This Delusional Voice Keeps Telling Me I’m a Villain

“I’m digging in!”

Yum! So tasty!

A day passed after we returned from Natcheil.

I quickly became a regular customer of the custard pudding sweet shop that Theodore and I had gone to that day, and every few days I would ask someone to buy me some custard puddings. The custard pudding made by the chef of the Minusle estate was also delicious, but this restaurant had a secret sweet sauce on top of the sweet custard pudding, making it the sweetest of all. 

“So sweet, so yummy!”  

It is heartburn-inducingly sweet! I love it! I just love how sweet it is! 

In the late afternoon sunshine, I was sitting at a table in the garden of the Minusle estate, where I usually spend my tea time, savouring the custard pudding that spelt ‘happiness’. 

Then Theodore came. In his hand were two small boxes.

Without a doubt, this was..!

“The rings have arrived?”

“Yeah.”

Yay! It’s finally here!

Theodore sat down opposite me and handed me one of the boxes in his hand. I opened the box and saw the silver ring we had bought the other day, shining brightly. 

“So beautiful…”

The thought of wearing this every day was kind of exciting… I shouldn’t be bothered with the price, yes, I wouldn’t. The ring was identical to the one I saw in the catalogue when we went to buy it. At first glance, it was difficult to see that Theodore’s hand had already worked his magic on it. 

I held it in my hand and looked at it in detail; Theodore then opened his mouth.

“I imbued a lot of spells in the ring. Such as dirt-proofing, rust-proofing, and other kinds of protection to keep Urschel safe. If anything happens, all you have to do is pour a little magic into the ring and it will activate. It should be able to handle most crises, and I’ve also added auto-restoration, so even if the ring is broken, as long as there’s a piece left, it will completely restore to its original form. In short, this ring can protect Urschel.”

“…ah…?”

I was at a loss for words, and could only respond unintelligibly, but didn’t that mean this thing was just too badass? 

A ring that could deal with most crises, or automatically restore itself, was totally unheard of! I’d never heard of such a magic tool. The magic tools that I ever knew didn’t have such advanced functions, you know?!

“Theodore, did you put your whole heart into it?” 

“You can say so. It was my first attempt at doing this personally, but I gave it all I got and imbued all the spells that I could. In the end, I got help from the Ministry of Magic, though…”

“Ministry of Magic?!”

That was more than putting your whole heart…! To even involve the Ministry of Magic! This was simply a gift to his foster brother!

“Theodore, is it really okay for me to receive something you’ve worked so hard on?”

With Theodore’s skills, shouldn’t this be handed over to His Majesty the King or the Ministry of Magic?

When I asked that, Theodore looked straight at me and answered, “It’s all right because it’s you, Urschel. No one else but you.” 

Because it’s me…

When told like that, it made me feel shy and overly self-conscious, and somewhat uneasy…

Besides…

“Somehow, this can make me misunderstand, you know?”

“How so?” Theodore, with his usual dazzling good looks, stared straight at me as if he were sizing me up.

…It was embarrassing when he stared at me too much.

I asked, a little jokingly and deliberately, to hide my embarrassment. I said, “…That, um… Like does Theodore actually like me or something…?” 

I’d been thinking about it a bit over the last few days. When I reflected on the many things that Theodore had said to me on that day when we went to Natcheil—the trip that made my heart thump a lot—it made me wonder did he actually… have feelings for me? But I was not sure whether I was merely overthinking… Was I being overly conscious? 

With those words out of my mouth, I lost my composure. I thoughtlessly reached my hand to the pudding in front of me. It was when I was about to put it into my mouth…

“What would you do if I tell you, I do…?” Theodore suddenly asked.

“!?”

Theodore sat there like usual, looking dignified and beautiful, and as I was frozen stiff from astonishment… he began to confide in me… what he had been thinking all along, “A long time ago, Urschel, you asked me if there was anyone I wanted to marry and if I had an ideal fiancé. Do you remember?”

“Y-yes…”

I-I remembered. If I wasn’t mistaken, Theodore answered yes, and I was a little shocked.

“What if that was you?”

“Huh?”

“What if I told you that I want to be with you, without any vested interest?”

“Huh??”

For a moment, I felt as though time had stopped.

""

It was the usual teatime, the usual place, the everyday happiness of a sunny day was there until a short while ago, but I felt like things were starting to change…

To sum up Theodore’s story…

“You mean Theodore likes me…?”

“That’s it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

I was so confused to the point where I couldn’t tell how sweet the custard pudding was in my mouth.

It’s Theodore we are talking about, right? That genius and beautiful fella, likes me? I don’t believe it, not at all. Please, I need a moment to calm down.

And most of all, I was surprised at myself. In fact, I was somewhat relieved and pleased when Theodore told me that he liked me. I could feel my whole body going boiling hot. I knew my face was flushed red, a face I couldn’t show to anyone. I became happy upon discovering that Theodore liked me since my possessiveness over Theodore had become stronger each time he made my heart beat faster lately.  

But the rational me in my brain spoke up: What am I going to do about my fiancé? I have to find a fiancé.  

And it had to be someone who would be willing to tolerate the complications involved with His Highness Carlos, willing to pretend to be free until the age of 16, contributed for the House of Minusle, and possessed some sort of qualifications.

But… Eh? If I think about it, Theodore fits the bill…isn’t he? 

Theodore understood my circumstance with Prince Carlos, and he was my foster brother, so there was no problem about pretending to be not engaged; he did not even need to pretend. We could immediately get married once that prospective fiancé thing got dissolved. Furthermore, Theodore was an incredible guy who was currently contributing to the House of Minusle.

In other words… Even if I seriously liked Theodore… There was no problem at all?

To get engaged to Theodore without having to care about nobility or interests that came with it… Ah, the word engaged here made me embarrassed… But it just meant that it was totally okay for us to be together…

So I can live my life with the person I love…?

Realizing that fact made me feel like my eyes were opened.

“Theodore, are you sure? I’m only interested in sweets, and I’m just ordinary and not very good at anything…”

“I only want you. It’s got to be you, Urschel.”

“Really? Theodore, will you not regret this?”

“What about you then? Will you regret being together with me?”

“I won’t. If I would, I probably wouldn’t be with you right now…”  My gaze interlocked with Theodore’s.

I… I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t look at Theodore because my heart was beating so fast, but Theodore was blushing too, and it looked as though it was mutual. When the thought that Theodore could be shy too fleeted across my mind, I unknowingly chuckled. 

“Why are you laughing, Urschel?”

“No, it’s just, I was thinking, so this is happiness. I’m so nervous, it’s embarrassing.”

Anyway, I decided to say what I wanted to say while I could, before I became too embarrassed to say it.

“I love you, Theodore. Let’s get along well from now on too.” 

As soon as I said this, Theodore, who was sitting opposite me, stood up and caught me in his embrace.

…Maybe Theodore has been in love with me for longer than I’ve been in love with him. 

It felt like that to me so I hugged him back.

A pair of rings lay next to each other on the desk, glittering.

chocolala: I love this story, it doesn’t drag out the romance that much (I mean, it doesn’t take 100ch just for them to confess) but it’s so sweet, and Urschel having no problem accepting it is very pleasant to read too, so no internal conflicts or anything, aaaaah, I love them!