Volume 3 - Prologue

Summary:

In the original game, the fate of the future villainous daughter Sophia was to go mad with jealousy and fall into ruin.

Cyril transmigrated into her butler and as a result of raising her carefully so that she wouldn’t fall into ruin… he ended up becoming a capture target, and the object of Lady Sophia’s jealousy.

While evading numerous destruction flags, Cyril is now guiding the young Lady towards her happiness. One day, Cyril and Sophia joined the Student Council, which was run by an undercover princess. They decided to perform a play based on the game that was the very foundation of this world, ‘Espressivo of Light and Darkness’, at the school festival.

This was a trap that had been set up to locate Cyril, the transmigrator. After diving into this trap of his own volition, Cyril was able to meet with a transmigrator just like him一and he was reunited with his older sister from his previous world. 

As his sister had expected, Cyril saved the princess that had been destined to meet her end soon, and as a reward, he was informed of the existence of a side story to the original work, ‘The Eve of the Festival’, which he hadn’t known about…

—

A few weeks had gone by since I performed in the play ‘Espressivo of Light and Darkness’, saved the life of Her Highness the Princess, who had been living undercover during her school life, and after that, the school festival that had kept us busy ended.

I had just escorted Lady Sophia to her carriage after school one day when she noticed that I wasn’t getting in the carriage and asked me, “Are we not going back together?”

“My apologies. Teacher Tristan has called me over today.”

“…You seem to be very busy lately.”

I was Lady Sophia’s exclusive butler, and at the same time, a student of the servant course as well. If asked which of these two took precedence, of course it would be my work as an exclusive butler, but it wasn’t like I could disregard a summon from a teacher either. Naturally, my Lady would understand that, but her words just now were sharp.

That being said, I couldn’t do anything on the matter. Since the day I was invited to the party that was attended by the family and friends who supported the royal family, which became a stepping stone for Fol一no, Princess Folcenia一to return to high society, I was often away from Lady Sophia’s side.

I had gone to the Dark guild many times because of the incident that happened during her Social Studies, and I had a pretend date with Isabella, as part of our plan to investigate the matter with the Dollmaker of Frau.

Regardless of what I was doing, that I was doing something had most likely reached her ears. Despite swearing to always protect her, I was away from her side more often than not. So it was only natural for her to glare at me with scornful eyes. For this reason-, I thought, and peered into my Lady’s face.

“Do you remember what I swore to you the first time that I stood before you, my Lady?”

“That it goes without saying when I am happy, but that even when I get lonely or when I am in pain, you will always be by my side. You will always, always protect me as my ally. That’s what you said.”

My eyes widened slightly when she repeated my words without any hesitation. Even if she had remembered my promise to be by her side, I didn’t expect that she would remember it in such detail to be able to immediately recite my words from memory. Unconsciously, I grinned.

“That’s right. I have not forgotten this promise.”

“I am not doubting your words. But… Please, don’t strain yourself too much, alright?”

“As you wish.”

“Only replying ‘as you wish’ is no good. Promise me properly. If you don’t, I won’t believe you.”

Lady Sophia gave me a questioning look. I understood what she wanted to say. ‘People, such as daughters of noblemen, mustn’t simply make statements that could be taken as a pledge. Do not lie, but keep the truth ambiguous.’ I was the one who had taught her this. She must even have realized that I was being purposefully evasive.

“I promise. I will be operating behind the scenes in many ways from now on too, but I won’t strain myself too much, in any way.”

“…Then you’re stating that doing things, to this extent, isn’t too much for you at all?”

“Very good.”

When I responded to her with an impish smile, the young Lady put on a sullen expression. It seemed that I had gone a little too far with my joke.

“I sincerely apologize. Then, I shall swear that I won’t cause you to feel saddened in the slightest.”

Using my fingers, I picked up a single strand of my Lady’s hair and then placed a pledge kiss on her beautiful platinum blonde hair. The instant I did so, Lady Sophia’s cheeks became bright red.

“Cy-Cyril. What if someone saw us? I-I will have you take responsibility, you… know?”

“Do not worry.”

“Eh?”

