"Young master. Raise your arms."
Estelle’s cold voice brushed past my ear.
I lifted my arms as instructed.
Hands clad in white gloves began buttoning up my shirt with practiced ease.
—Click, click.
Smooth, precise movements.
No matter how much I struggled, there was clearly a reason things had ended up this way.
'Chloe.'
The moment my little sister’s name surfaced in my mind, a sigh slipped out of me before I knew it.
There were a few beings in this world that were genuinely frightening.
The first name that came to mind was the crown prince.
Next would be the villainess, the daughter of a certain ducal house, and an organization of assassins.
After that came my little sister, Chloe.
As for the crown prince, he was the empire’s strongest madman with the seeds of a tyrant buried inside him, so of course he was terrifying. But if you asked why my little sister was on that list—
'Because Chloe is aiming for the position of family head.'
She was capable, meticulous in her calculations, and cold.
There was even an interpretation that the one who drove the extra Ian Ash into a rampage was none other than Chloe, so for me, she was a rather directly terrifying existence.
'Of course.'
I intended to make use of Chloe.
I mean, she was competent, wasn’t she?
As long as I quietly handed over the position of family head, she was the kind of talent who could put the whole family on autopilot!
Therefore, maintaining a good relationship with Chloe was best for my comfortable future.
'I more or less understand why she’s angry this time.'
The other day, when she paid off my urgent interest, I made a few promises.
Not to ask where the money came from.
Not to concern herself with me.
Not to complain because I would be putting the material costs on credit.
'...I did run up quite a bit of credit.'
While making the maid doujinshi, I had spent roughly four times the amount I’d promised on credit.
Of course, there was a solution.
The money would be coming in soon.
'After I attend the banquet.'
As for academy enrollment, I could try negotiating with Chloe again.
On the way home, I would stop by the merchant guild, collect the money, and quietly hand it over to Chloe. Problem solved.
Simple.
"Please tilt your head forward a little more."
Estelle’s calm voice cut through my thoughts.
I reflexively leaned my head forward.
Her fingers skillfully adjusted the knot of my cravat.
She really was good.
I had never once seen Estelle fail at anything.
Cleaning, cooking, finances, even using a silver tray as a weapon.
Was this what an all-purpose maid meant?
I blankly looked down at her before me—
And our eyes met.
"……."
The awkward silence lasted only a moment.
Estelle immediately, hurriedly, turned her gaze away.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she smoothly straightened the front of my coat.
'Hm?'
That wasn’t like Estelle.
Usually, that look in her eyes was either contempt or indifference, one of the two. But just now, there had been some strange glimmer mixed in that was neither.
Did I see it wrong?
"Estelle."
"Yes."
"Is something wrong?"
"…There is no way nothing could be wr— No. It is nothing."
She lowered her gaze as she brushed the lint remaining on my shoulder with her gloved hand.
"Let us depart quickly. If you are late, Miss Chloe will not let it slide."
I shut my mouth and moved my feet.
◆
The opening banquet.
The moment I got out of the carriage, I realized just how cruel those two words were.
The golden light of the chandeliers draped over the front of the academy’s main building. The noble sons and daughters, dressed in formal attire, were entering in pairs and trios.
The sound of dress hems sweeping across the floor.
The scent of aristocratic perfume filled the air.
This banquet was the place where, in the original work, The Golden Chains, the crown prince and the saintess appeared together in public for the first time.
In other words, after this banquet, the main story would begin in earnest.
It was not a place for an extra like me to get involved.
"I will absolutely not get entangled with anyone."
That was today’s goal.
Leaving Estelle in the hall, I leisurely entered the banquet venue.
…As soon as I stepped inside, unpleasant gazes began stabbing at me from here and there.
"Isn’t that Ian from the Viscount Ash family?"
"Ah, right. The one who caused trouble and took a leave of absence."
"He returned to school? I heard his family was completely ruined."
"Shh, be quiet. He might hear."
Yes. I can hear you very well.
Especially you at the end—confirmed as the worst offender.
Pretending to be considerate from a distance where anyone could obviously hear you was basically teabagging, wasn’t it?
'Hmm, now I understand what kind of reputation Ian Ash had.'
A complete loner. Treated like an outcast.
"All the better."
I quietly laughed to myself.
It meant that if I stayed still and silent as a mouse, no one would pay attention to me.
Perfect.
But there was a more important problem.
"...This smell. Could it be meat?"
Following the scent, I saw a mountain of meat piled up before my eyes.
Ahh.
How long had it been since I was forced onto that healthy diet at the Viscount Ash household...!
The moment I saw meat, I thought coming to this banquet had been the right choice.
Chomp, chomp.
"Oh my, does he starve at home?"
"Isn’t that obvious? He has no money."
"Ugh. How undignified."
Yeah. Say whatever you want.
Do bourgeois like you know the pain of the common people?!
Commoners would rather be well-fed pigs than hungry philosophers!
'Pigs are the best!'
Just as I was massacring the pork and beef at the banquet hall—
A murmur rose from deeper inside the hall.
I stuffed meat into my mouth and glanced over.
'Ah.'
The crowd was slowly gathering toward the entrance.
The main cast must have appeared.
Upon seeing that sight, I immediately rose from my seat.
If you were in the same space as the main characters, you were bound to get entangled somehow.
And I had no desire to watch from some corner either.
"Shall I move somewhere else?"
◆
When I went to the corner of the banquet hall, a terrace greeted me.
"It would be perfect to go out and get some fresh air."
Therefore, I immediately turned my steps in the other direction.
Why didn’t I go to the terrace?
Wouldn’t it be cool and calming?
Don’t make me laugh.
That was definitely a trap pick.
