“Hmm. Asleep, huh.”
Marigold brought the lantern close to Lancel’s face and scrutinized his condition.
‘What on earth does she want?’
Lancel pretended to be asleep, laying motionless, while listening closely to monitor Marigold’s movements.
‘Stealing? No way.’
If she had the guts to do such a thing, Lancel might have even felt some relief.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when Marigold opened Lancel’s wardrobe. Her actions were unmistakably that of a thief.
‘……?’
Confusion began to form in Lancel’s mind at the sound of busy rustling.
“Ah, Ouch!”
Her startled voice drew a furtive glance from Lancel, who had just barely opened his eyes to peer at Marigold.
An unexpected sight appeared.
‘Sewing?’
She was mending his clothes.
That evening, Marigold sat diligently mending the tear on Lancel’s cloak that was caused by the drunkard’s knife. She had somehow acquired a sewing kit and was carefully stitching the torn patch, with only a lantern that was slightly covered to prevent any harsh light from leaking out.
============
—June 22, 816 of the Imperial Calendar. Dawn.
—Marigold mends the clothes of a young nobleman, determined to uphold the honor of her mother’s name in heaven.
※ Dignity, Morality, Faith, and Condition has gone UP!
============
“Ouch!” Marigold hissed.
Objectively, her sewing skills were still quite clumsy. Even mending a single tear required her to prick her fingers several times.
Yet she refused to give up.
As if it were her sacred duty, her small hands worked diligently until the tear in Lancel’s cloak was finally mended.
“Phew.”
Lancel quietly watched Marigold’s retreating figure, as she quietly tiptoed away with a satisfied look on her face.
He examined the stitching. It was a little crooked, and the thread was visible on the outside, so that anyone who looked could tell that a tear had been repaired.
‘Marigold.’ Lancel chuckled softly.
The next day, he wore the same cloak, and the maid’s eyes widened.
“Young Master… your clothes…”
The maid immediately recognized the poor stitching.
Marigold, who was standing nearby wearing an apron, blinked and pretended not to notice.
“I shall fix it for you, Young Master.”
“It’s fine. It looks rather charming like this..”
“Still…….”
“It’s fine. I like it. I’m hungry—could you please prepare something to eat?”
“I’ll do so right away.”
Marigold hurriedly followed the maid towards the communal kitchen.
Lancel checked the stitching on his cloak once more. In the daylight, the uneven seams were even more noticeable.
“What a mess.”
9.
“Mary, where have you been? I was worried about you.”
“Huh? A few people asked me to help with their laundry, so I went and came back….”
“What the hell are you doing? Don’t you know that those people have nothing to do with our master? They clearly took advantage of you because they look down on you. Come quickly now.”
During the four months leading up to their arrival at the capital, Lancel’s maid remained faithful to his order to “use her as you need.”
Wherever the maid went, Marigold was kept by her side doing everything from cleaning to laundry to cooking.
“There’s no time to rest, Mary. Get up. Starting today, you’re going to make the soup. Understand?”
“Yes!”
“Mary! Clean up!”
“Y-yes, yes!”
“Mary, what are these dishes? They’re a mess.”
“I’m sorry!”
============
—June 30, 816 of the Imperial Calendar. Evening.
—Maid, was your work that busy? (Stamina has gone UP! Condition has gone DOWN!)
============
Though Lancel had finally found Marigold, he had no intention of taking her in and living with her. As the protagonist of this game, Lancel needed to observe how she lived. He determined that in this current regression, he had to watch Marigold’s life from a distance and maintain a detached perspective.
“Everyone, disembark!. We have arrived at the Imperial Capital. Thank you all for your hard work during the long journey.”
Four months passed in a flash. By the time they reached the capital, the maid, who had already formed a bond with Marigold, bid her a tearful farewell.
Lancel watched the scene with cold eyes. He had no intention of helping Marigold any longer.
* * *
“Would an attic be enough for a child to live in alone?”
