Because I've Been Reincarnated As A Girl I Just Want To Do Yuri Things, But Things Aren't Going Well Chapter 120

Published at 25th of January 2023 07:14:48 AM

Confused, Christiane desperately works the gears in her head. She now dresses like a commoner and eats crepes at a crepe cafe. She doesn't even use a knife and fork, she just grabs them and puts them into her mouth. This is not a good thing for the daughter of a high-ranking aristocrat to do.

Across from her was the girl who Helene ordered Christiane and the quintet to bully, Flora Charlotte von Carruthers. She and Flora are dressed like commoners, or rather like the daughter of a wealthy merchant. But because of Flora's over-refined demeanor, she doesn't look like a merchant's daughter at all. This noble lady sits across Christiane while smiling with sparkles.

“Lady Reingen?” Flora asked.

“Shh!” Christiane hisses in a panic. “Please don't call me by that name! Would you mind if I called you by your real name!?”

Flora seemed to have called Christiane by her name again as she hadn't responded since earlier. It's unbearable to have her family name spoken in a place like this where you don't know whose ears are listening. At least if it's just your first name, there are still many commoners with the same name, but there's no way to deceive them if you mention only your family name.

“Hmm… that is a fair point,” Flora said, averting her gaze as she placed her index finger under her chin. Then, after a moment's contemplation, she said, “Then please, call me Floto,”

Christiane stroked her chest in relief. “Understood. Well then, please call me Christa here…”

She really didn't want to be called like that. She doesn't have a nickname from her friends as Christiane doesn't think she's that close to Helen or the rest of the quintet, but she's called Christa by her parents and some of her intimately close friends outside school. It is unforgivable for Flora, no, Floto, to call her such an important nickname, but Christiane tells herself that this is an emergency.

“Very well,” Floto said. “Nice to meet you, Christa.”

“Uh…?”

However… Christa's thoughts stopped when Floto smiled adorably without seeming to care much about anything.

Even though they are ordered by Helene, they are the ones who are bullying Flora. Flora must be aware of that, too. The bulk of the bullying is by Sophie and Emma, and Christa is just helping put pressure, but that's just her side of the story. From the point of view of those being bullied, there is no changing that all five of them are bullies.

Despite this, right before her, Flora, no, Floto, showed a carefree smile that didn't seem to contain any hostility or malice towards Christa at all. Christa wondered if she could take such an attitude herself if the roles were switched.

It's different from just deception or flattery. After knowing that they were bullying Floto, she accepted everything and gave Christa that sort of smile. It's not an attitude of trying to forgive everything they've done and be a better person. She's not yielding on anything. What is with this calm figure?

“Flora.. don't you feel anything about us?” Christa asked.

“I'm not Flora,” Floto said. “I believe I told you my name was Floto earlier.”

Once more, Floto asks to be called by that name. Right now, they're together in a store like this, so they're just trying to keep things on the surface because they care about public appearances, but they're not that close to each other. Christa thought so, but she finds herself defeated by Floto, who didn't even seem to budge until Christa mentioned her real name.

“Haah… do you not feel anything about us, Floto?” Christa asked again.

“Hmm? Hmmm~… well… it's not that I'm unfeeling, you know?” Floto said. “I have emotions, too. I would get angry if a liquid was thrown on my desk, and if someone makes an accusation for an act I don't remember doing, and I will refute it.”

You would think so. If Christa were in her place, she'd be even angrier inside. But, she won't be able to resist. The opponents are too powerful. Dealing with Sophie and Emma's Houses, let alone Helene's, is no mean feat. If Christa told her parents that she had a conflict with Houses Arnhardt or Valtek, she would be disowned on the spot and either thrown out of her home or handed over to the other party's House for her parents to apologize.

“But your pranks are also unimaginative children's mischief, so it's not enough to raise my eyebrows,” Floto continued.

“Huh…?” Christa asked.