“I would never make the mistake of allowing someone to see us.”

“…Y-yeah?”

“Anyway, I will be headed to teacher Tristan’s now, so please return to the mansion, young Lady. The violin teacher is scheduled to come today.”

“…Cyril, you meanie!”

My Lady pouted and got into the carriage. Then, I watched the carriage drive off and made my way to teacher Tristan’s laboratory, located in the royal castle, where he waited for me.

I went through all the formalities at the castle’s gate. When I walked into the laboratory inside the castle, teacher Tristan was writing something at a fast pace. When he noticed me, he put the pen aside and raised his head.

“Thank you for coming, Cyril. I apologize for not calling you over sooner.”

“No need, we’re both very busy.”

Tristan was a transmigrator and my older sister from my previous world. But only a very small number of people knew about this, so I had continued to interact with him as a student in charge of his class.

“Haven’t you been worried about this for some time?”

“A little. However, if this were a matter that you had to inform me about early, lest it be too late, you would have contacted me even if you had to force things to make it so, wouldn’t you?”

Of course, I knew my sister’s personality, but I also knew the personality of the original work’s teacher Tristan. Most importantly, anyone would understand once they looked at how Tristan acted in regards to the matter with Fol. The man, a mix of my sister and teacher Tristan, was someone who would use any means necessary if needed. The fact that he hadn’t done so in this case was, without a doubt, because it hadn’t been necessary to hurry to give me the information. 

“Well, it’s exactly as you say. Although it’s gotten to the point where you can no longer disinvolve yourself.”

“…Speaking of which, has ‘The Eve of the Festival’ already started?”

This was the message that Fol had delivered to me. She didn’t seem to know any details, and the contents of the message itself were ambiguous as well, but it let me know that the time of ‘The Eve of the Festival’一in other words, the side story to the original work, ‘Espressivo of Light and Darkness’ was set right about this time. After all, judging by its name, it was the eve of the festival. It took place a little bit earlier than the original game; in other words, it was easy to imagine that it was set to happen right about now.

“Exactly. Its prologue is already over, but it should be possible to minimize the damages under these circumstances. Although it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it all depends on you.”

“Can you please tell me about it?” 

After asking, teacher Tristan led me to sit down on a sofa. A young girl who appeared out of nowhere placed tea in front of us.

“Lynette, I’m sorry about this, but could you leave the room for a bit?”

“Yes, of course. I won’t disturb your precious time together.”

…Precious? I tilted my head in puzzlement and watched the girl’s back as she took her leave.

“Don’t worry. She’s an airhead.”

“…Huh? Airhead?”

After making sure that the girl called Lynette had left the room, I turned back around. For some reason, teacher Tristan put his hand to his forehead and sighed.

“What she says and how she behaves. She seems to have knowledge not only of otome games, but even BL. But, as far as I have researched, she doesn’t have even a speck of memories of our previous world.”

“Hahaha… I see.”

Now that he mentioned it, the way she looked at us as she murmured ‘precious’ was a little… Well, I felt like I was watching my older sister from my previous world. But, Tristan said that she wasn’t a transmigrator, just an airhead that existed in this world.

“Anyway, there’s no one else here besides us now, so it’s alright if you want to be more casual, you know.”

""

“…No need, but I appreciate the thought.”

Although I would use words from my previous world inside my head, I was more accustomed to speaking politely when I spoke out loud. I would have felt uncomfortable if I were to talk like I used to in my previous world at that point.

“Hehe, I see. I’ve also grown used to speaking like this.”

“It would certainly feel very out of place if you were to speak like my sister while looking like this.”

A somewhat somber-looking, handsome man. It would be a terrible sin, in many ways, if he were to start speaking or acting like my older sister.  

“And we’ve gone off topic. Let’s get back on track.”

“…Please.”

The important thing was ‘The Eve of the Festival’s summary and cast. I braced myself so that I wouldn’t seem startled, no matter the story’s content.

“First off, the heroine is the daughter of Count Ford, Miss Pamela, whom you are well acquainted with.”

“I… see. So she’s the heroine…”

Pamela was a beautiful young Lady with a mole under her left eye. This young Lady, who had collapsed during the middle school entrance exams due to her diet, currently belonged to Lady Sophia’s faction.

