Chapter 40
Somewhere in the capital, inside Count Pophos’s mansion.
One day, a discreet package was delivered there.
It was a box small enough to hold with one hand.
The sender was the Illusion Magic Tower.
Count Pophos carried it into his room and began to carefully open it.
“Ohhh… Uhoooot…!!!”
Inside was a small figurine modeled after JeBbit as a cute character.
At first glance, it just looked like JeBbit merchandise.
However, the small figurine was made of high-quality mana stones, embedded with layers of illusion magic as an ‘artifact.’
The design had been chosen at Count Pophos’s request.
Initially, Rai had wanted to make it look like a simple stone.
That way, others wouldn’t recognize it if they saw it.
But that went against Count Pophos’s principles.
He wanted at least one of the heroines’ faces to be on it.
After much deliberation, the design ended up being the current JeBbit figurine.
If people thought it was just JeBbit merchandise, they wouldn’t think it odd.
It was a design that he liked because he could get a heroine’s figurine as well.
Count Pophos, too, was a fan of JeBbit.
“J-JeBbit-chan… Huff… Hoo…!”
Of course, Count Pophos knew JeBbit’s true identity.
But JeBbit and Rikal were distinctly different beings.
It was similar to how some people become fans of a character played by an actor.
Neither Rai nor Rikal could agree with this mindset, but that was how Count Pophos felt.
“P-Puuu… T-Then, let’s begin…! Huff huff… How… exciting…”
With a flushed face, Count Pophos lay down on his bed.
He held the JeBbit figurine-shaped artifact tightly with both hands and placed it on his chest.
His excited body was sweating profusely, and for some reason, there was tension in his lower half.
“G-Go…! Jebbit-chan…!”
Count Pophos departed into the world of illusions.
He used the artifact to enter the world of the dating sim created by the Illusion Magic Tower, ‘Heart-pounding Academy!’
***
One day, Viscount Persig visited Count Pophos’s mansion.
Viscount Persig was a relative of Count Pophos and one of the few people he interacted with.
“The Count said he would be right back after finishing some extra work. Please wait a moment.”
“It’s fine. I’ll wait in the Count’s room.”
“But the Count’s room is…”
“It’s fine. I’ve been there more than a few times.”
Recently, Count Pophos had been very strict about letting anyone into his room.
The butler tried to guide Viscount Persig to the drawing room, but the Viscount headed straight for the Count’s room.
The Count and the Viscount were quite close, so they had always chatted in the Count’s room before.
Knowing this, the butler simply nodded.
“Sigh… This is why he’s still single.”
The Viscount sighed at the sight of the messy, disorganized room.
There was a strange, unidentifiable smell.
The room was filled with JeBbit merchandise, pictures of cute girls, and suggestive novels.
The reason he hadn’t managed to get married or even date was clear.
“This is new merchandise.”
As he looked around the room, the Viscount noticed a collection of JeBbit merchandise in a corner.
Among them was a JeBbit figurine that he hadn’t seen before, and it didn’t look ordinary.
“An artifact?”
It wasn’t just a figurine; it was an artifact.
The Viscount, curious, activated the artifact.
And he was immediately sucked into the world of illusions.
About thirty minutes later.
“W-W-What are you doing?!”
Count Pophos, who had just returned from his work, saw the Viscount lying on the floor and shouted, his cheeks jiggling.
He hurriedly forced the Viscount to log out, but the Viscount had already experienced ‘Heart-pounding Academy!’
“C-Count, this… Just now, JeBbit was…”
“A-A-Arrgh…!”
Count Pophos had promised the Illusion Magic Tower never to reveal the secret to anyone.
He begged the Viscount to keep the secret.
However, not long after,
Rumours began to spread around the capital that there was a game where you could simulate dating JeBbit.
The rumours spread rapidly, capturing the public’s attention.
Count Pophos, the owner of the game, took a long vacation and went into hiding.
***
“Huff… Huff… Today, I can finally see the first ending…!”
Count Pophos, who had taken a vacation and gone into hiding.
He was now laying low with the much-talked-about ‘JeBbit Dating Simulation Game.’
“M-M-Maybe they won’t find me…!” he muttered as he ran away.
He ignored the situation outside and focused on clearing ‘Heart-pounding Academy!’
After playing the game all day, he finally reached the end of Miko’s route.
Today was the day he could see the ending.
Count Pophos logged into ‘Heart-pounding Academy!’
[Today is the day I confess to Miko. We agreed to talk behind the building after class.]
The narration played.
After class, the Count headed behind the building.
Between the main building with various storage rooms and the gymnasium.
He was supposed to meet Miko somewhere near the sports equipment storage.
“Huff… Huff… Miko-chan… wait for me.”
Breathing heavily with excitement, the Count arrived in front of the storage.
Miko hadn’t arrived yet.
“W-When will she get here… Huff…! Did they make the game wrong or something…!”
Miko still didn’t show up as time passed.
Annoyed, Count Pophos paced around and mumbled to himself.
-…Mm… Ahh…
A delicate voice suddenly came from somewhere.
It sounded vaguely like Miko’s voice.
“Miko-chan?”
Count Pophos looked around, but Miko was nowhere to be seen.
As he wandered nearby, he heard her moaning again.
It was coming from inside the sports storage.
-…Ahh… Ha… Renton…
“…Renton?”
Renton was the name of a delinquent male character in the game.
Feeling uneasy, Count Pophos hurriedly tugged on the storage door, but.
Clunk- Clunk-
“Wh-What…! Why won’t it open…!”
