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BUT wait…! I think we’re living in the world of an otome game, and I’m the game’s villainess!
Amy communicated these suspicions she had to her mother in precisely those terms. If she was truly the same mother who would read web novels with Amy in their previous lives, she would understand exactly what that meant.
Isabelle, who nodded along and listened attentively, put a finger to her lips and tilted her head slightly.
“Reincarnated into an otome game… There used to be so many stories that followed that trope in our old lives, weren’t there?” she mused. “So, Amy… What do you want to do?”
Amy started. “What do you mean?”
She didn’t want to be forced into a marriage, but she also didn’t want to selfishly call off the arrangement. She hated the idea of breaking up her family most of all.
Amy felt a little annoyed, wondering what her mother was trying to get at with her question.
“You’re worried because the Third Prince and your brother resemble some of the characters in that game you used to play, right?” her mother continued. “But you know what? Everything’s going to be okay. Because even if the setting of that game did exist, this place is our reality.”
“But it just feels like there’s some sort of mysterious force in this world making things happen to me.”
That much was true. Stories from the otome game genre often followed the pattern where an “invisible hand of the game” would drag the protagonist back into the plot in a never-ending cycle, no matter how hard she tried to avoid problems or sticky situations.
“There’s no force like that controlling things, dear.”
“There’s not?”
“Of course not! And if your mama tells you there’s no such thing, you’d best believe there’s no such thing!”
Her mother’s fearless smile followed this assertion. At this, Amy’s memories immediately became crystal clear. Whenever her mother made that face—whether in this world or the last—Amy knew she was drawing her line in the sand. Any pushback would be pointless.
“’Kay… If you say so.”
Her mother chuckled. “I’ll give you another chance to rephrase that.”
“I-I mean… Of course, Mother!”
Isabelle poked at Amy’s cheek, slightly taut from grinning, with a finger, and they both broke out laughing. Odd as it may seem, being silly with her mother like this helped calm Amy’s nerves.
Isabelle placed her hand on Amy’s cheek once more, looked into her eyes, and went on. “I’ll ask you again, okay? Just set aside all your worries about game worlds and mysterious forces for the moment. What do you want to do now, Amy?”
“Now…?”
“Your brother has been thoroughly enjoying his new life as a hunter, and your father and I are enjoying things here, too. We’ve been given such a precious second chance… Is there something you’d like to do?”
One thing did pop into Amy’s mind…but she wondered if she’d bother even asking. If she had brought it up in her life before, it would have been met with an immediate rejection, but maybe now…
With Isabelle’s excited, expectant expression urging her on, Amy opened her mouth.
“I…want a cat.”
“I just knew you’d say that!” cried Isabelle, clapping her hands together like she got the right answer on a pop quiz.
Amy had always loved animals, even in her previous life. She had longed to have a cat or dog, but because both she and her father were prone to allergies, she gave it up as an impossible dream.
Those days when all she could do was wistfully sigh while watching animal videos on the internet or television never did completely scratch the itch.
“You know, all those trees that used to give us seasonal allergies don’t exist in this world. I’ve never even heard anyone mention seasonal allergies at all! Plus, Dad hasn’t had any allergy attacks since being reincarnated, has he?” Amy asked.
“That’s right. I think a cat sounds like a great plan!”
The Northland family did not keep many servants, but—in accordance with the earl’s wishes—they kept enough staff to ensure that the house was at least kept thoroughly clean. The earl’s preference for a perpetually dust-free environment was perhaps influenced by those memories of his past life where his immune system would overreact to household dust.
Before, Amy used to wonder a little about his clean-freak nature, but now that she had remembered how things used to be with his allergies, it made much more sense.
“I want a cat, a bird, and a dog! A ferret or a rabbit would be pretty nice, too!”
“I just knew this day would come! That’s why we haven’t had any animals before now.”
Hearing that her mother was planning on letting her choose her own pet made Amy smile from ear to ear.
Even in this world, she had always wanted a pet. But for some reason, she never felt like she could bring it up with her parents… Maybe she had been subconsciously influenced by those memories of her previous life that she hadn’t yet remembered.
