Location: ???

When the baby was born, they opened their red-blooded eyes for the first time. Given that they were unable to see anything, that was actually pointless.

The baby was understandably confused by this bizarre incident. Even without seeing anything, the baby just felt bizarre for some reason.

'Usually in my daily routine, I would wake up only to see my dirty white ceiling. Sure, it's unsanitary but at least it was familiar. Unlike this blurry mess of a scenery. Seriously, I don't remember staring days at my computer to have my eyesight this bad?'

The infant mused casually (As if it were normal for any baby to think like that) still perplexed, then abruptly trembled as they discovered that someone was in fact, holding their body even though they were a fully-grown adult.

 

'Heeee....??? Hug... I'm being hugged!?' The baby thought frantically, they would've been in tears if not for the soft hand suddenly caressing their head soothingly.

"Rosalina... That'll be your name... Fuhuhuhu." A joyful voice sounded out from the top as the baby started fidgeting in place. "Ahh.. you have the same color as your father's but compared to Ferun, yours are much prettier, like that of a beautiful rose."

'The voice... It sounded like a woman..'

"Fuhuhuhu... My~ I can't stop laughing; truly, what would that man do if he found out that I named you without his permission?" the woman wondered out loud as the infant felt her grip tighten.

'He, who lady? Is this some kind of dream?'

"Unlike humans, Demons are bonded to their given name for life, and Rosalina, that will be my gift to you if I die right now... But, selfishly, naming you is also a form of retaliation for that man. Please forgive your mother for being childish my dear." The woman apologizes tenderly.

'Is this woman really referring to me as a demon? What kind of nightmare did I conjure up?'

.

.

Rosalina(?) frowned as she(!?) pondered. 

.

.

'Rosalina..? Did I even wish to change my gender in this perplexing dream? Well whatever, if this all is just sick dream, why panic over something that will just fade away?' And with that naive thought, Rosalina briefly closes her eyes and slept.

Though later for her, sadly, her short nap may be interrupted by the He in question when someone rudely barges in without warning.

______________×× ∆∆ ××_______________

As a month pass by, the demons from The Thorn Manor finally relax their vigilance as their Lord, Ferun, oddly became docile.

It was quite a puzzling sight to witness. Everyone in the manor knows Ferun's temperament was explosive, and explosive is really an understatement if the servants were being honest.

If you make even one mistake that annoys Lord Thorn, then your only hope is to be executed in peace.

That's just how bad it is when you angered their Lord.

Actually, the servants had long since become despondent when Ferun unexpectedly purchased a human from some remote area of Eben; at the time, they assumed the human was their Lord's plaything.

Or, at the very least, a stress reliever so they wouldn't get severely punished instead, but the servants' faint hope was quickly dashed away when they heard the word "blood contract."

And when they found out that the human was giving birth within a week of its arrival... At the time, every demon's thought was complete and utter despair.

Knowing how twisted Ferun was, they thought the same of the newborn vampire.

They dreaded the day and regretted ever signing up for this hellhole.

However, when the fated day arrives... It all unexpectedly worked out in the end. Unlike other powerful demon spawns, their Mistress was a saint.

Sure, she appears to be stunted in certain places and extremely quiet, but at least she was well behave, and as an added bonus, it appears their Lord became... Less violent.

And they couldn't even became even more happier at the result.

.

.

.

Though while the servants were happy, same cannot be said for the new parents or the child.

______________×× ∆∆ ××_______________

Location: Thorn Manor, Melissa's Room.

"My little Rose, are you feeling alright?" Melissa asks of her growing daughter in concern. As a vampire, Melissa knew that her little Rosalina is quite different from humans.

An example to the differences was that her baby was crawling just a week ago, and it's only been a month since she was born, so Melissa was taken aback by the pace.

Ferun, of course, was of no help in dispelling the confusion.

At least the man has a brain inside his thick skull to propose a temporary truce whenever Rosalina was in the presence of both adults.

"As a parent, you should not expose your child to a situation that only adults should deal with." Is what he said at the time.

It was a reasonable idea that took her by surprise. Melissa had feared that Ferun would not hide his enmity towards her, so it was a relief when he did, and she was relieved that Ferun is rather fond of Rosalina to even do such a thing.

