Vol 3 Chapter 22 (2/2)
Jared asks about how they were selling – in response, Katarina says proudly like she’s talking about her own accomplishments that they were extremely popular and had alood’ back to her, she begins thinking deeply about so
Then she stops responding even e speak to her It seehts
“… Katarina, this again?” Jared says, sounding exasperated
‘This again’ is an accurate descriptor Katarina sonoring anything around her
“Hey, Katarina Claes! You idiot noble girl! It’s no good, she isn’t hearing us at all”
I try raisingout to her, but she doesn’t respond in the slightest Thinking that just speaking to her won’t do the trick anyhtly hit her head
“Wh – what do you think you’re doing?!”
I hadn’t put any strength into it, but it seelared up atfor not listening
“You could’ve just called out to me normally! You didn’t have to hit me on my head,” shoots Katarina back But we called out to her plenty It see
“What are you saying? I called out to you plenty! But you just wouldn’t respond – it’s your fault,” I say
Katarina pouts Ergh, looking up atshaken, I unthinkingly ruffle Katarina’s hair
“Alan, leave it there Could you not touch her so casually?”
Jared holdsbetween Katarina andjust as usual… but his eyes aren’t as cheerful
“… Jared, you…”
Without thinking, I sigh
This twin brother of , but the et the better of hiiving lare
I want to show ht Jared was so perfect, how Jared looks right now
Jared Stuart is a sets jealous terribly easily My fiancée Mary even said that Katarina will eventually run out of patience with hilare at everyone around her
“You’re a bit small-hearted… Mary says that Katarina will run out of patience with you if you continue this way”
“Please tell Mary that it’s none of her business”
He looks at ood – he’s way too crazy for his fiancée And his grip on er… I just touched her head a little bit, right?
Jared goes as far as to embrace Katarina – he’s really s completely fed up with him –
“Jared, Alan”
I hear so towards the source of the voice, I see two couples ofin our direction, theat us with a smile
Ugh, it’s so than Jared
“Geoffrey-niisan, I see that you came,” Jared says to our older brother and firstborn son Geoffrey Stuart His face is all soft and limply He waves his hand at us back and forth
And the person co up a little behind Geoffrey is…
“Ian-niisan, you came as well, I see”
He’s our other older brother, Ian Stuart Opposite to Geoffrey, he has a serious face and a stiff expression He bows
Since entering the academy, I’ve barely seenin the sa each other for the throne to pay attention to their two younger brothers, so we’re not that close
Despite that, before entering the acade in the saot along ith the two of them, especially the firstborn Geoffrey…
“Oh, if it isn’t lady Katarina Claes It’s been a while,” Geoffrey speaks to Katarina with a face so relaxed you wouldn’t think that he was a prince
It’s true that Katarina met our older brothers once atfrohtest
Jared, used to this, seems to have whispered the necessary information in her ear
“Ah, yes It’s been a while, Geoffrey-sa
Since she hadn’t remembered my older brothers, she naturally wouldn’t reain
“It’s been a while, Randall-sama, Burke-sama”
Even though she definitely just was told their nareetsThe fiancées cheerfully return her greeting
“What made you all decide to come here?”
Geoffrey responds with a bea look to Jared’s question
“Why, to see the younger brothers I love so ht, of course”
Ah, this brother of es This firstborn son has always been this way The rumours I hear of him have always been positive, and I’m sure he’s pretty talented in reality… but well, I don’t really understand him well
He’s neat and proper in public, but in private, he always looks lazy and unreliable, and says ridiculous things
Jared naturally knows this well
“Right, and what’s the real reason, Ian-niisan?” asks Jared to Ian, coolly ignoring Geoffrey
“Oh, I caic academy to fulfill my official royal duties Geoffrey’s probably the same”
Ian’s no different from usual too He’s always stiff and serious
“Probably? Oh, so you didn’t coether”
“That goes without saying We just coincidentally ran into each other a o”
Geoffrey and Ian are fighting each other for the right to inherit the throne And so, there’s no way that they’d coether, all friendly
That being said, froh they don’t get along However, they’re formed their own factions and are alatched by those around the well
Suddenly I realize that Geoffrey, who had been ignored by Jared and Ian, had turned his gaze to me Just as I think that this could be bad –
“Wow, Jared and Ian are both so cold Hey, Alan, your cute brother came to see you!”
