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Chapter 1: Transmigration to Dating Sim
Chapter 1:Transmigration to Dating Sim
“TO THINK A COMMONER would even fathom sitting next to me. Know your place!”
When the young lady with golden curls spat these words at me, I didn’t really understand what was happening. She looked at me as if the very sight of my face infuriated her. I told myself to stay calm and assess the situation. Nothing good could come of panic.
I was seated in what looked like a typical high school classroom. It had far fewer desks than the high school I’d gone to, giving it a spacious feel, though a crowd had now formed around the girl with golden curls and myself. The problem was that no one I could see, including the young lady, looked even remotely Japanese.
Putting the young lady aside for the time being, I racked my memories to retrace my steps. I remembered finishing up some overtime work at the small business that employed me and then settling down to play a game. I didn’t have many hobbies, so my only real pastime was playing games; I loved everything from traditional board games like shogi and go to MMOs with beautiful 3D graphics.
My favorite games, though, were dating sims—the kind where you played as the heroine and got to romance a bunch of boys—though I tended to play them a little differently from most…
That was when I recognized the girl in front of me.
“Ahh,” I said. “Claire?”
“Well, I never! Who do you think you are, calling me by my first name?!”
That shrill voice was unmistakable. The girl with the golden curls was Claire François, a character in one of my favorite dating sims, Revolution.
But that would mean… It couldn’t be, could it? Had I been transported to a different world?
“Miss Claire.”
“That’s better,” Claire huffed. “A commoner should show respect.”
“Do you remember my name?”
“Are you stupid? You’re Rae Taylor.”
Revolution let you select the heroine’s first name, but her last name was fixed as Taylor. My name was Rei Ohashi. If I was Rae Taylor here—then this world was the stage where the game was set, and I was now its heroine.
It seemed I really had been transported to a different world.
“Yes!”
“What are you going on about?” Claire muttered, but I wasn’t paying attention. How many times had I fantasized about being transported into the game world, just like this? I could communicate with any character now, not just the ones the game allowed you to. And—
“Miss Claire.”
“What is it? It is most displeasing to have a commoner think she can simply call out to me.”
“I like you.”
“Huh?” Claire looked puzzled.
“Miss Claire, I love you.”
“Wh…wh-wh-what…?!”
As my words sank in, Claire rapidly grew flustered. She really was too cute.
My favorite character in Revolution wasn’t one of the boys the game set you up to choose from. It was Claire. Claire François, the villainess who bullies the heroine, becomes her rival, and finally loses to her.
This was Claire. This was the villainess, and I was completely smitten.
She had a shrill voice and thoroughly malicious demeanor, but even though she was standing before me in the flesh, remembering the game made me grin.
I could never find it in me to hate Claire. Her towering pride, the threatening gestures she made to hide the fact that she was easily hurt, her jealous rage after losing her love to another—those uniquely human qualities pushed all my buttons just right. If anything, it was the most popular male love interest who made me uncomfortable. The game made him out to be some kind of saint, and it was just a bit much for me.
“What in the world are you talking about?!”
“I just love you, that’s all.”
“Hmph! The likes of a commoner trying to get on my good side? Don’t waste your time.” Claire turned away in a huff.
“You’re so cute.” Oops—the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“Wh…wh-wha…!” Claire looked even more upset. “You… Are you trying to say you’re batting for that team?”
“Ah, I’m… Well, it doesn’t matter. I mean, it’s irrelevant to cuteness—because, Miss Claire, you are cute.”
“Huh?!” She pulled away. It was perfect—such a pure reaction.
“Miss Claire, you hate me, right?”
“Of course!”
“That’s fine. Please keep teasing me. I love it.”
“Wh-what in the world…?” Claire was starting to look seriously weirded out.
“Now, let’s get this super-fun school life started, Miss Claire! We’re going to have a great time!”
“What makes you think I’ll have anything to do with you?!”
And that was how I kissed my life of daily overtime goodbye and found myself in a place where I could spend every day with my beloved Claire, able to dote on her to my heart’s content.
My future was looking bright.
***
“Rae, I heard what you did. Don’t tell me you really attracted Claire’s attention on your first day of school?”
That mature, husky voice belonged to my roommate, Misha Jur. Her long, straight blonde hair swayed as she sat down on her bed in the room we shared in the Royal Academy dormitory.
The room was about two hundred square feet in size, with a desk for each of us and bunk beds that didn’t take up much space. The furnishings and decor were simple. It differed from modern dormitories in Japan in that everything was antique, but it was otherwise essentially the same.
Revolution was set at the Royal Academy, the most prestigious boarding school in the Bauer Kingdom. Regardless of family or financial status, students were treated as equals once enrolled in the Academy, so we all got assigned double rooms.
“I don’t know. Did I get her attention, or did she get mine?”
“What are you doing, Rae?” Misha sighed and looked down, exasperated. “You should stay away from House François. They eat ordinary people like you for breakfast.”
The noble house of François—Claire’s family—were one of the most famous in the country. They had headed up the Ministry of Finance for generations, placing them behind only the king and prime minister in terms of power and influence. And that was before you factored in all their intermarriage with the royal family.
While Revolution was set in a world similar to that of medieval Europe, the politics of the Bauer Kingdom, where the game was set, were noticeably corrupt. Nobles inherited most of the key positions in the country, and important government officials were appointed due to their personal connections. The disparity between the aristocracy and the commoners widened by the year, and the peoples’ discontent was so great that it was difficult to ignore.
This concerned the king, who began to promote a meritocratic policy. The idea was to vigorously promote talented people, regardless of family or financial status; the scholarship system at the Royal Academy was part of this policy’s implementation. Talented students who couldn’t otherwise afford higher education were granted government scholarships and allowed to enroll.
One of the students selected by this system was my character.
“But Misha, I love Miss Claire.”
“That selfish brat? You’re weird, Rae. To an aristocrat like her, scholarship students like us are nothing but obscene upstarts.”
The scholarship system had gained the support of the commoners but been poorly received by the aristocracy. Nobles, who valued tradition and formality above all else, couldn’t stand the thought of ordinary people attending the prestigious Royal Academy.
Misha was also a scholarship student. Her house had been noble in her childhood but had fallen into financial ruin; perhaps because of this experience, she was adamant she understood the nature of the world better than other nobles. At the very least, since we had attended the same commoner finishing school, she saw me for who I was without bias.
Unfortunately—I don’t know if you’d call this pessimism or something else—she was a little bit too helpful sometimes.
“I don’t mind being hated. Actually, I prefer it. It’s the best way to be avoided,” I said.
“You really have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Hey, what do you think the best way to maximize my time with Miss Claire would be?”
“Were you always such a pain in the butt?” Misha held her head in her hands as if she had a headache. “I suppose you’d need to be someone Miss Claire couldn’t ignore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Miss Claire is proud, right? She’s never satisfied unless she’s number one. So if you improve your skills and show her what you’ve got, she won’t be able to dismiss you anymore.”
“That’s it!”
It was so simple. If I just went about things the same way I would if I were actually playing the game, Claire would have to keep paying attention. The harder I worked, the more severe her bullying would become. She was the persevering type, so she wouldn’t back down—she would torment me, and I would dote on her. It was a win-win situation.
“Thanks, Misha. I can always count on you.”
“I don’t get it. All I did was tell you how to make her hate you.” Misha couldn’t hide her confusion, but, well, I couldn’t say I didn’t understand her confusion.
“Spending every day teasing and being teased by Miss Claire…such bliss.”
“Seriously, what has gotten into you…?”
***
As I walked down an Academy hallway, someone slammed into me from behind. I almost fell but caught myself just in time.
“Oh, I beg your pardon? You were standing there staring off into space, so I thought you were a statue.”
I turned to find my beloved Claire. She was a picture-perfect villainess as she stood there with one hand on her mouth, all smug giggles. This was going to be my new normal.
“Miss Claire…”
“What? Don’t bother asking for an apology. Like I would ever apologize to a daydreaming peasant.”
“You’re great!”
“Huh?” Claire looked like a pigeon nailed by a BB gun.
“You have minions that could do your bidding, but you do your own dirty work and don’t rely on others! I would expect nothing less from you, Miss Claire.”
“Huh…? Huh?”
“Just as I thought, you’re no ordinary bully. I love you so much, Miss Claire!”
“Wh-what are you…?” Claire abruptly fled the scene, muttering something about being creeped out.
“Oh, there she goes.”
“Why do you look so disappointed?” Misha asked, looking dumbfounded.
“Hmm? Because Miss Claire didn’t stay to taunt me, obviously.” I sighed. “Don’t you think Miss Claire is especially radiant when she’s insulting me?”
“At least you’re aware you’re being bullied…” Misha sighed too, apparently somewhat relieved. “C’mon, we need to hurry to the lecture hall. Class is about to start.”
“Ohhh, beg your pardon. I thought you were an insect.”
Such went the time Claire stepped on my foot.
“Please…”
“Huh? I can’t hear you, peasant. If you have something to say, speak up!”
“If you must step on me, then please stomp harder!”
“Eh?!”
Claire was so precious when she was caught off guard.
Another time, Claire hid my textbook.
“What’s wrong with you? Is the peasant too poor to even buy books?”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize how you felt, Miss Claire.”
“Huh?”
“You want to be with me all the time in class, right?! Yes, let’s share your book! We’ll be stuck to each other like glue!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
And another, we needed to find partners for an assignment.
“Oh, you don’t have a partner? That’s what happens when you’re a pathetic peasant.”
“It looks like Miss Claire will be my partner, Teacher.”
“I will not!”
“Hm?”
“Don’t play dumb with me!”
She ran away from me that time. Ahhh, she was killing me!
One day, she doused me with a bucket of water.
“Oh dear. You’re just so dirty that I thought you were mud.”
“It’s cold…”
“Oh ho ho. You poor thing!”
“Please warm me up!”
“Hey, don’t cling to me! Get off of me!”
She was so warm, so adorable. “Oh ho ho. This feels so good!”
And once, a flower vase was placed on my desk.
“A gift from Miss Claire!”
“No, it’s not!”
“I will press the flower and carry it with me always!”
“Why would I ever give you a flower?!”
“Did that hit on the head make you an idiot?!”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
It was after class. Claire stomped her foot as if she were having a temper tantrum; she was obviously displeased all her bullying seemed to be in vain, but I was just being genuine about my feelings.
Tangentially, I had noticed that even in this fantasy world, Claire’s tactics were of the variety you’d see in a typical Japanese school…probably because Revolution was made by a Japanese company.
“How are you so calm when I’m so mean to you?!”
“Mean? Isn’t this just your way of telling me you love me?”
“It is not!”
“So then what is it?”
“Why are you so weird with me?!” Claire’s shoulders shook, her breathing heavy. She reacted to absolutely everything, which was what made it too fun to tease her! “If you still don’t get it after everything I’ve done, let me give it to you straight.”
Claire fixed me with her sharp eyes as if I were a bug and she were the pin.
“This Academy is no haven for upstart peasants like you. Know your place and return to your life of menial labor!”
“My only job is to love you, Miss Claire… No, I am at your service.”
“Ugh. I’ve had enough…” Tears started to form in her eyes.
“Miss Claire, don’t lose heart. Slow and steady wins the race.”
“Seriously, what in the world are you thinking?!” Claire wailed and then left with her entourage at her heels.
“Hmph. She’s so childish.”
“I must agree with Miss Claire on this.” Even Misha was siding with her now!
“Ah ha ha. Don’t be silly, Misha.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t think this is all I’ve got, do you?”
“Would you be serious for one second? Aren’t you getting tired of this weird game of yours?”
“Nope, not at all.”
“Does this have anything to do with your bizarre notions of love?”
“A bit. I have my reasons.”
Claire was the villainess; there was no denying that. But I loved the way she went about her villainy. She did all her bullying herself, never calling on her minions to do it for her. That couldn’t be typical for an aristocrat. She was careful never to go too far. When she pushed me in the hallway, it was never by any dangerous stairs or corners, but in places where I’d be safe if I fell. Even with my textbook, she didn’t throw it away or tear it—she just hid it.
Of course, this was probably modern Japanese sensibilities at work, but I was in a world those sensibilities had made, and I was indeed being bullied. I wasn’t trying to make excuses for my perpetrator—it just really, truly, made me happy to be Claire’s target.
“How do you think she’ll come at me tomorrow?”
“I have no idea.”
I was thoroughly enjoying my life in this new world.
***
“Good morning, Miss Claire.”
Claire and her entourage were sitting in the front row when I entered the lecture hall, so I happily went to greet her. The lecture hall was twice as large as the ones at the high school I’d attended, and the rows got higher toward the back. A blackboard and teacher’s lectern stood in the front.
When I tried to approach Claire, her minions blocked my way.
“Would you stop talking to us like we’re friends? We live in a different world than you. Isn’t that right, Miss Claire?” one of them sneered. As if that had broken a dam, the others members of the entourage joined in a flood of agreement.
“Ahhh. I don’t have anything to say to you, minions. I’m speaking to Miss Claire. Good day, Miss Claire.”
“Wha?! Ingrate! Who do you think I am? I am of House Kugret, who have served the François family for generations!”
“So…minion, am I right?”
“M-Miss Claire…” The daughter of the Kugret family went crying to Claire. What a wimp.
“Ugh, peasant…” Claire sighed. “Get over yourself. She has nothing to say to you. Don’t you know ‘good day’ is used as a parting term?”
This was exactly what I was talking about. The minions just didn’t cut it—they couldn’t hold a candle to Claire’s abuse. For the record, there are many uses for “good day.” In present-day Japan it was perfectly acceptable to use it in place of “good morning” or “hello.”