“What are you talking about?” Baron Ibil Shen looked up from his meal and stared blankly at Lancel, as if he had just said something ridiculous.
“Imagine for a moment, Lord Ibil, that you were a 15-year-old girl.”
“Not too bad. I often wondered how convenient it would be to have breasts attached to me.”
“That is not what I meant at all.”
“Is there any other point?”
Lancel could see the facial muscles of the servants who were serving them twitch as they struggled to suppress their laugh.
“It’s a hypothetical scenario. Let’s assume that you have suddenly become a young commoner girl. And for argument’s sake, let’s say you currently only have about six silver coins and seven copper coins.”
“That’s quite a specific scenario.”
“How would you survive, Lord Ibil?”
“I would try to make quick money by gambling, but if that fails, then I’ll go to the brothels. I’ll aim to be a courtesan there and live a life of luxury with the money those fools throw around there.”
“Is that all you have in your head?”
Lancel could feel the servants’ gazes, as if they sympathized with him.
Baron Ibil Shen stroked his moustache sheepishly and began to ponder deeply.
“If I wanted to live a decent, respectable life, I suppose I would have to find a husband, right? Six silver coins might be enough for travel, but it’s not enough to settle down.”
A husband.
That made sense.
When Lancel thought about it, the Fallen Noblewoman Simulation was essentially a dating simulation game where the main character had to find a marriage partner and seduce them.
The game was a romance fantasy after all. More so, the ultimate goal was to marry a prince.
“For example, what do you think the chances are of enticing His Highness the Crown Prince into marriage?”
“Hahaha!” Baron Ibil Shen laughed so hard he nearly fell over. A maid quickly wiped away the spittle that had flown to Lancel’s face with a handkerchief.
“That’s the funniest joke I’ve heard in a while, Lancel. A commoner seducing His Highness the Crown Prince? Maybe if they were reborn a million times.”
A million lifetimes would be ten million years. Even a hundred years was unbearable to Lancel, but ten million years? How many zeros were in that number?
‘I think my sanity would crumble long before that.’
Baron Ibil Shen continued speaking, pulling a piece of meat from between his teeth.
“Just look at all the women vying for the attention of His Highness the Crown Prince. They are all well-dressed and beautiful daughters of noble families. Do you think a mere commoner who crawled out of who-knows-where like some rat would ever catch his eye? Would you even marry someone like that?”
The question wasn’t even worth answering.
Lancel knew he wouldn’t.
Of course, there were cases where nobles and commoners married. Even if it meant enduring the finger pointing from the social circles for “tainting noble blood,” there were still those who made such choices. Human emotions sometimes led people to break taboos.
But a marriage between a member of the royal family and a commoner? It was simply impossible.l. It just didn’t happen. It shouldn’t happen. It was literally unprecedented.
‘But isn’t this exactly that kind of game?’
A game where the main ending is marrying the prince. Coincidentally, this was exactly that kind of game.
Yet …
Even so …
‘Will this really work?’
10.
———
[Fallen Noblewoman Simulation]
Schedule for the second week of November:
Monday – Serving part-time at the tavern.
Tuesday – Serving part-time at the tavern.
Wednesday – Serving part-time at the tavern.
Thursday – Serving part-time at the tavern.
Friday – Serving part-time at the tavern.
Saturday – Rest (on the streets).
Sunday – Rest (on the streets).
※ A vagrant pickpocketed all the money. Not enough money to stay at the inn. It seems I’ll have to live on the streets from now on. (Emotions and stamina have gone down!)
———
The next day, Lancel nearly spat out the tea he was drinking at the sight of the game’s system screen before his eyes.
“Find a suitable living space for Mary—an attic should do—and secure it for me. Be sure to keep my name a secret.” Lancel ordered the maid.
“Understood, Young Master.”
The maid answered brightly, as if she had been eagerly waiting for Lancel’s command.