“Well, it’s certainly impossible for me to cut ties with her because she’s already in the same faction. Although, since we also have a good relationship, it doesn’t seem like I have too much to worry too much.”

“No, you’re the issue, Cyril.”

“Me?”

“That’s right. Just as there was an encounter event between Miss Alicia and His Highness Prince Alforth, there was an encounter event between Miss Pamela and His Highness Prince Lancelot. And this event was…”

Teacher Tristan was looking at me with an indescribable expression on his face. I felt as if, deep inside his eyes, I could see my older sister shining through, looking exasperated. I hadn’t the slightest idea as to why my older sister was making such a face.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Yep, that’s exactly it. You’ve triggered the event instead of His Highness Prince Lancelot, the capture target of the main route.”

“…”

Prince Lancelot, in other words, the First Prince. According to teacher Tristan, the one who cared for Pamela after she collapsed during the middle school entrance exams was Prince Lancelot on the grounds of being the main route’s capture target.

“…Was it when I caught her in my arms before she fell down?”

“Yes. Also, in the original work, she was brought to the infirmary and they first met there. But you abandoned your own exam and caught her before she could collapse onto the floor.”   

“…You make it sound like it’s become a big event. However, currently, there is no indication that I took the First Prince’s position.”

Not even in my dreams did I believe that it was possible for me to take the Second Prince’s position when I interfered with Alicia. But this was different. Although I was aware that my clumsy actions were connected to Lady Sophia falling into darkness, I couldn’t just stay indifferent. I would pay extra attention to any affection from Pamela.

Certainly, Pamela might be fond of me because I had saved her, but that was nothing more than a feeling of gratitude. I probably wouldn’t become one of her capture targets.

“Since Miss Pamela doesn’t have an aggressive1 personality by nature, I cannot be completely at ease, but… these could surely be unfounded fears. However, the problem is the villainous daughters. There’s three of them.”

“…Huh?”

“A villainous daughter was attached to each of the three main capture targets in ‘The Eve of the Festival’.”

“T-there are three villainous daughters on the s-same level as Lady Sophia…?”

Even though Lady Sophia alone was someone capable of ruling this country, with three people like that… won’t the world be destroyed?

“Calm down. Lady Sophia being so outstanding and exceptional is the result of you raising her.”

“…Ah, now that you mention it, you’re right.”

Although Lady Sophia had fallen into darkness in the original work, her scheming abilities hadn’t been at a high level at all. If the villainous daughters were on the same level as the original work’s Lady Sophia, they might not really be that dangerous.

“Although Lady Sophia was one of them.”

“Wha?” I unconsciously spat out. 

No, but…isn’t that really bad? It’s ‘the’ Lady Sophia! The young Lady who declared that, for the sake of her own goal, she would even turn the heavens一in other words, even the royal family一into her enemies, and who was capable enough to actually achieve those goals. Was there a route where she would fall into darkness as a villainous daughter once more…?

No, calm down. The circumstances of the original work and reality were different, so it shouldn’t be possible for Lady Sophia to fall into darkness… As long as I didn’t do anything unnecessary.

“By the way, the route Lady Sophia is the main villain in is…?”

“The route of young Master Ernest, the youngest one of Lady Sophia’s older brothers.”

…Young master Ernest? Pamela getting married to Young Master Ernest was a possibility I could understand, but why would Lady Sophia stand in their way as a villainous daughter then?

No, before that-

“But doesn’t Young Master Ernest already have an escort partner?”

Ernest was currently studying abroad and was scheduled to return to the Londobell Academy next year. But Master Ernest was always accompanied by the same young Lady. An escort partner didn’t have to necessarily become one’s fiancée, but when this companion was of the opposite sex and there was no blood relation, most of the time they were the other’s fiancée or fiancée candidates.

I wondered if there was some sort of plotline such as Ernest being unfaithful because of Pamela. If that were the case, then it would seem likely that the young Lady would fall into darkness as the villainous daughter, but…

“Considering it’s you, you’re quite lacking in research. That lady really is Young Master Ernest’s childhood friend, but they’re definitely not in love. They’re just acting as each other’s shield.”

