Chapter 1: Memories of My Past Life

Going against my better judgment, I decided it was a good idea to play games late into the night. As expected, I overslept the next morning.

I changed into my uniform and washed my face half-heartedly, hardly caring to tidy up my messy hair as I made to exit the house.

“I have never seen a high schooler dress like that! Have you no shame?” my mom said as I started putting on my shoes. I ignored her.

I rushed out the front door and jumped on my trusty bicycle, which I’ve used since middle school. With a strong kick to the pedals, I was off. I continued pumping the pedals with all my might, down the slope that merged into the main road.

Again and again I pedaled — Maybe a little faster is better. I kept going. As expected, I eventually reached a point where I could no longer control my speed.

My bicycle then decided it was a good idea to fly straight into the intersection of the busy main road.

As I slowly started blacking out from the inevitable impact, distant voices reverberated in my mind. They were familiar voices; my family, perhaps. “You fool of a daughter...!”

...At least, that was what I remembered of my previous life, having recalled it all somewhat suddenly after a solid blow to the head.

Katarina Claes; eight years of age.

As the only daughter of Duke Claes, I was — as usual — spoiled and doted upon lovingly on this day. With a healthy dose of pride and selfish whims, I was the very image of a wealthy lady.

Today, I was accompanying my father on a visit to the castle. The third prince of the kingdom, who was of the same age as me, was to guide me through the castle gardens.

The very first time I met this prince, I was captivated by his blue eyes and golden hair — and he had the face of an angel, too. His calm and composed demeanor was quite something else — you wouldn’t think he was a child of eight years.

As you might expect, this self-indulging young lady immediately fell head over heels for the prince, and stuck to him like glue. Said young lady was raised under the loving care of her parents, and was far too spoiled to consider not causing trouble for others.

I then stuck a little too close to the prince, not looking where I was going, and bumped into the prince himself, falling over in the process.

While the force of the impact was not great, I could not have chosen a worse place to land on. Of all places, I fell head first into a decorative rock on the garden’s grounds. Due to where I had hit my head, there was quite a lot of blood gushing from the wound — at least, enough to cause the prince and the servants around us to panic.

Personally, however, I didn’t think that this was that big of a deal — because I had regained the memories of my previous life from the impact. Yes, I remember. In my previous life, I was a high-school girl of seventeen years of age. In other words, seventeen years’ worth of memories flooded my young mind in a flash — it was as if my brain had short-circuited in an instant.

I was carried to the castle’s infirmary while still in quite a daze. After some preliminary treatment, I was forcibly transported back to the Claes manor. Following this event, my poor head was assaulted by a high-temperature fever for the next five days.

As the fever eventually subsided, I was better able to organize the memories in my mind, and could finally sit up in bed. It was at that time that I received an unexpected visit from the prince himself. Due to the fact that I was still largely bedridden, the prince visited me in my chambers instead.

“Hello, Lady Katarina. I hope you are doing a little better.” The angelic voice of the third crown prince, Jeord, only served to compliment his impossibly beautiful features. What a lovable face!

While Katarina herself did have feelings for Prince Jeord prior to regaining her memories, I did not exactly feel the same way, especially since I was mentally seventeen. But though I did not have romantic feelings for the prince, looking upon his angel-like visage was enough to bring some peace to my mind.

Truly, he was too bewitching to look at — I soon found my face plastered with a silly smile. I suppose my silly smiling face did me no favors, as Prince Jeord was not really convinced of my recovery. Turning to me with a somewhat clouded expression, he offered me an apology.

“...Truly, I do apologize, Lady Katarina. To think that I was careless enough to have scarred your face...” the prince said, lowering his head as he did so.

To begin with, this had all happened because I had selfishly stuck to him, not watching where I was going. In fact, I even dirtied the castle gardens with my blood! If anything, I should be the one feeling apologetic.

Panicking, I offered a quick response. “Please raise your head, Prince Jeord. I am fully responsible for my actions in this matter — in fact, I should apologize for inconveniencing you and the kind people at the castle...” I lowered my head apologetically, much to the surprise of Prince Jeord.

Come to think of it, the prince’s only impression of me was that of a selfish eight-year old. In fact, the prince’s surprised expression would be adopted by my family’s servants for the next five days.

To be fair, Katarina was treated like a princess, and raised with an abundance of care. It would only be natural for her to put on airs and act in a manner befitting her station. However, due to the fact that I was now armed with approximately seventeen years’ worth of commoner memories, I could no longer act in the haughty way that Katarina used to. Due to this, rumors of the young lady’s personality abruptly changing due to the fever would spread throughout the household.

Even Prince Jeord, who had only met me once, seemed surprised by this stark contrast in personality. Being the capable young prince he was, however, Jeord soon recovered from his initial shock.

“Not at all, my lady. If I had been more careful and observant about my surroundings, I would not have bumped into you, and perhaps you would not have ended up with a scar on your beautiful face. Please accept my humble apologies,” he said, bowing his head deeply.

