How to Survive as a Princess in a Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 13
I know it’s a somewhat reckless thought, but there was nothing else I could do, so it couldn’t be helped.
As I walked, I came across an arched fence made of wisteria flowers and vines. The moment I saw the fence, I had a feeling. This was the beginning of the garden.
I stepped into the garden as if drawn by some invisible force.
“Beautiful…….”
The garden, full of nameless beautiful flowers in full bloom, was wondrous. It was on a whole different level compared to the paths I had walked before.
‘But there are so many trees for a garden.’
Even when I tilted my head to look up, I couldn’t see the top of the thick trees.
Thanks to the shade, I didn’t even need the parasol anymore, so I closed it. I was walking happily, taking in the pleasant scent of the trees and grass.
Thud!
Something fell a few steps ahead of me. I instinctively stopped in my tracks and examined what had dropped.
It was small, but the red-skinned fruit was something I recognized well.
‘……An apple?’
Were the trees here apple trees? But could apple trees grow this large and dense?
I had looked up without much thought.
“Oh, you caught me.”
A strange voice rang out.
‘A human voice?’
As I was startled and taken aback, I caught a glimpse of a figure in the tree above.
I couldn’t see it clearly, but I could tell it was a man with blonde hair.
[<System> You have discovered ‘Reno Harsen’!]
[<Quest> Find ‘Reno Harsen’ somewhere in the Royal Palace. Completed (1/1)]
[<System> Rewards will be granted shortly!]
Multiple messages arrived, and through them, I was able to deduce the man’s identity.
‘The man in the tree is Reno Harsen?’
Just as I squinted to see him more clearly, he shifted his posture, almost as if he was about to jump down.
‘Wait, is he planning to jump from that height? Is he crazy?’
Before I could stop him, the man leaped from the tree. It all happened in an instant, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
I expected to hear a loud thud and the man’s scream, but no matter how much time passed, I didn’t hear what I was anticipating.
Tentatively, I opened my eyes, only to be met with an unfamiliar face right in front of me.
“Ugh.”
Instinctively, I stepped back, but in my haste, my ankle twisted sharply. My body swayed.
Just as I thought I would fall, the man caught me by the waist and pulled me toward him.
“Are you alright, Your Highness?”
“Yes, thank you…….”
I responded instinctively, but stopped midway through my sentence. I had tried to pull away because his face was too close, but in doing so, I had only made it closer.
I could now clearly see that the man’s eyes were a mix of bright yellow and lime, and there was a teardrop mark under his left eye.
I flinched again and tried to pull away, but he didn’t release his grip on my waist.
‘I should ask him to let go.’
For some reason, the words wouldn’t come out. Slowly, the face of ‘Reno’ began to come into focus.
He was incredibly handsome. Comparable to Isaac, whom I had seen yesterday.
However, while Isaac had the cold, ice-like beauty of a stoic man, this man had the warm, soft charm of a sprout emerging in the spring sun.
Staring at his handsome face, my mind seemed to freeze, unable to think properly. While I was frozen in place, Reno tilted his head slightly.
“That’s strange.”
“Yes……?”
“You’re not pushing me away? Usually, you’d dislike this kind of thing. It’s strange to see you just standing still.”
His words, full of clear surprise, made my heart drop.
The fact that he found it strange meant he was suspecting my true identity.
‘So, no matter what I do, it’s not accepted unless it’s within my character’s boundaries?’
Now that I thought about it, even when I had spoken politely to the maids, a message had popped up warning me to act in a way that wouldn’t raise suspicions.
It seemed like free will was allowed, but only within the limits of the ‘Character Value.’
‘If that’s the case, shouldn’t they have given me some hints about Nepheli’s behavior patterns?’
If this were a game, there could’ve been options like in a visual novel, right? Even if the early parts are unhelpful, this is a bit too much.
I should have realized it when they suddenly had me form a relationship with a random male character during the tutorial quest.
“Plus, you’re even doing things you don’t normally do, like working on the engineering side?”
I knew it was my first time meeting him, so…….
The good thing was, Reno still didn’t suspect that I was an imposter.
After all, I was technically still the ‘Nepheli’ character on the outside, so even if I made a small mistake early on, it was unlikely he’d suspect anything.
I carefully chose my words.
“It’s not that I don’t like it.”