“Oh, but whenever Claire talks to me, she teaches me the correct way to use words. I do love her so,” I mused.
“J-just shut up! Are you taunting me?!”
“Yes!”
“You don’t even hesitate?!”
It was a delicious reaction. Another glorious day.
“Control yourself, Rae. Good morning, Miss Claire.” Misha caught me by the collar.
“Mishaaa, let go of me. I’m playing Miss Claire now.”
“You forgot the ‘with’!” Claire was so good at comedic retorts.
“That’s enough.” Misha smacked me in the head.
“Misha…control your kitten, would you?” Claire demanded.
“Miss Claire, Rae is not my pet.”
“I would love to be your pet, Miss Claire.”
“Weren’t you told to shut up?!” Claire screamed, which left her out of breath.
“Miss Claire, you don’t seem well. You should get some rest,” I said.
“And whose fault is that?! Just get out of here!”
I sighed. As I expressed my disappointment, I heard a soft, tenor voice say, “A bit early to be so deep into your comedy routine, isn’t it?”
“Master Yu…”
“Good morning, Claire. I haven’t seen you fall apart like this in a long time.”
The person chuckling at us was the third-born prince of the kingdom, Yu Bauer. He had soft, curly blond hair and a gentle but cheerful smile, the very image of the ideal prince. Even his voice was perfectly prince-like.
Yu was one of the romanceable characters in the game. He was the second-most popular of the three love interests, all because he said things like “You’re so cute,” and “I will protect you,” or “I would love to marry into your family.”
“Master Yu, that’s not what I’m doing! This peas—Rae is acting disrespectfully, so I was warning her to watch herself.”
“Is that so?” Yu turned his gaze toward me.
“I wasn’t being disrespectful. Everything I said, I said out of love.”
“What in the world are you talking about?!”
Yu laughed at Claire’s outburst. “Rae Taylor, right? I remember you were at the top of the incoming class. I assumed you would be a bookworm, but you’re pretty funny, too.”
“Thank you.” Not being particularly interested in Yu, my reply was curt.
“Rae, don’t be rude, now,” Misha scolded. “Good morning, Master Yu.”
“Oh, Misha. Good morning.”
Yu was nice to everyone, but he was especially sweet to Misha. They’d grown up together and been very close before Misha’s family went bankrupt. Misha still missed their old relationship. If you chose to play Yu’s route in the game, you not only had to deal with Claire’s harassment, you had to navigate the conflict between your friendship with Misha and your yearning for Yu. The fanbase largely agreed it was the most complex scenario by far.
“I apologize for Rae. I will make certain to chastise her later,” Misha told Yu.
“Don’t worry about it. If anything, you could stand to speak to me less formally. We’re all equal here at the Academy, you know?”
“I will consider it…”
Their awkward conversation went back and forth in that manner, but I was just grateful for the excuse to turn my attentions back to Claire. “Miss Claire, what do you think? Have they rekindled their love?”
“Why is every thought that goes through your head so vulgar?”
“Hey, Yu and Claire. Morning, everyone.”
“Good morning, Master Rod.”
“Good morning, Brother.”
The lively voice that now greeted us belonged to a good-looking boy with spiky black hair. His name was Rod Bauer. He was the first-born prince of the kingdom and, of course, another of the game’s romanceable male leads.
“What’s going on here? It sounds interesting. I want in.” Rod laughed as he sauntered into our circle like he owned it.
“There is absolutely nothing of interest here,” said Claire. “Just one person who is trying to undermine the Academy’s morals!”
“Does that mean what I think it means?” I said. “You want to join me? Shall we undermine them? Shall we totally undermine them together?”
“I will do no such thing!”
“What…?” Rod watched this exchange as if he had come upon a rare animal at the zoo.
The game usually required the player character to introduce herself at this point, but it was Yu who introduced me, instead. “This is Rae Taylor,” he said, chuckling. “She was at the top of the class of the incoming students. She’s pretty amusing.”
“Yes, she’s certainly possessed of an uncommon character. You don’t normally see her type among aristocrats. It seems my father’s policy has given us all a good laugh.”
“Heh.” I couldn’t tell if he meant that as a compliment, so I kept my response noncommittal.
“A refreshing reaction. Rae…I’ll remember that.”
“Thanks.”
“Rae, respectful, please,” Misha chided again.
“Do you know how many girls would kill to be remembered by Master Rod?” Claire demanded.
Misha and Claire were both mad at me now, but it couldn’t be helped. I loathed arrogant characters like Rod, who demanded you follow them without question, always progressing directly onward with their route. Rod had a confident and vibrant personality, but I had no idea why he was always voted the most popular character. Didn’t it get exhausting to spend so much time around someone like him? Well, my tastes were obviously different from most, since Claire attracted me far more than the romanceable characters.
“Come join us, Thane,” Rod called out.
“Nah, I’m fine.” A silver-haired boy lying face down on a desk in the back of the classroom answered grumpily.
“I don’t think Thane likes this sort of thing.”
“Is there anything he does like?” Yu laughed uncertainly while Rod wore a sour look.
As their ambiguous reactions suggested, Thane was considered something of a nuisance. He was the second-born prince of the kingdom, and he was the final romanceable lead. He was also the least popular of the three. If Yu was prince-like and Rod was conceited, Thane was…complicated.
Yu was a natural-born genius who excelled at everything without putting in much effort. Rod was similarly brilliant, but he excelled at things because he worked hard. Thane, sandwiched between his talented brothers, was never the best at anything, even when he tried his hardest. The constant comparison to his brothers had given him a complex, keeping him from being genuine.
And yet, Thane was my favorite of the game’s romanceable characters. I liked him for the same reason I liked Claire: they seemed human. Perhaps because I was no longer a daydreaming child but an adult who’d already had a taste of reality, I found tangible, flawed characters more attractive than those that just seemed superhuman.
“Master Thane…” My beloved Claire said his name with a hint of suppressed emotion.
The truth was that Claire felt the L-word for Thane, which was one of the reasons why his route was the least popular. Claire did stick her nose in every route just because she liked to meddle, but she grew genuinely glum when a player took the Thane route. Additionally, when you finished the game with a Thane romance, you were unable to really give Claire her comeuppance, instead saying, “I understand how you feel… You were hurt,” and forgiving her. Similarly, the exhilaration that came with the conflict of other routes, like Rod’s, was nonexistent in Thane’s.
“Why don’t you go talk to him, Miss Claire?” I said. Thane wasn’t the type to take the initiative.
“Wh-why me?”
“You like him, don’t you?” I regretted the words the moment they left my mouth, but it was too late.
“N-no! I don’t think about Master Thane like that!” Claire shrieked.
Her voice echoed throughout the lecture room, meaning, of course, that it was audible to Thane. He picked himself up and left the classroom, his face expressionless.
“Oh… What should I do? I didn’t mean to…” Claire was flustered.
I really had messed this up.
“Let’s go apologize to him later, Miss Claire,” I said.
“And this peasant, acting like she knows things!”
“Miss Claire.” I focused on her, my voice controlled.
“Wh-what do you want?” she stammered.
“Master Thane is delicate.”
“I know that.”
“So you should apologize.”
“W-would you just shut up?!” Claire stood up abruptly. “I feel sick! I’ll be going home now!”
“O-oh, Miss Claire!”
“Please leave me alone!”
Claire didn’t even allow her entourage to follow her as she stormed from the lecture room. I watched her curls bounce as she left, filled with a sense of satisfaction. I said nothing, but I knew—I just knew she had gone after Thane.
This was exactly why she was cute. This was why I was infatuated with her.
***
“You sure are cheeky for a peasant!”
“Yes! Cheeky, that’s what I am. Please punish me more!”
The day I was transported to the game was the start of term at the Academy, the day of the entrance ceremony. It had been a week since, and I was getting used to the school. My connection with Claire had also steadily deepened—in my opinion, anyway.
When I went to greet her, as I did every morning, her reaction was the same as always. Her entourage had given up, perhaps because I remained unaffected by their jibes. They lacked conviction; they could learn a thing or two from Claire. Not that I was complaining—it was far easier to talk to Claire now that her minions no longer got in my way.
“I won’t be made a fool of every time!”
“Oh?”
There was something different about Claire today. She continued, smile unwavering. “You are aware of tomorrow’s test, are you not?”
“Of course.”
It wouldn’t be much different from the exams I had taken in Japanese schools, except in subject matter. Students at the Academy were assessed on culture, etiquette, and magic. Apparently, only culture and etiquette had been relevant in the past, but the introduction of the meritocratic system necessitated the inclusion of magic. At least, that was what I’d read in Revolution’s character guide.
The world of Revolution was in the process of, well, revolution. The catalyst had been the discovery of a special kind of stone, which had prompted the invention of magical tools and led to technical innovation. The magical tools were changing the world, and countries were competing to use them most effectively.
Speaking of which—the child version of Claire described in the character guide was a little angel. As I basked in that fond memory, though, Claire suddenly grabbed my chin and lifted it.
“The test will decide things, once and for all. If I win, you will leave the school.”
“What? No, I don’t want that.”
“Oh no?” Claire’s voice got sharper, but for once, it didn’t excite me. “Is the top-scoring new student a coward, then?”
“But if I leave the Academy, I won’t be able to play with you any longer, Miss Claire.”
“Would you seriously stop saying such things?”
“Ha ha ha. You’re so silly.”
“I’m the one who is silly?! Me?!”
However, as I indulged in my teasing, I remembered this was one of the events of the game. In fact, Claire presented the heroine with a variety of challenges through the entire course of Revolution, the first of which was beating her in the start-of-term tests.
“How about this?” I said. “If you can’t beat me, then you must grant me a favor.”
“Wh-what? Why in the world…?”
“Hmm? Are you the coward, then? I thought you were at the top of the class of continuing students.”
The Royal Academy encompassed kindergarten, elementary, junior high, high school, and university, and its students fell into two groups: those who had enrolled in kindergarten and continued on, and those who transferred in later. The player character was the best of the incoming transfer students, and Claire was the best of the students who had attended from the first. The continuing students were mainly aristocrats while the transfer students were mainly commoners, and the two groups generally didn’t get along. It was considered quite the tragedy when a noble student had to share a dorm room with a commoner.
“So you accept my challenge?” Claire demanded. “Very well. I accept your terms.”
“Heh heh. Thank you.”
“What do you imagine you’re thanking me for? You may as well pack your bags now.”
“Yes! Thank you for the encouragement!”
“I most certainly am not—ugh! Misha!”
“What is it?” Misha had been watching us from the sidelines, but she came over when Claire called her.
“Will you be our witness? If I achieve the higher score on this test, this commoner will leave the Academy. If, for some reason, I can’t beat her, I will grant her a single favor.”
“Expulsion and enrollment within the institute are decided by the King, you know. I don’t think such a condition can be enforced.”
“There will be no need to enforce it. The commoner will leave the school of her own accord, shamed by her lack of talent.” Claire let out her shrill laugh, as if she had already won.
“Are you really okay with this, Rae?”
“Yes.”
“Then it’s decided. We can’t have her going back on your promise, so you will be the witness, Misha. That’s fine with you, isn’t it, commoner?”
“Yes! Just thinking about doing something for Miss Claire makes me so excited!”
“I will not lose! Now, swear to God!”
“Swear to God!”
“And I am witness to your accord…”
In this world, swearing to God was deeply significant. Breaking such a vow was nigh unthinkable for both aristocrats and commoners.
That was just how Claire and I finally broke the ice.
The day of the test had come.
The first subject was culture, which covered the history and literature of the Bauer Kingdom. For example:
Question:
Discuss the flaws of the policies of King Cooley III and how they were remedied during Bauer’s Great Famine of 1827.
Or,
Question:
Identify and discuss problems and potential solutions for one major industry of the kingdom.
Or,
Question:
Compose a poem using classical meter.
As you can see, the questions weren’t particularly relevant to daily life. In a world where relatively few commoners were literate, nobility like Claire possessed an overwhelming advantage when it came to the subject of culture. And since there were only two other tests, this also gave her an advantage when it came to our overall scores, which were combined from those three tests.
“That was hard…” I murmured.
Revolution allowed the player to gather information through actions like studying before they took the test. Though the questions were posed in essay format, the game itself presented you with multiple choice answers, so you just had to pick the right one. Most players tended to look up walkthroughs for the answer keys, which was still time-consuming, given the sheer number of questions.
The next test was on etiquette, conducted in the form of a formal meal. The exam began before students even entered the banquet room that served as its venue, with the examiner scoring them on things like their dress, their posture, the way they greeted others in the room, and even where their eyes lingered while they ate. It went far beyond such things as how to handle which of the twenty or so pieces of cutlery. Of course, Claire, as an aristocrat, had an overwhelming advantage here as well.
In the game, this test was also multiple choice. For example, you could choose whether you wore black or white clothes, or what greeting to give when entering the room, where to rest your gaze, etc. Most players looked up the answers for this online, too.
“It’s actually pretty tricky when you have to do it yourself,” I mused.
The last test assessed our magical ability, and it was the only one where commoners really had a shot at beating nobility. In fact, the king’s new merit-based policy could more accurately be called a magical power-based policy. An individual’s aptitude for using high-tech magic tools was innate and unrelated to their social status. The king feared Bauer would be left behind by the changing times if he continuing catering solely to the nobles’ wishes; the aristocrats, nevertheless, chafed at his supposed system of meritocracy because magical power had nothing to do with family or lineage.
The magic test took place outdoors. There were two assessments, one for basic magical power and another for wielding magical tools. Basic magical power was measured by a device, and it came in four kinds of aptitudes: earth, water, fire, and wind. A person generally possessed one aptitude, which was rated on a five-point scale: none, low, medium, high, and super. While magical ability could be improved through training, it was fundamentally an immutable inborn quality.