Ah, such a charming prince... Unlike the selfish Lady Katarina of the Claes household.

If memory served, my accident and subsequent injury did require a small stitch to treat — a small scar of, say, a centimeter at most was left on my forehead as a result.

I didn’t mind, though. I was not exactly proud of my history; I was quite the naughty child in my previous life, and I frolicked around the hills behind my house with my two brothers from a young age. Due to that, I had been injured multiple times, with some of those injuries requiring much bigger stitches. While my mom did not approve of my behavior at first, she eventually gave up and stopped commenting altogether. As such, it seemed silly to care this much about a small scar on my forehead.

“No, not at all. Please don’t worry about this, Your Highness. It is a small wound, one that can be easily hidden with my bangs! There is no problem at all,” I said with a wide smile on my face. I did not intend to inconvenience the prince any more than I already had.

Prince Jeord’s expression, however, once again froze into a mask of shock and disbelief. I looked around. The prince was not alone in his reaction — all the servants in the room had similar looks plastered across their faces. A truly awkward atmosphere permeated the room.

The first to break the silence was none other than the prince himself. Ah, such maturity for an eight year old! The 8+17 year old girl in the room would do well to learn from His Highness.

“...My lady, even if you are not overly concerned about your injury, society would not view it so. In fact, this very injury may negatively impact any future engagements, or deter potential suitors.”

“...Oh...” I replied, unsure of what else to say. The world that I had previously lived in hardly had such harsh penalties for an injury that was just one centimeter long!

This did not seem to be the case in this mid-century, Europe-influenced world, with their noble ladies and whatnot. In a world full of political marriages, even a small disadvantage could have a great impact. Noble society was truly bothersome.

As the reality of the situation dawned on me, I felt a deep melancholy wash over my being, as images of social debuts and other troublesome responsibilities surfaced in my mind.

Back when Katarina only had her eight-year-old memories, she knew that debuting in society was natural and expected. Now that I have my old memories, however, I could not see it as anything but a terrible drag.

After all, I had mostly amused myself in grade school by climbing trees and trekking through the woods like a wild monkey. In middle school, I became a full-fledged otaku, immersing myself deep into manga, games, and anime. Hardly a fulfilling or purposeful lifestyle... How would someone like me debut in noble society?

I want to go back to my previous life... and eat chips! And read manga! And watch anime! And play games!

“...rina. Lady Katarina...”

“...Oh. Yes?”

Lost in my recollections of my past life, I had completely forgotten that Prince Jeord was standing before me. It would seem that he had quite a lot to say — unfortunately, I was not really listening. I deeply apologize, Prince Jeord...

“Well then, Lady Katarina. Is that acceptable to you?”

“... Ah. Y-Yes. I understand.”

The cute and lovable Prince Jeord was standing before me, looking straight into my eyes.

Although I had hardly listened to anything he had to say, I nodded my head, beaming in response.

“Well then. I will visit once more after you are in better spirits, Lady Katarina. Do take care.” He bowed, the very image of a sincere, lovable eight-year old prince. He exited my room with his entourage following behind him.

I could not help but wonder why the prince would want to visit me again — after all, I hadn’t really been listening. I suppose I would just ask the servants later. With that thought in mind, I maintained my beaming smile.

With that, the prince’s sudden visit was over. Playing host to a visitor while unwell is really tiring. I guess I should sleep a little bit more. Goodnight...

“My lady!! Congratulations!!”

Although I had just lain back down, Anne, one of my maids, shook my body roughly back and forth, rousing me unceremoniously from my slumber. But I’m sleepy...

Seemingly having held herself in check earlier in Prince Jeord’s presence, Anne was now shaking me with unbridled joy. Her face was bright red. What is it, Anne? Have you lost your mind to Prince Jeord’s charm?

Anne, seemingly unaware of my annoyed gaze, continued gushing in elation. “Even if Prince Jeord is third in line to the throne, he is most capable, my lady! In fact, there is a chance that he could become King if his father deems it so! And you, my lady, could very possibly become Queen, being his fiancée! Congratulations on your engagement, my lady!”

Wait... what? What did she say? I felt like I heard her say something very strange. Who was I getting engaged to, again?

“Umm. Anne. What was that you said just now? Could you please repeat it for me?”

“Yes, my lady! Since you are now engaged to Prince Jeord, you could very well become Queen, too! Congratulations on your engagement, Lady Katarina!”

“...Who and... Who? What? Engagement?”

“What are you talking about, my lady! Of course I’m referring to your engagement to Prince Jeord!”

“W... WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT~?!”

My scream reverberated through the manor’s halls.

This scream, too, was eventually attributed to the toll that my fever had taken on my poor little head.

When I had finally calmed myself, I demanded to hear the specifics from Anne. To be specific, I asked her what precisely Prince Jeord had said as I was busy reminiscing about my past life.

