Meddie spent his days doing absolutely nothing but reading and walking around the garden. He had no duties, no tasks, nothing to do with his time, and nothing to do with his life. He was bored out of his mind, didn’t have anyone to talk to except the servants, who were all polite, but distant. He worked on his swordsmanship in the mornings, and in the afternoons he met with his dance teacher. Why they insisted on him learning the different dances of the Holy Empire was beyond him. He ate alone, read alone, and found himself learning more and more about the Holy Empire history, since that would be on his curriculum at the academy.

He didn’t know what to do with his time. He was bored. Adjusting to life after the war was hard, and he just… didn’t know what to do with himself without a map in front of him and supply routes to discuss. He kind of missed his admirals and captains. He missed them a lot, actually, because they, at least, had respected him.

With a sigh, he stirred the sugar into his tea and set his spoon to the side. His sad eyes rolled over the tabloid in front of him. There was a scandal where the Duke of Kensing cheated on his wife and made an illegitimate child, and he was not understanding what everyone was so upset about. He was illegitimate, not that anyone knew that. Illegitimate children were fairly common in the Demonias Empire, and the wife typically just officially adopted them and raised them as her own. It was no big deal.

He didn’t understand what the fuss was about, he thought bitterly as he flicked through the tabloid.

He couldn’t go on any outings, so there was nothing he could do about the situation to cure his boredom. He was trapped in the Red Palace, and he---

Someone was approaching him, and he looked up from his tabloid to take in the sight of a maid coming up to him with a letter. Oh, someone wrote him? That was surprising. He didn’t expect anyone to write him.

The maid curtsied.

“You have a summons, Your Highness,” she said and held out the letter, and he took it. The handwriting on it was very pretty and floral, and he opened the wax seal and pulled out the piece of paper. His eyes scanned over the letter, and his brows furrowed.

First Princess Corina had invited him to tea in a week.

What?

“I’ll give her a response later,” he said and set the paper aside. What did he know about Corina? She had been a little antagonistic to the FL at the start, primarily because she questioned whether she would make it as a good Empress, and the narrative had framed her as a bitch for thinking that way. Which he thought was stupid, by the way. The daughter of a poor, backwater count did not have the qualifications to be an Empress. The job of the Empress was demanding, and was something you trained your whole life for. Medusa would have honestly made a good one. She was just ruthless enough, albeit a little immature, but she could grow out of that. And she had the training required of a princess, which translated well to training to be an Empress.

Whatever. He couldn’t criticize the plot too much. After all, he unlocked all the stupid endings. He was in no position to cast mud on it.

“You should write her back swiftly. I will fetch a pen and paper for you,” the maid said, and he frowned. Oh, this was time sensitive? Okay. He didn’t know why it was time sensitive, but, sure.

“Alright,” he said, and she curtsied and disappeared like a ghost. All of the maids here were there one second, and gone the next. It was unnerving. He had no idea how they managed to just vanish.

With a sigh, he polished off his tea and leaned forward to pick up the teapot and pour another cup. Why did Corina invite him for tea? That seemed strange to him. He had never interacted with her, didn’t even meet her at the ball. He was too busy trying to avoid Isilda and Tristan until he finally went home. And Tatiana. He was also avoiding Tatiana.

With a sigh, he took a sip of tea and pulled a face as he realized he forgot to put in two sugars. He set the cup down, dropped in the sugar cubes, and stirred it again before he sipped once again. There. That was better.

Did he want to go to tea with Corina? He didn’t know. He didn’t have a reason to refuse, but… he wasn’t so sure. He didn’t know if that was a good idea. He might just end up courting his own death if he got too wrapped up in the situation. Not that he thought he was going to die, but he also didn’t need to tempt fate.

With a sigh, he looked back down at the letter. It was lightly scented with a floral perfume, and why would she do that? He was a little unnerved. Seriously, what was going on right now? He wasn’t entirely sure, but he thought his life may be taking a wild turn. He was supposed to just keep his head down at the academy, but, honestly, he really was acting like he didn’t have any genre awareness. Of course he was going to be beset upon all corners by the main characters. That was how it went in these stories. He would just have to remain above it all.

What kind of life did he want to lead? He thought to himself.

He never considered it before, but maybe he should start planning now. He was in the Holy Empire, and he had no idea how long he would be here. He wanted to live well, but… Did he want to live quietly? Did he want to get revenge against his brothers?

