Alice’s POV

Today is the second day of the week where I do not have a study session. So I’ve decided to stay alone in my room and think about the tea party from the other day.

Johann, my apprentice aide, and Connie, who officially became my personal maid the other day, were both waiting in front of the room.

“That’s probably…no, maybe it’s already a sure thing.”

She had blond drill-curled hair and an extravagant red dress…

It wasn’t like a young lady to have such a strong and spiteful personality.

…Whether or not she was always such a preoccupied brat is aside from the point.

I was not a fan, but after all, it seems that Gabriella Verandel was the main character of “Golden Rose.”

I sighed with a huff.

I had never played ‘Golden Rose’ completely, but I had a few pieces of biased knowledge which I had heard from the junior who had lent me the game.

One of them was that the main character was a villainous daughter. Well, that was implied in the title. By the way, because she was the main character of an otome game, I don’t think her face or anything was shown on the package. I didn’t even know her default name since I hadn’t played the game, but it was probably Gabriella.

To be honest, that’s pretty much all I knew about her, but I was able to predict the features of her appearance from the title “Golden Rose.”

‘Golden’ —> In other words, it probably was referring to her blonde hair. The drill head curls seemed pretty common for villainous ladies.

‘Rose’ —> Lots of dresses with richly draped fabrics and embellishments that reminded one of a rose. Whenever I saw Gabriella, she was always wearing something like that.

And she also wielded a certain “self-righteousness” with a strength that seemed abnormal for a young lady.

She was definitely the main character, the villainous daughter.

But even assuming that, there was one thing that didn’t make sense to me.

Why had she been watching me at the tea party in the first place?

It was as if she knew I was going to make a mistake and was waiting for me, as if she wanted to attack me as soon as I showed an opening…That was the kind of atmosphere she gave off.

The only thing I could think of to explain that is that she might also be a reincarnated person.

But I softly dismissed that prediction.

Suppose Gabriella really was a reincarnated person and knew some of my background and the backgrounds of the capture targets…

If that was the case, then there was no need to go out of her way to become a disadvantaged, selfish ‘villainous daughter.’ (***lol, nope, turns out she’s just a brat to begin with)

And also, ‘this world’ we’re living in right now is not a game.

Acting in a way that dismisses your opponent as a character who moves only like the game settings might work at first, but it would eventually come apart at the seams.

If you’re old enough to play otome games, then one should know that much.

Well, in any case, that’s why I think it’s hard to believe that she did that just to become a ‘villainous daughter.’

This is a bit off topic, but it’s also almost certain that Gabriella is the main heroine of the ‘Golden Rose.’ Her attitude at that tea party might have been an attempt to attack me as a rival faction.

And I thought about another thing that was almost certain.

I recalled my junior’s voice…

“Senpai, do you like the villainous daughter that is so popular these days?…Huh? Not especially? Hmmm…I’d recommend playing with a sub-heroine then!”

That’s right, the Golden Rose had a ‘heroine selection’ system.

The normal heroine was a villainous young lady, which was a bit of a unique setting for a game in the first place. I didn’t know if the production team had been too proud of it or not, but it seems that players could also play the game with a sub-heroine as the main character.

There were two sub-heroines.

One was the beautiful but fragile and shadowy young lady who was the complete opposite of the super headstrong protagonist. This one seemed to have a sweet and delicate romance.

The other was a young lady who grew up to be a warrior girl character like Jean***. This one seemed to have an RPG-style otome game development. (***probably referring to Jean d’Arc or Joan or Arc)

If you chose the villainous girl as the main character, the two sub-heroines were said to have a change in their characters a bit and become rivals who were madly in love.

I’ve thought this already, but I’m pretty sure that the character ‘Alice’ was a sub-heroine & rival character. This was the second thing that I confirmed.

A connection to capture targets such as Brother Oluris…

A special past with the Rouge incident…

And most of all, the main heroine who was poking around…

I don’t know which sub-heroine Alice was, but with all this material, I have to admit that it’s probably true.

“Haa~” I sighed.

I seriously can’t play a rival who gets struck by the heroine or anything like that.

That’s what this is. If I get involved with the capture targets, I will most likely get involved with that girl.

Thinking about it to that extent makes me afraid, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to get involved with Brother Oluris, not even a little.

Because I like Brother Oluris as my brother.

I want to see how my brother, who has recovered, will spread his wings in the future, and I’m honestly happy that he loves me so much.

Brother Will is no longer rejecting Brother Oluris, who also adores him, and he is now smiling more and more animated and cheerfully.

“Well…what will be, will be.”

My thoughts are no longer coherent, but my course of action remains the same.

I will do my best to pursue the exciting fantasy and magic of this world…

…And I will cherish the people around me.

Those are the two most important things.

No matter what this world is, or who plays what role in it, the world I live in is changing by the minute.

Even for Gabriella, it will always be changing.

So, well, I’ll just do what I want and live with the people I love!

Once again, I sipped my tea while thinking about that.

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T/N: I like Alice’s attitude here. Just cherish what’s important, do what you want, and ‘master some magic!’