I Was Reincarnated as a Villain Prince’s Follower, but I Refuse to Be Ruined—Turns Out the Prince Is Surprisingly Competent - Chapter 14

When I returned home, the mansion was in an uproar; it seemed the invitation to the evening party had already arrived. I was immediately called to the study by my father. As soon as I entered the room, my excited father pulled me into a hug.

“This is the greatest honor our family has ever seen! To think you are a guest of honor at a party hosted by His Majesty himself!”

“I was just accompanying him. The real star is the Prince…”

“That doesn’t matter! Whether it’s just a formality or not, this is your big moment! Ahahaha! This is wonderful, truly wonderful!”

“Father, if I may ask a random question.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Do you remember exactly when the Prince and I first met?”

My father looked at me with an exasperated expression.

“Get it together. You were ten years old. We went to a party at another noble’s house, and the Second Prince happened to be there as well.”

“I see.”

“You didn’t actually tell the Prince you forgot, did you!?”

He went from pure joy to a face full of anxiety in a split second. He’s a busy man, emotionally speaking.

“I’m fine. I just wanted to double-check.”

“Well, that’s good! Listen, you never know what might make him angry. Watch your words carefully. If you ruin the relationship we have now…”

I couldn’t believe these words were coming from a man who, until very recently, absolutely hated Rufus. After all, if Rufus were actually a petty person, the Baron’s house would have been blown to pieces long ago just for not sending him a birthday invitation. On my way from the study back to my room, a memory surfaced.

Yes, I recall that Jeremy was supposed to keep a diary. In a bonus section at the end of the original book, there was a silly conversation between chibi versions of Rufus and Jeremy. Rufus had said, with incredible arrogance, “Since you serve the great me, your boring diary will be filled with wonderful events every day.” Since that wasn’t strictly part of the main story, I didn’t know if the diary really existed, but if it was part of the official setting, it might be reflected in this world too. Back in my room, I began searching the bookshelves and drawers.

(Found it!)

There was a hidden space in part of the bookshelf, and inside were several books with green spines.

(Sorry, Jeremy. But I’m doing this for our future!)

It seemed Jeremy started the diary because his tutor suggested it as a way to practice writing.

(Jeremy is amazing for keeping it up this long.)

The content of the diary itself wasn’t anything fancy. It noted the weather and any events of the day. If nothing happened, he just wrote “Nothing special.” Even when things did happen, they were summarized in short sentences of one or two lines. However, one specific entry took up two full pages. It was the day my father mentioned—the day he first met Rufus.

I hated talking to strangers, so I slipped away from Father and walked toward a quiet area. There, I met a beautiful boy. His name is Rufus, and he acts very bossy. I thought he was an unpleasant person, but when I tried to leave, he grabbed my clothes and wouldn’t let go. I realized he was just lonely. When we talked, I found out he loves books just as much as I do. When my brother came looking for me because Father told him to and tried to do something mean to me, Rufus hit him with a wooden stick! Over and over. My brother is bigger and should be stronger, but Rufus was fast and dodged his attacks and hit him again. My brother started crying. Rufus yelled at him, “If you try to be mean to him again, I’ll make things even worse for you! I’m royalty!” My brother ran away with a more pathetic face than I’ve ever seen. Rufus looked at me and said, “From today on, you are my… l-l-lackey!” I didn’t know what a lackey was, so when I got home and asked a maid, she said it was like a servant. Am I going to be that boy’s servant? But since royalty is higher than me, I guess it’s not strange.

(So that’s why Balzet is so terrified of Rufus.)

I also finally understood why Jeremy stayed with Rufus. Rufus had developed a special bond with Jeremy because he was the only one by his side during his loneliness. Rufus appeared frequently in the diary after that. The entries became detailed, and I could tell from the writing that Jeremy truly enjoyed being with him. Even though they called it a “master and lackey” relationship, they were close enough that Jeremy called him “Ru-kun” (apparently Rufus’s late mother used to call him that) and Rufus called Jeremy by his name without any titles.

Even while acting boastful about being a prince, Rufus always protected the smaller Jeremy whenever he caught Balzet bullying him behind their father’s back. I couldn’t help but smile at the image of Rufus—someone who couldn’t be honest about his feelings but clearly cherished Jeremy. Their relationship began to change gradually as Jeremy grew older, started calling him “Your Highness,” and began treating him strictly as a royal. Until then, even though he knew Rufus was a prince, they were simply friends. At first, Rufus resisted being called “Your Highness,” telling him to “Stop it, go back to the old way,” but Jeremy wouldn’t change it, insisting it wasn’t proper. From then on, their relationship truly turned into one of master and servant, and the casual closeness vanished.

(Rufus must have been so lonely when Jeremy suddenly built that wall between them.)

Of course, that doesn’t make it okay for him to give Jeremy unreasonable orders later on. But even as Rufus turned into a “Villain Prince,” Jeremy never tried to leave him. The diary showed that Jeremy frequently fought back against his parents when they told him to stop associating with Rufus. For the quiet Jeremy to defy his parents like that, it was only ever for Rufus. Jeremy had chosen of his own free will to stay with Rufus, even while trying to maintain the proper distance between a royal and a noble.

(The relationship between Jeremy and Rufus is seriously precious…)

However, because they were nobles, the rigid social order had twisted their bond. During the inspection trip, the reason Rufus hated the formal way of speaking was likely because he missed the way things used to be. I put the diary back on the shelf. The entries made it painfully clear just how important Rufus was to Jeremy. And for the current me, it’s exactly the same.