The Reincarnated Count's Daughter Is the Strongest as She Is Loved by the Spirits, Though She Is Only Wishing for Regular Romance!

I could understand why he wanted to run away. It would take considerable courage to stay here. There's Alan-oniisama, who doesn't have a good impression of him; Douglas, whose territory is nearby, and he's of the same age, so they meet often; and even a foreign boy with a fierce look in his eyes. Running away is probably the smartest choice. Even for me, it's a bit scary to turn around. I haven't done anything wrong, but I still feel strangely guilty.

But I can't stay like this forever, so I forced myself to look back, trying to seem calm.  

What's with this tense atmosphere?

Rex looks at me with a troubled face as if asking, "What should I do with these guys? Should I hold them down?" Meanwhile, Jema has a slightly delighted look on her face, her cheeks blushing as she glances between me and the three of them.  

Douglas and Camille both have scary expressions, and Alan-oniisama seems like the easiest to talk to with his "oh well" face, but since he shrugged and moved next to Rex, he has clearly decided to just observe.  

Could someone please explain this situation to me?  

Wiki-kun, I’d be happy if you could help in times like this!  

Different functionality? Ah, I see.

"Dia, what was that just now?"  

The first to move was Camille.  

"Deril, the son of Earl Larna. He's in the same year as Dia."  

Camille, who had taken several brisk steps toward me, stopped and looked back at Douglas, who answered.

"Do you know him?"  

"If you are a high-ranking noble and of a similar age, you generally know each other, don't you?"  

"......"  

Camille ignored Douglas's answer, turned his face away, and began walking towards me again, looking quite displeased. For a moment, I almost asked for help from Alan-oniisama or the servants, but then I remembered I hadn’t done anything wrong. There was no need to be afraid.

"Why are you in the courtyard?"  

"Because the hallway is crowded."  

"What were you talking about with Deril?"  

It was Douglas who asked this question. He approached me with such speed that he nearly overtook Camille.

"I don't see why I have to answer that."  

If I answered that, it would put Deril in a bad spot. I don’t think this will reach Earl Larna from Deril, but if something happened, it could be bad, so I’ll talk to my family later. But that’s it. I won’t tell anyone else, not even my friends.

"Did he... confess to you?"  

"Huh?"  

"What?"

Did they know about Deril's feelings?!  

Do boys talk about things like that?  

Or was I just too clueless to notice?

"Again, I don't see why I have to answer that."  

"I..."  

"Shut up, Douglas."

Camille, who had gotten right in front of me, stepped in between Douglas and me.

"Why, with all that magical power, haven't you even gathered all the elemental spirits? Have you been slacking off? Or were you unsure?"  

……What?  

What is he talking about?  

What does it matter if Douglas doesn't have all the spirits?

"That is..."  

"Either way, you're not good enough."

Wait. What does this mean?

"You can't protect Dia."  

"......"

Huh?  

What?  

Is this a "Don't fight over me" situation?  

Whaaat?! Why, why, why!!

"Camille, you're misunderstanding something."  

"I'm not. Dia, you're just too clueless."  

"But... I mean..."

But Douglas is a friend of my brothers, and he's also my childhood friend.  

We’ve seen each other a lot since we were little.  

He’s never shown any signs of this before...

"Your silence means you already know, don't you?"  

"Camille, that's enough. You're drawing too much attention here."

Just as Camille, in a cold tone, seemed about to confront Douglas, Alan-oniisama finally intervened.

"More people have come out into the courtyard because the hallway is crowded."

Indeed, we were still within sight of the fountain.  

Some people seemed to have noticed us and were watching from a distance.

"Camille, take Dia and go back to Berisario first. You brought some new food with you, right?"  

"...Yes. You brought it, right?"

When Camille asked, Keith, who was standing a little away, nodded.  

Alan-oniisama had Bart and Luther with him, but Douglas was alone... I noticed Jildo running towards us from a distance.  

