Charlotte’s taxing childhood had led to her—me—standing here. I wasn’t too sure how this worked with me having memories of both lives, but I could sort that out later.
Prince Ignacia was still staring daggers at me. “You’re a Dark Mage, are you not?”
“I am,” I confirmed. It was true, after all.
In this dating sim, each character had a job—just like the ones that determined each player’s combat style in the associated MMO. As I was the villainess of the dating sim, of course, mine had to be something as sinister sounding as Dark Mage. Dark Mages specialized in debuffing enemies, so they were very effective in combat and made for powerful allies. However, the prince and some other royals and nobles judged me more harshly because of the stigma of my job title and Skill.
Prince Ignacia scoffed at my response before lovingly pulling Emilia to him by her waist. “Emilia, on the other hand, is a kind and gracious Healer. Don’t you see how much more fitting a job that is for my future queen?”
“You’re too kind, Prince Ignacia,” Emilia said bashfully.
I could only cringe at her and at Ignacia for choosing his companion based on their job.
“As a Dark Mage, perhaps you could...pray for world peace? Even a humorless wretch like you can do that much to serve this country.” The prince laughed, Emilia joining him.
I was speechless. I know you’re in love with Emilia, but do you have to be so vile to your fiancée? Any illusions I might have had about the prince were now shattered.
“I have no use for a queen the people cannot love. Besides, Charlotte, you’ve secretly been tormenting poor Emilia all this time. Not only do I revoke our engagement, I exile you from this kingdom!”
“Your Highness, that’s—”
“You will not get a chance to invent an excuse this time,” the prince cut me off.
This conversation was progressing just as I had watched it unfold in the game. Something that had always bugged me about this exchange was that even Prince Ignacia had no power to call off our engagement without proper counsel. Apparently, he didn’t grasp the concept of a political marriage. He had a responsibility to marry me, regardless of how he felt about it. When I tried to point this out, the prince had obviously thought that I was going to protest the breaking of our engagement.
There’s no use talking to him, I concluded. It has never once crossed this crown prince’s mind that he might be wrong about anything.
With a slimy grin, the crown prince continued, “No matter what feelings you harbor for me, it’s too late. Leave this kingdom.”
“As you wish,” I agreed.
“Protest all you want, my decision is— What?!” Ignacia went wide-eyed. The last thing he’d expected was for me to obey his order without a fight.
Beside him, Emilia watched me with a surprised expression that mirrored her love interest’s.
“I-If you beg my forgiveness for your transgressions, I may consider making your punishment less severe...” Ignacia hedged.
“No, thank you. I’m leaving the kingdom,” I said.
“Wait, but... Charlotte, are you really...?” While Ignacia stammered, I turned on my heel and started for the exit, ignoring the prince’s calls for my attention.
As I walked through the ballroom, the guests—who’d all been spectating from afar—parted like the tide to let me through. Most of them were giving me dubious looks, showing their support for Ignacia. It was only natural that none of them wanted to make an enemy of the crown prince.
Like I just made an enemy of him, I realized.
Once I reached the doors, I turned around to take in the ballroom one last time. I had grown quite familiar with the place through my gameplay, and I doubted I’d ever return. “Goodbye” was all I said before walking through the doors.
As soon as they closed behind me, I broke into a run, paying no mind to the puzzled guards in the hall who were none the wiser about what had transpired in the ballroom.
I need to get out of here, I told myself.
The hallway stretched on and on, magical sconces placed at regular intervals lighting up the extravagant vases of flowers along the walls. After running for a bit, with my footsteps muted by the ruby-colored and floral-patterned carpet, I was feeling a little less anxious, although I had quickly run out of breath. Vowing to prioritize exercise over studies once I made it out of this kingdom, I kept up my pace. There was no time to rest.
Despite my high heels nearly taking me out a few times, I finally came to a stop before the carriages parked in their designated area. My presence alone caused a brief commotion among the coachmen, but I couldn’t spare the time to call for a carriage and wait for it at the front entrance like nobles normally did.
Trying to regain my breath, I lifted my head to the sky. My thundering heart swelled at the sight—an endless sea of stars, stars, stars! They were so much brighter than any I’d ever seen on Earth, the only source of light pollution being the sparse magical streetlamps of the city. It was such a wondrous sight—incomparably more than anything I’d seen through my VR kit—that I felt a yearning to explore more of this world and see what other sights it had to offer. Before I knew it, tears were rolling down my face.
“Oh, a shooting star!”
The line in the sky vanished before I could think of a wish. In Japan, a shooting star was supposed to grant your wish if you could say it three times before the star disappeared. I chuckled as I realized how impossible of a task that was. The shooting star was there and gone before I’d said, “Oh.”
Oh, well...
“What would I have wished for anyway?” I wondered. Back in Japan, I’d spent all my free time playing video games, working a job I didn’t like so I could fund my hobby. I had enjoyed going on hikes in the mountains until I hurt my leg. After my injury, I’d just search up picturesque places around the world online. Sometimes I’d buy a coffee-table book with pictures of places I could have gone to see in real life.
Growing up, Charlotte had liked to read picture books that told of thrilling adventures. In hindsight, she had always been fascinated by adventures because she’d known she could never go on one herself. Maybe Charlotte and I aren’t so different, I thought.
I took a deep breath. The freshness of it—the smell of nature—brought a smile to my face. Looking up at the sky again, I noticed the reddish moon. It was always that color in this world, but now that my memories were back, I found it positively enchanting. Knowing the world of this game had so many more magical sights to offer, I felt my heart soar in anticipation.
“I can’t wait to see more of this world...” Those stars were so spectacular that it made that ballroom and everything that had happened within it seem trivial. “You know what? I will see with my own eyes everything this world has to offer!” I vowed. Now that I was here—my humdrum life on Earth left behind—there was nothing holding me back from exploring the world of the game I had come to love.
“But first things first...” I quickly spotted the Cocoriara carriage. Its extremely princess-y design of off-white coloring trimmed with white gold, coupled with its flower-shaped lantern, made it easily recognizable. “Are the horses ready? I’m leaving now!” I called out.
“What?! R-Right away, miss!” Though surprised that I had come here myself, the coachman obediently took the reins without question, and my bodyguards on horseback followed.
“Thank you! I want to go home. Now,” I said.
“Yes, miss.”
Now that I was officially exiled, I had no reason to stick around a moment longer. I’d have to figure out how to make it outside of this kingdom.
Peering out the window, I could see that we had already left the castle grounds behind.
“It’s all right,” I told myself. “I know the world of Reas better than anyone.” Now that I was no longer the crown prince’s fiancée, I was finally free.