the Reverse Harem

When the contest venue opened, it was filled with contestants on standby due to the trouble. 

It was practically a garden of men. 

The next round was the swimsuit competition, so the students, brimming with confidence, were showing off their bodies. 

Since it was an event for an otome game, the place was full of handsome guys.

“Blaaaaaaaah!”

Adding to the scene was Treiza’s nosebleed.

She had charged in looking for Clive but collapsed from the overwhelming sight.

“What the…!?”

“What’s going on!?”

The confused contestants exclaimed. I would be just as bewildered if a girl suddenly barged in, had a nosebleed, and fainted.

“Well, I expected this. She used to push herself and get nosebleeds when competing against me.”

Ignoring the fallen Treiza, Patricia moved swiftly to the back of the waiting area.

Pinching her nose, she wore an expression as if to say the place reeked of masculinity.

“I’ve wondered for a long time, but isn’t it worse to breathe through your mouth when you pinch your nose because you directly inhale the particles?”

“I guess that makes sense, but Ragna, can you take Treiza outside?”

“Got it.”

Since Treiza, clad in armor, was quite heavy, I took her outside instead of Alicia.

“Ragna! Be gentle!”

“Oh, sorry. In Brave territory, that’s how we handled fallen soldiers, so I did it out of habit.”

Well, what a mess this has turned into. I came here to find Mariana quickly, but things have gotten complicated.

When I went back inside, Patricia had already found Clive.

“Long time no see, Patricia.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

Since Edward got dumped, these two hadn’t interacted much. 

Clive had been part of Patricia’s reverse harem and hung out with the silly, flower-brained group. I thought there would be an awkward atmosphere, but there wasn’t.

“I’m surprised. It’s not awkward?”

“Oh, Brave is here too?”

Clive noticed me and Alicia.

“There’s nothing awkward. There’s nothing between me and her.”

“Really?”

I thought he was trying hard to impress her just to eat this brat’s lunch, but maybe I was mistaken. Memories of him sneaking bites and saying it was delicious in the game flashed back.

“I just played along because Edward was so into her. What if some stranger’s homemade lunch had poison in it?”

“Yeah, good point.”

It was a very reasonable explanation. 

Their behavior in the game might have been more about convenience than anything else—except for Edward.

“Besides, the only kind of woman I like is one who remains devoted to me, with a strong heart.”

“Exactly.”

Patricia nodded in agreement and then kicked me in the calf.

She was no longer pinching her nose and looked very annoyed.

“If they went along with it, that was fine by me. You were just an easy option.”

“You’ve finally dropped the act, Patricia. I’m still mad that Treiza went wild because of you.”

“That’s because you weren’t clear. Anyway, it doesn’t matter now.”

In this tense moment, Patricia asked about Mariana.

“Yeah, she was here. I said I’d go with her if there was trouble, but she went off alone to check things out so Treiza wouldn’t misunderstand.”

“Which way did she go? Tell me right now.”

“Is it really that serious? If so, I shouldn’t be participating in this contest. I’ll come with you.”

“Oh, really? Well, you’re actually useful, so fine, come along.”

“Don’t order me around.”

Seeing Clive casually brush off Patricia made me feel a sense of camaraderie. 

Clive was the second strongest after Edward. With more training, he could become even stronger. He wasn’t as annoying as Edward, and I wished I had a friend like him.

“So the delay isn’t because of any contestant trouble?”

Alicia joined the conversation.

Despite the engagement breakup drama, the relationship between Clive and Alicia, who had once suspected Patricia, didn’t seem too bad. 

Anyway, with Edward’s issues overshadowing everything, the dynamics with the reverse harem members didn’t matter much anymore.

“Yeah, we’ve all been waiting forever. Who decided to have a swimsuit competition when it’s not even summer?”

Seriously, who did decide that?

“If it’s this bad here, maybe the trouble is higher up?” 

Alicia concluded.

“Looking at the scene here, there’s no way the staff could delay things on purpose, right?”

“Yeah, that’s true…”

Anyone would think they’d be killed for delaying it further.

“Did Treiza do something? If it was really against chivalry, I can talk to her.”

“Hmm, I think it’s fine, so don’t mention it.”

Alicia forced herself to accept it, thinking it was because Treiza was just that devoted.

“So the enemy is someone higher up?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Alicia nodded at Patricia’s quick conclusion.

“This year’s student council has a lot of enemies.”

After I killed Castor in a duel and reformed the first-years who had turned into a bunch of airheads, it’s no wonder. 

With Edward, who had used his royal authority to prevent interference, now dead, it’s not surprising someone might try something. 

Besides, in this story of commoners and nobles, there are always rotten nobles as antagonists.

“By the way, where’s Edward? If he was fighting Brave, he should be done and here by now. I wanted to see your fight with Edward.”

“He’s dead.”

Patricia casually dropped this bombshell in response to Clive’s question.

Just as I was thinking about how to explain, she went ahead and said it, showing she really dislikes me.

Alicia, next to me, was also speechless.

“What?”

“Yeah, this monkey here fought him and just killed him. Right?”

“…Oh, yeah. Killed him.”

Caught off guard, I answered honestly. 

At that moment, Clive’s expression changed dramatically.