The Prince Is Dead, So Let’s Start Over Everything Again! - Chapter 4.4

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“It was for your own good. The land in the North is incomparably barren and dangerous compared to Lurupel. The land is dry, and dangerous monsters appear every night. People from other territories can’t even last three months.”

“I see…”

Thank you for the unsolicited explanation.

I nodded halfheartedly, like a car dashboard bobblehead.

My mind was busy trying to figure out when would be the best time to get rid of this stubborn person.

The male protagonist was not a welcome guest to me.

However, he was technically my benefactor.

Because of this, I couldn’t rudely ask him to leave.

‘What excuse should I use to politely drive him away?’

I was in the middle of wracking my uncooperative brain for a method when the male protagonist suddenly brought up an unexpected topic.

“But if you wish, I could reconsider even now.”

“…Pardon? Reconsider what?”

“If you come with me to the North, I promise to give you the title of the future Duchess of Caledonia.”

His words were so outrageous.

I had to doubt whether my ears were functioning properly.

The male protagonist was proposing a contract marriage to me!

Is he… Is he perhaps insane?

“I’m getting engaged in four days, you know?”

“People can’t know what will happen even tomorrow.”

“Did you perhaps eat something bad for breakfast?”

“The chef’s skills weren’t bad.”

This is driving me crazy!

I couldn’t understand at all why the male protagonist wanted to have a contract marriage with me instead of the perfectly fine female protagonist.

Of course, I knew that he hadn’t met the female protagonist yet.

But that doesn’t mean that someone who’s supposed to be the male protagonist should go around proposing marriage to just anyone!

He’s not some nouveau riche throwing around empty promises, what is this! Is your love first-come, first-served?

If you’re a romance novel male protagonist, act like one and wait patiently for the female protagonist to have a thousand-year love story!

“…I can’t tolerate such insulting words!”

I stood up abruptly.

Apologize! Give me back the time I wasted reading your first-come, first-served love story!

The male protagonist, no, he doesn’t even deserve to be called the male protagonist.

From now on, you’re just the Young Duke of Whatever!

The Young Duke of Whatever looked up at me for a moment and then obediently stood up.

“It seems I’ve been rude. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Don’t come! Who said you could come? I absolutely won’t let you in!”

“Oh, I told Count Lurupel that you and the 3rd Prince fell from a tree. No one but me saw you getting out of my carriage, so you don’t need to worry.”

“…That’s, that’s appreciated! But anyway, please leave!”

I hurriedly chased out the Young Duke of Whatever.

He hesitated for a moment, then left the room saying he’d come again next time.

This is ridiculous. Who said I’d let him in?

From now on, I will absolutely not meet the Young Duke of Whatever!

What I wanted was a smooth and ordinary, yet secretly wealthy life.

A life where everyone around me thinks I’m just an ordinary citizen, but in reality, I own three buildings in a posh neighborhood.

Even though this was already my half-ruined 4th life, I couldn’t let it progress in such a drastic direction.

“Knock knock. Miss! Miss?”

As soon as the Young Duke of Whatever left, Anna opened the door and came in.

She made a knocking sound with her mouth to get my attention.

“Anna!”

I hurriedly threw myself into Anna’s arms.

In just a few hours, I had met too many strange people.

At this rate, I could say I’d encountered a lifetime’s worth of crazy people in one day.

I was mentally exhausted to the point of dizziness. I wondered if I needed an exorcism.

“Miss! What happened? Did you reject the Young Duke of Caledonia?”

“I don’t even want to talk about that person!”

“Oh, don’t say that, please tell me! Was it true that the Young Duke of Caledonia fell for you at first sight? This Anna has always believed that the day would come when he would regret rejecting your proposal and beat the ground in remorse!”

Anna chattered with a very happy face. She was as lovely as a chirping bird.

But the more she talked, the more mentally drained I felt.

“You probably can’t imagine how many times the Young Duke of Caledonia has visited this room, Miss!”

I didn’t want to imagine it either.

But Anna, who had already departed for her own romantic world, didn’t notice my disgusted look.

“What did he say? Can’t you tell just me? Please, Miss?”

“Anna!”

“Did he perhaps say he wanted to arrange a marriage with you even now? …Hehe, that’s impossible, right?”

Anna scratched her cheek as if embarrassed.

She would probably never know that she had just hit the nail on the head.

Flustered, I frantically racked my brain for a topic to divert Anna’s attention.

“Oh! Come to think of it, what about the 3rd Prince?”

“Pardon?”

“Yes, that’s right, the 3rd Prince! How is His Highness the 3rd Prince doing? He seemed to have hit his head hard… no, I mean, he seemed to have bumped his head hard, is he alright?”

“Ah…”

The new topic was quite excellent for being hastily contrived.

As I brought it up, my curiosity about the 3rd Prince’s well-being grew rapidly.

Of course, I didn’t think anything serious had happened to the 3rd Prince.

Because my 4th life hadn’t ended yet.

My vision had become clear again, and my hearing was also functioning diligently.

If I was fine, wouldn’t the 3rd Prince be safe too?

“Well, about that…”

However, strangely enough, Anna had a very troubled expression on her face.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen to His Highness?”

“Um, well… Actually, His Grace told me not to tell you yet…”

“What is it? …Don’t tell me he passed away?”

Seeing Anna’s unusually hesitant behavior, a sudden anxiety welled up inside me.

A doubt that perhaps I had been thinking wrongly all this time began to creep in.

Until now, I had been almost certain that there was some kind of connection between the 3rd Prince’s death and my regression.

But in fact, there was no guarantee that it had to be that way.

This wasn’t something that could be scientifically proven.

Well, the same could be said about entering a world inside a novel in the first place.

Anyway, everything I had figured out about this unexplained regression was nothing more than highly probable guesses.

It wouldn’t be strange at all if things went wrong at any time.

“No, no, he hasn’t passed away! Not yet!”

Anna hurriedly shook her head.

However, there was a word in her speech that caught my ear.

“What? What do you mean by ‘not yet’?”

“Well… I’m not sure if I should tell you this. Can you keep it a secret from His Grace?”

“Alright. I promise, so tell me.”

“After falling from the tree, His Highness hasn’t woken up yet. So…”

Anna, who had been hesitating and trailing off, finally bit her lip.

She looked unsure if it was appropriate to discuss such a serious matter in front of an eight-year-old child.

It seemed better for me to go and check the situation myself rather than relying on Anna.