Title: Her Ugly Baron

Summary: If the girl was already going to be cuckqueaned...

As I stared at the villainess walking towards the school, I couldn't help but think how beautiful she was. It was a shame she would be banished to the frontier in roughly three years. It didn't even matter if the protagonist would hook up with Julius. She was always the instigator of the honor duel.

The unfortunate part was that she didn't have much choice in the matter. The founder heirs' engagements formed the largest political bloc in Holfort. Even as ignorant as I was, it was obvious that anything that could jeopardize the bloc could throw much into disarray and convince a major family to start a blood feud with the corresponding family. Angelica was just doing her duties.

And Julius thought he was fucked over by his position.

Why was I even bothering to contemplate the situation with Angelica? All the women here were decrepit snakes and parasites. She probably deserved her fate. I mean she...

Actually, what did she do to deserve her fate.

Antagonize the protagonist? Well, what reasonable woman would make a fuss about some random hussy trying to steal her man.

Have her followers bully the protagonist? Let's be real here. Was it ever confirmed that she did order her followers to do it? People were always so eager to throw someone else under the bus. The most likely situation was that her followers got a little too eager to please and to satisfy their need to feel superior.

Not being everything the prince wanted? Oh boo freaking hoo. Relationships were a two way street. If the relationship wasn't working, Julius had some fault for that, given they had years to work on it.

Angelica doesn't understand Julius? Again, Julius was responsible for quite a bit of that. Sure, Angelica could be a little less nagging, but Julius was a coward for not standing his ground when it mattered.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized Angelica was pretty innocent in all of this, or at the very least, she was only as guilty as Julius who got off Scot free . If anything, she was kind to a fault for not pushing the issue for so long.

Her (alleged) attacks on Olivia were minor at most compared to the potential destabilization of the kingdom. Burning notebooks was petty bullying at worst, but by antagonizing the future Saintess, Angelica ruined her reputation and prospects.

I could only feel pity for the villainess now. She was destined to suffer simply because the target demographic of this game loved the idea of watching others fall into the mud. To think that in addition to being set up to lose everything, such a fine woman was doomed to marry some ugly frontier baron. I did not doubt that it would be an ugly bastard genre.

Looking at the beautiful girl, I could only sigh. Julius was a fool to toss away Angelica. If I had someone that beautiful, I would never let her go. If only I had the chance to take her away.

...

So why don't I?

I could be her ugly frontier baron.

... Did I just call myself ugly?

Ugh, Luxion's sass was getting to me.

Meeting all of the ladies whom my followers had pushed away before had been a trying affair. These ladies now saw these meetings as a means to bleed me for a favor, and oh how smug they were about it. I swear, if it weren't for the fact that their family's support was reliant on the whims of spoiled heiresses, I wouldn't have bothered.

Alas, my followers were among those that could be counted as spoiled. They had rebuffed these ladies because they thought them too lowly to merit a personal meeting. It wouldn't have been as bad had my followers at least scheduled an appointment and cited that I was in the middle of another's greeting. At least then we could wave it off as poor timing.

As the most recent of my headaches left, one of my followers came in with an exasperated look.

"Is that the last of them?"

"... We've met with the last of the ladies."

Hesitation?

"Last of the ladies?"

"There is a boy. Just a frontier baron."

A boy? That was peculiar. Social norms dictated that only female students should have greeted me. I don't even think the boys had anything regarding an introduction. I should just politely turn him away.

But...

Did I want to deal with some political drama later on for not even bothering to meet him? Perhaps it was due to the ordeal I had just dealt with, but I decided to meet this baron at least.

"Send him in."

"I'm not sure if that would be the wisest thing."

"I'll consult your wisdom after you have repaid me for the dozens of offerings you took and the favors I now owe because of you," I said with a glare.

The girl had the decency to look abashed. She hadn't had the decency to share the offerings that were originally meant for me. She hadn't even asked me if I wanted them. Whether or not I would have rejected the offerings was beside the point.

"... Very well."

That's right. I would extract my pound of flesh.

Before my follower went to bring in the next guest, her eyes went wide.

"What is it now?" I asked testily.

