Title: The Unlocked Secret Route
Summary: The idea is based on unlocking a secret route after the True Harem Route while keeping in mind the Saintess's items hidden features.
Character: Olivia
Edit: Discussed at the bottom since some people had interpretations of the story that were way off. This was, surprisingly, the most argued chapter I have. It was also the one where I started receiving hate messages. This update is mainly to clarify things that you may have found weird.
I stared helplessly as the Saintess puppetted my body. My will to fight had long been shattered before I touched the accursed bracelet. Initially, I accepted my place. The world was not kind to me. It hated me with a passion. When she helped the prince defeat the Principality, I gave up ever taking back my body.
I was wrong. Ann did not save the kingdom because it was the right thing to do. She saved it so that she could dismantle it herself. I had to endure for years as she tore the kingdom piece by piece. She slowly poisoned the prince and his friends against each other. She relished as they slowly distanced themselves and fought. She ignited civil wars just so that the boys would slaughter themselves.
In the end, she stabbed the last one in the heart.
Not long after, my body was struck down.
It was selfish of me, but I only felt relief. The nightmare would finally be over.
I was standing on a familiar pathway. It was when my nightmare began. This was where I would meet Julius.
No, no, no, no. Why? I didn't want to do this again. Please. This world was too cruel. I just wanted to die.
I instinctively pressed myself to the side of the walkway as I saw the prince approach. Memories of the mistreatment that befell me flooded my mind. I desperately closed my eyes. I did not want to meet the prince again. I did not want to suffer again.
As the sound of footsteps got closer, I grew the urge to run. But I didn't. I knew it would be useless in the end. The world hated me. I was a cursed existence.
As I braced myself, I heard the footsteps grow more distant. Opening my eyes, I saw the prince continuing down the pathway without looking in my direction.
The Academy was infinitely more pleasant than when I was the prince's pet. The bullying was still present, but it was girls foisting their duties onto me compared to the malicious attacks on my person. As a commoner, my presence was seen more as help. I was no longer an intrusion.
The only person who seemed to take issue with me was Angelica, but I could not discern why. I wanted to question why she was displeased, but I couldn't get close to her. Her followers kept me from talking to her, and I was too afraid of pushing the issue and earning their ire.
For now, I was content with studying and doing the odd task. Just keep my head down. Everything would be alright if I kept my head down. I chanted that to myself.
Good, no boy asked me to attend their tea party. I could relax in the library and get ahead on with my studies.
"Lea?" I asked with surprise when I saw the lone boy. He looked exactly like the man in the Saintess's memories.
"That's quite familiar of you to call me by a nickname," the boy said with a confused look.
"I'm sorry," I frantically said.
Stupid! I was supposed to stay invisible. What was I doing? Now that a boy noticed me, the girls will start attacking me like last time. I was overstepping by getting to know a noble.
"Whoa there. I wasn't angry. Just confused how you know me," the boy tried to say placatingly.
"You look like a friend back in my village," I quickly lied.
"Makes more sense than knowing about some hick like me," he said before turning around and checking his equipment.
Was he not going to continue the conversation? I let out a sigh of relief. There was no reason for the girls to attack me.
Before I turned to leave, I noticed he was alone. We were supposed to enter the dungeon in groups, but no one wanted to partner with him. Why was that?
"Because people don't care about rural barons."
"Did I say that out loud?"
"Well, I'm not a mind reader."
"Oops? Nevermind that. What do you mean about people not caring about rural barons? Aren't you still a noble?"
"Hardly. I might as well be invisible. Especially with the prince and his entourage being here," he sighed.
I shuddered when he mentioned the prince.
"Well then, Miss. I better be off. The teacher wanted me to act as the vanguard so the prince won't have to dirty his hands. You should join his group while you can," he bitterly said.
"You're going alone? Isn't that too dangerous?"
"Don't mind me. I'm not someone worth paying attention to," he said with a dismissive wave as he walked off.
"Why are you following me?" the boy said, annoyed.
"No one wants to partner with a commoner," I sheepishly said.
"The prince would."
"No!"
"Huh? What was with that reaction?"
"Just please, no," I said tearfully.
I froze as the memories came back. I didn't want to go back to them.
I was soon held in the boy's arms. He stroked my back awkwardly as he tried to calm me down.
"Take a deep breath. It's okay. I got you. You've nothing to fear," he said gently.
"I'm sorry it took me so long to greet you, Lady Angelica," I said nervously as the words jumbled.
Rather than make a big deal, she graciously accepted my gift and apologies. She only asked for an explanation of the circumstances. When she heard that I was unaware originally and that I had to gather Dia from exploring the dungeon to afford the gifts for her followers to greet her, she nodded in understanding but had a displeased look. She told me not to be afraid to come to her for questions and that her followers would not hinder my approach from now on.
