Olivia bit her lip.
She lowered her head.
Her hands trembled slightly.
She swore.
She couldn’t bring herself to say those words.
Olivia bit her lip again.
“……No, I can’t swear.”
Japanese flowed from her mouth.
“Princess?”
At that moment, the cardinal, not understanding Japanese, tilted his head.
With her hands lowered, Olivia clenched her fists and closed her eyes, shouting in Japanese.
“I promised to save you! I told you to trust and wait! But where the heck are you now? You idiot! Fool! Sea cucumber! Sea squirt! Sea anemone! Kim Deok-Sung!”
The moment her words echoed throughout the chapel.
Boom!
A loud explosion rang from the ceiling.
Puff!
A smoke grenade burst, filling the chapel with white smoke.
Thud.
A dark figure fell from the hole in the ceiling.
“You…!”
Olivia’s face brightened.
She believed.
She thought that, but honestly, she felt it was unreasonable.
Refusing the oath at the end and calling for him was truly clutching at straws.
But he really came.
He answered her call.
As promised.
To save her.
The moment tears flowed from Olivia’s eyes.
“Here comes Eri-Ring★”
As the smoke cleared, Nishizawa Eri appeared, making a V sign with her hands.
Seeing her, Olivia’s face turned red.
Why is Nishizawa Eri, who should be in Japan, here?
No, more than anything, while she’s grateful she came, she’s not who she was expecting.
She felt embarrassed for mistaking her for him.
“Uuuuuuuuh… W-w-w-what’s going on all of a sudden?! Miss Nishizawa?!”
Just as Olivia, forgetting the serious atmosphere, shouted with her eyes tightly shut.
Eri pointed upward with her finger.
“Princess, look up!”
“Up…? What?”
“Master is coming!”
Master, huh?
The moment Olivia opened her eyes and tilted her head in confusion.
Thud.
Someone landed on the floor.
“I didn’t plan for it to be this way… Anyway, who’d expect a tsundere princess to not listen at all? Anyway, hey.”
A familiar grumbling voice reached Olivia’s ears.
She turned her head toward the voice.
There he was.
“Olivia.”
A boy with black hair, black eyes, and a thug-like appearance.
Kim Deok-Sung.
“I came to save you. As promised.”
Through the hazy fog, Olivia’s true prince smiled.
How dare anyone touch him.
The original plan was for the president to expose the transcript first, and then I would enter the church guided by Bella to have an engagement battle.
It must have been so.
But the moment I heard Olivia calling my name,
I could no longer wait.
Seeing Olivia cry ahead of her engagement, with some other guy standing beside her, made my emotions surge in a way I never expected.
It was a scene that never existed in the original story.
Yet, it was a cliché I had seen countless times in other light novels.
But now that I was the one involved, I couldn’t control my feelings.
It seemed Bella was in the same boat.
[Master’s master. Are you going to enter now?]
Bella’s question echoed through the psychic network.
[Partner, are you really going to just sit there? Your lovely little sister is calling for you. If you’re a real man, you should respond to her call, right? Let’s go.]
The Black Prince’s voice followed.
Even until that moment, I stood silently by the ceiling.
I was suppressing my anger.
I was grinding my teeth to the point they might shatter.
I must not be swayed by my emotions. I must remain calm.
“Master. Aren’t you coming down?”
I needed to stay composed.
I had to come down after exposing the recorded conversations.
Just as planned.
“Alright. Then Eri will go down first! Bella! Set off the bomb for me!”
But my plan went awry due to Eri.
KABOOM!
The bomb and smoke bomb exploded, and Eri came crashing down through the broken ceiling.
[Partner, given the situation, shouldn’t we also go?]
The Black Prince’s words made me snort in disbelief.
Yeah.
‘No choice then. You really never listen, do you?’
This was truly an unavoidable accident.
[Partner, can you please wipe that smile off your face before making such comments?]
Ignoring the Black Prince’s words, I clicked my tongue and dashed down immediately.
In the smoke-filled chapel of Notre-Dame Cathedral,
Amid the chaotic voices,
I found her.