I heard knocking on my window. Looking over, I saw a male student jauntily waving at me. He was hanging from a rope. He also held a bouquet of roses.

"... Is that the boy?"

"... Yes."

"... I'll let him in," I said with a sigh as I opened the window.

"I'm surprised you managed to convince the staff to let us into the dungeon so early into the first semester."

"It was not hard," Sir Bartfort said with a slight shrug before opening his knapsack to check his supplies.

With great interest, I peered over the edge of his bag.

"Curious?"

"Quite. After all, you can judge a man by how he packs."

"Is that a thing?"

"Of course."

"And what does my pack say about me?"

Taking a closer look, I saw the pack was well organized. The items were arranged according to their specific uses. The healing potions were located in the middle where they would unlikely be damaged unless struck significantly hard, but would still be easy to reach from the top of the bag. These potions were surrounded by softer materials such as gauze to further cushion the vital potions.

Looking at the sides of the pack, tools for mining magical crystal deposits were strapped on. It was something typically not brought along adventures since most focused on the loot found in treasure chests. This however was a dungeon dive in which quite a bit of Dia could be earned from the vast number of deposits. It demonstrated a more realistic understanding of monetary value.

After some more investigations, I could only hum in approval.

"As expected of a man of your caliber."

"A man of my caliber?" he asked with an astonished look.

"You disagree with my assessment?"

"More surprised you would appraise me so highly."

"Have more confidence in yourself, Sir Bartfort."

He cringed.

"Would it be too much of an imposition for you to call me by my name?"

"Hoh?"

"It's just that I'm still not quite used to being referred to so formally."

"And you'll never get used to it if you don't hear it."

"Right," he said with an awkward look.

"Don't be like that, Leon. It's proof that the Kingdom recognizes your achievements. You should wear it with pride."

"Right, huh?"

I just laughed.

"You are quite kind."

"I don't know what you mean, Sir Bartfort."

He just laughed as he gestured towards the entrance.

"This is much too bold, Sir Bartfort," I said with a raised eyebrow as I saw Leon present me an invitation to his tea party. I didn't read into his faux pas since he had become much more interested in tea parties as of late as the etiquette teacher had taken him on as an apprentice. At least Leon had the mind to present me such an invitation in private. "You do realize I am engaged to the prince."

"As much as a prize you are, I only meant it as an offer for a respite should you find yourself with some free time."

"Flattery is not helping your case," I chided despite the fact it felt nice to hear.

"Just keep it in mind."

"I'll be sure to do so," I said. I did not have the heart to mention that I wouldn't since I would be attending His Highness's tea party. Nor did I want Leon to offer to reschedule his tea party. As much as I would have liked to see Leon's progress, it would be far too improper to entertain such an invitation.

"Your Highness, we need to discuss the details regarding the upcoming tea ceremony. Would this be an opportune moment for you?" I said while holding my frustration in.

The girls surrounding Julius and Jilk immediately became silent.

"Ah, Angelica. Don't just force your way into the conversation. This is the Academy, you know," Julius bit back.

Julius had procrastinated for far too long. Unlike Leon, he had yet to make any arrangements for the upcoming tea party event, which needed to be grand enough for a man of his station. If he did not start preparing now, accommodations could not be made in time even with expedited services.

More importantly, he had yet to invite me. His negligence could be due to assuming I would attend. While it hurt to know he had forgotten, I wrote it off as a mere faux pas packaged with his lackadaisical approach to tea parties.

"I'm aware of that. However, the conversation around Your Highness is getting rather loud. Do you not think that discussing your plans would be prudent?" I posed as a suggestion to appear nonconfrontational. He was always more agreeable when he worked out the decision himself.

Before Julius could respond, he cut himself off. He saw someone, and his mood instantly brightened.

"Marie! Thank goodness, we were looking for you!"

Who was Marie?

Looking back, I saw a small girl with long blonde hair. If I recall correctly, she was the daughter of the Lafan family. I had heard about her recently through rumors. I had initially scoffed at the idea that Julius would fawn over anyone.

For as long as I knew him, he was always the prim and proper prince with the highest standards. Standards which even I had trouble meeting, let alone some destitute viscountess.