“Let’s start looking for one right away! You’d prefer to adopt an abandoned cat or dog rather than buy one, right?”
Amy nodded. Of course her mother would remember tiny details like that! She threw her arms around her mother in a hug and gave her a teary, appreciative look.
“Oh!” Amy jumped. The portrait of the Third Prince made her remember her previous train of thought. “I guess I still don’t know what to do about that problem. I really don’t want to marry him…”
Even if this wasn’t the world of her otome game, as long as that image of his potential doppelgänger was seared in her memory, Amy would be frightened of the Third Prince. She would unconsciously dread going near him.
“My dear, there’s a simple solution for that. There are other potential candidates, so all he has to do is choose someone else!”
“Don’t you think that’s a little optimistic?”
Although Amy’s facial features were rather angular, she was objectively beautiful. And not only did she come from a magical background, but she was also related on her mother’s side to a feudal lord of one of the kingdom’s coastal border provinces who enjoyed a strong influence over the mariners there.
The Third Prince’s other candidates included the daughter of a certain marquess whose family members were constantly at odds with each other over family succession, and a certain eight-year-old countess who had an exceptional reputation for being a spoiled brat. With competition like that, it wouldn’t take a genius to determine via process of elimination who was likely to be the Third Prince’s final choice.
But even so, Isabelle seemed so full of confidence as she claimed there wouldn’t be any problem getting Amy out of the engagement…
“…Oh! Could the Third Prince be g—”
Amy was able to stop herself from saying the last word—gay—but her inappropriate thoughts must have leaked from her ears. Isabelle admonished her with a playful noogie.
“Amy! You can’t go around shipping the Third Prince with other guys like he’s some manga character! What am I going to do with you?”
“O-Ouch, Mom! Okay! Sorry!”
As Isabelle let her go, she slipped off the bed and stood right in front of Amy, her eyes sparkling with conviction. Amy stared back, eagerly awaiting whatever solution her mother would offer. The countess straightened her back, hands on her hips, and suddenly said:
“You need to eat.”
There was a slight pause.
“…What?” Amy finally asked.
“We need to fatten you up!” Isabelle replied, puffing out her chest.
Amy felt rather dizzy.
What on earth was she talking about?
“Even if you get chubby, Amy, you’ll always be my darling little girl. So don’t you worry about a thing! Just keep on eating until you’re so large that you’re positively bursting out of your dresses!”
“Wait—what?!”
It wasn’t as though beauty standards were wildly different in this world from the previous one… People did have individual tastes, of course, but a slimmer figure was generally seen as more attractive than a bigger one.
Amy was nearing the end of girlhood and was at this point blossoming into a young lady of unmistakable beauty. And now that she had regained the memories of her past life, her mental age was like that of a teenager—and one who was very fashion conscious, at that.
Amy puzzled silently over why she needed to get fat on purpose, but Isabelle’s smile only widened.
“I’ll let you in on a secret, Amy. According to a little birdie in my private intelligence network, every single member of the royal family prefers women with slender figures!”
…Oh!
Attractiveness, which could be surprisingly effective at influencing diplomatic matters, must have been a requirement to marry into the royal family. When Amy stopped to think about it, there wasn’t one woman in the entire royal family who wasn’t beautiful, slender, and tall.
Maybe putting on weight isn’t such a bad idea after all…
Amy was waveringly leaning toward agreeing to the plan, but Isabelle sealed the deal with a finishing blow.
“Plus, you don’t even like boys all that much, right? I think the best thing for you would be to find a kind husband who doesn’t put much stock in outward beauty and have him fall in love with the chubby version of you!”
Amy was temporarily stunned, mouth open.
True enough, in Amy’s past life, she made no secret of disliking boys her own age, so much so that she chose to go to an all-girls’ school.
If she gained weight in a gradual, healthy way and then married someone who valued her personality over her looks, they could get a bunch of pets together, and—
“…That would be perfect! Mom, what a genius idea!”
The mother-daughter duo high-fived and started their plan immediately. From that night’s dinner onward, there was an increase in the number of courses served to the Earl of Northland’s daughter.