Claire had a high aptitude for fire, which really did suit her. The interests of the game developers were sometimes obvious.
The test of magical tool operation required wielding a wand, a general-purpose tool that could be used to create various phenomena. This test would be to see how far we could make a magic bullet fly.
“Well, that was easy enough.”
In the game, magical power could be increased through the “magic training” action, and in the test, the bullet’s flight distance was determined by a rhythm game. It was by far the simplest test and only required good timing, so there was no need to look up answers or anything. However, some players insisted on comparing their bullet flight scores, and Revolution had rankings on its website. First place scored some free gifts from the game developers, but anyone who went that far cared more about the record itself than prizes. My last personal best was tens of times higher than the average.
At any rate, those were the exams. After spending all day in testing, I was exhausted.
“And so, I’m here to reenergize!”
“Would you please go home?”
Claire shooed me off when I showed up at her room, looking tired herself. Aww.
***
The results were posted three days after the exam.
“You have dark circles under your eyes, did you know?” Claire approached me in the hall after class, where I was waiting in front of the bulletin board for the results.
“Yes, well, I actually didn’t sleep a wink…”
“Oh ho ho ho. How very unfortunate. But a promise is a promise now, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I just couldn’t stop daydreaming about what favor I should ask of you, and before I knew it, it was morning.”
“That’s what you meant?!”
Of course. I wouldn’t have been able to make any such requests of Claire in the real game—this was unbearably exciting.
“Do you really think you can beat me? You are so oblivious,” Claire was bursting with confidence, which made sense from her point of view.
“Well, we won’t know how it went until we see the results, will we?”
“It’s perfectly obvious.”
“Heh heh. You two certainly have become close,” said Yu, butting his way into our conversation. “How confident are you, Rae?”
“Well, a bit.”
“Heh. I’m looking forward to it. How about you, Misha?”
“I did my best,” Misha didn’t look particularly happy to be talking to the boy she was crushing on. She was convinced she wasn’t worthy of Yu, that ever since her house had fallen into ruin, she had nothing to offer someone as talented as he was.
Still, the most infuriating thing about love is that it can’t be stopped.
“All right then, who will be number two?” And there was Rod, implying, of course, that there was no doubt in his mind he had the top marks. He was so good at finding ways to rekindle my disdain.
Silence followed.
Far from Claire, who was first in line waiting for the results, and myself, who was standing next to her, stood Thane with a blank expression on his face. He probably wasn’t looking forward to being forced to face his own inadequacies. Don’t get me wrong, though—Thane only seemed inferior in comparison to his brothers. He was a completely capable person in his own right.
“It’s here,” Misha’s voice brought me back to reality. The office clerk was headed in our direction with a piece of paper.
“Are you ready?” Claire asked smugly.
“I am very ready to enjoy you, Miss Claire.”
The first score sheet to be posted listed the results of the culture test.
Culture Subject Results
1st Rod Bauer (100 pts)
2nd Yu Bauer (98 pts)
2nd Rae Taylor (98 pts)
4th Claire François (95 pts)
…
…
7th Misha Jur (90 pts)
…
…
10th Thane Bauer (87 pts)
…
…
“Wha?!” Claire exclaimed. Personally, I was disappointed that I’d missed two questions.
“Well! I expected myself and Yu to finish first and second, of course, but way to go, Rae,” said Rod.
“Great job, Rae.”
“Thank you very much.” I glanced at Claire while the two princes praised me. She seemed baffled that she, an aristocrat, could have scored lower than a commoner.
As I said before, most players looked up answers online. Not me, though. I’d gone out of my way to memorize every single one of the questions and answers on the culture exam. The reason was simple: I wrote Revolution fanfiction.
Short fanfiction can be composed without a complete grasp of the story’s world and perspective. However, I wrote fanfiction about Claire after she lost the game and truly became a villainess, charting her rise to power. To properly imagine how the game world would change in years to come, I bought the character reference guide and immersed myself in it. To be honest, I was confident I knew the world better than the game’s developers at this point.
All of which was to say that I wasn’t the least bit surprised by these results. Claire, meanwhile, was clenching her fists so tightly that her knuckles had turned white, trembling with rage.
Next, the results of the etiquette test were posted.
Etiquette Subject Results
1st Yu Bauer (100 pts)
2nd Rod Bauer (98 pts)
3rd Claire François (97 pts)
4th Thane Bauer (95 pts)
…
…
8th Misha Jur (90 pts)
…
…
22nd Rae Taylor (75 pts)
…
…
Color returned to Claire’s face after the shock of the culture results. She sneered at me with a triumphant expression. Augh, she was transcendently cute. Really.
“So, the first one was just a fluke. The wolf has been stripped of her sheepskin.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
Exactly right, in fact. I knew every criterion that would be evaluated in the etiquette test, but knowing them and implementing them in real time were two separate things. In high school, back in my world, I’d been a member of the Japanese Kimono Club. But etiquette differs from culture to culture, situation to situation, and I couldn’t hope to master Bauer’s rules in the short time I’d had so far in this world. There was no way I could compete with Claire, born and raised as an aristocrat. I actually felt like twenty-second place was pretty good for me.
Finally, the results of the magical power test went up.
Magical Power Subject Results
1st Rae Taylor (Immeasurable)
2nd Misha Jur (98 pts)
…
…
6th Claire François (92 pts)
…
8th Thane Bauer (90 pts)
9th Rod Bauer (88 pts)
9th Yu Bauer (88 pts)
“Wh-what is this…?” Claire was flustered again. I, of course, was elated.
In truth, the outcome of this test had been set in stone. As the heroine of the game, I was scripted to have aptitude in both earth and water. While having multiple aptitudes was already special, both of mine were at the “super” rank. As magical tool-wielding efficacy was proportional to the wielder’s innate magical power, the player character inevitably placed first in this exam.
Finally, the overall scores were pinned.
Comprehensive results
1st Rod Bauer (286 pts)
1st Yu Bauer (286 pts)
3rd Claire François (284 pts)
…
…
8th Misha Jur (278 pts)
…
…
10th Thane Bauer (272 pts)
…
…
*Note, due to the unprecedented results attained by Rae Taylor, her score will be handled separately at this point in time. The Academy will review its methods of evaluation going forward.
There it was.
“I don’t get it…” Claire bit her lip, and her minions rushed to reassure her.
“But you’re second after the two princes! That’s amazing!”
“That’s right! We knew you could do it, Miss Claire!”
“Yes… Yes, that’s right.” Claire looked like she was starting to feel a little better, when—
“Misssss Claaaaaire!” Of course, I dashed over to her as well.
“Huh?!”
“How cruel! You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I do not. What do you want? As you can see, our competition has been voided.”
“What are you saying? Miss Claire, you were unable to beat me.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you remember your vow? If you beat me, I would leave the Academy. If you didn’t beat me, you would grant me a favor.”
“I am aware—and we were unable to come to a conclusion.”
“Right. So you didn’t beat me, Miss Claire.”
“Ah…”
Now she got it. The condition I’d set for my favor wasn’t “beat Claire,” it was “Claire doesn’t beat me.” As such, logically speaking, this included scenarios where the results were inconclusive.
“H-how cowardly!”
“Yes, I left the wording ambiguous to trick you!”
“Then it doesn’t count!”
“What? You’d break your vow? But you swore to God.”
“Err…” Claire’s beautiful face was conflicted. Hook, line, and sinker. “Well then… What is your request?”
“I knew you would come through, Miss Claire! I love you!”
“That’s enough. Just hurry up and tell me!” Claire was on the verge of losing her temper.
I clasped my hands in front of me and looked her directly in the eyes. “Please don’t give up.”
“Huh?”
“No matter how hard things get: don’t give up until the very end.”
Claire wore a puzzled look as she listened to my words. Silly as they sounded, there was a purpose to my request.
“And that’s all?”
“Yes?”
“I thought you would ask me for something completely unreasonable.”
“Would you prefer that?”
“No. This is fine.” Perfectly straightforward. Claire, whose shoulders had begun to slump, stood straight once more when her eyes met mine. “I swear to God that I will not give up. I promise never to abandon hope and to keep going until the end.”
“That’s wondrous, Miss Claire.” What a beautiful thing it is to make such an oath. This was exactly the response I’d hoped for.
“I won’t lose the next one.” With those words, Claire turned to leave. Truly, I thought, a graceful exit for an exquisite villainess.
“Oh, Miss Claire.”
“What is it now?”
“I love you.”
“Well, I hate you!”
And just when it felt like things between us were going so well…
Still, this was perfect. After all, this was exactly how my Claire ought to be.
***
Revolution was a dating sim. As I said before, I only cared about the male love interests insofar as they let me spend time with Claire. The romance that brought you into the most contact with Claire was the one with Thane, the second-born prince, and I was more than willing to take that route if need be—but there was a problem.
“Hey, Rae. Are you listening?” a clear baritone addressed me.
“I’m sorry… I was distracted.”
“You’re so funny. That’s all right; I forgive you.” Rod laughed, and the noble-born girls around us looked on with envy. No matter how rich their families might be, it seemed they didn’t have the courage to approach the first-born prince.
One of the early triggers for Rod’s romance route was achieving excellent results in the start-of-term tests. Checking that box got Rod’s attention and made him begin to flirt with you. That’s what was happening at the moment, and like I said, it was a problem.
When I turned to look behind me, I found Thane in the last row of the classroom looking bored out of his mind.
I did this to beat Claire, but…
If your test results were too good, Thane’s interest in you decreased. He was a tangle of inferiority complexes and not fond of people more skilled than himself. What an endearing character flaw.
“Master Rod, should you speak so casually to such a peasant? She will sully your noble blood.”
“Oh, Miss Claire!”
I brightened at the familiar pointed tone. Unlike the young women in her entourage, Claire never hesitated to approach Rod. That was natural enough, given her family’s status, but I thought it had more to do with Claire’s personality.
“She may be a commoner, but she has skills. And her reactions are interesting, too.”
“That teasing of yours is a bad habit, Rod. Rae, you don’t have to indulge him.” Yu joined us at that point. The exam results didn’t affect his route, so his behavior toward me hadn’t changed.
“I think Rae could suffer to show a little more respect for royalty,” said Misha, who was quietly studying in the next seat over. Misha was always by the heroine’s side, giving her advice. Of course, this also led to mayhem on the Yu route.
“I respect the royal family,” I said, “but my love for Claire runs far deeper than any respect.”
“What do you think about that, Claire?”
“I have no interest in the thoughts of peasants. …I do think she’s taking this a bit too far, though.”
“Yes! Please cut me down to size!”
“Why does that make you so happy?!”
Seeing Claire and I up to our usual antics made Rod laugh again. “Ha ha! You really are funny!”
Oof. This was starting to be a problem. I didn’t know what to do.
“Master Rod,” I said, my diction clear as possible.
“What is it?”
“I’m only interested in Miss Claire.”
“It sure does seem that way.”
“So, if you could please leave me be…”
“Hey, Rae!” Misha sounded flustered. She probably thought I was being too frank—that was the point! “Rod, I’m so sorry. Rae hasn’t learned how to comport herself around royalty yet.”
“Oh no, I don’t think so. Do you really think we should ignore what she just said?” Claire interjected. It was just like Misha to bandage my self-inflicted wounds and just like Claire to pour salt into them. “Ignorance is no excuse. Does she think she suddenly has status just because she did well on a test?”
“Well,” Rod mused. “Claire does have a point, but…”
“Don’t I? I beg of you to make sure her punishment is severe.”
“But this is the Academy. Here, I am merely a student. And above all else…”
“But to simply disregard what she—”
“Above all else,” Rod repeated. “I choose to forgive. This is the word of your future king. Do you disagree?”
He really did sound like a king when he spoke like that.
“Er! Understood.” Claire backed off, clearly frustrated.
“Miss Claire,” I said.
“Hmph… What is it? You must be proud of yourself for gaining Master Rod’s favor.”
“Not really.”
“Hmm?”
“You were just trying to be proper, Miss Claire. I respect you for that.”
Once again, Claire looked like a pigeon that had been nailed by a BB gun. I was sure she’d never imagined a person she was criticizing would back her up.
“Well—hmph! I still don’t like you! I will never accept you!”
“Yes! I’ll work my hardest to change your mind.”
“I’m saying it will never happen!”
“I will do my best to make it happen!”
“You two are quite a pair.”
“Yes!”
“No, we are not!”
Claire really was the cutest.
***
Even though I was attending the Academy on a scholarship and exempt from tuition, there were other costs that came with attendance. Since my character’s family was poor, the only way I could cover those expenses was to get a part-time job. Classes were generally held in the mornings, so I could work in the afternoons. The main character’s status changed depending on the job she took up, making the decision an important element of the game.
“Your application is rejected.”
“Please, isn’t there any way?”
“I told you already, you’re rejected!”
I was at the François family home, interviewing for the position of maid. The Academy allowed students, formerly only rich kids, to bring two maids to school with them. This was irrelevant to scholarship students, who didn’t have the funds to hire help, but it certainly wasn’t irrelevant to me. Becoming Claire’s maid would give me an excellent reason to always be by her side.
The senior maid normally decided whether to hire new staff, but Claire was attending my interview, too. After all, I’d told her of my application in advance.
“Miss Claire, are you sure we can’t hire her?” the senior maid said hesitantly. “She has such exceptional skills…”
While I wasn’t quite at the aristocrat level, I was much better versed in etiquette than the average commoner, which was an important trait for a maid. I could also work magic, meaning I could protect myself.
