The World of Otome Romance Fantasy is Tough for a Reincarnator

The debutante ball had been strategically placed on a Saturday night, and so I spent the following Sunday sleeping my fatigue off. When I returned to classes on Monday morning, though, I noticed that the atmosphere had changed considerably.

I was half-expecting the students to be gloomy and the mood to be subdued. Instead, they were chattering excitedly about “receiving honors” and being “awarded medals” for their efforts in defeating a cult of witches and warlocks. Lumiere and I had returned to the dorm shortly after the battle, so I wasn’t there to witness the teachers and royal guard show up to apprehend the demon worshippers and take them away in carriages.

However, as I stepped into the classroom, I noticed that the usual wariness was gone. My classmates were no longer regarding me with suspicion and hostility. When I glanced at them, they waved hesitantly and greeted me with uncertain smiles. It wasn’t as if they had warmed up to me – there was clearly still some distance between us – but it was a far cry from the usual ostracizing behavior I was used to.

Lumiere appeared to be receiving the same attention, having exchanged curt but not unfriendly greetings with a few female classmates. When I joined her, I could hear murmurs.

“That’s them, right? The ones who saved us during the debutante ball. The invincible black-haired couple.”

…the what now?

“Seems like we’re being hailed as heroes,” Lumiere explained. She must have caught my bewildered expression. She surreptitiously tilted her head toward the female classmates, who had withdrawn when they caught wind of my approach. “People have been coming up to thank me.”

“You did put on quite the flashy display,” I said with a chuckle, recalling how she roasted those cultists without breaking a sweat.

“They should be thanking you too,” she replied with a sulk. “If you hadn’t dismantled the boundary field, it doesn’t matter how strong we are. The cultists would have drained everybody dry and achieved their murderous goal.”

She lowered her voice to a whisper as she reached out to squeeze my hand.

“At least we prevented a tragedy this time.”

“Yeah. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even know there was a boundary field to dismantle.”

“Oh, just give yourself more credit.”

While we bantered, I could feel the eyes on us.

“They’re really getting along very well.”

“As expected of the invincible black-haired couple.”

At least they were no longer calling us the black-haired demon couple. And it was a better label than the invincible apathetic couple, I supposed, though I hardly imagined we would become A-ranked adventurers in the future.

“We truly owe you a lot.”

“Your highness!”

Both Lumiere and I rose to our feet and bowed politely when we saw who had come to speak to us. Leonard waved dismissively, while beside him, Silvia returned our greeting.

“Come now, I’ll accept no displays of humility from both of you. If it weren’t for you two, we wouldn’t be alive!”

“Actually, that’s not true. I’m sure you’d have found a way to survive somehow.” Lumiere glanced at Silvia, and I recalled the tragedy that had taken place in the previous timeline.

“You flatter us too much.” Leonard chuckled.

“Um…I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused, and I wish to express my gratitude.” Silvia’s tone was nervous. Lumiere blanched.

“No, you caused no trouble at all!”

“That’s not true.” Silvia hesitated. “I realize I’ve been relying too much on my clairvoyant visions, and that caused me to be blind to the present. I’ll keep working hard to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Antares.”

“I believe in you, Silvia.” Leonard beamed. I grimaced. The two of them should really get a room. I found myself sickened by the romantic radiance that surrounded both of them.

“We…we will be relying on you again.” Silvia turned to Lumiere. “Even though I still can’t see the far future very clearly, I believe we’ll require your strength for the upcoming threats.”

“Of course. If you need my assistance, I’m always happy to lend whatever power I can.”

“Thank you.”

“We’ll be counting on the two of you then.” Leonard fixed his gaze on me and smiled warmly. “I heard from Lumiere that you were the one who dismantled the boundary field, Sir Trevor.”

“I…uh, got lucky.”

“I don’t think luck would have gotten you that far.” He snickered and spun. “I’ll see you two around.”

Silvia bowed quickly before following the second prince. I watched them go and shook my head in amazement. A few months ago, I was simply a backwater noble, a mere son of a baron. I never thought Leonard would personally approach the likes of me.

