“Hey, what would you do if you were forced to be a villain?” The girl asked. Her eyes fell sullenly on the ground, but somehow the air around her didn’t change. It flowed like curiosity and determination.
“I don’t know what you mean.” I replied. It was a random question, given it’s the first thing she said to me as we just met, I didn’t know how to react.
She smirked, but I think she was trying to laugh. Her face looked a bit evil though, so maybe that’s why she was asking that question?
Not that I would say it to her face, but her eyes were sharp and could easily turn cold if you weren’t paying attention. It also looked like she had a permanent growl attached to her lips.
But somehow, she still didn’t seem hostile. And if you stared a bit longer she would even seem quite beautiful.
She pushed light brown hair out of her eyes and kept her them to the ground, every once and a while drawing circles with her feet on the carpet.
“Yes, I guess you wouldn’t.” Was all she said.
I wasn’t that interested by the topic, but I was a bit intrigued by the girl herself.
Even though she physically looked down, with her posture and tone of voice, her demeanor still felt very strong.
“Why do you ask?” I continue.
She sighed, and gave a small shrug, finally looking at me.
“Just wanted to see how you would react if I asked that is all. “
I stayed silent for a bit. And it droned on as she did the same.
But it wasn’t really suffocating or awkward so I didn’t mind it.
Still, I thought I would answer her question anyway, or at least try to. I wonder if she’s referring to a play of some sort and actors..?
I’ll just go with that.
I nodded, “Although your question is a bit confusing, even if I had to play a villain, I would play it to the best of my abilities. But still maintain my own self-consciousness so I wouldn’t get completely consumed by that role. While some actors think that’s a good idea, in my opinion I believe I want to control my role to make it my own, rather than become swallowed by it.”
Ugh, I think a bit of my domineering attitude was leaked out a bit. How unlike my character.
However, when I looked back at the girl, I couldn’t see the character of, ‘Heelia La Greensen’ as I remembered from the game.
It was almost as if she became my words I had spoken. And she changed just like that.
She smiled, not wickedly, but in a sort of cute sense. Although it was a bit pointy, it was genuine and that’s what made it beautiful.
That’s always what I loved about her character when I played the otome game.
Unlike the indecisive main character who floated between guys, Heelia always had a straightforward look in her eye.
She always knew exactly where she was going.
And in this moment I see that look most clearly.
“An excellent answer your highness. As expected from the crown prince of Wylien Kingdom.”
At that a laughed. “The title is too much. If my mother adds anymore names to it then I’ll have at least every vowel and consonant there is.”
Her purple eyes almost shimmered in delight, eager to rise to my jest.
“Is that such a bad thing? It would count as another achievement to put under your name your esteemed highness.”
She made sure to stress the ‘e’ in esteemed. I don’t remember her being so playful, it’s nice.
But perhaps that’s because I only met her during the game. We are a few years back before it’s started after all.
It saddens me a bit to think she would change into the cold, yet egotistically confident Heelia I’ll know from before and loose her humor.
“I don’t think those are the types of accomplishments the government or military want from their first born.” I reply with a sigh.
I almost feel like I’m getting swept up in her easy-going attitude. The moment she dropped the pretense of being the dukes noble daughter, she became more pleasant to be around.
“Heh~, too bad. I’d have so much fun saying your name if it were longer your eminence.”
Now it was getting on my nerves a bit. The constant plucking on them like the strings of a guitar made a vein pop.
“My dear Heelia La Greensen, you are my beloved fiancé. What kind of betrothed am I to insist on having you call my by my names of royalty? I must not allow it. Call me Ive. I insist.” I say, switching to formal speech.
This shakes her up a bit, but she matches my tone.
“Oh my, how can I? While I’m honored with the title of your fiancé, I cannot ignore the natural customs and ranks of respect. How could I face my father or his highness the king?”
“As long as you are engaged to me it would make sense if we talked to each other in casual speech and addressed each other with familial names.” I replied easily. After all, I was prepared for this.
However she simply continued to don her carefree smile. “Prince Iven Firia Uliver Questria La Romisov Wylien,” she started, making sure to say each name slowly and pronounced sharply. “We don’t know whether or not this engagement will truly hold up. My family holds great gratitude and esteem towards the royal family, however we are inadequate. We hold no influential power besides the favor of the king, and my father the cousin of the prime minister. With all do respect, I expect no less than an eventual annulment when the time has come. And when it does, I desire no streak of disrespect I have shown upon you while we were engaged to come and trouble my family in the aftermath.”