Did he leave his aide behind?  

Because I... was talking alone with Deril?

"Rex, Jema. Don't leave Camille and Dia alone."  

"Of course."  

"Leave it to us."

Alan-oniisama, making sure to give instructions to the servants before leaving, was quite thorough.

"Let's go, Dia."

Camille held out his hand to me, and without thinking, I moved to place mine in his when—

"Dia."

Douglas's voice stopped me.

"Have you chosen him?"

Even being as clueless as I am, I understand now.  

I see. So that’s how it was.  

If I take Camille's hand, that will be my answer.

If I had realized sooner, maybe my answer would have been different.  

But Douglas didn’t gather all the spirits, and I never thought of him as anything more than a kind, easy-to-talk-to boy.  

Even I find it strange. I only see Douglas as a boy.  

To me, with memories of a previous life, he’s just a young boy.  

But Camille became something else to me from that moment.

"Dia?"

Camille, after saying harsh things to Douglas and casually extending his hand to me, don’t look so anxious now that Douglas can’t see you from behind.

"I understand. Alan-oniisama, we'll go ahead."  

When I gently placed my hand over his, Camille sighed in relief while gripping my hand tightly, stepping closer to me.

"It's too much trouble. Let's just teleport from here. Keith, take care of Rex and Jema."  

"Yes."  

"Douglas, I'm sorry for the rush."

I’m sorry I can’t answer your feelings.  

Sorry for being so dense.  

It’s the first time I've seen Douglas looking so hurt.  

…I'm sorry.  

Alan-oniisama is staying behind, so it should be okay, right?

Maybe this is unlikely, but could there be other boys who like me?  

I doubt it, but even if there were... I wouldn’t be able to tell!  

Don’t expect me to read between the lines!

Still, are there actually two people who like me despite knowing my true nature?  

Deril is different.  

That boy thinks I’m a gentle, kind lady who needs protection.  

But Douglas and Camille are different.  

Douglas could have his pick of girls.  

Choose better. There are so many nice girls around.

This is bad.  

It's weird to complain to Douglas about my own cluelessness.  

I’m happy they like me.  

I’m happy, but… what do I do now? It’ll be hard to face him.

"Dia?"

Can I just talk to him like nothing happened?  

Some people get hurt if you pretend nothing happened, while others feel relieved.  

Which one is Douglas?

"Dia!"  

"Oh! Huh? What?"

I snapped back to reality after being called loudly and looked around. We had already returned to Berisario.  

This is where Camille usually teleports when he comes and goes from Luftanen.  

Keith was grabbing on, and Rex and Jema had also teleported with us.

"Were you thinking about him?"  

Camille leaned in close to me, his face sullen, looking quite adorable.  

Is this... jealousy?  

Wow, being envied by a handsome guy... What kind of virtue did I accumulate in my past life?  

All I remember is working hard on writing thin books!

"Dia, are you listening?"  

"Yes, I was thinking about Douglas."  

"......"  

"How he has bad taste."  

"What?"  

"To choose me, of all people. He has terrible taste."  

"...Me too?"  

"Camille, you see, has a condition where he can't communicate with normal girls, right?"  

"I’ve been able to have conversations recently."  

"Then you're peculiar."  

"Geez."

Even as he roughly ruffled his hair with one hand, he kept holding mine tightly.  

I won’t run away, you know.

"Not very cool."  

"Hmm?"  

"You're not acting cool."  

Wow. My heart just skipped a beat.  

So, one can actually be charmed by a real-life person.  

I guess I must have accumulated some virtue in my past life.  

I’ve found a real-life crush who says he loves me and gets jealous.  

Surely, someone must have been happy with my doujinshi. That became my virtue.  

Thank goodness, thank goodness.

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Author Notes:  

Thank you for reading.  

Your typo reports are very helpful.  

If you found this even a little enjoyable, I would appreciate it if you could rate it below.  

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