𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

Chapter 12

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: EDITED

𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝟏
「𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙔」

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"Oh My! Victoria! You look absolutely stunning!" The Queen exclaimed, giving the small girl a warm hug. She turned to her son and asked if we felt the same.

"Absolutely breathtaking" He replied before greeting a girl and her family respectively.

William, didn't bother to hide his irritation which made the prince feel smug. Before offering his hand to the girl who had no choice but to accept simply out of basic curtesy. He lead her to the ballroom, their family chatting behind them. "Presenting! Prince Luke Aiden Celestee of Crystallia. Accompanied by his fiancee! Victoria Ann Monique from House Monique!"

The doors then opened, revealing the two children. A beautiful girl who's long white hair reached down her waist, lovely doe ruby red eyes  that complimented her pink gown was accompanied by a handsome boy who had straight golden hair and emerald green eyes resembling the forest. His white overalls going well with her attire.

These two figures were extremely good-looking, despite only being thirteen years old. Sometimes Victoria would just stare at her mirror wondering how an actual child could manage to look like this. The power of visual novels and otome games...

Once they settled down, many people stared to greet them which they returned with polite smiles. There chatter was cut off however when the sound of the large doors echoed through the palace walls. "Now presenting the King of the Kingdom Aquarina, Rolan Bernard. Accompanied! By his two sons. The princes of Aquarina Kingdom, Rufus and Ryan Bernard!"

Victoria froze. Those names were familiar. The last additions to the capture targets. The twins.

The two of them competed in the dueling tournaments. Competitions held by different schools to showcase their strongest students. They were part of Aquarina's dueling team. Their first encounter with the heroine was when they saw her rare light magic heal one of the injured students during one of the tournaments. They quickly developed an interest to her and soon enough, went out of their way to see her. Often challenging her to duels whenever they saw her.

She would win every time, peaking their interest even more. However, there was a reason why the twins were so popular. It was because of their personalities. To specify, how they expressed their love. Compared to the other male leads, Rufus and Ryan were more... obsessive when it came to the heroine, Becoming very overprotective, and even some of their lines in the game were highly suggestive.

What's more, they absolutely despise Victoria, who they learned soon after was the cause of their beloved's torment. Whether the player ends up with a good or bad ending, the same fate looms over Victoria if the heroine chooses the twin's route. Death and torture. Unlike the other males who give her a swift death, some even showing an ounce of guilt and sympathy for her, the twins didn't give a fuck.

So naturally, Victoria's fight or flight instincts kicked in. And she chose to ditch. There is no way she is going to interact with those soon to be psycho murderers. But before she could even proceed with her plan, she felt a hand grab her shoulder which made her jolt in fear. Her body soon relaxing once she realized it was just Matthew.

"Oh! Good Evening Matthew." He smiled. "Good Evening Victoria."

"Do you need something?" Suddenly his confidence diminished, and he looked away from the girl.

"Oh! Yes! uh... I-I was wondering if you would want to dance with me?" She smiled at his shy nature before agreeing.

If she was even able to agree that is. Their moment was soon interrupted by Luke.

"Hello Love." He turned to Matthew and smiled. "Hello to you too Master Matthew. If you would be so kind, could I borrow my fiancee?"

Anyone with two eyes would know that smile was fake. But Matthew decided it would be fruitless to argue, especially at an event like this. "Of course. Then I shall be taking my leave. It was nice seeing you, your highness, Victoria..."

As Matthew left to go find his sister, Luke led Victoria to the dance floor. "Victoria, I think it's best if you refrain from dancing with other men. With the exceptions of your father, your brother, and me of course. I wouldn't want people to misunderstand. While you view it as a friendly invitation, others might get the wrong idea."

She held back an eye roll. What could people possibly misunderstand from seeing two children dance with each other? Sure it would turn a few heads if she were a few years older, people might assume that she was trying to break out of her engagement with the prince, but seeing as they were still children, there shouldn't be a problem with her dancing with other people. There aren't any malicious intents either, just kids being kids, dancing with other kids.

"I understand. However, I hope that your highness would grant me a bit more freedom when conversing with my friends." Because you're acting like a fly that won't get off my back.

He clicked his tongue. "...fine."

Their dancing continued until the boy's eyes saw a familiar shade of blue hair. He immediately pulled Victoria to the side and grabbed her hand. Rufus Bernard and Ryan Bernard approached the two, friendly smiles on their faces. Benjamin saw the four of them gathered and decided to join in. Meanwhile, as the four childhood friends conversed, Victoria was sweating bullets.

The truth was, she didn't know the ending of the twins fully. She's aware of the summary, big bad girl gets killed brutally by crazy blue haired men, but that's pretty much it. She's only seen leaks of the ending and what people discussed online, but she never actually played their route to the end. Before she died in her previous life, she was still in day eight on their route, but died before she could even finish it.

So that leaves the mystery, was there a scene where the twins shared an tidbit of empathy for her? Was there a way to sway them? Regardless, she wouldn't know. And that's what frightened her most.

The fear of the unknown.

"Victoria! I would like you to meet my dear friends. They used to visit the castle all the time to see me and Benjamin." And unfortunately, her eyes met theirs. She gave them a strained smile, which didn't go unnoticed by the boys. Soon after, William and Matthew joined the group, wanting to acquaint themselves with the princes. Victoria watched in horror as the boys laughed and joked amongst themselves.

They were complete. All six of them.

And she could swear for a split second, there was a gleaming light in their eyes.