Title: Role Reversals

Sunmary: A collection of ideas revolving around switching roles.

Title: A Different Fiancée

Summary: In which a different villainess had the honor of taking center stage.

I sat under the gazebo as my friends lamented their situation. They could not help but cry about how unfair it was that our tea parties would have to be compared to the royal entourage's. There was no way we could compete, given the resources each of the heirs had at their disposal.

While I fundamentally agreed with them, I couldn't help but see it as a challenge. Ever since I met the etiquette professor and saw the light, I wanted to gauge my progress to becoming a proper gentleman. I took this as a means to test my growth, unlike the philistines next to me who only saw it as a foregone battle of materials.

... Though I had to admit I was guaranteed to lose this competition because of those resources.

My musings were interrupted by squealing.

Ah, there was the prince and his foster brother. The girls were drooling and begging for an invitation. And the villainess should be popping by in 3, 2, 1. Angelica enter stage left. There she was, strutting with her own entourage of ladies. Cue cutscene.

"Greetings, Your Highness," Angelica said with a curtsy.

"None of that now. Feel free to call me by name at the Academy, Angie," Julius said with a polite smile.

What the? Maybe my memory was going fuzzy, but the cordiality of the conversation was different from what I expected. Also, Angie?

"I'm afraid that I must still insist on the niceties. It would not do to set a bad example."

Julius gave a knowing chuckle before pulling out an invitation. "Ah, then I suppose that it's only appropriate that I should present you an invitation. It would not do to snub a ducal daughter."

"I graciously accept."

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. What in the hell was happening? This was not supposed to happen. What's supposed to happen was that the protagonist would run up to Julius and get invited to the villainess's ire.

As soon ad I thought that, I saw a girl approach the two. It was not the protagonist.

"Your Highness, you called for me?" she innocently asked.

"Ah, Marie. We were looking for you. As you know, the boy's are expected to host tea parties. I was hoping to extend you an invite as well."

Angelica developed a complicated look. It wasn't righteous indignation or jealousy but rather apprehensive.

"Your Highness, I do not wish to be indelicate, but I don't believe that is wise."

"Come now, Angie. Surely her attendance wouldn't be problematic. She is a friend who I hope to host as well."

"Your Highness, it is one thing to invite me but another to invite another unattached girl."

"Come now, if inviting Marie is a faux pas, inviting you would be too."

"Your Highness, you can get away with inviting me because I'm the daughter of Holfort's largest faction and because we are childhood friends. It is expected you would invite me. Ms. Marie has little to no easily explainable reason to attend beyond your fancy. Your fiancée would likely not approve of such a girl."

His what?!

Looking at Marie, I saw that she too was baffled. A problem for another time.

More importantly, if Angelica was not engaged to Julius, then who was?

"Hertrude has no say on who may or may not attend my tea party. She'll simply have to accept that I deem Marie a worthy enough investment to warrant an invite."

Hertrude... the final boss was engaged to the crown prince... what the hell happened to this timeline?

Title: The Saintess of Fanoss

Summary: Olivia's ancestor would have her revenge.

"Master, Angelica is staring at you again."

I had the good sense not to turn around. Ever since we pulled for the charms, she's been awkward with me. Pulling matching wooden gears had put weird thoughts into her head. The fact that this charm, which wasn't in the game, was about finding the one to mesh with was bought at a shrine for marriage only served to reinforce the idea that it was a marriage charm. It didn't help that the salesman had implied that our destinies must be intertwined to have our

Of course our fates were intertwined! Due to our collective actions against the prince, his friends, and his paramour, neither of us had any else to go to.

Well, I had no one else to turn to. Angie was a ducal daughter who could likely fall back on the myriad of nobles.

Actually, scratch that. She could not rely on those parasites who had left her high and dry. Angie could not bring herself to welcome them back wholeheartedly, and I could not blame her. They eere fair weather friends at best. It was telling how now of them had the right to call her Angie.

An intrusive thought came to mind again. Surreptitiously, I glanced at the girl who had become such a cornerstone of my life.

She bashfully looked down.

I shook myself out of my whimsical dreams. The vibes of the shrine had me all out of sorts to, but a sobering fact was that I was merely a rural baron. Angie, despite having triggered the duel, was still a respected ducal daughter. Even if I somehow was able to elevate my status during school, I would likely on achieve the status of viscount. I was not eligible for her, a fact that her estranged followers loved to remind me.

It was a nice dream though.

"Bartfort, I request a duel," an annoying voice said.

Looking across the ship, I saw the intruder.

"Denied. Like I told Brad, I have no intention of fighting again. You'll all have to be satisfied with be losers forever," I said abrasively while giving him the stink eye.

Before Chris could retort, his eyes moved elsewhere before widening.

Angie had run up to us after witnessing whatever Chris saw and exclaimed, "What's that?!"

Looking over, I saw a massive dark cloud, except it looked off.

"A horde? No, it's too massive. Fanoss?" I speculated. It wasn't as if I didn't expect it. After all, the honor duel happened so early. There was no reason to believe that this couldn't be happening. Though, I would've expected Fanoss to have targeted the ship Julius was on. There spy network was awful if they couldn't figure it out.

"How are you so calm?" Chris said with a surprised tone.

Ignoring the child, I addressed Luxion. "What's the situation at the other ships?"

"There are no indications of Principality troops or monster incursions. Routing the Partner here. ETA thirty minutes."

