Refuse Harem
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Prius
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 212 – Sophie Linier’s Everyday Hard Work II
Maybe because they know each other so well?
Even when Sophie tried to think about it in relation to herself, she didn’t really understand because the only person that came to mind was Tenma.
Although Tasuku didn’t have many conversations with Tenma, he was confident that they had built a relationship of trust. Neither of them had ever spoken poorly of the other to others.
I guess even among men, friendships vary widely.
As Sophie nodded, convinced that was the case, Evert gave her a fed-up look, probably because he hadn’t complained enough.
“If you carry so many heavy burdens on your back, it might become too much for you, and you might want to throw it away later, not that I care.”
“Oh my, are you worried about me?”
“I’m being sarcastic!”
This kind of exchange was normal, so she simply gave a perfunctory reply.
He really keeps on rebuking me. I wonder if he still has a grudge against me for beating him so thoroughly so long ago?
To Sophie, a year and a half ago felt like a long time ago, but to Evert, it probably felt like yesterday.
The sense of time between young people and Sophie, who was in her second life, was different. She felt it would be easier to live if one could just let all their dark past be forgotten.
There, she suddenly remembered what she was told long ago.
“Come to think of it, Marcus once told me that ‘being overly annoying is another form of affection. ’”
“Hah?”
“Do you hold affection for me? But I don’t think such childish and twisted behavior is the correct way to show it. Honestly, I’d rather refuse it.”
“――Gh. I don’t want it either!”
Evert raised his voice.
“Why don’t you learn a little about sensuality before you make that kind of joke?! Even the rough roads around here are way bumpier than you!”
What on earth was that metaphor? What on earth was he referring to?
Sophie couldn’t help but insist.
“I’m telling you, my growing period isn’t over yet!”
“It might not be over, but it doesn’t even look like it has begun!”
“Wha……!”
The insult was so intense that Sophie stood up and swung her head to Keith, who was quietly writing alone at the table next to her.
“Hey, Keith! As the head student of the black star, you should discipline this man properly! A man who points his finger at the chest of such a pretty girl and curses at her doesn’t have an ounce of gentlemanliness!”
“Pretty?! It’s a bit of a misnomer to describe yourself as that, considering some aspects of you are overly modest!”
“Let’s stop at that. It makes me sad to listen to such a childish conversation.”
Sophie raised her brows, and Evert immediately responded, causing Keith to sigh and say that.
Over the past year and a half, Keith had become more composed and was no longer flustered by Sophie’s anger.
He stopped moving his pen and held up the unfinished report.
“I beg of you, please understand the pain I feel having to report this whole incident to Gerald-sama!”
“You can just keep quiet about it.”
“You should just keep quiet about it.”
As Keith complained in a pitiful manner, Sophie and Evert responded.
They matched perfectly, making Keith exclaim, “Why is it that you two would agree on things like that?!”
“My stomach really hurts, and I feel like I’m going to vomit blood……”
“It’s alright, Keith. There’s no need to tell Gerald every single detail like that.”
Sophie snatched the document Keith had been writing on and crumpled it up, making Keith cry out softly.
“You can’t know the success or failure of something unless you see and hear it for yourself. How can Gerald, who isn’t even there, understand anything from a single piece of paper like this? It’s Gerald’s fault for being absent, so I will use the Purple Star’s authority to pretend this incident never happened!”
Sophie herself knew it sounded like a lame excuse. Still, she didn’t want it to be reported.
After all, Gerald is――
At that moment, Sophie recalled the character of her recent escort in charge.
“I apologize for my absence.”
As Sophie heard the monotonous apology, her shoulders involuntarily jumped.
She turned around timidly, and there stood a man with narrow eyes that seemed the embodiment of emotionlessness.
“……Gerald, you’re back.”
His return was much earlier than expected. It was not good.
“Yes. After receiving the report from the square, I was allowed to leave the castle early.”
He spoke monotonously, as if devoid of any human emotions.
But just because Gerald was calm, it didn’t mean that he would just let today’s incident slide.
Proof of this was the extremely few times he blinked as if he wasn’t giving Sophie any chance to escape.
“In light of this incident, I have been given permission to leave the castle whenever Sophie-sama goes out, even if Ferio-sama issues a summon at the same time. From now on, I will be escorting you without any changes to my schedule.”
