Loving You as a Friend [BL]

Chapter 1: What a Shame

SLAP! A crisp sound reverberated throughout the room. A lady clutched onto her swollen cheek as she stared down at the man in front of her. "Violetta! You absolutely vile, horrid witch! You dare abuse your power to bully a student, let alone one that has lower status compared to you!"

A single lady, dressed in black and purple, stood alone in the centre of the ballroom, surrounded by people. 

He was cuddling someone in his arms, protecting her from harm. "You filthy, insolent woman! Did you really believe that your atrocious acts would not come to light? After bullying my dear Silvia countless times on end? Think again!"

"Your Highness, could I ask what evidence you have to accuse me of such acts?" Violetta Alphenhide, an Archduke's daughter, was emotionless to the accusations against her.

"Lady Violetta, how could you deny your cruel and wicked actions against me?" Silvia Encratis, a Viscount's daughter, timidly clung onto Ciel Angetré's clothing. Violetta's fiance, who should've been on her side defending her, was accusing her instead.

"Vio, I must say, I am disappointed in you. And here I thought that our Archduke family brought you up with the best education, only for you to disappoint us." Alexis Alphenhide spoke to condemn his sister's actions. "Vio, I hope Father will go easy on you since you are his daughter." Alexis felt a tap on his shoulder.

"That's enough Lex. Even if she has done something wrong, at the end of the day, she's still your sister." Lucius Angetré, the crown prince and childhood friend of Alexis, interrupted him to stop him from humiliating Violetta any further. "Lady Violetta, I was looking forward to having you as a sister-in-law but your actions now make me think otherwise. I hope you can reflect on your behaviour." Lucius gave a small apologetic smile toward Violetta, who was still standing alone.

"Again, I ask once more, what evidence do you have?" Violetta firmly stood her ground, she could feel the intense, cold glare coming from Darcel Leroux, the Grand Duke's only son; also childhood friends with Alexis and Lucius.

"There is no need for you to know, rather you should already be aware of your crimes." He stood next to Alexis, and although he wasn't doing much, his aura was enough to scare off everyone.

"Darc, don't use the word 'crimes'. It's too harsh, Lady Violetta may be in the wrong but she's not a criminal." Lucius tried to correct Darcel in his word choice but he wouldn't budge, "She is in my eyes."

"I have to agree with Lu on this one. She's my sister and she will not be labelled as a criminal." Alexis defended his sister, even though he still believed she was guilty of bullying Silvia. The three of them continued their conversation in hushed voices, so the 2nd prince, Ciel Angetré and Silvia wouldn't overhear them.

"Violetta, I will give you face and not reveal your spiteful, heinous actions against Silvia in front of everyone. So leave! Leave this room at once or I will have to call the guards." Ciel pulled Silvia closer, she snuggled closely into his chest, hiding her face from the crowd.

"It seems like you did not hear my question. However, if that is what you want, fine. I'll leave." Violetta turned, walking quickly out of the ballroom.

"Wait Vio, I'll take you home. Father will find it weird if we did not return home together." Alexis quickly caught up to his sister, escorting her out. Following him were Darcel and Lucius, under the guise of 'protecting Silvia if she fights back' and 'saying farewell to his guest'. The three of them implied that they would return later to the party. However, that seems like an excuse. Who knows if they ever returned afterwards.

Ciel and Silvia were left alone in the ballroom, "Your Highness, I am sorry for all the troubles I have caused you." Silvia peered upwards into Ciel's eyes, "Do not worry my dear Silvia. Let's enjoy our time together from now on." He guided her to the centre of the ballroom, signalling to the orchestra to begin. "Shall we have a dance?"

"Of course." Silvia gave a gentle smile as they began dancing around the ballroom, enjoying the music and each other's company.

The screen began to fade to black, slowly reflecting a person crouched in front of it. "Hmm, not bad. The story was pretty good but the visuals, voice acting and music, top tier." Fujisaki Shin, a fresh graduate from high school and a visual novel otaku, had just ticked another one off his list. He had no particular ambition, drowning himself in endless games after his graduation. Furthermore, he only had two close friends and his family already knew about his hobbies. Not many people would notice his disappearance anyways.

"The ending was a little unsatisfying. Hopefully, the epilogue would wrap it up nicely but it's probably going to be the typical reverse harem route." Shin quickly speedrun the ending, before opening up the game's menu and flicking through the CGs he collected. "I actually feel sorry for Violetta, she was just a quiet, kind girl. Even her sis-con brother knew about her personality. So why did he even fall in love with Silvia?"

He stopped at a particular CG; Alexis, Darcel and Lucius were childhood friends and this particular scene was when Alexis had come down with a fever because they had snuck out of the castle to tour the town. The three of them were hugging each other after Alexis had finally woken up. "What a shame, imagine if the three of them actually ended up together instead." Their dynamic was adorable and fitted them well. They were the classic childhood friends that lasted for years.

Leaving his TV screen on this CG, Shin turned on his laptop and began typing away his review of the game, giving his honest thoughts.

[Story: 7.5/10. Would've been nice if they fleshed out the world-building and interactions more. Was looking forward to the more fantasy aspects. Especially with the lore of marriage (gender) and magic.

Characters: 8.5/10. Had some pretty interesting character development though wouldn't have minded if there was no reverse harem ending. I did wish that the childhood friends would end up together though-

Visuals: 10/10. Absolutely beautiful art from KittyPaws. Her art keeps improving with every game she works on! Personally, as a face-con, I love everyone's designs! I especially like the trio!

Music: 9/10. Gorgeous soundtrack. I keep coming back to it. Can't wait for the CD to arrive! It definitely matched the whole fantasy romance aspect pretty well.

Overall: 8.5/10. Definitely worth your time. Took me about 40-45 hours to complete it. If you don't mind a weaker storyline, you'll definitely enjoy this game!]

Shin posted his review, seeing people comment before he turned off his laptop. After staying up the past few days to complete the game, his fatigue finally caught up to him. Feeling dirty, he opted for a quick shower, blow-drying his hair before snuggling comfortably into his bed. He hadn't eaten much apart from small meals, drifting to sleep while thinking about calling his friends for a meal later.

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Just in case you haven't realised or I wasn't clear about it, this story is a 2v1 so not your tradition romance BL. But hopefully you guys don't mind, I will try my very best to present in a way that is not too romanticised in terms of poly relationships since poly relationship are something not everyone experiences.

I hope you will stick with me on this journey, exploring the world with Shin.

rikaaa_channn