Prologue - Another Game

(POV: Rae Taylor)

Blue. Clear blue skies. How long have I been staring at this canvas of blue? Reminding me of my dear love's gorgeous eyes… Dazedly, I leaned over, expecting her shoulder to catch me. Why wouldn't I expect her to be there? We are inseparable after-

Nothing but bench and a bruised arm. I sat back up and rubbed my now pained shoulder. "Miss Claire?" I looked around and was greeted by unfamiliar scenery. This was an academy all right, but not the one I knew. Wait, why was I at a school anyways? Where even am I? Last I remember was falling asleep in my room after a… Well, nights with Claire always leave me feeling like I'm in another world.

Taking another look around, I noticed students. No uniforms, but I can tell they're mostly nobility. Their fashion sense is what I see when Claire was out of uniform when we were still in school prior to the revolution. Now she sews pretty much all of our outfits and she's a great seamstress. It's only been two minutes and I'm already suffering from a severe lack of Claire! I need to find her so my battery recharges.

This was very clearly a magic academy. Like the one back home and plenty of otome games, it's mainly occupied by nobility. I'm not sure if I'll come across any other commoners so I hope I don't stand out too much. Wait, am I still in a nightgown?

Looking down and I saw that I was wearing a pretty standard dress, like I would say lower nobility? At least that soothed my anxiety a bit. I had gotten into my previous school out of magical ability and my knowledge of Revolution put me into the high scorers of my class. I don't know this place, and I hope I didn't get brought into another world. I don't want to be away from my now perfect life that Claire and I had worked so hard for.

Curiously, I decided to check to see if I could still use magic. I conjured up some liquid to fiddle with in my left palm. Good, I still have my water magic. It felt different but I ain't gonna complain. I looked down at the ground and lifted a pebble up via a small pillar of stone. My earth magic is here too. If this is another world, hopefully being a dual caster isn't a problem.

Well, nothing is going to get done sitting around here questioning my existence. Let's explore the campus!

Not going to lie, these halls were actually starting to seem familiar. I was starting to fully believe that I was no longer in my home world, much less the former kingdom of Bauer. If I could at least place myself, I would have less of an issue. If this was indeed a world of another otome game, I might be able to tell if I can track down any of the characters. I did play a lot of different games, but nothing was nearly as good as Revolution. Helps that Claire was the first one I heard when I woke up in my world.

My world… It really just dawned on me that after only a year in that world was more home to me now than my first life was. Now I was thrust into one I currently barely recognize with no one to help. I really miss Claire…

"Excuse me miss, are you lost?"

Snapping me out of my crisis was a boy about my age with gray hair. "Uh, I suppose you can say that."

"Well, I can lead you around a bit if you would like. Maybe we'll come across where you are supposed to be."

Normally, I would refuse his request. I don't exactly play well with men, even less royalty. If it was Prince Rod or King Thane, I would at least be happy to see a familiar face, even if Rod would- wait, did I already call this guy royalty? After pondering for a bit on our walk, I took another look at him. "Excuse me, could you tell me your name?"

"You really must be new here. I'm Alan Stewart. I'm the fourth prince behind my brothers."

Glad my assumption of him being royalty wasn't off the mark, but I definitely know that name. "Sorry, I'm just a bit dazed. Yes, I do know you, Prince Alan." I bowed.

He chuckled. "You kind of remind me of a certain someone. But never mind that. Any clue on where you're going yet?"

This guy is definitely a romance target. "Unfortunately no, but I don't feel as lost as before somehow. I think I can handle myself for now. I guess I'll see you around?"

Alan smiled and nodded. "Can I at least get your name? I can ask arou-"

I already walked off, deep in thought once more. Prince Alan Stewart… that's a big clue. Hopefully I can fit more puzzle pieces before I lose myself again. There'll be time for that after I figure things out.