Even though the man was a vampire, he couldn't really hold his temper.

Melissa sighed.

Speaking of Rosalina however...

Even Ferun, the Arch Duke of a powerful vampire race, was concern. Babies born from powerful demons, he claims, should be able to speak simple sentences right about now.

A fact that made Melissa be mystified at their biology, but kept her expression concealed because of the presence of an irksome vampire at the time.

Her daughter calmly playing with her dolls made her sigh once again.

Ferun actually has the audacity to accuse her of tampering with her daughter's growth and insist in breaking the blood contract to demand a divorce.

But she was no fool. She knew that Rosalina will be taken away from her by that bastard the instant she breaks the contract. As if she's going to let that happen.

"Muu.... Nooiii.. Ma..ma.." Rosalina babbled cutely as Melissa chuckled. Her thoughts was suddenly wiped out of her mind with just seeing her daughter being just adorable.

"Ah... what an adorable child you are. Come to Mama, little Rosalina." Melissa bends down towards her child and tenderly holds her like a teddy bear.

"Your Mother is quite a worrywart; if your so-called Father hadn't been in the way, I would've definitely been more carefree with you my dear." she admits with a smile, as Rosalina was secretly troubled by the act.

'Woman, I used to be a man. I was given the opportunity to reincarnate as a baby, so please... Please leave me alone...!' Rosalina cried in her fragile heart, still despondent at the fact that this, was in fact, not a nightmare or even a dream. 'I really appreciate your concern and all. I really like you as my guardian, I'm grateful and everything, but... Come on! Can't you please stop hugging me every goddamn minute? I'm trying to secretly sulk here.'

'Even though it happened a month ago... I'm still grieving!'

"Oh—! Look at the time. Rosalina, it's time for eaty!" Melissa cheered in delight while Rosalina secretly cringed at the word "eaty".

As the woman rose up, she made sure that everything harmful was out of reach before departing and waving goodbye.

Finally seeing her leaving made Rosalina let out a tired sigh, now that she was left alone, Rosalina may have the opportunity to ponder every information she had gathered a month before. Or better yet, wallow in self pity!

But... It's better for her just to lay everything straight before crying over her identity and her partner in crime being lost for eternity.

And quite frankly, the facts she had observed about a month ago made her quite troubled the longer she lives here. So troubled that she was actually considering to just... Give up her dignity and let the world know that she would be the first vampire or demon to cuss her first sentence out.

Well.. In the last moment, she held her impulses in, just for the sake of her new mother, of course. Rosalina wasn't a monster like that.

She won't make a lady, her new mother cry for being an ass about her abnormal situation.

She is still a man. A gentleman. Even if she looks like one of those cute would-be ojou-sama's in the future, she's still a man deep down of this body. And her pride of a man would never disappear just because she lost her partner, definitely still a man inside. Is what Rosalina desperately chanted in her mind.

Plus—! It would be the gentlemanly thing to do too.

Sighing at her desperate thoughts, Rosalina promptly layed down on the comfortable carpet as she started recollecting some information of this world.

To start of, the world she lived in was a Fantasy world and she herself is a being made out of fantasy.

She was a vampire from the infamous Demon Race. The sort that sucks blood, but happily, her kind was somewhat good with the sun, a touch weak but better than being allergic and dying in the daylight, right?

.

.

.

Then came number two.

.

.

.

Where this world was a game in her previous life.

How did she know? Well her name was a big giveaway as well as her Father's name.

Ferun Thorn and Rosalina Thorn were amongst the main antagonist of the game.

Really, the game was pretty good despite the overused trope that every Otome game has: a girl who was different or mistreated entered a prestigious school where she met her harem; she won their love by increasing their love value; she then chose any man to be her hubby and; depending on your preferences, boom, you can get your bad end, good end, or neutral end.

But the similarities stops there however. [My Future Awaits You] is a game that differs heavily from your standard romance game, unlike any conventional Otome game.

The difference was that it has a hard mode for individuals seeking a challenge. And on the hard mode, the plot abruptly turns for the worse. For one thing, the location where the story starts is at the enemies location. Unlike the simple option, where you attend a human school, the location is in the capital of the Demon territory.