That was a no on revenge. He would kill them if it came down to a ‘them or me’ situation, but he didn’t really want them dead. He mostly just didn’t care about them. There was lingering resentment for making his adolescence the hell it became, but… But. He didn’t know. He didn’t exactly want them dead.

He just wanted to be left alone, he thought, and propped his chin in his hand. If he ended up in the Holy Empire for the rest of his life, he could live easily. He wouldn’t even have to run a palace. But… Was that what he wanted for himself? Already, he was bored out of his mind. He just…

Maybe he would make plans after he survived the next three years.

Yeah.

Plans later. Survival now.

….

Princess Corina resided in the Blossom Palace, and it was beautiful and stately. Meddie stepped out of the carriage and looked up at the palace, and an attendant came forward.

“Her Highness is waiting for you,” he said, and bowed. “This way, please.”

Meddie followed him into the palace, and the two of them proceeded up the stairs at the entryway and headed into the palace proper. Meddie strolled along, looking in interest at the beautiful palace that was a hell of a lot nicer than the one he was in, and they eventually came to the door.

“Your Highness? His Highness Prince Meduso is here,” called the attendant, and a light, airy voice responded.

“You can bring him in,” she called, and the attendant pushed the door open to reveal a quiet, cozy parlor, decorated in pastels and crown molding, with framed dried flowers on the walls. The princess was sitting on a pink couch, and she smiled at Meddie as he entered.

“Hello, Meduso,” she said warmly as she stood and made her way across the floor to him. He let her kiss him on either cheek, a very friendly greeting, and she backed up and gestured to the couches. “Let’s sit.”

Meddie took an uncomfortable seat on the edge of the couch, and she sat down across from him. There were an assortment of finger sandwiches and cookies on the table, and a lightly scented floral tea in a pot. Corina reached forward and poured a cup of tea for each of them, and Meduso leaned forward and put two sugars in his cup.

“So, Meduso,” Corina said, and took a sip of her unsweetened tea. “You’ve been here for three weeks, yes?”

“Yes,” he replied, and she hummed.

“I thought you might be bored sitting at home all day. I hope it wasn’t intrusive of me to invite you for tea,” she said, and Meddie eyed her with caution. She was pretty. No, she was stunningly beautiful. Red eyes and blonde hair, just like her twin. A beautiful, sharp expression on her face. Her eyes were sultry, and he couldn’t help but feel like she had ulterior motives for inviting him here.

“No, I was bored,” he confirmed, and she smiled.

“Well, I thought it might be good if we met officially before we start at the academy,” she said, and he was quiet.

“Yes,” he agreed. “That might be good. It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“I hear you’ve been keeping up on your swordsmanship,” she said, and tilted her head. “And you’ve been reading historical texts?”

“Yes, I figured I’m behind the rest of the students in regards to what I know,” he replied. “I didn’t have the same education. Mine primarily revolved around the history of the Demonias Empire.”

She was receiving reports on him, he thought, a little unnerved at the implication. She was boldly admitting to it, too. Of course, he should have anticipated that. He was a hostage here, so of course they kept track of what he was doing at all times, but… But.

He didn’t like it. That was all. He didn’t like it.

Ah, well. That would stop after a while once they realized he had no intentions of escaping.

“Ah, of course,” she said. “Well, I do apologize for keeping you from your reading.”

“It’s fine,” he said, and she smiled at him.

“May I be a bit forward?” she asked, and he blinked at her.

“Of course,” he replied, and she set down her teacup.

“My brother… He has a strange fascination with you,” she said, and he blinked. What? “He’s always been the sort to… hm. He’s rather possessive over what he considers to be his.”

“I’m sorry?” he asked as confusion and offense welled in equal measure, and she smiled at him.

“Do try to be careful with the Duchess,” she said, and he stared at her blankly.

“Is this your way of saying don’t make friends at the academy and blaming it on your brother’s behavior?” he asked, and she blinked.

“No, not at all. I hope you make friends. It would go a long way towards healing the rift between the Demonias Empire and ours,” she said, and he stared at her blankly. What the hell did she mean, ‘considers to be his’?

“To be perfectly frank with you, becoming friends with me won’t do anything but make them despise the Demonias Empire even more, if I choose to share details of my time there as the fourth prince,” he said flatly, because he wasn’t about to get into all of that, and she blinked.

