The Childhood Friend of the Villainess in a Romance Fantasy

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: TempWane

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The guest was Amelia.

This time, Amelia came alone.

Well, not ‘alone’ in the literal sense of the word. No parent would tell a seven-year-old child to travel such a long distance by herself. It’s a journey tiring enough to exhaust even an adult traveling alone.

Amelia’s carriage was driven by a coachman, accompanied by a maid who rode with her, and a few knights to guard her. On second thought, the Grand Ducal House sent far fewer people than when the prince visited.

Whether that difference was due to status or a sign of our family’s closeness, I wasn’t sure.

In any case, for some reason, Amelia came to visit our territory in a carriage by herself without the Grand Duke.

And—

“…You really told your wolf to bite your arm just to find an excuse to delay the duel?”

“Yes. If I’m injured, I won’t be able to duel.”

No matter how unpleasant the opponent’s personality, they wouldn’t want to spar with an injured person. It would hurt their pride in various ways. It was bad enough that they’d earned the reputation of losing to a woman; if that woman were injured, then even if they won, their honor would be tainted.

“Can’t you just give some reasonable excuse to delay it?”

“Do you think that would work against His Highness?”

At my question, Amelia lifted her hand and pressed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

The gesture was rather mature, but honestly, considering that she was only seven, it didn’t look as serious as it might have if an adult had done it.

Even though the situation itself was quite serious.

“Rather than that…”

Amelia lowered her hand and gave me a slight glare.

“Do you, by any chance, have feelings forHis Highness?”

“….”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what she was saying, and then—

“…Excuse me?”

I asked, confused.

“You said, ‘We haven’t had enough time to get to know each other,’ to someone you don’t even care about?”

She looked at me as if it was even more surprising that I would say that without any hidden feelings. Yet, I was equally puzzled by her question.

“Well, if it’s truly about getting to know each other through the duel, wouldn’t we need more time for that?”

Honestly, it was just an excuse I came up with on the spot, but now that I’d said it, it actually seemed logical. Ideally, if the duel was meant for understanding each other, it wouldn’t make sense to finish it with just one round.

“Did you really say that without any hidden intentions? Even just a little? Like wanting to be with the prince?”

“Of course not.”

I didn’t understand why Amelia kept pressing this—ah.

It occurred to me that in the original story setting, the prince was one of the ‘male protagonists.’ Harvey, my older brother, was already in his teens, showing a handsome face, but Prince Evan was still a kid with some baby fat left.

But knowing the original story, one might indeed want to date someone like the prince.

If I were in his position as a protagonist in a reverse-harem romance novel, I wouldn’t be too happy if one of the heroines was snatched away before she fully grown up.

Well, Amelia wasn’t the main heroine in this case but rather the villainess, though the original story I’d read wasn’t a romance fantasy but a “villainess novel,” meaning Amelia was, technically, the main character.

…And obviously, I had no interest in dating a man. After all, I was a man inside.

Not that this world would allow me to date a woman either, but if it came down to it, I’d rather stay single for life than marry a man. I might prefer a fate where I ride off on the back of a wolf and never return.

“…Really?”

“Really.”

I nodded firmly to Amelia, who squinted her eyes as she looked at me, trying to respond in as solid a tone as possible.

“Nature does not lies.”

“….”

But despite my added remark, Amelia only narrowed her eyes further as she continued to stare at me.

*

At first, I thought Elsie was planning to become the Crown Prince’s wife.

If any other woman from a barony had said she wanted to marry the Crown Prince, I would have laughed. The women of Delkis are all tall. To put it more bluntly, ‘gigantic’ might be a better word.

In the original novel, there was a consensus that they were all beauties, but that description was more for providing Elsie with the quality of a beauty and making “large” sound amusing rather than serious.

Besides, being beautiful isn’t particularly unique in this world. Most important characters are described as beautiful.

When men choose women, height matters, too. While they don’t only prefer short women, they don’t tend to favor women taller than themselves, either. Given the inherently patriarchal setting of a medieval fantasy world, a man preferring a woman taller than himself might be considered an unusual preference.

