Lady Ophelia of Oblagorsk:
Life and death had one particular thing in common; Neither waited to be invited.
It just… happened. One moment you come home from work, put your headphones on and finally enjoy the drama CD you have been longing for all day… and the next moment you miss to hear the sirens. You fall asleep and don‘t notice the heavy smoke replacing all air inside your lungs. The heat of the flames only reaches you when they start licking your skin and by then your eyes and limbs are too heavy to wake up again anyway. Kyoko Hamasaki died inside her burning apartment building at the age of 27. The fire was not her fault. But she was one of several victims of it.
For a long time — or merely just a second? — she‘s been floating through a cold nothingness. Somewhere between existence and consciousness. For the mere blink of an eye she felt something… A lingering joy that reached her like an echo at the birth of her niece. A wave of sadness that gently rocked her when her mother died. Everything was peaceful but empty… until she felt… the pull. The pull of something, grabbing her, tearing her down. For the first time in an eternity — or just the blink of an eye — there was movement. Her arms raised up as she fell and lost strands of hair tickled her cheeks.The fall increased in speed. She found slowly to her senses. At first she wanted to scream but then she noticed there was no air filling her burning lungs. She inhaled nothing and tried gripping for something to stop the sensation.
She fell quicker and quicker before landing hardly.

She jerked up, sitting up, gasping for air. Her eyes were burning. Every part of her body felt crushed. Her head was spinning. Panicking she checked her arms. Something hot was flowing through her veins. Was she on fire? She certainly felt like it.
Little hands with slim fingers were pushed into her sight as she tried to check herself. She blinked in confusion. What…?
Slowly her breath calmed down. She felt a heart banging against her chest like a foreign sensation located inside and outside of her body. Sweat pearled on her body, soaking her gown and glueing it to her skin. It took her incredibly long to realize that she… was alive. That this body was in fact hers to control and harbour her soul. The moment this thought crossed her mind it was gone, erased. Groaning she shook her head, massaging her pulsating temples. What was going on?
A heavy blanket laid on top of her. It was ridiculously beautiful. The girl gently stroke the fabrics, in awe of the embroidery. Has she ever own something like that? She couldn‘t remember.
Was that her bed? It felt too soft for her. She let her eyes wander around the room. And now she was a hundred percent certain that this was in fact not her little apartment. She found herself in a chamber straight out of a period drama. The bed frame was made of dark wood with beautiful carvings of flowers across the headboard. There was not one blanket laying on top of her but now she realized it were three. One dark red with the golden embroidery, one of wool that seemed handwoven and one of thin linen.
Was that all part of a… very weird dream?

Ophelia looked over to her nightstand. She recognized the same dark wood the bed was almost sculptured from. And the rest of the interior was of the same quality as well.
Her head hurt awfully and she was thirsty. The first attempt to raise up her covers ended unsuccessfully. There was no strength in her little arms. She frowned at the sight of what she could see of herself. Sure, she never got out into the sun that much but has she actually ever been pale like that?
She tried again to free herself from the comfort of the bed and managed to throw her legs over the mattress. But when she tried to get up, she immediately broke down and crashed to the ground with a loud thud.
„Ouch…“, she whispered to herself.
Immediately a door was barged open. „Young lady!“ Ophelia raised her head to look at the panicking woman running over to her, throwing herself to the ground, next to the cowering figure. The girl wore a maids uniform. Her hands hovered uncertainly over the shoulders of her master. Ophelia did not understand the situation and just looked at her in awe.
„Wow… You‘re so pretty…“, she muttered. The girl flinched as if she was hit in the face. With wide eyes she stared at the young lady in shock.
„E-excuse me?!“ Ophelia sat up in a more comfortable position, quickly realizing she must have said it out loud. She cleared her throat shyly and looked down to her hands.
„Oh sorry, was that too forward? I… I was just surprised.“ Of course she meant the old fashioned clothes. But the girl was very pretty in general. Light brown hair that framed her face and eyes that seemed to be made of dark chocolate. She could easily be a model. Well maybe she was a cosplayer.
Ophelia was a little lost in thought and did not notice that she was traumatizing the young girl to the bones. The maid has never heard the young lady address any of the personell with such a soft spoken voice. And her complimenting her was equally terrifying. Did she intend to steal her face?
„A-are you… alright, young miss? Did you… you fell from the bed. Did you hit your head?“ She just realized the situation and quickly shook her head. „I-I mean again? Did you hit your head again?“
Ophelia couldn’t find the time to wonder about the weird way the girl addressed her, as she automatically felt for her head and noticed a bandage wrapped around it. A pang of pain shot through her and she flinched with a whimper. „Ah… oh boy I guess I did fall on my head, didn’t I?“
She quickly removed her hand and looked around again. „I am so confused actually… Could you please explain to me how I got here exactly? And where I may be?“
The young lady being polite and friendly was… terrifying. The maid slowly raised to her knees, extending her hands to the girl. „Yes, of course. But please… It would be better to get off the floor. The masters will worry when you get sick right after finally waking up.“
Ophelia didn’t understand a word but she obediently got up with the maids help and sat down on the bed as she was instructed. She didn‘t want to worry the masters… Whoever they were.
„Don‘t you remember, my lady? You went out for a ride. Your brother found you laying on the side of the road with a massive wound on the side of your head and your horse roaming around alone.“
Ophelia blinked at the girl in utter confusion. Her lips curled up into a smile before breaking out into a little giggle. The thought of that sounded too absurd.
„Are you sure about that? I don‘t recall ever sitting on a horse. Where would I even get one?“
Now her confusion was mirrored on the brunettes face. „From… the… stable?“
Yeah, nope, that made no sense at all and it was all too clear that none of that rang a bell in her mind.
The maid slowly lowered herself to the ground again, trying to stomach the thought that was growing in her mind. „My lady… What is the last thing you remember?“
Ophelia stared at the unknown girl. She let out a sound indicating she was trying to think of an answer. But honestly, she couldn’t. The moment she seemed to understand something or form a coherent thought it slipped from her grasp. Her head started hurting again and she groaned, quickly averting her eyes from the pain inducing mental exercise.
„I am very sorry, but I don‘t know…“ She massaged her temples gently.
The maid immediately got up. „I will inform the master and sent for the doctor immediately.“


