LSPL Chapter 6 – To be continued…

Author’s Note: As promised, a new chapter of LSPL. Please enjoy?

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LSPL Chapter 6 – To be continued…

I’ve waited for this moment ever since I’ve left the throne room. I managed to separate from the girls and right now I’m in front of Sir Fredrick’s personal office. There’s something fishy going on here, and that man has to be the source of the smell. I knocked on the door, but not too hard. I had to mimic one of the servants who came by earlier, I have doubts that he would let me in. Hopefully this will trick him?

“Come in!” (Fredrick)

Okay… it worked too well. Still, I walked inside to see that he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings. He was too busy putting a quill to paper.

“Just leave the tea on the table.” (Fredrick)

Okay… this guy could easily be killed by an assassin at this rate.

“Sorry, there’s no tea.”

That moment, he stopped dead in his tracks. He set down the quill and slowly looked in my direction.

“Niko?” (Fredrick)

“Sir Fredrick, I’m here to lodge a complaint.”

He then sighed as he opened a drawer. He pulled out a small box of matches and a cigar.

“This better not take long.” (Fredrick)

Seeing him light that cigar after saying that caused something to awaken within me. I hadn’t had a cigarette in well over seventeen years. But when I realized that I was reincarnated, I decided to never take up smoking again. It started during my delinquent days back in high school, something I did to fit in with the crowd. I tried to quit after high school, but it was impossible. As this was my second chance at life, I decided that I would never pick up that habit ever again.

“It shouldn’t. However… what the hell’s going on?”

“I have no idea what you mean.” (Fredrick)

He said this after a puff of his cigar.

“For some strange reason, the King thought I was gonna get romantically involved with his daughter. And I’m pretty sure that you’d know why.”

He puffed his cigar again before speaking.

“I may have had a hand in that. Like when I let something spill lose from my lips when privately drinking with his royal highness.” (Fredrick)

“So it was you?”

“Niko, I have my reasons.” (Fredrick)

“Reasons? You said that ya wouldn’t tell anyone.”

Sir Fredrick stopped for a moment. He then took another puff before continuing.

“You have met Prince Issac. So what do you think of his royal highness’s son?” (Fredrick)

“Can I be openly honest here? Because my words may not be… appropriate to use when speaking about royalty.”

“You have my permission to be worse than a sailor if necessary.” (Fredrick)

Wow… he’s letting me be very liberal here.

“He’s a jackass. Seriously, he’s so full of himself that if he were to take a dump… he’d probably change his character. Not to mention that his sense of entitlement makes me wanna beat the crap outta him.”

Sir Fredrick about choked on his own cigar smoke. But it was from… laughing?

“Niko, you’re not the only one in the palace who thinks that about the Prince.” (Fredrick)

“What?”

“Even his royal majesty, King Victor Wintergreen dislikes the boy. Prince Issac is actually from another wife.” (Fredrick)

“Wait… another wife?”

“Well… not another wife exactly. You see, Victor Wintergreen had two fiancées. The first one was from our kingdom. The King and her… had fornicated the night that their engagement was announced. Thus Princess Ana was conceived.” (Fredrick)

“Wait… she was born out of wedlock?”

“That is not exactly a secret in the palace. But yes, she was. But in less than a month, the kingdom was on the verge of war with our neighbors.” (Fredrick)

“Wait… the Kingdom of Stonefall?”

“That is correct.” (Fredrick)

Even I know of the Kingdom of Stonefall, through stories of travelers and adventurers alike. They are… I can’t even come up with the word. Asshats maybe? All I know is that they are greedy bastards who think the world owes them everything. The “Old Money” kinda type. Not to mention human supremacists. Seriously, they think that demi-humans are not even worth the time of day. It was an order from their king of a few hundred years ago that all non-humans were to be enslaved or eliminated in the kingdom. Those that were originally enslaved died off over the years. Trust me, I would never go there.

“But why’d Stonefall wanna go to war with Wintergreen? Or better yet, why didn’t I know about it?”

“Resources.” (Fredrick)

“Resources?”

“Yes, resources. You see, Stonefall had used most of their resources. A wasteful lot if you asked me. Anyway, they turned to Wintergreen to trade. However, they threatened war if we were to refuse. So Victor was forced to annul his previous engagement in less than a month in order to marry one of the king of Stonefall’s daughters to seal the trade and stop a war before it began.” (Fredrick)

Okay… this was too much to take in. Seriously, it was.

“At least it explains why the Prince and Princess don’t really look too much alike.”

“It does. Anyway, Princess Ana was still of royal blood. So the royal family had to take her in. But her stepmother hated her.” (Fredrick)

Holy Snow White! But wait…

“What do you mean by ‘hated’?”

“Prince Issac’s mother died from illness a few years ago. On her deathbed, she made him swear to become king. But with all her doting and Stonefall teaching, Issac is not ideal to become king.” (Fredrick)

“Wait, wait… wait. Where do I come in?”

