Too Late to Hide It Now
It wasn't long before Meiru and I calmed down enough to talk properly again.
We started with light pleasantries, catching up on how we'd been, before moving on to our plans for the future.
Naturally, this led to me talking quite a bit about my relationship with Lilit, with whom I had recently become official.
...Of course, I didn't mention a single word about what had happened with Seraphina, Elisio, or Isabella.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say I couldn't bring myself to.
"...Right, I see. So you're planning on marrying that bi— I mean, Lady Tistina."
"Yeah, I'm serious about my relationship with Lilit.
My family was already planning to arrange a marriage for me soon anyway, so the timing worked out well.
I mean, isn't it better to marry someone I already know and get along with, rather than being forced into a political marriage with a stranger arranged by our families?"
"...We were close too.
Actually, I was the one who got close to you first."
Meiru pouted, grumbling under her breath.
She whispered it so softly that it was clear she hadn't meant for me to hear. But since we were sitting pressed close together in front of the fountain, her words reached my ears anyway.
Now that things had settled down, it was time to get to the main point.
"Meiru, can I ask you something? Do you... by any chance, like—"
"W-what are you talking about? Why are you bringing up something weird all of a sudden? Why would I ever l-like..."
"I hadn't even finished the sentence yet."
"...Oh. Right..."
"...Sigh. Fine. Honestly, what's the point of hiding it now?"
Meiru hung her head again, just as she had before we met.
She let out a deep, heavy sigh, as if the weight of the world were on her shoulders. Then, having apparently made up her mind, she lifted her gaze to look at me.
"...It's because of what I said earlier, isn't it? Asking if you were dating Isabella Kshatri, and... shouting all those things in the heat of the moment."
"Ah... Yeah."
Yes, I absolutely had to ask her about that right now.
Putting aside why she had assumed I was dating Isabella in the first place, her reaction to that assumption had been far too strange.
She had shouted about what she lacked compared to Isabella, among other things.
It was the reaction of someone who was deeply bothered by the idea of me dating another woman.
Under normal circumstances, one could only conclude that she harbored feelings for me.
Not as a friend, but as a woman to a man—romantic feelings.
"Sigh... Well, honestly, it's a miracle you didn't notice until now. But yes, you're right, Rofel."
She leaned her head against my shoulder, her body going limp.
"...I've liked you for a long time. A really, really long time."
"...How... Since when, exactly?"
"...It's a long story. A very... very long story."
Seriously?
I couldn't help but be shocked all over again.
I mean, sure, I had suspected it based on her reaction, but to think it was actually true...
I was already overwhelmed by the fact that Lilit Tistina, Seraphina Serion, Elisio Gremlina, and Isabella Kshatri—the main heroines of the original game—all had feelings for me.
I never imagined there would be yet another girl harboring feelings for me.
Even though Meiru was just an extra who didn't even appear in the original game, she possessed a striking beauty and charm that easily rivaled the other heroines.
At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if even the Princess confessed her love to me next.
No, that absolutely could not happen! Aside from the headache of having yet another girl like me, her status was a massive problem.
The Emperor of this world was a doting father of legendary proportions. If Tiara wished it, he was the kind of man who would wipe an entire nation off the map.
In fact, when the Princess had fallen gravely ill in the past, the entire empire had been thrown into utter chaos.
The Emperor had declared that anyone who cured his daughter, who was hovering on the brink of death, would receive a high government post and a lavish reward without question—and he had kept his word.
Duke Axel Saan, who had cured the Princess back then, was immediately promoted to Chancellor and remained the Emperor's most trusted right-hand man to this day.
In other words, the Emperor wasn't just a father with a shotgun; he was a father with a heavy machine gun.
And what if the only daughter of such an Emperor fell for some nobody from an obscure noble family in the countryside?
Without exaggeration, ruining both me and the Teufel family would be child's play for him.
I might end up begging him to just kill me instead.
...But surely, that wouldn't happen.