Lumiere also stared at their departing figures, though worry creased her beautiful features. Noting her unease, I tilted my head.

“What’s the matter, Lady Lumiere?”

“Hmm…don’t get me wrong. I don’t regret what I did, and I’m delighted we were able to prevent the tragedy and save everyone’s lives. But…” She swallowed. “Because of our interference, Lady Silvia was unable to fully awaken her holy magic. Her powers did not mature this time.”

She cast her gaze downward and clenched her fists.

“My memories of my past life are still hazy, but I can still remember the broad strokes. This first appearance of the heavenly demon cult precedes an outbreak of zealous extremists showing up all over Antares and summoning demons. If that course of events repeats this timeline too, then we’ll need Lady Silvia’s fully mature holy powers to overcome the impending crisis. But…right now, we might have inadvertently stunted her growth. I’m worried our actions might have caused a greater disaster.”

I stared at her for a moment. “You said you don’t regret it, right?”

“...yes.”

“Good. Then don’t.” I folded my arms. “You’ve been given a second chance at life. You also told me you want to live freely, not bound by a script. Then don’t worry about the future. We’ll tackle things as they come, and deal with whatever crisis arises when they happen.”

“I’m worried we just discarded the greatest advantage we had to deal with those crises.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” I replied. “If Lady Silvia not awakening her full powers is what worries you, then we’ll start looking for a way to help her realize her full potential. That’s far more productive than regretting your past actions…especially when you know we did the right thing.”

Lumiere stared at me for a few seconds, dazed. Then she laughed. “What will I ever do without you?”

“You’ll probably run wild in the capital, burning every heavenly demon cultist to ash.”

“Hey! Just what kind of person do you think I am?!”

After class, we headed back to the dorms, choosing to navigate along the main courtyard in front of the five elemental towers. Since lessons had ended, unsurprisingly, there were a lot of students wandering outside as they discussed their after-school plans.

“Should we head outside for lunch?” Lumiere asked as we strolled along the marble footpath that wound around a fountain featuring a statue of the school’s founder. Before I could answer, though, a tall, handsome guy with light brown hair and warm honey eyes approached.

“Excuse me, but if you do not mind, could I have a quick word with Lady Lumiere?”

He gave me a look and I understood.

He wants me to back off?

“I’m Roland Wimbledon. I believe you’ve heard of my father, the Marquis Wimbledon?”

“I have, indeed,” Lumiere replied. I remained silent. He was trying to flex his father’s title, and though he didn’t say it out loud, I could read between the lines. A marquis was ranked higher than a baron. Lumiere’s eyes narrowed. “What business do you have?”

“Um, I apologize, Sir Trevor, but if you don’t mind…”

“Not at all.” I glanced at Lumiere. She would probably handle this better than me. I had no knowledge of court politics or the hierarchy in the capital, save that I was at the bottom. The moment I stepped aside, though, it was as if I had just flicked open the tab of a violently shaken can.

“Hey, that’s unfair of you, Sir Roland! Getting ahead of us like that!”

“Yeah! We’re suitable candidates too!”

A few other guys jumped in, brushing past me. They must have seen my retreat as weakness, as admission of something, and suddenly the whole label of “invincible black-haired couple” was rendered meaningless.

“H…hey! What are you all doing?!” Lumiere cried, suddenly finding herself swamped by suitors. It was only natural. As the daughter of a duke and having demonstrated her immense power, she topped the list of most attractive marriage prospects. There would definitely be plenty of disgruntled young nobles who deemed a baron’s son like me unworthy of her, and they would like nothing more than to take my place at her side.

That said, weren’t they misunderstanding something? My relationship with Lumiere wasn’t what they thought it was.

Still, somehow, their attitude pisses me off.

Nonetheless, I wasn’t worried. I knew Lumiere would reject them. After all the nasty things they said about her, she didn’t have a good impression of them. Furthermore, none of these guys had attempted to approach and speak to her throughout our three months in Arcana Academy. Only after Lumiere had proven herself during the terror attack at the debutante ball did they deign to introduce themselves. It was clear what they desired.

