Chapter 21

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Chapter 21: Friendship with the Fellow Follower

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Accompanying Nora who can’t return due to the fallen rocks incident, we walked down the estate’s hallway. This was to guide her to her guest room.

It’s evening right now, but there is still some time before the sun sets.

“A, ano, Britney-sama, for the inconvenience, I, I apologize.”

“Please don’t refrain yourself. I don’t have many opportunities to talk to noble’s daughters of the same age like this, so I’d be glad if you talked without reserve.”

Nora is still trembling nervously.

I wonder what has her so nervous?

(Perhaps, is she afraid of Britney…?)

Due to my foolish behavior in the past, it is likely that rumors of me being an ill-tempered white pig noble’s daughter were leaked to the nearby territories.

However, Nora doesn’t seem to be frightened by me. Nervously she raised her face, and muttered with a small voice.

“… Today, for the lap blanket, thank you very much.”

“Not at all, I wish I had noticed sooner. For letting you feel uncomfortable at a tea party hosted by our house, I’m sorry.”

“N, no way…! Britney-sama has no need to apologize!”

Looking flustered, she stopped walking in the middle of the hallway.

“Our Earl’s household is not very affluent and so I own few dresses. And because my height continues to grow, I don’t have any dresses that are long enough. I had added a hem, but on the way here it came off.”

“That’s quite unfortunate.”

“I, I’m no good. I’m bad at gathering with other noble’s daughters. Because, everyone else is so tiny and cute, and they don’t have freckles like me, nor tragic frizzy hair, and they have wide open eyes and are dressed beautifully… Aa, even though this is the first time I’m meeting Britney I said so much, I, I’m sorry.”

I could see none of the high-handed, malicious, tall girl I expected in her. All I could see was a reserved girl with low self-confidence standing there.

I can sympathize with Nora’s low self-confidence, and I feel like lending her a hand.

It’s dangerous to get involved with any of the girls from the manga. I understand that.

But, I wanted to get along with Nora nonetheless.

(Why did such a docile child grow up to be so malicious? For this meek Nora to change so much, just what in the world happened…?)

In the original work when she appeared, Merrill was sixteen years old and at the royal palace.

In the manga, Nora was as mean as Britney from the beginning to the end.

(Ah, I don’t even know what I’m thinking about at a time like this. For now, let’s give the girl some guidance.)

I lead Nora to our guest room.

The guest rooms of our destitute Earl’s estate are neatly arranged, but not that luxurious. However, in this case, that is good and should help her calm down a little.

As soon as I finished leading Nora to her room, grandfather came by to give his greetings.

“How do you do, Nora-sama? I heard you had an accident with falling rocks, what a misfortune.”

“E, Earl-sama, I am very thankful for today. For housing me on such short notice, thank you very much.”

“Don’t mind it. For getting along well with Britney, thank you.”

Grandfather looked happy seeing me get along with another noble’s daughter.

By the way, Ryuze is away from home right now to inspect the lemon fields.

“Well then, Britney. How about inviting her to your favorite hot spring?”

After my grandfather gave that recommendation in high spirits, Nora and I headed towards the hot springs. The servants use the hot springs at night, but there is still a little time until then.

After Nora opened the door to the hot springs, Nora let out a rare loud voice.

“It’s amazing, this hot spring. Britney-sama, this is so unusual… Ah, I’m sorry! I did not mean anything by that…”

“I knew Nora-sama didn’t have any ill will saying that. Also, I don’t mind if you address me as Britney without honorifics.”

“Ah, well, me as well… call me Nora. You don’t need to use honorifics with me either.”

“Well then, I will take you up on that. Nora, shall we enter the hot springs?”

“Ehhh? B, but…”

Nora timidly looked down at her body.

“I will help you change your clothes.”

“That’s not it, I can change my clothes on my own. It’s just, I don’t want others to see my body much.”

“Compared to my body, I think Nora’s body looks smart, but… if you find it disagreeable, I don’t mind waiting outside.”

“Britney, do you dislike your body’s shape as well?”

“Very much so. After all, it’s so round! Even today, the gang of three malicious noble’s daughters were disgusted by it.”

“I see… me too. I hate this tall seedy-looking figure of mine. Even though I’m still a child, I am taller than most adult women, and because my limbs are so lanky and continue to grow, I can’t fit into any dresses. When I want to look a little shorter, I have to stoop over.” (TLN: But tall girls are so pretty… if you gain some confidence and stand with good posture you’ll look amazing!)

“… I understand your feelings, but stooping over is no good. I think having correct posture is important.”

Maybe it’s because she minded her height so much, but Nora has something of a hunchback. Because of her bad posture, her self-confidence has become much lower. Human beings with low self confidence are easy targets for those with malicious intent.

In response, Nora just silently nodded her head.

“Certainly, I’m always told that, and the other noble’s daughters keep attacking me because of it. I don’t think Britney is wrong. But, being so bold is difficult. And now, my posture has become a bad habit… I, I don’t have any confidence in myself.”

From the Nora in the manga, this Nora made a remark that is 180 degrees opposite from my expectations.

“Nora, in that case, let’s pursue beauty together.”

“Eh-?”

“I, for some reason, need to find a fiancé before I turn fifteen-years-old. Therefore, my intention is to first become thinner and beautiful… Well, there are limits to how much I can improve my face.”

“That’s amazing, I want to become more beautiful than my current self too. For the time being, let’s enter the hot spring together.”

We entered the hot spring together, washed our bodies with soap, and used shampoo and rinse.

Although Nora is concerned about her tall body, compared to me I must yield to her outstanding figure.

(In this world it seems small and delicate girls are preferred, but I’m sure there are men out there that prefer Nora’s build.)

The tall Nora with her long arms and legs looks like a model. But, her figure is not without issues.

“Nora, aren’t you too thin? It looks like your bones are showing through.”

On Nora’s underweight body, here and there you can see the bones beneath her skin.

“Aa, that, I don’t want to grow any taller so I have been restricting my diet.”

“… That’s no good. You’re still in your growth period, you need your nutrition.”

I played innocent about my own shortcomings and advised Nora.

In Britney’s case, it is better to restrict my diet a little.

“Besides that, I try not to sleep past dawn… I’m trying various things. I wonder if I should try that way of thinking?”

Certainly, in my previous life, I saw on the internet that “restricting your diet will prevent growth hormones from being released, causing your body to stop growing taller.” But, I still think that is no good for your body.

Looking at the current Nora, I think it would be better to stop dieting soon.

(Even though she looks like skin and bones, and right now she looks so drowsy. After this, I will request the cook to make a special menu for Nora.)

In this way, both Nora and I, the villainess’ followers, became good friends just like in the original story.

From here on out, we promised to exchange beauty advice in the future.

… I drew one step closer to my destruction end, will I be okay?

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Translator’s Corner:

Nora, you’re so precious! Imagining the horrible things that must have happened to you in the original timeline to warp your personality so much pains my heart.

Also, this series got it’s first piece of fan art! (Well, English fan art at least, I still haven’t checked for Japanese fan art yet. If anyone finds anything please let me know.) Thank you to Vivi for the rendition of former Britney’s horrible taste in dresses from chapter 17. They look… well, the dresses themselves don’t look great, but that was the point! They were drawn well. I agree the yellow coat looks pretty nice though.

I’ll edit them into chapter 17 for future readers a bit later.

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