Refuse Harem
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Prius
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 182 – Dear Tenma, Watch Out For Sleep Deprivation II
In the drawing room of the dormitory, two men were waiting.
One was the age of a young man. He wore a starched white shirt, a black vest, and a jacket. The other was a docile-looking boy with a white robe that went down to his knees.
Two of them had different clothes and atmospheres, but both wore well-tailored clothes that fit their bodies and even just looking at their carefully polished shoes, one could see the financial strength of the Linier family.
As the two stood in place instead of sitting down on the seats prepared for them, Sophie happily called two of them.
“Bart, Eric, long time no see!”
“――What’s with the ‘long time no see’ you fool!?”
The first words of Bart, the man who ought to be Sophie’s servant, were that of anger and shook the air in the room as if it was a thunderbolt.
Hearing the rough tone that was in contrast to his well-dressed and well-groomed facial features, both Gerald and Luca were astonished. If Sophie hadn’t explained to them beforehand, his anger might have made them draw their swords.
Even though the anger was enough to make the two escorts feel danger, the person who he talked to, Sophie, wasn’t surprised and just tilted her head.
“Oh my? Why are you that angry, Bart?”
Even though she should have expected his anger to begin with, her dumbfounded tone didn’t let it show.
Looking at Sophie, who had wrinkled her brows and had painted her face with misery before entering the parlor yet acted as if nothing was wrong, made Gerald silently astonished.
Sophie could sense Gerald’s astonishment behind her, but she couldn’t care less about it.
Even though Bart’s visit had revitalized her, all Sophie had was reduced stamina due to her consecutive all-nighters. Without stamina or an excuse prepared, if Bart squeezed her with his words, as expected, she would run out of energy.
No matter what, I have to avoid a long period of nagging!!
However, Bart, who had accompanied her for many years, couldn’t be deceived by that level of acting.
“I told you that much to stay quiet! What did you do to make this happen?! To think you are kicked out of the girls’ academy in just half a year!”
“Don’t say such bad-sounding words… it’s not like I got kicked out.”
“It’s something similar anyway.”
“No, it’s not! Onee-samas felt regret about me leaving, after all!”
“That’s not the problem here!”
Leaving his tone aside, what he said made sense, thought Gerald as he looked at the two.
The man should have been familiar with Sophie, who always tried to drag the topic to her pace. One could feel a strong determination from his response that he would never get dragged by Sophie’s tune.
“You don’t have to be angry. I will explain the circumstances. But before that, about my father. Did he give you permission to come?”
No matter how much her father loved his daughter, as expected, he wouldn’t be able to refuse an order from the royal family. She thought her father would be the first to run once he heard his cute daughter was sent to an academy with only men.
As Sophie wondered why he was missing and asked about it, Bart had a bitter expression as if he were chewing on insects.
“When the Master heard the story, he immediately collapsed while frothing from his mouth. So did Creto, who came to report about business in Talis――that man who wouldn’t seem to die even if he got killed (Creto) collapsed, you know!”
“Oh my, my father and Creto work too much. They need to make sure and take some rest!”
“You’re still playing the fool…”
As Sophie cutely said her warning, Bart choked his words out of anger and amazement.
“I was granted a purple star. It’s an honor, right? Be a little happy.”
“Honor? Have you ever found value in such a thing?”
It was something Bart couldn’t help but ask.
Sophie didn’t make the blatant lie that she did, just smiled vaguely and looked for the magic words to make Bart less angry.
“But this is a direct offer from His Highness. There’s no way I could refuse now, right?”
“In the first place, why did it end up like that!? No, regardless of the circumstances, you could have avoided it using that needlessly fluent mouth!”
Sophie thought Bart would be less angry if she used the name of a royal family member, but instead, he retorted logically, which made even Sophie astonished.
What kind of person did Bart see Sophie as?
That sounded like Sophie was a person who would make use of her words to deal even with the royal family――not that she could deny it.
As expected, he’s the angriest he’s ever been…
If it was the usual Bart, it was about time for him to calm down, but his anger showed no sign of subsiding at all.
Seeing his attitude, he should have no idea of the real identity of the first prince who issued the command.
Even if the explanation was held at the Linier house, the other party was the royal family. The servants had to keep their heads down and were not permitted to raise their heads. It was obvious that Bart couldn’t have recognized “him” who was surrounded by many escorts.
“――Both of you, can you leave the room for a while?”
From now on, Sophie would need to talk about Rio and Ferio.
As expected, it wasn’t a light remark that could be heard by Gerald, the paladin, and Luca, who would relay all information to Lorenzo. As Sophie requested their leave, they glanced at Bart but didn’t oppose the request for them to leave.
“…Those people are?”
Looking at the closed door, Bart finally asked about them.
Apparently, he was so angry that he could only see Sophie.
“They are the escorts that worrywart His Highness attached to me. I think everyone is worrying about me too much.”
“Worrying too much…? Do you(omae) know where this is?! It’s a place with nothing but aristocratic men, you know!”1
Bart’s tone totally reverted to his childhood days.
Bart acted with more respect toward Sophie as he grew older, so it had been a while since he referred to Sophie with “omae”.
A normal young lady would scold his attitude, but Sophie felt relieved as if her old friend returned.
She smiled innocently like a child, without any trace of tension.
De-vexed, Bart began to lose sight of what he was angry about.
“Aaaah, you are… really!”
After a long sigh and moan, Bart slumped down on the sofa in the room.
Be it the fact she was bestowed the nation’s greatest honor or the fact an aristocratic young lady stayed at “The King’s Sword”, both were totally outrageous.
Even though it was certainly a situation that was absurd and filled with nonsense, Sophie’s attitude didn’t let it show. She didn’t seem to change even before she departed to the girls’ academy.
――No, it could be said that she was filled with more confusion and hesitation than when she was about to be sent to the girl’s academy.
Bart held onto his head.
Wasn’t it normally the other way around…?
However, he knew the girl in front of him wasn’t normal since her childhood.
It was Bart himself who chose to serve her while knowing all that.
It was exactly because she wasn’t a normal person that he was able to serve her.
“…………You’ll explain properly how it ended up like this, right?”
After a longer sigh than before, Bart straightened his posture and asked.
His expression, as Sophie found regrettable, returned to a servant’s face.
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Thanks for the chapters
“she was filled with more confusion and hesitation than when she was about to be sent to the girl’s academy.”
More like filled with excitement and anticipation.
Thanks for the translation!
well, prior meeting christina and other, she thought going to academy is waste of time after all
Thank you for the chapter!
At this rate Bart and Geragera may become friends, like coworkers badmouthing their boss over drink.
maybe it might happen someday in the future, but as far as raw said, it didn’t happen yet
Thanks for the chapters!
thx for the comment