CH 78

A/N:

From now on, the train departing to the men’s hell is in operation.

Everyone, please bring out the lady heart within you and board the train <m(__)m>.

Well, that was how I ended up coming to the hell where there are only men around, and I am already frustrated.1

I have the memory of living my past life in a boys’ school and working at a place that was also filled with men. To be honest, I thought I would have an easier time dealing with men than women. Yes, I thought it would be easy.

However, if I think about it carefully, it might have been a familiar environment for my past life self, but it was the first time for Sophie.

Indeed, it was a big mistake to think it was okay just because I was tolerant about it in my past life!

In this place, there is no graceful goddess who loves roses, no beautiful celestial maiden who plays with her horse, no angel who puts snacks in her mouth and relaxes her cheeks, and no lovely goddess of fertility who shakes her frilly dress!

Why did I think I could live in this kind of world? I want to ask my past self!

Even though I already promised Christina onee-sama, it was a complete miscalculation. This is Sophie Linier’s greatest blunder!

Aah, Tenma, what should I do? 

I feel so lacking in motivation that I am disappointed in myself.

If only there was even just one busty girl like Lilina-sama here, I am sure I could work as hard as a carriage horse!

I was the one who made the final decision to come to “The King’s Sword.” It was something I chose myself. I know that.

But it is still hard!

It is hard to only have men around!

This space which lacks frills feels so haaaaaard!

…Excuse me. I am just a bit confused at the moment. It seems I lost myself for a moment there, what a blunder.

Fufu, I wonder if it was because of the person in front of me?

Tenma, there were tons of things I wanted to write, so much so that I might fill the diary by today.

Yes, especially about this person—

The person she referred to in the writing earlier was Gerald Forsius, the third son of the count family, who had been awarded three black stars.

At the moment, Sophie’s heart was dead as she was guided around “The King’s Sword” by Gerald.

People couldn’t enter the black star faculty just because they possessed exceptional swordsmanship. It was the special star that only allowed sons of high-ranking aristocrats with a guaranteed personality to be admitted. Among those black stars who graduated, only those who successfully passed the entrance examination of the Holy Knight Brigade would become paladins, who were responsible for protecting the royal family.

Gerald received three black stars during his time as a student, and three was the highest number of stars that could be obtained in the academy. Moreover, it seemed that he was the youngest person to receive three black stars. Once a person had three black stars, they were granted the privilege of joining the Holy Knight Brigade without examination.

Ferio went through all the trouble to call Gerald, who was already serving as a paladin at the moment, back to “The King’s Sword” to be Sophie’s escort.

Although it was without a doubt an annoyance to Gerald, Sophie also didn’t feel grateful for it and felt annoyed about that.

He is expressionless, feels inorganic, and doesn’t seem to show any emotion. Couldn’t he have sent a more decent black star instead?

Wasn’t the black star faculty something that didn’t allow a person without guaranteed personality to enroll? What were the personality criteria again? Such was the question that ran through Sophie’s mind.

Since Gerald sported the similar blond hair and blue eyes like Christina did, Sophie thought she would feel a bit attached to him, but that wasn’t the case at all. On the contrary, Sophie even felt irritated that he actually had the same colors as Christina despite not being her.

It was completely irrational anger, but Sophie just couldn’t stand it.

The man named Gerald Forsius had a well-formed face, a toned body, long legs, and an aura that could be felt even from a distance. The clothes he wore were also immaculate, with the black robe having a beautiful crest with fine gold embroidery. Gerald’s hair was short because knights weren’t allowed to have long hair, despite the fact that Gerald hailed from a count family. However, any kind of hairstyle would suit his neat face.

He was impeccable except for his amiability, and he was certainly handsome enough to be praised by the young ladies in “The Queen’s Rose.” But regardless of how handsome he was, he was still a man. Moreover, an unfriendly man. There was nothing cute about him.

Besides, he seemed to be the model of Leold, who was loved by Lana, the lovely onee-sama. Only hatred would be directed at him from Sophie.

Yeah, I’ll just refer to him as Geragera in my mind. All handsome and cool-looking dudes should all drop dead.

Gerald suddenly stopped and told Sophie, who managed to keep her sanity by cussing inside her mind, about things other than guidance.

“Sophie-sama. I heard that you requested for the escort to be a person without a fiancée if possible.”

A person who was granted a purple star had the right to call people other than the royal family without an honorific, regardless of the other party’s family pedigree.2

On the contrary, it was made a rule that other people weren’t allowed to call the bearer of the purple star directly by their name, even if they had a higher family pedigree, and they had to use the proper honorific. 

I don’t like to be called “-sama” by Geragera, at least feeling-wise.

For Sophie, it was a politeness she wasn’t grateful about.

It didn’t need to be said, but Sophie also had no intention of calling Gerald without honorifics.

It was unbearable for her to call a man she wasn’t and had no intention of being familiar with without honorifics. 

But she didn’t let such thoughts appear in her expression and answered with a smile.

“Yes. I requested His Highness to do so.”

It was especially troublesome if said escort actually had a fiancée who was a student at “The Queen’s Rose.” It might lead to Sophie being hated because they thought she used their fiancé as she liked. Sophie wanted to avoid being hated by the young ladies of “The Queen’s Rose.” Although Sophie indeed wanted to see their lovely puffed cheeks when they were angry, she didn’t want to cause trouble in their relationships with men.

Besides, although people with a copper star, which was mostly made of commoners, would likely have no fiancée, it was hard to think that people with a black star, who were composed of people belonging to a viscount family or greater pedigree, do not have one. For Sophie, who didn’t want a black star as an escort to begin with, it was a good argument to refuse them.

“If the fiancée of a black star heard their man had to escort a woman who isn’t a member of the royal family, I doubt they would feel good about it.”

For the black stars who were stationed to escort the royal family, it would likely cause bad feelings to arise if they were commanded to protect a woman who hadn’t achieved anything yet, even if said woman was a purple star. At least, her excuse took into consideration the feelings of the black star.

However, Gerald answered with his expressionless face.

“Black stars are to protect anyone that the royal family asks them to. I doubt any fiancée of a black star is such a stupid woman who wouldn’t understand that.” 

“…Oh my.”

Haaaaaahhhh?! Did he just say stupid women?! You are a fool who can’t even understand the swaying feelings of a maiden in adolescence! You should just directly ask why I asked for such a troublesome requirement even though there are hardly any aristocrats without a fiancée!

The number of Sophie’s rants inside her mind drastically increased in just the few hours since she came to “The King’s Sword.”

The image of Sophie Linier, the young lady of the baron family, collapsed, and Nakamura Tasuku inside her mind sprung out instead.