The reason Kane believed he had transmigrated into a tragic prince from a reverse harem galgame was naturally because his current outfit was the most common one for the prince in the game. His hair and eye color had also changed to match the character’s design.
Since only his hair color and clothing had changed, he couldn’t exactly say his soul had transmigrated into the Tragic Prince’s body. Strictly speaking, it was more like his physical body had transmigrated into the role of the Tragic Prince.
He thought that would be the extent of the changes, but he never expected this otherworld wouldn’t be the one he knew. Instead, it was a very similar parallel world.
After further conversation with this world’s “Cold-Blooded Young Master”—or rather, the Cold-Blooded Young Lady, Altina—Kane gradually began to understand the situation.
To no one’s surprise, almost all the main characters in this world had been gender-swapped. All the male love interests had become female, while the female protagonist had become a male. Even more absurd was the fact that the female-protagonist-turned-male had mysteriously disappeared nearly three years ago, his whereabouts and status unknown.
Due to the protagonist’s mysterious disappearance, the original story had basically only followed the common route. It hadn’t entered any of the individual character routes and had instead diverged into a “disappeared protagonist” route that Kane knew nothing about.
The main events that followed this route were simple: after losing the core figure—the protagonist—the love interests returned to their daily lives and continued their business as usual. If there was one major change, it was that the original King had passed away from illness two years ago, and the Tragic Prince had succeeded him as the new monarch.
However, since the Tragic Prince of this world was female from the start, she should actually be called Her Majesty the Queen.
The Tragic Prince, who was destined to die in his own route and had a fifty percent chance of dying in others, was a dignified and solemn Queen in this world.
For her personally, this might not be a bad thing.
…But the problem was that Kane hadn’t transmigrated as some random bystander. He was also the Tragic Prince!
‘Wait, what? How can two versions of the same character—male and female—exist at the same time? How is the story supposed to unfold from here?’
Right now, he was probably an undocumented person in this world. After all, there had never been a “Kane” here; there had only ever been a “Corellia.”
Kane’s original wish to support another prince from the original story and become a relaxed Prince Consort or Grand Duke had also gone up in smoke.
Thinking about his current awkward situation, Kane felt a headache coming on. He had no idea what to do next.
“…Anyway, why don’t we go see Her Majesty first? Your Majesty from another world.”
Seeing Kane’s distress, Altina offered the most reasonable suggestion for the moment with a solemn expression. It was to see “himself” in this world first.
“I suppose that’s the only option. Also, please stop calling me ‘Your Majesty.’ I’m not the person you know, and I’ve never been a king.”
Kane accepted the suggestion and waved his hand, signaling Altina to drop the title.
“…I understand, Master Kane.”
Born of nobility, Altina was very well-mannered… perhaps a bit too much so. While it was good she stopped calling him “Your Majesty,” she was still the daughter of a Marquis. Being so respectful to a strange man who appeared out of nowhere in the royal palace wearing royal attire and following his every word—it made Kane feel a bit uneasy.
“Can’t you just call me Kane? Miss?”
“How could I? You are a person of noble status. I must not be disrespectful to you again.”
“Not even if I call you by your name?”
“No. Even if you aren’t speaking as a monarch but as a friend, using honorifics is basic etiquette. Of course, you may call me whatever you like. It would be no problem at all even if you called me Tina.”
Despite Kane’s repeated attempts, the solemn Altina shook her head firmly in refusal. Her serious, almost rigid, model-student demeanor was exactly like the “Cold-Blooded Young Master” Arlet from the original game.
In the original, the Cold-Blooded Young Master was misunderstood by many as heartless because he was so by-the-book. Only after entering his specific route would one realize he wasn’t cold-blooded at all; he would even do incredibly passionate things to protect the heroine.
It seemed only the gender had changed. At her core, she was still an honor student who valued etiquette and rules. Realizing it was a waste of time to keep arguing with her, Kane helplessly accepted her respectful attitude. He followed her out of the room to meet the real Queen.
Since the original game didn’t detail the palace’s layout, Kane naturally didn’t know if anything had changed. Fortunately, he didn’t need to find the room himself. Altina led the way, and he just had to follow.
However, the path wasn’t entirely clear. As one might expect, Kane stood out in his prince’s attire. Even if they didn’t dare say anything to his face, the whispers of maidservants echoed behind him as he and Altina passed.
“Is that gentleman a relative of Her Majesty? I’ve never seen him before.”
“Probably a distant relative. After all, Lady Altina is leading him personally.”
While these were normal reactions, Kane wished they would wait until he was further away before talking. Otherwise, he had to pretend he couldn’t hear them. At first, he felt a bit awkward, but he soon got used to it.
The Tragic Prince in the original was someone who seemed polite but kept everyone at a distance. Even with his childhood friend, the Cold-Blooded Young Master, he maintained that gap. Everyone around him held back because of his status as a prince. Only the protagonist actively closed the distance and eventually came to understand the Tragic Prince on a deep level. Then the Tragic Prince would fall in love with the heroine and sacrifice himself in various ways. In his own route alone, there were three different death endings.
Since this world’s protagonist vanished before pursuing anyone, then this world’s version of the Tragic Prince—Queen Corellia—should be a queen who always wore a kind smile but kept everyone at arm’s length.
“…If I may ask, Master Kane, do you have a lover or a fiancé?”
While Kane was imagining what the gender-swapped Tragic Prince might be like, Altina, who had been silent for a while, suddenly stopped. She turned around with a serious expression and asked him a question.
The question came so out of nowhere that it left Kane a bit confused. Of course he didn’t. As one of the love interests, his only options were to be pursued by the heroine or remain single. As long as the writer was sane, there was no way a love interest would end up with someone else just because the heroine didn’t choose them. Or was it something else? Did the Queen in this world have a fiancé other than the protagonist?
“Regrettably, I don’t.”
To Altina’s sudden question, Kane simply gave a polite smile. His tone sounded regretful, but in reality, he didn’t care at all. It was just a formality. He thought this answer was perfectly normal. Nothing fit the “Tragic Prince” persona better.
To his surprise, after hearing that he had no lover or fiancé, Altina fell silent for a moment. Then, she spoke in a somewhat troubled voice.
“…I see. The situations on both sides really are different. I apologize, Master Kane. I forgot to mention something very important earlier. Actually, you—no, Her Majesty has…”
“Mother!?”
Before the Cold-Blooded Young Lady could finish, the startled voice of a young girl rang out from behind her.
Kane certainly didn’t think she was addressing him. Even though the girl was looking in his direction, he subconsciously turned around to look behind him. Strangely, there were no motherly figures behind him. In fact, there wasn’t a soul there.
Seeing his unconcerned expression, Altina opened her mouth, but in the end, no words came out.
The reason was simple: the girl who had cried out was already walking quickly toward them. She stopped right beside Altina. Ignoring the reaction of the now-turned-around Kane, the girl swiftly lifted her skirt and curtsied respectfully to the bewildered man.
“Good day, Mother.”
“???”
Maybe the direction of the voice wasn’t that clear at first, but now that she was bowing right in front of him, it was impossible for Kane not to realize this girl was talking to him. He understood, yet he didn’t.
‘Wait, what? This beautiful girl, who looks like a noble young lady, is calling me—a man—Mother?’
‘…What’s the deal? Is she a transmigrator too? Did she transmigrate while playing Valorant or something?’
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