LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 12
Playing with Settings is the fun part of taking only the interesting bits from the lore and playing around with them.
I’ve always loved Chronicles of Aetherna, so I wanted to memorize as much of the game series’ universe as I could. I read everything in minute detail — the myths, continents, countries, magic, and culture that are part of the world…
I bought hefty lore books to read, and I devoured every last text presented as ‘books’ in the game without fail, from the descriptions of monsters and beasts to explanations of enemies and the character notes filled after events with characters.
Since the series released one installment a year, there wasn’t much else to do while waiting for the next installment after clearing one. I did play other games in between, and I played all the previous titles released before clearing the latest work, but after enjoying a single series for seven years, it was inevitable that I’d run out of things to munch on.
Moreover, even though the series had been ongoing for a long time, there were periodic resets in the lore.
Even if I gathered all the texts from within the game, adding the lore book, you could roughly say that summarizing a single universe would require about the thickness of three books, assuming that’s the case.
So, it’s all fun to read.
…The problem is when that becomes ‘real life.’
Scenes that briefly show “there are dark alleys like this” in the game exist as hundreds of papers in the real world, showing endless examples and arguments about how to resolve such poverty issues.
History is the same. While games neatly summarize only important parts in the main storyline, the history of this world is as thick and dull as the history books from the world I lived in, and there are many discussions about vague parts with differing interpretations based on the characters being discussed.
Steam engines, firearms, and magic. Even the core elements that make up the world split into disciplines like materials science, mechanical engineering, chemistry, physics, magic science, magical engineering… it was brain-smashing!
Even the foundational science that penetrated all those theories was, surprisingly, mathematics.
And I was a math dropout who completely gave up on math back in high school.
…Do I have to dig into the lore and deal with math too?
*
But understanding all of that to some extent wasn’t entirely impossible for me.
After all, I had only time on my hands.
Even if I didn’t understand a book, I could rewind time to understand it thoroughly before moving on. I could ask the same tutor a hundred or even a thousand times and wouldn’t care; I’d probably only look like I was asking once.
Besides, there were quite a few significant benefits that came from the process of understanding things that way.
“Indeed, you are the Crown Princess!”
The tutor exclaimed with a bright face, clapping their hands.
The title Crown Princess still felt awkward to me, but I couldn’t really ask this person to use a different title. After all, I was indeed the Crown Princess in reality.
Of course, this had several different implications compared to the real Crown Princess, Alice, but that was irrelevant to this teacher. As long as they could use the catchphrase “I was the tutor of such a talented Crown Princess,” that was all that mattered.
“I really don’t know how you understand everything I say right away. You have a natural talent, Crown Princess! You will surely excel at the Imperial Academy!”
…It felt a bit over the top, but I just managed to keep a blank expression.
Of course, I had no intention of becoming an expert in any field. My sole goal was to enter the Imperial Academy.
In the game, they ask just a couple of questions in the exam and move on, but reality surely wouldn’t be so easy. I’d have to solve dozens of problems in a strict atmosphere akin to real exams in a limited time.
Well… there’s also the method of seeing the exam problems and rewinding time, but that would just reveal my usual lack of preparation.
So, it’d be best to maintain a ‘smart and capable’ image regularly.
Then why am I trying to get into the Imperial Academy? The original Claire didn’t enroll from the start; she was inserted by the Emperor into the story midway.
The reason I’m keen on attending the Imperial Academy myself is…
Isn’t it obvious? I loved Chronicles of Aetherna. I held immense affection for the characters that appeared in it.
To think I could spend my school days with such characters?
How could I resist?
Sure, I’m currently under the Emperor, who is the head of the evil faction in the game, which might lead to conflicts with the protagonist’s party, but even that felt like a thrilling opportunity for me.
In the original story, several characters die. Depending on the choices the protagonist makes, some characters must die. While which characters perish depends on the choices made, at least two or three die permanently, including Claire.
That’s how it was in the latest installment I played. I heard the sequel plans to carry over those results via save data.
Of course, players had no faith in that small company maintaining continuity until the series conclusion. The majority opinion was that they’d make the early parts grim but revive characters later on, and I shared that view too.
Yet still…
Still, I really disliked the idea of a character I cherished dying.
So, I would prevent it. Under the Emperor and having earned some trust, I believed it wouldn’t be impossible.
*
“……”
Well, thinking like that has had its side effects as I ended up studying harder than when I was a mere student.
Like right now, with Alice glaring at me from across.
We both turn fourteen this year.
In this world, one enters the Academy at fifteen. By the end of this year, I’d be taking the entrance exam, and there, the top scorers would receive benefits upon entering the Academy, where we’d study for four years, taking exams each semester to determine our grades.
To think I’d be moving from middle school to high school, analogous to entering high school in Korea.
In the original story, the top scorer at the time of entry was Crown Princess Alice.
“…How did you do it?”
Alice asked with a husky voice. I could practically hear the jealousy dripping from her tone.