This is children's mischief? All manner of things are thrown on her desk, the nonsense written on the bulletin board newspaper, no, the lies written there, and even in everyday life, they've made countless false accusations, interference, and many other forms of harassment. Christa can't understand Floto's nerve to call what would normally make someone furious or haunt them instead as merely “children's mischief.”

“Besides… the world is full of things that you can't do anything about,” Floto said. “Isn't it hard to live bound by all these shackles? On the both of us…”

“Wha…!?” Christa squeaked.

Floto's eyes were staring straight at Christa. Her words, her gaze, they say she knows everything. Christa doesn't want to do this, either. Her family belongs to Duke Bayen's faction, so she couldn't go against Helene from an early age. The same goes for the other 4.

In this year's 1st Year Student ranking at the school, Arnhardt is 5th, Valtek is 10th, the other two are 11th and 12th, and Christa's House, Reingen, is 13th. It looks like there is only a small difference between her and Valtek. But, it's not so in practice.

This order is only for 1st Year, Class 1, and Houses with no children old enough to enroll this year are not included. In terms of the Kingdom of Ploiss's nobility as a whole, House Valtek is far below 10th, and House Reingen is even lower than that. The order in the school is, after all, just the order of the students in that class for that year. It is completely different from the hierarchy of all aristocratic families.

Even if there are only 3 differences in the ranks at school, the gap between Valtek and Reingen is so stark that Reingen cannot defy Valtek at all. At any sign of rebellion, even in a one-on-one conflict, Reingen will be crushed. On top of that, since they're all in House Bayen's Faction, the rest of the members will band together to destroy any dissenters. There was no hope of fighting from the start.

Christa doesn't really want to hang out with the quintet and be a bully doing Helene's dirty work. She wants to have a fun school life and make friends with her classmates.

However, if she were to say such a thing, she would be targeted by Helene next. If that happens, what can one member with House Reingen's standing even do? That's why Christa gave up everything from the beginning. Even though she knows behind her back that her classmates say that the quintet is full of nasty people, Christa still has no choice but to follow Helene.

And Floto… said that she understood Christa's position. She's saying it's not Christa's fault for having to do any of that, whether she wants to or not.

“–! … Thank you, Floto,” Christa said.

“Yes? What do you mean?” Floto asked.

With that smile… a beautiful young lady with a somewhat otherworldly radiance from the very beginning now tilted her head and smiled. After understanding everything, she said that this kind of thing is not a form of courtesy and that it is a matter of course, instead. Christa is grateful for Floto's thoughtfulness and the depth of her compassion, and Christa can't help but feel a twinge of frustration at how small and petty she is in turn.

“Ah! Shall we hurry up and eat now? The crepes here are delicious,” Floto said.

“Shhh, I know that!” Christa whispered. “That's why I'm even here! I'm a regular at this store! I'm almost finished going through the entire menu, you should know!”

“Well! Have you now? Which ones were particularly delicious?” Floto asked with a smile.

There is no more bullying and hostility between the two. Before she knew it, Christa was smiling and talking with Floto.

Which crepe do you think is delicious? Which do you like? What kind of crepe do you want in the future? The two of them talked about various things.

“I really like sweets. What about you, Floto?” Christa asked.

“Hm? Hmm~? I like both,” Floto said. “The salty grilled chicken crepe is delicious, and the jam crepe is delicious as well.”

“Rather cunning answer, isn't that?” Christa asked. “Just tell me which one you think is better…”

Floto really wanted to put chocolate sauce on a crepe. But in this world Floto has not yet discovered chocolate. In addition to the chocolate sauce and cream, there may be other ingredients in crepes, such as fresh fruit. However, it is difficult to just cut and add fresh fruit.

What makes it so hard is that it's almost impossible in this world to always prepare fruits outside their season. In Caan territory, where both vinyl and plastic greenhouses are built, a small amount of out-of-season items can be prepared. However, it is impossible to grow enough to sell to the general public.

