Chapter 3: The Otome Game World: [Starlight Symphony].

A dating simulation game developed and released by Renfill Corporation. It is a classic otome game set in a world of swords and magic, where the protagonist attends an academy and plays an active role in romance, incidents, and adventures. Appearing in that [Starlight Symphony], the one who harasses the protagonist in every way possible is the Duke’s daughter, Sakuraile Le Philharmonie. —-That is me.

 

“Whyyyyyy!?”

 

“Milady!? Is something wrong!?”

 

The door opens, and a panicked maid rushes in. Well, if a Duke’s daughter screams alone in her room, of course they would be worried! Sorry!

 

“I-It’s nothing! I just had a bit of a bad dream…!”

 

If it is a dream, I want to wake up soon. I’ve been having it for three years. Even for a feature-length epic, it is too long!

 

“I see… It is alright. There is no one here who would bully you, Milady. Please sleep with peace of mind.”

 

The maid smiles at me with a tearful smile. …Huh, isn’t she misunderstanding something? It’s not like I was having a nightmare remembering my painful experiences. W-Well, I managed to gloss over it, so I quietly returned to bed. Inside the bed in the room the maid had left, I stared at the canopy in the dim light and decided to trace the memories of my previous life. I first played [Starlight Symphony] when I was in junior high. I wasn’t that interested, but my cousin recommended it, so I played it. It was surprisingly fun, and I completely cleared it. My memory is fuzzy, but Sakuraile is definitely one of the villainesses… There is no mistake. She is the fiancée of this country’s Prince, one of the capture targets. Finding the protagonist who gets along with the Prince disagreeable, she harasses her in various ways. And finally, she tries to eliminate the protagonist, only to bring about her own destruction. I can’t recall the fine details, but I believe it happened quite easily. How did she die again…? No, no, I refuse to die!

 

“I have to avoid it with all my might…!”

 

…Hmm? Wait. Or rather, shouldn’t I just not become a villainess in the first place? If I don’t bully the heroine, I won’t self-destruct. No, even before that, if I don’t become the Prince’s fiancée, I won’t be in conflict with the heroine, right? I didn’t really prefer that Prince anyway. I should just hand him over to the heroine on a silver platter. If I can avoid the Bad End with that, then it’s a cause for celebration.

 

“Ah, but it might change depending on whose route the heroine enters…”

 

I am the villainess of the Prince route. However, there are four other capture targets in [Starlight Symphony] besides the Prince. There are other characters in the villainess position who hinder the protagonist or provide trials that act as walls in each route, but… well, that doesn’t matter right now. The problem is that no matter which route the heroine takes, Sakuraile appears and meets a tragic end. She is the common villainess in all routes before the story branches, after all. I recall getting caught in battles, self-destruction, exile from the country, becoming an invalid, and the ruin of my family home. The ruin of the family was because I dipped my hands in crime, though… Fortunately, the ruin route and exile don’t result in death, but I absolutely do not want to do anything that would sadden these gentle parents.

 

“Anyway, it’s better not to get close to the capture targets… And the protagonist heroine, too.”

 

If I recall, the heroine was a Baron’s daughter from a rural territory. She turns sixteen and comes to the Imperial Capital to enroll in the Academy, which serves as the setting. The Academy is on an island floating in the sky, and from the ground, one can only travel there using the teleportation gate at the church in the Imperial Capital. On the day before she goes to the Academy via that teleportation gate, she runs right into the Prince, who is visiting the castle town incognito… Ha, it’s such a classic trope. The heroine possesses a [Gift] called [Holy Miracle]. To put it bluntly, it is super holy magic. In the world of [Starlight Symphony], a [Gift] is something like a talent or ability given to people by the gods—only one per person. Unlike magic, it is not something that anyone can study and learn. When one receives a divine message called the [Ceremony of Revelation] at the church in childhood, they receive a [Gift] from one of the gods. In other words, everyone who undergoes this ceremony has one special skill. Whether it is usable or not is another story. …………Wait, I haven’t received mine, have I? I’m pretty sure Sakuraile had a powerful [Gift] called [Beast Demon Summoning] that calls forth summoned beasts. That was a pain. If you didn’t prepare a special Potion to paralyze the summoned beast, you would be checkmated. Well, this time it is my [Gift], so I don’t need a paralysis Potion. Being able to summon beasts is nice. I want to summon a wolf or a lion and fluff them up. And then… Thinking about the future, I fell into the dream world once again.

◇　◇　◇

 

“Good morning, Sakuraile . Did you sleep well?”

 

“Yes. Soundly until morning.”

 

“You didn’t have any trouble? If anything happens, tell Mom immediately, okay?”

 

“I am fine. Thank you.”

 

I exchanged morning greetings with my father and mother, who spoke to me smilingly. Hmm, I’m still nervous… Or rather, I’m also a little embarrassed because I cried so much yesterday. Led by the hand by Mother, I went to the dining room and sat at a seat at the table. Looong. The table is so looong. Is this much space needed when only three people are sitting? When I accidentally voiced that doubt, they told me they need this many seats for parties and dinner gatherings. I wonder how many people they invite. The breakfast that came out was different from the food I ate in the Slums like heaven and earth. I feel like this is the first time I’ve eaten decent Meat since reincarnating… Over there, it was nothing but Potato and Bean Soup. However, as someone who knows the taste of cooking from my previous life, I still have complaints even with this. The Bread is surprisingly hard, the Meat is just seasoned with salt and pepper, and the Salad has an oily dressing on it. The Fruit is delicious. The Soup is passable, too. It feels plain for a ducal house, which is high-ranking nobility, but Father and Mother apparently have no hobby of lining up more food than can be eaten. I agree with that point. If the crowd in the Slums knew about such things, they would start a rebellion. Compared to the meals in the Slums, it is heaven, but… I wonder if food culture hasn’t developed much in this world. But there were some delicious-looking foods in the game… Ugh, maybe because I ate something semi-delicious, my appetite from my previous life has revived. I want to eat Rice. I want to eat Ramen. I want to eat Snacks.