My eyes couldn’t help but widen when I heard her explanation. It was as if she knew her own future. Certainly in the game one of the smaller reasons for her to become banished and eventually fall to ruin was because she was disrespectful of the prince.
She called him by his first name and spoiled herself in the privileges of being the betrothed.
But she was also heavily infatuated with me even at a young age before we met, so I’m surprised that she would be so willing to speak of annulment.
“You seem surprised that I brought this up...” she said, looking at me with her curious, sharp eyes.
I regained my composure, but a sigh escaped my lips. “I’ll admit, I am.”
“While the possibility of me canceling the marriage is quite open, I have no intention of doing so.” I said smiling at her.
Now it was her turn to look surprised, although I didn’t understand why.
“Don’t you hate me? And you’re only going along with this engagement because it was your fathers wish?” She questioned, leaning her head to the side like a puppy.
I got up from my side of the couch and crossed around the table that separated us. She followed my feet as I went and stopped in front of her.
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I knelt down to her knees and gently took her hand. “My lady, I am by no means opposed to this marriage. I am not shackled by the desires of my parents, but am merely driven by my own wishes to meet you.”
With all the kindness I could muster, I brushed my lips against her hand. Looking up at her I added, “I don’t have any intention of letting you go.”
And it was true. I always favored her over the heroine, Myla Ernst. Although she appears kind, gentle, and compassionate on the outside, she’s just an air headed indecisive flirt.
She drove me crazy when I played the game. In comparison to her honest and cruelly straightforward rival, Heelia, I preferred her more.
When I let her hand go, she stayed frozen. I looked up and her face was rose red all the way for her neck to her ears. It was very cute.
While she has the look of a cat, she has the actions of a dog. And I could practically see her tail wagging submissively.
Even though Iven is supposed to be a kind and smart gentlemen in the game, to Heelia he’s only been indifferent and cold. So I’m
not surprised that this would seem out of character, not that Heelia would know that though.
After all, I don’t plan on being cruel to her or canceling the engagement. I’ve always wanted to try and be a gentleman, speak stupidly honest lines of romance and strive to court a woman with chivalry.
In modern times that isn’t as popular anymore I don’t think. My medieval tastes in fairy tales had no benefits to me and my romantic life. I did manage to have a few girlfriends because I was pretty confident, but in the end they always found me cringey.
At times like this, I find it lucky for me to be reborn into a world where I can say these lines naturally and not get called a fantasy nerd for it.
“Eh..erm... so does that mean... you-“ she clears her throat, looking anywhere but my eyes. How adorable. “Like.. me?” She murmurs.
I could practically see the steam coming out above her head from her overheated brain.
I bit down the urge to laugh, but couldn’t really smile at that either. I didn’t know she was so innocent.
I rise and sit next to her on the couch, letting my posture shift from upright to relaxed.
“I can’t say that I love you.” I start, and immediately the expression on her face changed. “But,” I say, before she completely looked downcast, “That doesn’t mean I want to end the relationship that hasn’t even started. I want you, who I can say I find cute, to be happy, maybe with me. And along the way we may even start to love each other.”
It’s not uncommon for a couple to join together in matrimony for strictly political reasons, however that doesn’t have to the the sole case. After all, this match-up was simply a favor from one friend to another, and therefore not strictly political. So that means this relationship doesn’t have to be without love.
But I want to get to know Heelia more. More than I was ever able to in the game.
“I understand that.” She said, her eyes becoming calm after she thought about it. “But you won’t feel restricted with me?”
I stare at the ceiling for a bit and bounce the question back. “Will you?”
Immediately she shakes her head and puts up her hands, “There’s no way I could, after all you’re such a kind man your high-“
I closed the small gap between us and lightly taped her lips with my finger.
“Well that’s good then. But my first rule as your betrothed is that you’ll call me by Ive. All my close friends call me that. And as my dearest, I wish for you to as well. Call it my selfishness if you want.” I say smiling. Always remember to smile. A gentleman’s smile is killer after all.
I pull back, but instead of a blush, she looked at me with seriousness in her eyes.
And I grin.
She focuses on the purple pendant on my chest as she tries to form her words. “Very well Ive... -sama.” She spoke quickly at the end.