Having grown close to Marigold over the past four months on the train, she quickly left the mansion to deliver the news.
From then on, much of the information Lancel received about Marigold came through the maid.
“There was a decent house on the outskirts of the capital so I bought it. She is living in the loft but seems to like it there.”
“Is that so? I see.”
Or she would say…
“Marigold seems to be saving up, since she is not spending money on her lodging. She wants to go on a picnic together, but I’m not sure what to do…”
“Just go. There are plenty of people here who can take care of me even if you’re gone for a day or two.”
“Thank you, Young Master!”
And so on.
“I’m worried about Marigold, Young Master. I heard some ruffians tried to harass her at the tavern again.”
“Really? Well, that’s something she will have to figure out for herself. What does it have to do with me?”
“I worry that she is too young to be working at a tavern…”
“If she wants to survive in the capital, there are times when she will have to endure such things. She’ll experience a lot worse things in the future.”
Lancel fell silent for a long time after saying that.
‘Ruffians.’ Lancel suddenly remembered the message from the game’s system screen that appeared before his eyes two days ago.
============
—December 21, 818 of the Imperial Calendar. Dawn.
—Marigold had a tiring day today but resolved not to harbor resentment. She already knows that there are as many good people as there are bad people in the world. She let go of her sadness and anger overnight and watched the sunrise. A surge of determination fills her.
※Dignity, Morality, and Faith has gone UP!
============
The tavern was full of countless troublemakers and men making unwanted advances. Serving at such a place was clearly unsuitable for a young girl.
Even in games, working at a tavern for an extended period could sometimes lead to a “bad ending.”
“I shall speak with Lord Ibil to see if there are any available jobs at the stables. Tell Marigold to quit serving at the tavern.”
The maid’s expression brightened.
“……Yes, Young Master!”
In truth, most of the information that the maid provided was already relayed through the game’s system.
Having the maid convey news of Marigold was merely Lancel’s safeguard to ensure that his connection with her would not be lost.
Had any of it been helpful? Marigold gradually settled into the capital, building a life for herself with what little care Lancel spared her way.
Later, she would even manage to build a small house, though it is unknown where she would earn such a sum of money. This happened four years after their arrival at the capital.
While she could never dream of marrying a prince like in the game, her life was still quite decent.
She worked, earned money, decorated her house, bought delicious food, and met people. Marigold’s life was stable.
And like that, ten years passed.
.
.
.
[Playtime: 10 years, 0 days]
—Marigold turned 25.
—She has a marriage partner.
—No achievements.
[Marriage Ending 23: Marriage to the Young Nobleman, Lancel Dante]
—This ending has been added to the “Album of Memories.”
—Album opened.
.
.
.
Marigold already knew the identity of the person who had been silently supporting her for the past decade.
One day, she suddenly spotted him on the street with his back turned to her. She rushed over to him and grabbed his arm, demanding, “Why have you been so kind to me? Did I deserve it somehow? Why didn’t you ever show yourself? What am I to you, really?”
“You mean nothing to me. I simply helped you for my own amusement. Don’t dwell on it.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re all I have. So please, live with me.”
The two married.
For the first few years of their marriage, Marigold felt happiness. But it didn’t last, and Marigold spent her days mired in sorrow and self-reproach.
[Marriage Ending 23: Marriage to the Young Nobleman, Lancel Dante – FIN.]
—Would you like to restart the game?
.
.
.
“What the hell is this?”
Lancel Dante momentarily doubted his eyes as he stared at the culmination of these past ten years.
He anticipated a lackluster ending, but never imagined that it would be like this. It was ridiculous, being forced to marry someone he only intended to watch over.
“What kind of absurd ending was this?’
It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
There seemed to be no end to this.
He decided then.
“This won’t do. She will just have to marry the prince.”
Lancel was determined to give Marigold her “true happiness” if it meant finally ending his accursed cycle of regression.
[End of Because it’s more fun.]
