Mounting suspicion gripped Angie as they followed Marie. Why does she seem to know exactly where she’s going? None of them knew these streets, yet Marie proceeded through them with the familiarity of someone who’d been there before, leading them all the way to an apartment building.
“Here,” said Marie. “The third floor!” She climbed the stairs eagerly.
Angie lingered a step behind, scrutinizing the structure before she followed. “The building designs are completely different from the ones in Holfort. It’s almost like a separate country entirely.” None of the architecture here was like home.
The quartet hiked up several flights of stairs until they reached the third floor, where a row of identical doors greeted them. Marie showed no hesitation in picking out what was presumably the correct one.
“It’s this apartment!” Marie banged her fist against the door. “If you’re in there, come out!” When there was no response, she reached for the doorknob. “It’s unlocked.”
She pushed the door open and stepped inside, Angie and the other girls following close behind her. Marie kicked her shoes off at the front entrance and padded through the apartment, looking for Leon as if she already knew the layout perfectly. “Maybe he’s in the bathroom?” she muttered to herself.
Anger swelled in Angie’s breast. “You sure seem familiar with this place.” It made her jealous how well Marie seemed to know Leon—better than Angie or his other fiancées did.
Marie pulled a face at her. “Look, it seems like you’re misunderstanding things, so I’m just going to make one thing clear: I’m Leon’s younger sister.”
“No way!” Noelle cried, slapping both hands over her mouth.
Angie was similarly taken aback, but she didn’t buy it for a minute. “That’s not possible! I’ve investigated Leon’s family line thoroughly using the Redgraves’ connections! About a dozen times, if you must know, thanks to all the rumors constantly swirling around!”
“Miss Marie,” Livia said calmly, not sharing the shock the other two felt, “won’t you explain what you mean by that?”
Marie stared back at them solemnly, reinforcing the fact that this was no lie or joke. “To be exact, we were siblings in his previous life.”
Angie’s brow wrinkled. “Previous life?”
The apartment they had entered wasn’t terribly spacious, to say the least. The student dorms were nicer than this place. It was hard to believe so much was crammed into the tiny area: a bed, a desk, and much more.
Noelle scanned the room. “Oh, look, this place has a monitor too,” she said. It reminded her of the ones Luxion and Cleare used in their ships.
“I’ve never seen this alphabet before,” Livia said, her curiosity piqued. “Could this be…an ancient civilization?!” She studied a poster on the wall.
Marie frowned. “Yeah, sure. An ancient civilization. Just so you know, that’s a dating sim poster you’re looking at.”
Despite Marie’s dismissive attitude, Livia was still bursting with curiosity. She could somehow tell the room belonged to Leon. “So, that’s why you know so much about him. You remember your previous life together.”
Angie was dumbfounded that Livia accepted everything so easily. “You’re really not surprised?”
“So many strange things happened around Mr. Leon,” Livia said with a bitter smile. “What Miss Marie said makes a lot of sense when you put it in context, especially since I’d heard her call Mr. Leon her older brother before.”
Marie’s cheeks flushed.
“So this is Leon’s old room,” Angie remarked, deciding to check it out for herself. “Then I should be able to find… Aha. Here it is.” She’d peeked under the bed and discovered what appeared to be Leon’s porn.
Marie hid her face behind her hands. “Big Bro, you idiot. Can’t you think of a better place to hide your pervy stuff? I’m embarrassed for you. Your fiancées have you all figured out.”
Noelle was busy ransacking Leon’s bookshelves. “Ah, there’s more over here! This really does feel like Leon’s room, considering all the hiding places are the same.”
It was Livia who found the most important item in the room. “What is this?” On the floor, she’d located the package for the very otome game they were part of.
Marie approached and gazed nostalgically at the package. “Alte Liebe,” she said. “The Saint’s Tale.”
Alte Liebe was the game title, while The Saint’s Tale was the subtitle.
Livia’s hand trembled as she gripped the package. She’d noticed someone who looked just like her on the cover, along with a group of men identical to the idiot brigade. Curious, Angie came over and took it from her hands. She couldn’t read the text on the package, but on the back was a woman in a red dress who resembled her as well.
“These guys look like the prince and his friends,” said Angie. “I’ve seen the locations in these snapshots too. That’s the fountain in the academy plaza, right?”
Marie dropped her gaze to the floor, face scrunched. “To Leon and I, this place we’re in right now was reality. From our point of view, the world you all come from is a video game. A fictional world.”
From there, she went on to explain how she and Leon had reincarnated into the world of Alte Liebe. She detailed the whole story carefully from the very beginning to the end, leaving out nothing.
By the time she finished, Angie’s hands were clenched tightly around the package. “You’re saying Livia and I were enemies in this game? That’s unthinkable!”
Livia seemed to share her opinion. “Angie’s right. I’d never agree to duel with her!”
“That’s because I got in the way,” Marie said with a sad smile.
“In the way?” Angie’s eyes widened with realization. “Wait… Don’t tell me!”
“I only knew what would happen in the game up to the midway point,” explained Marie. “That’s why it was so easy for me to entice Julius and the other boys. I knew from the start exactly what they liked and wanted to hear, because I’d memorized their preferences.”
Angie’s hand shot out, but Livia grabbed her wrist before she could slap Marie. “Let me go, Livia!”
“Please calm down. I admit I’m surprised too. I really am, but I’m very happy with the way things turned out.”
“But, Livia, her actions made you suffer as well.”
Livia nodded. “I know. We’ve all been through a lot, but I’m glad that you and I ended up with Mr. Leon. That’s why we should focus on finding him right now.”
Angie looked down at the package. “You have a point. I guess this puts things into perspective. Leon must’ve thought of us as characters in a story.” That was heart-wrenching to realize, but it helped her recognize what had likely been going through his mind this whole time. I knew he was hiding something. So this was it. She could see why he’d kept it secret. She set the package down on his desk.
Noelle crept over and peeked at the package. Her face fell. “I’m not even on the cover.”
Marie sighed deeply. “That’s because you don’t show up until the second game. You’re not in this one. Don’t worry, in that game you’re a protagonist.”
“I…guess that’s comforting to know. But it all feels kind of unsettling, to be honest,” said Noelle.
Marie was mostly concerned that they hadn’t found Leon yet. “I guess, if he’s not here, he has to be at our parents’ place.”
“Your parents’ place is here too?” Angie asked, perking up.
“Yeah. I think our parents are probably there as well.”
All three of the others were shocked.
“Your parents are here?!” Angie cried.
Marie nodded. “Probably. Anyway, let’s get going.” She let out a beleaguered groan. “I’m really not looking forward to this.” Slumping her shoulders, she lumbered through the front entrance and headed back outside.
As they stepped out, they saw a dark-gray cat sitting politely in front of the door. Its red eyes stared up at them.
“A cat?” Angie tilted her head.
They hadn’t encountered any other animals, let alone people, up to this point. What was a cat doing here?
This particular feline had a proud, regal look. When Angie stretched her hand toward it, it jumped up and hurried away. It paused once it reached the steps, glanced back at them, and let out a short cry. It was almost as if the cat was telling them to follow it.