This information came from teacher Tristan. And according to my older sister’s information, who had played the original game, although this young Lady seemed to have feelings for him, she wasn’t someone who would become a villainous daughter and hinder him in the slightest.

“Then, the reason for Lady Sophia standing in their way as a villainous daughter is…?”

“Her being in a bad mood was because her beloved older brother was being taken away from her.”

This information made me recall Lady Sophia’s and Master Ernest’s relationship. However, while they were on genuinely good terms, I didn’t believe that they were close enough for Lady Sophia to fall into darkness because of her older brother being taken away.

“I really can’t picture it.”

“That’s because you’re picturing the actual Lady Sophia.”

“I see, so you’re saying that she was like that in ‘The Eve of the Festival’.”

There weren’t really any particular depictions of her relationship to her brother in ‘Espressivo of Light and Darkness’. In other words, it was something added into ‘The Eve of the Festival’. But since the original work’s Lady Sophia was starved for affection from her family, it wasn’t strange for her to hold her brother, who was just one year older, dear. No, more importantly, the problem was-

“I don’t think it’s possible, but, is there any chance that Lady Sophia could fall into ruin?”

“There isn’t. But… no, perhaps I must tell you precisely for that reason. In the end, she would end up becoming Miss Pamela’s friend, but, given that we know she ended up falling into ruin in the first game, it’s quite heartrending…”

“Oh, that’s…”

Lady Sophia was popular despite acting like a villainous daughter because of the kindness that she would display from time to time. If something like that happened in ‘The Eve of the Festival’, then she was bound to become even more popular. For her to be beyond redemption despite this… It was too cruel.

“Ah, it all depends on how you look at it. If she doesn’t fall into ruin, there’s no need to worry. Even if we were to enter Young Master Ernest’s route, Lady Sophia, most likely, won’t fall into ruin.

“If anything, you becoming Lady Pamela’s capture target would be the dangerous thing.”

“…Guh.”

I was certainly scared of that, but there were no such signs coming from Pamela. More importantly, since there was already a precedent from the situation with Alicia, in the unlikely event that it might come to happen, it would probably work out somehow as long as I handled myself well.

“Let’s set that topic aside for the time being. Would you tell me about the villainous daughter and the rough scenario in Prince Lancelot’s route?”

“Her Highness, Princess Folcenia, becomes the villainous daughter in the First Prince’s route.”

“…Fol?”

Even though I had just been told that she would turn into a villainous daughter, it didn’t ring true, I thought. But after I heard the plotline, I understood.

At the time of the sequel, Prince Lancelot was being pressured by the people around him to choose a fiancée quickly because Lady Sophia had just managed to get engaged to Prince Alforth using her parents’ political influence.

It was very likely that the First Prince, Prince Lancelot, would be appointed as Crown Prince and become future king. But this status quo had crumbled due to the Second Prince, Prince Alforth, joining together with the Roseberg Marquis household. 

But Prince Lancelot’s older cousin, Her Highness Princess Folcenia, whom he secretly yearned for, was suffering from an incurable illness. Since she was fated to die soon, he wasn’t able to choose her as his fiancée.

Despite this, Prince Lancelot was being urged to pick a fiancée. Prince Lancelot, fed up with the situation, then met Pamela, the daughter of a Count.

At first, they became friends, able to confide in each other about their hardships. From then on, they learned about the other’s situation and they were attracted to each other, but Count Ford’s household was no match for Marquis Rosenberg’s. Fol was concerned about her cousin, so she opposed the couple, acting as a villainous daughter, in order to test Pamela.

But, in the end, Fol approved of Pamela after she passed her test, and Fol drew her last breath as she told Pamela that she entrusted her with Prince Lancelot. Apparently, the route ended with the two of them paying a visit to Fol’s grave.

“…Do the scriptwriters have some grudges against villainous daughters or something…?”

“Apparently the theme was supposed to be: ‘Sometimes, one’s efforts get rewarded, while other times, they don’t.’”

