Lady Rose Just Wants to Be a Commoner (Light Novel): Volume 3 (eBook)

Kooriame (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Heart (Verlag)
978-1-7183-0574-8 (ISBN)

Infos

When Hino Ririko is reincarnated into the world of her favourite otome game, she doesn't even care that it's as the villainess-Liliana Inoce. She's happy just to breathe the same air as her beloved Prince Seth! But everything goes off the rails when the game's protagonist, Lady Rose, lets the prince break off their engagement without a hitch... What's going on?! That's not how the story goes!

Textauszug

Chapter 2

Today I found myself in an exceptionally good mood.

Well, to be fair, just living in the same world and breathing the same air as Seth was enough to make me feel like I’d won the jackpot, but I was in an even better mood than usual. Why, you ask? Because today, Viscount Cain had given me permission to visit a local church in the castle town, not far from the manor.

I was finally going to be able to give proper thanks to God for all that He’d given me. I’d been thanking Him every night in my prayers before bed, of course, but more and more, I’d been starting to get the feeling that that just wasn’t enough.

And so, for the first time in my life, I took a horse-drawn carriage. It was a pretty wobbly ride, and my butt hurt like a mother. I was also feeling pretty carsick (uh, carriagesick?). It gave me a whole new appreciation for how much thought car manufacturers in my past life had put into making car rides as comfortable as possible.

“Lady Liliana, are you still feeling unwell?” Shirley asked.

“No, I...I’m fine. I’m sure I’ll have to take a carriage to my debut, so I’ll just need to get used to it...”

By the time the carriage reached the church, I was gasping and wheezing. I wanted to throw up, since I knew throwing up would probably make me feel better, but I held back. It wouldn’t have been very ladylike to throw up in public.

I descended from the carriage and crouched down, curling up into a ball as Shirley rubbed my back. I breathed in the fresh air, taking a moment to compose myself. I was in high spirits, but my body wasn’t cooperating with my mood. It felt unlikely that this problem would go away, even once I’d grown used to riding in a carriage.

Maybe I should come up with some airtight strategy to avoid these rides? I wondered. No... I just need to push through this. It’s not like I got carsick much in my past life, and besides, I already know what’s causing this problem: the intense swaying. If I just build up some muscle over the years and strengthen my core, then I’ll be able to ride comfortably without getting bounced around.

I can’t just throw in the towel all because the vehicles in this life aren’t as smooth to ride in. That would be silly. I need to keep at it so that I can be the kind of splendid noblewoman that Seth will want to marry.

I took in a deep breath. Now that my nausea had mostly subsided, I shook it off and contorted my face into a look of calm.

“I’m ever so sorry to have worried you,” I said to Shirley and the guards. “Shall we go now?”

“Yes, my lady.”

I could feel people looking at me—probably because I’d made a bit of a scene, looking so sick right outside of the church—but I straightened my spine and walked with pride toward the church doors. Shirley and the two guards, who were there to accompany us since we were out in public, followed after me.

I hadn’t been to many churches in my past life, so I really couldn’t tell you how they differed from the churches in this world—that is, assuming there even were any differences.

It was a large church, since it was by the castle. As I stepped inside, I saw a dozen or so people. It wasn’t the kind of tense atmosphere you might expect if they had all been there to repent. On the contrary, everyone wore a smile on their face. Judging from the simple, staid quality of their clothing, they all seemed to be commoners, rather than nobles. There were also three people in the church who were wearing robes of the clergy.

After surveying the people in the church, I lifted my gaze. Directly above, there was a giant cross.

The moment it entered my field of vision, I ran at full force straight toward it. No one made any move to stop me or get in my way, so I ran all the way until I was almost directly below it. It was huge—much bigger than I was, and much bigger even than an adult. Its grand scale made me feel like I was actually meeting God Himself. Without a moment’s hesitation, I fell to my knees.

Then I closed my eyes and offered up all of the gratitude I could possibly muster.

“Oh, thank you, Heavenly Father! Thank you, thank you, thank you...”

No matter how many times I said it, I knew it wouldn’t be enough. I could keep repeating myself for years and years—decades, even—and it wouldn’t even begin to cover the depth of my gratitude.

