After meeting Corellia, the “Tragedy Prince” of this world, Kane was permitted to stay in the royal capital as an honored guest.
However, to avoid confusing others, he could no longer refer to himself as the prince.
While it seemed as though Kane had been stripped of his royal status, the reality was that he wasn’t royalty in this world at all. As someone from another world, having a place to stay was already a stroke of good fortune.
Besides, even if he called himself a prince, he had no power to command anyone. Therefore, it didn’t matter to Kane.
The room the Queen had prepared for him was quite luxurious. Having removed his cloak embroidered with the royal crest, Kane lay on the soft, large bed wearing only his formal attire.
Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, he began to focus on his next move.
He had no desire to return to his original world; there was nothing left there for him to cherish.
In the final moments before his death, amidst the pain, he had thought he was finally free. He believed he would finally reunite with his late parents in the next life.
Yet, somehow, he had transmigrated into a female-oriented dating sim he had once played by chance.
Kane was relatively open-minded about it. Since he hadn’t died, he might as well live a little longer. He would put in a bit more effort and experience a few more things, giving him more to talk about when he eventually saw his parents again.
At first, when he recognized his own appearance as the “Tragedy Prince” character, he thought it would be a standard script where a villain, bystander, or supporting character struggles to survive.
He had planned to stay far away from the heroine and avoid troublesome things like becoming king. He intended to support his younger brother—another love interest in the original game—to take the throne while he lived a leisurely life as a retired prince or a duke.
As it turned out, this was a parallel world that was extremely similar yet fundamentally different from the original.
Furthermore, the “First Prince” of this world had already ascended the throne as the Queen.
Now, he had to replan his sudden second life.
It was likely impossible to enjoy a life of luxury in the royal palace forever. In this world, he was merely a mysterious guest accepted by the Queen. Staying for a short while was fine, but if he lingered too long, he would eventually become an eyesore.
Therefore, his best bet was to obtain a grand house of his own and enough money to enjoy himself. Status didn’t matter; he could take it or leave it.
Theoretically, the fastest way to achieve this was to marry into a prominent noble family. For example, the counterparts of the five male leads from the original game, such as the Ducal daughter Altina or Queen Corellia herself.
If they were identical to the original characters with only their genders swapped, Kane could easily follow the path of the original heroine to win them over.
But the problem lay in the fact that they might not be the same. Setting Altina aside for a moment, Corellia was clearly different from the original Tragedy Prince. Even if winning her over would surely lead to special scenes of shyness or intimacy, the difficulty of the task was far too high. It would be a massive undertaking.
Considering that reality wasn’t a game and there was no way to reload a save after making the wrong choice, Kane had to be more cautious.
Thus, rather than marrying a prominent character from the original story, it might be better to marry an NPC.
In the original game, these were the NPCs meant to highlight the heroine and the love interests. Even so, they were daughters of counts or viscounts and influential figures in their own regions. Marrying into such a family would ensure a comfortable life without the headache of managing a massive territory.
Of course, marrying into nobility was just one way to reach his goal. Kane could also earn wealth through his own efforts, such as becoming an adventurer.
Since he had transmigrated into an otherworldly realm of swords, magic, and dragons, going on an adventure wasn’t a bad idea.
He had already confirmed that his current self could indeed use powerful magic. He could even use certain “overpowered” spells that came with a price, which fit the character design of the Tragedy Prince perfectly.
In short, Kane’s ultimate goal was clear: he wanted to live a relatively leisurely and enjoyable life this time, avoiding troublesome matters as much as possible.
As for his immediate goal, he would stay in the palace for now to learn more about this world and see what other differences existed compared to the game. Once he understood enough, he would leave the palace to explore.
Thinking of this, Kane, who wasn’t particularly tired or sleepy, decided to get up and head to the royal library.
Coincidentally, just as he was about to stand, a quiet, somewhat familiar voice came from outside the door.
“…Mother, is it convenient for you right now?”
Kane was surprised when he heard the voice, mainly because of how she addressed him.
Even though it was clear he wasn’t the real person and he no longer called himself a prince, she still used that title. It gave Kane a bit of a headache.
He wasn’t sure what the Queen thought of it.
If the Queen actually cared about this, his standing in her heart would surely drop.
Fortunately, he had no intention of pursuing that cold and aloof Ice Queen from the start.
Come to think of it, if he really did win over the Queen, he would have to deal with her complicated family situation. He would have a daughter calling him “Mother” immediately after marriage.
That made pursuing the Queen an even worse idea.
“…Mother?”
Because Kane didn’t respond immediately, the voice outside became anxious.
This caused Kane to quickly set aside his stray thoughts. He stood up to open the door.
When he opened the door and saw Princess Edwina’s pretty face, which was clouded with gloom and unease, Kane quickly offered a smile and explained:
“Sorry, Edwina. I actually dozed off for a moment just now.”
The smile on Kane’s face was, of course, the polite mask he had developed through years of social experience.
This was a mandatory skill for any working adult. Wearing a mask when facing someone one wasn’t close to was perfectly normal.
“Ah, I see. I thought you found me bothersome and were intentionally ignoring me. But that’s not the case… That is wonderful…”
Upon hearing Kane’s explanation, Edwina visibly relaxed. She even placed a hand on her chest and exhaled, as if she were letting out a breath she had been holding. Her voice carried a sense of liberation.
From this, it was clear she cared deeply about her relationship with the Queen.
She must have respected and admired the Queen immensely.
However, looking at the Queen’s demeanor, she likely didn’t offer praise very often. Edwina’s quiet personality probably kept her from asking the Queen for her thoughts directly. As a result, she always seemed lacking in confidence and melancholic—she had a bit of an “obsessive” vibe.
Despite being a princess, she was somewhat pitiable.
She was the epitome of a fragile princess who needed protection and care.
Kane wasn’t trying to replace her mother, but since she had come to find him of her own accord, he maintained his polite smile and said:
“Of course not. It is my honor that a beautiful princess like yourself would come to see me, Edwina. How could I possibly pretend to be asleep?”
Kane swore he was merely offering a polite compliment. Although Edwina had a unique charm—one entirely different from the Queen’s icy yet seductive allure—he truly hadn’t intended to show any special interest. It was just a courtesy.
“Ah… Mother…”
And yet, despite his intentions, a look of intoxicated joy rapidly replaced the gloom on Edwina’s face. Her soft lips, painted with a light purple tint, curved upward. Her gaze toward Kane became hazy, making her look deeply moved.
‘Wait, what? What’s happening? That should have been a very common polite remark, right?’
Surely Kane wasn’t the first man to say such things to her?
Or had the Queen never even given her adoptive daughter this level of praise?!
Kane was stunned. He hadn’t expected a polite comment to trigger such a reaction.
…Speaking of which, why did he feel that the Princess’s smile and gaze were a little dangerous?
Could she actually be the type that looked safe but was actually a dangerous, obsessive girl?