Villainess

Royalty (2)

Heroine

"Valerie Alvae."

Ah fuck.

I couldn't hear anything besides my own heartbeat for a moment; he said Valerie Alvae. I knew who that was. And if she was who I thought she was, it meant I knew who he was.

"You like the sound of that, Valerie?"

But he thought I was Valerie Alvae, except I'm not Valerie Alvae I'm Suzume Yoritaka. But Suzume Yoritaka is dead—don't worry, it was on purpose—and Valerie Alvae is alive...So I'm Valerie Alvae.

I suddenly became aware of my height, shorter than usual, and the paleness of my hands. Despite being covered in dry mud, sticking to the skin, they looked like sheets of paper. You could easily trace the blood vessels from my fingers to my wrist. A strand, well actually, a clump of long brown dirty hair partially concealed my face the moment I realised—I'm a white person.

I was Valerie Alvae.

"My dearest daughter," that was her father, Duke Alvae, who continued to be as caring and pampering as described. "I'm sorry it took so long." His tone was remorseful, though there wasn't a trace of sadness in his eyes, but he crouched down in horse shit to keep eye contact with me. The love he had for his family was great.

Valerie Alvae, that's me, was the only family he had left. After failing to produce an heir with his recently deceased wife, the duke remembered in the midst of his grief the bastard child he had forgotten—Valerie Alvae. She was as beautiful as her mother, as charming as her father. She was exactly what he was looking for to preserve his newly founded noble lineage. Of course, she did more than that—depending on how you played— she was the protagonist.

There was a silence. Valerie says something here...One word?

"Father."

The duke smiled; I must've been right. He motions towards his men behind him, who bring forward a horse, and he lifts my little body onto the saddle. Grabbing hold of the reins, he slowly guides the horse forwards. I take my time to observe the commoners as they gawk at the spectacle; I was on display. This was such a sentimental scene in the game, but living it now makes me want to die. Again.

The embarrassment assured me that this was not a dream, or some strange afterlife realm—not many ghosts have access to a functioning body—this was real. Which could only mean that this was my compensation for the awful life I'd had to lead before. The universe had correctly transmigrated my soul into the heroine of one of my favourite Otome-games—Romance Kingdom! Though Battle Lovers or Kick to Your Heart would've been more enjoyable, the gameplay for Romance Kingdom: find true love was quite fun so I didn't mind too much. Who am I to argue with fate? Besides, the violence in the others may have led to a rather short life even if I were the heroine. Valerie Alvae and I were the optimal match.

"I shall take you back with me dear," my father spoke loudly. His voice boomed over the bustling crowds and at the declaration, they fell silent. "Though we were separated at your birth, you shall remain my daughter."

The game had started with the duke.

Father and daughter reunited at last.

A delicate young girl with a noble disposition saved from the slums.

Valerie Alvae had both circumstance and resources playing to her favour once she entered the duke's estate. At any sign of mistreatment, she simply had to say a word, or send a look, for the duke to come running with righteous anger. Though of course, the mistreatment was exclusively from third rate villainous characters. Most of the staff at the estate were eating out of the hand of their new young mistress.

Didn't I mention? I like the Mary Su characters.

"And from now on," he prophesied. I had travelled a remarkably short distance before I set off the horse into a carriage. "I shall handle all your needs. I will be your guardian, your father but most of all your friend. There will be no more suffering, my dear." His voice dropped to a whisper as he promised with the passion of a bard titillating a crowd.

God, the way he spoke would make you think he were ruler of heaven and earth. He was like a peacock, having just gone through puberty, showing off its feathers. In reality, he was a new aristocrat shy of a few generations. Valerie had been told the story of how her great-great grandfather had done a courageous thing for the previous king, which resulted in the appointment of a lordship with some land. But in his lifetime, he quickly rose through the ranks until someone else (his son) rose even higher and eventually, the Alvaes were a dukedom. The point is he wasn't secure in his nobility. This was the focus of humiliation waged against Valerie at gatherings. Only that far into the game, you no longer had third-rate villains designed to highlight the heroine's Christ-like attributes. They were the main villains. The love rivals.

They made the game fun.

Parasite, they'd scowl with jealousy as their ring-leader Susanne watched on coldly. Parasitic half-wit; I always admired the game-developer's attention to detail. The vaguely medieval-renaissance setting was so well crafted, that it felt like another world. The depth of it sent shivers down my spine. It didn't feel like a screen separated us; their glares of hatred felt targeted not at the heroine, but at me.

I'm beginning to remember why I love this game.

But now, of course, nothing separated us. I could see things that hadn't made it onto the pixels on the screen; the low distant cry of a baby carried over the hushed whispers of the crowd. The starved dogs watching on, wary of the gallant horses they'd likely never seen before. The silver framing of the carriage window, accompanied by a rough emerald curtain...My father staring at me from just beyond.

"Yes father," I dutifully spoke my lines.