But now that this was occurring in front of me, my heart wept as I saw my fiancé excitedly spoke to the girl. Showing a face not even I have seen. A look of unrestrained joy.

"I'm also planning on holding a tea party soon. I find flashy events distasteful. So I'm only inviting acquaintances. And so, I thought I'd ask you as well."

What was left unsaid was that I was not invited. Every word left an indelible pain on my heart.

Looking around the crowd, I could see all the other girls giving me side glances. Some were of pity, but most were filled with glee to see my fall from grace. Just another horrendous experience since coming here.

As I stared helplessly into the crowd, I saw a trio of boys sitting under a gazebo. One, in particular, stood out to me. It was Leon. He looked angry. His friends were giving hushed whispers and trying to restrain him. A beacon of kindness in this cruel school.

Returning to Julius and Lafan, I noticed the girl giving me a worried look. She likely expected me to object to her attendance, which I did, but I couldn't afford to do that now. No matter how much she hurt me, I needed to be mindful of my behavior for the sake of my family. With the Redgrave's name at stake, I could not afford to act rashly.

"I suppose this solves my issue regarding what I needed to discuss with you regarding the ceremony," I said with a faux smile toward Julius.

"Eh?" both Julius and the girl said.

"I wanted to let you know I was thinking of attending another's tea ceremony, but I was troubled about the impropriety. Considering you publicly invited Ms. Lafan, I can assume you take no issue with me doing so?" I said while pulling out Leon's invitation.

"Someone has invited you?" Julius asked with an incredulous tone as he stared at the invitation in disbelief.

"It was rather amusing when he had handed me the invitation," I chuckled.

"Does he not know who you are?"

"Of course he knows who I am. He still offered regardless. But worry not, he didn't mean for it in a romantic sense. He's somewhat of a tea aficionado, and he wanted me to assess his progress. It was rather endearing despite the impropriety. Enough so that I want to aid him on his endeavor."

"Why would you attend another's tea ceremony? You do realize the implication of these events."

"I'm surprised you would take issue since you just invited another woman to yours in front of your fiancée."

At this, Julius looked away nervously. I suppose he just realized what he had done or his hypocrisy. In either case, he was not comfortable with his previous decision. It was little comfort since it was more evidence of his infidelity.

"How can we be sure that that invitation is real? Perhaps it is a fake to save face," Jilk said.

I always hated the snake. Always whispering such things to Julius. I cared not for the fact that Jilk was his foster brother. He always seemed to act in a manner to separate me from His Highness or debase me in some fashion.

"I'll thank you very much not to question my existence," a firm voice said behind me. Looking over, I saw Leon stand resolutely with a slightly scuffed uniform. Despite his slightly unruly appearance, he seemed like a knight who walked right out of romance novel at this point.

Not wanting people to think I was a whore, I quickly walked up to Leon and began adjusting his uniform. I quickly tutted in a professional manner, "Dashing entrance aside, you lose points for coming in while looking so ruffled. You must mind your appearance if you hope to win any hearts."

Leon, being an adventurer, was quick on the uptake.

"My apologies, but my friends saw fit to hold me back for my own good," he gestured to the stunned pile under the gazebo.

"Two on one? I suppose that makes up for you being slightly less than presentable. Though, if you wanted to look more presentable while maintaining an air of... let's say a roguish charm, you should remove the tie, unbutton the outer jacket, and the top two buttons of your dress shirt like so," I said while doing exactly that and pulling a pocket mirror to show him the results.

He took on a surprised look as he moved the mirror in different angles to see the effect. With what little I did, there was a surprising effect. I heard some whispers that his image seemed rather familiar. They were likely thinking of Greg since I did draw some inspiration from him. Though I held back on rolling up Leon's sleeves since I don't think he would have appreciated copying another's style.

"Who is this, Angelica?" Julius asked baffled at the interaction.

"This is Sir Leon Fou Bartfort, newest baron and youngest knight to the Kingdom. We've been acquainted since the first week of the semester."

"And what is your relation to this man," Jilk said more to drag me down by insinuating that I had a less than professional relationship with Leon. The nerve considering the hypocrisy.