But Elsie, considering she had ‘giants’ blood, was ‘exceptionally’ short. Even when I grew up, I wouldn’t be taller than Elsie, yet the original described her as shorter than the Crown Prince.

More specifically, there’s a description: “Elsie stood in front of the Crown Prince to protect Amelia, clearly shorter than him, but she seemed taller than anyone else present.”

Assuming the grown Crown Prince was around the mid-180 cm range, Elsie would likely be about 170 cm or a bit more. With a noticeable height difference and above the female average, that seemed about right.

And if Elsie, like me, were a reincarnator who had read the original novel, it wouldn’t be strange for her to approach Prince Evan, the future Crown Prince.

…Because that’s what reincarnators do. Otherwise, what’s the point of reincarnating?

Amelia’s entanglement with the Crown Prince would spell her doom, but Elsie had no such fatal flags. The only obstacles were barely relevant characters who showed up hastily in part two, with nearly no interaction with the main characters until then.

But with this recent development, even that obstacle was gone, so I’d thought Elsie had decided to make her move.

I had thought.

However, Elsie’s face, when she arrived in a rush, showed no such signs. Granted, she had caused what one might call a sly incident, but she didn’t seem even remotely aware of it herself.

…Should I just outright ask her? Ask if this was an act? If she had perhaps taken acting lessons in her previous life?

But I soon abandoned that thought.

If Elsie knew the ‘original story’, she’d also know that I’d become a “villain” in the future. While I hadn’t done anything wicked yet, if she knew that I’d use and discard her one day, she’d naturally be wary.

Maybe she was letting it go simply because we were children now.

And if I revealed that I was a reincarnator, things might become even more complicated. Even I would think that someone who reincarnates as a villain is a dangerous existence. Such a person might do anything to avoid their doom. And in these kinds of genres, villainesses often engaged in refreshing revenge plots. The men who’d discarded them would regret, suffer, and try to win them back, only to fall further… The popular plot went something like that.

“What would you do if the other person interpreted your words that way?”

Elsie’s face scrunched up as I asked her this question.

It was the look of someone who despised even the thought of it.

Why?

He might be a bit blunt, but he’s a tsundere who treats his woman well, right? And he’s the Crown Prince. He even has some flaws that make you want to look after him. Unlike Harvey, Elsie’s brother, he had a completely different charm.

…Of course, he was the kind of character who’d bring me serious trouble if I got involved with him.

“In that happens, I’d have to clear up the misunderstanding..”

“But if a woman says something like that, clearing up the misunderstanding is much harder.”

If a man made a verbal misstep, it could be brushed off. A man charming multiple women could even be a point of pride—it would mean he’s attractive.

In modern society, a woman might be seen similarly.

…But this world is a “medieval” romance fantasy.

And it’s a world that painstakingly included settings to make the heroine’s confidence shine.

If a woman confessed love to a man who wasn’t her husband, it would be considered vulgar. Those who overheard it would gossip exaggeratedly. Such was the setting.

In that sense, Elsie’s words might narrowly avoid vulgarity, but they were still a confession.

By now, the Crown Prince—or rather, Prince Evan—must be feeling quite smug. He was still young, so it wouldn’t seem odd for him to be cocky over his popularity.

” W-What should I do? That wasn’t what I meant at all.”

I couldn’t tell if she was acting, knowing I might be a villain who could sabotage her, or if she genuinely didn’t know.

While I’m assuming she’s a reincarnator… did we read the same story? It’s obviously that kind of setting, isn’t it?

Oh, wait. Could she be younger? I just assumed she was an adult woman like me, but thinking about it, the story didn’t have any adult-themed scenes, so even younger readers could have read it.

Elementary school… maybe not, but middle school, at least.

…Now that I thought about it, the pieces suddenly seemed to fall into place.

“…Alright. Then let’s find a solution together. Would it be okay if I helped?”

I held back a sigh as I offered her my help.