Chapter 51 51: Counter Love

Hearing that the emperor didn't care about the prince's corrupted state, my brows naturally furrowed. "Really? But why would... is he under the assumption that the two of you will get married anyway, so there's no need to worry about it?" Lucretia gave a small sigh at my question. "...Indeed. In theory, there should be no issue. If His Highness feels so strongly about Lady Tichá, he is free to take her as a concubine as he wishes. He knows very well that I wouldn't disallow it; I have always made my stance clear on that topic, just to ensure that he would not deny our future... Yet, here we are." If that was the case, then it made even less sense. Why couldn't that guy just marry the both of them? If he was to be the Emperor, it'd probably be entirely legal, and if it's not then he could just make it so, so why was he acting like such a moron for no reason...? 'Ahh, I don't get it at all... Is there something I'm missing, or is it just because of the game's setting...?' I didn't want to believe that, but I might have had no choice. To me, it didn't make sense to chalk it up to 'just being the plot' because this wasn't a game world that obeyed only the original's outline, with no natural developments of its own. That was obvious just by looking at what developments have occured since my arrival. "When the problem regarding that woman is phrased like that, of course, it maintains its logical consistency. It certainly does. However... I cannot yet help but feel something is amiss..." Admitting so in a low voice, Lucretia's hand gestured to her chest. "This is merely a feeling originating from within―instinctual rather than logical, and quite unlike myself... I don't know what it is, but it is doubtlessly so potent that it led to you being brought here, Enki." Watching her stable expression devolve into something slightly twisted as she lightly clutched at her stomach, I prompted myself to adjust the angle from which I was looking at the situation. 'Okay... for now, let's consider purely what the plot progression would be like in the original game. Since Lucretia's coming-of-age thing is bound to be a major 「scene」 in the game, I'll just go until then.' Firstly, the Protagonist, a commoner girl called Ayla, was adopted by that Count and officially brought into the Tichá family. As for why this happened, I didn't know. I didn't know if it would become a point that'd lead to anything in the future, but let's not forget it just in case. Secondly, she enrolled in the Drakon-Rasa Royal Academy. Presumably, this was the primary setting of the game; where it begins, as well as where all of the key characters, including the love interests are located. Supposedly the main chunk of the game, and the part where the player is introduced to the love interests and other main side characters. Thirdly, whatever happens once the Protagonist graduates from the academy... Right now, I know nothing about that, so no judgement can be made. It's also not something I need to concern myself with, since I absolutely won't be here for that long, no matter what. I'm not fully certain on how an Otome Game typically functions, but I'd assume it's just like any other dating sim or romance game. In that case, the player would likely have to build 'affection' with the various love interests, unlocking special events that occur whenever a certain threshold has been met. I think that's the bare bones for a romance game at least, right? I recall Ina mentioning a thing or two about it before, so I'm confident. Anyway, since one of the 「targets of interest」 also turned out to be the crown prince, that would naturally drag Lucretia, who should have originally been able to live her life without such an unexpected and problematic issue, into the role of Antagonist. Even today, I witnessed the way Lucretia acts towards her. From the player's perspective, that kind of hostile behaviour would probably only be seen as targeted bullying or harassment due to the Protagonist's status as a former commoner, or maybe out of perceived envy due to her getting close to so many popular guys like the prince. Of course, the reality was simply that the Protagonist was seducing Lucretia's fiancé-to-be, but since that fact was kept under wraps, she had to go about warning her in such a roundabout way, leading to such misunderstandings... It's impossible for me to know what kinds of 「scenes」 would occur between now and Lucretia's birthday, especially now that I'm in the picture. Incidentally, as for the birthday itself, I would assume it's a key event related to the crown prince's love route. Most likely, if the player had raised the crown prince's affection enough by that time, then he'll do something during the ceremony to oppose or prevent his and Lucretia's engagement from being announced. That sounds like the type of cliché thing that would occur. If that's true, then all I need to do to prevent it is to have someone other than the crown prince be the one with the highest amount of affection, right? And because I'm an outsider into this world, then even if I'm up against the power of the Beloved, it should very well be possible. Especially now that it seems I've more or less become a 「target of interest」 myself. The only thing is, because I'm unfamiliar with these sorts of games, it's hard to know what the Protagonist's exact goal is or what the limitations of the game's systems are. For example, if the player builds up enough affection for every love interest, then does that unlock some sort of hidden 'Polygamy Option'? Or are they permanently stuck with the decision to choose a single character of the bunch? In any case, it's very possible that the 「scene」 where the prince opposes his engagement with Lucretia will occur no matter what so long as his affection meets the threshold, even if there are other love interests with a higher affection than him. In that case, any amount of effort I try could be useless. I mean, from the way the Librarian explained it and from what I've experienced so far, it seemed like the Beloved's passive influence was pretty much copied straight from the game, and if it is like that, then this possibility is something I have to consider seriously. I suppose, then, the best course of action is to prevent the Protagonist from building up the crown prince's affection to the threshold where that 「scene」 occurs, similarly to what I had done with the mage kid? Well, more than anything else, I'd much rather have her killed before such a 「scene」 even becomes a genuine concern, but that's also not something I can guarantee. It also might not be possible to prevent the crown prince's affection from rising in the first place. After all, the main obstacle in my way was that damn #HidingTruePower Tag, wasn't it... If it weren't for that, I could've just shot her dead when I chased her behind that bush in the corner of one of the academy's gardens and be done with it already, or back in the classroom. And, if seducing the Protagonist myself turns out not to be enough to make her reveal that power to me, I might have to resort to dealing with all of the other 「targets of interest」 beforehand... Anyway, as I've reminded myself repeatedly until now, and as I will probably continue to remind myself in the future. At the end of the day, what I have to do hasn't changed. And to that end. '...I guess, If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' "Lucretia. You remember the request from earlier?" "Perhaps, could you be referring to the guarantee?" "Yeah. About that, I have something I need you to do. Do you mind helping me out?" Yet again, I'll turn the Protagonist into a fool.