“The problem is her personality! I would never have a moment’s rest if I had to be around a maid like this all day.”
“But it seems she’s very loyal.”
“It’s not just loyalty, Madam. I am in love.”
“And I simply can’t have a maid who talks to me like that!” Claire squawked.
“What in the world is going on? What is this racket?”
“Master…”
“Father.”
The man who entered the room had the same bright blond hair as Claire, but his was combed back. He was of medium stature, with no memorable features other than his aristocratic mustache, but the way he carried himself made it clear he was of noble birth.
This was Dole François, Claire’s father and head of House François. Dole was the Bauer Kingdom’s Minister of Finance, which made him the third-most powerful person in the kingdom and also the most influential aristocrat. He’d been one of the first to oppose meritocratic policy, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to call him a thorn in the king’s side. In the game, for better or worse, he behaved with a noble’s courtesy, esteemed tradition and formality above all else.
“We are hiring a maid to accompany Miss Claire at the Academy, but the Lady disagrees with my selection.”
“I see. Well, our senior maid would only select a candidate of high capability, so what is the issue, Claire?”
“Her personality is impossible. She is always attempting to make a fool of me…”
“Aha… So the issue isn’t a lack of qualifications but a lack of respect for her employer?”
As a side note, Dole adored Claire. He was undoubtedly a large part of why she had such a spoiled personality.
“I wouldn’t say that’s the case,” the senior maid said. “She applied for the position because she wants to serve the Lady Claire. Unlike most interviewees, she seems to have no financial motivation.”
“Well, she might just be saying that.”
“When I asked her how she would serve the Lady if she were hired as a maid, her answer was exceedingly well thought out and specific. I don’t believe it’s just lip service.”
Dole hemmed and hawed a bit, deep in thought. “But Claire is unfond of her. And if Claire dislikes her, I do not see how you can hire her.”
“That is true, but—”
“Exactly, Father!”
“Your Excellency! Please forgive me for my disrespect.” Sensing the tables turning against me, I played my trump card. Dole frowned at my outburst.
“You, a commoner, utter these words to a noble? And the Minister of Finance, no less? It seems Claire was correct in her judgment. One can only tolerate so much impudence.”
“Irvine Manuel.”
The instant I said this name, the color drained from Dole’s face. There was a hint of a smile on his lips, but his eyes were cold as stone.
“And who might that be?” he said.
“March 3rd, five hundred thousand gold,” I said.
“Father?”
“Claire, senior maid, please leave us.”
“But we must not! At least let me call for a guard—”
“That is an order.”
“Must I leave, too?”
“I’m sorry, Claire. I just want to confirm a few things. Please go,” Dole said to Claire in a soft voice.
“Fine…” Claire begrudgingly left the room.
“Now, then. Who are you and what do you know?”
Unlike when he spoke to Claire, Dole’s tone as he questioned me was harsh and cold. Depending on my answer, there was a possibility I wouldn’t leave the mansion alive. But my life had a very important purpose: I intended to live to love Claire. I wasn’t going to die.
I spoke with Dole for thirty minutes straight.
“You will hire this person as Claire’s maid.”
These were the first words out of Dole’s mouth after we were done talking and he called the senior maid and Claire back into the room.
“Why?!”
“We can trust her. She will be suitable as Claire’s maid.”
“I don’t accept this! What did you say to my father?!”
“Nothing special. I mean, I told him about my love for you, Miss Claire.”
“Would you stop joking around?!” Claire was even more upset than usual, and why wouldn’t she be? Her father, who had been her staunchest supporter only minutes before, had suddenly switched teams. “Father, do you mean that someone who speaks to me like this is to attend me?!”
“Having spoken to her, I am convinced of her earnestness. She is completely loyal to you, Claire.”
“But her loyalty is impure! She wants to make a fool of me!”
“Claire.” Dole dropped his voice a bit. When a crafty politician like him did that, it had an impact. “It’s easy to have an obedient person serve at your side. But as the eldest daughter of the François family, it will be up to you to take the reins someday.”
“Ugh…” Claire didn’t have a leg to stand on once he’d invoked her position as the eldest daughter. Her father knew exactly how to handle her. “So, you insist that we hire her?”
“That is correct.”
“Fine…” Claire was clearly dissatisfied, but she held her chin high and said, “As my maid, you must do as I say. Be prepared!”
“Thank you so much! I will do my best!”
And that was how I landed the job of Claire’s maid. Just don’t expect me to tell you what I said to Dole—that stays secret.
***
“Good morning, Miss Claire.”
When I entered Claire’s room to help her get dressed the next morning, she looked back at me with an uncertain expression. It was perfect.
“So you really have become my maid, then…” she said.
“Indeed. I promise to take very good care of you.”
“Don’t you mean, ‘Please take care of me’?”
“Huh? But I’m the maid, so I’ll be the one providing the care, right?”
“That’s not what I mean!”
“Yes. I was just kidding.”
“Argh!”
Claire was in good health, hooray!
“Rae, don’t trouble Miss Claire so much. Here, Miss Claire. I brought your clothes.” The quiet voice advising me was Claire’s other maid, Lene Aurousseau. She was a little older than us, had fluffy, flaxen hair, and seemed very patient.
“Good morning, Lene. Please dress me.”
“Oh, please let me do it!”
“Would you get away from me?!”
“My, you certainly are dedicated to your job.”
Lene grinned at my obvious ulterior motives while Claire shrieked. Lene was a commoner like me, but she was also the eldest daughter of one of the kingdom’s few wealthy merchant families, the Aurousseaus of the Aurousseau Commercial Firm. Her family lacked for nothing, and she was only serving as Claire’s maid to secure connections with Claire’s father, Dole, the Minister of Finance.
“Let’s use this opportunity to have Rae dress you,” she said.
“No! This peasant will do everything wrong!”
“Come now. There may come a time when I’m ill and can’t properly perform my duties. Shouldn’t Rae learn what to do in such an event?”
“Well… Perhaps that’s true…”
As was clear from this conversation, Lene liked Claire and was adept at managing her. Though she seemed meek and subservient, in reality, she had Claire eating out of the palm of her hand.
“Rae, you must also keep a rein on your teasing of Miss Claire. Even with all that overflowing love of yours.”
“Understood.”
“Lene!”
“Tee hee. Just a joke, Miss.” The way Lene laughed, it would have been easy to mistake her as Claire’s sister or some other close relation. They had known each other for a long time; Lene had worked as Claire’s maid ever since Claire could remember. The position of the second maid had a high turnover rate, due to Claire’s fierce personality, but Lene had remained in her service all along. This wasn’t mentioned during gameplay, but it was described in detail in the character reference guide.
“Now, let’s get dressed. Rae, would you please remove Miss Claire’s clothes?”
“Yes. Excuse me, Miss Claire.”
Claire trusted herself to my care in silence, perhaps with resignation. Everything she wore was custom-made and opulent, and of course, her pajamas were no exception. They were made of smooth silk, a rare sight in this kingdom where hemp and cotton were the norm.
Although, it wasn’t just her pajamas I was admiring. Up close and personal, Claire was incredibly lovely. Her skin was like fine porcelain, and while she wasn’t very tall, she had long, slender arms and legs, and curves in all the right places. She was flawless.
“Would you stop gawking?”
“Please excuse me. You’re just so beautiful, Miss Claire.”
“I’m really tired of your compliments. Aren’t you done yet?”
“I would really like to admire you a bit longer, but—”
“Hurry up with it!”
I collected myself and dressed Claire in her school uniform. The Royal Academy uniform was similar to the blazers found in modern Japan, but the design was exceptionally elegant. Most schools didn’t have uniforms in this world, since commoners often couldn’t afford to attend in the first place and nobles enjoyed dressing up. The Royal Academy used uniforms as a way to mark status. Only the chosen elite had the privilege of passing their arms through these sleeves. Unlike Japanese uniforms, which were designed for homogeneity, the Academy’s uniforms were a symbol of excellence and prestige.
Claire pushed her arms through the embroidered, frilly white blouse.
“Rae won’t be able to do your hair yet. I’ll manage it today,” Lene said.
Claire’s trademark golden curls weren’t natural. I was already practicing how to craft them on a wig, but hadn’t yet mastered the necessary technique, so it was up to Lene to skillfully style Claire’s hair.
Incidentally, there was no shampoo or conditioner in this world. People used soap to wash their hair, but it was made differently from the kind in my world and could get hair just as clean as the products I was more familiar with. I’d read a lot of stories of people transported to other worlds setting up shop to sell homemade shampoo and conditioner, but that wasn’t my cup of tea.
“You are so very skilled, Lene. It looks wonderful.” Claire gazed at the mirror, satisfied that she looked like a perfect young noble lady from every angle. She scored a critical hit on my heart, for sure.
“Don’t waste such compliments on me.”
“Well then, let’s go to the cafeteria.”
Academy meals were served in the cafeteria, and, of course, were extravagant. They weren’t presented in multiple courses, but each meal had a staple, a main dish, side dish, soup, and dessert. These wonderful meals were one of the things the commoner scholarship students most looked forward.
“Hmph… Look at these scraps.”
However, the meals fell far short of the standards of a purebred noble like Claire.
“Really? But it’s so delicious,” I was enjoying the heck out of my beef bowl. Claire would never deign to eat such an abomination.
“Perhaps to a commoner. They could at least serve something from Broumet.”
Broumet was the hottest restaurant in the kingdom’s capital. It specialized in developing new recipes and was frequented by nobles. It was also painfully expensive. A single Broumet course could cost half a commoner’s yearly salary. The Academy might have been established by royalty and have plenty of funds, but such extravagance would eat into even their deep pockets.
“Miss Claire, you mustn’t be picky,” Lene scolded, seeing Claire nudge the green peppers out of her food.
“Green peppers are not meant to be consumed by humans. Don’t let it concern you. There are more appropriate vegetables to sustain me.”
“That isn’t the point. These meals are paid for by the people’s taxes. As an aristocrat, you have an obligation to eat the food before you, Miss Claire.”
“Ugh…” Claire had no comeback once her duty as an aristocrat came into question. One more nudge, and she would cave.
“Well then, can I eat them?” I said quickly. “It’ll be like an indirect ki—”
“Bon appetit!” Before I could finish my sentence, Claire angrily shoveled all of the green peppers into her mouth. Hmph.
“Wonderful, Rae. You got Miss Claire to eat her peppers.”
Once we were done eating, it was time for class. The first lecture of the day was in culture; since I had the character reference guide memorized cover to cover, this was pretty boring for me.
“Now, regarding the impact of King Cooley III’s policies on international affairs… Miss Claire, what do you think?” Despite the fact that a teacher was addressing a student, Claire was ‘Miss,’ as she was with all the faculty. There were some nobility among our teachers, but none of superior standing to House François.
“King Cooley III’s agricultural policy quickly resolved the famine afflicting the Alpecian region of our neighboring country. The incident brought to light vulnerabilities in Bauer’s infrastructure, so the king subsequently invested a great deal in the development of the farm belt in the western region so as to improve self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on imports.”
“That is exactly right.”
Claire was an exemplary student. She had been provided with the best tutors ever since she was a child, but more than that, she always wanted to be the best, so she studied hard. Ever since losing to me in the culture exam, she’d spent even more time with her nose in books. Part of my job, as directed by the François family, included the role of Claire’s at-home tutor, but at this point there wasn’t anything I could teach her.
Lene didn’t attend class with us. She was only at the Academy to accompany Claire, not as a student. There was a facility for servants next to the Academy student dormitory, and Lene stayed there, making her way to Claire’s location whenever necessary. The maids had plenty of work to do while their employers were in class, such as washing clothes, reporting to parents, or preparing for the winter social events. As I was both a maid and a student at the Academy, I was to leave those tasks to Lene and assist Claire within the Academy.
“I want to hurry up and learn how to do every little thing for Miss Claire. I want to help her as much as I can.”
“You know that as long as you keep saying things like that, I’m not going to let you do anything for me, right?”
The morning classes had ended, leaving us free to spend the afternoon as we pleased. Compared to schools in Japan, the schedule was nearly idle. There were no nasty obligations like homework; those who wanted to study did so, and those who didn’t study spent their time on other pursuits. Generally speaking, the noble kids mostly socialized after class while the commoner students turned to their books.
While I was a transfer student, I was now Claire’s maid and was obligated to follow her wherever she went. Claire loved to socialize and was always surrounded by people. Though she had a strong personality, she could turn on the charm as she needed.
“Miss Claire, did you hear Broumet has a new dessert?”
“Of course. I’ve tried it, too. It was exactly what you would expect from Broumet. It is called chocolate; it has a wonderful aroma and a delicate bitterness within the sweet.”
“Oh! What a subtle palate. I would expect nothing less from you, Miss Claire.”
“I brought some to the Academy, so if you’d like to try it, you may come by my room later.”
It seemed the topic on the young ladies’ minds today was dessert. Sugar was still a luxury item in this world, making sweets delicacies only nobles could afford.
“You must think you’re so lucky,” one of Claire’s minions smiled thinly at me. “Now that you’re always with Claire, you get all the handouts you want, don’t you?”
“Oh ho ho ho.” Claire laughed her shrill laugh. “Don’t be silly, Pepi. This is just a maid. There’s no need to give her special treatment.”
“Even if she doesn’t give me sweets, getting to see her take off her blouse fills me more than three rice bowls!” I declared.
“How dare you!”
Incidentally, the staple carbohydrate in the Bauer kingdom was bread, and rice was somewhat of a luxury item.
“Miss Claire… It’s not really my place, but are you sure you want someone like this to always be by your side?” one of her minions said worriedly.
