“…Who are you? Why are you in this room?”
When the questioning voice of a young woman, as piercing as a biting winter wind, came from behind him, Caine was more than a little dazed.
If he remembered correctly, he had transmigrated into a prince character in some reverse-harem otome game.
Even though this appeared to be a woman’s room and his presence as a man was indeed inappropriate, he was currently draped in a cloak embroidered with the exclusive patterns of the royal family. The other party should have been well aware that he was a member of royalty.
Since she clearly knew he was a royal, wasn’t this attitude of hers—treating him like a suspicious intruder—a bit strange?
‘…Could it be that although I transmigrated as a prince, this isn’t the game’s main setting, but another country instead?’
The reason Caine was so confused was simple: he had only just arrived. He had been there for barely one minute and was still sorting out the situation. To be suddenly interrogated like this naturally left him feeling stunned.
Confusion aside, since the other party had asked a question, Caine turned around to face the young woman who had addressed him.
After all, he also wanted to ask why she didn’t recognize him, a prince.
Even though he could roughly guess her appearance from her voice, Caine was still somewhat shocked when he saw her with his own eyes.
She was a strikingly beautiful young woman, appearing to be about 20 years old. She had long, thick, flowing pale-gold hair and sharp, pale-blue eyes that resembled calm lakes. Her tall figure was accentuated by a tight-fitting uniform, paired with black tights and long-topped high heels. She looked incredibly alluring.
Beyond that, she held a silver rapier that glinted with a metallic luster. Although she looked like a valiant, cold beauty, the exquisite blue earrings she wore and other small details suggested she also had a side that appreciated feminine beauty.
Overall, she gave off the impression of an elegant, high-ranking noblewoman. Though she held a sword, she didn’t seem like a female knight, but rather a young noble lady who practiced court swordsmanship.
Of course, Caine wasn’t just surprised because she was excessively beautiful.
He was also startled by the fact that despite her beauty, he had absolutely no memory of her. Had he really messed up his transmigration location and ended up in a different country?
However, the thing that surprised him most was not her appearance, but her next words.
“Your… Your Majesty?”
Upon seeing Caine’s face, the woman, who had previously looked cold and meticulous, seemed to lose her composure. Not only did her eyes widen in shock, but her pale, thin lips also trembled as she inadvertently uttered a strange title.
“…Your Majesty? Beautiful lady, you shouldn’t throw such words around. If others heard you, it would bring you quite a bit of trouble. Fortunately, it is only the two of us here. I shall pretend I didn’t hear a thing.”
Even if the situation was complicated, Caine decided to play the role of the original prince.
While maintaining a polite and distant smile, he didn’t forget to remind the woman that she should watch her words.
If someone with ulterior motives heard a prince being called “Your Majesty,” it would surely lead to a mountain of trouble. Caine was simply offering a kind warning.
To his surprise, after hearing his words, the woman quickly reined in her loss of composure. As if she were truly having an audience with the King, she sheathed her rapier and placed her hand diagonally across her chest, bowing her head toward Caine to apologize.
“Your Majesty, I was truly disrespectful just now. I accidentally mistook you for a thief. Please forgive my insolence.”
Because she was so serious, it didn’t look like she was acting at all.
This caused Caine’s composed smile to falter slightly.
‘Wait, what is the meaning of this? I already told her I’m just a prince. Can this woman stop talking nonsense just because she’s a cold, blonde beauty with long legs?’
Even if this was a female-oriented reverse-harem game focused on romance with very little political drama, there still had to be some rules, right?
Caine was about to complain internally when the woman, having finished her apology, regained her cool expression and looked up.
“…However, Your Majesty, why have you suddenly become a man? Is it a prank from a Fairy, or have you been cursed by a hateful Witch?”
“……Huh?”
Hearing those words, the smile on Caine’s face vanished completely.
What did she mean by him “suddenly” becoming a man? He was currently the “heartbreaking prince” character. If a prince wasn’t a man, could he be a woman?
“…Is that not it? Then, perhaps you used a special magic item?”
Seeing that Caine’s reaction was different from what she had imagined, the noblewoman tilted her head in confusion, her voice sounding even more bewildered to Caine’s ears.
“…Wait a moment. Please wait a second. This is the Kingdom of Leonas, right?”
Caine, feeling a faint sense of dread, reached out a hand to signal the woman to stop so they could align their facts.
“Of course. And for the record, our current location is inside your Royal Palace.”
The noblewoman nodded. Although she couldn’t understand why Caine, as the King, was acting surprised, she remained a submissive subordinate and cooperated honestly.
“Wait, that’s exactly where the problem is. Why do you think I am the King? Isn’t the current Majesty Delt K. Latinous IV?”
After finally managing to say the name he had almost forgotten, Caine stared fixedly at the woman, as if afraid he would mishear her next words if he lost focus for even a second.
“The former King passed away two years ago. The current Majesty is you, Corellia K. Latinous.”
Then, this woman he didn’t know at all spoke, stating something completely beyond Caine’s understanding with casual ease.
What did she mean by saying the King from the original work died two years ago? He didn’t die in any of the original endings!
And who the hell was Corellia! Setting aside the fact that it was a woman’s name, only the first syllable sounded like “Caine”! Why was this person so certain that he was that Queen?
No matter how you looked at him, he was clearly a man!
Because their facts didn’t align at all, Caine’s mind went blank as shock washed over his face.
He had expressed his confusion so clearly that even an idiot should have realized he and the Queen named Corellia were not the same person…
In fact, the noblewoman knew this too. But for some reason, she felt that the silver-haired, red-eyed, gentle young man before her was the Queen to whom she owed her loyalty.
Since the “Queen” still seemed unable to grasp the situation, as a subject, she simply stayed where she was and waited, making no attempt to overstep her bounds.
“……Um, excuse me, beautiful lady. Might I ask what your name is?”
After considering several possibilities in his mind, Caine reconnected his scattered thoughts and tentatively asked the submissive, cold, blonde beauty who stood before him with a lowered head.
If her previous statements weren’t mistaken, then this world was fatally different from the game he knew.
And her name might be the key.
“To answer Your Majesty, I am Altina. Altina Noir, one of your childhood friends.”
Even when introducing herself, the noblewoman… Altina, remained calm and cold. With her hand over her full, upright chest, she simply stated her name.
Upon hearing her name, Caine finally understood.
He had wondered why this blonde, large-breasted, long-legged older-sister type felt strangely familiar even though he had never seen her!
It turned out this person was the cold-blooded young master, Arrett, from the original work! Along with the heartbreaking prince Caine, he was also one of the male characters that could be pursued in the game!
So, this was actually a parallel world with a gender-swapped version of the original game!?
And in this world, there was already a “Caine,” and she had already succeeded the throne as Queen!?
This wasn’t right! This wasn’t how the plot of transmigrating into an otome game was supposed to go!
The development of stories where one enters a game shouldn’t be like this! He was supposed to wait for the female protagonist to approach him and fall for him. Then, to avoid the tragic sacrifice his character faced in the original story, he would try every possible way to escape her. After that, he would somehow end up in ambiguous relationships with other female characters, the protagonist would turn into a yandere and chase him madly, and finally, he would have no choice but to live a life of leisure that everyone else envied!
But what kind of bizarre development was this! He couldn’t accept this!
—