The declaration that came from those thin, shapely lips was nothing less than a death sentence for Sophie, and it made her feel dizzy. It was the worst possible outcome Sophie could think of.
No way…… Even though the times when Gerald was at the royal castle were the only precious times when I could enjoy my freedom!
Sophie had intended to yell out her thoughts, but they seemed to have spilled out of her mouth. Evert and Keith looked at her as if to say, “Does this girl think that her escorts are there to monitor her behavior or something?” but those looks didn’t matter to her at the moment.
“Wait a minute! It is natural that His Highness’ summons take priority. Putting the summons aside is disrespectful and unacceptable for a paladin. It would be a disgrace to the Forsius family. I have no intention of forcing you to do such a――”
“This is His Highness Ferio’s wish, so please don’t worry about our family.”
Before Sophie could finish her sentence, Gerald cut her off. Normally, he wouldn’t interrupt Sophie. This time, he seemed pretty angry.
And it seems like Ferio is angry, too?
Did I do anything that would make him so angry?
A knife stabbed into the neck would be fatal, but I didn’t give an opening to stab, not even a millimeter.
In other words, there was no problem.
As Sophie had a question mark in her head, Gerald’s cold, icy eyes narrowed, and his frown deepened.
“Sophie-sama has recently been acting calmer than before. But it seems that this has caused His Highness Ferio to let his guard down a little. He was very sorry that he had come to the castle on the day Sophie-sama was going out into the town.”
“Eh……? Calmer……? To consider the incident in the slums calm, isn’t it weird?”
Evert, who had been listening nearby, was stunned and muttered to himself, “It seems His Highness Ferio has been a bit too influenced by Miss Sophie……”
“I-It was just a small incident. There’s no need to make a big deal out of it, right?”
“In addition, from now on, paladins who were on friendly terms with Sophie-sama will be removed from their posts as escorts at tea parties. Those escorts are only concerned with Sophie-sama’s wishes, and it cannot be said that they are fulfilling their duties as guards.”
“You’re trying to take my last stronghold?!”
Those members were the uncles who escorted Sophie at the dormitory, led by Warren.
They weren’t suffocating escorts like Gerald, but would act to Sophie’s needs and tolerate her behavior to some extent, so Sophie was grateful for them.
Even in this incident, they understood that Sophie was superior to the thug, so they didn’t immediately arrest the man but instead watched the situation for a while. Sophie thought that the man before him must be a demon to take that away from her.
“That’s so cruel……”
“The duty of a paladin is to protect. Even if that person is the King, we can’t overlook any actions that put the person we protect in danger.”
Gerald’s cruel words fell on Sophie like a torrential rain.
I wonder why he became such a nagging escort……
He had remained unsociable ever since they first met. However, if there had been a change in her relationship with him, it was this.
Until a year ago, Gerald had been acting as her escort with a certain sense of distance, but as a result of Sophie’s repeated actions, he was now acting as her escort with zero sense of distance.
During the day, he was constantly clinging to Sophie to make sure she didn’t escape or dealing with the situation immediately if she did.
And Gerald nagged as much as Bart. No, he nagged even more than Bart now. Sophie wasn’t happy about that at all.
I have to find some excuse to sweep this under the rug somehow……!
However, it seemed that her thoughts were read as well.
“This is from His Highness Ferio.”
Saying this, Gerald handed her a letter.
Having a bad feeling, Sophie opened it, and on the high-quality paper were the words, “I’ll let Christina know everything that happened today!”
“――!!”
The short, concise, yet straightforward sentence hit Sophie in the gut.
“It can’t be!! C-Can’t something to be done about that?!”
“Even if you ask me, it is entirely up to His Highness Ferio.”
“I’ve just caused trouble for Christina onee-sama at the tea party the other day! It hasn’t been long since then…… If this continues, she might dissolve our vow of sisterhood!!”
“I don’t think that personage had that in mind.”
Gerald spoke while looking into the distance. His voice was unusually filled with fatigue.
“If it really got dissolved, it would help ease our worries……”
“Please don’t say such ominous things!!”
Sophie raised both her fists and shouted at the man who had said such an outrageous thing.
Author Note:
Please just think that a lot of things happened on Morishita’s side (*’▽’)
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