“Are you saying I should seduce my past self? Make her fall in love with me?”
Jin was taken aback, almost as if he had heard that a dog laid an egg, yet surprisingly, Erekaya appeared to be dead serious.
– Jin, first let me ask you one thing. According to you, my past self is beautiful, overflowing with talent, and possesses both wealth and power. Do you agree?
“So, what’s your point?”
– I’ll take that as a yes. In any case, what I’m trying to say is that it’s impossible to make me happy through conventional means. Humans typically find happiness by filling the gaps of their shortcomings, but I have had everything from the moment I was born.
“Impressive, I must say.”
Erekaya was a woman trapped in a serious state of self-adoration that made Jin feel a bit nauseated. No, objectively speaking, it might be more accurate to say she had a clear sense of self-realization since all of it was indeed true.
– However, like everything in life, I too have a flaw. Although I am a woman who seems to have it all, there were still aspects where I lacked, which means I was not without my shortcomings.
Erekaya let out a long sigh as if she were witnessing the sky collapsing.
– That flaw was precisely my perfection. Because I was too perfect, my standards for men inevitably rose. After all, to stand by a perfect woman like me, a man must also be worthy of such stature, wouldn’t you agree?
“…..”
At this point, Jin had no desire to involve himself in whatever Erekaya was going to say next.
– Countless men have approached me like insects drawn to a flower, but not a single one met my high standards. Not even the Crown Prince of the Empire could reach the level I had set.
“…Can you please just get to the point? I’m beginning to get tired of listening to you.”
– Hm, you really have a short fuse, don’t you? I still have plenty to say, yet here you are, whining already.
After a brief moment of grumbling, Erekaya composed her voice.
– In any case, what I want to convey is this: I was also a girl and, at the same time, a woman. Even if I didn’t show it outwardly, I too had a great deal of interest in love just like my peers.
– But the truth is, I never experienced love even once during my lifetime. Everyone I met felt like a disappointment, making genuine romance impossible for me. After I came of age, I became so busy with preparations for the succession ceremony that I had no time to meet any men at all.
Thus, Erekaya sighed deeply, lamenting her miserable fate of not having even held a man’s hand at her age.
– So, the method for you to make me happy isn’t that difficult. If making someone happy is about filling their shortcomings, then you can easily achieve that by seducing me and making me fall in love with you. What do you think? Isn’t that an incredibly simple method?
“…..”
After hearing Erekaya’s explanation, Jin was left speechless. Was this girl even in her right mind?
“I have many things I want to say, but let me ask just a few questions first.”
– Go ahead.
“You just said that your past self had high standards for men, right? So how exactly am I supposed to seduce your past self? To be honest, saying this feels a bit degrading, but I don’t really know how to charm a woman.”
– Hmm… I hadn’t considered that issue.
Erekaya let out a scoffing laugh at Jin’s words. If she had been in front of him, she would have slapped him on the head for his audacity.
– Well, it’s undeniable that you are quite a lacking man from an objective standpoint. You’re not overwhelmingly handsome, nor particularly smart. You don’t come from a reputable background, and you certainly have no money or power. Now that I think about it, saying all this, you truly are a man in dire need of improvement.
“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”
Jin growled, but Erekaya ignored his words and continued speaking.
– But don’t worry. Although you may be a severely lacking man by my standards, I’m still right by your side. No one knows better than I do what kind of preferences my past self had, what she liked, and what she felt affection towards. Isn’t that so?
Of course, that was true. After all, she was referring to her own past self.
– It’s rather strange that you can’t seduce someone when I’m here to guide you step by step. Even if it’s my past self, ultimately, she’s just an inexperienced girl who hasn’t even shed the scent of childhood yet. Manipulating her to your will would be as easy as pie for me.
“If that’s the case, then seducing your past self isn’t such a difficult task, is it?”
– Foolishness, have you been tuning me out this whole time? Did I not say that I, as a woman, was a perfect being devoid of flaws? Seducing someone like me won’t be as straightforward as you might think.
“…..”
What kind of tune am I supposed to dance to here? Why does the narrative keep shifting?
“Isn’t it possible to just throw caution to the wind and lay out all the facts to your past self? Well, I know she wouldn’t just take my word for it with a clear mind, but if you help me, I believe I could convince her.”
