I Possessed The Worst Character In The Hellish Game
Chapter 33: Princess Elara Von Valerion [1]

Chapter 33: Princess Elara Von Valerion [1]

Princess Elara held Mikael’s gaze for a heartbeat longer with her unreadable golden eyes, then she looked away and continued her descent down the grand staircase.

The moment passed so quickly that anyone who wasn’t watching properly might have dismissed it as the princess watching the crowd, and her eyes happened to pause on a young noble for a moment.

Nothing more than that.

"So what was that just now?"

A cool, familiar voice reached his ears from beside him as he turned to his side.

It was Jeanne who had appeared beside him silently.

’Is she an assassin type?’

He hadn’t even noticed her until she called him out.

"When did you get here?"

"Just now." She sighed. "I was somehow able to escape from those ladies..... But you still haven’t answered my question."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Please, give me a break. I saw the way you two looked at each other." She folded her arms. "Still carrying a torch for your childhood sweetheart? I thought you’d grown out of that."

"I don’t have feelings for her."

His reply came out flatly without hesitation.

Jeanne raised an eyebrow as she studied his face with her sharp emerald gaze.

"You actually mean that."

"I do."

She was quiet for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"Good. Honestly, I was a little worried. You used to follow her around like a lost puppy when we were children. It was embarrassing to watch. I’m glad you’ve moved on."

"...."

Mikael didn’t say anything and let her believe what she wanted.

He didn’t know what the original Mikael had felt for Princess Elara.

The fragments of memory he’d inherited were like scattered pieces of a mirror that refused to give the full picture.

And even he didn’t want to sort them out for fear of losing his original self until he knew the full picture of what had happened to the original Mikael.

As for Elara.....

He still liked her well enough-- but only as a character in a game.

She had been a compelling protagonist.

A princess who carried the weight of royal expectations with her quite stubborn dignity.

He’d enjoyed playing her route, sympathized with her struggles, and even rooted for her happy ending.

But that was a detached appreciation.....

It was the kind of fondness you might feel for a well-written character in a novel.

He did not, and had never, liked her romantically.

And even if the DLC had positioned Elara as Mikael’s canonical love interest--

Which he couldn’t confirm, since he’d never played the DLC and had only read scattered forum discussions about it.

He felt no obligation to follow that same path.

The choices that had been scripted for that character, the romance arcs that had been designed for players to pursue, held no weight for him.

He was just trying to survive.

Besides, pursuing a relationship with someone who might have genuine feelings for the man he was pretending to be felt fundamentally wrong.

It would be another lie piled onto the mountain he was already balancing.

Another manipulation.

He was already deceiving Jeanne about his identity, already playing the part of a brother she had lost.

Adding a fake romance to that equation and pretending to be Mikael for a woman who might have loved him felt like crossing a line he wasn’t willing to approach.

That was nothing but a fast track for losing control and losing part of his humanity.

The Madness that plagued awakeners fed on emotional instability, on fractured identities, on the slow erosion of the self.

And then there was also Liren.

It would have been a lie to claim he hadn’t noticed her possessiveness about him.

He had no intention of teasing her red spirit nature by getting close to another woman and making her mad.

As for Elara--aside from that strange, unreadable look she’d given him on the stairs.

He didn’t think she harbored any real affection for him.

He filed the thought away and turned his attention back to the ballroom.

A herald’s staff struck the marble floor with three sharp thumps that sliced cleanly through the ambient chatter.

── His Majesty, King Alistar Von Valerion! Her Majesty, Queen Lavania Von Valerion! And Her Highness, Princess Alice Von Valerion!

The King and Queen had arrived.

King Alistar Von Valerion was exactly as the game had rendered him.

A tall and broad-shouldered man with golden hair that was just beginning to show threads of silver at the temples, his golden eyes assessed the crowd.

He moved with the quiet authority of someone who had ruled for decades and had long since stopped needing to prove his power.

Queen Lavania was a study in contrasts to her husband.

Where the King was gold, she was silver and blue.

Her hair was the color of a winter sky, pulled back in an elegant arrangement, and her eyes were of deep sapphire.

