Lady Rose Wants to be a Commoner - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Lady Rose Wants to be a Commoner – Chapter 21

The day after I became friends with Nika-sama and revealed the singular weakness of my life by worshipping Nana-chan, I returned to work full of vigor .
Michelle-san praised me for finally being able to tell when the bread was finished baking, which made me ecstatic . The following day, Nana-chan came to buy bread . Our chat about the different kinds of bread I recommended filled me with bliss . The day after that, the grocery uncle was in a good mood and sold his vegetables to me cheaply .
My days were peaceful, and continued to be so for a week .

I felt an vague sense of anxiety . It was natural to feel uneasy when things were suddenly going too smoothly .

Even though I said that, I felt like it was asking too much when I saw two very familiar people, people who should not have been here, head in my direction as I was walking home .

The two heads of vivid red and blue hair I saw from a distance made me ponder as soon as I noticed them… but their faces couldn’t be seen in the dim light of the street, so I had dismissed the suspicion from my mind . I never expected the two of them to appear here . When we were close enough that I couldn’t just turn around, I started to panic . I quickened my pace, pretending that I had seen nothing and that all of this was just a case of mistaken identity .

“Whoa, amazing! Look, Zero . That Lady Rose is really living like a commoner . ”

“Isn’t that great, Noran-sama? The information wasn’t wrong . ”

……well, yeah .

Just the fact that these two had come to this place without a carriage already told me that they had some sort of business with me . I already knew that much .
Unwillingly, I turned to face the two of them . The gray sanpaku eyes that were narrowed in amusement, as well as the deep-blue tareme eyes that were observing me from behind a pair of glasses, met with mine . I still hadn’t fully understood why this was happening, though .
(TL: Sanpaku = a white line under or above the iris is visible || tareme = droopy around the ends of the eyes)

“…I see, it’s Noran-sama, the neighboring country’s prince, and Zero-sama, his close aide . Why are the two of you here…?”

“Hehe, isn’t it obvious? We snuck out to play . To think that we would meet Lady Rose, who became a commoner . How lucky~ . ”

As if I could accept that sort of reason .
The chances of these two sneaking out from the neighboring country and randomly coming to this exact rustic neighborhood in the kingdom’s very outskirts were practically zero . Knowing their personalities…or rather, their natures, I only had bad premonitions . However, how had they known I was alive, and how did they locate me?

“You do know why we happened to come here, right?”

I smiled vaguely at Noran, whose friendly smile didn’t match his threatening voice .

I didn’t understand at all…I didn’t understand, but…was it possible that they had seen through my actions from when I was a child? The timing didn’t seem to suit this current situation, but it wasn’t impossible . Even so, I didn’t want to dig my own grave, so I didn’t confirm his words .

“As always, I can’t tell what you’re thinking . If you had been able to become Queen, you would have been a valuable national asset . ”

Zero shrugged his shoulders but, as expected, he was watching my every move .
Also as expected, they were overestimating me . It was not strange, though, since the main character of the game had had that type of impression from these two .

These two were, unsurprisingly —or maybe, the better word was ‘also’ — Lady Ro’s capture targets . Although, to be more precise, Zero was a hidden character .
As mentioned earlier, Noran was the prince of the neighboring country . He had short red hair and grey sanpaku eyes . When he was quiet, he looked pretty intimidating, and he had a fairly domineering personality . At the same time, he always had an open smile and was someone both men and women could rely on . That made him a brother-like character, who no one thought of as scary…but that alone was not enough reason for me to be this agitated .
Zero was Noran’s aide and, for a man, had pretty, long, deep blue hair that was tied from behind . He wore frameless glasses over his deep blue eyes, and he looked like an intellectual . In reality, he was very smart and placed second, right after Nika-sama . He was the second genius character in LadyRo . Though Zero, unlike Nika-sama, didn’t use his intelligence to guide Noran to become a good king . Instead, he used it to support Noran in every way possible, no matter what it was .

Unexpectedly, after becoming a commoner, I had met all of the capture targets aside from the Ore-sama Prince . I was very unhappy .

“How nice, Zero . You may enjoy such wordplay, but I find doing things in such a roundabout way rather bothersome . We’ve been standing around talking, but I don’t feel like chatting for long . Just get to the point . ”

“Please wait a moment . ”

I stopped abruptly . Noran’s expression soured, indicating his displeasure, while the corners of Zero’s mouth rose up from amusement .
Nevertheless, even if these two had no problems letting bystanders hear this conversation, it didn’t mean that I was fine with it . Such a thing would certainly bring me problems .

