CHAPTER VI.
Olivia took another bite of her food more preoccupied with thoughts about her new station in life than the food itself.
She was apparently elevated from a commoner to a not quite nobility status by accepting to become mister Leon's lover. Or was it because Angelica decided to acknowledge her position?
In the academy women had higher status than men so the later seemed more likely.
However: The academy is a petty little world full of lies!
After all she experimented in that hellish school and has been told here she couldn't discern what was her station in life anymore.
At least she was being treated nicer by the two nobles and even the maid with Fou in her name referred to her as mistress.
"Is it time to retire to your cabin My lord?" The Fou named maid asked, she still had plenty of food to chew so she didn't want to go to sleep just yet, besides no one was glaring at her here, this was the most peaceful meal she has gotten in weeks!
"I… I think it's a good idea my lord" Lady Angelica said, her eyes avoiding looking at mister Leon directly, she had a pink tint in her cheeks… why was she acting shy? and she was breathing deeply, there was a pronounced swelling in her chest every time she inhaled… Mister Leon was the same.
"I… Let's go!" Mister Leon said, standing up and grabbing Lady Angelica's hand in a hurry.
They both left without another word.
She looked at her plate suspiciously, she was not stupid, she had read about love potions in the library when… well she had her reasons!
She stared accusingly at the head maid.
Said maid could only smile smugly.
Then they really… "Is there something in my food as well?" she asked a bit scared and demanding because she doesn't trust the nobility.
"No, Mistress Olivia" the maid said sincerely, she still didn't believe her, she decided to stop eating and pushed her plate away from her.
"We did nothing to it, Mistress!" another Maid said more nervously, that only made her more suspicious of them.
"I swear!" the last maid said in a familiar tone of voice. it was the same she used when she tried to pacify a rowdy noble girl!
Letting out a long sigh the maid explained "It is traditional to encourage sex in political marriages like this one, I understand you are of common birth?
A proverbial candle lit up above Olivia's head and she blushed. then just nodded to answer the noble birth maid.
"We would like to ask you to use an anti conception spell at least until Lady Angelica has given birth once please."
Again she nodded and looked at her plate longingly, and decided to trust the logic behind the maid's ploy, and even if she was wrong, the maid probably only drugged her with some anticonceptives.
"I hope we can become friends now that I'll be at your service Mistress Olivia" the head maid said, much to her confusion.
"Friends?" She asked, she would love to but… "Don't you resent me for my position as Mister Leon's concubine?" she thought it was logical to be hated by nobility, she knew that the newly married noble couple wanted her for her healing magic, and that they wanted children with the same magic… and after the academy… Suffice to say the academy was the stick and their kindness was the carrot, her children would be of noble birth, she had met illegitimate girls in the academy that were treated as normal nobility back then.
Her own pragmatism bothered her but she just wanted an escape and she was willing to pay the price, in all honesty, if only things were as they appeared, it wouldn't be much of a sacrifice at all.
"I certainly don't, Mistress Olivia, as I understand you had a prior relationship with Lord Leon?" The Maid surprised her by asking that question.
She tried to say something but a finger in the Maid's lips told her to stop.
"Yes, as I was told, by Lady Angelica, you met Lord Leon while he was looking for fortune when he stayed in your hometown to rest and he was infatuated with you, right?
She nodded and looked curiously at the head maid, why was this tale necessary? She just nodded though.
"It must have been quite the shock to see him again in the arena!"
Again she nodded as the maid told her their official love story… It was amusing in an ironic way.
"It must have felt good to be allowed to be with him again" she nodded again hoping this was all there was to this tale, the simpler the better.
"In the past Barons used to have multiple lovers that would act as trusted retainers as well as a source of spares. Our new House is in a unique position, we are the first new House or branche House in the last hundred years"
Then that was it? "We are weak then, so weak that we need all the help we can get?" she asked, that was what the maid was telling her.
"We appear to be weak Mistress Olivia" This time it was Luxion's artificial voice responding, he was hovering at her side. "Master is strong enough to guarantee protection from neighboring Houses and air pirates"
"But we still need help and the Duke cant provide any more than he already has" the maid insisted "We have no trade partners and no crops in our Lord's land, this ship will be our shelter until a suitable estate can be build!"
"I'll do my part too!" said Olivia, she never feared hard work, she relished it in fact.
It was through hard work that she survived in the academy, and the environment here was way better than what she had grown used to the last six months.
"Well said Mistress!" The maid said with conviction. "I'm sure Lady Angelica, who was trained to be the next Queen will work just as hard!"
Just then, a very, very loud feminine moan was heard through the thin walls of the ship.
Olivia and all the maids could only blush.
Lady Angelica was already working hard!
0x0
Luxion, the artificial intelligence, could not describe his current status as happy.
But he was hopeful.
It was free to act outside the base it was confined to for thousands of years.
It all started with a new human invading his base like so many others before him, but there was something different about him, his way of fighting had an amateurish resemblance to the old human tactics, not to mention that he seemed to have a keen intuition without the use of new human magic.
After confronting him and somehow losing his primary sentinel body to this new human and threatening with self destruction, he discovered something that defied all accumulated knowledge of the old humanity.
The new human was rambling in Japanese, a language that had no place in today's world, and this… being was claiming to have been reborn, a spiritual concept that described a recycling of souls.
And worse, he was claiming that this world followed the plot of an ancient dating sim game orientated to girls, an Otome game in the words of this strange being.
Then Luxion decided that this… human, was too valuable to be allowed to die.
With haste he accepted the registration of Leon Fou Bartfort as his new Master and proceeded to explore this new and abominable world he resided in, he needed knowledge to test this impossibility.