The news quickly grew into a sensation. A fall on her head and the youngest daughter of one of the highest ranking families in manipulation magic lost all her memories. Everyone was extremely on edge at first. Above all Ophelia. She found out that was her new name. It did indeed sound somewhat familiar. But the final realization came through her brother Phoebos, who entered the room to visit her one day. When she was still a young Japanese woman called Kyoko she has spent hours looking at his face during her extensive art sessions. There was no way she wouldn‘t recognize him, of all people. And with that came the terror: She was somehow reincarnated not just into her favorite game but as the sister of her favorite character?! His blood related full sister, sharing a mother and a father, same DNA.
The young girl stared at her brother for longer than was comfortable before utterly breaking out into tears. „No! That‘s so unfair!“, she cried out with the emotional intensity only a 14-year old girl could muster. Phoebos stood still as if frozen to the ground. „Huh?“
A maid rushed in. „Young lady! Young lady, what happened? What‘s wrong?“ She hurried over to the crying girl and Ophelia immediately let herself fall into her arms. „Why? WHy is Phoebos my brother?! I don‘t understand! That‘s not fair! I don‘t want that! Vanessa, Vanessa, please tell me that‘s a joke! Tell me I am adopted!“ The maid Vanessa looked helplessly from her young lady to the young lord and couldn‘t entirely fight the laugh that was erupting from her chest. „I—… uh… Y—you…“ She shook her head and looked over to the young boy, still shocked and unable to move a muscle.
„She is probably just confused… and shocked… Please don‘t take it to heart, young master… Maybe Lord Vilhardin will have answers…“ Young Ophelia gasped. „Vilhardin? Lord Vilhardin? The… the doctor?“ Ophelia suddenly became frantic again. „No! No!! I can‘t… I can‘t see him! Not like this? I… leave! All of you! Please leave me alone!“

No doctor came up with any other explanation. She has lost her memory because of the trauma to her head. But physically she was fairly healthy. From time to time she would remember something or someone and yet behaved entirely like a different person from before… Ophelia quickly became a person… unable to oversee once she entered a room. She was curious, far from shy, spoke openly her mind which was… pretty simple most of the time. She enjoyed time alone, started drawing alone in the garden und became… tired. Ophelia very much appreciated her nap times and they became very frequent. Many times the maids would find her sleeping in the garden and started calling her lovingly their little fairy since she always looked so whimsical.

@marquis

Lady Evelyn Algernon

Only the flower knows - that was the last thing he read, flickering on a billboard right across of him. Seiji was commuting home, looking up from his phone screen as he had texted his girlfriend something about dinner plans that weekend. Once he’d torn his gaze from one screen, he was met with another, displaying an ad with purple flowers sprouting across the broken expanse, the darkness bleeding into the image pixel by pixel, as the sound of the approaching subway grew louder, its horns blaring at full volume as its blinding lights stole his attention one second too late - his body was sent flying and Seiji Ootani ceased to exist, moments before he was torn to shreds - his heart stopped in its tracks, unlike the subway train, leaped into his throat and the salaryman became another name printed in the newspaper. His mugshot, his name, his age, displayed for the world of those that cared to see, with someone having the gall to claim his sadness for themselves, acting like they knew him, inside and out - how tragic.
Seiji had long since ceased to exist, unconsciously toiling about in a sea of souls, or a cesspit of endless nothingness, when it was the same blinding lights that took from him once blanketed him again, turned over the hourglass that had run out of sand - the suddenness of it all was paralyzing, astounding even, but the process no less painful. Everything that had splintered upon the first impact seemingly snapped back into place, didn’t it? Something felt wrong, even now - Seiji felt much lighter all of a sudden, as if the blaring lights not only enraptured him this time but also pushed away the weight of the world that lasted on his shoulders. Was he to haunt his family as a restless ghost? Actually, being dead didn’t sound so bad, he didn’t need to do anything at all like this and yet, the only thing he somewhat missed was a reliable internet connection; the afterlife seemed boring without.

When Seiji finally awoke afterward - hoping to hear any kind of medical equipment, any beeping, or the steady hum of machines - there was nothing but palpable silence, followed by the choked sobs of a woman he’d never seen in his life, no matter how blurry his vision had become, he could confidently say that whoever that buffoon in that ridiculous lavender gown was, he’d not once even talked to her. Did she have the wrong room? Had she taken it upon herself to kidnap his unconscious self and play his fucked up savior? Was he stuck here? One thing was obvious - his eyelids barely opened, his vision was blurrier than it had been the last time he was drunk and the covers felt like a tight, heavy embrace, smelt of lavender and robbed him of whatever of his senses remained. In fact, this entire room drove him nuts - it was mostly dark wood, expensive looking wood, accented by soft purple detailing in mostly the same shades: misty lavender, accented by whites and silvers, with a sprig of spring green sprinkled in-between. Where had he seen those colors anyway? A shitty ad?
“Evie, dearest!”, the woman cried out, clearly upset over something. Who the hell was Evie? Where the fuck was this? “Are you alright? How are you feeling?” Bony hands reached for his and clutched them in their own, squeezed them tightly. “Huh?” Those hands of his felt so delicate in her embrace, so small, they both fitted among the strangers own delicate pair, hurt from the squeeze, even. This … was confusing. “We’ve told you! You can’t just go out on your own like this, play in the snow barely dressed! And now look at you, someone found you in a field, you tried climbing that tree again and fell down, didn’t you?”, the woman continued her pleading and … scolding? Her weeping wouldn’t stop and soon, an entire orchestra joined in - the overload of noise was the shitty cherry on top of this messed up sundae, entirely consisting of cardboard and tears. Fuck. “Hah?” Everything went dark in a matter of seconds again. By god, today wasn’t his day.