“You are a reincarnated, right?” (Fredrick)

“But what does that have to do with anything?”

This had better not be the situation where they want my knowledge of my past life to improve the kingdom. That’s too cliché, even for me.

“We need your knowledge of your past life to improve the kingdom.” (Fredrick)

Oh fuck my life… I called it!!!

“What makes ya think that my knowledge of my past life would improve anything? Or better yet, make not make everything worse?”

“Other than the fact that you would not want to ruin your second chance at life? Or the fact that there are some things from your past life that you would want to recreate here?” (Fredrick)

Damn him! Seriously, damn that man! There are many things that I’d like to recreate. Like flush-able toilets, actual toilet paper that doesn’t feel like I’m using sandpaper, even indoor plumbing itself! And not get me started on radio. What… did you guys actually think I’d go with television? Sorry for the fourth wall break here, but radio would be hell of a lot more useful. Television would just make everyone lazy and probably rot their brains. And no work would ever get done.

“You have me there, but one does not simply recreate things from their past life. They have to have the knowledge of how those things work, not just their function.”

And now he finally puts out that cigar.

“True, but it’s not just material objects that you could introduce either.” (Fredrick)

That bastard… he has me there.

“I hate you.”

I couldn’t even hold that in, I really do hate him.

“Whether you hate me or not, it does not matter. All that matters is the state of the kingdom.” (Fredrick)

“So this ain’t about your own personal agenda?”

“No, it is not.” (Fredrick)

Okay… I was sure that one would at least shake him up a little.

“But what about me? What about my feelings on the matter?”

“Niko, we cannot force you to comply with our requests. That’s why we were hoping that you and the Princess would fall in love, so that you would help the kingdom of your own accord.” (Fredrick)

Talk about a sneaky move. Seriously, I knew that the king was plotting something all along, remember the last chapter? I know, I shouldn’t break the fourth wall too often. But what can I say? It feels necessary sometimes.

“Well, tough noogies.”

“Pardon?” (Fredrick)

“It’s an old saying from my past life, though I never really used it before. Anyway, looks like your plan’s backfired. I don’t see me and the Princess getting together anytime soon.”

Man, it feels good to gloat sometimes.

“Are you forgetting what the King has said?” (Fredrick)

Like I could? I mean, you guys were there. You know what the king told me.

“Yeah, but I still have plenty of time before Miyuki’s journey’s completed. So I just need to fall in love with another girl and marry her.”

“We’ll see.” (Fredrick)

Okay… why does this asshat look so sure of himself? Whatever.

“Yeah, we will.”

With that, I left his office. If I had stayed any longer, I would had committed a crime that could lead to my head on an executioner’s block. Even if it feels like it would be worth it, I didn’t wanna become an enemy of the state that way. No, I’d rather have done something like beat the living daylights out of the Prince. But hey, life is how it is.

As I walked to the courtyard, I saw Ana having tea with Miyuki. I was sure to be as silent as possible to keep them from noticing me. I just wanted to avoid Ana for now. But unfortunately, I was caught when I thought I was fully in the clear and out of site.

“Ana, I’m pretty sure Niko passed by.” (Miyuki)

“Absurd, I’m sure that I would had sensed his foolish presence if he were to had walked by.” (Ana)

Is there anything about me that ain’t foolish to her? Or is she just a tsundere?

“Ana, you’re just a tsundere. Miyuki will prove that he was around.” (Miyuki)

And time to get the hell outta dodge. Or it would had been, if I didn’t end up running into Chloe when I tried to do so. She fell down.

“Chloe, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just glad that I wasn’t holding a serving tray.” (Chole)

“Same here.”

Seriously, it would had been bad if she were.

“See, Miyuki knew that Niko was around.” (Miyuki)

“Hey, stop with the third-person.”

“Sorry.” (Miyuki)

“But… how could you tell that Niko was around?” (Ana)

Princess, I’m wondering the same thing. Hell, I’m sure that you guys are wondering as well.

“Miyuki… I mean I’m not sure. It’s like I have the ability to sense where Niko is.” (Miyuki)

Or her “onii-chan” radar is locked on me because I was her older brother… in my past life. Either way, it’s just creepy.

“You mean you can sense where he’s at?” (Ana)

“Well… I can’t pinpoint his exact location. But I can tell the general area he’s at.” (Miyuki)

But that still doesn’t explain how she sleepwalks into my bed each night.

“But… why me?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe because you’re the closest thing to my older brother?” (Miyuki)

She does not know how right she is. It’s scary. Scratch that, it’s terrifying!

“That just makes no sense.”

Hopefully that will end her comparisons of my past self to my current self.

“I agree, and I disagree at the same time. But it might be a better idea to leave it at that?” (Miyuki)

Please do?

“Good idea.”

“Wait a moment.” (Ana)

Oh what now!?

