Bridge 37 (Not so secret route)

I walked into our base of operations and saw Ringo and Tsuyukoi. Ringo was lying on the table shuddering and twitching. Tsuyukoi was watching her with an amused look and a wry smile on her face.

The sounds of Ringo’s muffled laughter told me why Ringo was twitching as she was. I let out a sigh and approached them, I already knew that I was not going to like whatever this was.

I had sent them to gather information on that girl that was stalking me. So having Ringo nearly crying from laughter could only mean they found something that that would annoy me. If that girl was hiding something that would harm me then they would have taken care of it. Instead, I find Ringo nearly pissing herself and the mature one of them still being amused.

Tsuyukoi looked over at me as I approached and judging from the twitch of her lips what she found was what I thought.

“Alright, just get it over with. What did you find? Is she planning on tying me down and kidnapping me or something? What ever it is it has to be hilarious to have Ringo like this.” I shot out dryly. My words only exasperated Ringo as she let go of holding back on her laughter.

“Well, it’s not anything that dire,” Tsuyukoi spoke out slowly but her lips continued to twitch wildly. Which just had me letting out another sigh.

“She….She….Fucking Harem…..” Ringo shot out between snorts and laughter. I blinked at that as it did not really answer anything and only brought up questions. Questions I was not sure if I wanted the answer to.

“Yes…Well, the girl is named Amy no last name currently but she is the daughter of a maid that worked at the Brayes estate. Considering his rather loose reputation and Amy’s green eyes she is likely a child born out of wedlock. Considering the Baron’s lack of children and his declining health she is likely to inherit the title.” Tsuyukoi started listing things mechanically but she was clearly amused by all of this.

 So far I was not hearing what had them laughing but Ringo stopped and looked over at me with a glint in her eyes. It was as if she was waiting for the punch line.

“Interesting but that would not explain her behaviour. Although it might cover why she was not crushed by me going to the Royal Academy. She is likely to attend as well…So is she aware of her identity?” I asked as I tried to figure out why that girl acted the way she did.

Ringo got back to giggling and Tsuyukoi let out a snort of her own.

“Girly has plans, Her mother probably told her part of if considering her little notebook.” Ringo shot out with a grin and a mocking glint in her eyes.

“From the scribbled notes in her book, it is likely that she is aware of her identity as a bastard,” Tsuyukoi spoke out as she shuffled and tried to parse what was coming next.

I let out yet another sigh knowing that it was going to be annoying.

“Just get on with it. I’m growing tired of Ringo’s knowing looks and the endless laughter coming from her. I was the one who asked for this information so there is no need to dance around it like this.” I spoke out with a wry smile on my face.

“Girly is planning a nice little Harem for herself. She has plots and plans on seducing the crown prince and his little entourage. She has been monitoring you for so long because she is trying to figure out how to add you to the mix. She is apparently really frustrated about it as she sees you as some sort of super secret mysterious boy toy.” Ringo spoke out quickly before devolving into more laughter. I looked over at Tsuyukoi for confirmation as that was just….a lot but the red head just gave me a nod and a wry smile.

I sat down at the table trying to put all of this together. I must have had a baffled look on my face as Ringo’s laughter got louder but I was too busy trying to deal with a girl trying to add me to her Harem.

How was I even supposed to take that? The girl was clearly delusional if she thought she could seduce the crown prince and all the noble kids around him. Sure, she is a rather attractive person considering her features but high nobility did not marry out of love. It was all about the advantages marriage would bring them and the disadvantages they would avoid by marrying certain people.

For example, the crown prince was engaged to one of the Duke households to stabilize the kingdom. The Royal family was only in power because they held the support of those Dukes after all. If two of those Dukes became dissatisfied with the family then they could rebel and the Royal family and the last Duke would have a hard time fighting that. So it was easier to marry one of the Duke’s as that would guarantee their support regardless of anything else. Then the Royal family could spend resources to ensure that at least one of the remaining Dukes remained loyal.

Of course, there were other factors that would control the remaining Dukes like the values that the current head had and how they behaved. It was a complicated game that some no-name Baron had no business trying to get involved with.

She was not even satisfied with just having the Crown Prince either. She wanted all of his entourage and me as well. That was frankly an insane dream that had no way of happening. Was she just expecting the Crown Prince to be happy at being cucked? Or did she think that high society would gladly accept the polyamorous relationship she was trying to build?

A relationship like that would only undermine the authority of the Royal Family. One could argue that it would increase the bonds between the families that represented the entourage of the Prince but they were already his lackeys. There was quite literally no reason to ‘further’ their bond in such a way.

It was not like those guys were all that important either. The Son of the Knight commander was cool but not very relevant to nobility. The same could be said of the son of the Court Wizard. The Marquis had money but the remaining Dukes could give him a run for his money and destroy him in sheer military might.

Her plot was fucking ridiculous and should never work out. I froze as that thought ran through my mind. I was coming from the perspective that everyone here would be rational but this world was not built for that. This was an Otome game which meant that a reverse harem route was viable….no matter how stupid it sounds there was a series of actions that could lead to her getting exactly what she wanted.

She even fits the mold of the heroine in the story. She was the child of a maid who was suddenly thrown into noble society as she discovered her true nature. She had fucking Pink hair!? HOW DID I NOT SEE THAT AND THINK IT WAS STRANGE? 

She fit the heroine theme to a tee. Except she seemed to know far too much about what was going on. Typically the heroine in those games was innocent and naive. Yet, I had caught her stalking me and plotting to make me fall for her. She was also manipulative as she tried to output that innocent and naive look but she was clearly anything but that.

So she should not be the heroine even if her background fits it…So was she a villain? No, that did not fit either. I think I had to step out of the box that I had placed myself in. I was treating her as a resident of this world who would follow the flow but what if she was a reincarnator?

I knew that those people would exist as I was in a fictional world already and I knew of several fictions that had Isekai as their themes. So this being a story about reincarnation being placed into an Otome Game and her trying to get the harem route could work….even if that sounded really fucking odd for a premise.

Who exactly are you Amy Brayes? I looked toward Ringo to ask something quickly.

“You mentioned she thought of me as a super secret mysterious boy but what were the exact words she used to describe me?” I asked with a glint in my eyes. Ringo blinked not quite sure why that mattered but shrugged it off.

“Well not really but she did have her plot to seduce you listed as the hidden route if that helps?” Ringo spoke out as she tried to figure out what I was on about.

Those words clinched it. I was dealing with reincarnation trying to add me to her harem…..I was not sure how this was going to play out but watching her bumble around should at least be amusing. 

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In case no one knows what world he was currently in this world came from the light novel/manga Villager A Wants To Save The Villainess No Matter What.