Chapter Text
“Hello? Can you hear me? Are you alright?”
That was what I woke up to, an unfamiliar voice speaking to me in an unfamiliar room. Dazed, I took in my surroundings, and slowly began to process my situation.
Hold on. Let’s have a reality check.
My name is Clair Cambridge. I guess you could say I’m a hotshot business lady, working in the sales division of one of the biggest marketing firms in the United States of America. Though, if I’m being totally honest, lately I’ve been less “hot” and a lot more “shot”. The burnout from work has kept me constantly exhausted. My home is less of a home and more of a resting place in between the constant business trips my job has me taking. Last thing I can remember, I was staying up late in a hotel room, grasping what little free time I could squeeze out of my evening to play a bit of my favorite video game before bed: Revolution.
Revolution is a dating sim set in a fantasy world, where you play as a simple commoner girl attending a magic school with the three princes of the Bauer Kingdom, your capture targets. I discovered the game a couple years ago, and everything about it captivated me. But nothing else can compare to the game’s protagonist: Taylor.
“Taylor” is the last name of the avatar you control throughout the game. Her first name is up to the player. Usually, whenever I deign to play a video game, I name the protagonist after myself, but I couldn’t really do that here. Because Revolution has a villainess, and her name is Claire François. She looks a bit like me, in that she has blonde hair and blue eyes, but otherwise she’s nothing like me. A domineering, malicious bully who gets in Taylor’s way at every turn and competes for the princes’ attention. Since my own name wouldn’t work well, I named my Taylor “Rae”.
Rae became the symbol of escapism for me. It was really hard to maintain any kind of relationship with how much traveling I did, but Rae was always there. As sad as it sounds, I thought of her as a dear friend. Whenever I played the game, I wanted to do my best to make Rae happy. I learned all of the strategies, all of the tricks and pitfalls, and played every route several times over, all so I could give Rae the best life I could, over and over.
I suppose you could say I truly loved Rae.
Back to the present situation. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and confirmed what I was seeing; a classroom. Not any I’ve been in before, no; this was a classroom in the Royal Academy, the primary setting of Revolution. I saw familiar faces, characters I recognized from the game, as real people. And the person speaking to me right now is-
“...Rae? Rae Taylor, is that you?”
The girl before me was just like the avatar from the game. She looked to be a little taller than me, of Japanese descent, with brown hair cut just below the neck. She was utterly adorable.
“...Yes, that’s me.” She answered me hesitantly, shyly. She’s so cute! But, alas, I must be dreaming, I thought. And, if I was dreaming, then there was something I had to do before I woke up.
I stood up, and pulled Rae into a tight hug. “Thank you”, I whispered in her ear, for everything she meant to me, for being my solace from the terrible, terrible world of business I lived in.
“M-Miss Claire François!” Rae called out, raising her eyebrows in shock. “This is not how a noble greets a commoner!”
I froze. Carefully taking my arms off her, I felt the back of my hair, and my hands touched immaculately curled golden drills. I looked down, and saw I was wearing the Royal Academy uniform. That’s when I finally realized.
What do you mean, I’m the Villainess?!
“Wooooooow. First day back to school, and you’ve already embarrassed yourself? That’s basically unheard of for you. I’m almost impressed!”
The girl speaking to me at this moment was Catherine Achard. She was mentioned offhand in Revolution once or twice, but the player never gets to see her. However, the moment I entered my dorm room, I recognized her immediately; it seemed I really was Claire François, and I remembered things from both my old life and this one. I do believe that my memories as Clair Cambridge are stronger, but memories of being Claire François don’t feel any less “real”. Since I didn’t seem to be waking up from what increasingly didn’t seem to be a dream, I decided the best approach would be to stay in character to avoid suspicion.
“I haven’t the faintest idea what you mean, Catherine.” I replied, taking on a haughty tone that felt way too natural for me.
“I mean just going up and hugging that commoner girl? That took guts.” She looked over at me from the top bunk of our bunk bed. I recalled that Catherine had only one leg, and wondered why she slept in the top bunk despite that. Nonetheless, it seemed word about my impulsive act of affection had spread. I had to cover this up somehow.
“Hmph! Don’t think too much of it. I was simply overexcited to see that King l’Aussiel’s meritocracy policies were working properly. It won’t happen again.”
“Oh reeeaaaallly.” Catherine had a knowing smirk that I did not like. “So why’s your face as red as a tomato right now?”
I touched my cheek. She was right. I just can’t help that Rae is so cute! “That’s just because you’re teasing me, Catherine! Knock it off!”
That got a laugh out of her. “Well, if there’s something more going on, you really should just ask me for help. I used to live as a commoner too, y’know.”
That’s right, I realized. Catherine was the illegitimate daughter of Clément Achard, marquess of Bauer. She was born to a commoner mother, but was taken in by her father and made into a noble, if only in name. Her insight could be useful here.
“Fine. Let’s say I’m interested in pursuing friendship with a commoner. How do I do that appropriately?”
