The Protagonist’s Party is Too Diligent – 50
EP.50 Plan (5)
In truth, despite his character traits, Jake Lindbergh was a character who often found himself in unfortunate situations.
His internal backstory of an impossible love was overshadowed by his appearance, leading him to be portrayed in various fan works with less-than-flattering images. Though the game itself was well-known, there weren’t that many of those kinds of fan works.
In later sequels, much of that negative image disappeared, but this time, his reputation as a “devoted lover” led to him being featured in stories where the person he loved was stolen from him. All in all, he was a pretty unfortunate character.
“…”
“…”
The problem was that there wasn’t much for us to talk about.
At this point, Jake would probably have more to say to Alice than to me. Alice was in line for the throne, and other nobles likely viewed her that way too. Honestly, even if he tried to form a connection with me…
Oh, maybe not? Since I was almost always with Alice, getting close to me wouldn’t be a bad idea from his perspective. The difficulty of approaching me due to my image was a different story.
By the way, the girls who had been standing beside Jake started inching away as soon as we exchanged a few words.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Princess. I apologize for not greeting you first as a fellow classmate.”
But Jake was someone who could talk to women without hesitation. Just because there was a brief silence didn’t mean he would run away from me.
…Thinking about it again, he really was like one of those “oblivious harem protagonists.” Unlike the heroines around the protagonist, the heroines around this guy were mostly side characters. Since we were in the nobles’ class, they had names and all, but at most, they played brief roles as jealous types.
And those side characters had been slowly backing away since Jake and I started talking.
Even if scenes of jealousy and ostracism appeared, they were still daughters of noble families. Regardless of their backgrounds, they wouldn’t openly confront someone of my status, someone who even had rumors circulating among some noble families of being a “noble killer.”
It wasn’t common for nobles to approach me directly.
“I don’t care.”
I replied while glancing at the maid standing just behind Jake.
Even though there were separate classes for nobles and commoners, the design of the uniforms wasn’t different. If it weren’t for the distinct pleats in the skirts, it would be hard to distinguish whether it was a school uniform or a military one. The design likely aimed to promote the message of “all students are equal,” but… among the nobles, most already knew each other by face, so it wasn’t that meaningful. Besides, even if you didn’t know someone’s face, rumors spread fast.
“At least within the school, we are all just students. There’s no need to address me as Princess.”
“Oh, then…”
Jake pondered for a moment and then said,
“Can I call you Sylvia?”
“…”
Well, whatever.
It was true that calling me “Lady Fangriffon” felt a bit too formal. After all, it was a name tied to the imperial family, and using it so casually didn’t sit quite right with me. Yet, the way he just jumped straight to using my first name—well, I couldn’t decide whether to call him shameless or simply bold.
But then again, this was Jake. He was the type to call every character he met by their first name from the start, so there was no real point in making an issue of it. Instead, I focused my attention on the maid who likely brought Jake over to me in the first place.
Her skin was a bit darker. In the game, there was even content where she faced discrimination because of it. However, her skin wasn’t entirely dark either, as she was half-white to begin with.
‘If people are going to discriminate based on skin color, should I be discriminated against too?’
That was something Jake had said in the original work, standing up for her.
Others would point out that Jake’s tanned skin was due to sun exposure, making it different, but Jake countered with:
‘Skin color can change just from being in the sun, so how does it make sense that someone would be held back because of something as insignificant as that?’
No one could argue with him. They probably had a lot they wanted to say, but what could they do when their opponent was a duke?
“Oh, this is…”
Jake seemed to notice my gaze shifting behind him. He reached out and patted the back of the girl standing next to him, prompting her to step forward.
“This is Lottie…”
Jake introduced the somewhat petite girl.
Like in the orphanage, she didn’t have a last name. In this world, if you didn’t inherit a surname from your parents, you either married into a family or created your own surname later on. Otherwise, you lived without one.
Lottie was an illegitimate child of the Lindbergh family. Even if a noble had a child with a commoner, they wouldn’t acknowledge the child, and it was even more so for a child born from a maid brought from the colonies.
Lottie had lived her entire life as a maid, while Jake had been born a nobleman’s son from the moment he came into the world. They were an interesting pair, even if they were just a side couple.
“I’m Sylvia Fangriffon.”
“I’m… Lottie. I apologize for not greeting you first.”
Normally, a maid wouldn’t introduce herself directly. Even though she had grown up with Jake, Lottie would be acutely aware of that fact. Her expression, though… was impressively blank, to the point where I could learn a thing or two from her about maintaining a perfect poker face.
“Did you have something to do? Sorry for suddenly talking to you. Lottie suggested that it’d be best to talk to you to get those girls off my back.”
“Young Master.”
“…”
I stared at Jake’s face for a moment.
There wasn’t a hint of negative emotion in his expression. As a member of a noble family, especially one as prestigious as a duke’s, he would know how to speak diplomatically. So, this statement was intentional. Even so, I didn’t feel like it was meant to test me. More likely, he had said it out of genuine intent.