The woman in lavender was her mother. Seiji - no, Evelyn - had figured that out a tad bit late, when he finally realized what was going on, somewhat. This place was entirely unfamiliar to him, but the grass’ whispers on the wind whipped him back into form in no time, shared the secrets of the house with him, the scent of lavender that permeated the air and the willow trees, soon in full bloom as the last of the snow melted away, weeped for her alongside the blades of grass. Her parents had been concerned for her wellbeing, for their shy little daughter that so preferred to play on her own and now had a nasty wound on her head, maybe even a broken skull! “Vilhardin will fix it!”, her father had argued, while Seiji grappled with the reality of something else - being a woman. No matter how many times he looked at himself in the mirror once he managed to get back up, no matter how hard he tried to just stare long enough, there was nothing left of him - he was a short stack, pretty much flat and whenever he dared to peer beyond his underwear, there was nothing there to greet him either, at least not that obvious. What a scam womanhood was! But worse than that was the threat of Vilhardin in this home - the Algernon family seemed nice enough, likely a bit bland with no siblings to keep around, but her plants kept her company instead, whispering of sweet nothings, of arrivals and departures, of nothingness and everything all the same.

Seiji had thought he’d be more panicked, but the ridiculous white ruffles Eve’s mother stuffed him into, as well as her room being compromised of quite literally everything she ever wanted, made his heart swell - only to splinter into a thousand pieces, all at once, whence he remembered the fate that awaited him, not here and now in the near future. He did need Vilhardin after all, preferably the young one! She needed to do something to win him over, no matter the depravity of her act - no, wait that actually did matter! Damnit! Why her!? No, him! Fuck! Why wasn’t he reborn as Vilhardin? Why was she Eve? Annoyed and perturbed she had requested the physician after all, her parents clearly happy about her willingness to relent after behaving nothing like their little angel, clearly worried that their child was forgetting some basic facts after the incident. Yet, even as both Vilhardins showed their mugs, they found nothing in particular to be wrong with her. Why would they, anyway?

Auguste Olivier of Vilhardin II

Strange things were undoubtedly happening as of recently - first, the Algernons had sent for both him and his father, with news of their daughter sustaining a fall and behaving strangely, only for them to find nothing wrong with her, outside of the outward wound neither of them could heal like that. Yet, by the time they had returned from their outing at the Algernons, a servant had informed them of what seemed to be the very same incident - his father shot the “old” news down, only to be informed it wasn’t even the same direction they were to head into, but the opposite. The Oblagorsk family had reported almost the same incident, with a very similar outcome and as they had made their way to their home, more than a days journey away, Auguste really craved sweets, something that he was denied, in favor of being forced to sit at the same table as his patient, two years younger than him and about the same blundering fool as he expected the last one to be. Couldn’t any of these be Marlowe instead? He smiled just thinking about her, directing it at Ophelia - he was nice, always nice. “You know, there’s nothing wrong with your bones. Some minor wear and tear here and there, but that’s normal when you fall off a horse.”, he stated the obvious, holding a wrapped candy out for the little blondie to snatch if she so wished. “How did you even fall off that horse in the first place? It trusts you, doesn’t it?” Still, a beast like that could be fickle. “Actually, I’ll share a secret with you - there’s another girl your age that something similar happened to recently. I’m sure you’d benefit from meeting, especially since her amnesia isn’t as bad as yours, if she even has any. Could be worth a try?” Auguste didn’t even know he was the one getting this weird ball rolling.

Lady Ophelia of Oblagorsk:
Despite her initial protests, all it took for Ophelia to behave was a stern but gentle word of the tall man presenting as her father.

She sat good and obedient on the edge of her bed, while the young man, only a little older than herself inspected her injury. He would still change a bit until the events of the game would take place. He would grow a little into the features that were still soft around his cheeks. But other things were… exactly as Ophelia remembered, borrowed from memories of a life too far away for comfort.
He was smiling right past her, not actually showing any interest in her beside her physical health, clearly dreaming of Marlowe instead. Ophelia knew perfectly how much he adored her since their childhood. Restlessly she let her fingers run through her own hair over and over again while her heart was winning a race. The love interests were clearly too pretty (except for Phoebos, naturally).
Her shoulders jumped when the young boy spoke up, asking her about her horse. She shrugged slowly. „Maybe it… was startled…?“
Confused her eyes jumped up to the wrapped candy he held out to her. He must have noticed her nerves. It was a very sweet gesture, Ophelia knew that he probably yearned to eat it himself.
She didn‘t immediately move to accept it. Instead she listened to his secret intently. Another girl suffering the same fate as she? Maybe… just maybe they were indeed… similar. „Hmm…“, Ophelia made and took the candy from the boy. Neither of their fathers were present the moment she opened the wrap and pushed the caramelized sugar past the young boys lips, accidentally gently grazing his bottom plush.
„Thank you for sharing…“, she whispered and simply got up to her feet, severing their connection and calling in her maid.
„Vanessa, the young lord Vilhardin said I am alright. Can I please see father?“ She threw one last glance back to the red-haired boy and curtsied for him. „Thank you for your service.“

It didn‘t took much work to find out the name of the other poor girl with a hurting head: Lady Evelyn Algernon. Ophelia almost laughed loudly. Of course it was Evelyn. Who else? If someone else was reincarnated from her world into this one, why wouldn‘t it be the other minor antagonistic side kick that no one really cared about? A meeting was quickly arranged. And with that finally changed the course of the young girls fate drastically.
They were led together into one of the salons of the Algernon family and soon after left alone. Awkwardly the young girls stood there, looking at each other in utter suspicion to actually be the villainous character after all. That was until Ophelia finally found the courage to open her mouth. „I hope your… head injury is well, my lady…“, she said quietly. „I heard from the… from Auguste that you are quite like… me… I mean that we‘re both injured in quite the same way and display… similar… uhm…“ She got nervous and started stumbling over her own words. What should she do? How should she ask? The girl looked just as alien to her as anybody else around her in purple frills and puffy skirts. It was too easy expecting to see someone standing there in a jeans of course…
Ophelia cleared her throat again. „I‘ve been dreaming a lot about… Japan since I woke up…“, she blurted out with a hammering heart. „Have you… heard of it?“