I was dismissed with no further complications.
Leon demanded an explanation from Angelica while I clutched onto his back. He and I caught two of Angelica's followers trying to burn my books. Angelica apologized profusely to him. Leon demanded that she apologize to me. Before I could argue against such a thing, Angelica did so. She promised she was going to punish the girls thoroughly.
When he saw Angelica's sincerity, he apologized for being curt with her.
We were in Leon's tea room when we heard a knock. Leon opened the door, and we saw Angelica with two bags.
"I got you two something to apologize for my followers' behavior."
The bag she handed to Leon was a bag of expensive tea leaves. She handed me a rare tome on magic.
Being Angelica's and Leon's pet was a much better experience than being Julius's. I dare not consider myself their friend. No matter how much I wanted it, I couldn't risk what happiness I found.
"Do you love Leon, Olivia?"
Angelica took my silent shock as a yes.
"If Leon is interested, I could arrange for you to become a noble."
Were we close enough for him to be interested? Was he interested? I didn't know what answer I wanted to hear.
Working side by side in Leon's donut stall was fun. It reminded me of when my parents and I would have fun in the kitchen.
Oddly, Leon seemed to fit right in those memories.
Stephanie cornered me while I was getting supplies from the kitchen for the stall.
"Don't think so highly of yourself for gaining the interest of Bartfort and Angelica. You're only a pet," she said haughtily.
"That's good enough for me," I said while tightly holding the ingredients.
Seemingly satisfied with my response, she left.
I paled at the sight of the necklace Leon held. Leon had just defeated the Sky Sharks and found it.
When he approached me with the cursed thing, I recoiled. I knew it was too good to be true. Who would want me when they could have the Saintess at their fingertips? Hopefully, Ann won't go genocidal with Leon by her side.
"Livia!"
Looking up, I saw Leon by my side with the artifact suspiciously missing.
"Where's the necklace?" I mumbled.
"Threw it overboard."
"Why?"
"Because it scared you."
"Angelica, do you know how Leon feels about me?"
Angelica stared at me.
I wanted to cry. Leon was interested in Angelica. He pledged to be her vassal. Why else would Leon do so? He hated the nobility. It was the only thing that made sense. I've read enough romance novels to see the plot unfold.
This was what I got for getting my hopes up.
Angelica presented me with a piece of paper.
"What's this?" I asked.
"I found a family to adopt you. With this, you'll be a baroness."
I remembered what Angelica mentioned before.
"But I thought Leon loved you."
"What?!"
I was an idiot! Of course, Leon needed to be Angelica's vassal for my adoption to be approved. Her family needed something in return for this favor.
Angelica or Leon still could have told me what they were planning.
Angelica was miserable today. She had gotten into another argument with the prince. She didn't understand why the prince was so cold with her. She wished her relationship was closer and wanted it to be more like what I had with Leon.
I told her to buy him some skewers. She looked at me funnily but shrugged.
Angie hugged me profusely.
Angie was giving me the cold shoulder when Julius tried to get to know me again. He found out that I was the one to suggest the skewers. I adamantly ran away whenever I heard him approach.
Angie gave Julius the cold shoulder when she realized Julius triggered my trauma and refused to take no for an answer.
Leon punched Julius on the last day of school for not taking a hint. Julius challenged Leon to a duel.
I think Ann had the right idea. Seeing Leon dismantle the five by himself made me melt.
I only worried about how the school would treat Leon over fighting the prince.
Surprisingly, Leon was left alone when we came back from the break. Everyone clued in on the fact that the prince was being a creep. It probably helped that Leon was Angie's vassal.
Angie was in tears. Her family formally dissolved the engagement. Julius's insistence to approach me was seen as him being immature and unfaithful. His loss cemented the idea he was weak. His friends' cries of Leon cheating only tarnished his reputation further.
As a result of all these, Angie's father wanted nothing to do with the royal family.
Julius's seeking me out violated the terms set out from the honor duel. He stated the terms were for the crown prince.
Having enough, I slapped him and told him under no uncertain terms to leave me alone. I found him despicable for tossing Angie away instead of appreciating her honest efforts to make him happy. It shouldn't matter who told her about his fascination with skewers. He should have been happy for his fiancee to have taken the time to learn and accept his interests, especially since he refused to let her in.
I yelled and yelled. I hurled every insecurity back at his face. Every inane conversation we have ever had, I used against him. Years of hate spat through my lips. My voice went hoarse well before I stopped.
After it was all said and done, I saw the once-empty hallway filled with people with withering gazes.
I ran away.