A beautiful girl in a pure white dress, tears in her eyes.
Olivia Napoleon Bonaparte.
I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
“I didn’t plan for it to go like this… Seriously, who knew Tsundere could be so stubborn? Anyway, hey.”
I added words I didn’t mean and placed my hand on Durandal.
Hearing my voice, she turned her head.
“Olivia.”
I called her name.
Olivia’s eyes widened.
“I came to save you. As promised.”
Tears streamed down Olivia’s face at my words.
“Ughhh…”
She bit her lip.
“Really, you idiot, fool, sea cucumber, sea squirt, sea anemone, pervert, scoundrel, the dumbest in the universe! Kim Deok-Sung!!”
Olivia jumped into my arms, showering me with tears.
Caught off guard, I embraced her in her white dress.
“How long have you been waiting? You told me to believe and keep waiting… like that…”
A sobbing voice spilled from Olivia’s lips.
Words that didn’t quite match up.
[Partner, when a lady is crying, it’s the mark of a true gentleman to gently pet her head.]
‘I was going to do that even if you didn’t say it.’
[Oh, Partner. You’re surprisingly manly. I didn’t think I’d see this side of you.]
Quietly, I reached out and stroked Olivia’s platinum hair.
“Really, you fool, idiot…”
Olivia kept crying, her shoulders shaking.
She pounded my chest lightly.
A situation you’d only see in a drama.
But it wasn’t bad at all.
“Now that you’re here.”
“Sea cucumber! Sea squirt! Sea anemone!”
Olivia whimpered, hitting me softly.
[Partner, at times like this, instead of playing hard to get, you should tell her to stop crying and wipe her tears.]
I wipe away her tears with a calmness I didn’t know I had.
The Black Prince’s advice rings in my head.
Without saying a word, I gently dry the tears streaming down Olivia’s cheeks.
“So, stop crying.”
“Hu, hic······.”
Olivia slowly stops crying.
Thank goodness.
As she begins to calm down, I attempt to pull her away gently.
“······No.”
Olivia speaks softly.
“It’s not that your arms are particularly comforting or anything, but······! Right now······ I don’t want to let go.”
She whispers that to me and snuggles closer.
I doubt more words would make much difference anyway.
“Well, do as you please.”
I pet Olivia’s head once more.
“Fool.”
She mumbles under her breath while pulling me in tighter around the waist.
Eri pouts and remarks at the sight.
“Eri-ling. The princess is super jealous, but just for today, I’ll let it slide.”
Thud, thud.
Next, the people waiting on the roof with me come tumbling down.
Rin, Senior Kasumi, Aris, Makoto, Yuji, and Ishihara.
These are the Shuo students who followed me to France.
“Junior is a bad guy. Using a girl’s purity to drag me all the way to France, then showing off intense affection with another girl? Truly, Junior is the Black Beast.”
Senior Kasumi whines with a sulky expression upon seeing me.
“Ugh······ I also······ want to hug you, but I’ll hold back just for today. Bonaparte. There’s no next time, got it?”
Thud.
Shinozaki Rin, with her hand on her chest, shouts.
“My lord! I get a hug after this is over, right? Right?”
“······Public displays of affection, huh? Not good. Mr. Kim Deok-Sung. Lady Bonaparte.”
Makoto speaks timidly, and lastly, Aris, fiddling with her student council president armband, blushes.
As we all come down, the smoke bomb clears, and sunlight pours through the hole in the roof, shining on our group.
“You, you, you······.”
William jabs a finger at me, mumbling in English.
“Kim Deok-Sung, what on earth are you doing here······.”
Thanks to my diligent English studies before the reincarnation, even if I don’t know French, I can speak and converse like a local.
With William pointing and the attention of everyone in the chapel now fixed on us, the gaze of the French Emperor and his wife, along with the British King and their families, is palpable.
Expressions of shock and fear swirl together.
[It’s been a while, Uncle and Aunt.]
I hear the Black Prince’s distant voice in my head.
Olivia and the Black Prince are cousins.
