The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

"The princess is... a little unpredictable."

"Which princess are you talking about? Alice? Sylvia?"

"...Of course, Her Highness Sylvia Fangryphon. While Her Highness Alice Fangryphon is also different from most nobles, her way of thinking isn’t hard to follow. She’s a good person, someone who sets her principles and acts accordingly."

"High praise. Have you been observing her closely?"

"..."

When Roti shot Jake a sidelong glare, Jake exaggeratedly shrugged his shoulders.

"Naturally, it's because of you, Young Master. Since these are people you associate with, I need to understand their nature properly—"

"Oh, so did you analyze Charlotte too?"

"...Young Master, wouldn’t it be better to let someone finish their sentence before interrupting?"

"No, I was just curious."

Jake chuckled softly and turned his gaze out the window.

The airship had already risen high, offering a view of the entire city below. From a distance, it seemed rich and prosperous, but Jake, being from there, knew how much of it had started to rot beneath the surface.

...Being from there.

Now it was called Lindburrow, but it once went by an entirely different name. Could Jake really claim to be “from there”? The locals might grab their necks in shock if they heard him say that.

"You were the one who suggested I talk to Sylvia in the first place."

Hearing Jake's comment, Roti, unusually, rubbed her temples with her fingers as if to calm herself, as though thinking, *Yes, no need to frown over this anymore.*

"I’ve already told you several times that was a joke."

"You don’t usually joke. So that statement back then could only mean one of two things: either you genuinely thought Sylvia was worth talking to, or it just slipped out of your mouth and you called it a joke afterward to cover it up."

"..."

"Which is it? The former? Or the latter? Or maybe you were jealous of me hanging around with other girls?"

"...The latter."

"Huh?"

Caught completely off guard, Jake made a strange noise.

"What do you mean, the latter?"

Jake had teased Roti with the same words several times before, but this was the first time she’d responded like this. Until now, Roti would just keep her mouth shut and not dignify his teasing with a response.

"I meant that none of the women around you at the time were worthy of your company."

This time, it was Jake's turn to react unusually.

To put it simply, his face turned slightly red.

"If I had to leave you to those women, it would be far better for me to stay by your side and support you."

"...What’s wrong with you? Did you eat something bad today?"

Hearing Roti speak so bluntly, Jake looked at her with an almost panicked expression.

His face was now completely flushed. It was fortunate no one else was around; if they were in a crowded lounge full of students, this alone would have caused a campus-wide uproar.

"I was told by Her Highness to ensure you got what you needed, no matter what."

Roti’s tone sounded slightly satisfied as she noticed Jake’s flustered expression.

"You're saying you’re doing this just because it’s an order from Her Highness?"

"...That’s not entirely it."

Roti stared at the shrinking city in the distance before speaking again.

"Let me repeat myself: Her Highness is unpredictable. She seems to operate solely on logic, but sometimes... just sometimes..."

"She acts emotionally?"

"Exactly."

Roti’s answer made Jake hum thoughtfully for a moment.

"Well, if you think of both sides as part of who Sylvia is, doesn’t it make her easier to understand? Everyone’s like that, after all."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yeah. Look at yourself. You used to be so wary of Sylvia, but now you bring her up like it’s nothing."

"..."

"Or am I wrong? If you were that cautious, you wouldn’t have told me to approach her in the first place—"

"—I believe it’s time to drop that subject, don’t you think?"

At Roti's pointed remark, Jake fell silent.

"I just... I simply don’t understand why she’s helping me this much."

"Ah, that."

Jake smiled faintly at her words.

"That’s just because she’s inherently kind."

"...Is that so?"

"It is. But because of her position and circumstances, she has to maintain that poker face. Think about it. Alice is a princess too, but there’s a vast difference between her role and Sylvia’s, isn’t there? You’ve heard the stories, right?"

There were the “true” royal heirs meant to carry on the bloodline, like Alice, and then there were the “Emperor’s children,” selected to handle the empire’s dirty work. Alice belonged to the former, while Sylvia was part of the latter.

"She’s just a kind, ordinary person at heart. It’s her situation that’s made her seem so different. If it weren’t for that, there’d be no other explanation for her actions, right?"

"..."

Roti found Jake’s reasoning plausible.

But if that were true—

How tragic her circumstances must be.

Noticing Roti’s thoughtful silence, Jake suddenly changed the subject.

"Oh, by the way, isn’t your mother on the airship too? Shouldn’t you be with her?"

"...Well..."

"What? Is there a problem?"

"It’s not that, but... I’ve hardly spent time alone with her before. I’m not sure what to talk about if it’s just the two of us."

"..."

Hearing that, Jake found himself momentarily speechless.

"Just stay by her side. That’s probably enough."

Jake managed to piece together a response after some thought.

"Do you think so?"

"Yeah."

Truthfully, Jake wasn’t entirely sure himself.

But for now, offering encouragement felt like the best option.

"You’ve finally got a chance to be alone with her. Go... spend time with her. Conversations will naturally come up, and before you know it, you’ll be talking without realizing how much time has passed."

"Understood."

After a moment of contemplation, Roti nodded slowly in agreement.

And then, with a faint smile on her lips, she stood up.

"Well then, I’ll be off."

Before Jake could fully grasp what had just happened, Roti bowed slightly and left.

"...Huh?"

Jake let out a dumbfounded sound, a few beats too late.

---

I had thought I wanted to see those two grow closer.

But honestly, I hadn’t expected it to happen this fast.

Roti seemed to take my words to heart, casually sticking by Jake’s side. Before, she used to trail a little behind him, but now, it was as if they were practically a couple.

Well, to be fair, they *were* something like that.

So my goal was achieved, and I should’ve just watched them with satisfaction. But—

Watching the two of them walk into a small meeting room together left me with a strange feeling.

That feeling was, let’s see...

It was like stepping out for a convenience store run on Christmas, only to be surrounded by an overwhelming number of couples, leaving me feeling oddly annoyed.

I’d wanted to see them get along, not rub it in my face.

Thinking back, there was a stark difference between seeing game characters act lovey-dovey and witnessing it in real life. In games, it’s just dialogue and preprogrammed animations, but real life has much more detail.

"You could get someone for yourself if you wanted."

And of course, the one person who could read my expression like an open book was standing right next to me: Alice.

When I turned to look at her, she was smiling mischievously.

"You’re the one who set those two up, after all. Wasn’t this the whole point of your scheming?"

"...That’s true, but still."

I mean, that’s a completely different thing.

Not that I could explain why it felt so different, even to myself.

"If you’re that jealous, you could always find a boyfriend for yourself."

"...Are you joking?"

"No, I’m serious."

Well, fine. Maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal if I had a boyfriend. In this world, having a significant other wasn’t seen as a major flaw. If anything, it was like holding an unofficial yet somewhat acknowledged position.

But I had no intention of dating a man.

At least not right now.

I didn’t feel like dating women either.

The people around me were all just kids anyway.

"Have you ever considered it, Alice?"

"...No, I haven’t."

No need to look so serious about it, though.

Wasn’t this the part in the original story where she’d start acting tsundere toward Leo?

Looking across the room, I saw Leo sitting awkwardly among a group of girls, clearly out of place. For some reason, I sighed.

Should I envy him or not?