WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Protagonist of a Romance Fantasy Only Likes Me ◈
Chapter 5: Because It’s More Fun. (4)
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“Hmm. He’s asleep.”
Marigold brought the lantern close to Lancel’s face and checked for any sign of movement.
What on earth was she trying to do? Lancel lay perfectly still, pretending to sleep, sensing only her movements.
‘Stealing? No way.’
If she had the nerve to do something like that, it might actually have been a relief.
No sooner had Lancel thought that than Marigold opened the wardrobe. Judging by what she was doing, she looked exactly like a petty thief.
‘……?’
Just as Lancel began to feel a little confused, busy rustling followed.
“Ow, that hurts!”
After the cry escaped her, she seemed to glance around nervously. Lancel opened his eyes to a narrow slit and looked at Marigold.
What he saw was unexpected.
‘Sewing?’
She was mending clothes.
Holding the outer garment that had been torn by a drunkard’s knife earlier that day, Marigold was diligently stitching the damaged spot with a sewing kit from who knew where.
By the faint light of the lantern.
============
Imperial Calendar, June 22, 816. Dawn.
So as not to disgrace the name of her mother in heaven, Marigold mends the young noble’s clothes.
※Elegance, Morality, Faith, Condition UP!!
============
“Ow. Hiss.”
Objectively speaking, Marigold’s hands were still very clumsy. Even mending a single tear drew blood several times.
But she did not give up until the end.
As though it were a mission entrusted to her, she kept her small hands moving until the tear was finally mended.
“Phew.”
Lancel quietly watched Marigold slip away with a satisfied expression.
The stitches were a little crooked.
The thread was exposed, so anyone could tell at a glance that the garment had been repaired.
‘Marigold.’
Lancel gave a quiet laugh.
The next day, when Lancel wore the same clothes out, the maid’s eyes widened.
“Young master, your clothes...”
She immediately noticed the sloppy stitching.
Marigold, standing nearby in an apron, blinked and pretended not to know anything.
“I’ll fix it properly, young master.”
“It’s fine. It looks pleasantly unpretentious.”
“But...”
“That’s enough. I like it. I’m hungry, so please have a meal prepared.”
“I’ll prepare it at once.”
Marigold hurried after the maid toward the common kitchen.
Lancel looked over the stitches again. In daylight, the uneven marks stood out even more.
“What a mess.”
9.
“Mary, where did you go? I was worried.”
“What? The others asked me to help with the laundry, so I went and...”
“What are you doing there? Don’t you know those people have nothing to do with our young master? They clearly looked down on you and shoved their work onto you. Come on, hurry up.”
During the four months on the road to the Imperial Capital, Lancel’s maid faithfully carried out the instruction to use Marigold as much as she liked.
Wherever she went, she took Marigold along and put her to work cleaning, washing, cooking, and everything else.
“No time to rest, Mary. Get up. Starting today, you’ll make the soup. Understand?”
“Yes!”
“Mary! Cleaning!”
“Y-Yes!”
“Mary, what is this state of these dishes? They’re a mess.”
“I’m sorry!”
============
Imperial Calendar, June 30, 816. Evening.
Being a maid was this busy? (Stamina up! Condition down!)
============
Lancel had found Marigold with difficulty, but had no intention of treating her like a treasured child.
She was supposed to be the protagonist. Shouldn’t Lancel see how she lived?
This time around, Lancel intended to stand a step back and watch what Marigold’s life was like.
“Everyone, get down. We’ve arrived at the Imperial Capital. You’ve all worked hard through the long journey.”
By the time they reached the Imperial Capital four months later, the maid had already grown attached to Marigold and tearfully said goodbye.
Lancel merely watched Marigold with cold eyes. He had no intention of helping from then on.
* * *
“Would an attic room be enough for a child to live in alone?”
“What are you talking about?”
Baron Evil Shen looked Lancel over as though asking what this nonsense was during a meal.
“Let’s say you were suddenly a fifteen-year-old girl, Lord Evil.”
“That doesn’t sound bad. I’ve often thought how convenient it would be if I had tits.”
“I wasn’t saying it in such a vulgar sense.”
“What use are they besides that?”
The facial muscles of the servants waiting at the table visibly twitched.
“I’m suggesting a hypothetical situation. Say you suddenly had to live as a young commoner girl. You have about six silver coins and seven copper coins.”
“That’s a rather specific hypothetical.”
“What would you do, Lord Evil?”
“I’d try to strike it rich through gambling. If that failed, I’d go to a brothel. I’d aim to become a high-class prostitute and live comfortably off the money fools offer me.”
“Is that all you have in your head?”
Lancel could feel the servants’ sympathetic gazes.
Baron Evil Shen stroked their mustache awkwardly and began to think in earnest.
“If you wanted to live responsibly, you’d have to find a pimp, wouldn’t you? Six silver coins might be enough for travel expenses, but it’s nowhere near enough to settle down.”
A pimp.
It made sense.
Come to think of it, Fallen Noble Lady Simulation was, at its core, a dating simulation game about finding someone to marry and seducing them.
It was romance fantasy by genre, wasn’t it? Its ultimate goal had apparently been marriage to one of the princes.
“For example, what do you think the odds are of seducing His Highness the Prince into being a pimp?”
“Bwahahahaha!”
Evil Shen laughed as though about to fall over. The maid quickly wiped the droplets of spit that had reached Lancel’s face with a handkerchief.