“What – stop it, don’t hug me”
– he e brothers, it feels creepy to be e how old I am I desperately push Geoffrey away
As we did this and that, the bell rang, clanging It’s a signal that there’s only a small amount of time left before the school festival ends
Oh, it’s already this late
In a little while, the school festival will end, and after that, we’ll move to the school ball – that could even be called the school festival’s ‘night portion’
“Oh, we have to head to the stage for the play soon,” says Jared on hearing the bell
The plan is to perform the student council play after this Truthfully, I don’t want to act, but by strong request from the student populace, I was unfortunately made to participate
“Ooh, Jared, Alan, you’re going to perform in a play? I want to see it,” says Geoffrey Ian rebukes him
“Geoffrey, stop saying stupid things, we’re heading back quickly”
“What, you’re no fun… wait Ian, you’re going to go back with me?”
“Stop spewing such idiocy, of course I’m not”
It see as well as usually
The playboy firstborn son who says ridiculous things and the serious, neat secondborn son…I don’t have much in common with them and I don’t kno to deal with them … but I don’t think I dislike them
Well, I’h!’ the next time I see them either way
“See you!”
“Well then, I’ll take my leave”
Giving polar opposite farewells, the two brothers left And then we left as well, for the stage
On a side note, Katarina is still holding bags of what is presuiven everyone their snacks, but could everything re be possibly all for her…?
Well anyways for now, I’d better report to Mary that I didn’t let Katarina and Jared be alone once we reach the stage
After a little while, the school festival will finally end It was a truly boring, tiring day Despite being the long-awaited school festival, I was stuck doing work, unable to spend the day with Katarina Even though as the day of the school festival neared, I was too busy with preparations to spend ti me off even more
To s worse, when I invited Katarina tolike he was o to Katarina’s rooot in my way
Katarina is my – Jared Stuart’s – fiancée… and yet they don’t seeive up at all
My fiancée, Katarina Claes, an Earl’s daughter, is odd She’s outside of the norirl I’otten tired of being around her despite knowing her for years
It’s because of Katarina that I, as unable to hold any interest in other people, was able to fall in love so deeply with someone
However, Katarina has a fatal flaw thanks to her charly, she seduces both men and woman
Her own stepbrother to begin with, then er brother and his fiancée, and her childhood friends – the priic user genius girl, and finally even the man who tried to kill her As a result,
Like today for exa tiht I had a rare chance to talk with her alone And yet Alan cas worse, he dared to casually touch her head Don’t touch my Katarina
When I immediately rebuked Alan I was told that I had a small heart
Well, I do recognize that it’s true that when it comes to Katarina,–react drastically more quickly
To be honest, I end up displeased just by seeing Katarina talking with another man But with the number of enemies I have, it really can’t be helped I end up worried to death about whether or not she’s going to seduce and charm yet another person as well
I ree – I was barely able to speak with Katarina when she had finally arrived We were finally able to meet, yet Alan as well as those two brothers ofThey didn’t have to come the moment when Katarina finally arrived
I wasn’t doing anything important for hours beforehand, so they could’ve just coht then…?