Apparently the prince felt responsible for inflicting a scar upon my forehead, so he had taken it upon himself to make amends. By amends, the prince referred to his intentions to take me as his bride.

No, no. Wait a minute. Prince Jeord is still eight!

While I personally felt that this was all too soon, it seemed to be the norm in this new world, according to Katarina’s original eight years’ worth of memories. In fact, the engagements of Prince Jeord’s two older brothers had been announced less than half a year ago. In addition, I was now Katarina Claes, the first daughter of Duke Claes. A noble marrying into royalty was hardly much of a social issue.

I suppose there wasn’t anything necessarily bad about this... I would be marrying an angelic prince, and maybe eventually even become Queen. To the daughters of other nobles, this must be a dream come true scenario. Both my parents, too, were elated by this turn of events.

I, however, could not see it as anything but a hassle. I already disliked the idea of social debuts — and now I was engaged to a prince and could eventually become Queen? If that wasn’t a hassle, what was?

Of course, I could no longer turn the prince down. Saying “No, I don’t want to do it!” to my happy family and servants was impossible now. I sighed deeply.

Even so... to think that Prince Jeord would be this concerned over a small injury!

Even when it was my own fault that I fell over in the first place... did he have to go that far?

I sighed once more, raising a small hand-mirror to my face. Reflected in its surface was a suitably melancholic face of a young girl with a tiny series of stitches on her forehead. If I had to say, Katarina was more beautiful than most people — at least, she was considerably more beautiful than how I had looked in my previous life.

Katarina had a head full of wavy, smooth brown hair. Her aqua-blue eyes, slanted somewhat upwards, caused a certain memory of mine to rise up from the depths. All I had to do was curl up the edges of her thin lips... There! The very image of a stereotypical villainess.

On the inside, I remained a terrible, ape-like otaku girl. It didn’t take much thought to understand that I could never get along with anyone as wise and refined as Prince Jeord.

That day, I ended up letting out sigh after sigh.

Although I made many attempts to speak to my parents about this, they merely viewed my irksome behavior as a side effect of the fever and instructed me to rest until I was better. With that, I was confined to my room. On the bright side, I was now lying down on a bed that was three times larger than the one I had used in my past life.

In addition to having a fever for the past week, I had just hosted the prince immediately after recovering — I hardly had the time to do anything, much less review memories of my past life. Now, I was finally left alone with my own thoughts.

In my previous life, I was the third child of a salaryman and a housewife who worked part-time. I was the only girl in the family — and my family was good to me, raising me with love and care. I spent most of my grade school days running around the nearby hills with my two brothers. And then, when I met some otaku friends in middle school, I ran straight into the whole otaku lifestyle. Most of my days were spent purchasing and consuming manga, doujinshi, anime DVDs, and games. In fact, this continued all the way up to high school, where I started playing otome games on my friends’ recommendations.

Come to think of it, I never did manage to clear that one game I was playing... To be precise, it was an otome game that I had bought a few days prior to my unfortunate bicycle incident.

Hmm... Yes. It was a game with a mid-century European atmosphere — an otome game set in an academy of magic. Of course, how could I forget? I liked this game so much that I had played it daily, barring mealtimes and showers. That very night before, I had saved and reloaded my game multiple times, desperately trying to get a good ending with that one terrible, black-hearted, sadistic prince character. Not having much luck, I kept reloading my save, and before I knew it, the sun had begun to rise.

Ugh, if only I had gone to sleep sooner... Why was I so fixated on getting the ending right? But the old adage was right; there was no use crying over spilled milk.

Sometime in the early hours of the morning, I had finally conquered the route of the prince with the fake smile. Although he looked like the very image of a fairy-tale prince, he was in truth a sadistic and wicked character. At least, that was how he was written.

Being more perfect than anyone else, the prince’s days were filled with boredom. The protagonist then appears before this prince, blowing away his melancholic days with her bright and energetic personality. Soon after, the prince takes a fancy to her, and the situation eventually evolves into a love story.

Due to the prince being such a twisted character, however, it was extremely difficult to curry favor with him. To make things worse, the rival character in the prince’s route was quite the handful. The rival character was the daughter of a rich duke, and had been engaged to the prince since her childhood.

This was due to an event in which the prince had bumped into her, and she had tripped, fell, and hurt her head. She then used the resulting scar as leverage for marriage, claiming that the prince had scarred her. She binds him into an unreasonable engagement, bullying the protagonist and attempting to force the two apart.

The scar, in reality, had long disappeared. While the wicked prince himself knew this, he had intended to use the scar-less rival character as a means of defense against an endless stream of female suitors.

In any case, that rival character was truly quite the piece of work — even I was annoyed while playing the game.

Hmm... Why does all this seem so familiar?

Using a scar accidentally inflicted by the young prince to secure a beneficial marriage... The oldest daughter of a duke... Keeping the prince unwillingly bound to an engagement...

The sadistic prince character in this game was... his name was... Prince Jeord.

And the... the rival character’s name was... Katarina Claes...?!

