Extra: Chapter 21.5 (1/2)

After my birthday party ended, it finally got a little quieter around me. After all, there had been such a fuss about getting me into a fancy dress, and I had been so worried that I might mess up my dancing despite all my practice, I’m finally able to breathe a sigh of relief now. Since I have a bit of time now, I figured I should spend it in my field. I put on my work clothes for the first time in a long while, and got myself fully equipped and ready to go for the field.

Today I’m going to use the fertilizer I received from Jared as a birthday present to prepare for the summer harvest. With Keith’s help, I had just finished preparing the fertilizer for using when Jared came in.

“Oh, Katarina, you seem to be working hard as usual today, eh.”

“Ahh, Prince Jared. Thank you very much for coming to my birthday party and for your present. I was just about to get to immediately using your present just now.”

“It’s that so, I’m glad to see that it’s been of immediate use. Since you requested this present from me, I’m not surprised. ……Well, I had originally wanted to give you an accessory befitting of your dress, but…… You wouldn’t accept that.”

Jared smiled wryly as he said so. Well, that’s so. He had wanted me to give me accessories and dresses, but I had refused him outright.

As for why, it’s because my overly doting father always buys mountains of accessories and dresses for me…… Actually, I’m a bit troubled by how many there are now.

For the game’s Katarina, it seemed like she could change her dress and accessories every day of the year without trouble, but…… Unfortunately, I’m not like that. In the first place, I don’t like gaudy dresses. It’s because they’re hard to move in.

I can’t think of those sparkly dresses with absolutely nothing useful about them as anything I would wear unless I lost in a punishment game. Also, because I’m always in a crouching position while outside working in my field, I don’t need that many dresses. For the same reason, I don’t need that many accessories either. It would be a terrible waste after all if I were to lose them in my field.

I had told these reasons to Jared and my other friends, forbidding them from getting anything like dresses and accessories for my birthday presents.

As such, Jared had listened to my request, and given me fertilizer as a birthday present, but……

“But, since Katarina is turning fifteen, and will become mine soon, you should really be more aware of your appearance to others, maybe it would have been better to give you dresses and accessories after all,” said Jared with a thinking look on his face.

Becoming his, and being more aware of my appearance? Ehh~ If that’s the case……

“But I think everyone should already know that I’m Prince Jared’s fiancee……”It’s such a famous topic that there really shouldn’t be anyone that doesn’t know. Well, if it wasn’t like that, it wouldn’t serve his purpose as a defensive measure preventing other girls from bothering him.

“Well, that’s so, but…… Even if they know about it, there’s still many people that don’t approve of it.”

Indeed, I’m not a beauty like Mary is, having a villainous face instead, since my specs aren’t high, it’s said that “she doesn’t match up to Prince Jared in anything but status” and it’s a fact that there’s so many girls that don’t approve of us being together……

I don’t particularly have any intentions of approving our betrothal either though…… Rather, if I could get rid of this betrothal that’s only being used for Jared’s convenience as a shield against other girls, I’d really like to, but……

However, Jared has brought up before “this betrothal thing, it’s bothersome so let’s change our status already,” while he smiled ambiguously for some reason.

Then, Jared confronted me directly with that ambiguous smile of his.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Keith interrupted suddenly, putting himself between Jared and me with a rather dark expression on his face. Hm? I’ll get lonely if I feel too left out, you know?

“Ahh, Keith Claes. Don’t you know how rude it is to interrupt a date between two betrotheds? And what’s with that grim expression on your face, it’s such a waste of your fine looks.”

“Unfortunately, the only one that believes this is a date, is you, Prince Jared. And as for why I have a grim expression, it’s because no matter how much I warn nee-san, I always still have to watch out for bad insects swarming around her.”

“Bad insects, I wonder who that could possibly be referring to?”

“……Those that were thinking about doing improper things during the dance party, Prince Jared.”

“Mmm~. I don’t think you need to be worried about those sorts of people.”

“What, how could you say such a thing!”

“I mean, since she’s my own fiancee, making her mine and claiming her as my own surely wouldn’t be anything improper.”

“Who belongs to you! Right now, she’s still only your betrothed!”

Somehow, Keith and Jared had become fired up about some subject I don’t understand at all…… If I’m being left out of the conversation this much…… I feel rather lonely. I might as well get started working on the field. As for why I’m being left out completely, I can think on the reason by myself later.

“Katarina-sama~”

At hearing a clear voice behind me, I turned around and saw Mary coming over this way with a large smile on her face. Behind her were Sophia and Alan as well.

“Eh? Everyone, you came here together?”

Even though they’re all my friends that often come over to play with me, it’s rare for all of them to show up together.

“Yep. I invited them to come with me.”

“Mary did?”

“Yep. Since I had heard from Keith-sama that someone was planning improper things at the dance party the other day, I thought that I needed to shore up my defenses, I felt it would be better with more people around so I invited Sophia to come along as well. Oh, and Alan too.”

Did an incident of some sort happen during the party? I didn’t even know. And what’s more, Keith didn’t even tell his nee-san, nor did Mary let me know…… I’m really getting left out of everything…… I’m so lonely.

And so Mary and her fiance Alan have arrived…… It seems like something complicated is going on…… Well, it’s good that Alan doesn’t seem like he’s very worried about what’s going on, but…… Things seem to be so different from the game.