The game’s main story doesn’t delve into the detailed daily lives of characters.
Of course, there are parts where everyday life exists—like attending classes, going to the library to study, or wandering around campus to chat with other students. There are even quests where a teacher sends you on errands.
In the process, depending on how you interact with certain characters, you build relationship points, and based on that, you can experience specific events with those characters at certain times—like going on dates or accidentally running into each other… and ultimately, kissing.
In the first playthrough, the setting is “time is limited,” making it impossible to talk to everyone, but in the second playthrough, you can chat without restrictions, leading to the ability to randomly pick any heroine or male character in the end.
Choosing a male character doesn’t trigger a BL route or anything like that… it ends on a friendship ending. Of course, there are certain players who diligently extract every last drop from that.
In reality, the story’s endings are predetermined, so it’s only depicted at the level of experiencing events of becoming lovers or close friends before that point. So, is it really that important? It’s more like a dimensional service in the game allowing you to have a chance to date your favorite heroine.
In the sequel, if you connect your data with the previous game, the story continues with the premise that you were dating a heroine from the first game. If you don’t have a save file, it’ll ask whom you were linked with from the start. And since the game’s story isn’t heavily tied to romantic outcomes, whatever choice you make, the story will progress similarly. During story progress, the romance can fade into the background, allowing you to switch to other characters by the end.
However… the fact that romance can be so casual in the story is merely a game mechanic, and it wouldn’t be the same here. You can’t just casually transition to being “friends” if you break up. It would also be strange if there were no conflicts among the female characters.
On top of that, the relationships between the characters have changed drastically due to my existence.
…Will this really play out like the original? Hasn’t it already deviated from the original? I’m not sure if knowing the original story will actually help.
“Sylvia.”
While I was sitting and preparing for class, lost in thought, Alice, sitting next to me, spoke up.
“Yes.”
“What’s your plan for the student council?”
The moment I answered, Alice wasted no time in asking that.
…Right.
There was a student council too.
Alice was in the student council in the original story as well.
The student council is chosen 100% by the recommendation of the student council president. Only the president is purely elected by a vote. Naturally, the student council president usually has a good reputation, a wide network, or both.
In other words, it’s almost impossible for a commoner to become the student council president. Unsurprisingly, there are no commoners in the student council.
In some sense, it’s not much different from the political landscape of the country. Most commoners don’t even have time to vote because they’re busy working. Even if they do, they don’t know who anyone is. Since the emperor is the head of the administration, most appointed ministers are nobles, and those who can run for parliament and have the time and money to campaign are all nobles. The number of nobles is overwhelmingly fewer than commoners, but they dominate the voting rate. This political landscape extends to the academy as well.
Even if commoner students try to elect a commoner as student council president… well, any family that can send their children here probably has strong connections to nobility. They usually get filtered in during the entrance exams, first before the test, then again afterwards.
Anyway, since the student council operates that way, if a child from a high-status family enrolls, it’s customary for the student council president to recommend them as a member. That’s not just done as a formality; if they’re willing, they really get to take part. If someone doesn’t want to, they’re not forced into it.
If I’m talking about Alice, she will most likely be recommended for the same role here rather than in the original story.
“I haven’t thought about it yet.”
I replied while taking out the first period’s textbook from my bag.
In the original story, joining the student council was optional. However, when you do join, there’s an additional benefit of increasing Alice’s relationship points, and there are events and items exclusive to the student council. Above all, if you want to create character cards, you must join.
Moreover, becoming a member of the student council is treated as a hidden quest. To earn the silver medal, you must join, and there’s also a minor benefit of increasing Alice’s affinity, which means extra action points that can boost other characters’ affinities as well in the first playthrough. The quest rewards also help somewhat in the first playthrough.
In other words, what you gain from joining the student council amounts to adding minor events to the daily life parts and gaining access to the student council room, so it becomes unnecessary in the second playthrough. In a second playthrough with limitless action points, it’s entirely possible to max out Alice’s relationship gauge purely with the events found between main events.
And I had no reason to earn a platinum medal here. Reality wasn’t a game.
“Really? Then should I put your name in too?”
“…….”
But it seems Alice doesn’t think that way.
When I stopped moving and turned to look at Alice, she gazed back at me with a questioning expression.
“What? Are you not going to?”
Alice looked at me as if finding me strange.
Hmm…
Honestly, I don’t really feel like it.
Once you hear the explanation, you’ll understand, but the student council in this academy is essentially a place to showcase how strong the nobility’s privileges are—inside the game and out.
Even when Leo joined, he often faced various dismissals for being from a baron’s family. Of course, Alice drove those kids away with, “How dare you treat someone who has been awarded nobility by the emperor?”