“There’s nothing I can do… I said I didn’t want her, but my father insisted that I should tame her,” Claire complained, looking to her entourage for sympathy. Well, she wasn’t mistaken.
“I understand how you feel,” I said.
“I’m talking about you!”
“Rae, you really do like Miss Claire, don’t you?” Now that the lecture was over, Lene had joined us, laughing cheerfully. She had prepared tea for the young ladies and expertly poured for each.
“No. I don’t like her, not at all.”
“Huh?” Not only Lene, but Claire’s entire entourage—including Claire herself—looked surprised.
“Oh? Miss Claire, do you look sad? You do, right? Are you flirting? Is it finally flirting time now?”
“No! What in the world is flirting time?”
Really? I could have sworn she’d looked sad for a moment. “I don’t ‘like’ Miss Claire,” I explained. “I adore her. Actually, I love her.”
“Er…”
“Oh my.”
“Peasant.”
“My name is Rae, Miss Claire.”
“I will consider calling you by your name if you listen to what I’m about to say,” Claire said with a chuckle.
“Oh! Yes, then what is it?”
“Stop uttering this nonsense about liking or loving me.”
“Ah, then no.”
“Maybe you should take your time with that answer? You’ve only just met me.”
“Oh. Well, I suppose it does seem that way from your perspective, Miss Claire.”
“Do you have a different perspective?”
“I know everything about you.” After all, I had played the entire game, read the character reference guide cover to cover, and even read all the related secondary material.
Claire shook her head, bewildered by my claim. “It’s amazing how you keep going, with the way I treat you…”
“Oh, so you do notice it?”
“Would you just shut up?!”
“But that’s what I love about you, Miss Claire. Please take me to task.”
“You really have no idea what you’re doing, do you?”
That wasn’t true. I knew exactly what I was doing—doting on Claire.
Once the socializing died down in the evening, we went back to the dorms. Dinner was served in the cafeteria, just like breakfast and lunch.
“Ah, how perfect.”
“Who are you talking to?”
Claire had put her hair up, and her voice echoed off the walls. We were surrounded by steam, so I couldn’t clearly see her exquisitely proportioned body.
Obviously, we were in the bath. Heating that much water was no easy task, making baths a rare thing even in noble households, but the Academy dormitory had a large heated bath enabled by the volcanic vents near the capital. In other words, this wasn’t just a normal bath—it was a hot spring.
“Isn’t this indulgent?” I sighed.
“Tee hee, yes, it is. It’s far beyond what a simple peasant could even imagine.”
“Miss Claire, Rae, aren’t you cold?” Lene approached us from the washing area.
Claire sneezed, “Yes, we are. Hurry and wash me so I can get into the bath, Lene.”
“Yes, Miss.” Lene lathered up a sponge with soap and ran it over Claire’s back. “Rae, will you wash her hair, please?”
“Any funny business and I’ll slap you,” Claire sniffed.
Claire didn’t trust me at all. I took the soap in my hand and lathered it up. As I noted before, the soap here was made differently from my world’s; it had a wonderful fragrance and produced the fluffiest suds.
“Pardon me, Miss Claire.”
I started to carefully wash the golden threads of Claire’s hair. I also gently massaged her scalp, and she seemed to like that quite a bit.
“Oh… That’s very good,” Claire seemed surprised. “Have you done this before?”
“Well, yes.”
The heroine of Revolution was an only child, but in my previous life on Earth, I’d had a younger brother whom I often bathed. Only amateurs use shampoo hats! Once you got the hang of it, you could wash hair without so much as a speck of shampoo dripping into the person’s eyes. It also helped that the soap in this world was so finely crafted.
“I’m going to rinse it out now.” I made sure Claire had her eyes closed and poured the hot water over her head. The foam washed cleanly away, and our lady was clean as a whistle.
She really was beautiful. Sexual orientation aside, she was…breathtaking.
“It feels like you’re looking places you shouldn’t be…”
“It’s your imagination.” It wasn’t her imagination.
Once she was washed clean, Claire let out a deep sigh as she immersed herself in the bath water.
“Miss Claire, you sound like an old lady.”
“I-Ingrate! I just breathed out a little more than normal.”
“Yes, let’s say that was it, then.”
“Argh!”
“Settle down now, Miss Claire. Take some time to relax in your bath,” Lene soothed Claire after my teasing. It seemed this was becoming our routine.
Claire luxuriated in a longish soak. Once she got out and slipped into her pajamas, Lene returned to her own dormitory and Claire went to bed. Her roommate had the top bunk and she the bottom one.
You see, Claire was a bit afraid of heights.
“Good night, Miss Claire.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Do you perhaps need a good-night kiss?”
“Do you think I would let these lips touch a maid’s?!”
“I suppose not, I just thought I’d offer.”
“I really don’t understand peasants… Go to sleep.”
“Of course, good night.”
I always waited till I was sure Claire had fallen asleep before returning to my own room. There was silence for about five minutes, and then she spoke.
“Are you still there?”
“Yes, Miss Claire.”
“I see… Why do you say you like me?”
“Hmm? Because you’re so cute, of course.”
“So you like how I look?”
“Not just that. I love your personality, too.”
I gave that answer without thinking, and Claire fell silent. While I was trying to decide what to say next, breath caught in my throat, she spoke again.
“Contrary to appearances, I know myself.” She sounded half-asleep. “My personality isn’t one that earns affection.”
“That’s not—”
“There’s no need for empty compliments. I want to know what it is you’re really after.” Her voice was serious. She was truly convinced no one liked her for herself.
“Miss Claire, I intend to remain by your side because I truly like you. I have no other motives.”
“So, you’re going to play innocent to the very end…”
I didn’t care for the despair in her voice. “You don’t believe me?”
“No.”
“Then I will do my best to make you.”
Silence again.
A few more minutes passed with no response from Claire. I started to leave the room, thinking that at last she was asleep.
“Do whatever you want…” Her voice, echoing in the darkness as I left the room, sounded profoundly lonely.
***
The next afternoon, a group of noble-born boys were getting rowdy in the Academy lobby. At the center of the commotion was Rod Bauer. As I mentioned before, the oldest prince was, in a word, narcissistic. He was blunt, focused, and always single-mindedly moving forward. Definitely not my type.
He surrounded himself with similar people, too. Commoners and aristocrats didn’t cross paths much, but many shared the goal of establishing whatever connections they could with the most influential nobles. However, unlike Yu, who was often followed by a bevy of girls, Rod spent more time with boys. Apparently, he still found goofing off with his guy friends more fun than romantic pursuits.
“Oh look, it’s Rae. Hey, come over here.”
Of course, there were exceptions. He wanted the attention of people whom he found amusing, regardless of gender, and he was interested in me because of my test results.
“No, thank you. I need to attend to Miss Claire,” I said.
“It’s fine. You were lucky enough to have Master Rod call you by name, so go ahead,” Claire said. Of course, what she really meant to say was that I should get away from her. Lene was also smiling, if wryly.
“No. I must remain by Miss Claire’s side. See how loyal I am? Please reward me!”
“You can’t just ask for a reward for yourself!” Yup, Claire was clearly playing along with my antics again.
“C’mon,” Rod insisted. “Claire can come, too. We’re playing chess.”
“Master Rod is way too skilled. No one can beat him,” said one of the noble boys with Rod.
They weren’t hyping him up or anything, either—Rod really was a god of chess. He had been educated in the strategy and tactics of military command since he was young, and chess had been used to hammer those basics home.
“Claire, you’re pretty good, aren’t you? How about a game?”
“I must decline. I am no match for Master Rod.” Claire was competitive, but she knew Rod was a master who’d mop the floor with her.
“How about Rae, then?”
“I… Well, maybe just for a while.”
“Let’s play one game. I’m interested to see how it goes.”
“Fine, I suppose.”
And that was how I ended up sitting down for a round of chess with Rod.
There was silence.
“Check.”
“You… Peasant…” Claire said. It said volumes about her feelings that she would use such derogatory terms in front of Rod. The other noble kids hanging around us also seemed angry. I’d completely dominated the game so far, and Rod’s king had been in danger for some time now.
More silence.
Rod had lost his trademark composure and was staring intently at the board. How he handled his rook in his next move would determine the outcome of the game.
“Rae… You’re good.”
“Oh no, I’m all right, at best.”
“Don’t be modest. No one has given me this much trouble since Yu.”
“Do you surrender?” I asked.
“Hey! Watch what you say!” Claire cried.
“No, you really are good… But still not as good as me.”
Rod moved his rook between his king and my king, taking my queen, which had held his king in check.
“Checkmate.”
I’d seen it coming. Even if I were to take his rook with my bishop, that bishop would be taken by his knight, and my king would fall a few moves later, anyway. If I were to move my king away, he would follow me with the rook, trapping me against the edge of the board. It would only take a few moves to take the queen that I had traded a pawn in for. I was stuck.
“I lose,” I said.
“Whooo!” The spectators burst into cheers and jumps of excitement at this unexpected turnabout. Rod wore a smug grin.
“Man, it really was a close game,” I said.
Rod leaned toward me. “You figured out my strategy around the middle, didn’t you?”
“What? Did you notice?”
“I did. My victory was decided by the point my bishop took your rook.”
“Yeah, it was. That was a bit careless of me!”
A number of the noble kids were now focused on me.
“Rae, I can’t believe you hid this talent from us.”
“If you can hold your own against Master Rod, maybe you’re as good as Master Yu?”
“Play me next!”
“Hey, wait. That was intense. Let’s call it a day,” Rod said in a rare show of maturity. “Still, Rae, you really are skilled. Do commoners play chess, too?”
“Oh, no. I never played at home. I only knew the rules.”
“Wait, what?” Rod got a glassy look in his eyes.
It wasn’t an outright lie. The player character didn’t even have a chess board at home and had never had the opportunity to play. But as I mentioned earlier, my hobby in my former life on Earth had been playing games, and I’d devoted a great deal of time to board games, including chess.
Also, I’d spent a lot of time playing the chess mini-game in Revolution, which had an AI opponent. There were several AI patterns in the game, starting with the weakest, assigned to Thane, and ending with the strongest, Hidden Yu. Each opponent had characteristic offensive and defensive tactics, and except for Hidden Yu, you could learn to win consistently if you played a lot.
So yes, I could actually have beaten Rod if I chose. But if I did that, he’d grow even more interested in me, so I let him win. My objective was, as ever, to dote on Claire, not to win a prince’s heart.
As an aside, it was actually Yu who was best at chess, at least when he played seriously and turned into “Hidden Yu.” In front of others, he submitted to Rod and was therefore considered second best, but when he played seriously, he was far better. Hidden Yu in the mini-game was so skilled that it was hard to believe it was in a dating sim.
“You can play that well when you’ve never played before?”
“No, I, uh, do have experience playing. Elsewhere. I forgot.”
Silence.
“Come, Miss Claire. It’s almost time to eat. Please excuse us, Rod,” I said, attempting to leave.
“Let’s play again one day. And next time, I want you to play seriously, got it?” he said with a smile. Agh, he’d figured out I was holding back.
“If we get the chance.” I left the lobby, playing innocent.
“Peasant… Just who are you?” Claire asked me on the way to the cafeteria.
“Why, I am nothing but a slave to your love, Miss Claire.”
“And there you are, trying to play me for the fool again. That’s fine. I’ll peel that sheep’s clothing off of you eventually, wolf.”
“I look forward to it.” I really wasn’t concealing any ulterior motives, but I wasn’t going to complain about piquing Claire’s interest. “Oh, yeah, how about that reward for my loyalty we were talking about?”
“There is none!”
***
Of the three brothers, the youngest, Yu, was the most princelike in a traditional sense. His mild personality and good looks made the noble girls flock to him, and he was quite the strategist. He would deliberately make mistakes to lull his opponents into carelessness and then bend them to his will. He was like Lene in that way.
Like Rod, Yu was also always surrounded by people. The difference was…
“Master Yu, I ordered some marvelous tea from the south. Please try some?”
“Goodness, this is rare. The Huchet family do business in the southern regions, don’t they? Thank you.”
“I brought some of the new Broumet sweets. They say it’s called chocolate.”
“Really? I’ll take one. Mmm… It’s delicious. The bitterness and enticing aroma are lovely. Thank you, Mil.”
“Oh yes, Master Yu. I—”
He was very popular with the girls.
“Check.”
“So it’s come to this.”
I was playing chess with Claire in the corner of a courtyard, far from Yu’s fanfare. It seemed my game with Rod had sparked Claire’s competitive side, and at this point, chess was the only thing I could actually teach her anything about. She currently had me cornered. If I made a mistake now, the tables would turn instantaneously.
“Then I’ll go here.”
Claire groaned as I moved my knight, and the situation rebalanced just the slightest bit in my favor. Claire’s moves were easy to read. She pushed until she couldn’t anymore, and that was it. Since I had studied her strategy extensively in the mini-game, it was easy for me to counter her. My current stats were seventeen wins and three losses. Not a bad win ratio.
But that wasn’t the point. The fact that we had already played twenty games, less than a week after my game with Rod, was testament to Claire’s competitive streak.
“Hmm… Claire, Q to F4.”
“Huh…? Oh!”
Yu had shown up, breaking Claire’s concentration. And what he’d said was brutal. This single move would break my defense and instantly shift the advantage to Claire.
“Thank you very much, Master Yu,” Claire said. “But please don’t interject in the middle of my game. I noticed that move on my own.”
“Ah ha ha, sorry, sorry. I just know that Rae loves to bully you.”
“Huh?” Claire had a blank look on her face.
“Rae is deliberately baiting you into attacking her and then guiding your pieces to places that are convenient for her. If you want to beat her, you’ll have to change your strategy.”