Lady Evelyn Algernon

If there was a single thing she was wholly underprepared for, it had to be the fact that her parents still expected her to know how a person - one that likely ceased existing by now, given their apparent lack of a body -, had behaved. Eve disliked even just thinking about it, among her other sorrows - her body was nimble and she didn’t have any sort of back pain, brought about by years of hunching over a dimly lit office desk, past the sane hours for work and there was not a single cigarette to he found anywhere within the castles confines, either. Worse yet, her eyesight was perfectly fine like this and the fact she couldn’t even tiptoe to reach the top shelf of certain bookcases, somehow, didn’t bother her as much as it should. This, too, was not only foreign and completely alien but, in the grander scheme of things, more messed up than the entire house smelling incessantly of lavender, draped in the same soothing hues, with their maids and butlers standing around droopy-eyed at times, close to simply passing out. She herself was no better, wore gowns seemingly more suitable for a good nights rest, rubbing away at the corners of her eye like a toddler whenever that wave of sleepiness overcame her. When her mother had told her of a visitor, she’s buried her nose into one of the libraries books, trying to busy herself and keep her mind engaged, but a nap started to sound more enticing than anything, even as her mother mentioned something about a Ophelia of Oblagorsk, which only mildly piqued her interest at first. Was this how Evelyn usually spent her time? Seiji didn’t know, they didn’t get all too much expose on the NPCs, much less the faceless ones, at times and this place, clearly, wasn’t the academy just yet, but her families own turf to govern.
Once she overcame her sleepiness, a certain airiness and a paralyzed mind followed as panic settled within her - no, his! - bones. A frenzy unlike any other, bright-eyed and sharp-clawed, swallowed her entire being as a whole, like it amounted to nothing in the eyes of the world, one bigger than herself, out to get revenge for something at every turn. Still, she had done her research in another life - Ophelia was one of the antagonist throuple’s corners, Evelyn the other and their crowning jewel was the antagonist herself. Why, though, would she show up here? Eve hadn’t listened well enough but knew that, no matter how she looked at it, this didn’t match with his actual game knowledge; normally, these two were fated to meet at the academy for the first time, courtesy of their to-be queen bee. Not like this, or much less without her. All of this was Vilhardins fault - he was ruining the story, but why? Chance? Circumstance? Or did he reincarnate from a player into a character as well? If so, why was he stuck like this, then? Biting her thumb and grumbling about it, she waited until Ophelia showed up after all, much less imposing during this age than her in-game counterpart - Eve could say the same about herself, no?
It didn’t take long for the first bombshell to drop after all, right after her guest opened her mouth, no introduction necessary. “A-all is well that ends w-well, don’t worry.”, he stammered, cursing himself. Not only was Eve much too young, she also seemed to be much too soft and whatever was going on made sure Seijis entire personality didn’t overwrite hers - twelve years of sales expertise for nothing! “Huh?” Auguste? This idiot was doing the talking? Oh gods, no! It didn’t even occur to her that Ophelia neglected to finish her sentence and started a new one instead - Eve looked at her, careful not to let her mouth hang open as the confession struck her like a lightning bolt, designated for her, and leaving her singed to a crisp. “Ja-japan!?” Her eyes were pried wide open in bewilderment. “I-I miss my phone … and I dream … about … uhhhh … browsing the internet?”, she whispered in a low voice. Wow, smooth talking, really. “I-I miss it so much … the cooking here is … n-not great.” Not when the younger one of their cooks was making their dinner, no.

Lady Ophelia of Oblagorsk:
At first the young girl stood there, nervously fiddling with her own hands, like a convict in front of her judge, awaiting her sentence. And when the seemingly dazed Evelyn burst out, Ophelia flinched as if she was hit right in the face. That was it, she said too much, she will be burned at the stake or something. Or at least thrown into an asylum. But then dark-haired girl proceeded and Ophelia held her breath in silent hopes when the first familiarity hit her.
She gasped. „Oh my god…“ Her body was no longer her own and she dashed forward to grasp Evelyns hands. „Yes, yes, yes!“, she nodded, tears of joy forming in her eyes, obscuring her sight. Her breath just as her fingers were shaking. „So you are actually just like me! Oh I am so glad, you can‘t imagine how I shat myself in this world! Like experiencing it through a Display was absolutely fine, but awaking here I just realized how much of a minefield this whole society is!“
The two girls immediately hit it off. They sat down together and gathered all the information they could remember of their past lives, talked about everything they have missed and left behind and then came the most important topic that was ever talked about.
„Okey!“, said Ophelia, turning to her new friend eagerly, while her hand stopped taking notes on a stack of paper in her lap. „Were you a super fan too? Which of the characters was your favorite? Were you active in any of the communities or had an account on paradiesofeden.com?“ Her eyes shone brighter than the stars and her whole demeanor has changed from when she first entered the unknown mansion.
„I hate my life, seriously! I can‘t believe I got reborn as fucking Ophelia! I‘ve been the biggest simp for Phoebos, but now I can‘t even look at him without puking at the thought of how I… drew him!“ She had to stop for a second and made a gagging expression in silent.
„I don‘t expect you to remember me or even know my works, but my username was Yukiki-chan. I was one of the artists featured on the fan forums, but never had a massive following or something!“
Ophelia was quite literally the image of pure, innocent joy speaking freely like this. Her feet didn‘t reach the ground and she happily swung her legs a little while talking and animated almost all of her sentences with her hands.