I kind of don’t really like dealing with h I’h of course, I don’t let those feelings show – I’m not Alan, after all
Generally, I can understand what anyone is thinking – but since I was young I’ve been unable to read hts It creepsat all
Well, it doesn’t seenore him
Thanks to s, e finally arrive at the stage almost all of the other student council irls had already changed into their costumes
Soe into my costume and prepare
“We’re in trouble! One of the actors has taken ill!” cried one of the backstage helpers, running towards us
Apparently, one of the first year student council members slated to act in the play suddenly took ill and had to be taken to the doctor’s office Thankfully there was no issues found during her diagnosis and she would apparently get better after resting a bit, but obviously she wasn’t able to act in a play that was just about to start
“We have no choice We’ll have to use a stand-in,” I say as I sigh internally that soht before show time
I look towards everyone orking backstage We’ll have to get one of them to act – they’ve likely seen our recitals a nuaze
Well, it’s a natural reaction to being told to go act in a play with such little notice Not to s probably wouldn’t turn out well for thehtlessly acted in a play filled with popular student council eneral student populace’s wrath
Then we need someone who has a fair level of popularity to act in the play
I turn aze with incredible speed
She’s averting her eyes way too blatantly… the people around her are avoiding aze a little more naturally, but as expected from Katarina
However, the people around us started speaking up without
“In that case, I think that Katarina-saood choice”
The voice echoed around the quiet rooreement one after another
“I think that Katarina-saood as well”
“I think that if we have to pick so with the student council members, there’s no one other than Katarina-sama”
“Yes, I think the other students would accept Katarina-sama as well”
Well, everyone understands that thinking about it rationally Katarina is the best choice Katarina may not be a student council member, but she’s fairly popular, and she’s the only person outside of the student council to have a fan club – even if it’s not public (though she herself has no idea about this)
“I – I can’t do it…”
Katarina, desperately trying to turn the offer down, looks towardsme to be her ally
She’s very cute looking up at ly
“Alright then, Katarina I’ on you”
When I place my hand on her shoulder Katarina looks so full of despair you’d think the world had ended
Though she dragged her feet, Katarina accepted the script and was changed into her costuirl asn’t able to perform was almost the same size and shape as me and so the costume fit almost perfectly
However, I hadn’t realized this at all when the original girl earing the costu too o out in front of others wearing that… but there’s no time
In the end, I had her wear a stole to hide the skin The person in charge of costumes did say ‘Um, I feel like this doesn’t really le look from me
Katarina herself seeht that the costume was supposed to look like this
Finally the curtain rises on the play Katarina had ended up slated to play the protagonist’s stepsister who bullies the protagonist It’s a role that doesn’t suit her well, but it can’t be helped
Honestly, I would’ve been happiest if she had played the protagonist – my partner role However, it was all very sudden and it probably would’ve been tough on Katarina who’s struggling so ht now
The protagonist Maria heads on stage, and shortly after it’s Katarina’s turn Katarina see actions before heading to the stage in a fluster
Then Katarina stops the e
Could this be – has she forgotten her lines? It would’ve been less understandable if she had practiced them a lot, but this was all very sudden For Katarina, who’s always true to herself, it h for her to just act
Since I had predicted that soo back her up – but that’s when –
“My, how you’re unaware of your position in society”
A voice rose froe It was a line completely different froe in surprise, I see Katarina standing there, looking like a coer
To be honest, I didn’t think someone foolish like Katarina could play a role that bullied soht that since I kne she ticked very well, I knew that she didn’t match up ith the role, but…
Katarina is on the stage - and yet it feels like a different woe
That face, laughing down at the protagoniststepsister no le you looked at
To think that Katarina could act like this… As expected froht that I wouldn’t be surprised at anything she did anyo but apparently not
“I rather think grovelling at my feet fits you best”
Before I realized it, I was unable to tear my eyes from Katarina who naturally adlibbed lines that weren’t in the script There stood a Katarina I didn’t know
Even while being enthralled by Katarina’s acting, I successfully performed my role and the play successfully ended
The moment the play ended, Katarina was immediately surrounded Apparently I wasn’t the only one to be enthralled by her performance
Argh, I’m happy I was able to see a Katarina I hadn’t seen before, but at this rate the number of people ant to steal Katarina away may increase I shouldn’t have let her out in front of all these people
Even as I regretted h the crowd of people towards Katarina and praise her
“I’ll properly escort you at the ball after this, my fiancée,” I then say, to restrain the people around me
I was glared at by the other student council iven that her fiancé would have the role of escorting her to the ball – there’s nothing they can do
Since I wasn’t able to talk with her at all during the day, I plan to have as ht
At the ball, I’ll be able to embrace Katarina as much as I want Katarina, oblivious to the reactions of the people around her, thinks that kind of thing is normal and will let herself sink into my embrace
The other rivals will probably invite Katarina to go dance as well, but I have no intentions of letting Katarina go so easily today
After seeing a Katarina I hadn’t seen before, my body feels rather warm and my heartbeat won’t slon At the ball, I want to have my fill of Katarina until I calm down
As I do so able to have Katarina all to myself at last
Ah, I need to hurry up and finish working so I can go pick up Katarina… but when I go to pick up Katarina in the room she had been in, she wasn’t there And even when the ball began I wasn’t able to find her
Katarina was last seen on the stage before disappearing froht