According to my romance-fantasy big data (which wasn’t much), the moment I went out there, the female lead and male lead would come over and have a lovers’ quarrel.
Then I would end up comforting one of them, and romantic foreshadowing would be laid down.
"Haah, dodged that well. Dodged it real well."
While admiring my own main-story evasion maneuver,
I walked along one wall of the hall and found a door at the end of a hallway that bent slightly inward.
When I opened it a crack, it was a small lounge.
A couple of sofas, a low table, and flowerpots neatly arranged by the window.
There was no one inside.
"Nice."
I closed the door, approached the sofa by the window, went behind it—
—Thud.
And simply flopped down.
The mat was soft enough to lie on.
"I can just endure here until the banquet ends."
If Estelle saw this, she would have had a fit, but so what?
Estelle wasn’t a noble, so she couldn’t enter the banquet hall, which meant she couldn’t nag me either, right?
As I chuckled like a madman, the sound of music leaking in from the banquet hall faintly reached my ears.
'Nice.'
I slightly closed my eyes.
Let’s plan the next erotic manga.
Maybe a childhood friend theme would be good...
—Clack!
Just then, the door opened.
I reflexively flattened myself behind the sofa.
I covered my body with a cushion and held my breath.
It seemed two people had entered.
"Seriously? That author called Extra?"
It was an unfamiliar male voice.
"Ha, fuck, I’m telling you, you have to see it. The maid is fucking hot as hell. After seeing that, I immediately wanted to drag our maid over and strip her."
"You really are one crazy bastard."
My ears perked up.
Were they talking about the manga I drew?
It hadn’t even been out that long, and they had already read it?
From behind the sofa, I very slightly raised my head and peeked while keeping my body hidden.
Two of them.
Both were noble sons who seemed to be around my age.
Among them, one person’s appearance immediately caught my eye.
Bright golden hair. Lively eyes. Broad shoulders and a fairly sturdy physique. Overall, he gave off a shining impression.
'That guy.'
A memory flashed past.
The son of the southern admiral.
A character whose name came up a few times in the original The Golden Chains.
The blond playboy second male lead who created tension between Saintess Arina and the crown prince.
He was the sort of person who gave off the impression that he could seduce any woman in the world, making the readers nervous—a villain you couldn’t bring yourself to hate.
A womanizer like that read my manga?
It didn’t feel bad. It was as if I had been acknowledged by an expert.
I could even use it as advertising copy.
...But wait a second.
Something was strange.
He had the kind of appearance that was among the most dazzling in the empire and could monopolize the gazes of noble young ladies, and yet—
"Hey, but does it really feel good to do it with women?"
"Huh? Ah... yeah. Why are you asking something like that? Of course it feels good."
"Can you make women go crazy like in those drawings too?"
"Huh? Ha... Hey, you bastard. Of course I can. They can’t even move."
Seeing those two slip out of the banquet hall, hide in a quiet lounge, and excitedly talk about erotic manga—
'He seems like a virgin.'
Seeing him sweat bullets while trying his best to act experienced made it even more certain.
The blond playboy son of the southern admiral was a virgin.
Shocking.
'Come to think of it, this was an extremely wholesome romance-fantasy world.'
Had I been thinking too much in erotic manga terms?
Just as I was trying to process that shock—
—Clack.
"Which bastard opens the door without knockiiiing..."
The voices of the two men abruptly cut off.
'What is it?'
I very slowly raised my eyes above the sofa.
The door to the lounge was open.
And standing before the door was a handsome man who seemed to have stepped out of a painting, with hair that looked as if every strand had been embroidered with gold thread and deep, shining crimson eyes...
"Oh my. Your Highness Crown Prince Leonhardt Bell, what brings you to such a shabby place?"
Watching the blond playboy mouth off, I had no choice but to repeat inwardly.
'I’m fucked.'
I immediately hid my entire body below the sofa’s backrest.
Why are you here?
"I merely wished to get some fresh air for a moment."
The crown prince’s voice was slow and low.
And it contained, very clearly, an unspoken pressure telling them to leave this room.
'Why the hell would this lunatic come to a lounge for fresh air?'
"Does Your Highness take fresh air in lounges? Or are you hoping to enjoy the breeze from some lady’s skirts?"
Well done, blond playboy!
Just for today, I’m on your side.
I believed in you, virgin blond playboy!
From behind the sofa, I cheered desperately.
"Do you have a complaint?"
"Of course not. Then please rest comfortably."
And with that, the existing occupants left.
What the hell.
That bastard calls himself a playboy after that?
'No wonder he’s a virgin.'
Spineless prick!
Fine.
Since things had turned out this way, I just had to endure until the crown prince left.
—Or so I resolved, only for it to become meaningless.
Creak—
The door opened once again.
At this point, I had half given up, but judging by the very soft sound of a dress hem dragging across the floor, it was obvious that whoever it was, she was a noble young lady of high rank.
"Your Highness."
As expected, it was a woman’s voice.
It was too late to leave.
'Let’s just stay here. I just have to be quiet. I don’t exist in this space. I’m air. I am air.'
"What is the matter, my lady?"
A lady?
A daughter of a duke’s house.
In this world, there were three ducal houses, so she had to be from one of those three.
And one of them was truly the worst villainess.
The so-called villainess type.
'Please let it not be that person.'
While I was praying that, their conversation had somehow progressed.
"Your Highness. I know as well. I know that your marriage to the saintess is a political marriage."
It suddenly started riding the main romance-fantasy storyline.
"She does not love you, Your Highness. She is only by your side because she needs your power. But I am different. I want you yourself, Your Highness."
"And?"
The crown prince’s reaction was indifferent.
"Cast aside the likes of the saintess and marry me."
Suddenly, a conversation that would ruin my life if I overheard it had begun.
Ah, why!