Panicking as the realization hit me, I sat up in my bed, raising the mirror to my face once more. Reflected within was, without any doubt, the face of the game’s rival character — the villainess.

Yes... This was the face of the villainess I had been reminiscing about. That was her role, after all. How...?

“IT CAN’T BE~~~~?!”

For the second time in a day, my screams reverberated throughout the manor.

Gossip in the manor that day, in turn, largely centered around if the young lady would need another visit from the good doctor.

In any case, I had to confirm if this was indeed the world portrayed in that otome game I had played. This could be a coincidence — just because I had the same name didn’t necessarily mean I was in that world! That would be rushing to conclusions.

The first thing I had to do was record everything I remembered about that game on paper. The name of the game I had been playing up until the point where I so unfortunately died was called Fortune Lover, and was set in a mid-century European-style kingdom, where both swordplay and magic were practiced in equal measure. Mainly set in an academy dedicated to the study of the magic arts, it was a classic, romance-centric otome game.

Amongst the nobles in this world, some were born with the gift of magic. Occasionally commoners were blessed with it too, but such cases were exceedingly rare. When the wielder turned fifteen, they would enroll in this magic academy to learn how to better control their powers.

The protagonist was a commoner who was admitted into the academy regardless of her social status due to her rare talent in magic. Suddenly thrust into an academy filled with nothing but nobles, the bright and optimistic protagonist finds herself having to overcome all sorts of obstacles.

On another note, the magic types in this world were based on elements, and included the fire, water, earth, wind, and light elements. Earth was the most common, followed by wind, water, and fire. Light was, as one may expect, the strongest of the five elements, but wielders of it were extremely rare. The protagonist, of course, wielded light magic.

There were four possible romance options in the game, the first of which being the third crown prince of the kingdom, Jeord Stuart. I was taking on his route right before perishing regrettably. At a glance, he was the very image of a fairy-tale prince, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Unfortunately, he had a wicked and twisted personality, and was a genius who could do anything he put his mind to easily. He wasted away his days, having no interests whatsoever. In addition, he also had a fiancée who was engaged to him from his childhood days — the oldest daughter of Duke Claes, Katarina Claes. His magical element was fire.

The second love interest was Jeord’s twin, and the fourth crown prince of the kingdom, Alan Stuart. He had developed quite the complex due to his twin brother’s outstanding capabilities, although he was hardly as twisted as his brother. Unlike Jeord, however, he had silver hair and blue eyes, and had a somewhat wild, dashing atmosphere about him. The youngest child in the royal family, he had a somewhat spoiled disposition. His magical element was water.

The third love interest was the adopted brother of Jeord’s fiancée, Keith Claes. As his name suggested, Katarina Claes was his older adoptive sister. He had been adopted into the Claes family due to his outstanding magical potential. His adoptive mother and older sister, however, did not welcome him into the family, and his childhood was mostly a lonely one.

As a form of rebellion against this neglect, he eventually grew into a flirtatious playboy.

His flaxen-beige hair and green eyes only served to accentuate his ladies’ man image.

His magical element was earth.

The fourth and last love interest was the childhood friend of Jeord and Alan, Nicol Ascart. He was also the son of the royal chancellor. Of the four, he came the closest to having the mentality of a normal person. Due to his ever-present poker face and his reserved nature, however, he was a difficult character to approach. He was considerably handsome with his black hair and dark eyes, and his magical element was wind.

And then we come to the infamous rival character, Katarina Claes...

In the setting of this game, Katarina was the oldest daughter of Duke Claes, and had the prideful airs to match. She sported a scar left on her forehead from an accident with Prince Jeord in her childhood, and was his fiancée, under the justification that she belonged to him as long as the scar remained. The prince, in turn, was honor-bound by this arrangement. She was wicked and unkind — a character who bullied her adoptive brother to no end. Her magical element was earth.

There was a reverse harem route in this game, where a player could actually attain happy endings with all the potential love interests. As for Katarina Claes, however...

While she was an obvious obstacle in the Jeord route, she also showed up to terrorize the protagonist in Keith’s route, unhappy that her adopted brother was interested in a mere commoner. She did the same in the reverse harem route as well, and was an all-around no-good villainess of a character.

If the protagonist succeeded in the Jeord route and reached the proverbial happy end, this dedicated villainess would be stripped of her status and expelled from the kingdom for her long history of petty crimes and bullying against the protagonist... After which the protagonist marries Jeord and lives happily ever after.

In the bad end, however, she would attack the protagonist with a knife out of sheer jealousy. Jeord, jumping in to defend the protagonist, ends up killing Katarina in response.

Even if it was to protect someone he loved, Jeord ended up killing his fiancée, and leaves the kingdom in self-exile to embark on a long journey.

The same was true for the Keith and reverse harem routes, with Katarina the villainess either dying or being chased out of the kingdom.