 

“How is it? Sakura-chan. Is it delicious?”

 

“Ah, yes. It is delicious.”

 

I couldn’t say it was lacking even if my mouth was torn open, so I smiled back at Mother.

 

“Sakuraile is a little too thin, after all. Don’t hold back, eat more.”

 

“Ha, haha…”

 

I certainly think I’m a bit malnourished, but you want me to eat a lot of this? Duke, that is some rather strict dietary education.

 

“You still seem a bit stiff. I know! Won’t you call me Papa?”

 

“Ah, that’s nice! Call me Mama too!”

 

“No, um, calling you Papa and Mama is a bit…”

 

I am quite short due to lack of nutrition, but I am still six years old. Even in this world, at six years old, there are few who call their parents Papa and Mama. And inside, I am an adult… In other words, I intended to say I couldn’t call them that out of embarrassment, but the two didn’t seem to take it that way and were visibly disappointed. Maybe they took it as me not viewing them as parents. No, that’s not it. That’s not it at all.

 

“Um, is… Father, Mother… okay…?”

 

I tried to call them Dad and Mom, but I am, tentatively, a Duke’s daughter. Calling them politely would be the correct answer here. When I timidly voiced those words, the two who were depressed revived magnificently.

 

“Of course! We want you to call us that from now on!”

 

“Yes! That’s right!”

 

“Understood. Father, Mother… Mmph!?”

 

The mother… Mother, who was on my right, hugged me tightly. Um, I can’t eat. Watching that, the butler of the Le Philharmonie house… Sebastian, was crying tears of joy. No, help me. Sebastian is the steward who manages this house, and apparently, he has served Father since he was a child. Come to think of it, he was wailing when I arrived here, too.

 

“Oh, right. Does Sakuraile know about [Gifts]?”

 

“Ah, yes. I know. They are presents given by God, right?”

 

The Duke… Father, brought up the topic I was thinking about before sleeping last night.

 

“When your health improves, I’m thinking of going to the church to undergo the [Ceremony of Revelation] soon, but,”

 

“Yes! I am fine! I can take it even today!”

 

Because I suddenly raised my voice eagerly, the two froze. Oops, I’m sorry. But if a [Gift] can be obtained, the sooner the better. My destruction flags include dying by getting caught up in battle. If I obtain [Beast Demon Summoning] and become strong, I might be able to avoid that route. Of course I’d be desperate.

 

“U-Um… Is your health okay?”

 

“Yes! I am super energetic! So I want to go to the church!”

 

“I-Is that so. Then shall we three go out to the church?”

 

Yay! Without thinking, I raised both hands and celebrated. Realizing my childish behavior, I became embarrassed and shrank down, but the two smiled at my age-appropriate reaction. No, but it’s summoning magic, you know? It can’t be helped if I get hype! Suddenly, watching the two of them, I voiced something I was curious about.

 

“Come to think of it, what [Gifts] do Father and Mother have?”

 

It takes a large donation to undergo the [Ceremony of Revelation], but nobles should undoubtedly possess [Gifts]. I think these two have them as well. Sakuraile’s parents were characters who didn’t appear in the game at all, so I don’t know.

 

“Eh? …Ah, you don’t remember, do you. Mine is [Object Restoration].”

 

“Object…?”

 

Judging by his tone, it seems the three-year-old me knew Father’s [Gift]. I feel sorry for Father, who showed a slightly sad shadow. Father casually picked up a finished plate and smashed it against the corner of the table. While I was surprised by Father’s sudden eccentric behavior, Mother called out from behind, saying it was okay.

 

“[Object Restoration].”

 

When Father held his hand over the fragments of the broken plate, the pieces came together as if a video was being rewound. Before I knew it, a single pure white plate was restored to its original state. Magic! Amazing!

 

“That is amazing! Can that fix anything!?”

 

“Not anything. There are things I cannot fix. First, I cannot repair living things. Things that have aged too much cannot be fixed either. Complex things or things that are too big are no good, too. Well, if I repair parts of it little by little, it’s not impossible, though.”

 

It seemed there were various conditions to Father’s [Gift]. Even so, isn’t this ability quite useful? If he opened a repair shop, he could make a fortune… Wait, we are a Ducal house. We have money without doing that.

 

“And Mother?”

 

“Me? I have [Time Propulsion]. I can forcibly advance the flow of time. I cannot use it on living things, and it is limited to a certain range, though. Just like Lord Claude, it is a [Gift] received from the God of Space-Time, Tokie. I use it for aging Wine and such.”

 

Ooh. An ability to turn back time and an ability to advance it. What a matching couple. [Gifts] are convenient things. It apparently isn’t an exaggeration to say that one’s subsequent life is determined by what kind of [Gift] one is granted. However, powerful [Gifts] come with associated risks, or if one commits acts that go against the gods who granted them too much, the [Gift] will disappear. And it will never return. There are many who abuse [Gifts], but it is said that the gods who grant [Gifts] to such people are often generous, or rather, have personalities that are careless or irresponsible. I want to tell them to manage it properly.

 

“I hope Sakura-chan is granted a good [Gift] too.”

 

“Yes!”

 

I nodded strongly at Mother’s words. Well, I know the [Gift] I will receive, though. However, I froze at the next words Father spoke.

 

“The [Ceremony of Revelation], which should have been taken at age three, has been delayed until now. [Gifts] received at an older age tend to be extreme, so I’m a little worried…”

 

………………Say what?