WeTried Translations
Translator: Goku
Editor: Sty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The War Hero in the NTR Game Wants to Die ◈
Chapter 010
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Lingering Ties (4)
Adelaide... Adel.
I might not know Adelaide, but Adel is familiar.
She's probably famous as the heroine who's always busy trying to hang herself and die at the drop of a hat.
And that's after pretending to be all cheerful.
If life got just a little more suffocating, if her father tightened the noose just a little more, she wouldn't seem to care about what others thought, yet if her reputation worsened, she would invariably die.
Unless I'd memorized the entire game like some protagonists, I don't know what Adel likes, what she dislikes, or how to conquer her.
There's no way to help her.
Unless I could look at a strategy guide and choose options, choices weren't just popping up in front of my eyes.
"By the way... I heard you caused some trouble yesterday?"
"Was there anything going on yesterday?"
"No, well. I just heard a fuss about some war hero mercilessly beating up three knights and got curious, so I asked."
When I seemed reluctant to answer, the girl skillfully changed the subject.
"Well, since we're going to be linked anyway, how about we call each other by our first names? Adel is fine too, if it comes to that."
Her face, which had been full of displeasure just moments ago, was gone, replaced by a mischievous glint.
"Miss."
"...Yes? I-I said you can just call me by my name?"
"Do you think we will be linked?"
"Of course we will, won't we? My father also thinks that if I meet a man from the Gryan family, I'll calm down a bit."
Adelaide lifted her teacup and lightly moistened her lips.
"Besides, compared to that woman, Roseline, I might not be satisfying enough, but in the end... you were sent by the Head of the family, weren't you?"
"I've already been half-expelled from the Gryan family, so I'll probably have to live in the capital."
"...Indeed, if not for that, there's no way someone from the Gryan family would come to us. But it's okay!"
"Even if I say I want to completely break free from the Gryan family?"
The girl looked at me as if I was joking, then met my eyes and somehow put a bitter smile on her lips.
"......You have grand dreams."
Her eyes, which had been sparkling moments ago, somehow sank heavily.
Her face, as she continued speaking in a lamenting tone, held something akin to resignation.
"Born into a family like Gryan, there's no way you can live as you please. Even the Monbern family, which only has a lot of wealth, is like this......"
"What in the world can't be done?"
"Well, you say that, but you just don't like me, right? So... me, am I being rejected right now?"
"Yes."
Even at the word rejected, Adelaide didn't seem particularly hurt.
Instead, she thought deeply about something, then slowly opened her mouth.
"Then, if you don't necessarily want to marry... how about we just continue the engagement safely?...... You said you'd be living in the capital."
From the start, she didn't seem like the type to be hurt by a rejection from someone she'd just met.
"I'll let you use my villa in the capital."
"...Why go that far?"
"Because my dream is also to live freely. While we're half-linked, my father won't bother me, and neither will anyone else. Plus, when I want to go play in the capital, I can just sell you off!"
This was unexpected, though.
"What good is a villa if I can't go there?"
The girl stood up, approached me, and spoke in a low voice.
"Why, if you read some of the novels circulating in the market, don't contract marriages and such appear often? Ah, was that not a gentlemen's hobby?"
The girl, stopping in front of me, extended her hand.
I lightly took it, shook hands, and she gave a bright smile.
[Affection level has increased.]
Everyone is born wearing a leash from birth, without exception.
There's only a difference in whose leash is longer or shorter.
In this wretched world, I don't think I've seen a single person live happily.
And the girl, too, will live a tragic life.
So... for just a little while, be it a contract or whatever, perhaps it's okay to give her a little breathing room.
* * *
After a long, meaningless conversation with Adel, I left before the ball resumed.
My whole body ached.
Boredom, fatigue, and Roseline... all sorts of things piled up, as if crushing my entire body.
I act as if everything will be resolved if I just go to the capital, if I just escape from the Gryan family... but I know better than anyone that nothing will actually improve just by doing that.
I'm the kind of person who doesn't act unless a problem is right in front of them.
Because I'll just come back even if I die anyway.
To call it complacent... in fact, I often think it would be better if I just died like this.
They commonly refer to death as rest, after all.
If I've suffered this much, if I've died so many times on the front lines, it would be nice to rest a little, but I'm not given the time to rest.
Therefore, the first thing I'll do when I go to the capital is probably to hide away somewhere, just like in the Gryan family, and slowly kill myself with strong liquor and tobacco.
It's not suicide.
Because I'm killing Riehen.
I wish they'd call it murder.
Or maybe it's euthanasia.
Because Riehen would want to die too.
How many people would want to live in a world like this?
Unless they were born here from the beginning.
That's why I'm pickling myself in alcohol and tobacco.
It would be quite slow, but... if I pickle my body with alcohol and tobacco, I might die a little faster.
Though it would be tormenting if I kept coming back to life endlessly...