“Were you really doing such a mean thing, Rae?!”
“Yes, but…I’ve explained that many times in our post-game discussions.”
No matter how many times I broke it down, Claire never switched up tactics, and her pieces inevitably fell into the exact traps I lured them into.
“Let’s all play poker for a change of pace.” Yu pulled out a deck of cards, a grin on his face. The nearby noble kids started to cluster around us, and I was pleased to see that Misha was part of the group, too. “Dede, would you deal?”
“Yes, sir.” The friend Yu appointed dealer had short black hair and a cool demeanor.
The rules were simple. Each person was allowed to draw twice, and whoever had the strongest hand at the end won the round. We weren’t wagering any money, so there were no rules like betting, raising, or calling to complicate things.
“Rae, my brother told me you were tremendously good at chess.”
“Well, I didn’t beat Master Rod.”
“I also heard you weren’t playing seriously.”
“Huh?!”
“Master Rod is just overestimating her.” Claire balked at Yu’s words. I resolved to feign complete ignorance. At least, that was my plan…
“Rae, were you going easy on Master Rod?” Misha demanded.
“Nuh-uh. Master Rod is imagining it. I played my best.”
“I certainly hope so. Master Rod loathes nothing more than people going easy on him in competition.”
“You really are interesting, Rae.” Yu laughed softly, which the noble girls around us clearly did not appreciate. They were so young… “Did you deal everyone in? Okay, let’s start drawing. You go first, Rae.”
I was dealt the two of clubs, four of clubs, three of hearts, ace of spades, and seven of spades. Not bad. I was just one away from a straight.
“I’ll draw one.” I discarded the seven of spades and the dealer dealt me one more card. It was the two of spades, which gave me a pair.
“You’re next, Misha.”
“I’ll draw as well. Give me two.” Misha’s expression didn’t change when she looked at her new cards. When Yu was around, she was the very picture of a sophisticated beauty.
The other young ladies took their turns drawing. It seemed we were going in order of status, from the lowest commoner to the highest noble, though I couldn’t see the point in it.
“Next is Claire.”
“I’ll draw one.” It seemed Claire had a pretty good starting hand.
“And finally, me. I stand pat.” Yu uttered the very phrase none of us wanted to hear. It meant he had been dealt an amazing hand.
“Second round. How many, Rae?”
“I’ll draw five.”
“Whoa.”
Since Yu stood pat, he believed he couldn’t be beat. I didn’t think a straight would be strong enough to win, so I decided to go all-or-nothing and throw away my entire hand. The result was…nothing. No pair.
“Misha.”
“I need two.”
Each player took their turn until it came to Claire.
“One, please.” Claire smiled at the card she was dealt. She was so easy to read.
“Okay, faceup. What do you have, Rae?”
“No pair.” It probably would have been better to go for the straight.
“Heh, unlucky.”
“How about you, Misha?”
“Three of a kind.” A pretty good hand. Considering that she drew two in the first round, she’d probably been dealt the three of a kind in her starting hand.
The other girls had the same nothing hand that I did, except one, who had two pair.
“How about you, Claire?” Yu asked. “I’m guessing you have something good, with that smug look on your face.”
“Heh heh. Full house.” Hence the grin. The only hands that could beat her were four of a kind or a royal flush.
“My turn. Four of a kind.” Yu turned over four aces.
That sneaky prince.
“Hmm? Do you have something to say, Rae?”
“No, not really.”
Of course, there was something I wanted to say. There had been an ace of spades in my starting hand. In other words, someone was cheating, and when I thought about it, the dealer was one of Yu’s buddies. He was undoubtedly in cahoots with the prince.
“Heh heh… I see. So that’s your response, Rae.” Yu smiled unapologetically. He seemed all too pleased with himself.
“What is it, Rae? Did you do something?”
“Not at all. Though if you insist on hearing my thoughts: you are too cute, Miss Claire.”
“You can’t mess with me with that every time!”
“Rae, Let’s play again.”
“I’ll sit this one out, please.” I nonchalantly declined the prince’s request.
***
Despite being adored by Miss Claire, Thane Bauer was a boy with low self-esteem. Although gloomy, good-looking teenage boys were generally popular, in Thane’s case, his stiff demeanor made people think that he was grim or antisocial.
While I had been shunned by Thane ever since the test, we still sometimes crossed paths because I was Claire’s maid, and Claire was doing her best to engage him. She would sit next to him in lectures, approach him during the afternoon social hours, and choose the same meal as him in the cafeteria as a conversation starter. I thought she was being terribly brave.
However, Claire’s abject talent made it difficult for Thane to open up to her, and time and again, her efforts proved fruitless. The prince might be a troubled young man, but I couldn’t have him avoiding Claire forever! My goal was to love Claire and ensure her happiness, which meant supporting her love life, too.
“Hey, what’s that sound?” I said.
“I hear it, too,” said Lene.
“Ah…” Claire frowned.
This was our chance.
One of Thane’s hobbies was playing the harp, and I now recognized what was happening: there was a game event in which the main character just happened to hear Thane playing. Thane felt inferior to the other princes in almost every respect, but neither of them could hold a candle to his skill with the harp. He was even better than world-class professionals.
In the game, the event consisted of the main character hearing him play and genuinely appreciating it. But that alone wouldn’t please Thane.
“Miss Claire, this way.”
“Hmm?”
“Wait, Rae…”
I beckoned for Claire, who was on her way to a tea ceremony for young ladies, to follow me. If we missed this opportunity, there was no guarantee another would arise. It might be rude to keep the young ladies waiting, but I would much rather have Claire prioritize Thane.
“Hey, peasant, where are you going?”
“Shhh! Look, there.”
Hidden in the shadow of the school building, we peered at a corner of the courtyard. As expected, in a small arbor by the pond, Thane sat alone playing the harp.
“Master Thane…”
“My… What an amazing sound.”
Claire and Lene were overcome with admiration. Thane’s music was like fine velvet, interwoven with subtlety and elegance.
“How marvelous, Master Thane!” Claire cried out without thinking and ran toward the arbor, ignoring the fact that Thane was still in the middle of the song.
“Miss Claire! Wait!”
Thane wouldn’t accept admiration no matter what you said. The best course of action was to wait until he was done playing to approach him. Sure enough, he stopped the instant he heard someone and looked moodily at Claire.
“You’re…from House François.”
“My name is Claire. It would honor me if you could remember it next we meet.”
“Oh… Right.” Thane started to put away his harp.
“Oh. Are you finished already? I would love to hear more.”
“This is just a bit of goofing off… It’s not good enough to play in front of people.”
“You can’t be serious. It was so lovely.”
“The harp… Its only value is aesthetic. It has nothing to do with the qualities required of a king.” Thane closed the harp’s case.
The only thing Thane cared about was becoming a great king, and as such, the only abilities he valued were those required to rule. He idolized His Majesty l’Ausseil Bauer but thought himself unsuited to follow in his footsteps.
“Well then, shall we play a game that tests the skills required to rule a kingdom?” I said.
“Huh?” Thane raised his eyebrows at my question. “You’re Rae Taylor. I heard you were Claire’s maid.”
Why did he have to go and remember my name? I wished he would remember Claire’s instead!
“Indeed, and my role brings me great happiness every single day,” I said.
“What’s this game you speak of? Chess? I heard you’re good.”
And why did he know so much about me? If he was that observant, I wish he’d use it to notice the furious glare coming from Claire, who had hit maximum jealousy levels.
“It’s called the King’s Game.” Or as we called it in Japan, the Ousama Game. I was lying, of course. The game in no way measured the skills necessary to rule a kingdom.
“Hmm… Sounds interesting. How do you play?”
I explained. Every round, each player drew a card with a number written on it, and whoever drew number one was the king for that round. The king then issued orders to the others without knowing who held what card, like “number X and number Y have to do Z.”
“And this really measures the qualities of a king?” Thane asked.
“Indeed.”
“Sounds good… Let’s do it.”
I quickly drew up sheets of paper and numbered them one to four. Thane, Claire and Lene each drew one, and I took the one that was left.
“Okay, who’s the king?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“This is how the game is played. We check the numbers we drew, and then everyone asks who the king is together.”
“I see…”
“Okay then, one more time.”
“Who is the king? The first king is…”
“Oh, it’s me.”
It was Thane. As I’d expected.
Thane had a hidden setting called the “Hard-to-read, lucky prince.” Most Revolution players were confused by this title. What was lucky about being sandwiched between two highly skilled brothers, having an insurmountable inferiority complex, and being romantically pursued by the villainess, Claire? The official explanation was as follows: due to having such exceptional brothers, Thane was always surrounded by other talented people, which was good fortune in the long run. That explanation didn’t explain what was fortunate about Claire, of course, but the point was that Thane was lucky in a way that wasn’t immediately obvious.
“Now then, Master Thane. What is your order?”
“Er… Um… Well…” It seemed Thane couldn’t decide on a command. He might have been a prince, but he didn’t have much experience pushing people around. It didn’t come as naturally to him as it did to the self-absorbed Rod and sly Yu.
He hemmed and hawed for a while and finally settled. “Number two will hold hands with number three.”
“I’m number two!” I said.
“Er… I’m number three,” said Claire.
“Now, Miss Claire, hold out your hand.”
“I suppose I have no choice.”
I took Claire’s slender hand in mine. It was small and delicate, and I felt it might break if I squeezed too hard. Enjoying the sensation, I rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb.
“Ergh! What are you doing?!”
“I just wanted to admire the smoothness of your skin.”
“Just hold it like normal! That’s enough, right? Let’s move on.”
“Ah, you’re right. Okay, second round.”
We drew again.
“Who is the king? The second king is…”
“I-It’s me.” It was Lene. She seemed flustered at the thought of her, a commoner, possibly giving orders to a member of the royal family. After thinking about it even longer than Thane had, she finally said, “Number four, please stroke the head of number two.”
“I’m number four…” Thane said.
“A-and I’m number two,” stammered Claire.
Now we were getting somewhere. Way to go, Lene! This was…not part of Thane’s unobvious good fortune.
“I don’t believe a woman’s hair should be stroked so frivolously…”
“But, Master Thane, these are the rules.”
“But…”
“Master Thane, I’m fine with it.” Aw, Claire probably wanted to tell him to hurry up and do it. She was so adorable.
“Well then… I apologize for this.” Thane bashfully reached out his hand and gently stroked her hair.
“Heh…” Claire was delighted.
“That’s enough, I think… Next.” Thane pulled his hand away before even ten seconds had passed, his face bright red.
“Yes. Okay, third round.”
“Who is the king? The third king is…”
“Oh, me.”
It was me, and I wanted to make sure to give an order that would get Claire and Thane closer together. I glanced at Lene, who met my eyes and blinked three times.
The truth was that Lene and I had gone into the game with shared plans to cheat. We’d decided that when one of us became king, the other would blink her eyes to convey her number. Lene’s three blinks put her at number three this round, making Claire and Thane numbers two and four. That meant I needed to issue an order that would work no matter which number each one had.
“Now, number two and number four, please kiss,” I ordered.
“What?!”
“W-wait a second, peasant!”
Thane had gone glassy-eyed, and Claire was distraught.
“This is going much too far,” said Thane.
“Th-that’s right,” said Claire.
“What?” I blinked. “But the king’s orders are absolute. Now hurry, please.”
“Okay…” Thane said.
“Master Thane?!” Claire opened her eyes wide at Thane’s unexpected response.
“Now, kiss—”
Thane changed tracks. “No, wait a second…”
“Master Thane?”
Where Thane was resolute, Claire sounded weak.
“What does this game have to do with the qualities of a king?” Thane turned to me, eyes hard. “Are you making fun of me?”
His face said my answer would determine if I would ever be forgiven. Hmm. Maybe this was where the tides turned.
“I knew you would figure it out, Master Thane!”
“What?”
“The real game was to see whether or not you would ascertain the truth.” More lies, of course. “If you, Master Thane, had accepted that order without question, it would prove you don’t have the qualities of a true king.”
“You were…testing me?”
“Please forgive me. But I thought you deserved proof that you truly do have the qualities of a king, Master Thane.”
A silence hung over us. Thane wore a confused expression; he clearly disliked the fact that someone had dared test him, but being simultaneously recognized for having the qualities of a king wasn’t altogether bad.
“I’m going home.”
“Master Thane!”
Thane stood and left the arbor without another word, expressionless. Claire watched him go, seeming anxious.
“Rae.”
“Yes, Lene?”
“Is what you just said true?”
“Oh no, I just wanted to tease Miss Claire.”
“What?! You peasant…!”
Either way, Thane hadn’t taken advantage of being king to give orders that pushed peoples’ boundaries, and he’d stood his ground instead of giving in to the pressure of the moment when ordered to kiss. In my opinion, these were profoundly valuable qualities.
“Miss Claire.”
“What is it?”
“How did it feel to have your head stroked by Thane?”
Claire’s response was explicit.
I was glad to hear she’d enjoyed herself.
***
“Hey, Rae. Are you what they call gay?”
Misha dropped this bombshell on me while I was eating lunch. Claire and Lene choked.
“Uh, Misha. Asking a question like that has no good outcome…”
“Misha, I don’t think this is something you should just ask in public.”
Both Claire and Lene were telling her to change the subject.
“I don’t mind,” I said. “Do you want to hear my answer?”
“As your best friend, yes.”
It touched me that she’d gone to the trouble of asking outright, even if it might make things somewhat awkward.
“Hmm…” I said. “Well, I’m not sure, but probably. I’ve never had that special kind of feeling for a guy.”
Claire inched away from me when I said this. I inched toward her the same amount that she had inched away. In turn, she inched away that same amount again.
“Why are you moving away from me?” I asked.