Naturally, as a crown princess, I wouldn’t face any dismissals. While you sometimes see “dukes older than the royal family” in fantasy novels, in the context of this game, the empire’s founding effectively dates back to the mythological era known as the “Creation,” and there’s no name older than Fanggriffon in this world.
Still… it’s not a place I want to go.
It may be expressed as a simple quest, but in reality, it’s a place where there’s a ton of work to do.
Furthermore, considering that only real highborns are present, it might be difficult to maintain a straight face.
“……Do you not want to?”
As I kept staring blankly, Alice asked with a somewhat pitiful expression.
In the original story, Alice was included in the student council at some point, but still, there must have been a moment when Alice joined the student council in that original storyline.
And it’s not like Alice had any noble friends with whom she had established connections.
Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.
If it gets too troublesome, I could just rewind time or something.
“Alright then. Can we go together after school?”
“Yeah, that was the answer I was hoping for. After all, you’ll be getting an invitation too, right?”
That’s true. It’s probably coming soon. Maybe it’s already arrived in front of my dorm room.
“Sylvia!”
Before I could even convey my thoughts to Alice, someone interjected between us.
“Hey there!”
Naturally, it was Claire.
“…….”
What should I even say?
Truthfully, I tend to be quite stingy with greetings. The only person I normally greet is the emperor, and even then, my greetings lack any human warmth, like “Did you have a good day, Your Majesty?” or “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Imperial Majesty.”
Considering what my character is like, there’s often no real need for me to greet anyone.
Even when Jayden and Lucas are making a racket right beside me, I’d just ignore them. In fact, the emperor’s children and Alice are usually the ones who easily strike up conversations even if I don’t say anything in the morning.
Thinking back, I even introduced myself instead of greeting on our first meeting.
So now, trying to greet her feels incredibly awkward. It’d be easier if no one else was around. But with Alice right next to me, who has seen how I usually act, it’s difficult to blunder my way through it.
“Ah, hello…?”
Still, it was unusual that Claire didn’t use the term “sister” as she said that as if trying to keep to the promise of what I’d said.
“Doing it that way won’t mean much.”
Alice, sitting next to me, rested her chin in her hand and chuckled lightly, finding the situation amusing.
“Sylvia doesn’t really handle greetings well. She rarely greets others first.”
Nice one, Alice.
That’s right. The character I’m maintaining is a cool… beauty character. Hmm, it’s certainly correct that there’s no way for me to be ‘dere,’ so perhaps ‘cool beauty’ fits better than ‘cool dere.’
The idea of a character who smiles and greets like that only happens after they start valuing their friends.
In fact, I had felt some degree of intimacy already before we even met, and I considered them precious in my own way, but they don’t know that. So maintaining this character is what’s important for now.
Who knows when that day may come?
There might come a time when, after finishing the final battle, I awkwardly tell the kids talking to me, “I really don’t know what expression to make in moments like this.”
Someone might even ask if I’m a reverse harem character, but honestly, that animation doesn’t even exist here!
“W-Was it like that?”
Worried that I might hate her, Claire sighed deeply upon hearing Alice’s words.
“Oh dear, that would be a trouble.”
And amid such conversation, yet another person interjected.
If you were to write down the tone of her voice without even needing to listen, it would be immediately understood that it was Charlotte.
With her beautiful platinum hair curling slightly at the ends, Charlotte sat next to Alice, moving like a scene from a drawing.
As she hung her student bag, reminiscent of a briefcase often seen in Japanese subculture, Charlotte said,
“If you’re a member of royalty, it’s best to be polite in your greetings. Even if someone has a low title, they are surely worthy of respect.”
“Hello, Charlotte.”
“I trust you are well, Alice.”
Alice lightly greeted Charlotte, to which Charlotte replied equally gently.
It was a truly pleasant sight. The truth is, throughout the first game… well, not throughout the entire series, but until the early to mid-part of this Aetherna Empire series, Alice always wore a stiff and tense expression.
It seems my efforts in boosting her confidence really helped.
…Well, it’s quite something that Charlotte shows the same attitude toward me as she did when I acted rudely in front of her father.
“And oh, Sylvia.”
After greeting Charlotte, Alice turned back toward me and spoke.
“There are times when you should greet your father first, especially when meeting the duke family that was once part of the old royal lineage.”
Though her head still remains upright.
Moreover, all those dukes are on the list of people pending cleansing. No matter how many hundreds of years have passed since the kingdoms became part of the empire, the people from that region possess strong regional characteristics. There’s even a significant regional sentiment among the people from the capital and the northern folks.
“…I always strive to act with courtesy.”
“No, just using honorifics doesn’t mean it’s respectful…”
Upon my reply, Alice let out a long sigh.
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