What If the Strongest Villain from the Original Story Became the Protagonist's Ally?

Iris’s cooking was catastrophically awful.

I couldn’t think of words to describe it, and it was so awful that it refluxed up my esophagus and I almost vomited.

However, for some reason Iris was happily squirming.

“Hehehe~. I made Yuu-san eat it~”

“I shouldn’t have eaten it…”

I’d known from the start it would definitely be awful, but this was terrible.

I felt like my insides had become all messed up. I wanted to quickly wash out my mouth and stomach with water.

Nana felt the same way, apparently—after taking one sip of soup, she was also drooping while going “ugh…” and dripping liquid from her mouth.

I understand how you feel… Nana. It was a taste beyond imagination.

It had already transcended the level of being awful or anything like that, and was at the level of being nauseating. Painful. That kind of taste.

“Nana… let’s go rinse our mouths.”

“Mm… dying.”

I tore the chains apart with my muscles and went to the washroom with Nana. Iris saw us off while in high spirits.

▼△▼

“The cooking was a great success, Yuu-san!”

When we returned to the dining room after washing out our mouths, Iris smiled and said that.

Unable to stand it—

“From now on, Iris is banned from cooking.”

“That’s for the best.”

Nana and I said that in unison.

“Why!? Even though I spent time cooking…!”

“It’s not a problem of spending time. Everything gets ruined at the very end.”

“I was told you prefer dishes with spices, so I went ahead and—”

“There are limits!”

Bang, I slammed the table and shouted.

Medicine, sweets, food, everything—there’s an appropriate amount for people.

She had easily exceeded that. No wonder it was awful. Rather than awful, it was painful. That couldn’t be called cooking, and I never wanted to eat it again.

“Please don’t cook anymore… If you’re going to cook, eat it yourself or taste it first…”

“If you say it with such an anguished expression, it’s hard to refuse…”

“Because I’m serious.”

At least taste it before serving it.

“…Well, fine. I’m too busy to cook anyway.”

“That’s right. A princess shouldn’t steal the cook’s job.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll stick to swinging my sword.”

“That suits you best.”

There was no day I’d thought a sword suited Iris more than today. Nana was nodding frequently beside me too.

“Speaking of which, Yuu-san.”

“Hm? What?”

When I sat back down in my chair, Iris settled beside me.

“Soon our country will hold His Majesty’s birthday festival. It’s a large festival, so will you participate, Yuu-san?”

“His Majesty’s birthday festival… When?”

“As expected, you don’t know anything about His Majesty… It’ll be around next month.”

“Next month, huh. Yeah, that sounds good. Seems fun.”

“Please remove your mask and participate then.”

“I refuse!”

That was the one thing I couldn’t allow!

“Rather, precisely because it’s during the festival, this mask will be useful!”

“The mask… will be useful?”

Iris tilted her head.

I smiled under my mask and told her clearly.

“Yeah. It is a festival, after all. I’ll be judged as someone in high spirits. This mask won’t stand out during the festival!”

“No, you’d stand out.”

I was brutally cut down. I wanted to cry.

“It’s true that as Yuu-san says, there are stalls selling masks at festivals. However… your mask has an eeriness as if curses were embedded in it, so… it’s a bit…”

“My favorite mask is being treated so harshly…”

I thought it was creepy too, but didn’t wearing that kind of mask make you look like a strong character?

I was the final boss, so I wanted to look as strong as possible (but I couldn’t be seen).

“Well, that’s fine. I didn’t think you’d remove your mask from the start anyway.”

“Then don’t say it in the first place…”

“Just in case. It would help me if you’d remove it.”

“Then too bad. Even if it’s His Majesty’s birthday festival… hm?”

Just now, something flashed through my mind. Something I couldn’t overlook. I stopped speaking and made an effort to remember.

“Yuu-san? What’s wrong?”

Worried about me suddenly going silent, Iris called out. But I held out my right hand to stop Iris. I wanted her to let me concentrate for a bit. Perhaps understanding my intention, Iris didn’t say anything more.

Silence flowed through the dining room, and after a while I—remembered.

“Th-that’s right!”

Rattle.

I stood up with such force that I knocked my chair backward.

Why had I forgotten? Why couldn’t I remember immediately?

Somewhere in my heart, I still had room to spare. I’d rationalized that the village incident was just a coincidence.

However, my heart was strangely unsettled. It wasn’t confirmed, but… I had a bad feeling.

His Majesty the King’s birthday festival.

That was—the keyword announcing the next event. Once again, would this world’s flow change?