It was like an Alternative Timeline with a new story that predictable made players hooked at the change. 

(Hmm.. good strategy, actually.)

And it all began with an important contract.

Long ago the Demons finally conceded in defeat as the previous Holy Hero Herald, (Too many H's Rosalina thought with a goofy smile) the Great King of Eben (The heroine's nation) proposed a contract of peace.

Additionally, not just humans and demons but other creatures had also agreed and the contract evolved into a treaty amongst races. 

(Guess that everyone was weary from all the conflict, destruction, slavery, and hopelessness that the two races have caused.)

As every races signed, peace descended upon the continent. Of course, despite the treaty, there have still been racial prejudices over the years.

(So.. Humans and Demons don't really get along well... Imagine it being Slytherin and Griffindor as the other races are the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. The infant muse.)

The current King of the human nation from Eben came up with the plan to basically throw their students to their deaths at a school in the Demon Territory in order to prevent another conflict from breaking out due to the strained relationship throughout the years.

(I'm not sure what he's trying to accomplish, but you do you my king, you are the leader in theory, and who am I to judge your dubious claim when I'm myself is a lazy scum who won't do a thing to the growing conflict.)

While other races like the Elves, Dwarves, Faries, Angels, Dragons, and others were all impartial to such an edict, many humans, especially the commoners, rebelled.

In order to pacify his people and was relieved that other creatures do not seem to mind, he then gave a reward and special recognition to those humans who volunteered.

Because of the prospect of such generous rewards, the people predictably began to quiet down their protest, but even if the majority of commoners settled down, others were still concerned by the decree. Even though it was a voluntary decision, many people may perish as a result of being impulsive in an enemy territory.

Of course, those who volunteered were the key protagonists and some mediocre bunch.

Though first would be the Male Lead of the Hard Mode:

Second Prince, Human, Arthur Vaselia. Who desperately needs to be recognized as a candidate for the throne in hopes at fighting his older brother, Mordred. (Seriously. The irony of their names.)

And then the Female Protagonist, Human, Lillian, who is shockingly the Duke's Daughter. (And no, she isn't a legitimate child. But she was neglected by her family who favored sons over daughters. So that's why she volunteered herself)

And some of the less important NPCs and a whole bunch of cast. (Rosalina actually forgot their names so she didn't list them out.)

The reason why the First Prince didn't participate was because he was a character only for the easy mode and like him, Ferun and Rosalina were actually the antagonist only for the hard mode.

(Cool isn't it? A game where you could choose which mode you wanted that actually change the story so drastically.)

Well that was the premise of the game. Of course there were more, like that actual plot, but that is actually irrelevant to Rosalina.

Since Lillian and Arthur were partners with Rosalina, those two are the ones she needs to look after and not some NPC who's a nobody to her route.

So the first main thing Rosalina should figure out is her very own birth Mother, Melissa.

How was she alive? In Rosalina's back story, her mother died from child birth and her twisted father was the one who originally took care of her.

Her new mother did always mutter about some blood contract and her, supposedly rejecting her father... 

'Hmmm... You know what? In the end of the day, who really cares. Ferun or uh— Daddy? His opinions doesn't really matter much to me.... So everything is actually okay.' Rosalina casually thought with a smile as she resume playing with her dolls as if all her problems were suddenly solved.

What a carefree villainess. But she doesn't give a shit.

While playing with dolls in her mentality was such a bore, there's nothing much she could really do.

Reading was a pain in the ass, and she's pretty sure that babies aren't ready to read complex words so....

Meh. She's rather content of being bored than be dragged by some tedious problem.

She was given a privilege to start all over again, so why waste it?

When she lived in the world full of expectations and pressure from society, it's okay to unwind and just... Appreciate the peace.

Plus it's the job for the hero and heroine, let them do it instead of a single cannon fodder.

'Heh. From past to present, I'm still a lazy scumbag. Well who ever said that dying makes you into a different person?' Rosalina thought with an easygoing smile then wondered again. 'So.. what will I do about those.. Protagonists... Hmmm.'

'Hmmmmmmm, better just leave it for now and let faith runs it course. I'm sure I'll have a plan to tackle destiny in my own pace.'