“That’s more like it!” She clapped. “So, if you want a commoner friend, the best thing to do is to treat her with respect. Most nobles look at commoners as little more than pests, so it can mean a lot to them if you treat them as equals.”
“Equals?” I blinked. I understood what she was saying, it made sense, but treating Rae as an equal to myself felt odd on both fronts. From the perspective of Clair Cambridge, Rae was my video game avatar I controlled, and from the perspective of Claire François, Rae was a commoner, someone beneath me. As much as I loved Rae, engaging with her as an equal would be difficult.
“Or you could just keep hugging her without permission, I dunno.” Catherine added in her usual lazy drawl. “Do you actually know her at all?”
Do I? That was quite the question. Of course I knew everything there was to know about Rae Taylor, the video game avatar. But this wasn’t a video game. She was a real woman here, a person with as much complexity and depth as I had. It didn’t occur to me until Catherine mentioned it, but I didn’t actually know what she was like, now that she was more than a blank canvas to project on.
“...No, not that well. We just met today.”
“Well, just go talk to her! Maybe start by apologizing for that hug. Maybe she liked it, I dunno, but it was still a pretty weird thing to do. I’m still shocked you did it, really.” She smirked.
“Yes, yes, so am I, let’s move past that.” I said, impatiently. “Very well! I, Claire François, will get to know this Rae Taylor girl better than anyone else! Ohohohoho!” I put my hand up to my mouth and laughed like the rich, haughty woman I now was. As soon as I did it, I realized Wait, this is fun, and immediately decided to do it again at the next possible opportunity.
After that, I got ready for the magic aptitude test. Of course, I already knew my results; I had high aptitude in Fire magic, the most destructive and offense-oriented element. I was made to be a formidable foe, a rival to be beaten. I needed to be sure that I could wield this power; I’d need it later. For now, though, I have to demonstrate my ability for the school’s records. But before I did…
“Miss Claaaaire!”, cried a voice that was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. I turned to see a pair of girls running up to me, and immediately recognized them as Loretta Kugret and Pepi Barlier, Claire’s minions. Sorry, I mean friends? In Revolution I only saw them as a pair of minibosses that followed Claire around, but now I have all of these memories of growing up with them and encouraging them to pursue their dreams as musicians. Guess I never gave them much thought in my previous life.
“Ah, Loretta, Pepi!” I called back, surprised by the fondness in my own voice. “So sorry for my lateness. I assume you’ve both had your tests done?”
“Sure have!” Pepi replied proudly. “Medium aptitude in Wind magic! Doesn’t that just suit me perfectly?”
“And I have medium aptitude in Earth magic”, Loretta added. “Which will probably be useful on the battlefield.”
Ah, that’s right, I thought. House Kugret is on the forefront of Bauer’s military, and Loretta is expected to be Bauer’s first female soldier. She wasn’t enthused about that idea though, because she was far more passionate for the piano. I was recalling these details like I always knew them, but at the same time it felt like new information. Being reincarnated is quite disorienting.
“What about you, Miss Claire? Have you gotten your aptitude tested yet?” Pepi chimed.
“No, I was just about to do that. Care to join me?” I surprised myself with that offer, but it did make sense. These two are my friends.
We set off back to the testing ground, where I confirmed my high aptitude in Fire magic, much to the delight of Loretta and Pepi. But there was something else I wanted to confirm more…
“Amazing! Exceptional aptitude in both Earth and Water? Miss Taylor, you’re a Dual Caster!”
That’s what I was waiting for. I turned around to see Rae getting her own aptitude measured, and she looked quite shocked about it. Eeeeee! She’s so cute! It took me a second to compose myself before approaching her.
“So! It seems I was right about you, Rae Taylor. There’s more to you than meets the eye!” I took on a smug tone befitting my villainess persona, if only to cover up the way my heart is racing right now as I look at her.
She looked quite flustered already. “Sorry, um… is that why you hugged me before, Miss Claire?”
“Y-yes! That’s right!” I seized the opportunity. “I have a gift for this sort of thing! As a scholarship student, I expect great things from you! Don’t disappoint me!”
“Hey, now, let’s not blow up her head too much. She’s only just gotten here.” Said a boisterous, confident man. Looking at him, and the two behind him, my heart sank in embarrassment. Oh, right. The object of the game.
The man who spoke was Rod Bauer, crown prince of the kingdom. Behind him were his younger brothers, Thane and Yu Bauer.
“My apologies, Prince Rod.” I bowed my head. “It is rare for a commoner to exceed my expectations, even given how low they are. I’m quite curious to see what this one is capable of.”
“That makes two of us!” Rod gave his usual, broad grin. “You’re pretty interesting, Rae.” He said as he clapped her on the back.
“Th-thank you, Prince Rod. It is an honor to receive such praise from you.” Rae bowed her head politely, as I did.
What?! I felt my blood burning. Did he just casually flirt with Rae? And did she thank him but not me?! This means war! You’re going down, Prince Rotten!
And that is how my new career as a villainess began.