Alice had made just five mistakes across all subjects in the entrance exam. The test at the Imperial Academy of Londarium is notoriously difficult, and generally, scoring 450 out of 500 gets you labeled a genius, so naturally, Alice, who entered with 487 points, was among the smartest of the smart. It was the achievement of Alice, who worked hard wanting to shine brighter than her “siblings.”
“……”
I quietly looked down at the mock exam paper in my hands.
There it had a score of 495 written on it.
Just for reference, mock exams are usually assessed to be somewhat harder than actual exams.
…Did I study too hard?
“……”
The fact that I didn’t answer seemed to cause Alice’s face to turn beet red.
“…Tell me. Did you really solve that entirely on your own?”
Um…
If we’re being precise, I guess that holds true?
If rewinding time counts as my ‘skill’, then it was all about securing enough study time and memorizing everything.
Plus, while Alice was studying for four hours with only four hours of sleep, I was able to comfortably sleep a full eight hours. Others, including Alice, would probably see me as not just smart but truly a genius.
…Did I go too far?
“…I was just lucky.”
“Lucky?”
That was a forced explanation I made up.
“Yes, there were a few problems I didn’t know, and it seems I guessed right for some answers based on intuition. If I remember correctly, for those five problems, if you had left any blank, Your Highness would’ve definitely scored higher than me.”
However, to make sure I didn’t sound too contrived, I kept my usual tone calm.
“As you well know, Your Highness, I’ve always been a bit luckier than others.”
Whenever various situations arose, I had solved them by foreseeing the future and rewinding time to address the issues. Despite appearing somewhat competent, there were definitely moments that could only look like luck.
Naturally, some people viewing me thought I was incredibly lucky.
Well, I agree that I’m lucky too.
Honestly, one of the protagonists I loved was right in front of me.
“…Hmm.”
Alice narrowed her eyes as if she wanted to verify if what I said was genuine.
Though her expression quickly softened.
“Really? Is that so?”
Seemingly aware of her own quirkiness, she spoke while trying to maintain a composed expression.
“I assure you. Your Highness, have you ever seen me lie?”
“…No.”
In the nine years of time spent in the Imperial Palace, I hadn’t betrayed anyone. Whenever given a task, I completed it quietly, and when asked questions, I answered earnestly. I never lied.
Though when it came to lies, I might have thrown nonsense and dressed it up to seem “not like a lie” instead. After all, in terms of outcomes, it usually turned out the same.
By the way, after that, the Emperor didn’t send me on any assassination missions. I have no idea what he’s thinking. There must be some hidden agenda. Nonetheless, it did make the act a bit easier.
“Hehe, I see. So, luck it is?”
In the end, Alice couldn’t hold back her laughter and her mood brightened.
…Telling lies to this girl felt kind of daunting, but with this, I figured it would suffice.
“Absolutely. Congratulations.”
“Humph.”
Alice made a huffy sound upon my words.
“Well, they do say luck is part of skill. If this was the real deal, you would have certainly taken the top spot.”
Alice said, looking at me with a fiery gaze.
“Just wait. Next time, I’ll make sure you can’t win even with luck.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
How cute.
…I’ll need to mess up at least five questions on the entrance exam.
*
And gaining another side effect besides poking at Alice’s temper was…
“Sylvia.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any interest in the world situation?”
“……”
That extremely random question flew my way during a private audience with the Emperor.
I almost blurted out “Excuse me?” but held that urge back.
“Hmm.”
The Emperor, judging my silence, cleared his throat and continued.
“In a month, there’s going to be a three-way conference between the Papal State, the Kingdom, and our Empire.”
“……”
Up until that point, I remained silently indifferent. The Emperor often called me forth to share random chatter like this, and so I figured this was just another one of those.
“However, I have a scheduling conflict and won’t be able to attend.”
And?
I struggled to suppress the questions that cropped up on my face as I continued to listen.
“So, I was wondering if you’d go in my place this time?”
“Me? You want me to?”
“Hmm?”
Ah.
I couldn’t hold it in.
…Again.
*
“…May I ask why it’s me and not someone else?”
Given that the Emperor was saying this, it was highly likely he had already made up his mind. If he had no intention of assigning me to this task, he wouldn’t have brought me to this place in the first place.
…But really, I can’t believe this is happening.
No matter how old I might be, according to official records, I’m only fourteen. At sixteen in Korean age, I was on the brink of entering my last year in the Academy — in other words, I was about to enter high school.
Even if scenes of teenagers running the world appear frequently in anime and subculture, this felt a bit too much, doesn’t it?
“That’s because I trust you. Is there any other reason?”
“……”
Hmm.
It seemed I had worked too hard for my own good.
The people around me, that is, the Emperor’s children, the true Crown Princess Alice, and the Emperor, all of them…
Whether I recognized it or not, the trust in my ‘ability’ had become somewhat…
…In recent times, my ability’s overwhelming reliability had been weighing on my mind as a side effect.