And beside her, holding onto the Queen’s hand with the slightly awkward grip of a child who had been told to behave at a formal event, was a young girl.

She couldn’t have been more than twelve.

Her hair was light blue, like Elara’s, but cut shorter, falling just past her shoulders in soft waves.

Her golden eyes were wide and curious as she took in the crowded ballroom.

She wore a miniature version of the royal colors, a pale blue dress with silver embroidery that matched her mother’s gown, and she was doing her best to stand still despite the obvious urge to fidget.

Mikael frowned.

’Alice?’

In all his hours playing Eclipsed Realms, across all the different protagonist routes, he had never seen this girl.

Elara didn’t have a little sister.... just an older brother.

But it was not impossible.

The DLC had added and changed many things.

He remembered reading on the forums that Mikael’s route introduced new NPCs, had altered existing relationships, and added complications that didn’t exist in the base game.

This girl could be one of those additions....

A new character, created specifically for this version of the story.

"Look at little Alice." Jeanne said with a small smile on her face. "She’s gotten so big. The last time I saw her, she was barely up to my waist."

"Yeah. She is." Mikael answered.

"She used to follow you like a little duckling, calling you ’Big Brother Kel’.... ’Big Brother Ken.’ It was adorable."

Mikael froze. "...."

"Come on. We should pay our respects. Father would want us to present the family gift."

"...."

"Mikael?"

He blinked, the distant haze in his grey eyes clearing. "Ah. Yes. Sorry about that."

They made their way through the crowd toward the royal dais, where a line of nobles was already forming.

The King and Queen had taken their seats, with Elara standing to her mother’s right and Alice perched on a smaller chair beside her father.

The little girl was swinging her legs slightly, the hem of her dress brushing against the marble floor as she kept glancing around the room with the barely contained restlessness of a child who would rather be anywhere else.

After some time.

Their turn finally came, and Jeanne stepped forward and dipped into a graceful curtsy.

Mikael followed her lead as he offered a formal bow that was respectful without being obsequious.

"Your Majesties." Jeanne said. "On behalf of House Morwell and our father, Marquess Cassius Morwell, we offer our warmest congratulations to Princess Elara on her eighteenth birthday. Our father sends his deepest regrets that he could not attend in person. Matters of the estate required his immediate attention, and he was unable to defer them."

King Alistar nodded.

"The Marquess’s dedication to his duties is well known. We accept his regrets and appreciate the presence of his children in his stead."

Jeanne gestured, and a servant who had been trailing behind them stepped forward with a polished wooden box.

"A gift, Your Highness. From our family to yours."

Elara accepted the box with both hands.

"Thank you, Lady Morwell." She said in a distant voice. "Please convey my gratitude to Marquess as well. I hope his affairs resolve smoothly."

She didn’t even look at Mikael once.

"Mikael. Jeanne." Queen Lavania said with a genuine affection. "Look at you both. You’ve grown into such fine young people. You both are the very image of your mother at your age--she would have been so proud to see both of you."

Her voice caught slightly.

"I must apologize. I wasn’t able to attend her funeral. When the news reached us, the border situation was at its worst, and I couldn’t leave the capital. She was my dearest friend, you know. We grew up together, shared everything. Her death was..."

She paused, composing herself.

"It left a hole in my heart that hasn’t healed."

’So Mikael’s mother and Queen were best friends.... That explains why Mikael and Elara are childhood friends.’ Mikael thought.

".....Your Majesty, there’s no need to apologize. We understand. Our mother always spoke of you with great affection." Jeanne said with a soft, longing smile.

"I’m glad. She was the sister I never had." The Queen’s smile was sad but genuine. "But tonight isn’t for old sorrows. It’s for new beginnings. I’m so happy to see you both here, celebrating with us. Your mother would have wanted that."

Mikael turned to Elara, who still hadn’t acknowledged him.

"Happy birthday, Your Highness. I hope the evening is everything you wanted it to be."

Only then did she meet his eyes.

"Thank you, Lord Morwell.... It’s kind of you to attend. I know these events aren’t to everyone’s taste."

"...."

Mikael barely controlled the twitch of his lips.

’She’s mocking me, isn’t she?’

******