Lumiere glanced at me, and I gestured encouragingly, giving her a thumb’s up and mouthing soundlessly, “go ahead and roast them.” She stifled a snicker, nodded, and began to turn back to them. However, she stiffened. I raised an eyebrow, puzzled by her sudden change in demeanor, until someone spoke up beside me.

“Um, Sir Trevor?”

“Whoa?!” I jumped a mile. As usual, I was so absorbed in a single subject that I was completely oblivious to everything else around me. Turning, I saw a pretty lady with blond hair, blue eyes and a gentle expression. She bowed slightly.

“I’m Bianca Frost. My family’s from the north…I don’t know if you’ve heard of our province on the northern border? It’s governed by my father, Viscount Frost.”

“I think I have. Your family’s province is known as the Frozen North.”

Not only that, but the Frost viscounty was famed for its use of ice magic, which was only natural, given they ruled over a region shrouded in eternal winter. Bianca must have approached me because of my affinity with the ice element.

She brightened. “So you have heard of us! If you don’t mind, I would like to invite you to visit our estate. We have a huge library there, with books also traded from Deneb Kingdom, just across the northern border. I’ve heard that you like to read a lot…”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to…”

At that moment, I heard Lumiere clearing her voice audibly and silencing everyone with a fiery surge of her mana. As I turned back, catching sight of the intimidated young nobles who had surrounded her, she spoke up.

“My good sirs, I’m afraid I have to disappoint all of you. As much as I am flattered by your advances, I already have a fiancé in mind.”

She did? That was news to me.

Lumiere barged through the crowd, but fortunately, the guys were wise enough to scramble out of their way for fear of being burned by her aura. To my complete astonishment, she grabbed my arm. Glaring at Bianca, who cowered and immediately backed off, she turned to face Roland and the others, while making a show of clinging onto my arm and leaning against me.

“Sir Trevor is the only one my father will accept as my fiancé.”

“Huh? His lordship did?” I asked blankly, only to feel her foot on mine. Hey, that hurt.

Our schoolmates exchanged glances of dismay, with several – especially Roland – shooting me stares of resentment, but no one objected. A few seconds later, they dispersed, muttering to themselves.

“I guess it’s true that they are the invincible black-haired couple.”

“It was kind of obvious, now that I think about it.”

“He was the only one Duke Ombre allowed to dance with Lady Lumiere during the debutante ball. Come to think of it, she didn’t dance with anyone else. Not even his highness the crown prince.”

Bianca looked terribly disappointed, but her fear of Lumiere won over her dissatisfaction, and she retreated. As the courtyard emptied out, the black-haired future duchess tugged at my arm and led me along the pathway.

“Uh, Lady Lumiere…was that really a good idea?” I asked, my heart skipping a beat. Surely, she wasn’t serious about me being her fiancé? I hadn’t heard anything about that.

“Of course. And I wasn’t lying, you know. You’re the only one Father will accept as my fiancé. If you don’t believe me, you can ask him.”

Yeah, no. Given how bipolar he was, I suspected I would only be sentencing myself to death if I asked him for his opinion regarding his daughter’s marriage.

“Also, how long are you going to continue addressing me like that?”

“...huh?” I stared at her blankly. Lumiere sighed and shook her head.

“Trevor, we’re supposed to be engaged now. Stop being so distant.” She smiled and took my hand. “Just call me Lumi.”

“Eh?”

“Just do it.”

“F…fine.” I swallowed. “I’ll be in your care then, Lumi.”

“Excellent.” She whirled, raising her head slightly to peer at the cloudless heavens. I watched her prance a few steps before she whirled gracefully. “Well, I guess I’ll have to start planning for the semester break.”

“What do you plan to do over the semester break?” I asked, suddenly feeling a chill.

“Isn’t it obvious?” She smirked. “I’ll visit Livrebrook and introduce myself to your parents.”

For a few moments, I just stared at her blankly. Then my jaw dropped.

“HUH?!”