Thus, Olivia’s parents are the Black Prince’s uncle and aunt.
The background setting of the Black Prince from the original setting naturally comes to mind.
Thirty years ago, during the Great Disaster, the Bonaparte royal family also suffered greatly from the invasion of the otherworldly beings, and the Black Prince lost both his father and mother, the former Emperor of France.
Originally the first in line for the throne, Raul gave up his claim in pursuit of revenge and instead took up the sword to fight against the enemies who had harmed his family, according to the setting book.
But Olivia, the Black Prince, no, all the characters around me aren’t just simple light novel characters.
They are living, breathing individuals who experience joy and sorrow.
The Emperor of France, who had a minor role in the anime, gestures toward me, saying,
[Who are you? Are you a spy from the Soviet Union? What are you up to? Arrest those terrorists at once! I say, partner.]
“What the hell are you doing right now? Arrest those terrorists immediately!” says my partner.
The Black Prince in my head kindly translates it into French.
Well, I guess from their perspective, we probably look like terrorists who barged in during a national event.
“Junior, what’s your next move?” Senpai Kasumi asks me.
“Kim. I’ll only follow your orders.”
Yuji, with a serious expression, places his hand on the hilt of his katana at his waist.
“Order me anything. Kim Deok-Sung. I’d jump into hell itself if it’s your command.”
Behind me, Rin Shinozaki bites her lip with a determined look.
“My lord. I am your blade. If you command, I will slice through anything. So just give the command.”
Shussh.
Makoto unsheathes her wakizashi, keeping a watchful eye around.
“Brother. Just give me any task. I’ll do anything.”
Ishihara draws her gun, aiming it at the surroundings.
“I will protect you, my master. Not anyone else, but Eri, the most beautiful girl in the universe.”
And even Eri, holding a chain sickle, makes a dramatic declaration.
Everyone is surrounding me.
Really, who would have thought this was a light novel world?
Even while exchanging such corny lines, their watchful faces are quite beautiful.
I look around.
Everyone’s hostile gazes are directed towards us.
“Everyone, what is happening right now…? What kind of nonsense is this? To disrupt a national wedding prepared for the peace and solidarity of the First World Free Alliance, can we assume this reflects the official stance of Korea and Japan? Kim Deok-Sung.”
William says in a cold voice.
“…No, Black Beast.”
Hearing William’s words, I can’t help but chuckle.
“Why are you laughing?”
William delivers a classic light novel villain line.
“No, it’s just that I can’t believe someone is calling someone else a traitor; it’s just hilarious.”
William kindly responds in English so that everyone understands.
“What a nonsense…”
“Mr. President.”
I call the President.
“Did you call, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung?”
“Let’s move.”
No need for long-winded speeches.
We have to strike quickly and retreat.
“Understood.”
As soon as the President gave some instructions after hearing my command, the chapel speakers blared the familiar audio recording.
[“Gares.”]
[“Yes, Your Highness William.”]
[“Is the revolutionary plan going smoothly? How about the military enlistment?”]
[“Of course, it’s progressing well. Thanks to Your Highness William’s remarkable efforts, more and more generals and influential figures are aligning themselves with you.”]
[“Hahaha, right. A weakling like Douglas is unworthy of the King’s seat. It’s this ‘Prince of Dragon Slayer’ William who is meant to be the master of Buckingham Palace!”]
The expressions of the guests listening to the recording turn stiff.
Especially, the expressions of the British Royal Couple and Prince Douglas, the subjects of the recording, are quite the sight.
William’s expression is wilting live.
Even his ever poker-faced attendant, Gares, is obviously flustered.
[“That’s correct, Your Highness.”]
[“When will the medicine arrive? Its effect is about to wear off. If this goes on, my true abilities will be exposed. I need that medicine for Ascalon to listen to me. Damn sword.”]
[“It will arrive tomorrow. Don’t worry too much, Your Highness.”]
Click.
The recording ends.
“This is… This is an outrageous accusation! It’s all fabricated! Father! Mother! Brother!”
William immediately starts a lengthy, unjust portrayal, trying to defend himself.
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