Unlike the other heroines, with whom I had at least built some rapport, Princess Tiara Altarion and I were practically strangers.
She might have smiled at me once or twice, but we had never shared any significant moments.
At most, we had exchanged a few brief glances.
So I could rest easy.
...Really.
In any case, despite the shock I felt, Meiru's quiet confession felt both tender and resigned.
And she slid even closer to me on the bench, gently placing her hand over mine on my lap.
I felt the soft touch of her hand, cool yet warm at the same time.
"Wait, more importantly... did you really not know? This whole time?"
"Yeah... I never imagined anyone would actually love me romantically."
"...So you didn't even know how many girls were targeting you?
The daughters of the other ducal families were practically drooling over you!"
"That's not—! Well... I guess you could say that...?
I've only started finding out recently, but honestly, even just a few weeks ago, I had no idea."
"Oh, my head... I guess you didn't know that photos of your body were secretly circulating among some of the female students either?"
"...What? That actually happened?"
"I know you work out diligently every single day, but you're always so defenseless when you do.
I mean, wearing shorts and a loose sleeveless shirt? Seriously?
There were photos showing off your chest and abs, and even candid shots taken secretly in the locker room!
Honestly... back then, the other ladies and I went through so much trouble to get our hands on—I mean, to stop them!"
"Something like that happened?"
"And that's not all! Some of the upperclassmen were even trying to make moves on you just to sleep with you!
Well... sure, since your grades at the academy were average and you didn't have any notable achievements, the public might have seen you as just another ordinary student.
But you were quite famous among the girls. You have no idea how many noble daughters were targeting you to be their trophy husband.
Phew... Just thinking about it again drains all my energy."
"Wait, what... And you're saying I didn't know about any of this until now?"
"Yes, you dummy!"
Meiru shouted, venting all the frustration she had bottled up inside.
...Was it really that bad?
I had always thought I was living a life fitting for a minor extra—just an ordinary guy getting pushed around here and there.
I barely survived the terror incident on entrance day and the dungeon outbreak during midterms, and I suffered a pathetic defeat in my duel with Marc.
In my second year, I was lucky enough to be chosen as an exchange student—an event that also occurred in the original game—but while the protagonist, Marc, was busy resolving the crisis, I was barely able to keep myself alive.
After the incident, I returned to the academy early due to safety concerns. Realizing I needed to change, I set off on a solo journey during the following break.
But even then, I ended up getting lost and wandering around, only managing to make it back alive thanks to the help of others.
By the time my third year came around—essentially the final chapter of the story—Marc was once again the main star, while I was stuck in the background doing chores no one else cared about.
And even those chores were so grueling that if my luck had run out, I would have lost my life right then and there.
In other words, for someone like me who had never defeated a powerful foe or monster, nor actively confronted any major incidents...
...someone who barely scraped by doing trivial tasks and nearly died multiple times...
...to think I was actually the center of a harem-like situation straight out of a light novel, loved by multiple women.
Thinking about it that way, it felt kind of unfair. Why did I try so hard to live quietly? If I had known earlier, I could have aimed for a rosy life!
...For a split second, that thought crossed my mind. But recalling what had happened with the main heroines recently... yeah, it was probably a blessing that I had kept a low profile.
I mean, if it was this bad when I was trying to be quiet, what would have happened if I had gone around sleeping with everyone like an eroge protagonist?
Without exaggeration, I might have been dismembered, forced to commit seppuku, and drowned in a lake full of man-eating crabs.
"...But why? What is it about me that you like so much?"
"...Are you seriously asking because you don't know? Sigh... You really are hopeless..."
Meiru let out another long, exasperated sigh.
"Actually, this works out. You asked when I started liking you, right?"
As she spoke, she held out her right hand, palm open, in front of me.
A clear green light, matching the color of her eyes, shimmered softly.
It was her ring, a sight now deeply familiar to me.
Along with it, memories began to flood back, as if retracing the steps of the past.
Back to the day when our connection truly began.