episode_0021

“Ah… perfect.”

Having meticulously planned Rachel’s hideout scheme, I neatly placed my notes at the bottom of the drawer.

Then, engulfed in fatigue, I collapsed onto the bed.

*Sigh.*

Ah, indeed, a bed is heavenly. Even if the world were perfect, I wouldn’t go anywhere without such a comfortable bed. A world without beds is simply inconceivable.

Ensnared by the plush comfort of this paradise, with a melting expression on my face, I closed my eyes.

I didn’t have any specific thoughts; I just wanted to rest. Besides, everything feels calmer when you close your eyes, right?

As I lay on the bed, contemplating the hideout plan, at that moment…

*Knock, knock, knock.*

Three precise knocks echoed into my ears without a single mistake, unmistakably on my door.

It wasn’t a knock on another room; it was undeniably on my door.

Could it be Shyril knocking? But upon further thought, Shyril never bothers to knock before entering my room. Even if she did, she would have politely informed me before coming in, so it wasn’t characteristic of her to knock so courteously and respectfully.

So, who could be knocking on my door with such courtesy?

“Um, is this Eustetia’s room? Please open the door quickly.”

A woman with an elegant and alluring voice. There are many women with such voices, but among those related to me, there was only one with such a voice.

There was no one else but Eustetia. She had introduced herself as Eustetia from the start, and upon hearing her voice, it was undoubtedly her.

Eustetia seemed willing to help me with my requests. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come to my room. If it piqued her interest, she would unquestionably assist with anything.

Now that Rachel’s hideout was complete… perhaps it was time to hear why Eustetia had come?

With that thought in mind, I briskly opened the door, revealing Eustetia with a bright smile stepping inside.

“Well, it certainly looks small. It’s similar to the house where our little wyvern resides.”

“Are you trying to flatter me as soon as you enter…?”

“Yes, am I flattering you?”

Eustetia said with a mischievous smile in her eyes.

Normally, royals who say such things in other media are often clueless about their flattery, leading to confusion. However, this princess had discarded clichés.

She straightforwardly acknowledged the flattery, seeming to know everything about the world.

Indeed, Eustetia was quite unique. She quickly grasped worldly matters compared to other princesses or princes and possessed a sharp wit.

Moreover, her taste leaned towards sturdy men rather than handsome or elegant ones. She clearly exuded an aura of peculiarity.

Yes, this woman couldn’t possibly be normal. Not only was she adept at flattery, but she excelled at it disgustingly well.

“So, what were you doing here? Were you perhaps reading some racy magazine? If so, I apologize. I didn’t mean to interrupt your ‘me’ time.”

Extending her face, Eustetia wore a sly smile.

Ordinary men might have blushed and stuttered at such a scene, but I was different.

“Wow, how annoying.”

Eustetia’s words irritated me greatly.

Beyond the flattery, her playful remark insinuating that I was reading a racy magazine angered me.

Some men actually enjoy being teased like this… fortunately, I’m not one of them.

Well, that’s that, and this is this. I also need to annoy this brat to feel fulfilled.

With that thought in mind, pondering how to provoke this perfect princess, I recalled Eustetia’s complex as described in the novel.

“Height!”

Eustetia’s height is 159cm. To be precise, it’s 159.8cm.

If she’s this tall, she’s taller than Ayla, but she has a lot of complexes about her height.

Because the second princess, third princess, first prince, and second prince, who were born two years later than her, were 5cm taller than Yustetia, who stopped at 159.8cm.

So naturally, she developed a complex about her height, and if teased about it, she would blush and get angry right away.

And now.

“Yes, yes, let’s enjoy our happy time. But… maybe because I’m short, I couldn’t hear well? That’s why I’m a bit late. I’m sorry.”

With a mocking expression like Yustetia, I looked at her.

Upon hearing my words, Yustetia, at the mention of being ‘short,’ trembled as if startled.

Ah, she’s definitely pissed off.

Really, without lying, this is clearly pissing her off.

“Oh!!! You little…! Ugh!!!”

“Wow, she almost ruined her image.”

Interrupting her swearing, I barely managed to stop Yustetia’s attempts to curse with veins popping on her forehead.

Yustetia, being calm, elegant, beautiful, and perfect, was about to curse like a commoner in this world, almost shattering her image with just one word from me.

“Waaahhh!!!! Waaahhh!!!!!”

Kicking and punching my legs, arms, and even face, Yustetia lashed out in frustration upon hearing the comment about her height.

She must have so many complexes about her height if she reacts like this as soon as she hears she’s short.

Ah, I shouldn’t do this again when she’s this angry. I didn’t know she would throw such a fit over a casual mention in the game; damn, it got intense.

“Your Highness, I’m sorry. Sorry for teasing you. I got a bit upset. Let’s calm down, let’s calm down. Come on, try to calm down. Okay?”

Despite trying to soothe her like a child, Yustetia showed no sign of improvement.

“Waaahhh!!!!!! Huh…!!! You…! I’ll kill you for insulting me… Waaah…!!!!!!”

It was supposed to work like this in the book… sigh… I read a book on calming babies, but it doesn’t seem to work.

I thought maybe the method was wrong, so I tried a different approach with peek-a-boo, but

“Woooooahhhhh!!!!! I’m a baby… waaah…!!!!!”

It only made things worse.

What’s wrong? It worked fine in the book.

Did something go wrong?

“…sigh.”

Seeing no sign of Yustetia’s emotions cooling down, I sighed deeply, pondering.

Should I have given her a plane ride?