“Because I’m afraid of what you will do to me.”
“But I’m not going to do anything.”
“I wonder.”
I was used to this kind of reaction. My previous world often portrayed gay people as aggressively targeting all members of the same gender, making it common for people to say, “Well don’t hit on me,” once they found out you were gay. This world didn’t have the same range of media mine did, but queerness was depicted much the same way in music and fiction.
And that was why I was surprised by Misha’s reaction: “Miss Claire. You’re being prejudiced. I might even say discriminatory.”
“What? Why?”
“Think about it. You are heterosexual, are you not?”
“Of course!”
“And you like Master Thane, right?” I chimed in.
“Rae, don’t interrupt. Shut up for a minute,” Claire snapped. She looked genuinely angry with me. I held my tongue.
“How would you feel if a boy told you, ‘Don’t hit on me’?” Misha continued.
“How dare he think me so desperate!”
“Exactly. But that’s exactly how you’re treating Rae.”
“Oh…” Claire looked shocked, despite herself.
Misha had a surprisingly level-headed and balanced perspective on things. Queer people only differed from others in their preferences; they weren’t any more lustful than other people, and they didn’t indiscriminately pursue sex or romance.
“W-well… It’s just that Rae happens to like women, too, I suppose,” Lene said. “It just means that gender is irrelevant to romance for her.”
“That’s not right,” I said.
“Huh?”
“Gender is relevant.”
“R-really?”
Bisexual people existed, for one, and those who identified as gay or lesbian might consider themselves to not be attracted to a particular gender so much as to a particular person—well, it was complicated. But now that I thought about it, I, personally, wasn’t into men. Gender was definitely relevant to me.
“I see. I suppose I don’t really know much about these things.”
“Well, that’s normal. There isn’t much opportunity to learn.”
Queer people were still overwhelmingly closeted in this world, which was rife with prejudice and nurtured little understanding. As I noted, the queer people depicted in story were either the sex fiends Claire imagined or the free-loving sort Lene had in mind. Diversity and acceptance were a long way off.
“Is there any objectionable behavior I ought to change?” Lene asked.
“No, not really. I’m just happy to dote on Claire every day,” I said.
“It’s because you’re always saying those sorts of things that I worry!” Claire whined.
Perhaps that was true, and if I was overstepping boundaries, then that was my bad. But the fact of the matter was, Japanese entertainers in my past life had often used their sexuality as part of their brand despite the discrimination they faced. That was probably why I acted this way.
“I just can’t live without poking fun at you,” I said, laughing. But I was laughing alone.
“Rae… You…” Misha gave me an anxious look.
Ugh. This was exactly why I hadn’t really wanted to talk about this.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m used to my love being unrequited.”
It was true. No matter whom I had feelings for, they never liked me back. But there was nothing to be done about that; no one I felt for was in the wrong for not returning my interest. I was just unlucky.
Besides, it wasn’t just queer people who experienced frustration in love. I glanced up at Lene.
“Hmm? What is it, Rae?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“So, you’ve given up on Miss Claire then, Rae?” asked Misha.
“You are really trying to cover everything today, aren’t you, Misha?”
“I’m sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable.”
“No, that’s not the case. Well, I guess I have given up in a way, but in another way, I also haven’t.”
“What does that mean?” Lene asked.
“I don’t expect Miss Claire to return my feelings. Miss Claire is interested in someone else, and I want to support that. I’m happy just being near her. But even so—”
“But what?” Now Claire had joined in questioning me.
“But even so, I think it would be almost impossible to just completely give up on you, Miss Claire,” I teased, laughing again. No one else laughed this time, either. I needed to stop. “At any rate, Miss Claire, please continue to act the way you always have. I am quite happy with our current arrangement.”
“I see…”
“Of course, you’re welcome to fall in love with me at any time.”
“I will not.”
“Of course you won’t.”
Thanks to Claire’s immediate rejection, the mood returned to normal. That was perfect. All we had to do was keep the status quo.
“Okay, let’s change the subject,” I said. “Oh, Miss Claire, shall we go have our daily makeout session?”
“I will not, and I have never!”
“There you go again. It’s not that bad, you know.”
“Wait till you’re in bed to talk in your sleep!” Claire retorted.
“Ha ha ha.”
The serious talk had finally ended. I teased Claire, Claire got angry, Lene soothed her, and Misha watched it all happen with a resigned look. Things were back to normal.
Normal. And like always, I felt a tiny, little bit…bitter about it.
In my past life, there were a number of LGBTQ activists who had criticized the entertainers using their flamboyant sexuality as a selling point on TV. I think their criticism was likely on point. But here’s what else I think: Without going so far as to say it’s the right or wrong thing to do, some people out there can’t live their lives without making light of their problems.
Of course these entertainers were contributing to homophobic stereotypes. And of course I’d prefer it if we could eliminate homophobia altogether. But some queer people living in the real world will also, inevitably, act in ways that highlight the prejudices they experience. Maybe they’ll have other reasons for acting the way they do, but I think that need to lampshade their problems is one of them.
Some people can’t live with their burdens without cracking wise about them.
When you’re queer and you fall in love with someone who can never respond to your feelings in kind, they often still behave more intimately with you than they would with someone of the opposite sex. But after the moment you realize you’re in love with them, that just makes them feel even further away. If you run into this problem again and again, before you realize it, you might become the kind of person who can only helplessly laugh the whole thing off. Not everyone ends up like that, of course. It just so happened that I had.
“Miss Claire.”
“What is it?”
“You hate me, right?” It was my usual question.
I never asked her if she liked me.
I couldn’t.
I already knew the answer.
“Of course I do.”
“Yes, I know.”
And we continued as usual.
Even if she didn’t get me, even if my feelings were unrequited, I liked Claire. There was no future for us; I knew that. But even so, I couldn’t help hoping.
It would be so much easier if I just fell in love with another lesbian, I thought to myself. But love was something you fell into. You didn’t get to choose whom you loved.
Romance really was troublesome.
***
Magic was a state-of-the-art technology in this world. If this were Japan, magic would be the IT sector and magic tools would be cutting-edge home appliances. Of course, these things weren’t limited to home use in the Bauer Kingdom; magic and magic tools saw widespread use in the government and military. Like I said before, magical advancement and expertise were what distinguished a country in this age.
Our magic class was conducted on an athletic field outside of the Academy, bordering a wood. We stood in a loose group as our teacher took his place before us.
“A magical stone is the core element of a magic tool.” Our teacher pointed to the tip of a magic wand, the most basic of magic tools, in which a stone of mysteriously indistinct color was embedded.
Magical stones produced various phenomena in reaction to a wielder’s magical power. In general, the larger and purer the stone, the greater the intensity of the associated phenomena. The mining and sale of magical stones was managed by the government in every country. In the Bauer Kingdom, Lene’s family, the Aurousseaus of the Aurousseau Company, had been tasked with the mining and distribution of these stones under the king’s orders. That put them in a significant position of power.
“Now then, everyone. Please create a magic bullet and send it toward your target.”
Following the teacher’s instructions, everyone started sending their magic bullets at the target, which was about seventy-five feet away. This was mainly a form of combat magic. It was too weak for military use, but it did come in handy for self-defense—which didn’t just mean protection from human criminals.
“Monsters are weak against core magical stones. Each attribute has specific compatibilities, and there are four combinations that are especially effective.”
Yup. This world had monsters, too.
The monsters had appeared at the same as the discovery of the first magical stones. The generally accepted theory was that animals turned into monsters when they consumed said stones. Once they transformed, their strength skyrocketed and their forms changed. Some were no longer even recognizably linked to animals, instead resembling fairy tale creatures.
“Rae, you haven’t been paying attention. Are you all right?” Misha was eyeing me with a strange look on her face.
“Ah…Misha.” I’d been daydreaming.
“Even a dual-caster like you shouldn’t neglect her studies.”
“Yes, yes, you’re right.”
Deciding to get serious about my magic bullet practice, I aimed at the target and waved my wand. A black and blue magic bullet flew forth. Color represented attributes in magic: black for earth, blue for water, red for fire, and white for wind. Generally, the darker the color, the stronger the magical power.
The magic bullet I fired flew in a straight line, hitting the thick wooden target and shattering it to pieces. Silence fell.
“Oh.”
Everyone’s eyes pierced me like needles. Apparently, I’d underestimated my power. I looked regretfully at the target, which was busted beyond repair.
“Hmph!”
The target right next to the one I’d broken caught fire and fell to pieces. This time, it was Claire who’d demolished it.
“Don’t try to show off. You don’t need to be a dual-caster to do that,” Claire lifted her chin and laughed.
“Miss Claire…”
“Wh-what is it?”
“You’re so cool! Please marry me.”
“Why would I do that?!”
“Hey now, keep your wits about you. Magic is dangerous when used irresponsibly. Pay close attention when wielding it,” the teacher gently reprimanded us. I’d earned it; this was my bad.
“I’m sorry.”
“Please excuse me,” Claire also apologized, bowing her head low.
The teacher, a middle-aged man, was named Mr. Torrid. While his attributes were only of medium rank, he was the only confirmed tri-caster in the kingdom and its first real scholar of magic. The Bauer Kingdom had started a step behind other countries when it came to magical research. They dominated the surrounding countries in military strength, and this had made them complacent, leading them to underestimate the value of new magic technology until the best researchers had all been enticed to other countries. Even after the king came up with his magic-focused meritocratic policy, Bauer lagged behind.
That was when Mr. Torrid burst onto the scene like a comet. The reigning basic theories of magic—mining magical stones, the development of magical tools—the very foundations of magical technology in this kingdom had been determined by Mr. Torrid, who had been awarded the status of a knight for his contribution. Claire, who respected excellence, admired him deeply.
“It looks like you’ve all got the hang of magic wands and bullets. Let’s move on to systemic magic.” Mr. Torrid got the class’ attention by clapping his hands loudly. “Magic relies heavily on an individual’s innate ability but also depends on their attributes.”
With that, he aimed the palm of his hand at the target. The earth around it rose to form a wall.
“Earth magic is mainly used for defense. Building a wall is a basic skill. Some talented mages can even erect entire castle ramparts.”
Next, he threw a flame bullet at the earth wall. The earthen wall dried, cracked, and part of it tumbled down.
“Fire magic is primarily deployed for combat. Basic uses include shooting fire arrows and bullets. A more advanced example would be creating a sea of flames.”
Finally, Mr. Torrid approached the wall of earth and put his hand on the missing section. The wall rebuilt itself before our eyes, as if time had been turned back.
“Water magic is principally called on for recovery. It can be used to cure wounds and diseases. They say extremely skilled wielders can even regenerate lost body parts, though no one can raise the dead.”
Our teacher returned his earth wall to the ground.
“I am unable to wield the wind attribute, but it is mainly used in a supporting role. When combined with fire magic, an attack is made stronger, when combined with water magic, recovery is faster, and so on. However, be careful, as it is not quite as compatible with its opposing attribute, earth.”
The lecture complete, Mr. Torrid instructed us to try what he had shown us while he conferred separately with the wind attribute students. Misha, who had a high-level wind attribute, was first in line to consult the teacher.
“Hey, Rae.”
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, Master Rod. Master Yu.”
As the princes approached, I looked around for Thane and saw he was by Mr. Torrid. That was right—he had the wind attribute, too.
“You sure didn’t pull your punches on that target. It was exactly what we expected.”
“We’re not very good at magic, so we’re a bit jealous.”
“Heh.” I didn’t exactly dislike being praised by the princes, but there was someone whose compliments I much preferred. “Miss Claire?”
“What is it? I’m a bit busy right now.”
“Don’t you have any praise for me?”
“What brought this on all of a sudden?” Claire frowned with a look of resignation.
At our interaction, Rod and then Yu chuckled. “You guys really are close.”
“That isn’t remotely true. I don’t remember ever accepting this person as a friend.”
“What do you think about that, Rae?”
“This is exactly why I love Miss Claire.”
“That’s enough…” Claire looked exhausted.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“And if I’m not, whose fault is it?!”
“It’s mine! I’m sorry! I love you!”
Another day, another episode arguing like an old married couple (at least in my mind).
That was when we heard the scream.
The monster was transparent and amorphous, like one of the slime monsters you meet in role-playing games, but nearly thirty feet tall and much scarier. Its surface was pale blue and spongy, and within its transparent body floated a magical stone just like Mr. Torrid had described. Slowly but surely, it rolled toward us across the field.
“It’s a water slime, and it’s big!” someone called out.
Water slimes were medium-threat monsters, meaning they could be defeated by five or six combatants working in concert. However, this water slime was unusually large—the size of a small house.
Most people thought of slimes as cute little creatures, but they were by no means weak. Physical attacks were pointless, and those who recklessly got too close could be swallowed whole.
“Everyone, get back!” Mr. Torrid moved in front of us, magic wand in hand. He threw a quick fire bomb, but it fizzled on the slime’s surface, leaving no injuries of consequence. Even so, he threw a second and third fire bomb, keeping the slime focused on him.
“Rae, you get back, too!”
Misha grabbed my arm to try and get me to evacuate the area with her, but I shrugged her off and rushed to Mr. Torrid’s side.
“You! Hurry up and get out of here!”
“That monster is of the water attribute. You can’t use wind, right?”
Wind was the most effective counter against water. It was like rock-paper-scissors: fire beat earth, earth beat wind, wind beat water, and water beat fire.
“Be that as it may, I must hold it off!”
“Let me help you.” I thrust my wand forward to deploy my magic and generate a wall of earth around the slime.
“Goodness. The ability to erect such a mighty wall in an instant… I can’t believe you’re a beginner.”
