WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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◈ Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight

Chapter 66

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Episode 66. What was hidden was a trump card.

I remembered something that gigolo guy once told me.

[Northern Grand Duchess's Husband: Hey, Saintess fetishist.]

[Pure Love Black Knight: Gigolo. What do you want?]

[Northern Grand Duchess's Husband: Do you know how to do the Imperial Family entry quest?]

I remembered him talking about something I, on the Saintess route, didn't know well. It struck me as odd that a local spirit living only in the north would suddenly mention the Imperial Family in the Empire.

[Pure Love Black Knight: I don't know. Why do you ask?]

[Northern Grand Duchess's Husband: Our Grand Duchess keeps making remarks about being aware of the Imperial Family, and it's bothering me. Is there no way around it?]

[Pure Love Black Knight: Isn't 'that Harem King' the problem again? If it's Lupus Gransia, you just put him in the party and send him on a long journey right away.]

[Northern Grand Duchess's Husband: Oh, that works.]

He told me that when he kept Lupus away, the Northern Grand Duchess's dialogue changed positively. And the chat that followed.

[Northern Grand Duchess's Husband: Hey, but honestly, doesn't Lupus seem too hastily put together?]

[Pure Love Black Knight: He's a lore-breaking character. What do you expect?]

[Northern Grand Duchess's Husband: In a world where Demon Kings run rampant, an incompetent guy is the next emperor. Something's a bit strange...]

I shouldn't have glossed over this suspicious sentence so easily. As I read it, there was a message I'd filled with the fantasy that a Mary Sue character would disappear.

[Pure Love Black Knight: Actually, maybe there's another heir to the throne?]

[Northern Grand Duchess's Husband: What are you talking about?]

[Pure Love Black Knight: If a lecher becomes the next emperor, the country will fall. He'll probably have about 5 wives? Then I'm planning to escape to the north with the Saintess too.]

No matter how I looked at it, Lupus was not fit to be emperor. He wasn't as militarily strong as Emperor Rook, nor as intelligent as Nex, and he wasn't kind-hearted.

[Pure Love Black Knight: The wolves I know are monogamous. I don't want to keep seeing a face like that.]

[Northern Grand Duchess's Husband: You're truly obsessed with pure love.]

[Pure Love Black Knight: Honestly, I wish someone else would become emperor instead of Lupus.]

But I didn't know that 'someone else' would turn out to be his older sister. If it were a man, it would have been fine as it wouldn't interfere with our Saintess's route.

***

The hazy memory recollection ended, and I opened my eyes.

"Big Bro Licht..! Are you okay...?"

"I'm fine, Your Highness Prince."

"That's a relief..."

The future Harem King was speaking next to me in an almost tearful tone. He certainly seems normal like this. Why did he get ruined in the sequel?

'Was Empress Bellin turning into a card the trigger?'

I finally collected myself, sat up, and organized my thoughts. Looking at Mardol or Lupus from <Black Heart>, they were obsessed with strength.

"...I will ask one thing, Your Highness Prince Lupus."

"Yes, Big Bro Licht! Ask me anything!"

"You didn't originally know that Empress Bellin had turned into a card, did you?"

"Ah, well..."

I asked him a question to find the puzzling part. Although Dizur was looking at me with dissatisfied eyes, I didn't care.

I had to confirm my hypothesis. I took a step forward and pressured him. Then, he confessed the truth.

"...Actually, I heard she went on a long trip somewhere. Until my sister told me..."

"I apologize for making you speak out of turn, Your Highness Prince."

"No, no! You saved her in the end, Big Bro!"

Matters concerning family must be handled carefully. When I bowed deeply to express my apologies, he waved his hand, refusing my apology. But I was in the wrong. What is this?

'So, Lupus, after learning the truth later, also became obsessed with strength like his sister... But then why was Mardol...'

As I rested my hand on my chin and thought, I realized a missing piece. Why was she a character who didn't appear in the sequel or the original?

“Can you tell me the reason why your sister, or rather the princess, wears armor?”

"I don't know either. She said she'd get weaker if she took it off..."

Lupus wore a gloomy expression. His wolf ears and tail were drooping, just like someone else's. It reminds me of our Saintess. I dislike this trait of the Werewolf tribe.

'It's highly likely because of Magic Hat. Given the people attacked at the academy, it makes sense.'

I recalled the students who had become horribly disfigured in the previous incident. Extras whose faces were completely erased, or whose limbs were fused together.