Were the people getting rewarded shining just because there were others who got no reward? While it might be the right kind of scenario to attract audiences, it really was unbearable for those who became the actual characters. 

“But, thanks to you, Lady Fol’s sickness is no longer incurable. Considering the fact that Lady Sophia isn’t engaged, the chances of entering the usual route are slim.”

“You’re right. The risk of that is probably quite small.”

Even if Pamela and Prince Lancelot were to fall in love with each other, it wouldn’t be that big of a problem. Seeing that Fol was able to escape her fate of dying soon, she probably wouldn’t be taking any extreme actions either.

However, she was taught by teacher Tristan. So if she, by some chance, became an enemy, it would be very troublesome… but I was convinced that such a development wouldn’t happen.

“So, who are the characters of the last route?”

“The third son of the emperor Flamefield and his seventh younger half-sister2.”

“Another younger sister in this route as well…”

The villainous daughters were two younger sisters and one older cousin. Was this game’s hidden theme ‘brother complex’3 or something?

“Unless you personally interfere with his route, the chances of you getting involved in it are low. However, in case you do get involved, you need to be careful because his younger sister’s abilities are outstanding.”

“…I hear nothing but ‘flags’.”

I mean, there was a villain who had been raised by teacher Tristan and also Lady Sophia, who was raised by me. There was also a princess from a neighboring country who was very capable to begin with. It could be said that the abilities of all the three villainous daughters were outstanding. It was unclear which route would Pamela enter, but it might be best not to concern myself with it too much. 

“It does certainly sound like a flag, but you can put it to rest for the time being. Those two will come to study here from abroad once you become third-year students. There’s still over a year left.”

“You mean to say that the original game’s story began when we became third year students?”

“No, the duration of the story is two years, from the second to the third year.”

I nodded in understanding but then I suddenly tilted my head in puzzlement. 

“I remember hearing that Fol wouldn’t be able to live until graduation. Were you the one who told her that?”

“It’s necessary to have a source of comfort even while in despair.”

“…So it’s like that.”

If someone were told that they had one year to live but passed away in half a year, there would be nothing but despair. But if someone were able to live for half a year after being told that they only had three months left, they would die feeling accomplishment that they had done their best. This was the reason why she was told that she wouldn’t live until graduation. Of course, another intention behind it was to spur me, the transmigrator Tristan had set his sights on, into action.

“Ah, moreover, if you tried to capture all the three targets in ‘The Eve of the Festival’ at once, all three villainous daughters would become your enemies, and you would fall into ruin. I don’t think there’s any need to worry about that happening in reality, but just be careful.”

“…Thank you for the warning.”

I couldn’t imagine Pamela three-timing4, but a timeline where she ended up turning three villainous daughters of Lady Sophia’s caliber into her enemies by some chance was too horrifying.

“Well, that’s all the routes of ‘The Eve of the Festival’.”

That’s not a lot of capture targets, I thought, but ‘The Eve of the Festival’ apparently was classified as DLC.5. Specifically, there were added substories with the main game’s capture targets.

“You’ve been of great help.”

“No, I made you save Lady Fol. Something like this doesn’t even count as repaying the favor. Moreover, you’re…”

Teacher Tristan gazed at my face intently. I spotted hues of concern and fondness in his eyes. I perfectly understood what the continuation of his一no, hers一sentence was going to be.

“Thank you for your concern for me, big sister.”

“Although I am your uncle now.”

I smiled, and thanked him once more and left the laboratory.

For the time being, I would have to pay close attention to Pamela’s actions. I had to avoid becoming her capture target. In addition, I had to avert the future in which Pamela would three-time the targets and fall into ruin as well.

At that time, I thought that, if I were to simply avert those two situations from happening, not only would Lady Sophia not fall into darkness, but the especially dangerous developments wouldn’t happen either. However, I thought this way because I had misunderstood a fundamental part of it.

I learned of this fact through a chance meeting that happened right after. When I left the laboratory and walked down the hallway in order to leave the castle, His Highness, Prince Lancelot, appeared before me.

And so the third volume has started! Very curious to see what it has in store for us!

The first chapter already has a surprising twist in it!

Thank you for reading and for your support!