*

“Sigh…! Sigh, really… You’re quite an interesting man…!!! Trying to calm down an angry woman like a child, using a fatherly voice…!! Doing silly things like peek-a-boo…! What’s with the airplane?! Just now it was a wyvern! And…! Don’t bring bubbles and jingle them around…! Don’t give dolls either…!!!!”

As I resorted to the last method of calming a child, Yustetia finally calmed down.

Hmm… originally, giving an airplane, bubbles, or dolls should work, but since none of those worked, I tried the least effective petting, which surprisingly worked well.

Currently, I am sitting on the bed with Yustetia in a princess carry, gently stroking her head.

As I stroked her head, Yustetia melted with a blissful expression, making me think that petting is the best solution, so I decided to start with petting when calming others in the future.

Hmm, but why does she keep complaining even though I’m petting her? Could it be that she doesn’t want to be petted anymore?

“Should I stop this too?”

I asked once, wondering if she really didn’t want it.

But the petting continued.

-Swish, swish.

“…Keep doing it.”

With flushed cheeks, Yustetia buried her face in my chest and spoke softly.

“Hmm, what’s this? Is she weak to this kind of thing? I thought she was a graceful, relaxed, and overflowing woman, but it seems she’s weak to being treated kindly.”

What should I say? Her attack power has surpassed the maximum level and transcended, but her defense is trembling below zero, at a minus rank?

– Swoosh, swoosh.

“Are you calm now? I’m sorry. I suddenly got upset.”

“····It’s okay, so go ahead and pet me.”

“Yes.”

Yustetia. Surprisingly, this person had a side that seemed aloof. Well, I’m not really into tsunderes. I prefer women who run a pharmacy, you see.

Still, if I don’t listen to her, something might go wrong, so I can’t help but pet her.

How long did I spend petting Yustetia’s head like that?

“Gasp····!”

Realizing her own embarrassment, Yustetia, who had fallen from my embrace in surprise, no longer had the usual relaxed and playful expression of a princess on her face; instead, she was filled with shame and embarrassment, looking more like a young girl.

“T-this is······! It’s a mistake····!!! Please forget about it!!!”

“Should I keep petting you?”

I reached out my hand and said so.

“Yes, n-no····! Please remove that bewitching hand····!!! If you don’t remove that hand as addictive as drugs, I will cut it off····!!!”

Seemingly feeling intense shame, Yustetia even drew a dagger and said so.

But was it because she felt embarrassed for instinctively calling me “you,” or was it just general embarrassment? There were many things I was curious about, but asking would probably lead to trouble.

While others might see it as a cute prank by a young girl, I felt fear.

‘Oh, moon magic.’

If I fell victim to Yustetia’s moon magic, losing a hand wouldn’t be enough; there was a possibility of losing an arm too.

In order to change the subject of the conversation, after much contemplation, I immediately brought up a good topic as soon as I thought of one.

“So, Yustetia, why are you here?”

The reason Yustetia, who would make anyone curious, came here. I shifted the focus of the conversation to this topic.

Unaware that the subject had been changed by my question, Yustetia continued to speak with her usual relaxed expression.

“Just came to say that I’ve fulfilled the request.”

“Is that so? Then you’ve said it, so should you leave now?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Yes?”

Sitting down and crossing her legs, Yustetia said so.

What’s with this woman? Shouldn’t she leave once she’s said everything? Or does she have more to say?

As I thought this, looking at Yustetia, she smiled mischievously and said,

“This is the main point. Shiraine? Marry me. More precisely, engage with me.”

At Yustetia’s gesture, reaching out her hand and saying this, I couldn’t help but look shocked.

Engagement? This crazy woman? Is she trying to disrupt my pharmacy plans?

As I mentioned at the social club, if I were to engage with this guy, not only would my pharmacy plans be ruined, but they would be irreparably destroyed.

With my physical and vital strength at S-rank, my worries had become reality and returned to me.

Seeing my shocked expression, Yustetia said, “Oh, right,” and clapped her hands, as if she remembered something.

“Let’s do the engagement later, when you graduate from the academy in 3 years. Now is the getting-to-know-each-other period. How about that? By the way, if you promise to engage with me now, you can have anything. Items, potions, and even requests. I’ll give you everything.”

‘····Sounds good?’

I don’t know what she remembered, but one thing is certain: she wants me to get engaged after my pharmacy plans are over.

Hmm, engagement isn’t a bad thing. It’s just that I’m worried the pawnshop might go bankrupt.

Thinking about my future, being engaged to royalty goes beyond luck. It’s just pure luck.

I perfectly resolved what I was concerned about and even received a sweet proposal that I couldn’t refuse.

The male protagonist overflowing with ordinary courage, I, usually refuse such sweet offers saying I have someone I like, but not this time.

“Alright. Engagement promise. Let’s do it.”

Yes, I got the Yustetia cheat key.

Engaging with Yustetia herself isn’t exactly pleasant, but her backing is an exception.

She’s the first princess! She grants everything I want. This way, progressing with Rachel’s pawnshop will be smooth.

As I looked at Yustetia with those thoughts in mind, she smiled brightly.

“Well then, husband?”

“Why?”

“······Please pat me.”

“Ha····! Oh, no, I understand.”

Seeing Yustetia asking for a pat, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

The composed princess from earlier disappeared, replaced by a cute, blushing future fiancée who wanted her head patted, making it even more amusing.

I gently patted Yustetia’s head as she blushed, about to say something.

Observing Yustetia about to get angry, she instead entrusted me with her head, her face melting.

Looking at Yustetia like that, I had this thought.

‘She’s more of a puppy than a fox.’