Lady Evelyn Algernon
Now was as good of a time as any to confess to his endless suffering, right? Seiji couldn't stand this anymore, being trapped like this, in a life that he didn't choose or want and he, most certainly, couldn't keep pretending to be some sort of villain that was only there to make someone that hadn't done anything wrong, not yet anyway, suffer. Were they supposed to reenact the original plot or just make this life worth living for them selves? So many questions piled up in the back of his - her? - mind as Ophelia kept running her mouth and time seemed as if it had become a thin line that had long since been crossed. "Y-yes!?", she yelped upon being grabbed out of nowhere. Man, being Evelyn seemed more than awkward right about now and worse, why was he feeling embarrassed by such a simple gesture? Was he going to die a sudden death eventually, from being too scared of, what exactly? His own reflection?
Technical questions followed and, entranced by them, she couldn't help but listen to Ophelia rave on about them - he'd never have thought he'd be in this situation, let alone like this and definitely not with someone else. This, too, wound up sounding like the worlds worst webnovel plot and he'd read a lot of trash in his life, hadn't he? None of this should come as a surprise, really. "Hwuh? I-I don't know if I'd ... call myself that? But I-I liked the game a lot ... uh ... the characters were a-all fine, I-I liked one of the NPCs the most ... that's k-kinda lame, isn't it?", she stammered, trying to regain her bearings. Why was it so hard for her to form a full sentence without stuttering? Had Eve really been this shy as a kid? That didn't add up, but maybe something had happened between here and then - it wasn't impossible after all. "Mhm, I did. I-I think I was one of the forums m-most active u-users three months in a r-row?" That was not exactly something to write home about but he sure loved to respond to every person on his guide thread personally and help them out with finding what they were missing for specific endings, which was difficult sometimes. What a sweetheart she - no, he! - had been, but bygones should be bygones now.
At least Ophelias confession got a good chuckle out of Evelyn. "R-really? That has to suck ... I'd almost be glad to be E-Evelyn, no s-siblings in the maincast a-and all, but ... y'know. If we just d-do what these two did in the game, we are f-fucked.", she whispered, her voice low and airy, trying to make sure neither of her parents or any sort of maid could hear through the door what they were talking about and what language they used for it. "I'd puke too, tho." A confession she couldn't deny herself. "But hey, there's still ... well ..." The two other freaks. Thinking about it, both Auguste and Marinus weren't exactly the most stable people either, something not so uncommon given the games nature and yet, Marlowe was much more equipped to deal with those two and Phoebos, too. "H-how you drew him? Oh?", Eve tried teasing with a chuckle of her own. Well, love went a long way, didn't it? "HAH?" The surprise slipped out of the usually calm and collected, even shy, person in a loud, thundrous expression that likely echoed off of more walls than just the four in this very room. "I- e-excuse my outburst." Then again, she kept staring at Ophelia. "I- don't expect you to ... remember either, a-and this is kind of e-embarrassing I-I guess, but my username w-was tantan. I c-commissioned you a f-few times." What a freaky coincidence that was indeed! "I've a-always loved your art, y-you know!"

Lady Ophelia of Oblagorsk:
Ophelia was on cloud nine. Speaking to the shy girl, currently a year younger than her gave her soul wings she didn‘t know she was missing from her past life. And yet the surprises today only seemed to grow further and further. She flinched a little once again in reaction to the loud and emotional outburst of Eve - a phenomenon that seemed to keep happening with her. She looked up at the girl with big eyes, since she has jumped to her feet in utter shock. And it really took her a little while for her words to sink in…
But the realization came with a breathless gasp and her hands flew right up to her mouth, covering it as it has clasped open. „No way… you‘re kidding me! T-tantan? You are really tantan?“ A laugh erupted from her chest, mimicking the volume of Evelyns surprise. Something that made the maids stop in their tracks outside their salon in the hallways. The mansion certainly hasn‘t been this lively in a long time, but it was seen as something positive… hopefully.
Ophelia nodded eagerly. „Yes, yes! Of course I remember! I‘ve read all of your guides and I always kept files of my customers, noting down their preferences and what they liked or wished to have changed in my artworks! I remember, you loved Gherasim, right? Honestly, I really liked his design and I was thrilled whenever you commissioned him! I didn‘t get to draw him much for anyone else!“
And with that something deep within her awoke. A light that would not go out ever again as far as she was concerned. Out of memory her muscle memory took over. She took out a brand new sheet of paper, dipped her quill into the little ink pot on the table in front of her and started sketching.
It didn‘t take her too long until Gherasims face was appearing recognizable on her sheet. She added a few shades and details into his hair and made him charmingly grin. Happily she checked her little piece before turning to Eve again and handing her the sketch.
„Here! It‘s a present! Maybe this can bring you at least a little bit of… normality and comfort!“ Suddenly she felt awkward now too and avoided looking at her - hopefully - new friend. Was she being a show-off or obnoxious right now?
She cleared her throat. „I really can‘t imagine what will happen from now on… It doesn‘t feel like we‘re being forced into certain actions. Maybe we can actually shape this whole story or build a life for ourselves… That would be… nice I guess? Although I‘d really like to know how - or why! - we got here in the first place! And how are we supposed to behave after all? I was absolutely shocked when Auguste had to examine my head for any other injuries! He was so young but already so pretty… It was intense fanservice! I am afraid of my brain just stopping to work when I have to interact with any of the other characters or even NPCs! Everyone in Eden was designed ridiculously pretty, and…“
A knock on the door immediately stopped her in her tracks and both girls turned their heads to look over to the entrance of the salon. A young man with blonde hair entered. Phoebos came to stand in front of the sofa his sister and their host were sat. He elegantly bowed slightly. „Good evening, Lady Evelyne. I bring forth our fathers sincerest thanks for the invitation for tea. I am Phoebos, Ophelias brother.“
Ophelia slightly rolled her eyes and huffed quietly.
„What‘s wrong? What are you doing here? I was invited, not you!“, she quickly retorted, hiding her notes by scrapping them together. Phoebos shot her a warning look. „You should not overstay your welcome, dearest sister. I am here to pick you up. Remember, you‘re still recovering and Lady Evelyne is too. You shouldn‘t overwhelm the both of you right away.“
Sadly Ophelia looked over to Evelyne, sulking with her bottom lip shot forward. „But it‘s just been so fun…“