I ended up in one of the academy libraries. Maybe I could learn something from these books about this world. I just wish this burning question wasn't so frustrating. I wish even more that Claire was at least here with me so I wasn't by myself, but then I would worry about May and Aleah. We both would. We wouldn't want to leave them alone again. They must be really worried about me…

I grabbed a book from the shelves to find… complete and absolute gibberish. Really?! I've been brought into another world and I can't even read?! I closed the book. "There goes that plan." When I was reincarnated as Rae Taylor in my world, at least I retained the knowledge the protagonist had before I woke up. As I currently am, I am still myself in a world I can't figure anything out!

"Miss, may I see that book?"

I turned to see a small girl with pure white hair and red eyes. "Um, sure. I was going to read it but it turned out to be pretty pointless in helping me out." I handed her the book.

She accepted the book, looked at it, then looked back at me. "What kind of help are you looking for? Not sure what kind of help you would have been able to get from a romance novel… Unless you need help with your special someone?!"

Of course I accidentally picked out a romance novel. I really am dying here without Claire by my side. "No, not that kind of help. I'm kinda married already."

That somehow made her perk up even more. "Married? You appear to be my age! What are they like?!"

Huh, using the word "they". She must be very accepting. "She's the absolute best. I would do anything, and have done a lot for her. I just… miss her a lot."

The small girl was absolutely giddy on hearing that. I guess she had a girl she was in love with as well. "Well, if you're looking for a book on romance, I would recommend this one over the one you picked out. I loved it growing up and it led to me meeting my special someone, even if she's so dense to realize us." She handed me another book that I could not possibly read, but I wasn't about to hurt her feelings. Maybe there is some kind of translation magic in this world that might help me.

"Thank you so much Miss-"

"Sophia, Sophia Ascart. It was nice meeting you and I hope you get the help you're looking for!" She hopped off to the librarian with a giant smile on her face.

Ascart… That name also rang a bell. Gave me images of a black haired boy that would be considered stunning if… you know… I wasn't into women and deeply in love with Miss Claire. Since I had almost zero leads here, I headed back out. At least that meeting with Sophia cheered me up a bit.

It was around lunchtime and I was feeling mighty hungry, at least I think I felt hungry. I wondered if this world had things I never replicated back in Bauer… like maybe rice? Curiosity was definitely getting the better of me. Unfortunately, I had no idea if there was even a lunchroom at this school. It was full of nobility so it was very likely.

"You think you're safe even when your so-called protector isn't around? We don't care if she says you're here on merit."

Oh, so bullying happens in this school as well. Why would I expect otherwise? I turned my head and saw three nobles surrounding a short blonde haired commoner girl. This looks… really familiar… and not in the way that Miss Claire bullied me with her two minions right behind her. I really need to stop calling Pipi and Loretta her minions, even in my head…

"No one is here to stop us now."

"Especially not that detestable Katarina Claes." One of the girls lifted their hand as if to slap the basket full of muffins sitting on the blonde's lap.

Thinking quickly, I made her lose her balance with my Earth Spike (wandless, it was still pretty good as a deterrent). I jumped out and put myself between the nobles and the commoner. "Thankfully I was passing by before anything bad truly started."

"And who are you?!" Minion #2 eyed me down. "Ah, another commoner girl. So you all really stick together like mud, don't you?"

Getting a full look at the three nobles, none of them looked like the ringmaster. They all looked like generic minions without a villainess to grovel to. Pipi and Loretta scoring points over these clowns. "Mud huh? Sounds like a fun idea."

"What do you mean by that, peasa-" Before Minion #3 could finish her question, her foot sunk, falling right into #2's arms. Being a dual caster is fun.

"Aw, you two look so cute together," I grinned, "Shame about the muddy boot though." The two minions looked extremely flustered. #1 however looked furious.

"How DARE you? You're just a commoner, you're not supposed to be here!" She raised her hand, looking as if she were about to fire a spell directly at me. Well, she was technically correct about that last statement.

"And who are you? You look like you're part of a villainess' entourage, not the main baddy. Miss Claire would wipe the floor with you. Too bad she's not here and you have to deal with her wife." I raised my hand. "Judecca."

Minion #1's head was wrapped around with a fine mist. "What did you do?! I can't see anything!"