Hmm...? That’s a little strange, isn’t it? In the happy end scenarios, she gets chased out of the kingdom and stripped of her title... and in the bad ends, she dies... Are there no happy ends for Katarina Claes?! There are only bad ends! All routes lead to doom!

In this fashion, I moved my quill across the paper as quickly as I could, jotting down any and all information I could remember. Holding my papers in one hand, I interviewed and gathered information on nobles from my parents, before heading into the library to conduct detailed research on the history of this kingdom.

With my messy hair and bloodshot eyes, I ran from shelf to shelf. Concerned about my welfare, my parents and servants offered to call a doctor. But I had no time for that, so I flatly rejected their offers.

A few days later, I finally arrived at my answer, but it left me at a complete loss. My investigations only served to confirm my suspicions, and further digging yielded the one answer I did not want to arrive at. I had no choice but to believe the fruits of my labor.

This was indeed the world portrayed in Fortune Lover...

I had no choice but to believe that I was indeed somehow reborn into the world of the game I had been playing on the night before my death. This was the world of Fortune Lover. But if this was the case, there was no way I could simply sit by idly and accept the Bad Endings of Katarina Claes.

Honestly, being chased out of the kingdom or being killed in one way or another was not something I looked forward to. Given that my previous life had been so cruelly cut short, I should at least want to be able to live until a ripe old age in this life! Yes, with a cat on my lap and everything!

As such, we now officially commence the first Bad End Avoidance Strategy Meeting.

Meeting chairwoman: Katarina Claes.

Meeting representative: Katarina Claes.

Meeting secretary: Katarina Claes.

...I suppose I have to somehow figure it out all by myself. After all, I didn’t have anyone to discuss this with. Even if a doctor did deem me mentally sound, I could not exactly stand up and announce to my parents and servants that “I was actually reborn in the world of the otome game I had been playing in my previous life!” Between the wild look in my eyes and their looks of confusion, I would surely be dragged away by force to a hospital.

And so, without further ado, let the first Katarina Claes Catastrophic Bad End Avoidance Strategy Meeting commence.

“Well then. Do any of you ladies have any good ideas?”

“Yes.”

“All right. Well then, Miss Katarina Claes, if you would.”

“Firstly, I think that it would be wise to break off the wedding engagement with Prince Jeord. If we can achieve that, we would successfully avoid all of Jeord’s Bad Ends of Doom.”

“That is true, yes. But this offer was extended from Jeord himself... Could you do something like that in this jolly familial atmosphere?”

“... I suppose not.”

“Well then... What if we simply don’t attend classes at the magic academy? If we successfully avoid the protagonist, we would avoid all of the game’s plot points!”

“Isn’t going to the academy a duty of all those born with magical aptitude? In Katarina’s case, her powers manifested at five years of age. Even if she is spoiled by her father, I don’t think he would yield with regards to the academy...”

“Kuh. All that trouble for this no-good, useless earth magic...”

“Well... How about we just not bully the protagonist in the first place?”

“Yes, yes that’s right!”

“... In the game, didn’t Katarina’s flunkies end up bullying the protagonist too? Even if we didn’t bully her, we could be seen as the ringleader!”

“That’s not all! Our fiancé is that twisted Prince Jeord! He may... do something about us, if only so that he could end up with the protagonist!”

“N-No... What do we do, then?”

“I don’t want to die...”

“...What do we do if we get chased out of the country and lose our social standing...? I have no idea...”

“In any case, we should all calm down. I’ve just thought of an excellent idea.”

“An excellent idea?!”

“First things first... If Jeord ever makes an attempt on our lives, we need to be able to defend ourselves. To that end, we have to become more skilled at the sword! If it comes down to it and we do have to fight him, we would not fall so easily to his blade!”

“Oooh! That’s true!”

“Also... we will need some means of survival if we do get exiled from the kingdom. My suggested solution would be... improving our magical ability.”

“And how exactly do we do that? Katarina only has that pathetic earth magic of hers...”

“There aren’t as many individuals with magical aptitude in other kingdoms and lands. So... if we do practice and hone our magical skill, we would have no trouble finding employment even if we do get kicked out of the kingdom. In fact, Katarina was obsessed with Jeord in the game, and spent all her time trying to get into his good books... That’s why her grades were bad! She didn’t study or practice her magic at all! So, if we really put our minds to it, we can become skilled at magic!”

“Oh, I see!”

“That’s exactly it!”

“Well then, ladies. The solution is clear — we are to put our minds to honing our swordplay and magic!”

“Agreed.”

“Agreed.”

And with this, the first Katarina Claes Catastrophic Bad End Avoidance Strategy Meeting came to an end.

If there were just one person in this meeting who wasn’t Katarina Claes, they would be quick to point out that the solution the three Katarinas had arrived at did not amount to very much at all. Unfortunately, there was no other person present to tell Katarina this very important point...