For instance, if I were to reveal information that only Erekaya Del Pendragon would know, or maybe details about future events that are about to unfold, I thought persuading her wouldn’t be entirely impossible…
No matter how much I consider it, this seems far more realistic than the madness of trying to seduce the daughter of a Duke House and making her fall in love with me.
– No, that’s the opposite. That method is fraught with risks.
But Erekaya directly opposed his suggestion.
– When thinking about it logically, would a person simply believe someone claiming to be a time traveler and spewing out insider knowledge? My past self would likely think there’s a traitor leaking information from within the Pendragon Duke House. After all, my past self was a remarkably rational person.
Ah, yes, what a way to wrap up her suspicion as being rational.
– Furthermore, if she were to hear that she must become happy in order to prevent the End, the pressure of that burden could prevent her from feeling any happiness. Happiness isn’t something that can be artificially created. Even if it could, it wouldn’t be happiness; rather, it would just be a facade and deceit.
“Somehow, that doesn’t sound like something you should be saying.”
It shocked Jin to hear such rational words coming from a girl who had uttered the absurd suggestion to seduce herself.
“By the way, that’s all well and good, but how exactly do you propose to approach the only successor and noble daughter of the Pendragon Duke House? No matter how I think about it, the real issue seems to be a mere street nobody trying to get close to the Duke’s daughter.”
– No problem at all. Because as of now, I find myself in an environment where I can easily approach someone like you, a man lacking in background, looks, and ability.
“What’s that about?”
– Nineveh Academy. Have you heard of it?
Of course, he had. After all, he had been around in this world for over a hundred years, so there was no way he wouldn’t know about it.
Nineveh Academy, to strip away all the embellishments and get straight to the point, is an educational institution that trains human weapons.
Although it pretends to be an academic institution that teaches various subjects, that’s merely a sideshow. Can you believe that more than half of the regular curriculum consists of combat-related classes?
In fact, it used to be a military academy, but it was renamed because it carried too much of a soldier’s odor.
By the way, the reason Jin knows so much is that he seriously considered enrolling there at one point.
Whether to fight against the End or simply to survive in this world, improving one’s personal abilities was essential, and Nineveh specialized in teaching how to do just that.
Honestly speaking, what does Jin, who has lived in the 21st century, know about improving his abilities? He’s only managed a few Taekwondo kicks during his military service.
However, for various reasons, Jin ultimately had to abandon his plans to enroll in the academy.
The biggest reason was that it is the Empire’s top prestigious institution, where the offspring of all nobles enroll, and being an institution that raises students to become human weapons, it required thorough background checks.
In a way, it was only natural. Isn’t it more bizarre to just pick up some random person off the street and rigorously train them? After all, how would you deal with a potential spy from a foreign country?
‘Of course, I am not a spy.’
In truth, his situation was even worse. Because he was an illegal immigrant from another dimension.
– My past self is currently enrolled there. Well, saying I’m merely enrolled doesn’t do justice. I’m actually serving as the Student Council President.
“Student Council President?”
It did seem absurd, yet one could argue that it was only fitting for the heir of the Pendragon Duke House to hold such a prestigious position.
– As the Student Council President, I’m responsible for overseeing all the students, which means I’ll also have plenty of opportunities to interact with them. And when my past self shows even the briefest of openings, I’ll seize that opportunity without hesitation, much like a tiger hunting with its appearance concealed while waiting for the perfect moment.
“I think we should first consider how to get into Nineveh. Just a heads-up, the security there is as strict as that of the Imperial Palace. Trying to breach through the front is impossible.”
– I have no intention of making you mimic a thief. After all, this is still the early stages of my reincarnation, and I don’t possess much strength yet.
When Erekaya stated that she hadn’t expected him to accomplish such a thing from the beginning, Jin felt a bit frustrated.
– I have my own methods. I’ll make sure to admit you as a special student.
“Special student?”
– For reference, my taste leans towards a fresh and pure romance between students. Isn’t it wonderfully cute, even if it belongs to a past era?
As she said this, Erekaya burst into loud laughter.
– So, what should we do? In order to hunt the tiger, one must first become the tiger themselves, don’t you think?
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