“Ah! Don’t think you can fool me. No ‘sama’ either. I want us to be soooo close and casual that there’s no restrictions between us.” I say wagging my finger a bit childishly.
She stutters, “But I can’t do that! It goes against all customs I was told and taught when I was undergoing etiquette lessons!!”
“Then you should know well then that the order of a royal is absolute. Or am I wrong?” I say smirking. Using my full stare on her. I can tell, she feels a bit stuck under my gaze.
“Well, no but...”
“Heelia?” I murmur leaning past her ear.
It’s a bit inappropriate for me to be getting this close on my first time meeting my fiancé, let alone in closed off room, but there’s no cameras nor servants around. I made sure of that.
“I’m calling you informally, so don’t you think it’s fair?”
She squirms a bit, “Ok, ok. Yes Ive, I understand. Now please...”
I grin, backing away.
“But... I have one more question for you before we finish this meeting.” She asks hesitantly as she tries to calm down her heated face.
I cross my arms and lean back against the soft velvet purple cushions.
“And that is, my dearest Heelia?”
“What if you meet someone better than me? Someone who will melt your heart and cure your pains from the past. Someone who’s beauty outshines mine with ease by leaps and bounds?” She started off slow, but by the time she finished she was already up and standing next to me.
I try to calm her, by softening my gaze. “You don’t need to worry about that because it will never happen.” I say in reassurance.
I rise and try to take her hand, but she slaps it away, full of agitation and uneasiness. “No, you don’t understand. You will. It will. It will all happen. It’s because I’m a villain and I’m meant to be alone. So stop these foolish promises...” she almost tears up, but she holds them to the very brim.
With that I was able to finally confirm it. She’s questioning whether she can be happy.
Again, I can’t understand why. But perhaps I must be more clear.
My arms dangle at my sides as I watch her sniffle and tremble as she tries her hardest to fight off fears and tears.
Once I collect my thoughts, I embrace her. And I don’t let go. She struggles at first, but she gives in once she knows I won’t let go.
“I’m not trying to give you false hope. Or promises I can’t keep. I can promise that I’ll make you happy. Whether that be with me, or with someone else, I will make you happy anyway I can.” I stroke her head. It sort of annoys me to picture Heelia in someone else’s arms, especially when I like her character so much. And how I can now hold her like this.
But not only her character in game do I like, the her now that I’ve met for not even a day, I like too.
Still, if she does not find happiness with me, I will give it to her some other way. I just don’t want to see her reach that cruel end that I have to watch each time I want to see her. After all, she only showed up in the Iven route. But always did I have to suffer and watch her tears at the end.
“And for that, you have my hearts promise and lords pledge.” I say.
She shifts to have her eyes meet with mine, they’re full of confusion.
“That’s too much Ive...” she says, almost scared.
Swearing to the heart and the fairylord (basically our lands god) is similar to cursing your soul to damnation if you break the pledge. It’s technically a serious matter that has to go through ceremonies and special branding, but that’s unrelated.
Right now, all I desire is for her to understand I earnestly want to achieve this goal.
“And don’t say I don’t know anything either. You take me for an ill-educated man, but I know a lot more than you think.” I say almost with a laugh.
Heelia gazes her dark purple eyes into mine curiously.
“Even is I meet Myla in the future, I’ve always liked you the most my dear evil villainess.” I rub her slightly swollen eyes as they bulge open with surprise.
“HAAAHH???!!” Heelia practically screams.
I release her and she grabs her face and starts thinking like she’s confused with all of existence now.
“You...you were reborn as well?? Like me? Wait... Don’t tell me.... are you a girl in a mans body...?” She questions as she starts circling around the room. Her light blue dress swirls as she goes, swishing and circling with her.
“Well I guess that could happen too...dang I was pretty lucky...” she murmurs, suddenly having a look of reverence to whoever reincarnated us into these bodies.
“Ahah, nice theory, but I’d like you to know that there are plenty of gentlemen out there who also play otome games as well.” I reply rather indignantly.
“Well I guess that explains why Prince Iven, the cold; ruthless ruler of the east dragons and holder of the fairy lord’s compass was so kind to someone like me. Who is supposed to be very annoying.” Heelia says as she shrugs off the entire character description of Prince Iven found in the character log.
My, how talented.
I smile, “Hmph. It’s not like you were any different. You started throwing around key words like ‘villain’ and acting like you’re against the engagement. Very un-Heelia like.”