The door wouldn’t open and just rattled.
He tried hitting it with various objects, but it wouldn’t break or open.
“Miko-chaaan—!!”
Miko’s voice continued to echo, as did Renton’s.
Realizing what was happening, Count Pophos banged on the door desperately.
The pain in his hands was surprisingly vivid, as if the game had even implemented tactile sensations.
“A-At… Why…”
With his strength fading, Count Pophos sank down, exhausted.
A moment later, the storage door opened, and Miko and Renton emerged.
The storage room was filled with a hot, stuffy heat, and Renton had his hand on Miko’s shoulder.
“Hey, isn’t it Count Pophos! What are you doing here?”
“I-Iik… I-Iik…!”
Miko’s face flushed red.
And Renton, looking down at the Count with a sneering smile.
Even though Renton hadn’t laid a finger on him, the Count felt immense pain.
It was a searing pain in his chest, as if his heart was being torn apart.
“Ugh, Ughhhh-!”
Filled with rage, Count Pophos lunged at Renton.
But Renton easily kicked him away with a single strike.
“Why… Why, Miko-chan!!!”
“Miko, it seems like Count Pophos has something to say?”
“Uh, uh-huh… Let’s go, Renton.”
Miko glanced disdainfully at the Count and then clung to Renton as they left.
Watching their retreating figures, Count Pophos screamed until his throat felt like it would tear.
“Why… Why are you doing this, Miko-chan!!!”
A situation he couldn’t comprehend. They had been fine just yesterday.
He had no idea why this was happening.
Screaming until he coughed up blood, Count Pophos fainted and logged out of the game.
“Cough… Cough…”
Suffering severe internal wounds, Count Pophos writhed in pain for days without eating.
After barely regaining his senses, he tried pursuing the other heroines’ routes, but the result was the same.
“Ugh… Ughhhh…!!! Cough…”
And so, his vacation filled with endless suffering continued.
***
Rikal had nothing special going for him.
From a young age, he was distracted and couldn’t focus on his lessons, nor did he show any qualities of a ruler.
He wasn’t skilled in politics, nor was he cunning enough to survive in the capital.
And in the year Rikal turned ten.
“Oh dear…”
“C-rank, and it’s even an illusion type…”
“He has no magical talent either. How unfortunate…”
Rikal took the Attribute Affinity Test.
It was a C-rank, low-tier attribute of the Illusion type.
A power that was practically useless in any field.
Had it been a C-rank of a different attribute, it might have been usable.
But as an illusion type, it was even more looked down upon.
Yet he was born into his status.
He was royalty, the most noble of birth.
Some might say that this alone meant he was born with many privileges.
But aside from that, Rikal had nothing else.
So, being called royalty was more of a curse to him.
“The 3rd Prince seems hopeless.”
“At least the 1st Prince is intelligent, so it’s alright, isn’t it?”
“But it’s embarrassing for royalty to be so incompetent… If he’s like this now, it’s obvious how he’ll turn out when he’s older.”
The murmurs about his incompetence.
Young Rikal was innocent and unaware of the gossip behind his back.
But as the years passed.
And as Rikal grew older, he began to notice the way people looked at him.
An incompetent prince.
After realizing how people saw him, Rikal’s innocence disappeared.
The only thing he enjoyed was swinging a sword.
So, he would practice swordsmanship alone in the corner of the training grounds every day.
Gradually, people’s interest in Rikal faded.
No one cared if he skipped meals.
And the nobles who once initiated conversations with him began to diminish. They flocked to the Crown Prince, Leo.
Instead, some nobles who were known as troublemakers approached Rikal, pretending to be friendly.
They were the so-called delinquent noble heirs.
“Give it a try, Your Highness. It’s a lot of fun, hehe.”
“Yeah. This prank is something only Your Highness can pull off.”
They incited Rikal to misbehave.
At first, Rikal hesitated, but eventually, he went through with it.
“Kyaa-!”
“The sculpture that His Majesty cherishes…!”
“Who could have done such a thing!”
Rikal had smashed a sculpture displayed in a hallway of the capital.
Naturally, the Emperor was furious and scolded the young Rikal.
“…Sigh. Enough. Leave now.”
For anyone else, it would have been a crime deserving of execution.
But for Rikal, a scolding was the extent of his punishment.
No matter what, the Emperor couldn’t bring himself to kill his own son.
A normal person would have stopped after being scolded like that.
But young Rikal didn’t.
He continued causing trouble, big and small, and people both within the royal family and throughout the capital whispered about him.
Of course, Rikal didn’t enjoy being treated like this.
But he kept doing it.
‘…Because no one else would pay attention to me.’
It was the only way he could get attention.
In the vast, grand, and splendid capital.
That empty, terrifying feeling of being completely ignored by everyone.
The sensation of being forgotten by all simply because he was deemed incompetent.
When he thought about that, this was better.
Humans are social creatures.
What they fear most is being ignored.
And so, Rikal gradually became a complete troublemaker.
Continuing to act out for reasons he no longer remembered.
That’s how he became the Rogue Prince he is now.
“Ha… That idiot really…!”
Rikal threw the newspaper aside in frustration.
It was filled with articles about the JeBbit dating simulation game.
“I told him to be careful. How did he get caught? What was he doing…”
He never should have trusted that foolish pig Count.
On top of that, when things turned out like this, Count Pophos took a long vacation and disappeared.
“I should’ve just killed him back then…”
Rikal regretted not killing Count Pophos at the time.
The next day, a letter arrived from the Illusion Magic Tower, and Rikal headed to Trinity.
—
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