"You knew?" Chris said in a conflicted tone.

"Paranoia. Good adventurers tend to have a healthy amount," I said dismissively.

"Leon, are we going to be okay?" Angie asked nervously.

"As long as everyone chooses to fight, we can hold off the monsters until my ship and armor arrives. The only question is if..."

My speculation was interrupted when a seal appeared in the sky. So Fanoss troops were here as well. That certainly complicated things.

After whatever spell was cast, the image of Fanoss's princess... that was not Hertrude.

"Students of Holfort, I am Olivia Sera Fanoss. Surrender now, and you shall be spared our wrath for the time being," the protagonist proclaimed.

Title: Off

Summary:

Not long after my guests left, I heard raucous laughter and loud admonishments. Out of curiosity, I popped my head out of my room.

I saw that the girls had surrounded another. There were bits of torn paper everywhere.

"A girl like you should know her place."

"But I'm expected to be there. Brad hamded it to me personally."

"Out of obligation. Obviously he has no real desire for you to be there if he handed out so many invitations. You'll only drag down the experience by showing up at Brad's party."

"Why don't you just do everyone a favor and leave? After all, you aren't a noble," the leader said before she and her posse left.

The girl on the floor gingerly picked up the pieces of her torn invitation. She tried to hold her distressed in, but I could hear her whimpering.

... Master would insist a true gentleman would lend a hand.

Not that I could leave the girl alone. I was bad with crying women.

Walking up to and kneeling before the girl, I offered a hand.

"Might I interest you in a tea party?" I asked gently.

"Eh?"

Why was this girl so familiar? My initial thoughts had drifted towards the protagonist, but she was much too thin compared to the game art. While she was closer to the game art compared to Marie, was mistreated for her inferior status, and had the right hair color, but that was it.

"Am I bothering you?" the girl said meekly.

"My apologies. I was merely lost in thought."

She looked at me skeptically.

"... Fine, I was wondering how to apologize. The girls from the hall had been my previous guests," I said with a grimace as I looked at the half eaten snacks that were in my trash bag.

"There's no need to apologize! It was their actions, not yours!"

We sat awkwardly for a moment. My Master would be so disappointed in me. I couldn't avoid the fact that I was still inept at this.

Wanting to end the silence, I asked, "So if you don't mind me asking, how do you feel about my snacks?"

"They're... good?"

"... Too cheap?"

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth. While they taste good on their own and with your tea selection, it would not pair well with the high end tea favored by nobles."

"Then what do you suggest?" I asked curiously.

"You want my opinion?" she asked with an astonished look.

"I'm somewhat a buddy tea aficionado. I would love to hear how I could improve my technique beyond just spending more."

"... Didn't I just suggest spending more?"

"No. The philistines from before only said I needed to spend more. You told me why I should."

"I'm not sure how much help I could be. There a quite a few blends favored in the capital with a variety of snack pairings. I would not be able to tell you all the details. Sorry for sounding as though I were an expert," she said sheepishly.

"It's still better than where I am currently. Perhaps you could tell me what you enjoy? I would love to have you help me in polishing my skill."

"... I shouldn't, it would be scandalous for me to attend another's tea party on a frequent basis when I'm already engaged."

"Ah, well the offer stilm stands if you ever need a respite, Miss?"

She gave me a confused look.

"You don't know who I am?"

"Apologies, I'm somewhat new to nobility. I'm a tad in the dark for many things."

"Ah, I should of figured," she said with a somewhat sad expression.

"Miss?"

"It's nothing. Just... my name is Stephanie Fou Offrey."

My mind stalled. This was not the abrasive antagonist from the game. In my hesitation, the girl developed a look of acceptance.

"Thank you for the tea. I'll be taking my leave. No need to damage your reputation by associating with a dirty noble like me," she said softly before leaving.

AN:

1) Like I said in the summary, mostly plot pilots to lead you on and ending with the switch rather than exploring the switched roles themselves. Role switches varied from a) villainess to villainess, b) protagonist to villainess, and c) villainess to protagonist.

2) I personally feel that these all have a lot of potential, but each would have to mainly focus on the switched out characters rather than on Leon (ie develop full backstories and worlds to accommodate the switch). An interesting story in that way. Just the speculation is interesting.

3) I do feel that The Saintess of Fanoss was not really developed properly since it was focused more on the developing relationship between Angelica and Leon withiut Olivia. However, I do feel it is the best plot point entry to introduce the concept of Princess Olivia. After that introduction, the story would naturally have to go into developing Olivia's side of the story starting from when she developed a hatred for Holfort. Hate could be from loss of family memebers, being possessed by a Saintess artifact, etc.

Review Response

Alternate Rouge: Eh, while I probably won't do it, I know a fic where someone might have done something similar. While it is a crossover with Bayonetta, there is probably something that follows what you are looking for. The Warlock Route by Brandon Storm if you are curious.

Frosty Wolf: Yeah, Repossession seems more like a reasonable course of action compared to the canon Marie route, but then again, our cast is full of dense idiots. Low Affinity seems to be more or less what the cast implies would happen. Is it cruel? Yes. Is it out of character, no? Not a Pet honestly feels like it might be too much of a fixit plot type fic. Obviously, it's a decently good change in plot, but necessitates that Leon still has to have his hangups in order to still have some driving conflict. This would probably also stop any deeper relationship with Angelica from forming.