Five Lifetimes Later

Meeting

After eating my full from the buffet tables, I sat down in my seat, satisfied. I stroked Linc and stayed near my parents so that no other kids could approach me. Apparently, since I was pretty and came from a powerful family, I was expected to have followers or something. That was too troublesome, having to manage several kids would be an exhausting job. 

Now that I think about it, wasn't the Queen's Birthday Banquet when I was 5 years old the first time I met the second prince Runin? Ehh, whatever. I already came to the conclusion that all I would have to do is ensure to never 

a) get engaged to Runin 

b) fall in love with Runin

c) not get involved with the heroine or the capture targets

A perfect plan.

Buuuut, it did not go as I wished. For I made eye-contact with the heroine who was glaring daggers at me. Yes, the heroine. Unlike most magical otome games, the heroine was not a unique girl born of low social standing, but the daughter of a Marquis. This should be the heroine's and the capture target's first meeting, I mused. Yes, the heroine's first meeting with the capture targets was not at the school, but before. She would become their close friends, starting with them thinking that she was interesting, leading to them falling in love with her when at magic school. This was not a known fact in the actual otome game, and I had only picked this up in my fourth life when observing their behaviors and actions. In the game, the capture targets would only help out the heroine discreetly, making the player think that it was out of interest, not friendship or love. 

Today should be the day that the heroine is surrounded by others, complimenting her for her super rare light magic, and catching the attention of the capture targets. Why was she glaring at me? I know that there were rumors about a young girl having space powers, but no one has connected it to me. Yet. Not that I really care. No one believes it anyway.

I glanced at her laser eyes one more time. Well, whatever. I can't do anything about it right now. The hater's gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate~

As my family approached the Queen's throne which was beside the King's, I became bored and took out a tart from my space pocket. I then thought better of the blueberry tart that would stain my teeth and instead took a bite out of a raspberry. Yum~

My parents presented this really powerful sparkly thingy to the royal family as congratulations for the Queen's birthday. I wasn't paying attention and was wholly focused on the tart in hand. The King observed me, looking amused. "Is that tart good?" he asked.

I froze, mid-chew, and so did everyone else in the ballroom. I slowly swallowed, "Yes, it is quite marvelous. As expected of the chefs of the royal palace, truly on a different level." I answered. Then, seeing the reactions of the people around me, I realized that was not an answer that a normal 5 year old girl would give. Trying to ease up my mistake I offered, "would you like to try some?" in a childish voice. I breathed a sigh of relief as everyone around me relaxed.

The King, contrary to what I thought, burst into laughter and said, "sure. What do you recommend?" 

My eyes lit up, "The sugar cookies are extremely buttery and seem to melt on your tongue, so those would be quite a good choice. The green tea cakes are sweet, but not too sweet and are good for those older or do not have much of a sweet tooth. Also, the tarts are my personal favorite, the fruitiness of the compote and the rough bitterness of the crumble perfectly complements one another." I gushed. Then realizing that I had just gone on like a food infomercial in front of the royal family about their food, I paled in horror. Would they think that I was too audacious? Would I get onto their blacklist?

Suddenly, I heard chuckles resound around me. I looked up, and saw that not only my family, but also the king and queen had burst out laughing. I glanced around, confused, what was so funny?

Once he caught his breathe, the King spoke again, "Why don't you go have a dance with my son?" he offered.

I vehemently shook my head. Dance with prince = heroine's enemy = waayy more work on my part. If anything, I want to become a mob character and live out the rest of my days in peace and happiness. NO politics or royal family, thank you very much.

Hmm, now that I think about it, the heroine is currently making her way towards the second prince and the 3 other capture targets. The 4 prodigies, after seeing their exam results, became fast friends and rivals. I quickly excused myself and started making my way over. I sat at a table nearby them and observed the them quietly while munching on my blueberry tart. This was the first time that the heroine would catch the capture targets' attention, and it was a scene that the old me had missed because I was too busy flattering the King and Queen. The prince looked quite familiar... hmm... have I met him somewhere before? Whatever, it's probably not that important.

I reached into my space pocket and made a glass of juice appear. To make sure that no one would freak out over having my had disappear into thin air, I reached into my purse. When I pulled out the glass of juice, a sudden voice made me stop in my tracks. 

"What are you doing?" the voice asked. I turned around. Oh great. It's them, the heroine is officially going to harass me until death. 

"Eating." I said rudely, hoping that he'd get the hint. 

Runin didn't, and plopped down next to me. The rest weren't so casual and remained standing. I saw the heroine coming this way and I face palmed. Hoping to avoid the confrontation, I made my stuff disappear into my space pocket and I got up, moving to a different table. I had almost escaped, when I felt a hand grasp my wrist. I groaned. FUUUUCK.

"What?" I snapped, annoyed at him for stopping my escape. Nico stared back at me, stunned and confused. Or at least I think he was, he deals with micro-expressions. 

"How did you do that?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes, "Obviously magic." Then I tried to escape his grip and walk away. The heroine was coming closer, closer... FUCK YOU ALL SHE'S HERE! In my last ditch attempt to avoid a confrontation, I used an ability that I had never shown in public before, teleportation. Teleportation was a myth in the magical community, only possible for those blessed with a space familiar... which has only been seen once. Nico stared in confusion at his now empty hand and into the space where I had disappeared. The 3 others were also staring at the now empty space with their jaws dropped and eyes bulging. They were in such a daze that when the heroine walked by and "accidentally" tripped, no one even noticed. I frowned from my now safe hiding spot on the balcony above them. I had a perfect view of what was happening, and was currently confused. Aren't they supposed to help her up, accidentally knock down a glass of wine onto her dress, apologize, then leave the banquet to go somewhere more private where no one can see the state of her outfit? 

But for some reason, the 4 prodigies just stared into space for several minutes, effectively ruining the "Heroine First Encounter". Whatever, that's not my problem, I left pretty quickly, so I am sure that I did not catch much of their attention. Now, where was I? Oh, yes, this peach pie won't eat itself. I licked my lips in anticipation.

Yum~