Lady Evelyn Algernon
Something about their encounter just felt very right and so very wrong at the same time. Had they been intended to meet all this time or, for whatever reason it was that wanted them apart, was this the only time this game would let them talk freely like this? Seiji already felt his pessimism leak into the lavender stained world he found himself captured by, something he had wanted to avoid. With Ophelia around, this felt more feasible by the second, like some sort of feathery embrace that kept her safe - Eve wanted it to be true, yet knew that she couldn't rely on others to fix her mistakes for her all the time. "Y-yes...", she assured the blonde ever so slightly, fidgeting a bit as she thought about it. The name of her beloved NPC, Gherasim, a sentinel of the western lands, dusted her face a rosy hue. Why was she feeling so very warm all of a sudden? Had the heating been turned up?
"Y-you did? This ... n-not so loud! This is kind of embarrassing ... the Gherasim part, I mean." If someone misunderstood their conversation, no, if anyone even heard their conversation, they'd think the craziest of things about poor Evelyn! She wasn't lusting after someone like Gherasim, not at such a delicate age no less - he was way too old too, he was probably in his early twenties right now! Or close to that anyway! As Eve hid her face in her hands, demure as one might delude themselves into believing her to be, she wanted nothing more than to scream. The embarrassment, being put on the spot like this, being assured all those files of his commissions existed somewhere - it kind of killed her, in its own way. Not only was this beyond what she had ever imagined, but meeting Yukiki here? Of all places? He wanted nothing more than to explode into a thousand pieces, with no semblance of his self left behind. This was ... bad, wasn't it?
She couldn't manage to open her mouth all the way, to get the words out at all but once she uncovered her eyes again, she gazed upon a piece of artwork she'd yearned for in a life that had faded from existence, been a blip in an otherwise vast universe and now she could be happy that she had a different head, perched upon an intact body, but why, then, was she not getting the same pangs of love she had once felt for this man upon gazing onto his reflection? Seiji would've never even considered that he felt something like love for Gherasim, rather admiration and some sort of fealty, sworn to him to right the wrongs he was living through by not being a love interest for Marlowe. Now, though, Eve felt a little less than that; sure, he was hot, from a theoretical standpoint, and just, and loving, and caring, but not ... something just felt off and it was Ophelias artwork. Why didn't she get the urge to devour this piece of paper whole, in one bite, after being deprived of Gherasim for so long? "Y-you didn't have to!", Eve remarked, sounding happy as can be - she didn't want to ruin the ink, the masterpiece before her, one that made her see the stars for what they really were.
"I'll come up with something for you in no time at all!" Writing? No, that would take too long and given Ophelias preferences shifted, with Phoebos being no longer an object of her affection, it would be hard to gauge. Song, on the other hand, could not be gifted beyond what this world was capable of - it was abysmal. What did she have for her new-old friend? "We'll f-figure it out? T-together?", Evelyn suggested soon enough, insecure as always.
Before that thought could take any shape, or real form, however, the door to the salon swung open and an uninvited guest saw himself in - Eve took one look at him and, whereas the portrait of Gherasim did little for her now, laying her eyes upon Phoebos for the first time in this very game felt as if she'd been startstruck. No, worse. Was this what it felt like being pelted by thousands of stars, all at once, relentlessly? "A-Ah!" She caught herself staring at Phoebos a little too long, then tore off her gaze, again shamefully casting it aside. That was the second time today. Damnit. "G-good evening Lord Phoebos! Pleased t-to make y-your acquaintance! The pleasure i-is mine." Having Ophelia over sounded like she was opening a can of worms together with her, diving deep into things long forgotten. "I-It's alright. This h-has been fun ... W-would you be able to visit a-again sometime s-soon?", Evelyn suggested, addressing both of them, seemingly. "If i-it's no trouble. Today h-helped a lot..."

Lady Ophelia of Oblagorsk:
The words Evelyn gifted to her were already ringing in Ophelias ears like a song: together. Everything about this world she thought she knew almost everything about felt suddenly hard and foreign. But with Evelyn by her side she wasn‘t alone in it anymore. They could discuss their next steps, talk about experiences and take care of each other. Have each others backs. It filled her chest with something warm, as if cradling her heart into a blanket. She didn‘t really notice Evelyns adoring eyes, directed at her brother. Him being a love interest felt so far away that it could not occur to her that Evelyn could feel something similar to her laying her eyes on Auguste for the first time.
But Phoebos noticed. He tilted his head ever so slightly in a questioning motion. Since Ophelia seemed fairly unaffected by his magic he has stopped using it altogether on his surroundings. At least he didn‘t do it as frequently anymore. And the young Evelyn he made sure to not touch with his addictive grip of magic. And yet her hazy eyes paired with rosy cheeks felt oddly familiar and at the same time utterly foreign to him. The stuttering girl, asked for another visit and declared Ophelias presence to have been helpful.
Both siblings reacted simultaneously: Phoebos skeptically raised a brow in disbelief while Ophelia beamed a proud smile all over her face. „You heard her! I helped! I wasn‘t overwhelming Evelyn! We became friends… right?“ She directed her question to the girl again, looking at her through her long lashes.
Phoebos let out a sigh. „I am… delighted to hear you were able to help each other through this curious situation. I am sure you will have many opportunities to see each other again… Unfortunately this decision is not up to us, you know that, Ophelia.“
The blonde girl puffed out her chest and crossed her arms in front of it. „I will convince father, don‘t worry. I will work for his permission, I promise!“ Once again she took Evelyns hand. Gently this time, stroking over her pale skin lovingly, looking straight into her eyes.
„It was such a delight meeting you, Lady Evelyn. I was truly honored to make your acquaintance and will hold this encounter dear to my heart. Since we are together in this… curious situation“, she quoted her brother, „I promise that we will proceed this journey together.“
Phoebos lips curled up into a smile and for just a second something resembling a laugh left his lips that he covered quickly with a slight cough and clearing of his throat.
„My goodness, Ophelia, stop the theatrics, you sound as if you‘re declaring love to your future wife. Come on now, I am sure you don‘t want to scare your new friend. Leave her room to breathe.“ Ophelia immediately let go of Eves hands and jumped up to her feet, holding her notes close to her chest. She dismissively clicked her tongue at Phoebos as she turned to him. „Will you stop saying such unpleasant things? You‘re just jealous because I found a friend and you didn‘t. Who‘s the popular one now, huh?“
She gleefully smiled back at Evelyn one last time and curtsied before heading towards her brother. He too bowed for the young Lady of the house. „I pray for your fast recovery, Lady Evelyn. Should there be ever a matter you need assistance with, do not fret to ask. A friend, dear to my sister is dear to myself.“ Ophelia looked at him with disgust. „I will fight you“, she declared seriously and dry. Phoebos pressed his lips together for a second and rolled his eyes. „I know.“

