Chapter 302: Trash Strategist’s Shameful Sight

Cortina rolled around on the bed, covering herself up to the shoulders with the blanket but leaving her legs exposed. Given her bare legs, I wondered whether she was naked under the blanket.

Also, her monologues were leaking out, making me hear the lines that embarrassed me.

“Ahh, maybe I overdid it a little back there? What if he thinks I’m too immodest… No no, this is that unsociable guy we are talking about here. He wouldn’t realize it if I didn’t go that far.”

“Um, Cortina?”

“Ahh, but, but, maybe I should have done that other thing more like—”

“Uhh, C-Cortina…?”

“Still, Reid sure has a solid build. Sure, he’s not quite at Lyell’s level, but his build is more in-balance with me.”

“………”

Unable to stand it anymore, I plugged my ears. Finia next to me was also hanging her head down with a deep blush. This might’ve been part of the reason why she sent me to Finia back then.

She was probably enduring turning into this disgraceful state, and sent me off so I wouldn’t witness it. So the reason she looked reluctant was because her womanly heart still wanted us to stay together for longer.

“Finia, Cortina is too far gone. Let’s have dinner by ourselves.”

“R-Right. I will prepare something that will be fine to eat cold for Lady Cortina.”

For the first time in my life, I abandoned my comrade and fled. As expected, I didn’t have bold enough nerves to keep listening to her ramblings.

Finia probably thought hearing any more of her foolishness would be bad for my education, she readily agreed to my suggestion.

While feeling really unsettled, I somehow managed to finish changing my clothes and headed to the dining room.

There I saw Finia making salad and cold stew. The main dish seemed to be roasted chicken meat after being soaked in yogurt. That was probably because roasting it normally would make the fats harden and worsen the taste once it would get cold.

“I’m seeing that for the first time.”

“Ah, yes. It has a strong smell, so I don’t usually make it.”

“Yeah, I feel like you mostly roast it or make chops.”

I observed Finia as she cooked while commenting on it. She was moving rhythmically as always… No, perhaps even livelier than normal.

“Finia.”

“What is it, Lady Nicole?”

“Did anything good happen today?”

“Eeh!?”

I asked because I was curious about how she would rate my escorting today. But it caused her to flinch and stiffen in place.

“Hey, pay attention to your hands, it’s dangerous.”

“Ah, m-my apologies. But it’s your fault, Lady Nicole. Don’t ask me something like that all of a sudden.”

“It just looked to me that your hands moved more merrily than usual.”

Judging by Cortina’s current behavior, I guess we could say that I succeeded in improving her condition.

But what about Finia? If I failed this time, it would mean I would be neglecting her for another month at least.

Escorting an opposite sex had been first for me too, so I wanted to hear what she thought of it.

“As you say, something very good did indeed happen today.”

“What kind?”

“Well… I wonder if I should say it?”

“It’s something you can’t tell me?”

That might’ve been a little mean on my part. The topic of my reincarnation wasn’t only related to me but to every one of the Six Heroes.

Considering that Finia hesitated on revealing it to me, who didn’t belong to Six Heroes, without consulting Maxwell meant that she was a lot more rational than Cortina.

“Is this about Lord Reid?”

“W-W-W-W-, wh-why do you know that!?”

“How couldn’t I? Cortina easily spilled it earlier.”

Or so I thought, but she seems to be quite out of it herself. Well, she was cute when flustered too so no problems there.

She moved on to cooling the cold cream stew, and in the meantime started to roast the pickled meat. Unlike before, her hand movements had some tension in them. It was probably due to my question.

Perhaps it was better to relieve some of her tension.

“Good for you, huh?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, you managed to meet with someone you look up to.”

Referring to my own self like that made me really embarrassed. But I was Nicole now, not Reid. If I didn’t ask her now, it could come off suspiciously.

“Yes, truly. Above all, I am glad that that person is alright… Well, he wasn’t entirely alright, but I am glad I could meet him again.”

“…I see.”

So there were people who became this happy because I appeared before them. That alone made me feel like there was a meaning in my reincarnation.

On the other hand, just thinking of the moment when my identity got busted made chills run down my spine.

I grabbed my cup and poured the remainder of the milk she used for the stew, and brought it to my mouth.

“Incidentally!”

“Hmm?”

“Do you not have anyone on your mind, Lady Nicole?”

“Pffft!?”

I suddenly got asked a strange question, so I spit it back right away.

Me? With a guy? Not a chance. Today’s events were definite proof of that. I was still into girls, in the end.

“N-Not at the moment…”

“Is that so? What about Cloud?”

“Definitely not. And not Elliot either.”

“C-Could it be Lord Maxwell?”

“Finia, check your sanity!”

Come on, that old geezer was obviously unthinkable.

“So the wall that is Lord Lyell is that thick, is it? With a knight of his level next to you, your ideals should be equally high.”

“Mgh, then maybe I’ll go with Lord Reid.”

“Y-You can’t! Lady Cortina is one thing, but if even Lady Nicole becomes my rival, I would lose all my chances!”

“Hohoh, so you haven’t given up yet?”

“Ugh… Maybe at least as a concubine, or something…”

This kingdom wasn’t strictly limited to monogamy, so there was no problem in marrying more than one.

Raum simply had a strong tendency for monogamy. In fact, in the Northern Alliance, polygyny was actually approved.

It had many wars, and even the Evil Dragon on top, so the rapid decrease of the male population aggravated this system even more.

Suddenly I had a thought. If I moved there, wouldn’t I be able to marry both Cortina and Finia at the same time?