“Let’s change locations . After all, you did sneak out to play . We’ll stand out chatting in a place like this, you know?”

When he heard me repeat their words from moments before, Noran looked at Zero with a dissatisfied expression, as if telling him to say something .

“That’s true . Though this is a friendly nation, it is not our country . If Noran-sama was found sneaking around, the outcome wouldn’t be amusing . It would turn into a scandal, and we would be reprimanded upon our return . ”

“…It can’t be helped . Then, let’s go to your home . ”

Cornered by Zero’s reply, Noran unwillingly agreed and impatiently pushed me to walk on from behind . I had no complaints . He might have invited himself to my house, but it did happen to be the most appropriate place for this . We were already halfway to my house, so we would arrive soon anyway .
…Even so, knowing the true intent behind Zero’s remark, and how Noran was captured after going through the game, I felt like cringing . Metaphorically .

“Incidentally, you’re surprisingly short, aren’t you? Weren’t you taller two years ago? Is a commoner’s life so hard that it made you shrink?”

Internally, I smiled wryly as Noran laughed, wondering what sort of reasoning he was using .
The last time I met these two was as the Ore-sama Prince’s fiancee at a social occasion, and I had been acting as the perfect Lady Rose . Back then, I had been walking around while flaunting a sparkly Lamé . When comparing that to my current status, it was natural that the air around me, as well as my perceived height, felt different .
(TL: Cloth made from gold/silver thread)

“It’s because I’m not wearing shoes with heels . ”

“Ooohh, now that you mention it, you’re not wearing ornamented shoes, huh . Don’t you hate wearing such plain shoes?”

“They’re easy to move in once you get used to them . Functionality is important . ”

“True, they’re definitely better than those uselessly high-heeled ones . ”

Forgetting the feelings I had held onto to avoid my downfall, I smiled at Noran, who had greeted my words with an honest smile .
His words were very direct, but he was very broad-minded, and he listened to all opinions . Noran was my second favorite character in Lady Rose . Only in the game, though .

“Huh? Wait, did you cut your hair?”

Talking to him like this, I found Noran’s carefree attitude as a prince to be funny . As expected of somebody who didn’t know fear, he was able to say this kind of bombshell statement so straightforwardly, even though any other flirt would have made it irritating .
This statement would have made me hide my face in shame if I were any other noble-turned-commoner and didn’t have the memories of my past life . The present me didn’t care much about hair, but for a typical noble lady, long hair was both a symbol of beauty and an object of pride . Then again, a typical noble wouldn’t be able to live as a commoner to begin with .

“Yes, does it suit me?”

“It does . The aristocrat girls grow their hair out for useless reasons like tradition and vanity…but I prefer shorter hair . ”

Noran smiled happily as he looked at my hair .
He probably fancied what the world called tomboys, huh . Of course, the main character of the game was a proper noble, unlike me . Her clothing and style choices would never have become this boyish .

“Hmm…you have the ability, and your appearance suits my tastes… Why don’t you become my woman?”

I felt his favorability rating drop suddenly as a result of those insensitive words .
Given that he was smiling at my reaction, it must have been a joke, and that was fine . However, it was an Ore-sama-like statement . For me, it was a NG . This time, it earned him a yellow card . If he were to ever say such a thing again, he was out .
The distinguishing line for the feeling of avoiding the Ore-sama type of character was probably if he treated me as a partner or not . It was okay if the man had a lot of confidence, but if he wanted to take away my freedom and treat me as a possession, like my brother had, my heart would automatically refuse .
I let those thoughts pass and hid my discomfort behind a smile .

“Please stop joking . Your position will not permit taking a neighboring country’s commoner as a wife, right?”

“It’s not impossible in the case of the former Lady Rose, right? …Even so, can’t your expression change for me? At least blush or something! How boring . ”

“Noran-sama, you were dumped so completely . It’s amusing . ”

“Shut up . ”

“It can’t be helped, since it seems that Rose already has someone else in mind . ”

Zero said something weird . I had someone else in mind? That was the first time I’d heard of this . Who? Nana-chan? Maybe Lily-chan?
…That aside, in the past, I had loved the in-game conversations between these two, but not anymore . Not when the conversation was about me in reality . I didn’t have the time to be flustered, though . Why had I reincarnated into the game I had loved? If there was at least someone else sharing my fate, we could share experiences, and we could have gotten excited together . Sadly, up to the time that I had my engagement annulled, there had not been anyone who had acted differently from the game or who interfered in a strange manner . I had already given up on that possibility .

Slowly, as my beloved home came into view, I brushed away my daydreams and immediately focused my mind .