"Julius apologized to me. He asked if I wanted to go to town," Angie said hesitantly.
"Why do you seem apprehensive? Isn't that a good thing?"
"I heard what you said to him. I didn't like what you had to say."
"I apologize, Angie."
"You misunderstand me. I thought about what you said to him. It made me realize how poorly he was treating me. I didn't like it after hearing it all laid out."
"Couldn't you use this as a chance to fix it?"
"I don't know if I want to anymore."
"Angie?"
"What would you do in my situation?"
"Why are you asking me, Angie?"
"Because you're my best friend, Livia. Livia?!"
Angie began to fret over me when she saw me tear up. She called me her best friend.
Julius blew his chance with Angie. Good riddance.
AN:
1) This is a very rough draft. I was writing about how a NewGame+ Olivia would react to a legitimate Leon route. Of course, she had to be traumatized. Otherwise, why would she meet Leon and not hook up with the main cast again?
2) You can think of this Olivia from the same ending as where Angelica came from in The Villainess Reincarnates.
3) After years of being a pet, possessed, and possibly raped, I expect anyone to be an emotional wreck. The plot of the Otome game is stupidly dark when you dig into it.
4) Pretty bare bones in the description since this is supposed to be written as Olivia's thoughts of certain events.
Edited Comments:
1) Canonically, Olivia has visions of being possessed by the Saintess and slaughtering everyone with Luxion's help. This is not the Marie-Route timeline since Leon and Marie don't appear. The Olivia of this story comes from a very similar timeline to the canon vision.
2) Angelica is not a reincarnate in this story. The Villainess Reincarnates and this are separate. Angelica's odd behavior with Olivia at the start is due to Olivia not doing the proper greeting.
3) Angelica's followers burn Olivia's stuff because Angelica scolded them for barring Olivia from doing the greeting. They tried to burn Olivia's books as petty revenge against her for getting them in trouble with Angelica.
4) Angelica giving Leon and Olivia gifts was an apology. It was not meant to show that they hang out now. Her telling Olivia she could arrange an adoption was her other way of showing her sincerity.
5) Arguments between Julius and Angelica are about him being too lax. He specifically goes out of his way to avoid anything related to the royal court in the Academy, regardless of having a love interest. Having a love interest or not would not change this fact. It's a vicious cycle where Angelica tries to help him do what needs to be done, and then Julius gets pissy about Angelica butting in.
6) Angelica does not initially hang out with Olivia. Olivia's interaction is her asking Angelica something since neither Olivia nor Leon understands noble etiquette too well. Angie only starts hanging out with Olivia (not Leon) after receiving advice on how to get Julius to open up. This change is hinted at when Olivia addresses Angelica by Angie. I will admit that this was not clearly stated due to only being a rough draft.
7) Julius would not grow up without intervention. One of the complaints Leon has, in general, is that the main cast does not develop correctly without Olivia's intervention. You may argue it's only for stats, but that statement is false. Leon states you can only guide stats/gear/skills if you have a high enough affinity, which means Olivia needs to force the boys to grow up a little even if they aren't the love interest of the route.
8) Olivia's sense of satisfaction from seeing the boys be defeated is not out of character. She may have once thought them friends or wished them the best, but do you wish someone who slept with your puppet body the best when they actively pursue you again despite you rejecting them?
9) Most nobles would not side with Julius since he actively chases an engaged woman who wants nothing to do with him. Crown Prince status be damned.
10) Julius did violate the engagement contract. His blatant pursual of an engaged woman who wants nothing to do with him can only be seen as him trying to get another woman in an unsavory way. Whether or not that is true is irrelevant. It's a bad look, and his and his friends' actions add more negatives to the situation. While Angelica wants the engagement to go through, her father would not want a disgraced prince marrying his daughter. Aside from loving his daughter, he has to consider his family's reputation.
11) Angelica did not violate any engagement clauses by taking Leon as a vassal. That seems to be a common enough thing. Look at Clarice before she jumped on the crazy train.
12) Angelica's hesitance with going out with Julius despite her love seems reasonable. Olivia's heartfelt screams did and would include berating the prince for every slight Olivia felt Angelica ignored.
13) Angelica and Julius did go on that date. Julius blew it by expecting couples to need to know each other perfectly.
Anything not listed above seemed to be people who either don't know the canon, misinterpreted the canon, expect others to discard the canon they disliked, hate Leon taking a large part in events, ignore the fact that Olivia's commoner status bars her from moving the plot on her own (even though game canon would require her to rely on others to progress the plot. Seriously, how do people expect her to procure an airship or armor on her own? The duel in-game was designed around your love interest fighting on your behalf.), and assume Angelica interacting with Leon is the same as her trying to be part of the harem.
