Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 126

☆ 126 ☆

“Two princes, Raphael, and now you? Are you some kind of sly fox? That’s why the girls don’t like you, going around wagging your tail like that.”

What are you talking about?

All the older girls say I’m cute and they like me.

‘Haa…’

Words won’t work.

“Hey.”

I leaned to one side, spitting on the ground.

“Apologize nicely and get lost.”

“Ha, we’ve been calling you cute, so you keep climbing higher? Still not getting the situation?”

That Ackrin guy came closer.

He was much older and well-trained, making him much bigger than me.

But I wasn’t intimidated at all.

“You know? You have to put your leg in deep.”

“No. Don’t kick with just the tip of your toes from so far away. You need to close the gap and really dig in.”

“Yeah, use the snap of your knee to kick up quickly in that position.”

“Good, that’s it! Again!”

“Well done. Remember, you’re not kicking from the front, but lifting from below to crush it properly.”

Who said it?

What the body learns can be used instinctively without thinking.

“Aaaaaagh!”

Today, I experienced that firsthand.

The Ackrin guy screamed horribly and collapsed.

He clutched between his legs, trembling as if he had suffered a serious injury.

‘Oops, my shoes had diamonds embedded in them. My bad.’

Egg-crushing with diamonds, said to be the hardest material in the world with a hardness of 10!

Indeed, the effect was tremendous.

“Hmph, you’re nothing but trouble!”

I’ve been getting special training from my brothers since I was five, you know.

Five long years of egg-crushing training!

“My brothers said that threats are for the weak. You have to start with a show of force.”

“Ugh, hng…”

“I was even kind enough to give you a warning, but you’re running your dirty mouth? Well, weak dogs bark a lot.”

I lifted my foot as if to re-crush the crushed egg, and the Ackrin guy, who had been whimpering, flinched in fear.

“Don’t live like that in the future. If you run your dirty mouth to other young ladies, I’ll not just crush it, I’ll rip it off completely!”

I spat and turned around.

But.

‘Uh…’

I was taken aback by the sight of Lady Quirell standing quietly among the bushes.

‘How long has she been there? Is this okay?’

It was a situation ripe for getting tangled up in something dirty.

“Ha… I can’t believe it.”

Lady Quirell swept her hair back with a cold expression.

‘What should I say? Should I say it’s a misunderstanding?’

As I was wondering, Lady Quirell asked me,

“Are you alright, Princess?”

A kind face.

Lady Quirell smiled sweetly as she saw my troubled expression.

“Well done. Crushing that kind of bastard’s eggs isn’t enough. You have to ♬♪ castrate his ♩♬♪ and ♪♩ him!”

I widened my eyes at the rough language that came out.

Lady Quirell, who was always so shy…

‘…She’s my type?!’

Lady Quirell poked the still trembling Ackrin guy with her foot.

“Hey, you should be grateful that Princess Phaeraton was kind enough not to rip it off. If she hadn’t stepped in first, I would have pulled it all out.”

Pulled what?!

Lady Quirell spat like I did and turned around.

“Um, is Lady Quirell okay?”

They had been sort of seeing each other for months, hadn’t they?

Even if she acted cool on the outside, she must be a mess inside.

Lady Quirell looked at me and smiled brightly. It was the cute smile I always saw.

“Princess Phaeraton saved me. I almost dated such a jerk without knowing it.”

Pat, pat.

Lady Quirell patted my back gently.

“Were you surprised?”

I shook my head at her kind question, worrying about me more than herself.

“No. There are jerks like that everywhere!”

Lady Quirell stroked my hair at my spirited answer.

‘As expected, the older girls like me!’

Who said the girls don’t like me?

Guys like that are just caught up in their own delusions and try to start fights between perfectly fine people.

We left Ackrin behind and walked out of the garden, holding hands tightly.

“I thought he was just a quiet and serious person because he kept his mouth shut usually. But the more I talked to him, the weirder he seemed. Something felt off, you know?”

“There’s always a reason when something feels off.”

“Ugh, it’s annoying the more I think about it. But I feel a little better because the Princess crushed him for me.”

Lady Quirell smiled shyly and said something that didn’t suit her.

“I’m confident in crushing eggs. My brothers trained me.”

