Drop!! ～A Tale of the Fragrance Princess～-Volume 5, Act 50: Dreamer Girl Part 05

Translator: Blushy

Editor: SenjiQ

“In a dream? Wait, he saved you…?”

“I wanted to pay him back for saving me, and the Prince appeared in my dream. I was stunned to see that his elegant behaviour and gentle aura was still there. But if I want the Prince to look at me, then I have to be really incredible. I want to meet him soon!”

Cordelia was confused as the excited Shelley smiled.

The Prince saved her when she was younger? I’m sure there wasn’t a setting like that in the game. I don’t know if the person who helped her was really Sylvester-sama, but how did it happen?

“You want me to tell you? I won’t. This is a memory between the Prince and I.”

No, it doesn’t matter how she met him right now.

Rather, her thoughts are the problem.

(If the only difference between Shelley and the game 『Heroine』was their personality, then I might have considered that she knew about this game and was reincarnated like me… but I don’t think she’s a reincarnated person.)

I can tell since she doesn’t think of Earl Clydereine as her Otou-sama, and, above all, it’s clear that she has no interest in Cordelia. If Shelley was someone who knew about the game, then she will probably change her expression, even if just subtly, when she met Cordelia, who will likely persecute her.

(If she was a reincarnated person who loved the Prince, then I could have supported her…)

However, even if her personality is different, I wanted her to be meeker. In the game, the personality of the game changed somewhat depending on the player’s selection, but Shelley doesn’t follow that settling now.

In front of Cordelia who gulped, Earl Zakharov laughed.

“You have to study hard too if you want to follow the same path as the Saint. The priests also tell you this, don’t they?”

“I might need to study, but I have the power of dreams, so I’ll be fine. If my dreams are strong, then I should be able to get better results than studying. Because I can see the future!”

The fear that Cordelia felt towards her declaration wasn’t just rejection. She genuinely believed that her power was special and righteous and that she can become special. It was terrifying.

“If your dream powers are wrong, would you be able to tell?”

She understood that this question would offend Shelley, but she had to ask it.

Sure enough, Shelley frowned.

“Why did you say that? Are you saying I’m wrong?!”

“I’m not. However, I was just wondering how you would show that your dreams are absolutely true.”

”Oh my, that’s easy. People who want to believe in my dreams can tell, and people who don’t are wrong, aren’t they?”

Shelley’s answer, which was full of confidence, did not give Cordelia the answer she wanted to hear. It was pointless to ask her any more questions now, and from what Cordelia had just heard, Shelley will follow her path in a parallel line.

(But one mistake can lead to her destroying her surroundings and herself.)

If Shelley is going to stick to her beliefs, then she needs to know the risks.

(I might have to tell her the risks if she doesn’t notice it herself.)

However, Cordelia didn’t want to put Shelley in a bad mood. I don’t want to continue to incite her or be seen as an enemy either.

I have to be patient right now. When she moved her fingertips, an unexpected voice reached her ears again.

“Dreams are only aids. It’s hard to gain confidence from people if you can’t convince them.”

“But I think it’s a game of numbers. If I can prove my powers, then everyone will believe in it, right?”

Earl Zakharov kindly informed Shelley, and she answered full of confidence. It was as if she was saying that Earl Zakharov should have known this.

(Which means she’s shown Earl Zakharov that her powers are always correct.)

But Cordelia was surprised by Earl Zakharov’s words.

Contrary to Shelley’s confidence, he had rebuked her twice.

(If the Earl is involved in her kidnapping, then it would be easier if he just agrees with her.)

My suspicion towards him might be groundless fear. If it is, then I’ll be happy, but… 𝒇𝗿𝙚ℯ𝑤ℯ𝑏𝒏𝑜ѵe𝙡.c𝐨ｍ

“Oh, we’ve arrived.”

“Our journey in the carriage is over. It was fun! I felt like a Princess!”

Shelley said and rushed out the door before the coachman could open it. The Earl slowly followed after her.

Cordelia sighed in relief when they both got off the carriage. Even though they were still close, Shelley’s departure allowed her to relax a little.

“Say, Ojou-sama, are you under the weather? You usually wouldn’t just let her say something like that.”

“I’m fine. I didn’t argue because I couldn’t prove that her dreams are wrong. And, I was thinking because we decided to come in the spur of the moment, so I didn’t tell Otou-sama that I was going to come here.”

Cordelia immediately lied to Ronnie and then realised.

(That’s right. Her dreams indeed come true right now.)

Shelley isn’t the only one saying this. According to the rumours, she only tells fortunes that have no problems even if she’s wrong.

(I don’t want to get in the way of her wishes… but, I can’t help but wish that her dream powers don’t get any stronger. She has too much confidence in it and doesn’t even think there’s a slight chance they might be wrong.)

The heroine’s powers in the game were used to solve people’s troubles and weren’t directly related to the nation.

However, I don’t know if that was because『she didn’t use it』or because『she couldn’t use it』 for that.

(If her wish does come true, then there’ll most likely be chaos.)

Whether it’s true or not, her statements which hold absolute confidence could bring disaster.

And, although I don’t know the truth behind the situation, I understand clearly that I’m not compatible with her. Perhaps, even if I’m not 『Cordelia』, I still wouldn’t be good at dealing with her.