“Don’t worry, Lottie. Sylvia isn’t the kind of person you need to worry about.”
Jake assured her confidently.
Where Jake’s certainty came from, I couldn’t really tell.
“Really?”
I asked.
“Yeah. I don’t know what others might think of you, but I don’t get the feeling you’re a bad person.”
Jake nodded in response to my question.
In the original story, there was never any mention of whether Jake was good at reading people or not. He was just a character who treated everyone warmly. When the protagonist and their group went on the run, Jake lived peacefully in a port town, casually mingling with commoners and spending his time fishing without a care in the world. He even went so far as to lie that he and Lottie were newlyweds.
Thinking about it, he might have had a good eye for people. If he couldn’t trust those around him, he wouldn’t have been able to live so leisurely in such a situation. It could be said that he was just lucky, but a bit of suspicion wouldn’t hurt, right?
So, I raised my guard against Jake just a little.
“So… yeah. You give off a similar vibe to Lottie.”
“…”
“…Young Master.”
Lottie called him once again. Though her expression remained as unreadable as ever, it seemed my lack of response prompted her to speak. However, Jake’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
I glanced at Lottie. Her gaze dropped to the ground beneath my feet. Being the eldest son of a duke, his words held too much weight for her to dismiss or retract. Though her face remained blank, her stance betrayed a sense of fear.
“Well, I can’t say we’re entirely different.”
I finally replied. Loti’s gaze lifted slightly, though she still didn’t meet my eyes.
“Was that the only reason you spoke to me?”
I asked.
“Oh, yeah. Just wanted to say hi since we’re in the same class.”
“I see.”
“Yeah.”
“In that case, I’ll be going now.”
“Alright, see you tomorrow.”
Jake waved cheerfully as I turned my back on him without returning the gesture.
To be honest, I was nearing my limit. Even though I had gone to bed early, waking up at dawn had really taken a toll on me.
…I should take a good long nap. I could worry about Jake and Lottie after I’d rested.
With that thought, I quickly made my way back to my room. At least sticking to the plan to rest wouldn’t hurt, right?
*
“…”
“…”
As they watched Sylvia walk away, it was Lottie who broke the silence first.
“Young Master.”
“Hmm?”
“…Do you realize who you just spoke to?”
Lottie’s voice held a hint of sharpness.
“Well, you were the one who told me to talk to her, Lottie.”
Jake responded, seemingly unfazed.
“Young Master.”
Lottie couldn’t hold back and snapped at Jake, who had followed her suggestion to talk to Sylvia in order to shake off the group of girls constantly surrounding him. He’d picked the perfect moment too—when the two princesses he usually traveled with weren’t around. And it had worked perfectly. The girls who had crowded around him had all scattered.
“See? It worked. Hmm… maybe I should hang out with that group more often?”
“Young Master.”
“Why not? I mean, there’s the princess of Velbur, the Empire’s potential next Empress, and the Grace family may just be a barony, but they’re closer to the imperial family than most dukes. They’re all perfect people to build connections with.”
“…”
When Lottie fell silent, Jake burst into laughter.
“Alright, fine. I’ll admit it. At first, I only spoke to Sylvia to tease you.”
“…”
Lottie remained silent, but Jake shrugged and continued.
“But after talking to her, I realized something. Sylvia doesn’t seem like a bad person.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Jake tilted his head slightly at Lottie’s question, lost in thought.
“Honestly, there’s no logical reason.”
“…”
“She’s similar to you, Lottie. Sylvia didn’t deny it either. If she were just another high-ranking noble, how do you think she would have reacted to being compared to you?”
Indeed, Sylvia Fangriffon’s reaction had been unexpected. Most imperials—no, most white people—would have been offended if they were compared to someone with darker skin, especially someone from a colony. But Sylvia, despite being a princess, hadn’t shown any sign of being upset.
…Though, she had kept her expression blank.
“The princess rarely shows emotion.”
Lottie added.
“I know. I saw it up close.”
Jake replied immediately to Lottie’s comment.
“But I know someone who almost always keeps a straight face. Believe it or not, I’ve been learning to read expressions for the past decade. Thanks to someone.”
“…”
“Are you trying to say you and Sylvia are that different?”
Jake grinned as he spoke. And then he continued,
“How about a bet? On whether Sylvia’s a good person or not.”
“…Is now really the time to be talking about this? If the princess—”
“Are you worried that if the rumors about her are true, I’ll be in danger? Thanks for the concern.”
“…”
Lottie fell silent as if she had run out of things to say, but Jake didn’t stop talking.
“Even if it’s true that Sylvia killed that person, I don’t believe someone like her—someone who gives off the same feeling as you—would kill without reason.”
Jake said this with a bright smile, and Lottie sighed deeply, realizing there was no getting through to him.