When I lifted my head and showed off, Lady Quirell burst out laughing.

‘Well, I don’t know if I should be showing off about this… but it’s okay as long as the older girl is laughing.’

“I knew the Princess had a strong personality from the first day of the preliminaries, but I didn’t know she was such a kind child.”

“Really? I knew Lady Quirell was a sensitive person, but I didn’t know she was such a cool older sister.”

We were looking at each other and laughing when.

“Cough! Ugh, hng!”

A scream suddenly came from behind.

The last sound was like someone being gagged…

‘What is it?’

I turned around, but I couldn’t see anything because of the trees and bushes.

There was no one there except for the Ackrin guy who was lying sprawled out…

“He must have screamed in pain when he tried to get up.”

Serves him right.

Lady Quirell nodded with an awkward expression at my words.

‘She must be feeling complicated.’

That was understandable.

I changed the subject.

“The last salon is next week, right?”

“Let’s talk about something other than the Dawn Festival. I’m really drained from being evaluated for months.”

Lady Quirell said with a tired face.

“I’m actually fine with anything now. I’m satisfied just with making it to the finals.”

Most of the young ladies would probably feel that way.

Making it to the finals is glorious and honorable enough.

‘Hmm, let’s not talk about the Dawn Festival, and love stories… are a bit much in this situation.’

As I was wondering what to talk about, Lady Quirell asked,

“Oh, have you heard? The rumor that a Saintess has appeared.”

“A Saintess?”

A Saintess!

My eyes lit up.

I was so disappointed that there was no Saintess, an essential element of romance fantasy!

Even when I was healing my grandfather, divine power didn’t cause miracles like healing diseases quickly.

But a Saintess!

A Saintess would surely perform special and wonderful miracles!

“I don’t know if it’s true, though. Remember when there was a big rumor that someone saw a dragon, but it turned out they mistook it for a cloud?”

“That’s right…”

Lady Quirell started to comfort me when I looked gloomy.

“But it could be real! The rumor is going around from the far south, and a lot of mysterious things happen there…”

‘Most of it was just the boasting of people from the south, though.’

I hid my true feelings and smiled brightly.

“I hope this rumor is true!”

“Does Princess Phaeraton like Saintesses?”

“They’re cool! They perform miracles with divine power! They heal the injured and defeat the Demon King!”

Lady Quirell chuckled at my words.

‘What kind of person would a real Saintess be?’

I was very excited as I thought of the female lead Saintesses I knew.

‘It would be really great if we became allies!’

It was the moment I turned the corner with a happy heart.

The shadow of a person disappearing down the hallway caught my eye.

‘Prince Esteban and Lady Michellone?’

It wasn’t strange for the two people who were partners for the festival to be together.

But something bothered me.

‘Lady Michellone’s expression that I glimpsed was a bit…’

Lady Quirell didn’t seem to have seen it at all.

I hesitated and opened my mouth.

“Lady Quirell, I’m going to stop by the ladies’ room.”

“Okay.”

Lady Quirell let go of my hand with a regretful expression.

I walked naturally to the end of the hallway, then walked quietly, muffling my footsteps from when Lady Quirell couldn’t see me.

Was I being too cautious?

Prince Esteban and Lady Michellone were no longer visible.

‘I definitely saw them going this way…’

That’s when it happened.

“What are you going to do?!”

A muffled sound, as if blocked by something, rang out softly.

“We’re going to lose because of you!”

Crazy?

That voice was definitely Prince Esteban.

“You have to do well, okay? That way you…”

I couldn’t hear well after that.

It seemed his voice leaked out because he shouted.

‘…I get it now.’

The reason why Lady Michellone avoided me.

I stood in front of the lounge door and hesitated.

‘…Should I go in?’

Wouldn’t I be making things worse without knowing the situation properly?

But.

Lady Michellone may be older than me, but she was still a fourteen-year-old girl.

No, even if she was an adult, I couldn’t leave her to suffer verbal abuse.

I knew very well how much it broke the heart.

Because that’s what happened to me when I was working.

Bang!

Prince Esteban was seen panicking as the door opened without warning.

“Oh my, I didn’t know you two were inside. Am I interrupting?”

“Princess Phaeraton.”