“… I didn’t want to say this, but Master told me to let you do what you want as long as it’s not really dangerous. So, you don’t need to worry about not telling Master.”

“Oh my, really?”

“Yes, as long as you don’t do anything dangerous. On the other hand, I’m the one in charge of deciding whether it’s dangerous or not.”

Ronnie emphasised strangely, and Cordelia smiled wryly while getting off the carriage.

A large amount of land was necessary for the circus, so it was located some distance away from the town centre.

In addition to the spectators, there were many stalls selling souvenirs, and the place was as lively as a festival. They might be stalls, but they were actually temporary shops, so it looked as if it was a small shopping district.

(I miscalculated.)

I knew that the circus wasn’t aimed at nobles, since Lara said she was coming here, but I thought it was a calmer place, since Earl Zakharov had said he had received the ticket from his friend. However, the crowd is more intense than I imagined. We will immediately get lost if we act carelessly.

(Honestly, I’m more worried about her getting lost than about her getting kidnapped. It was the right choice to come with them.)

This crowd is too scary, since anything can happen. Cordelia decided to be careful, and Shelley shrieked beside her.

“Wow, there’s a big tent! And it smells delicious everywhere. And there are big animals over there! I wonder what that’s called?!”

“Sh-Shelley-san. The animals won’t run away, so please calm down.”

“Why?! Don’t tell me to calm down! Aren’t you acting a bit emotionless?!”

“Hmm, seriously, please wait!”

While holding onto Shelley’s clothes as Shelley moved to what attracted her, Cordelia desperately tried not to frown. If they made too much noise, then they would stand out in a bad way.

It might be difficult for Shelley to get kidnapped if she was bathed in attention, but Cordelia felt as if she heard people stifling their laughter. This is really embarrassing.

(We might be able to laugh it off if we were really commoners…)

Shelley is beautiful because she is the heroine.

Her clothes are close to those a noble girl would wear because Earl Zakharov gave them to her. In other words, she looks like a noble girl. That’s why her actions can give a negative impression to those around her, and they would think, ‘Why is she acting like that? Whose House does she belong to?’

And, my reputation will be damaged, not Shelley’s, because she hasn’t entered noble society yet. Even if I wasn’t acting the way she is, I would probably be recognised just by accompanying her. People will notice that I’m from the Pameradia House because of my red eyes, which will cause trouble for Otou-sama. That can’t happen.

But then she realised something when she looked around.

(But aren’t there only a few nobles here?)

It wasn’t like there weren’t any upper-class people in the crowd, but there was considerably less than she had thought. Cordelia looked around curiously to find out why this was. Then, she found on a signboard nearby that performances for noble were performed at night.

(Oh, I see. In this case, most nobles will visit at night.)

In this kingdom, plays were usually performed at night, so people didn’t go to the theatre in the daytime when nothing was on. Nobles in this kingdom know that people in foreign kingdoms go to the theatre in the day too, but they choose to go at night.

(But then, why did Earl Zakharov’s friend decide to purchase tickets for the daytime?)

It might be difficult to take Shelley out at night. But the ticket wasn’t something Earl Zakharov had bought, he had said that his friend gave it to him. I can’t say it’s bizarre since I can see other nobles around, but why did they conveniently get tickets for the daytime show?

(I wonder if I’m overthinking.)

“Hey, do we have time to see that stall over there? I’m curious because there’s a lot of sparkly things!”

“Hmm, Shelley-san, please calm down a bit…”

Shelley interrupted Cordelia’s thoughts with her loud voice and pulled on Cordelia’s clothes again. But, it was difficult for her to ponder too much since Shelley was running all over the place. Even if she had asked Earl Zakharov about the tickets, Shelley would probably interrupt them.

Earl Zakharov slowly put his hands on Shelley’s shoulders.

“Shelley-san, I’ll ask you too. Please calm down a little, alright?”

Cordelia was relieved to hear he supported her. Whether Shelley would calm down or not, she has listened to Earl Zakharov. Cordelia thought Shelley would calm down…

“We still have time until they start the performance. If you don’t rush and decide what stalls you want to visit, then we can go look at a few. Where do you want to go first?”

―――― But Cordelia had just imagined things.

Shelley heard what Earl Zakharov had said, and raised her voice cheerfully.

“Then, I want to see the sparkly things over there! And, that crowded place over there. I’m excited to see what they’re doing over there.”

“Then, where do you want to go first? Oh, how about that beads stall over there? Can you see it?”

Maybe the Earl hadn’t done this for Shelley and he just wanted to see beads? After hearing the friendly conversation, Cordelia felt uncomfortable as if she was the third-wheel.

“Ojou-sama, what will you do?”

“We’ll go with them since that child might get lost with just the Earl around. If anything happens, then we’ll be troubled.”

If Cordelia can keep her from being kidnapped, then that was what she wanted to do. She was here on the lookout. Leaving Shelley was nothing short of abandoning her decision.

“Well, it is crowded. There are a lot of rude people who pickpocket in places like these. Please be careful since you look like a normal beautiful lady at a glance instead of a naughty one.”

“… It certainly is easy for suspicious people to slip into the crowds.”

Cordelia agreed while pretending that she hadn’t heard everything Ronnie had said.