I died and was reborn into an Otome game!? (Hiatus)

Anastasia Nightingale

I remember when I realised what this world was. For a split second, I was ecstatic to find out I had transported into my favourite otome game. But realisation sunk in that I was trapped in an otome game

Anastasia Nightingale. Honestly, didn't really pay attention to her and her arc. But I needed to fulfil my role. I knew upsetting the balance would chaos. I trained and I studied day and night to have the skills Anastasia had. And when it was time to fulfil my duty.

Someone else had already done it.

Jayne Smith. I honestly don't remember her character, she was that insignificant. But I knew, from the way she walked and talked and breathed she was not normal. She was like me, self-aware.

But she was careless, I tried warning her, but she didn't listen. Ever since she ran away with Abraham, the entire castle has been... tense.

Octavia was an emotional wreck. She became a shut-in. Every-time I went in there she was always mumbling, 'I'll kill him' or 'please come back' or something along those lines.

This is what happens when you tamper with the game and characters. You break them.

I have so many questions. Octavia has completely lost it, but that character Abraham hadn't, yet both their lives have been altered by Jayne. There were no female love interests in the game, so it was unusual for the Octavia to have developed such intense devotion, especially when they met so recently. Yet Jayne said she knew Abraham for five years. Now granted, he was in love with her, that's obvious, but he never acted too out of character. As Abraham does punch someone else in his route when a man dares harm the protagonist, so it is in his programming to do that.

But Octavia, she doesn't have a distinct personality, no female protagonist does. It's up to the player to decide, but since there is no player, she has no distinct personality. she's just following her programming of the story, and since Jayne replaced me, that must've messed with her programming to an immense level.

But not all the pieces were adding up. I can understand Jayne replacing Octavia in Abraham's eyes. But the character Anastasia is just a friend in Octavia's eyes, so why was Octavia infatuated with Jayne?

That I did not know how to answer, but I had a theory for something else. Abraham was a capture target, and when you enter his route, that's it. You cannot leave it, the ultimate goal is romance, and once your bond is high enough with a character, they'll stop at nothing to pursue you. If Jayne were to say, leave Abraham and his route, his character would break down, because his purpose would be lost, his programming would go haywire. I hope I'm incorrect. And if I'm not, I hope Jayne lives happily ever after with him, because if not, I fear what is to come. 

I had to do all of Jayne's chores, I finally became a respectable physician with her gone, but I was still making sure her monthly payments were made to her parents, a real dent in my pocket, but it's worth not stirring another mess if they ask why they're not receiving their child labour allowance.

As a physician, it was my duty to check up on Octavia and her mental state. This time it was different. She was out of bed, staring silently outside.  Octavia heard the door open and spoke when it closed.

"I have decided to move forward."

I stood there, unsure what to say, my mouth silently gasping. Has she moved on from Jayne?

"I can not win her back if I stay in bed like a coward, I need to prove my worth, to show her that I'm better than him, I can't do that while doing nothing." She turned around and marched towards me, grabbing my hands, "Help me, Anastasia, you're talented, you know medicine, and how to cook, if I can prove that I can be like her, a commoner, maybe she'll finally take me seriously and I can earn her admiration."

Her eyes gleamed with hope. She recited the exact same thing she says to Anastasia in Abraham's route when trying to deepen their bond. It seems she finally found a way back onto her programming, yet Jayne has now replaced Abraham in Octavia's eyes.

I should refuse, but that's something Jayne would do. And Jayne is dumb. Who knows what'll happen if I refuse, it would just disrupt the timeline even more.

"Okay."