A teenage girl walks up to a boy of the same age on a roof. They overlook a small garden, where a girl in orange hair is crying to herself.
Xander looked at the girl, Nidia, walking to him.
“What are you doing out here on such a cold night?” not seeing the girl in the garden.
“Nothing much,” he lies, “just getting a breath of fresh air. What are you doing out here?”
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Your sister said way too many harsh things to you and I was worried.”
“I’m fine, no need to worry.”
“I don’t get why your sister is so mean to you. You're nice and smart and you never did anything wrong.”
“While what you said is kind Nidia, it’s not entirely true. I’ve done a lot wrong. Did I tell you the first day I came to the duke of the west’s household?”
“No, you didn’t.”
“The first day we arrived I was so nervous. We had left my grandfather’s house for the first time, going somewhere new to live. The duke was a kind man, but I could tell he hated my mother and my brother. That hatred ended up spilling over to me. It was justified, looking back now, both of them were terrible as humans, but I can’t end up hating them. When we first arrived, the first thing I saw was a young girl, my sister now, being held in the arms of the duke. He held her with so much love. But almost immediately, my mother insulted the little girl, feeling jealous of her, and took the duke away. I recently found that the reason the duke put up with my mother is that my grandfather threatened to cut off the grain supply from the south into the east. The east is an unfertile land, where most live by hunting. That’s why it’s said the best soldiers come from the east. Back to the story, my brother had mistaken my sister for a concubine that father got, not realizing that he was hated by the duke. She revealed her identity as the daughter of the duke, our new sister. Hearing that my brother insulted and slapped her. I did nothing, And then both mother and brother continued to bully her, with the servants not being able to do anything because they were replaced with my mother’s servants.”
-Scene from the otome game Until Death does us Apart.
***
Ivana’s quickly gave way to an odd feeling of déjà vu, as if what had transpired was something she saw or heard. On her walk back to her room, her mind mulled over it with a frown on her face. The maid looking at her thought she was upset about her new family members.
Why was that situation so familiar? Where have I seen it? She thought back to the boy still in the carriage. He had flaming red hair and green eyes. The wait isn’t he that character from the otome game? What’s his name? Xandar? It was Xandar, right?
She went on a berry hunt through her memories, trying to remember as much as she could about that otome game.
Flashback
In her past life, Ivana had a crush on a girl in her class. So the first step in her plan to win the heart of the girl was to become her friend. She quickly accomplished that. They became almost inseparable, oftentimes sleeping over at each other's houses. One day, the girl came up and was talking about an otome game that she started. So Ivana's past life decided to try it too. It was a large online game with 8 main characters and 4 secret characters. She enjoyed the game, not for its romance part, but its fighting parts, with cool-looking and tough bosses, including some of the villainesses. And to make it better, the game released extensions and dlcs to the game adding more and more to the world. The game stopped releasing updates in her final year of high school. Over time she forgot about it, going through college. While she remembered the general storyline and the appearances of the characters, she couldn't remember the exact details. Then she got a job and forgot even more about the game.
Flashback end
Wait if that was Xandar, one of the hidden characters, doesn't that mean I'm that villainess! The super genius one, who lost her father in the war with the demons, the one that ended up living a depressed life alone!? Wait lost her father in the war with the demons? PAPA IS GOING TO DIE?
Suddenly her face looks frightened. The maid looking at her thinks it's because she's scared of getting retaliated against because of her actions.
"Don't worry mistress! We'll make sure to protect you from that pig of a boy and his sow of a mother." The maid bent down to show Ivana her muscles. "See, I'm super strong. I can beat up about 3 of your average men, those two will stand no chance against me." Ivana seeing this smiles.
At least I've got people here to look after me, like the servants and Papa. They'll always protect me so I've to grow up soon and protect them.
They reached the door to Ivana's room.
"Stay here for a bit mistress. I'll be back with your father." The door closed behind the maid and Ivana made her way over to a mirror and could see a red hand on her face. She touches it, curiously, and winces, recoiling her hand.
Ah, it still hurts a bit. Thinking that Ivana falls on her bed and cries because of the pain and quickly falling asleep.
“At least I've got people here to look after me, like the servants and Papa.”
Looks like she missed the “old servants were replaced with the step mother’s servants” part mentioned in the flashback…
Sorry to confuse you but that's actually like a glimpse for us, the readers, rather than Ivana remembering this. I think it's dramatic irony, but don't quote me on that.
@Carpio ah, ok. And she skipped most of the game info to get to the end, so she wouldn't really know about it after all.