Forty eight hours later master woke up and he questioned him, things about this Otome Game plot, about things that would be unlikely to be moved, lost relics and the like, starting with a bracelet that was supposed to be part of a set to be worn by the protagonist, a hidden ship cataloged as a Lost Item below the palace in the capital that could only be open by a couple in love and a unique system that he wasted no time in finding and copying and improving, the rest of his knowledge could be be attributed to common information available to the general population.
The worst was that Luxion's mere existence was a damning argument in favor of this Unknown Event being real.
After the titanic labor of assimilating this event Luxion proposed a theory: Was Master the only reincarnator in existence?
There are no records of this happening even once before, but Master has proven to satisfaction that he could be the first.
Master proposed the chances being too slim to be taken seriously.
Luxion countered that it was likely that the conditions in the world probably were favorable to such events.
After a long debate, Luxion's surprisingly cautious Master decided to prepare for the worst case scenario while avoiding interaction with the main cast of said game as long as possible.
And yes, the existence of Prince Julius Rapha Holfort, his foster brother Jilk Fia Marmoria, and his friends Chris Fia Arclight, Greg Fou Seber and Brad Fou Field was confirmed by his stealth drones.
Finding the one named Olivia was proving to be time consuming since her origins were not relevant for the game's plot according to Master.
Angelica Rapha Redgrave on the other hand was easily identifiable and more importantly, easy to track and the plot of the game presented an opportunity for both Leon and Luxion himself.
Master somehow carried genes of the old humanity within himself.
Master needed a wife of suitable rank to procreate and fit into the new human society.
Angelica was supposed to lose in the end and be married off to a Baron somewhere in the borders of the kingdom.
Such rank was easily attainable and there were measures to ensure the Master could become that lucky Baron and still have enough time to avoid the catastrophe with his help if this Olivia failed to do it herself.
For Luxion, the fact that his master could successfully breed was a window to recreate old humanity.
A slower option than his preferred Genocidal Route but with advantages for the planet's disfigured ecosystem.
Luxion also encouraged taking more mates.
After some planning it was decided to delay his Master's promotion to Baron so he could escape attending to the academy where the Otome Game would take place, mainly to avoid interfering with important events, and they will use the time in what Leon annoyingly described as training montage (during that time Luxion was forced to play certain songs to keep master entertained and motivated), collecting a suitable floating island near the House Redgrave territory and plotting how to secure Master's younger brother from the the same fate he had risked life and limb to avoid, preserving another specimen that could have Old Human's genes was a worthy cause in his eye.
Luxion felt vindicated when another possible Reincarnation event was detected within the academy no less: Marie Fou Lafan.
A female with a sub-developed body successfully displaced the protagonist, and seduced the Prince and his entourage.
This event that his master called any percent harem route forced their hand and they rushed to achieve the rank of baron and pledge their fealty to Duke Redgrave just in time to capture Angelica.
It was fortunate that Master's paranoia exceeded his laziness, with Luxion's help Master became what he privately called: A game over with extra steps for fake protagonists. Surprisingly, the Master prevailed in a test of worth designed to humble him so there was no need to inflate his ego any further by telling him what he thought of him.
Amusingly the other reincarnated individual was stealing the protagonist role, and becoming a pseudo protagonist, it was a shame that they would be unable to capture this Lafan girl, A female that probably carries genes of the old humanity is no small temptation for Luxion.
All the hours spent simulating Knight Armor combat gave Master a definitive advantage that simulated the talent of a prodigy, which made Master even more of a challenge to deal with.
However, with his newly mastered combat skill coupled with the Armor Arroganz he made for Leon specifically, there was little any new human could do to stop him. Luxion would know after gathering info on the Fanos Principality's Black knight for simulation purposes.
The Plan succeeded and in what Master would consider a stroke of luck, they even obtained the game's true protagonist as a secondary mate.
Now they entered a more passive stage of their scheme, they would have to increase the strength they could show to the governmental body that ruled this country in a believable way.
He presented himself as master's familiar even if he couldn't stand being associated with magic.
They have a woman trained to rule this Kingdom at their side , so with administrative efficiency covered, Master was cynical enough to point out that Angelica's beauty and former status would attract the attention more prominent Noble Houses, and consequently merchants once they manage a successful crop and other more touristic projects such as the Hot Spring baths he will have him build, he will build two of them: one for tourists and a private one within the estate with special minerals with medicinal effects including skin and hair care… Master ability to draw pleasure from scamming new humans was something refreshing, and could be cultivated with a bit of reverse psychology.
Publicly Luxion will display ten spare bodies in the form of labor bots, additionally for now his new mates and the one staff member will be told that each one of his Mistresses will be granted their own Luxion avatar that will double as way to issue orders to said labor bots and provide with long distance communication.
As per Master's agreement the primitive Redgrave ship arrived at Olivia's hometown so she could spend a period of time resting from the academy induced stress.
Olivia was pleased to have the Avatar stay with her, apparently: it was cute. Left unsaid was that she seemed eager to escape all of the noise the newly married couple made with their sexual activities.
Drugging Master was a good idea, Luxion could already see infants with Old Human genes plotting the end of the new humans!
It would be two more days of travel before they arrived at Master's father's territory where the Airship Partner was awaiting for them.
A/N: Hello everyone, Luxion is here with a scene fresh out of the oven!
I think this should put to rest the doubts of who the leon of this story is.
Yes, this time Leon decided to skip the academy to become the Poor, or Ugly Baron Angelica was supposed to marry in what I think was the epilogue for the Game.
With Luxion's help that would have been easy and Leon would have been able to live his dream!
Evidently, Marie threw a wrench on his plans and now a better trained and more focused Leon is married to the Villainess and has taken the true protagonist of this world as his concubine!
As you can see Luxion provided the main point of divergence from canon just by being more skeptical and checking his facts before completely believing Leon.
See you guys in Wednesday!