A massive boulder that made you crane your neck just to see the top.
"HAAAH!"
I, Nest Sia Arboreo, crushed it with my hand.
"Hmm not bad."
Thanks to relentless training, I could now shatter boulders with my bare hands. In the past, the recoil would send pain shooting through my fists, but not anymore. I could honestly say that daily training had made me stronger.
Just a 20kilometer run left and my morning workout would be complete. After that I'd grab a protein packed meal and rest, then work on my lower body in the afternoon. The timing would be perfect since my muscles would've finished their recovery cycle.
"Heh heh... heh heh heh..."
Training to my limits every day meant I was always sore somewhere. But I'd become so obsessed with muscle that it felt good.
Yeah. So obsessed that no one would think I belonged to a noble count's family here in the Kingdom of Carnelia.
"Nest... Working out again?"
"Mm..."
A tall handsome guy called out to me as I finished my run and wiped off sweat In the garden of Arboreo estate.
"Brother, What's wrong with that? This is what I'm best at."
"I'm not telling you to stop. A noble so pathologically obsessed with muscle training… it's actually refreshing in a way."
"Hahaha, you're making me blush with all that praise!"
"...That was sarcasm you know."
My brother Felix Fo Arboreo was pretty uptight, as you could tell. While I preached that muscle was life, he believed nobles should live as elegantly as possible.
We were complete opposites.
"Brother, you're talented and good-looking and have everything, plus you're the eldest son of House Arboreo. Me? I'm just the third son, even if I am from the Arboreo family... I've got no talent for studying and look like a gorilla... You know nobody expects anything from me."
"..."
"So I'm just living however I want. Muscle solves everything."
"...Hah. Still don't get you."
My brother sighed at my words.
Honestly though, that was half truth and half lie.
Because I wasn't from this world.
I was a reincarnator, and I knew this was an otome game world.
Kingdom of Carnelia. House Arboreo. Felix and Nest.
The moment I heard those names, it clicked. This was the world of an otome game I'd played obsessively in my past life.
Sure, I get it. You don't hear about guys getting hooked on otome games very often. Is that even a thing?
I used to think the same way. Figured I'd just mess around with it to kill time.
But once I really tried it, I got completely sucked into the rich storyline. The detailed characters, the gameplay that had everything, romance, battles, territory management, you name it.
I got so hooked I'd forget to eat and sleep while playing.
I had no idea how I'd ended up in the game world or what caused me to reincarnate into another world. But anyway, here I was living a second life.
So I figured this time around, I'd live however I wanted.
Even as a count's son, Nest was just a mob character. I could slack off all I wanted without affecting the story, so I decided to live exactly how I pleased.
To be blunt, I was a total beanpole in my past life. That always bugged me, and wanting to try stuff I couldn't do before wasn't weird at all.
So I made up my mind. After working like a dog in my past life, I was gonna take it easy this time around. And I'd spend most of that time building this ripped muscular body.
"Hmm hmm hmm~♪"
Looking down at the lake's surface, I could see my sculpted body clearly reflected.
First I raised my arms to show off my biceps. Then I put my hands behind my head to check out my abs and leg muscles. After that...
"What the hell are you doing..."
My brother put his hand to his forehead and groaned.
"Heh heh, brother what do you think? Pretty amazing body, right?"
"Show a little more awareness that you're part of House Arboreo. At this rate marriage will be out of reach forever."
"That's fine by me. I've never been interested in marriage anyway, so I'll just stay single~"
"Well that's not happening. You've got a marriage proposal."
"I gave up on marriage the day I was born, so that's just a pipe dream... wait, WHAT?!"
A marriage proposal. My brother's words totally caught me off guard.
"Brother you're kidding right!? Wouldn't you be way more suitable for a marriage proposal than me..."
"Just listen. Once you hear who she is, you'll understand whether you like her or not."
With that, my brother slowly walked over to me. He leaned close to my ear and whispered.
"Lady Reinan Fi Ristiana. She's the one hoping for this engagement with you."
"Huh...?! R-Ristiana...?!"
"Keep your voice down. It's too early for the public to know."
"B but brother...!"
The Ristiana family was a household name that everyone in this country knew.
They were a ducal house, one of the Four Great Noble Houses of Carnelia Kingdom, which put them close to the royal family.
They controlled way more territory than a count's house and had enough power to sometimes challenge even the king.
A marriage proposal from the Ristiana family made zero sense...
"I see. Lady Reinan..."
"Hm? What's this, Nest? You know her?"
"Ah, yes... sorta."
Of course I know thanks to my game knowledge, but I kept that to myself.
In this game, she was a villainess so evil she was called the worst of the worst.
In her childhood, she'd used her natural healing magic to completely cure patients with terminal illnesses and instantly heal people with supposedly irreparable injuries. She was amazing at it.
Not only that, she always wore a carefree smile and kept helping all kinds of people. Despite being from a ducal house, she never acted arrogant and was incredibly popular with the common folk.
Reinan was so beloved she was literally called a saint. That all came crashing down about six months ago. For whatever reason, it came to light that she'd poisoned her fiancé's drink.
The reason was never clearly explained in the game, but it was believed she'd gotten jealous after seeing her fiancé chatting intimately with her sister.
And then Reinan transformed into a real monster.
The magic that had instantly healed the sick became dark magic that killed targets on the spot. The magic that healed injured people instantly became dark magic that hit you with every bad effect you could think of.
When the saint was consumed by endless jealousy, tremendous power awakened, making her the final boss of the game.
Yeah. So basically, I was being proposed to by the game's final boss right now.
Like hell I'm accepting that!
Sure she was cute. She had a lovely face and a great figure, and if she wasn't a villainess, there'd be nothing to complain about!
But she WAS a villainess! The final boss too! Who'd want to accept a woman like that?
...Wait, maybe I just didn't remember and this Nest guy was actually her first victim?
I think Reinan's power awakened about six months after she was called a villainess, and I heard her rage exploded after being forced into an unwanted marriage...
Oh no no no, cut it out. Don't ruin my dream.
"H-heh heh heh... Brother, I'm gonna have to pass on this marriage thing…."
"Just listen. Sure, she's got a reputation, but she's from a ducal house. If we can get in good with them, we could raise House Arboreo's prestige even higher. That's what Father thinks."
"No, but I---"
I'm refusing this. Sure, I got what Father was thinking, but this was way beyond that now.
I am gonna get killed at this rate! Who'd choose a future like that?
"Asking a blockhead like you was pointless, you'd obviously refuse. So Father already accepted the engagement."
"Hey hey...!"
Hey. Are you seriously trying to get me killed?
Knowing what was coming in the story, I couldn't help but get a headache.