Re: Who needs a prince when you're a queen?

Chapter Thirty: The schemer and the stages of being kidnapped

Confusion.

That's the first thing I felt in the first few minutes of being kidnapped. Well, I was just in a fancy soiree with my friends and now I am suddenly in this dingy carriage smelling like the opposite of what the ponies from My Little Pony would smell like. This ride was also awfully small that two young girls even have a hard time fitting in.

When I came to, the first thing I saw was a cockroach frighteningly so close to me that immediately sent me up and scamper away. Unfortunately for me, the carriage was too small and all I did was bang my head against the ceiling and gave myself a possible concussion. However, that was the least of my problems as I realized that I hit something while backing away.

"Ah, darn it," I said and squinted my eyes to confirm the sight.

The translucent light of the moon did help me see well. Not only that, it also enhanced the heroine's beauty by making it look as if she was a glowing fairy princess in a deep slumber. Whereas I probably looked like I got run over by a truck, given how icky and sweaty I felt, the heroine really had the full protection of the protagonist's halo- Sleeping Beauty cannot even compare.

And how is she still asleep in this situation? What woke me up was the musty smell and the very uncomfortable bumps that kept hurting my back like the world's most uncomfortable massage chair. How does even one manage to sleep so peacefully in this situation? And even prettily, might I add.

I tried to wake her up but then realized that both my hands were tied behind my back. Duh, of course they'd be tied, Marcella. I swear that I may really have developed a concussion. Still, I tried my best to just beastmode myself out of it and maybe by some pure cliché magic, it would work.

Apparently, cliché magic only works on the leads. And a couple of times with side characters when it's about a misfortune- like a kidnapping.

You might be wondering why I am not feeling so panicked right now. Let's not forget that I played this game. And you would never know how many times I had replayed all routes because I have not reached a good ending on any of them. So, the plan is to make sure that everything that I had done in game must not be replicated here.

But wait. Was that not what I had been doing? Or was planning to do, at least. The kidnapping happened sooner and out of script- well, not on scripts based on the routes I played. Maybe this was the script that was guaranteed for the good ending? Although, that sounds quite excessive even for the game developers?

Unless . . .

Unless this was genuinely not in the script at all! Well then, I'm screwed.

Panic.

The fear was starting to settle in. I looked at the heroine who was still off to dreamland and then there it was again, by the base of my feet.

The cockroach.

We all die sooner or later but still, I want to die with dignity. Not in a smelly courage with a bug and then have my corpse compared to the beautiful girl beside me and have people thinking, 'What a relief that the pretty one is alive'. This body's face is pretty too in a neat way but when beside girls like Viveca and this heroine right here, it was evidently highlighted that the game designers spent about a minute on her character design. Kind of unfair when the brothers are too handsome for their own good. Wait, was this the reason that my eyes have no definite color? Because the designers never really cared for the continuity of this character?

And why did I designate the heroine to be alive when I thought of myself dead? Because it just happens to be that way. Side characters die. They are essentially the stakes of every literature. And currently, I am that side character.

Thinking of that, my adrenaline probably shot up and I desperately tried to yell. Another misfortune presented itself to me because while I was rambling inside my thought, I also forgot that kidnappers do not just tie hands, they also put gags in mouths. How did I not notice that sooner? Nevertheless, I still tried to yell as hard as I can and yes, it was futile.

I stopped for a moment and breathed deep. Well, if this was not going to work with yelling, then maybe brute force, then?

I did not know what I had been thinking when I thought that I could smash myself onto the backdoor of the carriage. Probably the instinct of survival. Or maybe the concussion.

"HNGGGGGG!!!" I inwardly yelled because of the gag and slammed myself against the door as hard as I can.

Yes. It was definitely the concussion.

I slumped against the wall of the carriage, wanting to comfort my possibly dislocated shoulder. I groaned hard and beads of sweat started to form on the side of my head. Great, Marcella. You dumb idiot, not only do you have a possible concussion, you also managed to get your shoulder dislocated in just a span of a few hours of being kidnapped.

Hopelessness.

I heaved deeper breaths as the pain shot through my arm. Slowly, I tried to sit in a more comfortable position. However, I made the mistake of moving my injured arm so the pain in my shoulder doubled. It felt like there was fire burning on my shoulder and stars started to dance around my vision. Was I close to blacking out? How many times have I blacked out in this world? Even for a side character, that's not a normal amount.

My shoulder was throbbing and my head was spinning. Moreover, the constant bumps on the road made me even more nauseous. Every time we hit a pebble, I could feel the pain on my shoulder hurt even more. My groans were muffled by the gag and I felt myself wanting to puke and faint at the same time.

And while I looked like a disaster as if I just came from a calamity (in which case, I kind of am), the heroine was still as unconscious and heedless as ever, with her silky perfect hair in every right place and her face shining so brightly, you might think she was made of porcelain. Even with a covering on her mouth, her beauty was still showing. Oh, if only she would wake up right now. Maybe she ought to do something too, like use the protagonist's halo to get us out of here by magically untying herself with the power of cliché or something. Anything just to get us out of here.

I was desperate and I was tired. Very hurt and injured too. But more than that, I was hungry. The last meal that I ate was just a croissant from hours ago and that was hardly enough. My stomach kept growling while I kept groaning at the constant throbbing of every part of my body.

While I was desperately thinking of other measures to get out, I noticed a faint light on my skirt. Was this one of the stars dancing around my vision due to the possible concussion? I peered harder and realized that there was more than one light. There were clumps of them on my skirt. What were these?

As I tried to curl my legs closer to my chest just to see what was lighting up my skirt, I suddenly heard a voice.

"Finally found you."

Hope.

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A/N: What's up everybody! I am sorry if my hiatus went longer than I expected it to be but I am finally back! Anyway, I enjoyed writing this chapter- probably because it had not much dialogue lmao. I kind of feel bad for putting Marcella in that position though. The girl just needs to get a break. Well, I don't really have much to say except for you to enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please give this a like and let me know your thoughts in the comments. I will be seeing you in the next chapter. Ta~

Stay safe and stay hydrated.

Lovelots.