“That’s the funniest joke I’ve heard lately, Lancel. Seduce His Highness the Prince? A commoner? Maybe if you were reborn a million times.”
A million times meant ten million years. A hundred years was already unbearable, but ten million years? How many zeroes was that difference?
‘My mind would fall apart long before then.’
Baron Evil Shen picked meat from between their teeth and continued.
“Just look at the women circling His Highness. Every one of them is beautifully dressed and lovely. Would some stray rat from who knows where ever catch his eye? Would you marry someone like that?”
It was not even worth answering.
Of course not.
It was not as though nobles and commoners never married. Even if they had to endure society’s scorn for tainting noble blood, there were occasionally people who made that choice. Human feelings sometimes broke taboos.
But a marriage between royalty and a commoner was impossible. Such a thing simply did not happen. It must not happen. It was literally unprecedented.
‘But this game is that kind of game?’
It was a game whose main ending involved marrying a prince.
And yet.
Even so.
‘Would it work?’
10.
* * *
[Fallen Noble Lady Simulation]
Set the schedule for the second week of November.
Mon. - Part-time work waiting tables at a tavern.
Tue. - Part-time work waiting tables at a tavern.
Wed. - Part-time work waiting tables at a tavern.
Thu. - Look for work.
Fri. - Look for work.
Sat. - Rest (street).
Sun. - Rest (street).
※A vagrant pickpocketed your money. All the money you had for lodging is gone. You’ll have to live on the streets from now on. (Sensitivity, Stamina down!)
* * *
The following day, Lancel nearly spat out tea after seeing the screen that appeared.
“Find a place nearby with an attic room she can use, then arrange for it to be given to her. Don’t let her know I was the one who gave it.”
“Yes, young master.”
As though she had been waiting for those words, the maid answered brightly.
Having grown close to Marigold during the four-month journey, she left the estate to quickly deliver the news.
After that, most news about Marigold came through the maid.
“There was a decent house on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital, so I bought it. It’s an attic room, but she seems to like it.”
“Is that so? All right.”
Or:
“Since she no longer has lodging expenses, it looks like she’s managing to save some money. She asked me to go on a picnic with her, but I’m not sure what I should do...”
“Why not go? There are plenty of people to wait on me if you’re gone for a day or two.”
“Thank you, young master!”
And then:
“I heard some ruffians at the tavern tried to pull something again. I’m worried she might not be all right, young master.”
“Really? That’s something she has to deal with herself, too. What does it have to do with me?”
“I’m worried because she’s young and only works at a tavern...”
“To live in the Imperial Capital, sometimes you have to endure things like that. She’ll face far worse in the future.”
After saying that, Lancel fell silent for a long time.
Ruffians. Lancel suddenly recalled the message that had appeared two days ago.
============
Imperial Calendar, December 21, 818. Dawn.
Marigold had a tiring day today. Even so, she has decided not to hate people. Marigold already knows that there are as many good people as bad ones. She shakes off both sadness and anger overnight and watches the dawn sun rise. Marigold is filled with motivation.
※Elegance, Morality, Faith UP!!
============
There were countless people at the tavern who picked fights or made passes. A tavern job certainly did not suit a young girl.
Even in the game, continuing to work at the tavern could sometimes lead to a trainwreck route.
“I should ask Lord Evil whether there’s a position at the stables. Tell her to quit the tavern.”
The maid’s expression brightened.
“...Yes!”
In truth, most of the information already came through the game system.
Using the maid was merely a safeguard to ensure Lancel’s connection with Marigold did not break.
Perhaps it helped considerably. Based on the small amount of attention Lancel sent her way, Marigold gradually settled into life in the Imperial Capital.
Later, Marigold somehow earned a large sum of money and even built a small house. It was the fourth full year since arriving in the Imperial Capital.
Marigold could not dream of marrying a prince as she had in the game, but it was still a rather decent life.
Working, earning money, decorating her home, buying delicious food, meeting people. There was clearly a sense of stability in Marigold’s life.
And then ten years passed.
.
.
.
[Play Time: 10 years, 0 days]
Marigold has turned twenty-five.
There is a marriage partner.
There are no achievements.
[Marriage Ending 23. Marriage to Young Noble ‘Lancel Dante’]
The ending has been added to the Album of Memories.
Opening the album.
.
.
.
Marigold had already learned the identity of the person who had supported her over the past ten years.
One day, she spotted his back on the street. She ran over at once, grabbed his arm, and asked:
“Why are you good to me? Was I worth it? Why didn’t you appear before me? What on earth am I to you?”
“You are nothing to me. It’s just fun. That’s why I helped you. Don’t worry about it.”
“That’s all right. You’re all I have. Please live with me.”
The two married.
Marigold felt happy for the first few years. But it did not last long. Marigold spent day after day blaming herself in sorrow.
[Marriage to Young Noble ‘Lancel Dante’ - fin]
Would you like to restart the game?
.
.
.
“What is this?”
Lancel Dante stared at the result of the past ten years and doubted his eyes for a moment.
Lancel had expected an unimpressive ending, but never imagined it would turn out like this. Forcing someone who had merely been watching into marriage, what kind of absurd ending was this?
Lancel smacked his lips bitterly.
This would never end.
So Lancel made a decision.
“This won’t do. You should just marry a prince.”
If only to put an end to this tiresome regression, Lancel would give her “true happiness.”
[Because It’s More Fun. - End]
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