For now, I just wanted to pour in the alcohol and not think about anything.
As I left the reception room and stood in the corridor, looking outside, music began to flow, as if the ball had resumed.
Staying at the ball seemed pointless, so I grabbed a bunch of liquor bottles and returned to my room.
The moment I opened the door, a strong scent of alcohol wafted out.
Roseline, who had entered my room uninvited and was drinking, caught my eye.
She had placed two chairs at a small round table, and a pile of liquor bottles was arrayed on it.
Her usually pale face was already flushed crimson.
Her gaze slightly unfocused, she looked at me, smiled, and shook her glass.
"All afternoon... you must have had nothing to do, so you were outside?"
"...How did you get into my room?"
"I asked Young Master Gryan. That child follows me better than you, doesn't he? Like a real older sister. Heh."
Roseline poured a drink and held it out to me.
"By the way, what were you doing outside?"
I walked over, took the glass, and sat across from her.
Then I downed its contents.
"No, well, you don't have to answer. You're going to be linked with that stupid girl from the Monbern family, aren't you? There was no other reason for you to come here, after all......"
The scent of alcohol felt strangely faint.
Perhaps it was because the person sitting opposite me was someone I absolutely couldn't share a drink with.
"Still... are you serious? Even if the Head of the family said so... even though I said I'd let you take back the annulment, you'd link up with a girl like that?"
Roseline, as if genuinely unable to understand, continued speaking, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.
"Was your type a girl whose chest was just barely protruding and who hadn't even fully grown? For someone like that... you didn't even touch me before."
"Lady Avenberg, if you're just going to spout nonsense, then get out of here......"
Before I could even finish my sentence.
Roseline slammed her hand on the table, stood up, approached me, and grabbed me by the collar.
"Cut that out and call me Roseline."
"Roseline, take your hand off."
"Why, if I don't, are you going to hit me like those men yesterday?"
"Yeah."
She thrust her face forward as if daring me to hit her, and I lightly smacked it, as if gently pushing her away.
Even that seemed to be quite a shock to her.
Her blank, frozen face slowly distorted.
Regardless, I grabbed the wrist that was still clutching my collar and gently applied force to detach it.
"...So now I don't feel... that precious anymore?"
"That's how it is."
"Lies, you said you loved me before."
"Because feelings are bound to cool."
"But mine hasn't cooled! If a feeling can cool, then it's lust, not love. Riehen. I told you I'd make you happy."
Roseline continued, her voice trembling.
"You were born into a family you didn't suit, and you've suffered your whole life."
"Sticking with a woman I didn't suit was also quite painful."
"When you didn't want to see anything, when you didn't want to hear anything, who gently covered your ears and shielded your eyes with her skirt?"
"Well, who was it?"
At those words, Roseline trembled for a long time, giving no reply.
"You worm-like... ungrateful whoremonger."
"Roseline."
"Yes."
"Didn't you also find a new match as soon as the engagement was broken?"
"......Of course, my father inquired because he thought you would die."
Roseline said that, then emptied the remaining wine in her glass, poured another, and downed it in one gulp again.
Lifting her flushed, drunken face, she slowly stroked my cheek.
"So, like this... I have to give you to someone else? Do I have to lose what I've cultivated my whole life to my liking...?"
Meeting my gaze, she slowly began to caress my lips.
"This way... this way it shouldn't be......"
When I grabbed her wrist and pulled it away, Roseline continued speaking in a voice as if she were about to cry.
A moderately pretty woman, the effects of alcohol, and caressed lips... the atmosphere subtly darkened.
"Hey, Riehen. Now that I think about it... do you know we've never properly kissed? At most, we only ever just touched lips."
Roseline grabbed my face, turning it so that I looked only at her.
With one hand, she lifted the glass and took a mouthful of its contents.
And then she kissed me.
My mouth filled with the scent of wine.
The wine that passed down my throat... felt strangely like it was burning.
Roseline, meeting my eyes, spoke softly.
Her eyes, which had been unfocused from drunkenness moments ago, and her emotionally wavering appearance, were nowhere to be seen.
"I can't just... give what's mine to someone else."
Not long after... a sensation as if something was boiling up inside surged through me.
My eyes met Roseline's.
[Affection level has increased.]
The Roseline in front of me started bleeding from her nose, wiped it away with the back of her hand, and then calmly looked down at the blood.
Then, this time, blood streamed down from her mouth and nose.
Roseline met my eyes one more time, then collapsed as if crumbling.
I also wiped under my nose with the back of my hand... and found it covered in blood.
My consciousness flickered for a moment.
『Riehen, there's no way I'd love someone like you. Why, did you want to hear me say I love you? Then... try to be a little more likable. Who knows? Maybe at some point, I might fall for you?』
[Synchronization Rate Increased! 0.1%↑]
I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them.
"Hey, Riehen. Now that I think about it... do you know we've never properly kissed? At most, we only ever just touched lips."
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