"She's somewhat of a mentor to me. I was expecting to live as a commoner until the royal family saw fit to promote me for my success. While an honor, it has left me in the predicament of being terribly lost with regard to what is expected of me, and not just in politicking. Angelica has been rather kind in pointing out certain aspects that I had never considered before," Leon lied naturally.

I shot him a smile for his input. A very clean and acceptable answer.

"So now that is out of the way, I would like to appraise Leon's efforts for his tea party. After all, much of the success of a tea party comes from the preparation prior," I said with a professional smile.

Julius easily nodded.

When Leon and I were finally out of sight of everyone, my composure finally broke. The tears rolled down my face as I silently despaired of my failings.

Rather than speak words of comfort to me, Leon went on to prepare a pot of tea. A capable man trying to keep the illusion going.

After some few minutes, he served a cup of tea. Not wanting to waste his effort and appear ungrateful, I took a sip. Its warmth permeated my being with a soothing heat.

Looking at the man in front of me, he patiently sat.

"Thank you," I whispered quietly.

AN:

1) Just another brainworm I had about Leon realizing he could just pick up the pieces very easily. It somewhat morphed into A Petty Decision (2), but honestly it just kind of worked.

2) Not to sure if Leon would be able to pursue Clarice as well since it'd be a pretty dick move to be two timing a broken hearted girl while deliberately manipulating her to fall for you. Feels icky compared to falling in love naturally/accidentally we see in canon.

Review Response

draconis ignitus: That's the one. You did a great job. Lookin forward to your next one. ABC Demote me was pretty fun but trying to fill up the alphabet is a tad difficult. Though with almost a third of the alphabet finished, I could maybe power through in do it. Probably should just have an open document to collect the random ideas until enough are assembled.

luminaexotica: I do have one as Julius in the works, but I am trying to figure out if I'll have it focused on the childhood or during the Academy while referencing past events to explain Leon's feelings.

rjca1405: Eh, I've never been into bashing unless it's a parody bit or satire. A more serious take but maintaining the bashing just always feels like bad writing to me.

Qriiz: Yes, I am fully aware that unreincarnated Leon would be put in the army/runaway unless fanfic plot gets into the mix. I think you are misunderstanding what I mean about not bringing back/reincarnating Leon. It was in reference to Marie-Route Leon returning from the future to the past, not about Japanese Leon reincarnating into the game.

hnh058513: I actually did not think of that fact since I was only thinking of her being spooked about their being a murder. Definitely layers of fear here to explore. Perhaps an Olivia perspective of events is called for.

NewFanDamz: I think my original thought process was for Angelica to somewhat side with Olivia since she would likely be a terrified blubbering mess and can't possibly be trying to seduce the prince, but at the same time, feel wells of envy/jealousy/resignation since the prince has clearly marked Olivia as his intended concubine/consort. Leon likely gets curious about the situation and also wonders why the hell Julius is trying to make his life a living hell, which leads to Julius further antagonizing Leon for daring to get close to Olivia. Olivia is just there wondering why she is being fought over. Of course, this implies only Julius came back, but having the others come back has so much potential as well. So many possibilities. Really hope someone picks this up as a base for their story and run wild with it.

Worldbringer of Joseun: Eh, probably unaware for the sake of plot depending on whether or not Leon came back. Lots of possibilities with this prompt. Also glad you enjoyed my works and have been using it to help give you motivation to write. I'm always glad to see the list of writers grow. Also, reading your fiction was a real treat. It has a lot of potential. Love that Angelica is somehow turning Leon's love life into a proxy war with Fanoss. Can't say I know what title you should go for since I don't know the full details of your story. I typically go for wordplay based on the overall premise personally. Like I would have considered going for Villainess Protagonist because it's the Villainess playing as the protagonist, and (I'm assuming Hertrude is still semi evil) plays on the word Villainous and Villainess.

dawnwatch: I semi already have that plot with The Unlocked Secret Route (8), but obviously without the psycho Julius. Admittedly would make for a good story, but this prompt really has a lot of good possibilities to go with.