“Yes, Princess?”

“Where were you anyway?” (Ana)

Crap… I forgot that I ditched them earlier.

“I was having a private discussion with Sir Fredrick.”

Hey, I’m not lying to her.

“A discussion about what exactly?” (Ana)

“Princess, I’m afraid that it’s confidential.”

“Confidential?” (Ana)

“That is correct, I can’t talk about it.”

And please let’s just leave it at that? I don’t know what else I can do to keep my motives hidden from her and the others.

“I’ll just ask Sir Fredrick myself later.” (Ana)

Crap… I forgot about that. Wait… I think it might not be too bad. If she asks him herself, then he won’t tell her as it really is confidential. He wouldn’t want her finding out about that little plot either, so yeah. This might just work. Time to play it off.

“Do what ya wanna.”

She then gave me that little angry look of hers.

“Why do you behave like that, you fool?” (Ana)

Wait… what happened to actually saying my name? You guys were hear for that, she actually said my name earlier. Like when she asked Miyuki how she could sense me, she clearly said “Niko” and not “fool” for a change. Still, time to fluster her.

“Ya know, you look a little cuter when you’re angry.”

“Fool!” (Ana)

Good thing this story isn’t based in Japan, or else we’d be hearing her say “baka” instead. Pretty much the same meaning, but even I can get tired of that fast. She really is a tsundere, she’s blushing when saying that.

“Princess, he’s not really a fool.” (Chloe)

It’s no use Chloe, our princess here is a tsundere. You know, I always though that the story’s tsundere would be… not so busty. However, I blame the author.

“Yeah, Niko is cool.” (Miyuki)

“What?”

“It’s an expression, though I can’t really seem to think of a way to explain it.” (Miyuki)

This is a western medieval-style fantasy world, of course there’s no way to explain it!

“Whatever…”

That’s it, I want to just go home. I need to just leave and fall in love with someone. This story is already too much like a harem rom-com. And I fear that it may become one if nothing is done soon.

“Oh, there was something I was asked to tell you fool.” (Ana)

And what now!?

“Yes, Princess?”

“Father requested that you join us for dinner tonight.” (Ana)

NO! No, no, no, no, no, no! I don’t wanna end up a pawn in his plot. It doesn’t matter if it’s for the good of the kingdom, I don’t wanna! Still, gotta keep my cool.

“Oh really?”

I asked with a pleasant business-like smile.

“Yes, he wants to get to know the man who trained Miyuki a little better.” (Ana)

More like he wants to trap me into the position of being his future son-in-law!!!

“Well… I guess I cannot refuse?”

Well, I can’t! I’m actually stuck here as a guest, but I already feel more like prisoner.

“So that means it’s your turn to learn, fool.” (Ana)

Wait… what!? And did I just steal some other guy’s catchphrase? You know, some ex-gangster who became a Hero and likes to mess with a certain former Japanese high school girl who became a Devil King’s expectations? I think they just got married recently? Wait… this is my story, not theirs!

“Learn?”

“That’s right. We need to teach you proper table manners.” (Ana)

“Why? Ain’t mine good enough?”

I don’t eat like some ruffian who’s never used a knife and fork before! True I’d rather use chopsticks, but those don’t exactly exist here.

“Fool, you are dining with royalty tonight!” (Ana)

“But… haven’t I been dining with royalty for the past five months?”

It’s true, we’ve lived together with Chloe and Miyuki for the past five months.

“Fool, this is different! You’re not just dining with me, but my father and brother as well.” (Ana)

“So?”

“Not to mention, you’re no longer a peasant! You’re the new Count of Evergreen!” (Ana)

Crap… I forgot about being a Count for a moment there. I’m still trying to figure out if “the Count of Evergreen” is even a real title. Wait… oh that sneaky bastard! I see why being given a title was part of the payment now, it’s because nobility can only marry nobility! I had already fallen part way into the trap without realizing it.

“That’s right…”

“Niko, are you okay?” (Chloe)

That’s a childhood friend for ya, they know when you’re upset. At least I wasn’t hit by, wasn’t stuck by, a smooth criminal?

“I’m fine.”

“Good. Now, time to teach you some proper etiquette.” (Ana)

Before I could even realize it, she grabbed me by the wrist and was dragging me away. This my friends is another reason to not marry into nobility, they will force you to learn all these things that you don’t think matter. And trust me, I don’t wanna go! As for what happens, just wait until the author manages to make another chapter. Because this is to be continued…

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After Note: I know, it was probably a bad move to turn Niko into a massive 4th wall breaker. But I wanted to try out making a character that does it that much. And what better than someone who has been reincarnated? Yeah, I know it slightly changes the setting. But it was something I wanted to try. Depending on the feedback, I’ll either keep it or change it back.

Anywho, don’t forget about tonight’s Livestream. All the details were mentioned in an earlier post. See ya there.

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