It was a rare blessing to be given a second chance at life after leaving so much unfinished, and rarer still to be reincarnated into the same world as your first love you’d had no chance with in your previous life (for obvious reasons). I truly believed that I was the luckiest person in the world and that I owed more to God than anyone.

“Thank you, Father in Heaven, for blessing me again on this joyous day,” I exclaimed, entranced, in a final expression of gratitude. They were the same words I said to God every night in my prayers.

I took a breath and, feeling satisfied, stood up. I’d been so focused on regarding the cross above me as the Lord God Himself that I hadn’t noticed any of the churchgoers’ gazes that were following me. When I finally turned around to see everyone staring at me, I jolted in surprise.

Every one of the dozen or so people in the church was looking at me so intently, they could have bored holes into me. And it was unmistakable that they were looking at me, rather than the cross above me. Their gazes were too low to be looking anywhere else.

Flustered, I looked toward one of the men who was closest to me and tried to meet his gaze, but he hurriedly looked away. Then I looked to the woman next to him, but she did the same thing.

Wh-What’s going on? Is everyone just staring at me because they can’t believe how cute I am, or...?

I could still feel everyone’s gaze on me. Whenever I tried to make eye contact, though, they looked like they’d been caught staring when they shouldn’t have. I couldn’t sense any ill will or judgment in their eyes, though. If anything, it was more like...they were somehow captivated by me.

Well, seems like I was right! I’m just so cute, they can’t help themselves!

I’d been pretty plain in my past life, but in this life, I seemed to be a bit of a stunner.

Getting such a positive reaction from all these churchgoers gives me faith that I’ll be able to make a big impression on Seth too. Heh heh... This is great!

“I’m ready to go home now, Shirley,” I said, looking up at her. I could tell I was heading down a narcissistic rabbit hole, so it felt like time to go.

“Oh, y-yes! Of course, my lady!” she replied, startled.

Wait, what...? Why is Shirley responding to me like the churchgoers did? Surely she hasn’t suddenly become besotted with me too? I mean, she sees me every day... It’s not like my cute face is anything new to her.

I... I hate to admit it, but this feels like pretty solid evidence that my cuteness isn’t why everyone’s staring. If I really think about it, I may be cute, but I’m not cute enough that people would lose their composure like this.

“Shirley... Have I broken the rules of church etiquette somehow? If I have, please just tell me. Oh, how I wish I’d studied more before I came here...”

“No, my lady! You haven’t done a single thing wrong!” she exclaimed in a strangely excited and much louder voice than she usually used. Something was clearly up. “Let’s go home!”

She prodded the guards, who were just as dazed as everyone else in the church had been, and they returned to their senses.

It felt a little awkward to leave now, but it was uncomfortable to feel everyone staring at me, so we left.

Once we were outside, I tried again to ask Shirley about what had just happened.

“I-If I was doing something wrong, then please tell me...” I said, tugging on the hem of her dress and looking up at her.

“You’ve done nothing wrong. If you must know, everyone was only staring because you were so beautiful.”

What...?

The truth that she was so reluctant to tell me...was that I was beautiful? It seemed completely outrageous that Shirley would think a three-year-old toddler like me was beautiful, though. Besides, my bone structure didn’t qualify me for that compliment. I was obviously the kind of girl who gets called “cute,” not beautiful.

I was relieved to see that Shirley seemed to be back to her old self, but I was still baffled by everything that had just played out. Her answer hadn’t demystified anything for me. If I did have poor manners, though, I felt confident that she would let me know. I guess I can let that fear go, at least...?

“When would you next like to visit the church, my lady?”

“Um, well... Perhaps once a month.”

“Very well. I’ll get the viscount’s permission.”

Huh? Wait, I didn’t ever say anything about wanting to make these church visits a regular thing...did I? Why is she acting like this couldn’t have possibly been a one-off visit to satisfy my curiosity? She’s acting like it’s only obvious that I’d want to visit again...but why?

And...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 24.6.2025
• Reihe/Serie: Lady Rose Just Wants to Be a Commoner
• Illustrationen: Kooriame
• Übersetzer: Kooriame
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: Comedy • Isekai • Light Novel • Nobility • Otome Game • Reincarnation • reverse Harem
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-0574-5 / 1718305745
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-0574-8 / 9781718305748