Kiraware Yūsha ni Tensei Shitanode Aisare Yūsha o Mezashimasu! - Chapter 48

[Hated Hero, Enjoying Breakfast at His Fiancée’s Home]

A day had passed at the Ehrenbergs’ manor, and a new morning had arrived.

“Good morning, Lord Barrett.”

“Breakfast is ready, please come this way.”

“Young Mistress Tayte sent me to inform you that she will take a little more time to get ready and ask you to go ahead.”

When I got dressed and left the room, the maids and manservants of the Ehrenbergs greeted me. Immediately after I arrived yesterday, they were treating me like I was some vicious monster, but there was no trace of such a thing now.

It was likely big thanks to Tayte and my flirting in the garden and the dinner yesterday.

As I breathed out a sigh of relief, we arrived at the dining room.

Lord Alonso and Lady Lilia were already seated and waiting for us.

“Pardon me for being late.”

“No need, we just came a bit early.”

“Yes. You don’t have to worry about it.”

As I was about to say thanks to two who gave me big smiles…

“I’m sorry!”

…Tayte came in a hurry, out of breath.

It seemed that she had overslept.

Apparently, she was so excited about today’s ball that she couldn’t sleep.

I totally got her.

No matter how old you were, it was always difficult to sleep the day before a fun event.

We ate breakfast while having such a conversation.

I wondered why.

I felt like having breakfast while listening to Tayte talking about how she couldn’t sleep because she was looking forward to the ball too much made it so much more delicious. Even Lady Lilia, who usually ate little, was eating with gusto, so it must not be just my imagination.

Lord Alonso was looking at Tayte happily talking about her enthusiasm for today’s ball with a gentle look, which turned into a joyful one upon turning to see Lady Lilia having such a big appetite.

Although he only appeared a few times in the original storyline, seeing him like this made me think that Lord Alonso was quite a worldly-wise man.

After all, his daughter’s first fiancé was Barrett, who had a huge defect in personality, whereas her second fiancé was Raul, who was building a harem. To make matters worse, her position in the harem was weak. On top of all that, his wife had a weak constitution.

…Perhaps the one most positively influenced by the improvement of the relationship between me and Tayte was actually Lord Alonso.

After breakfast, we were chatting over tea, when…

“Young Master Barrett, it is about time to return to the academy.”

…Marina spoke up.

“Huh?! Is it time already?!”

Crap.

We had not come to a consensus regarding our topic of debate “What is the best hairstyle for Tayte other than her usual hairstyle?”, yet I had to go to the academy already. At the moment, ‘twintails’, proposed by Lady Lilia, had the lead. However, it was not yet final and there was still much room for debate.

As such, we decided to postpone it for the time being. I would go on ahead to the academy whereas Tayte would catch up later as she had to take time to get ready. But as soon as I left the dining room, Tayte chased and stopped me.

“B-Barrett!”

“? What’s up?”

“U-um…” Tayte hesitated to speak.

Noticing that, Marina quickly made room for us.

She sure was considerate—no, I took that back; she was clearly eavesdropping.

“About the earlier discussion…”

“Oh, you mean about hairstyles and stuff?”

“Yes. Um… you like the ponytail, right?”

“Yeah,” I answered promptly.

Twintails proposed by Lady Lilia would look good on Tayte, yes, but my personal recommendation was the ponytail.

“…I understand. I just wanted to make sure. Well then, I will see you in the academy.”

With that, Tayte left.

So she just wanted to confirm my preference, huh… Hmm, could I hold some expectations here?

“You did well, Young Master.”

Marina said while giving me the thumbs up.

Accompanied by a very beautiful smile.

◇◇◇

Riding the carriage, I returned to Astor Academy.

I expected no less of the academy representative event—the ball.

I could feel it in the atmosphere, much excitement was in the air.

After putting away the luggage, I made my way to the venue to see if Reina needed a hand, but…

“Hi there, Barrett.”

…Someone called out to me… it was Jarvis, the student who would later join the hero party.