“Hello, Your Highness. Did you come to pick up Lady Michellone for her salon today?”

“…Yes.”

“How kind.”

I smiled and looked at Lady Michellone’s complexion.

I couldn’t see her well because she was turning her head to the side, but her expression was clearly stiff.

“Do you two have any plans after this? A date?”

“A date! I just stopped by.”

Prince Esteban denied it, looking disgusted.

He had no manners towards ladies.

‘You wouldn’t even be a second male lead if you went into a romance fantasy, let alone the male lead.’

He was just an extra 3 who would act arrogant because he was a prince, then realize that life is a battlefield and cry.

“That’s good. Actually, I was looking for Lady Michellone.”

Lady Michellone was still turning her head and avoiding me.

The reaction came from Extra 3.

“Lady Michellone? Why?”

“That’s none of Your Highness’s business.”

Esteban shut his mouth at my curt words.

“Then, Your Highness, would you excuse us?”

Esteban tried to say something to me, but after seeing my cold attitude, he eventually left the lounge without saying anything.

Hmph!

“…Why did you come?”

Huh?

Lady Michellone bit her lip tightly, then turned around and shouted at me.

“Didn’t you come because you saw me being dragged away by the Prince? Did you think I would be grateful and like you if you came like this?”

“Well, I didn’t come for you to be grateful… I just thought Prince Esteban was too annoying.”

Lady Michellone’s eyes trembled as if she was embarrassed at those words.

Lady Michellone’s face, which had always been calm, was stained with many emotions.

Resentment, injustice, shame, embarrassment at venting her anger on the wrong person, and disappointment in herself.

I didn’t want Lady Michellone to blame herself.

It was true that she vented her anger on me, but where was there a fourteen-year-old who could control her emotions so well?

It was all the fault of Extra 3.

“I’m glad I came in after all. I even got to see Lady Michellone getting angry.”

Lady Michellone glared at me with a face that said, ‘Are you making fun of me now?’

I shrugged my shoulders.

“You’re showing off your pride to me, isn’t that because you acknowledge me?”

“…”

“Because you don’t want to lose to me.”

“You like that I’m being unnecessarily proud?”

“I like it? It’s much better than a smart person like Lady Michellone treating me like a child and not even bothering to deal with me. It’s because you see me as a proper rival.”

Lady Michellone’s expression, which had been stiff even in the moment with Prince Esteban, collapsed.

She lowered her head as if to hide that face.

After a while, a subdued voice flowed out quietly.

“…I have a reason why I can’t lose.”

“Really? I have a reason why I have to win.”

Lady Michellone raised her head.

I smiled brightly.

“It feels good to compete and win against smart young ladies, doesn’t it?”

“…That’s true.”

Lady Michellone nodded slowly and smiled. That smile was somehow dark and tired.

“It would feel really good to compete and win. But…”

That last word was too small to hear well.

* * *

That day came.

The last day of the Dawn Festival.

“The Dawn Festival is ending today.”

It was eventful, but I made a lot of good friends, so I was a little sad.

But my family seems to feel differently.

“It’s finally over.”

“I almost forgot what my sister’s face looked like.”

“Let’s just stay home all day when it’s over.”

“There won’t be any unnecessary things sticking to us.”

“How about going to Grandpa’s territory for a vacation after leaving the capital?”

Everyone reacted as if they had been waiting only for today.

“What’s good about Tarenka Territory?”

“There are no boys your age there.”

“…?”

Is that a good thing?

Still, it was the last competition, so even the families of the final winners were allowed to enter today.

Our family took one carriage and arrived at the Imperial Palace with a lot of noise.

My face was hung on the exterior of the Diluculum Hall, where the Dawn Festival was held, as big as a door.

Of course, not only me, but also the faces of Lady Michellone and Lady Berrian, who were the final winners, were also there.

As I was about to go in, my family stopped abruptly and stared at my face silently.

“Ha, haha, it’s a festival, but it’s too much. Why did they hang it up so big?”

I smiled awkwardly in embarrassment, but my family muttered.

“…I like it?”

“Should we hang it on the main gate of the Duke’s castle? Even bigger.”

“Hmm, the walls of the Marquis’s castle seem good too.”

What?

Hey.

It’s my face?!