From the hallway, the royal messenger frantically ran into the throne room.

“Your majesty, the Duke Adrian-“

“I have already received the news.” Sitting on the throne, the king, a man who had yet to reach his forties, interrupted the messenger.

“Fortunately there were no casualties, however, I heard Lady Charlotte and Duke Adrian got injured …How are their conditions?”

With his head lowered, the messenger answered “Currently, they are resting at the prime minister’s estate after receiving treatment.”

“I see. You are dismissed.”

The messenger then quickly left and the king remained alone. Or not.

“Cedric, immediately sent out our secret agents and investigate this matter.” From the shadows behind the throne, a knight came forward and received his orders.

“Sigh…what to do? Now then, I suppose I should pay a visit to my old friend.”

After a two hour ride on horseback, the three safely (?) arrived at the capital. Duke Adrian then received an escort from the gate keepers and went to his old friend, the prime minister, Vander.

The prime minister was a man in his early forties with a rather round tummy. Unlike his appearance, he was a friendly man and warmly welcomed the guests and even called for a doctor to look at the pair of father and daughter. After having her wound finally treated, she was lent a guest room and fell asleep.

King August arrived some time later, and the adults went into a different room for their little reunion. But this wasn’t exactly the time for this.

“Who were they after? What was their goal?”

“I suspect that someone is trying to get rid of the entire Ionesse household. Well, we do have a lot of enemies.”

“Adrian, is that any way to speak? Your daughter almost got killed!” the king retorted back. Even the Prime Minister Vander wasn’t in the mood for jokes.

“Do you think I don’t know that? But, worrying too much about it will get us nowhere.”

King August sighed “I’ve already sent some people to investigate that matter. As for the results, don’t expect too much.”

“I know. They’re quite the scheming bastards after all.”

==

“Looks like I can move again. Phew~” Charlotte sat up with her back straight. She moved around. This time, she was able to move as SHE pleased and there were no signs of that freaky feeling of moving on her own.

“But…aren’t I technically the one who’s invading here?”

In a sense: yes.

She closed her eyes slightly and tried to collect her thoughts.

Up till now, the people she met were al similar from the game. No, they were the same. Then the only conclusion she could come up with was that she one way or another got stuck in this world.

She tried to see if she could remember what really happened again.

(Ah, I think I got a phone call from an unknown number. Let’s see~ afterwards~ Oh, yeah…)

She remembered hearing a familiar man’s voice on the other end of the phone and then dashed out the apartment, into the back alley of her apartment and then everything else was just blank and hazy. No matter how much she tried, everything beyond that point was hazy. Several theories crossed her mind on what could have happened. She shuddered.

(Let’s forget about that.)

She needed to concentrate on her current situation first.

In the game, charlotte was just a background character that met her death quite early in the game. Thus, the fact that she was still here was in itself an irregular.

According to the story, Charlotte was on her way to a marriage interview with the crown prince who was two years older than her. But, on her way, she got assassinated. This led to some serious trouble in the kingdom and an internal war broke out.

(But if the story changed in the very beginning, what will happen?)

Will the world itself crumble after changing completely or will it continue according to what happens next?

(Argh! This is driving me insane! I really am not cut out for this kind of brain work.)

“Forget it. Whatever the hell happens, will just happen. If this is some freakishly realistic dream, then even better.”

Charlotte checked the cut that had been on her shoulder. It doesn’t hurt when she moves around. Is this thanks to the healing magic?

“Right…since charlotte died at the very beginning, she doesn’t have a role.”

Assuming this really is the world inside or similar to the game, then dangers lurked around every corner, literally. Just like a few hours ago, if she wanted to survive, she needed to prepare herself.

“Thankfully gramps was such a Sparta teacher that I still remember every detail…ugh, I still have those nightmares….”

First things first, she needed to strengthen her body. With such a weak and frail body, it was possible that even a small gust of wind could blow her away.

“But for the time being….”

Her eyes landed on the black and red fan next to her bed, then to the stack of paper and pen and ink on the small coffee table.

“If I remember right, there should be a skilled blacksmith in town. Fufufu~ in this world, I doubt the materials don’t exist.”

And so, instead of going to rest, she began to scribble down on a piece of paper until she was satisfied with the results.