We both laugh at how silly the situation is.
“I can’t believe I’ve met another reincarnator here with me. This puts me at ease a bit.” Heelia says, and she truly does look more comfortable now.
“As do I, when I took the risk of you finding me to be weird, I was nervous of the turnout, but it seems like I was worried for nothing.” A shaky laugh came out from me, and I’m surprised to hear it. Dang... so uncool.
“I’d say the same.” She says as she walks over to the door.
“Well, I’ll be going now. Seeing as we both are reincarnators we clearly don’t need to force this relationship of the two characters and we can live peacefully.”
She opens the door, but I slam it shut, pinning her against the wall.
Well there goes my thought my worries were gone. Never mind it seems.
“Urgh, is a kabedon really necess-“
I groan, this girl...
“Heelia La Greesen,” I say cutting her off.
I will her eyes to look at mine, and keep them glued. I’ve never really wanted to do such a cringey move such as a kabedon, but it’s surprisingly convenient. “Just because we are both reincarnators doesn’t mean I wish to still break this bond of engagement.”
Her eyes darken, and she narrows her eyebrows. Not a good sign. Classic, ‘You are so not ready for this’.
“Oh, so you just want to continue on with your ‘part’ and watch me get destroyed at the end? Well I’d like to just live my days peacefully thank you.” She clips, interrupting me.
In any other case, I would say she has guts for talking back to a royal. But she knows I’m not truly one now. Still...
“Firstly I’d like to say, while we both share a past of being normals in the world of before, we are now royals and nobility. And you shall act the way you are meant to in this world. The rules are here for a reason. You embraced this yourself just a while ago.”
She glares at me, the pressure in her eyes is quite intimidating. Reminding me of who she was in the game.
“Hoh... so you truly are trying to play the role of prince. You’re probably just a wannabe that wants to achieve happiness now that you’ve gained power. That’s good for you, but I have no wish to be part of it. Especially if you don’t care about my own desires and simply want to satisfy your greed of the game. I came here to decline the proposal by our parents for our engagement, now good day to yo-“
I grew so impatient that my body moved on its own and did something I would never usually do.
I slipped my lips against hers and quieted her with a kiss. I couldn’t tell if she had kissed back or even if she wanted to. My hands slipped to her side and I held her as gently as I could.
She trembled slightly under my touch, probably from anger...
I didn’t open my eyes, pretty cowardly. But I didn’t want to see her repulsed face.
I internally punch myself in the face.
It’s not like I have no desire, but I also have control. And know when to stop or not do anything further.
In my mind I hoped to subconsciously express my feelings of longing through this action. But I rationally know that doing these kinds of things never really work. And I prepare myself for a slap when I get released.
But it never comes.
And she did at least quiet down. Her blushing face and frenzied mind stilled her. So I took the opportunity to talk, although I don’t know if she would hear me.
“I don’t ever want you to think that I don’t care about your feelings. I knew well enough when we started talking that you were probably another reincarnator like me. But I still wanted to talk to you further. To see what you were truly like. And from that, I’ve learned that your real personality is just as genuine or as beautiful as Heelia’s. I wanted to continue this relationship, not to meet Myla, but to meet you. To learn about the true you. While it initially was the fact that you are Heelia that drew me in, your personality is what made me crave more time with you. To linger in these moments. And I’ll say it again. If you are not happy with me, I’ll let you go. But I only wish for you to be happy now.”
I wonder if she could feel my nervousness through my palms on her elbows. Or see my worry in my face. Because now her eyes were locked onto me.
And I felt as if every part of me were exposed for her to look at. While I was uneasy, I didn’t mind the attention.
“I apologize for getting ahead of myself. It’s just that I didn’t want to believe in something that could be a lie once we head into the academy... and you meet the main character.”
I shake my head, “No you’re plenty justified.”
She guides my hand to hers and locks into it. Staring at the joined fingers; squeezing them to make sure it’s real.
Perhaps I began to love her before I knew it. But I would never understand that now. After all we just met. And I’m sure there’s plenty of challenges to come this way.
I have no doubt that she thinks the same.
“My lady?” I ask.
She looks at me.
“Shall we rebel against our fates?”
Heelia smiles, pointing at me with her other hand. “How cheesy. But I accept your challenge. Let’s see if you can make me happy and avoid the bad end.”
I place a kiss on her forehead, laughing slightly. “One flag at a time.”