Chapter 2: I Want to Avoid the Destruction End
"Uwah…… I gradually remembered……"
Just like its name Rose of the Battlefield was a war themed otome game. A story unfolded in a Middle Age Europe-style world"s stage.
Incidentally, the rose referred to the heroine Eugenie, not Rosalind.
In the game, when Eugenie is 17 years old and Rosalind is 18 years old, a war starts with the neighboring country, the Kingdom of Valhalla. Then a battlefield romance between the heroine and capture characters unfolds――that was the story.
"Um, if I am correct, around one year before the war begins, Eugenie moves to the Arch Territory. From there, flags are raised with the capture characters…… And I, Rosalind, will……"
While grunting and muttering, I searched around for my memories. Having an engagement with the prince, Rosalind sold information to the enemy state when the war started so that she could save just herself. Due to that, in the end, the prince annulled the engagement.
In the route I played, she ended with the deprivation of her status and was chased out of the country and territory, reaching a destruction end. What happened afterward was not narrated, but imagining the fate of a traitor and former daughter of an aristocrat was unnecessary.
"Surely, the people who held resentment against Rosalind did this and that to her…"
Stop! Don"t a.s.sault me! ――A case like that could happen.
"This is a terrible situation!"
Being expelled from the country was a development of the Kingdom of Amelia routes.
In Rose of the Battlefield, based off which character route taken, the ultimately victorious country changed.
If the route of a character from the Kingdom of Amelia was taken, the Kingdom of Amelia would win. If the route of a character from the Kingdom of Valhalla was taken, the Kingdom of Valhalla would win.
Even in the Kingdom of Valhalla routes, Rosalind seemed to have double crossed people here and there, ending up hated by the characters. In the end as a despicable turncoat woman, she was publicly guillotined and disappeared――probably.
I said probably because I had only played the Kingdom of Amelia routes. I obtained information on the Kingdom of Valhalla routes from the strategy guide site.
After all, that game was freaking long. Additionally, it was set so basically the Kingdom of Amelia side was easy to raise affection points for, so I couldn"t really get onto the Kingdom of Valhalla routes. Right after getting onto the Kingdom of Valhalla route with much difficulty, I ended up reaching a bad end. Giving up, I resigned.
"Aah, no matter what I do, it"s the worst!"
While searching for memories, I also remembered about myself.
My original self was a normal high school girl who you could find anywhere, a 17 year old high school second year student. My hobbies were otaku activities. I got involved without regard for if they were male or female oriented as long as they seemed interesting.
Although I was an otaku, I enjoyed my life well enough. I was what they call a otaku-normie.
Despite that, things turned out like this……
Hah. It was possible that that was a dream. This was also a bad dream. The real me, wake up already! I pinched my cheek with all my strength.
"Ouch!!"
"Dear, Rosalind-sama! What happened!?"
Again the maids came rushing into the room.
"Nothing! I"m fine. I"m fine!"
Although I said that I was fine, the maids checked every corner of my body, checking that there were no wounds on my body before leaving.
"Uuh, I feel like I"ve been dirtied……"
However, due to the pain, I remembered everything. On a rainy day, I was heading home from school. While on the pedestrian bridge, my foot slipped and I fell down the stairs. That was my last memory, so I likely died from that.
"I"m defeated……"
Even though the game I wanted was coming out next month~!
Even though I wanted to watch the last episode of the anime I was following~!
To think that I would die without seeing the last part of that super popular Hollywood movie trilogy~!
And I was even reincarnated as a villainess~!
G.o.d was cruel. What did I even do in my past life!? I didn"t do anything particularly good, but I didn"t do anything bad either!
"But since it"s like this, there"s no use continuing…… I have to somehow avoid my destruction!"
Although Rosalind was the villainess, she wasn"t simply a rival in love who bullied the heroine. She was a traitor to her country, a nation-level villainess. There were justifiable reasons to the prince annulling their engagement, her being deprived of her status, and her being chased out of the country. Say I got along with the heroine, I still wouldn"t escape my destruction.
"But if I"m correct, in the Randolph route, she wasn"t executed or exiled!"
Of the six routes, Randolph"s route was the one where Rosalind ended peacefully.
The annulment of the engagement was not avoided, but due to the efforts of my brother, Rosalind was not chased out of the territory.
Of course she was looked upon coldly by the people, ending up in house arrest, but even so, it was better than being chased out of her home with nothing and being executed.
The Kingdom of Amelia won the war. My brother and Eugenie married. Rosalind who had suffered during the war mellowed out and became friendly sister-in-laws with Eugenie in the end.
"I"ll aim for that relatively preferable route? But the chances are one in six….."
Incidentally, Rose of the Battlefield had six capture characters.
① Kingdom of Amelia"s Second Prince Glen
② Arch Knight Order Leader Aaron
③ Arch Marquis Randolph
④ Kingdom of Valhalla"s General Wolfgang
⑤ Kingdom of Valhalla"s King Julius
⑥ Kingdom of Valhalla"s Prime Minister"s Son Samuel
If the heroine entered any route except for my brother"s, my destruction was set.
If I matched that game"s capture difficulty and ease of increasing affection points, Randolph was around third place in the order of precedence according to what was written on the strategy guide site. It wasn"t as difficult as the Kingdom of Valhalla routes, but it was a route where one wouldn"t enter if it wasn"t aimed for.
"And wasn"t onii-sama the most unpopular character!?"
Randolph was a plain person among the capture characters, and though he had a high social status, he didn"t do anything particularly eye-catching. Also, he felt like a siscon. For maidens, that was a minus factor. For Randolph"s ending too, there were voices of displeasure that in the end he couldn"t let go of his little sister.
"I wonder if Eugenie will enter onii-sama"s route?"
I honestly thought that would be difficult. After all, the other characters were more attractive. If the other capture target characters were introduced to the heroine, the chance of her not yielding to onii-chan was high.
However, I wondered what would happen if she met onii-chan under the circ.u.mstances of not meeting the other characters.
For the commoner Eugenie, falling in love at first sight with the feudal lord marquis Randolph was a big climb up the social ladder. It was a Cinderella story. If she didn"t know of the other routes, this would be the greatest rise.
"I"ve decided! I"ll make the heroine enter onii-sama"s route! I have to knock down all the other flags!!"
However, in order to avoid the worst future, I could not resign myself to fate. I had to act myself! Only breaking the flags between the heroine and other characters was lukewarm!
The game"s Rosalind was a young miss who had likely not ever held anything heavier than a knife and fork. She was ignorant about the ways of the world and mentally weak. When the war started, she was quickly engulfed in terror.
However, I――I, Rosalind, could not become like that.
Since I knew the outline of fate, if I wanted to avoid my worst future, I myself had to become strong as well!
"Okay! I"ve decided my life goal!"
If I remembered, in my past life, I had no goals like this and lived without knowing what I was doing, but this world where I had a clear goal was likely not something to be undervalued. I clenched my fist. I gazed at my fate in this world and decided on working hard to change the future to one where my mind and body together were strong.