Also, even if seasonal fruits were available, the amount of harvest and purchase would not be stable. There is no way to store it for the long term. If it's a fruit that can be stored for long at room temperature, it's fine, but most of the fruits won't last long that way. Considering the time it takes to transport them, there's not much time to get them to the stores to be sold.

So, she came up with dried fruits and jam as a countermeasure. Dried fruit will last much longer than fresh fruit. In addition, if various fruit jams are made during the season, they can be served as jams even if they are out of season. Thanks to the ideas and efforts of Floto and her company, she's created a supply chain where crepes of various flavors can be reliably produced and sold.

“Because I have a strong attachment for all of them… it's hard to choose just one,” Floto said.

“…………”

Christa was charmed by Floto's expression as she said that. There are many things that are such a mystery about her, like why Floto has such a deep feeling for the crepe cafe's products when it's just opened recently. But that didn't matter. Christa can't take her eyes off of Floto's beautiful smile.

“But… I see… you like sweets, don't you, Christa?” Floto asked.

“Eh.. yeah… I do…” Christa mumbled, a little dazed after being suddenly jerked back from the sky and into the conversation once more.

And then, she blurts out unnecessary things afterward:

“Even though my family is in the upper echelon here, things are so difficult inside it… I was brought up strictly for the sake of my House from an early age,” Christa said.

To secure a position in Duke Bayen's faction, Christa's parents had educated their daughter to thoroughly flatter the Bayens themselves. She was able to meet Helene at a young age and serve as her aide. Christa, however, devotes everything to Helene and moves only for Helene. She has no freedom to act as she chooses and no time to play with her friends. There was also a time when she was sick and tired of flattering Helene, and fed up with her parents' demands to do it.

“That's when I discovered these,” Christa said. “After my social debut at 10 was over, I participated in several events and there…and I was finally invited to a prestigious event by the royal family. Cookies, donuts, pound cakes, hot cakes… when I ate those sweets that so fascinated me, I forgot all the unpleasant things and was absorbed in them alone. I've become captivated by sweetness. The sweetness makes me forget, even for just a moment, how much I despise this world.”

It was a time when Christa became unsure of devoting her life to flattering and courting Helene's favor. The encounter with those sweet things made her forget about her worries about such trivial things and let Christa go crazy. So Christa decided she thinks she'll live to eat sweets. If she does that, she will be able to forgive herself a little for being such a despicable person, and briefly stop questioning what she was even alive for…

“I see……”

Floto just quietly smiled and calmly listened to Christa's story. Completely different from Helene and the usual 4. They certainly hung out, but they're not friends. It's just a relationship where they use each other for practical reasons. Therefore, if someone loses their utility, they'll be abandoned in a heartbeat.

But Floto is different. She listens to Christa properly. She wants to know her, she wants to understand.

“Then, shall you and I be comrades from now on, Christa?” Floto asked.

“Comrades?” Christa asked.

Floto made a mischievous giggle, and Christa's heart fluttered.

“Yes, comrades,” Floto said. “We both love sweets, we sneak out of our homes dressed as commoners to enjoy those sweets. We are comrades sharing a secret pleasure we cannot tell others.”

“Comrades…” Christa murmured.

One eye fluttered shut as if she was ruminating on Floto's words. She wondered what this warmth in the depths of her chest was, but she has no experience with this and has no idea what it was. It was a completely new experience for Christa.

“Ah! But be careful. If you eat too many sweets, you'll gain weight,” Floto said, bringing her hands to her cheeks and making a “puffing up” gesture.

“Geeze! I'm not that fat!” Christa yelled.

“Ahaha…! You're right,” Floto said. “Right now, yes? But if you eat too much, you really will get fat, so be careful.”

As she says her warning, she makes a gesture like she's pinching her stomach this time. Usually, by this point, the quintet would have been whispering about and badmouthing someone else. It was before dusk now, and when Christa should have been suffering such a depressing time together with them, she now found herself smiling and laughing genuinely from the bottom of her heart for the first time in so long ago she couldn't even remember.

Chapter end