"And doesn't that just scare you? You can't tell what I'm going to do next." I turned to the commoner girl and smiled. She looked astounded and I could tell the gears in her head were turning.

"This isn't over!" The three minions all held onto each other as they scurried away, minion #2 being the workhorse.

"Thank you, miss…"

"Oh, my apologies. Taylor. Rae Taylor." I extended my hand to the commoner girl.

"Thank you, Miss Taylor. I'm Maria Campbell," she smiled and curtsied, "After everything that has happened this past year, I'm honestly quite shocked that those three are still…"

"Waitwaitwait! Maria Campbell? As in…" my mind showed me images of an otome game I had tried out after my billionth playthrough of Revolution: Fortune Lover. I had only done a few routes in that game, but some parts stood out to me. The MC was this girl right in front of me, the wielder of Light Magic: Maria Campbell. "I'm sorry, I really should have realized it was you." Me not knowing who she was in the context of this world is kinda a red flag.

"No worries. However, may I ask you a question, Miss Taylor?"

I tilted my head, but nodded.

"What kind of magic were you using? First the earth pillar, then the mud, then the mist?"

Ah, I should not have outed myself even more as an oddity to her. Dual casting isn't a thing in this world. "I… guess the ability to use multiple kinds of magic is about as rare as your light magic, huh?" Maria covered her mouth, clearly shocked. Yup, right on the money. Honestly, I was a bit surprised she didn't mention the fact I outed myself as a married woman with a wife, but I don't know much about this world to begin with so it might actually be more common here. "Can you keep this a secret? I got caught in the moment and honestly, teaching those bullies a lesson was kind of fun."

Maria smiled and sat back down. "I understand that feeling a bit. The feeling of helping someone is incomparable. I can't really do much fighting wise so I have a hard time defending myself physically." She looked at her hands. "Maybe one day, I'll be able to defend the one I love."

"You will. It may take a bit, but I fully believe in you." I turned to walk away. "It was really nice meeting you, Maria. I guess I'll be seeing you around?"

"Indeed Miss Taylor. Maybe you'll be able to meet Lady Katarina the next time around."

Katarina? I heard that name uttered by those three bullies earlier. Wasn't that the name of the villainess of this world? "Maybe. Hopefully she won't cause trouble for you in the meantime though." I smiled over my shoulder, waved, and walked off.

As I wandered the campus some more. Using that magic somehow made my appetite vanish, so I was no longer thinking about food. The urge to return home was biting at me much harder, however. I have only been here for a few hours but I YEARNED for Miss Claire's touch. If… no, WHEN I get back, I'm gonna smother myself in her love. Not to mention smother May and Aleah with love as well. I know I'm not the favorite mother, but I miss my wife and daughters so much…

"Who are you?"

My dazed wandering was broken up by a red haired boy with dark eyes. Startled, I tried to recompose myself. "I'm Rae Taylor. Who might you be?"

"The fact you have to ask that question means you're either brand new, or not supposed to be here. The name's Sirius Dieke."

Oh, he's one of the non-capturable target NPCs in Fortune Lover. He showed up quite a bit, but I don't really remember him being too important to any of the routes. "Oh sorry, I know who you are, Mr. Student Council President."

"And nice to meet you, Miss Taylor. I saw you helping out Miss Campbell earlier and wanted to tell you that I appreciate it."

He saw that? I hope he didn't notice the dual casting because that might be an issue. "No problem, Lord Dieke. I can't stand people who would be willing to attack others like that." (Lady Claire's bullying was much more gentle in comparison.)

"Agreed, however I must ask you again… Who are you, really?"

My stomach dropped. Something was wrong, and I felt compelled to do as he asked. I attempted to fight the feeling. "I… I am who I said. No lies."

"That kind of magic shouldn't be possible here. There are no records of anyone being able to wield multiple elements of magic. You're hiding something and I would kindly ask you to stop wandering around and go home."

I froze in place, feeling overwhelmed by some kind of force. As my eyelids fell, I saw Sirius smile sadly… and a dark haze behind him.