Chapter 68

“Fania!” Sara rushed towards Fania with a big wave of her hand.

It’s been many months since I last saw Sara. I was away from school for so long that I didn’t attend enough days and ended up failing my year. The consort training was also resumed, so I decided to leave the school without further ado.

Al attended the school properly, as a prince could not afford to drop out of the Royal Academy. While I was hiding in the hideaway, Al was attending school as much as he was able to, and he even made it to the next grade.

“Sara, long time no see. You’re looking good.”

“I’m fine. The only thing I’m good for is my health. I’m glad to hear that you are well. I was worried when you suddenly stopped coming to school.”

“Yes, I’m sorry for worrying you. But everything is alright now. It’s just that I’ve been absent for so long that I’ve decided to drop out of school.”

“Whoa, that’s a bummer.”

Sara and I were now in a café in the capital. I asked Al if I could meet Sara and he recommended this café. This was apparently the most popular café in Royal Capital at the moment and I heard their lovely decorated cakes were highly recommended.

This café was aimed at women, and young women at that; it had a lovely interior and was filled with lovely accessories. Even the plates and cups had a lovely floral design. As a male, I felt a little embarrassed to be in this shop, but Sara was the heroine of a girl’s game, so it suited her very well. It suited her perfectly, but now she had a distinct crease between her eyebrows.

“Urgh~” Sara raised her voice in disgust as she sipped her fragrant tea from a pretty cup.

“……Yeah, what can I say, sorry.”

“Well, I suppose your husband’s probably got a hand in it.” Sara glanced around the shop.

I would be Al’s fiancé, but at the moment I was just a regular guy. So I didn’t want to do anything too extravagant or showy. I told Al that, and he understood me. For this reason, the cafe where Sara and I met was not reserved for our exclusive use. The only thing was that since the shop opened, off-duty escort knights have been visiting the shop.

The restaurant was packed to the rafters. The pretty interior was filled with macho men. Everywhere you look there were macho men. I recognised some familiar faces and knew they were Al’s bodyguard knights. They were knights under the direct command of the prince, so they should be sons of noble families. Many of them were handsome and elegant.

I supposed Al was concerned for my safety. I’m grateful for that but… I’m sorry, knights, for making you do odd jobs.

“Fania, this.”

Sara placed a small bag on the table. The bag was so small that she could wrap it up with her hands and a ribbon was tied around it.

“Oh, what?”

“Open it.”

At Sara’s words, I untied the ribbon and looked inside.

“This is soybeans … It’s soybeans! This is soybeans!” The bag was filled with round, crunchy grains. I was so surprised that I shouted out to myself.

“Hey, Fania! Oh, it’s nothing. It’s all right!” Sara bowed helplessly to her surroundings.

The knights around me got up from their chairs and looked at me, wondering what had happened because of the noise I made. Wow, they had even reached out for their swords at their waists.

“I’m sorry. It’s nothing. It’s OK.” I also bowed my head to them.

“Sara. This soybean,”

“I’m currently working part-time at Danone Trading Company, the family home of Student Council President Zoyl. Oh, to call him a president, but he’s already graduated, so he’s now the former student council president. I was given these soybeans through some contacts there.” Sara said, looking pleased with herself.

She once said she was going to join the caravan of the Danone Trading Company after graduation, but I didn’t think she was that serious. I looked at the soybeans in my hand. If I had soybeans, I could use them to make tofu with bittern. Perhaps soy sauce could be found in the East. The dream rings true!

“I’m also thinking of leaving the school.”

“What? Why? You’ve come all this way to get into the school as a scholarship student.”

“Yes, I know, but after Zoyl graduated, he started to work for the trading company in earnest. I think one day he’ll go to the East. I’ll try to get him to take me with him then somehow. In order to do that, I need to get used to working with caravans, and I don’t have time to go to the academy because it would be better if I joined a couple of short-distance caravans.”

I was surprised at Sara who was wearing a serious expression.

“I didn’t think Sara was so serious.”

“Really?”

“Well, if I could find food or goods from my past life, I’d buy them with all my money in a heartbeat, but I wouldn’t think of going to the East.”

Sara looked a little sad at my words, “Fania, you know, I think you’ve come to terms with your past life.”

“Really?”

“What do you think of the world of the previous life? Do you want to return to the world of your previous life?”

I had no idea what Sara was trying to say to me by changing the subject suddenly.

“No, even though I remembered my previous life, I was so focused on escaping the BL game that I never thought about going back.”

“Uh-huh, I suppose so.”

“What’s wrong, Sara?”

“I just… I couldn’t. I can’t make up my mind about my previous life. I was born in this world, but I want to go back… to my previous life. I just want to return to my previous world.”

Sara’s words surprised me. Neither I nor Sara transferred to this other world. We had been reincarnated. We were reincarnated, so the term ‘return’ was not quite right.

“My father and mother love me even though I’m a pink-head. Even the townspeople don’t discriminate against me. But I can’t forget my previous life. I want to go back to my previous world so badly. Maybe there is a clue in the East, where there are goods from the previous world. That’s what makes me think that I have to go to the East.”

I was speechless at Sara’s first mention of this. It was a bizarre thing to be able to remember a previous life. It was not something you could talk about to anyone. They’d probably think you’re crazy. I wonder how distressed Sara had been by all this.

She was overjoyed when she met me, who also remembered my previous life, in the school. But our way of thinking was completely different. Maybe Sara couldn’t tell me that she wanted to go back to her previous life because all I cared about then was the BL game.

“Oh, my dear Fania, don’t look so worried, it’s all right. I think my feelings will calm down once I get to the East. Besides, I am going there on business. I’ll buy all the nostalgic goods I can find in the East and sell them to Fania at a very high price, don’t worry.”

“All right. I will support you, Sara. But don’t set the price too high.”

“Oh, how could the future prince consort be poor?”

“Alas, that’s in the future, I’m still poor now.”

Sara and I looked at each other and laughed.

“Do your best. Safety first.”

“I know, I know. Fania, don’t let them abuse you in the palace.”

We shook hands and parted with a smile.

Sara was a heroine in an otome game, and the path she took was perhaps the route of the student council president. I knew nothing about otome games, but I was sure the heroine will make her own way in the future and live it to the fullest.

I wouldn’t be able to see Sara as often as I’d like, but the next time I see her she would come with lots of goodies for me. I decided to wait and save up my pocket money in the meanwhile.