After the first Katarina Claes meeting, I set about my agenda the very next day, starting a special training regimen in swordplay and magic. While my parents were adequately surprised at my sudden request, I claimed that it was for the purposes of self-defense, and so that I would not embarrass myself at the academy. My unfaltering stance eventually led to my parents agreeing, albeit in a somewhat exasperated manner. Come to think of it, their expressions reminded me of a face my previous parents used to make. How nostalgic...

With my concerted efforts, I pestered my blank-eyed father, convincing him to find me swordplay and magic tutors posthaste. While he did manage to find me an instructor for swordplay relatively quickly, a magic tutor was a little more difficult. As a result, I resigned myself to reading books on magic from the manor’s library instead — for now, this would suffice as practice.

In a corner of the garden, I propped up an old, thickly-bound tome on my knees, opening it and reading the very first page. Written on the page were the following words: “To reach great heights in magic, one must first communicate with one’s magical origins.”

To begin with, I did not exactly swing swords around or cast magic in my previous life. As such, there was no way I would suddenly become a magical prodigy in this world — in other words, I was starting from scratch.

Communicate with one’s magical origins... My magical element was earth. To make things worse, it was pathetically weak. For reference, my one and only magical spell could raise the earth’s surface by two or three centimeters. In its current state, it was basically useless to me. In fact... Katarina Claes could not use any other kind of magic in the game — raising the earth by miniscule levels was the best she could do.

This “Raise the earth for two or three centimeters magic” — I suppose we could call it “Earth Raiser” magic — was primarily used to trip the protagonist. Was... Was there anything else? No? Well, “Earth Raiser” could very well be seen as a tool made for the express purposes of tripping someone, as that was all it could do.

Terrible. A truly pathetic kind of magic. If this tiny Earth Raiser was all I could use, how would I escape the doomed fates before me?! I had to somehow improve my magical powers!

Communicate with one’s magical origins... Hmm... Does that mean I have to speak with... the earth itself?

The earth... Communicate... Speak with the earth. OH! I see!

“Um... My lady. What exactly is it that you are doing?” my maid Anne called out to me with a somewhat concerned expression.

“Why, I’m tilling the earth, Anne,” I answered energetically, dressed in a set of overalls I had borrowed from one of the gardeners. On this day, I had decided to plant some crops in the manor’s large garden.

“Umm. I do recall you wishing to practice your magic, my lady. But... why are you tilling the earth?”

“I’m tilling the earth and planting crops to increase my magical power, you see!”

“I sincerely apologize, my lady, but I do not profess to understand any of what you just said,” Anne replied, her expression of concern now replaced by a surprised one. She seemed confused by my cheerful response.

“Umm, you see. In this tome of magic I read, it said... ‘To reach great heights in magic, one must first communicate with one’s magical origins.’ And my magical element is earth, right? So this is it! I’m communicating with the earth! And I’m doing it while planting crops in this field I’m tilling!!”

To tell the truth, my mother’s side of the family in my previous life had a long history of farming. My grandmother used to say that tending to the fields was much like speaking to the earth, and that was that. Truly, I was grateful for her advice — if I succeeded in tilling this field and eventually reaped its harvest, I would have achieved great communication with the earth.

I did, of course, first ask for permission from the gardener, and then borrowed a hoe, shovel, and gardening overalls. I could not possibly be more prepared. Taking all that into consideration, as long as I kept honing my magical powers by tilling the fields, I would successfully avoid a Catastrophic Bad End.

“...I do not think that tilling the fields is ‘communicating with one’s magical origins’... Somehow, something feels... off, about that interpretation...”

Anne seemed to be mumbling to herself now. Leaving her to her own devices, I brought my hoe down onto the ground, renewing my efforts at tilling the earth.

Only seven more years until I would start studying at the academy. During this time, I had to do more than simply strengthen my Earth Raiser spell — I also had to learn other magics, preferably profitable ones. And so I continued working the small field I stood in, shoveling the dirt with a steely focus.

My field work was soon interrupted by Anne, however, who appeared to have suddenly recalled an issue of import. “...Ahh!! This isn’t the time for you to be tilling the earth and working the fields, my lady! You have an important arrangement — the prince... Prince Jeord is paying you a social visit today!!”

“... Eh? Why?” I asked, dropping my hoe in surprise.

“What do you mean why, my lady?! He’s here to pay you a visit, as is customary after a marriage engagement!!”

“Oh... Is that right?” Oops. It had entirely slipped my mind...

“In any case, you mustn’t keep him waiting! Please return to the manor at once!”

“Y-Yes! Let’s do that!” I could not let the prince, of all people, see me in this getup. Even I knew that was a little too much.

Panicking, I turned and tried to head towards the mansion — but it was already too late. Impatient at my apparent absence, Jeord and his entourage of servants had decided to visit me directly in the garden instead. The prince’s servants seemed hesitant as they laid their eyes upon me — probably confused as to why a noble young lady, who was supposed to be practicing her magical skills, was dressed in a farming getup with a hoe at her feet.