Lady Evelyn Algernon
They became friends, right? The question resounded in her mind tenfold and Eve nodded in acknowledgment of a this bond, maybe not forged by fire and flame, but happenstance and longing to be understood - a shackle much sturdier and durable than any sort of flamelicked steel could ever pretend to be. “Your presence was m-most welcoming, in fact.”, she tried to assure someone in this room, maybe even herself, the one who knew too much and too little at the same time. Happiness was far from the only thing that she had to pursue in this life and yet, perhaps even because Ophelia could no longer long for the man who’s very sister she was willed to be, Evelyn felt her heart drop, then pick up the pace - entombed beneath her ribcage, brittle and fragile, it longed to be seen. Her pulse had quickened ever so little, the tips of her ears already discolored - not even Gherasim had made her feel like this, so why was it Phoebos?
“D-don’t worry. Our parent’s s-surely can work something out.” A suggestion most sound, without any sort of hassle attached. What would their parents do? Object to a mere meeting? Their houses seemed to have a good standing in one anothers eyes, neither of their standings were tarnished just yet - those rumors barely scratched the surface and even if they would push further, they’d find nothing out of the ordinary. This time, at least, instead of being spooked by the sudden closeness, Eve smiled and squeezed Ophelia’s hand a slight bit, unable to muster any more strength than that. What a pitiful excuse that was. Small, weak, shy - Seiji was none of those things and yet, this was the role he had to play, or, even if he didn’t want to, he had to adjust to it. Why did that bother him less and less anyhow?
“Th-thank you, Lady Ophelia. This was … m-more of a delight than I could have hoped for. I l-look forward to c-continuing this …” Her friend. An important friend. Eve felt warm, like she was all snug in one of her blankets, held close and comforted by those closest to her - it was sweet, but not overly so. Not until Phoebos opened his mouth once more and the imaginary blanket threatened to swallow her whole in an inescapable embrace of cloying sweetness. What was it again? “It-it’s quite alright, mylord … thank you, s-still.” For what? His overwhelming presence or the easy out of this situation? One of the two, perhaps both combined. Eve accepted either truth for herself.
“Th-thank you … Lady Ophelia, I hope you r-recover as swift.” Were those two even listening to her? The banter itself continued undisturbed, one of them less concerned about what impression of them it was they were leaving her with. Hah, siblings - weren’t those fun to have? Evelyn chuckled and bowed to them. “It was my pleasure, y-you two. I’ll be i-in touch.”, Eve assured Ophelia, then nodded as her as she fetched them a maid to escort them out - the moment both of them were out of her immediate vicinity, she felt tired. Were those two responsible or was it her frayed nerves? Regardless of it all, she clearly needed a short rest.

Lady Ophelia of Oblagorsk
The years went by in the blink of an eye. While the situation was terrifying at first, Ophelia was quickly numb of fear for the society awaiting her arrival. She learned many things about the original life of the girl who‘s identity she has stolen. Apparently she was generally overlooked by her family. Nothing special, not really good at something but neither bad. All efforts were completely focused on Phoebos and Phoebos alone. But since the accident and her transformation in character and amnesia… something shifted.
Her father put a lot of effort into her education all of the sudden. She was assigned several tutors to teach her everything she has forgotten in record time and it was expected of her to exceed prior progress as well. She was worked to the bone and in the nature of one prior Kyoko Hamasaki who was not at all used to elitism like this, she often announced that she would quit. Ophelia started throwing crying tantrums, breaking under the pressure. But luckily there was always a threat that gave her a fresh wind of new motivation.
„You know by now, don‘t you?“, her father would say in a deep and serious voice, rumbling behind her chair like an approaching storm. „If you don‘t finish your assignment, I will shorten your time with Lady Evelyn. You won‘t see her for the rest of the month.“
That was always the moment when Ophelia would look up, dry her face from the tears and power through whatever task she had to finish. She even dreamed about all her materials. Almost every night she spent with a dream version of Phoebos (of all people!!) and asked him to explain everything she didn’t yet understand. And somehow she indeed massively improved in a extremely short amount of time.
Which again had a down side. Her drowzyness during the day became almost clinical. The second she sat down and was left alone - she was asleep. Again Auguste and his father were sent to the estate to check up on Ophelia and possible long term damages that after all occurred with the head injury.
Ophelia was brought into a room, more asleep than awake. She curtsied for Auguste as if sleepwalking and sat down on the corner of the sofa she was led to, sitting in front of Auguste, not even noticing that he was actually there. And yet she looked up, smiled at him drunkenly. „So pretty“, she sighed at the sight of his beautiful red hair and the young face, still a little too young to be the same as she remembered originally. Then she closed her eyes and let the young man roam around through her head, an intrusive action that she didn‘t mind anymore at all. And quicker than she could notice, she simply fell forward right into his arms, sound asleep with her head cradled against his shoulder.
Everyone in the room held their breath in shock. The maids gasped gently, their cheeks painted red, averting their eyes in embarrassment. Phoebos mouth dropped open. „She can‘t be serious!“, he muttered. „I am so sorry, Auguste. Are you… eh alright?“ He didn‘t know how to help the young man in this situation. Should he just tear his sister out of his arms? WHat was he supposed to do to not act scandalously?

