In my past life, I was a fujoshi—that is, I was a teen girl who was an avid consumer of man-on-man romance media.
My favorite novel series at the time was a unique work from a publisher with a primarily female audience. It was a Boys Love fantasy series set in another world called The Noble King. It’s no exaggeration to say that this series defined my three years of high school. While most high school girls came of age reveling in 3D, my 2D The Noble King and I were inseparable.
Its popularity was boosted with a spinoff manga series, then drama CDs, games, and anime, growing it into an expansive franchise. Oh, I spent every last yen of my high school allowance on it! Those were the days…
But my favorite incarnation of the series had to be the OG novels. Sil, who was born under suspicious circumstances to a baron, had a fated encounter with Sirius, the crown prince of Esfia. They fell in love and had to overcome many obstacles together. The end.
Well, technically, I died before the story actually ended.
In my past life, I was Maki Tazawa. I died when I was eighteen. And the cause of my death was… Well, I do remember it, but I’m redacting it. It brings back all sorts of bad memories, so I usually keep it locked away.
Anyway, I died, and then I was reborn.
Actually…I was supposed to be reborn into a much crueler world, but according to my bad memories, luckily (though that’s up for debate) I escaped that fate and was reborn into the world of The Noble King, the series Maki Tazawa so dearly loved…
…as the main character’s boyfriend’s little sister.
Little sister…or Sister-dearest. In my past life, that’s what I used to call Sirius’s younger sister: Sister-dearest. Whatever the medium, the treatment of female characters in the Boys Love, or BL, genre was often a delicate issue. They were either villains who tried to separate the hero from his love interest, or they were the lovers’ confidants.
But in either case, girls were always side characters. So how were girls treated in The Noble King, you may ask?
It was the latter!
From the very first volume of The Noble King, Octavia, the eldest princess of Esfia, was popular with the readers and a success story for BL female characters everywhere.
Octavia was a kind, understanding girl who loved her big brother. She was quite humble for a princess. And she was the ultimate ally for the two main characters: Lord Sil and Prince Sirius. Whenever the lovers were in crisis, her loyalty was unshakable—she even helped solve their inability to produce an heir. She was the epitome of a support character.
That’s who Octavia was in the book series.
But this Octavia—me—was born with the consciousness and memories of my past life as Maki Tazawa and then raised as a princess in this world.
And…it kinda sucks.
It was a major disappointment. ’Cause you see, the point of the little sister in this BL series is to be a convenient resolution to the plot. Where we’re at in the story so far, the issue still hasn’t been brought up in the House of Lords yet. But if the story continues on its current course, the plot point in question will eventually come to pass.
Now, let me repeat, I am in a world modeled after a BL fantasy novel. My big brother is the crown prince and soon-to-be king. Obviously, this means he is a man.
The love of his life, Lord Sil, is also a man. But two men cannot possibly produce an heir together. And no, there’s no miraculous plot twist, like, where one of the two boys was actually a girl raised as a boy all along.
And what’s more, Esfia is a kingdom that observes strict monogamy—one woman for every man…or in my brother’s case, one man. And here’s the kicker: Even though this is a fantasy setting, there’s no man-made drug or magic spell that can help two men make a baby together.
So whatever shall they do?
I mean, even in a BL world, surely there must be some practical way of sowing one’s seed to create an all-important heir, right?
Well, here’s the problem: This is a wholesome love story.
My big brother refuses to make love to anyone other than his true love. “Without love, I would never!” he says. “I could never do something so impure!” he says. “I could never betray and hurt my Lord Sil!”
That’s how it went down in the novels, and judging by what I see in my brother and his lover now, it doesn’t look like they’ll veer off script.
If they were commoners, I doubt this would even be a problem. But my brother is royalty. The crown prince. The soon-to-be king. That comes with certain duties, you know?
And nobody’s asking that they break up—he just needs to make a baby with a woman! That’s the perspective those in his inner circle can’t help but have. But my brother Sirius refuses. For true love, that is one thing he absolutely cannot do!
Back when I was Maki Tazawa, I remember hunching over the book at this part, raptly taking in every word! Oh, Sil! You poor man! Oh, Sirius, I feel for you! I know he’s royalty, I know he’s gonna be the king, but c’mon, let him be faithful to his man! These two men are in love; just let them commit! Nooo, Sirius! Please don’t screw a woman! Begone, evil bitch!
The readers empathized with the leading couple and didn’t want Sirius to cheat on his man, even if it was to create an heir. But if nothing was done, the royal family of Esfia was doomed. So narratively, how could one solve this problem?
I’ll tell you how. Enter the dashing problem-solver of a little sister, Octavia.
“Fear not, dear Brother. When I bear a child, please raise it with Lord Sil as your own.”
See how it was her idea? That’s the beautiful part of it. She wasn’t forced into it—she did it all of her own free will! Su-weeet!
The heir problem was a problem no more! Lord Sil and Sirius’s love would prevail! And the readers all heaved a sigh of relief.
However…don’t forget that I am Octavia now. You know what that means?
It means sometime in the future, I’ll need to have an arranged marriage, give birth—more specifically, to both a boy and a girl—and give my children away to my brother.
The average age at which ladies of Esfia are expected to marry, regardless of class, is twenty, give or take three to four years. Which means I’m about at that age. And even though I am a princess, I wasn’t betrothed to anyone at birth or anything like that. Apparently, this is so I can be married off to the most beneficial husband for the sake of the kingdom.
If you dig deeper into the royal family history, there were some marriages that were love matches…but there weren’t many. Most marriages like this were arranged, and at the very least, the princess must give birth to one boy and one girl.
A boy to be the next in line to the throne, and a girl to give birth to the next heir after him. If I give birth to a third child, I’d finally get to keep it and raise it as my own.