What do I do...? Honestly, I had wanted to sneak back into the mansion undetected, change out of my overalls, and return to the garden with a fresh face. But of course, this was no longer possible — my eyes met with Prince Jeord’s.

The prince, for his part, seemed overcome by surprise at first, his eyes wide open. But he soon assumed his usual smile and called out to me. “If it isn’t Lady Katarina. I heard that you were practicing your magic in the garden, and thought I would spectate. What exactly is it that you are doing?” the prince said, his ever-lovely smile plastered across his face.

While I would have likened that smile to that of an angel before, Prince Jeord was the very same twisted and wicked prince from Fortune Lover. He was a true sadist, and his smile now seemed entirely demonic in nature. It was clear that he was laughing at me — a supposedly noble lady, standing in the middle of a field in gardening overalls. This was not the smile of a cute little prince who genuinely wanted to know what I was doing.

I turned to look at the servants of my household, and then to the prince’s entourage. Yep. They were completely frozen, rooted to the ground. In fact, my father, who had been with the prince’s group, was now deathly pale, and seemed like he would pass out at any moment.

Actually, my mother had already passed out, and was currently being supported by her personal maidservants.

Personally, I felt that it was meaningless to dress up in fancy clothing if I was going to be doing field work. I decided to ignore the frozen servants and my petrified parents. Yes, this was my personal form of defiance.

“Good day, Prince Jeord. Thank you for coming all this way — I do apologize for the inconvenience. I am currently communicating with the origins of my magic: the earth.”

“Ahem. Communicating with the earth?”

“Yes. I felt that the fastest and most efficient way to do so was to till the earth and work the fields, and so that was what I did.”

“...So you are tilling the earth... to communicate with it? Working the fields... to talk to the earth?”

I had answered the prince truthfully and cheerfully, and topped it off with a slight smile. In response, the prince looked downwards, his shoulders trembling.

Oh no. Now I’ve gone and done it. Did it make him mad? Don’t tell me I’ll be exiled from the kingdom before I even get enrolled into the academy...! I swallowed hard.

After a while, the prince’s shivering stopped, and he raised his head, staring straight at me. There was a smile on his face. At the very least, he did not seem angry — that was a relief.

“I see. Tilling the earth and working the fields to improve one’s magic... A truly revolutionary way of practicing, no doubt.”

“...Is that so...?” It did not take a genius to understand that the prince really meant to say that I had no idea how magic worked at all. So I gave him a vague response, hoping to smooth it over.

However, Prince Jeord suddenly approached me, stepping into the field I had been working on. With yet another unexpected motion, he knelt down before me, holding out his right hand.

“Lady Katarina — I am here to discuss the matter of our engagement. A formal visit, yes. I hope you will overlook my rudeness for asking in such a place, but do you accept my proposal?”

“Oh... Um. Uh. Yes.”

Jeord promptly took my hand in his, before lowering his head and planting a kiss on it. Just like a scene out of a fairy tale. The fact that one of the two was dressed in gardening overalls, however, didn’t really fit the image in general.

Before I knew it, I had accepted the proposal of this angel-like prince — if it were any other noble’s daughter, or perhaps even Katarina before her memories returned, she would surely be elated at the development...

As for me, however, it was hard to believe that Prince Jeord had just planted a kiss on my dirt-stained hand. In fact, I should have rejected, saying something along the lines of “I am hardly worthy of you, Prince Jeord.”

Oh... Oh no! I was swept along by the flow and said yes by accident! Ugh! This was bad. I could no longer take it back! What do I do?!

In fact, even my house-servants and Jeord’s entourage seemed to be looking at us in a warm, congratulatory way! It was almost like Jeord’s overwhelming charm had caused everyone present to forget about the fact that I was in gardening overalls! Jeord... Truly fearsome.

Look! Even my father, who was almost out cold mere moments ago, is clapping!

Ah. My mother, however, is still unconscious.

Although I have no idea how we got to this point, I suppose I am now the official fiancée of Prince Jeord, third in line to the kingdom’s throne. In any case... I suppose I’ll have to try even harder at tomorrow’s swordplay and magic training...

★★★★★★★★★

Jeord Stuart... that is my name.

I was born in a strange position — third in line to the throne. In this kingdom, the next king is chosen by the current ruling monarch. As such, I have a chance to become the next king of these lands, but honestly speaking, such a notion bores me. It seems like nothing more than a hassle.

To begin with, both my older brothers are extremely capable, and I often learned the ways of the sword from them. They are good rivals, and the next king in line should simply be one of them. I also have a twin brother. Due to his naturally weak constitution since his birth, he was fussed over by the nursemaids and our mother, and so I hardly spent any time with him growing up.

Such is my role in this unfortunate affair, with most of the attention spread between my two older brothers and my younger twin. Sometimes, it almost seems like the entire castle has forgotten about my very existence.

With minimal tutelage, I was able to master both the sword and my studies — while my tutors had much praise for me, what of it? It is meaningless to me.