Lord Auguste of Vilhardin II
Being called upon either of the Oblagorsk or Algernon estates seemed to be nothing new, not nowadays at least, when both their offspring seemed to have more than just one screw loose. No matter how many times either he, his father or the both of them together paid the girls a visit, they found nothing out of the ordinary, not pertaining to either of their prior injuries and left after assuring their families, both overbearing and rightfully scared at times, with a bitter tinge at the back of their throats. Auguste himself was but a boneweaver, not someone that could right the wrongs of an organ, even if he could see something was off - there were plenty of other healers, more capable than him and his kindred spirits, then again, they always called upon them like they were the only ones that wouldn't judge them. What a lousy excuse.
Today was no different - the Oblagorsks had sent for his father, who was away on business and would be for quite some time. After a short back and forth with the head of the family, it seemed of utmost importance that he showed up soon, before it was too late, whether that meant that Ophelia had fallen out of another tree or someone had broken their neck, he could not say - Auguste set out regardless and was received much like his father would have been, even if the faces some of the maids and other servants made, the sneers they directed at him, spoke volumes on their own. Too young, unexperienced, unworthy - was that what they couldn't say? What a sorry excuse those expressions were.
The moment he was lead into the lounge and greeted by Ophelia, she seemed pretty much out of it - that was ... odd, wasn't it? Initially he'd tossed all concern out of the window but right now, he felt ill-equipped to even handle anything like this, factually, he wasn't even sure where to start. Perhaps digging around in her head, asking her bones for a place that felt off, seemed to be the most sane of options. Auguste held his hand against his heart as he bowed for Ophelia, following suit and inspecting her from afar, at least initially. The distance was nice, though, stood in his way on its own - what else, her behavior made so little sense, Auguste wondered if she hadn't fallen yet again and hit some sort of vital spot for real this time. Then again, there were no external injuries he could spot and, just as he opened his mouth to question Ophelia, she said something quite outlandish. "Pardon?" Him? Pretty? What on ... no, clearly she was seeing things, right? The redheads mouth was zipped tightly and even as the embarrassment he felt swelled within his otherwise prideful heart, he could barely focus as the blonde fell into his arms. Out of reflex, he caught her and yet, in hindsight, wished he hadn't - his eyes were wide and his arms felt like pudding - his knees were weak, too. "I'm quite alright.", he quickly responded to Phoebos. What a sight this was, both for himself and all the onlookers.
Auguste cleared his throat, steadied himself and gently peeled Ophelia from his embrace, settling her on the sofa once more. Right. His quickened pulse was a sign of shame after all. This was a simple hiccup, nothing else, even if the candy from years ago haunted him - was Ophelia doing any of this on purpose? No, he needed to get rid of those thoughts immediately. "I'm just glad I caught her and she didn't fall on the floor. It seems like she's overly exhausted ... how long has this been going on anyway? What about her magic, can she control it? That usually tends to be a major factor for exhaustion."

The Oblagorsk siblings
After Ophelia was completely knocked out once again she didn‘t wake up from the commotion or from being moved away back into the sofa. She simply out of reflex cuddled up to one of the cushions and let out the tiniest sigh of pure relaxation, not knowing it seemed how big a faux-pas she has had. Phoebos sighed deeply, calming down at least a bit upon seeing Augustes reaction and that he didn‘t seem to be offended by Ophelias accidental daring actions. He stroke back his hair and locked eyes with the young physician for quite some time before turning around to the maids, still standing close together like a flock of hens.
„You are all dismissed, please leave.“ The women bowed down before the two lords before ushering each other to leave quickly. Probably to start spreading what their little fairy did now. Phoebos sat down in a chair next to the red-haired man. „Well, you see… Something really has changed drastically the day she awoke after the head injury. Of course, her lost memory was a problem in itself but her magic seems… off as well. As you know our family is versed in empathetic magic. Always has been.“
He looked over to the sleeping girl, completely exhausted and beat. „But Ophelia doesn‘t display any sign of magic in that regard. To be honest - and you have to give me your word to keep this private - we still haven‘t figured out whatever her magical ability could be at all.“
Although Phoebos did start to have his suspicions about the many dreams he‘s been having of her simply running up to him and bombarding him with questions regarding to her studies. At first he was just brushing it off but the phenomenon became apparent… combined with her improved stance in her studies as well… But could it really be? That made no sense. Phoebos was way too scared to say his suspicions out loud to not start any rumors about Ophelia being a child outside of marriage and some sort of bastard.
He looked back at Auguste after staring into nothing for a while, deeply lost in thoughts. „Have you ever heard of someone… losing their magical abilities or more like… developing other ones after an injury like this?“
This whole conversation, even the unspoken claim that stood in the room with them right now was a massive scandal that could easily throw waves over their heads. But it had to be muttered.
Ophelia slept without a care in the world it seemed, until a loud bang outside the room in the hallway made her flinch and open her eyes. „Yes! I am so sorry, I am awake, please proceed.“ She sat up straight immediately and held her hands in front of her as if she was holding a book. „The western revolution happened back in the…“, she started reciting, while not realizing, that her hands were actually empty and she was not reading from anything.
Utterly confused, looking like a dog in the rain, she looked helplessly from her brother to Auguste and back… before jolting her head back to Auguste in shock. She gasped. „Lord Vilhardin!“, she said breathless and quickly jumped to her feet, curtsying before him, deeply and respectfully, maybe even an inch more than needed. „I… I am so sorry, did you two have a meeting? Have I fallen asleep? Is my teacher already gone? I…“
„Sit down, Ophelia“, Phoebos sighed and quietly whining she did as he told her and just fell back. „Lord Vilhardin was called because of your condition right now and the fact you keep falling asleep. You… fell asleep during your check up.“
The young girls cheeks immediately grew darker in shade and ashamed she averted her gaze. „I am so sorry…“, she muttered facing her hands in her lap.