房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

When the heroine declared that she and the second prince were engaged, it was a silence caused by shock and disbelief, now that the second prince has confirmed it so proudly, the silence became more... Dreadful...

"...?"

Zoemi gulped down his saliva and looked around – that was not the atmosphere that was portrayed in the game when it came to announcing the engagement...

But...

The game was one thing and a real hierarchical society was something completely different...

A prince proposing to a commoner...!?

In the school for nobility, that sort of statement wasn't even considered a joke.

It was something straight-up insulting!

"Pffft...! Ha.... Haha.... Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

The serious expression that his younger brother was making while bravely staring up at him broke Horeo, and the gold-haired boy couldn't contain himself any longer – he burst out into a cruel, ridiculing laughter.

"!!!"

The smile on Surou's face slowly disappeared – his older brother dropped his carefully crafted kindhearted persona and showed his true face...!

That couldn't end up good...!

"Miriette...! Zoemi...! Did you hear those imbeciles...!? Ahahahahahahahahaah! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! My goodness! Oh, my sides! I can't believe it...! They are so STUPID! AHAHAHAHAHA! You MORONS! To think IMBECILES like the two of you can actually exist and not accidentally get yourself killed by having your brains implode over the simplest tasks! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Horeo's stomach started hurting from all the laughing.

"Oh! We are engaged! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Pfft...! OHOHOHO...! Ekhm! No – wait... ekhem! Indeed, my prince, that does seem funny."

Miriette held herself together a bit better – but only a little bit - and masked the laughter by clearing her throat.

"...?!"

Zoemi blinked repeatedly looking between his master and the gold-haired prince.

The black-haired boy felt his insides tie up into a knot – of course, he realized what the gold-haired prince was talking about – after all, he attended the exact same lessons that Miriette and Horeo did – the only problem was – he was sure that since this world was perfectly mirroring that of the game he played, the rules of the hierarchical society will be more lenient for the heroine – since she was supposed to be a special existence...

….but...

...in the game, nothing could happen to her because without her the player could not interact with the world at all – but since this world was real...

...the plot armor of the heroine simply didn't exist...

"What's so funny about that!?"

"Stop laughing!"

Surou and Burushitto both shouted back at the first prince in agitated voices – unaware of Zoemi's revelation.

"Pfffft... Whew...! Oh, that was a good laugh... now... Me or you, my love? Who should enlighten them?"

Horeo, still chuckling like crazy, leaned towards his fiance with a mischievous face

"...Zoemi – stay back – it won't look good for you or us if you will try to help them no matter how pitiful they might seem..."

For just a second, the gold-haired boy's face turned serious again and he warned the black-haired boy.

"My prince, you started laughing so it's better if you do it."

Miriette squeezed Zoemi's hands reassuringly before letting him go and politely bowed her head towards her fiance, giving him a chance to show off.

"What a treat – as expected of my ACTUAL and OFFICIAL fiancee."

Horeo shook his head and cleared his throat, then he turned back around and looked the heroine in the eyes.

"You see miss Burushiitto. I started laughing because – well – your little play-pretend is laughable."

"You...!"

Surou tried to break free but Karestas and Yarvestreg were holding him tightly.

"What do you mean, your highness?"

The heroine squinted her eyes and asked – actually clueless.

"The marriage in a royal family is not something so silly as giving the ring to someone you fancy. For example, I never even gave Miriette a ring. Do you know why?"

"...?"

Horeo asked and Burushitto shook her head - though she wanted to say something along the lines of ~because you don't really love her~ but she managed to bite her tongue in time.

"To be officially engaged both of you would have to gain the approval of the current king and the queen and believe me, welcoming the commoner into the kingdom's most important family when there are literally hundreds and thousands of way more worthy candidates, is not the even on my parents' to-do list. To even dream that such a thing could happen, well, frankly, you would have to suffer from severe brain damage."

The first prince shook his head while smiling- although his eyes were deadly serious.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

"!!!"

Surou shouted so loud that his throat became sore, unintentionally making the heroine jump in shock.

"See?"

Horeo snorted and pointed at the second prince.

"Even he actually knows that's the truth."

The gold-haired boy added lightheartedly.

"I told you to SHUT UP!"

Surou trembled and tried to break free but it was as useless as before.

"Hmph."

To that, Horeo only snorted.

"That ring on your finger, miss Burushitto, it's just some shiny trash - it means nothing."

He pointed out with a dismissive shrug.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Blinded by rage, the blue-haired second prince roared.

Not caring that he is bound by the ancient spellcasting-blocking bracelets Surou made the mana in his body move.

"WATER SPEAR!"

He shouted in frenzy.

No one even budged, why would they? The second prince had the bracelets on, nothing could have happened - it would be illogical – the ancient artifact's power was well known and proven.

...Well, it was supposed to be...

*CRACK*

"...?"

Because right at that moment, the crystal bracelets just...

*crumble*

Turned into dust and disappeared into nothingness.

"!!!"

And a water spear formed in front of the second prince and shoot without any delay.

"SHADOW THEATER, SHADOW ARMOR!"

There actually was one person who acted the second that Surou started screaming.

It was Zoemi – without even giving Miriette a chance to act as her character did in the game, the black-haired boy grabbed her and Horeo and shoved them both behind him before roaring the incantation and charging the water spell head-on, clad in the demonic murky-black armor.

The effects of that stunt were immediate.

*SPLASH*

Instead of piercing through the supposed weak boy's defense, the water spear that honestly boasted the fourth-strongest piercing capabilities amongst the attack spells of all attributes crashed against the shadow armor and dispersed into thousands of droplets that shoot to the sides drenching the speechless bystanders bewildered by the sight.

"Wha...!? ZOEMI!?"

Surprised Miriette gasped, crawling back up from the floor where she was thrown to just a second ago and clung to the demonic-looking attendant of hers.

"...m-my lady...?"

The most confused about all that happened person in the entire entrance hall was definitely the black-haired attendant himself, though.

Honestly – he fully intended on sacrificing himself if necessary, although he had a sight hope that his mana will last long enough for the most dangerous spear's tip to be dispersed – which would result in him only getting hit by a blunt, highly pressurized water spur – but the current outcome has...

...exceeded all of his wildest dreams...

Not only did the water spear got shredded but it also felt like the mana keeping the droplets of water together into the shape of a spear got already added to the black-haired boy's own mana reservoir.