I am good at reading the thoughts of others, and am well-loved by my tutors and superiors, gaining their favor with a simple, fabricated smile. Unlike my older brothers, I do not have much of a goal in life, and do not really experience hardship in most matters.

Each day was a requiem in boredom.

Amidst this boredom and repetition, however, I got dragged into quite the troublesome affair about half a year ago. To be precise, said event was the wedding engagements of my second oldest brother, perhaps spurred by my oldest brother’s engagement half a year ago.

None of that really mattered to me, however — no matter the number of announcements, they were all irrelevant to me... or so I thought.

Society’s nobles, not having much else to gossip about, immediately focused on the possibility of the third prince getting engaged as well. While I was a largely forgotten presence at the castle, I remained popular in noble society, having paid my dues and performed the tasks expected of my role. Not a single noble in the relevant social circles had anything bad to say about Prince Jeord, third in line to the throne.

As a result, a countless stream of potential brides were brought before me by their noble parents. This was, again, nothing but a hassle.

It was at this very moment that Duke Claes sent a missive to me, saying that he would be bringing his daughter to the castle on his next visit, and that he would very much like for me to meet with her; a common phenomenon. Noble parents commonly paraded their young daughters before me, expecting an offer of engagement if they should suit my tastes.

Due to the fact that Duke Claes wielded a significant amount of social and political strength, I could not exactly refuse — and eventually, the day arrived.

My first impression of the young Lady Katarina Claes was... as expected. She was a spoiled, prideful, arrogant, stupid young girl. She stuck to me like mud to the heel of a boot. Most annoying.

As a result of this selfish, self-induced behavior, she fell and hit her head. Truly troublesome. From what I heard, the impact had left a cut on her head, one that was deep enough to require stitching. You reap what you sow — that was what I thought as I heard the news.

Well, I supposed a formal visit was in order, and then that would be the end of this affair.

“Lady Katarina Claes seems to have taken quite a liking to you, Prince Jeord. Do you not think that she could simply demand an engagement from you, using this injury as a front?”

A statement from one of the servants... But yes, I can use that to my advantage. Honestly, this endless line of female suitors and nobles parading their daughters before me was irritating. Although I just wanted to pick a bride at random, the norms of noble society would not forgive such a thing.

There were various political factions in noble society — both my older brothers had political factions of their own, as befitting of their station. If I were to take a noble lady from the political camp that sided with my oldest brother, my second oldest brother would ask if I had some other intentions for siding with the other, and vice versa.

Conveniently enough, the Claes family was neutral, having pledged alliance to neither of my brothers’ camps. In addition, I now had an additional reason — that of accidentally scarring his daughter. It would be difficult for anyone to think that the third prince, having sided with Duke Claes, was aiming for the throne.

The girl was, of course, sufficiently irritating, but she did not seem to be a complete imbecile, and would probably be easily fooled. With all these factors in mind, I decided to pay a visit to Lady Katarina, eldest daughter of the Claes family.

Entering the recovering Lady Katarina’s room, what I heard betrayed my expectations...

“No, not at all. Please don’t worry about this, Your Highness. It is a small wound, one that can be easily hidden with my bangs! There is no problem at all.”

Katarina’s unexpected, almost ridiculous response struck me with considerable force, leaving me momentarily speechless. What is this girl on about? It was as she said — the scar itself was not big or prominent. However... this was hardly something a noble lady would say.

To think that she was just a spoiled little noble girl when I had first met her... Was her fever this severe? Even so, to suddenly go back on my elaborate plan was even more troublesome. Katarina, with a cheerful but somewhat dazed expression on her face, did not really seem to be listening as I described the details of the proposal.

Katarina Claes... I now found myself somewhat interested in the girl. Perhaps it would be wise to observe her for a little longer.

And so it came to be that I paid Lady Katarina Claes a formal visit, as is custom for marriage engagements. Katarina, however, presented me with yet another unbelievable sight — she was dressed like a commoner, standing in the middle of a patch of dirt.

When I asked what exactly it was that she was doing...

“I am currently communicating with the origins of my magic — the earth. I felt that the fastest and most efficient way to do so was to till the earth and work the fields, and so that was what I did,” Katarina responded, seemingly proud of the conclusion she had arrived at.

It was hilarious. I was ready to give it all up there and then, and simply laugh.

Suppressing my laughter with great effort, I lifted my head, my eyes meeting with Katarina. Her aqua-blue eyes stared straight into mine. Then I approached and knelt before her.

“Do you accept my proposal?”

“Oh... Um. Uh. Yes.” Answering without much of a thought, Katarina’s eyes told me all I needed to know — she was confused, verily so. The sight of her made me want to laugh even harder.

A young girl with brown hair and slightly upwards-slanting, almond-shaped, aqua-blue eyes. For the first time in my life, I felt strongly drawn to another person.

For some reason, I had a feeling that my painfully boring life of being surrounded by equally boring individuals... was about to take a very different turn.