“Teacher, please tell the others to use their attack magic!”
“O-oh, yes.” Mr. Torrid called out to the rest of the class and instructed them to attack with all their might. “Fire!”
At his command, a storm of magic bullets and arrows rained down on the slime. Despite the variation in projectile size—due to differences in skill—the sheer number was impressive. One after another, the bullets hit the slime, and it started to emit smoke.
“Did we do it?” someone sputtered.
“GAAAAAAAHH!”
The slime was alive and well. Though I had no idea where its mouth was, it let out a high-pitched scream that echoed fiercely, forcing the students to cower and freeze. This was an ability monsters had, referred to colloquially as a “Hateful Cry.”
“Argh…”
Mr. Torrid and I were fine, but this was strange. In my head, I’d figured I would immobilize the monster and have everyone attack, and then the battle would be over. Since I was a dual-caster, I was able to erect walls and attack with magic at the same time, but I was already using my earth attribute for defense and my other, water, was the same as the slime’s—it wouldn’t do any good in this situation. I didn’t know what else to do.
“Let’s retreat! Leave it to the army.”
“We can’t—some students have been paralyzed. We can’t leave them!”
“Argh…”
Incidentally, when this event occurred in the game, a hero swooped in to save the heroine when the monster was about to attack her. The game presented the player with three names, and they selected one to call on for help. The options were:
Rod
Yu
Thane
Well, I wasn’t about to call any of those three.
Rod
Yu
Thane
Claire (NEW!!)
“Miss Claire! Save us!”
“Oh… Uh…” Claire, surprised at my call, couldn’t move. Had she also been affected by the Hateful Cry? This was bad.
“Hang on! Claire François!” Thane shook Claire’s shoulders. Thane, who was often thought of as incompetent because of his two brothers, actually had the highest aptitude for magic of the three, meaning he recovered more swiftly from the effects of the Hateful Cry.
“Thane…”
“I swear I’ll support you. Attack the slime with everything you’ve got.”
“I-I…”
“It’s okay. You can do this.” Thane’s attribute was wind, but he was a support magic specialist—another reason why his route wasn’t as popular as his brothers’. If he could support Claire’s magic, though, her attack would be fantastically effective.
It wasn’t a big deal or anything, but looking at this shared moment, I kind of wished the developers had included the heroine when putting together such a potentially moving scene.
“I-I got it!” Strength returned to Claire’s eyes. She stood tall, facing down the slime together with Thane.
“Okay!”
“Haah!” Claire fired a magic spear. Perhaps due to the love she felt for Thane, the flaming weapon was exceptionally large.
“Enchanted wind!” As Thane cast his magic, the color of the flame spear changed. Wind magic could combine with a spell to change its attribute—it was an advanced implementation, but Thane and his royal brothers had been practicing magic since they were children.
The super-sized magical wind spear tore a huge hole through the massive slime, which screamed as it melted and collapsed.
“It worked…” Mr. Torrid breathed a sigh of relief.
Recovering from the paralysis of the Hateful Cry, the students started calling out in belated appreciation.
“Amazing, Miss Claire!”
“How could you defeat such a fearsome monster?!”
Claire’s entourage rushed to her side, and they weren’t alone. Everyone heaped praise on Claire, who looked bashful, but smiled happily.
Only one person slowly peeled himself from the crowd. It was Thane. He’d played a key role in the slime’s defeat, but it was hard for amateurs to comprehend the degree to which he’d contributed. Mr. Torrid could, of course, but at the moment, he was scanning the area for other monsters.
One person did, however, run right up to Thane—Claire. She escaped from the crowd, calling out to him, “Master Thane!”
He didn’t answer, though he turned to Claire’s voice, looking like it was the last thing he wanted to do.
“Um, thank you very much. I could have never bested that slime without you.”
“That’s not true. You would have been fine even without me. But—” Thane’s blank expression softened for a moment, “You did a good job.”
With those words and a little smile, he stroked Claire’s hair.
“Thank you…” Claire stiffened in surprise, then relaxed and smiled more genuinely than I’d ever seen her smile.
What in the world was I doing in the middle of this romantic comedy?
“Oh, there she is.” I crouched down in the field. I had wandered off from the group as well; I was in search of something quite small.
Before my eyes was a tiny drop of water, only a fraction the size of the massive water slime we’d just defeated. When I held out my hand, it quivered on a blade of grass.
This was the massive water slime’s baby. She’d attacked us because of a fire arrow that missed its target and hit her when she was passing by with her baby. In other words, she’d been acting in self-defense.
“It’s okay. C’mon now.” I gently cradled the baby slime with both hands. She was shivering, probably still scared.
It was possible to tame monsters if you shared an attribute with them—which was the case here. Monsters that had been tamed were called familiars.
“Here, I’ll make you my familiar. You can sign the contract here.” With a gentle finger, I touched the magic stone at the slime’s core and fed a pulse of my magical power into it. At that, the core changed from blue to gold: the sign of a familiar. “I’m so sorry about your mom. But it’s okay; I’ll be your mom now.”
I stroked the surface of the slime. It was cold and a little wriggly, like gelatin.
“I’ll have to think of a name for you.”
So I said, but I’d already decided on a name way back when I was playing Revolution.
“Your name is Ralaire.” Rae and Claire together made Ralaire. I thought it was a fantastic name. “Let’s be friends, Ralaire.”
Ralaire made herself quiver again, as if in reply.
“Peasant! Where did you go?!”
When I got back to the class, for some reason Claire was angry.
“I was just taking care of something.”
I slipped Ralaire into my pocket. I figured I would introduce her to everyone eventually, but this wasn’t a good time.
“I wanted to go home, but I didn’t see you, so we had to stay and look for you,” Claire complained.
“Sorry!”
“Hmph. This is exactly what I’m talking about…”
I thought Claire would go on and on about her disgust at my insensitive peasant behavior, but there were no further jibes. I wondered why for a moment, but then—
“Well… You did quite well, for a commoner.”
“Huh?”
“I’m saying you faced the monster well!”
Oh, my. “Is it flirting time, then? Finally.”
“It is not?! What is flirting time?! That just sounds horrible!” Claire was squawking again, trying to hide her embarrassment.
Even if she didn’t like someone, she gave credit where credit was due. That was another reason why I liked her so much.
“Miss Claire.”
“Wh-what is it?”
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Hmph…” She turned in a huff and started walking away. “What are you dawdling for?! Let’s go!”
“Yes!”
I followed behind Claire, happy as could be. If I were a dog, I would have been wagging my tail.
***
A few days after the monster incident, I was sitting in front of Claire. Misha was present, too, with the expression of one who didn’t want to get involved. Meanwhile, Claire’s looked like she might never forgive me.
“And? Just what are you going to do with it?” Claire demanded.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb!” She was pointing to Ralaire, held in my arms, as if she were about to burst with rage. “Isn’t that a monster?!”
Let’s start over.
Since I was Claire’s maid, I was generally always by her side. This was a huge difference from the game, where the heroine was normally with Misha, but it was exactly what I’d always dreamed of, so I was quite pleased with the arrangement.
The problem was Ralaire.
Ralaire was a baby water slime. All living things have relentless appetites when they’re infants; even human babies have to nurse ten to fifteen times a day. Slimes don’t cry until they’re adults, but they do quiver with hunger if their stomachs are empty. Ralaire was still small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, so I was keeping her in my bag, but she was a mischievous little love. Since she didn’t have a fixed shape, she could slip out even if I closed my bag tight. I’d lost count of how many times she’d snuck out during lectures in order to tell me she was hungry. Each time, I rushed to tuck her back into my bag and surreptitiously feed her.
It might sound like she had me dancing to her tune, but I trained my pets well. I knew exactly how to train a water slime, thanks to my knowledge of the game, and Ralaire was gradually learning to wait before she ate her food, as well as where to relieve herself. Most of this training was done in my own room. I’d explained the situation to Misha, who was afraid at first, but she soon realized Ralaire posed no danger and began to help me out.
That was probably why we let our guard down.
“Hey, peasant, where did you put my brush? Lene has been looking for it all night,” Claire said as she burst into our room—and laid eyes on Ralaire.
“Miss Claire, as a noble, I would expect you to at least knock.”
“Aaaagh!”
“Agh?”
“Gaaagh?!”
The only reason Claire’s screams didn’t resonate through the dormitory, where everyone was sleeping, was thanks to Misha’s wind magic.
And that was where we were now.
“What are you thinking, bringing a monster into human territory?!”
“Ralaire isn’t a monster anymore, she’s a familiar—”
“Shut up! It’s a monster! Have you forgotten what happened a few days ago?!” The look on Claire’s face suggested it was painful to remember. “And you, Misha. How could you let this happen?”
“I have no excuse. But Ralaire really is sweet.”
“Ralaire?”
“It seems that’s her name,” Misha told her, expressionless.
“Rae and Claire make Ralaire! She’s christened for the bond of our love!” I declared.
“Don’t make me a parent without even asking me! What are you doing?!”
“Huh? It’s a good name, right?”
“Think about how I feel with my name taken by a monster!”
“You’re so selfish.”
“Me?! What have I done wrong?!” Claire was squawking again.
“Please, calm down and see for yourself. See? Isn’t she cute?” I held Ralaire up in front of Claire.
“It’s not cute! It’s a monster!”
“No really, when you look at her this way, isn’t she just adorable?”
“No!”
“You’re so selfish.”
“Me?! What have I done wrong?!”
It was like we were on loop.
“That’s enough,” Claire fumed. “I’ll tell Mr. Torrid, and he’ll get rid of it.”
“Please wait, Miss Claire,” I called after her as she turned away.
“What is it? You can’t stop me.”
“Can you please watch this before you decide?”
“Hmm?”
I dropped Ralaire on the floor. “Ralaire, stay.”
Ralaire stopped moving and waited.
“Sit,” I said.
She got a bit smaller.
“Lay down.”
She got even smaller.
“Turn around.”
She spun in place… At least, I think she did.
“What do you think?!” I asked Claire, excitedly.
“Don’t look so self-satisfied! It barely did anything at all!”
“Right?” Misha agreed.
I sighed, “If you can’t detect these changes, then you’re both unqualified.”
“I have no interest in becoming slime-qualified!”
“Okay then, last resort. Ralaire, undine.”
At my instruction, Ralaire shivered and began to change shape.
“Wh-what’s happening?”
“Just watch.”
Little by little, Ralaire morphed into a familiar shape—that of a miniature Claire.
“This is…”
“It’s undine!”
“Undine, as in the water spirit?”
“Yes!”
Undine was a water spirit who appeared in fairy tales and bestowed upon humans the bounty of water. While it was commonly believed spirits were different from monsters, being made of nothing but air, their existence was widely accepted, with even institutions like churches dedicated to their worship.
“Why does it look like me?”
“Water slimes have a custom of imitating the appearance of beautiful women.” That was only a half-lie—it was more true that water slimes could mimic their surroundings in self-defense.
“R-really?”
“Yes!”
“When you put it that way, it does look pretty charming…” Claire was now tickling Ralaire with her finger. She was so easy.
“Right? Right?”
At this rate, Claire might as well forfeit her title of villainess. Meanwhile, I could change mine from heroine to zero-ine!
“Well, fine then. I won’t have it disposed of.”
“Thank you! You are so kind, Miss Claire!”
“But you’d better train it properly. And you need to stop hiding it—you must introduce it to everyone.”
Claire was talking to me like a mother would talk to a child. Was this what they call motherly instinct?
“But,” she continued, “pick a name besides Ralaire. Don’t use my name without asking.”
“Oh, it’s too late now.”
“Too late?!”
Once a familiar recognized its name, it never forgot. That was why their names couldn’t be changed in the game.
“Let’s keep being good friends, Ralaire,” I told the slime.
“I object! I object to that name!”
I was ready to introduce Ralaire to everyone the next day, but ultimately, her namesake stopped me.
Come on, really?
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IFTV_vol-1
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section-0002.txt
| "Chapter 2: Academy Knights\n\n\nChapter 2:Academy Knights\n \nWHAT DO YOU picture when you hear th(...TRUNCATED) |
IFTV_vol-1
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section-0003.txt
| "Chapter 3: The Commoner Movement\n\n\nChapter 3:The Commoner Movement\n \n“THIS SCHOOL IS RIFE w(...TRUNCATED) |
IFTV_vol-1
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section-0004.txt
| "Bonus Chapter: My Lady, Claire François\n\n\nBonus Chapter:My Lady, Claire François\n \n“LENE,(...TRUNCATED) |
IFTV_vol-2
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section-0001.txt
| "Chapter 4: The Scales of Love\n\n\nChapter 4:The Scales of Love\n \n“EXCUSE ME. Are you trying t(...TRUNCATED) |
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section-0002.txt
| "Chapter 5: School Holiday\n\n\nChapter 5:School Holiday\n \n“WHAT ARE YOU ALL doing over the bre(...TRUNCATED) |
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section-0003.txt
| "Chapter 6: Yu’s Secret\n\n\nChapter 6:Yu’s Secret\n \n“MISSS CLAAAIRE!” I came up behind C(...TRUNCATED) |
IFTV_vol-2
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section-0004.txt
| "Chapter 7: The Palace\n\n\nChapter 7:The Palace\n \n“SECRET SERVICE?” I eventually managed to (...TRUNCATED) |
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section-0005.txt
| "Final Chapter: Revolution\n\n\nFinal Chapter:Revolution\n \nTHE DAMAGE DONE by the eruption proved(...TRUNCATED) |
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section-0006.txt
| "Epilogue\n\n\nEpilogue\n \n“MOTHER RAE!”\n“Come quick!”\nI was reading through my journal (...TRUNCATED) |
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