A crazy woman, perfectly befitting her moniker 'Mad Sorceress'. She had obsessively clung to me too, so I temporarily repelled her with Demon King Slaying. I touched the forehead of my helmet.

"Big Bro Licht... anyway, thank you so much. I heard you saved my sister too."

"...I only did what needed to be done."

Watching Lupus falteringly express his gratitude to me, my thoughts changed considerably. This is the past, after all. No matter how much I dislike harems.

"I didn't do it expecting gratitude, Your Highness Prince."

"You can speak casually...!"

"...It's become a habit. I apologize."

How could I hate such an innocent boy? I could change the future, just as I saved Chartiness. As long as I don't meddle with the Demon Kings, it should be fine.

'Then, black hair and golden eyes, I wonder.'

Based on Lupus, I imagined Mardol's face inside the glass helmet. As I see now, hair color and eye color are genetic.

'Nex is like that, Lupus, and even the Northern Grand Duchess.'

While there are cases where one inherits the color of only one parent, Emperor Rook and Empress Bellin both have black hair and golden eyes. Are there really no white-haired Werewolf tribe members like the Nameless Saintess anywhere?

"...I'm not feeling well, so I'll be taking my leave first."

"Uh, yeah! Big Bro Licht. See you later!"

"Please go carefully Licht."

I felt I would collapse again if I stayed here any longer, so I parted ways with them. While regretting the way I unconsciously planted a flag regarding Mardol,

'I couldn't help it. It was an accident. Saving people was the priority.'

I rationalized it as the right choice, inwardly making pathetic excuses to our Saintess. In truth, these were utterly unconvincing statements.

'The best I can do is to not let my distance with the Princess get any closer.'

From now on, I just needed to keep my distance and avoid creating a harem. People can change, after all. And, in my estimation, Mardol is the protagonist of this installment.

If I just stay as a comrade, like Kainel, there won't be any major issues.

My head throbbed. The sudden appearance of a new heroine. Two flowers in my hands, a Saintess and a Princess.

Some people would think good fortune had rolled in by the bushel. It was a male-oriented game from the start. One might even say, isn't it good to have two wives?

'I don't need such things.'

If I form a harem, I can't get closest to our Saintess in the first place. Love is too overwhelming to give to just one person.

My hand clenched into a fist. I only need one Blue Rose to give to our Saintess. Two are not necessary.

Moreover, a Mana Rose would count as a gift item that raises affection. Especially since it's a rose among flowers.

It glows blue with concentrated mana, amplifying magic and enhancing the ability to sense mana.

'The Princess must not have it.'

Because of this, the magic swordsman Princess might get another flag here. Imagine a woman obsessed with strength, thinking that the man who defeated her got a Dragon Heart, and she got a Blue Rose.

'Anyone can see this is...'

She would primarily think of me when she sees the Blue Rose that went to her. There's a cliché where a strong-willed game character who experiences their first defeat starts to think of that person as special.

'The reason I got close to Mardol in the first place was because I'm strong.'

I must not win anymore and make the Princess think of me as special. I need to lose so she'll consider me an insignificant nobody.

It's possible my name might appear on her status window. So far, there's no affection level, so it doesn't seem to be a harem yet, but for the sake of our Nameless Saintess, I must avoid flags.

But just as I can follow Kainel's Shine Strike with my eyes, I felt that someone as skilled as Mardol would notice the moment I forfeited or intentionally tried to lose.

'The Imperial Guards would either try to kill me or demand a rematch. It's also something Laplace could confirm if she looked up my information.'

What should I do? As I walked, I tried to think of a good move. A way to definitively lower her affection without it seeming awkward.

'...Even if I lose, I'll shatter her glass armor.'

Then I would definitely know whether Mardol is a woman or not. I needed to confirm if she was indeed his sister, as Lupus mentioned.

If I destroy her equipment in the arena and choose defeat instead, wouldn't she think I'm a pervert or a coward?

Instead of the mana protective gear, I just need to aim for the armor underneath. If it's me now, capable of wielding Qi and full of conviction, it should be possible.

And I needed to lower her affection, which seemed to have reached its limit. After all, we had even unconsciously gone on a restaurant district date.

'To break a Masterpiece, I'd really have to approach it with the intent to win. I was just going to pretend to lose, but things got complicated.'

No woman, not even one with blind adoration, would like me after that. Even without dating experience, I can infer that much.

I sighed deeply. To think I was spending time with another woman while having our Saintess. I led my dizzy, swaying body towards the dormitory.

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