“Do you mean the assassination attempts?” she asked, and he was quiet.

“Yes. I mean the assassination attempts,” he replied, because the whole damn world knew he had been poisoned by Trivas the day of the second battle of Triton Bay. They may not know the other details, but they knew about that one. And everyone, it seemed, had an opinion about it.

“Mm,” she hummed. “Well, try your best.”

That was it? Try his best? He didn’t intend on making friends. When he wasn’t in class, he fully intended to be eating, sleeping, and studying. He was going to keep his head down, not make waves, and hopefully, everything else would fall into place after that.

Of course, he was well aware of the fact that he was essentially the main character and main character things were going to be happening to him. But, he intended to make the plot work for it. He was going to be doing absolutely nothing to make it work. He was going to be lazy as hell.

“I will,” he promised, like a liar, and she smiled at him brightly.

“And do try to avoid the duchess,” she said, and he blinked. “She has a thing for demons, you see.”

What? He didn’t remember that in canon, and it belatedly occurred to him that in a sea of humans, he was probably going to be fetishized. Oh. He hadn’t considered that before he went to the Holy Empire.

Well, it wasn’t like he wasn’t used to being fetishized. He was a bisexual trans man in his first life, and that came with its own pros and cons. Cis gay men were… a lot, and many of them acted no differently than cishet men. They were obsessive, horny, with zero game, and he had been terrified of them after one too many situations on grindr. He got his fix from yaoi after a man complained for thirty minutes after sex about how being attracted to trans people made him feel disgusting and horrific.

Wait.

Was Isilda fetishizing him? She was a main character, and that didn’t make any sense. She showed no interest in Medusa in the game.

Except this wasn’t a game, he realized. This was the real life, and people were going to be slightly different from an otome.

Even so, it still twisted his gut, because she had killed demons in spades during the war. Doing all of that while maintaining a fetish for them was…

He wasn’t going to think about it, actually. He was not going to think about it. War blurred the lines between good and bad, and people couldn’t really help fetishes, but they could help how they acted about them. Wait. Hold on. Had he engaged in literal race play at the ball without realizing it?

He felt a little sick, so he picked up a cookie and took a bite just to get something in his stomach. Corina could just be lying, but he didn’t know why anyone would lie about something like that. He was just going to avoid Isilda. That seemed like the proper move, because he did not have it in him to unpack literally all of that.

“That all being said, I…” she trailed off and tilted her head at him. “I’m sorry. I just upset you, didn’t I?”

“Oh, no,” he lied, and she frowned at him.

“It’s not…” she trailed off, and he swallowed down the bite of the cookie. “My apologies. I probably shouldn’t have told you that.”

“I’d rather walk into a situation with my eyes open, not closed,” he said, and she nodded.

“Well, just be careful. With my brother and Isilda,” she said, and he paused. Why was she warning him to be careful with her brother?

“I think you misunderstand my relationship with your brother,” he said firmly and set down the half-eaten cookie on his plate. “His Highness is simply upset I defeated him in such a monumental battle, and is taking advantage of my situation to express his dominance.”

Corina stared at him blankly, and he realized that probably came out wrong.

“I mean… I don’t mean to speak ill of him, but that’s the way this situation is going,” he explained, and she blinked slowly.

“Oh, dear,” she murmured. “I’m going to have to keep you close at the academy, won’t I?”

Now, what in the fuck did that mean?

“In any case, let’s move on to more comfortable discussion points,” she said. “Is the Red Palace to your liking?”

“Why are you trying to help me?” he asked bluntly, and she blinked.

“Well, because of how you treated your hostages,” she said, and he stared at her blankly. “I’m not… I don’t think… I think you deserve an ally. And I’d like to be that ally.”

The hostages again. This world really needed to get a damn Geneva Convention, because this was getting ridiculous. He was getting all kinds of praise simply for acting decent, and---

“I don’t think doing the bare minimum necessitates an ally of your standing,” he said, and she tilted his head.

“So, the rumors are true,” she murmured, and he was starting to get really frustrated with this whole situation. What rumors? What was she on about? Why were they going in circles like this? Goddamn. He just needed to focus on eating. Fuck this.

The academy was going to be a nightmare, wasn’t it?