Lilia Hearthwell stood at the towering gates of Evermere Academy and tried not to have a full-blown existential crisis.
The cobbled path beneath her feet was absurdly clean — like it had been scrubbed by enchanted mice or something. The iron gates in front of her sparkled like they'd been polished by angels. Or unicorns. Or unicorns riding angels. Beyond them, students in pristine uniforms moved through the courtyard like extras in a magical toothpaste commercial: laughing, chatting, glowing.
Lilia looked down at herself.
Her skirt was wrinkled. Her shoes were scuffed. Her socks had a near hole forming in the heel. She was wearing the budget version of the school uniform — the 'commoner pack,' as the receipt so helpfully put it — complete with a dull ribbon that kept slipping loose like it resented being part of her ensemble.
"...I look like the 'before' photo in a magical girl makeover," she muttered.
Somewhere behind her, a bell rang melodically, like it was trying to serenade her into submission. Birds chirped in harmonized thirds. A breeze fluttered through the cherry blossoms overhead. Of course there were cherry blossoms.
She sighed deeply, pressing her palms against her cheeks.
"I still can't believe this is happening."
Last night, she'd gone to bed with a prayer: Let this be a dream. Let me wake up in my crappy apartment. Let this body-swap nightmare be some cursed fever hallucination. She had clung to the hope that she'd open her eyes and see her ceiling fan, hear her phone buzzing with spam calls, maybe smell the leftover instant curry she forgot to throw out.
Instead…
She woke up in the same too-soft, too-frilly bed. In the same too-sparkly, too-feminine body. In the same freaking sparkly death-game dating sim world.
And the worst part?
The floating status screen was still there.
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[Day1:IntroductionArcDay]
[Introduction : Begin school life. Trigger encounter with Love Interest #1]
[Tip: Smile more! You′re cuter when you′re not screaming internally]
===================
"Go screw yourself," she muttered.
The screen vanished instantly, like it had been personally offended.
Lilia took one long, suffering breath, squared her shoulders, and forced her legs to move.
She stepped through the academy gates.
Immediately, she sensed danger.
It wasn't the monster kind of danger. No. This was worse. This was scripted event danger.
All around her, the girls in the courtyard had suddenly stilled. Like someone had hit pause on a nature documentary. Heads tilted. Eyes widened. Postures went stiff. Like meerkats on alert.
Lilia followed their gaze across the courtyard — and her stomach dropped.
There was a shift in the crowd.
Students parted like the sea before Moses. Like extras in a K-drama when the male lead makes his entrance. And through the opening walked a boy so beautiful, he looked like he'd been printed directly from a shoujo manga panel.
Platinum blond hair gleamed in the sun like spun moonlight. His royal-blue uniform, edged in gold, hugged his broad shoulders with insulting perfection. A white cape trailed behind him, fluttering even though there was absolutely zero wind.
He didn't walk — he glided.
Prince Alric von Valenhart.
Lilia recognized him instantly.
Yui — her younger sister — had screamed about him during every single route event.
'HE'S THE BEST ONE, HIRO, YOU DON'T GET IT! HE GIVES YOU A ROSE IN THE RAIN! A ROSE, HIRO!'
Lilia didn't even like visual novels, but thanks to Yui's obsession, she knew Prince Alric's entire scripted arc by heart.
Right now, though?
Right now, he was giving everyone in a fifty-meter radius an expression of practiced, mild interest. Like he was trying to look humble while fully aware that everyone wanted to bear his children.
He was flanked by two other gorgeous boys — one tall and aloof, the other smiling like a fox with secrets — forming the holy trinity of love interest bait.
And he was heading straight toward her.
"No. No, no, no," Lilia whispered. "Don't you dare come this way. I am not emotionally stable enough for this."
She took a step back. Maybe if she ducked behind a tree, or pretended to faint—
Too late.
Their eyes met.
Time slowed.
A soft, magical chime echoed in her ears.
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[Event Triggered: Fated Meeting With the Prince]
[(1.)"Y−Your Highness! I−It's an honor!"]
[(2.)"Trip and fall into his arms like a clumsy idiot."]
[(3.)"Say something bold and mysterious to pique his interest."]
================================
Lilia stared at the glowing choices in horror.
NO. NO THANK YOU. I DON'T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS OTAKU NIGHTMARE.
She tried to blink them away.
The screen blinked instead.
Auto-selecting Option 2…
"Wait—!"
Too late.
Her foot snagged on a slightly uneven cobblestone. The world tilted in slow motion.
She pitched forward.
And collided headfirst into royalty.
"Oof—!"
Strong hands caught her before she hit the ground. The world blurred. Her face was pressed against warm fabric that probably cost more than her rent.
Music swelled somewhere in the distance. Actual flower petals — cherry blossoms? — floated through the air.
She looked up.
Prince Alric's eyes were a shade of blue that defied human reason. Like deep ocean, starlight, and heartbreak mixed into one color.
"Are you alright?" he asked, voice like buttered poetry.
Lilia wanted to cry.
"Y-Yeah. Thanks. I—I just forgot how to leg."
Forgot how to leg. That was what her brain had come up with in this pivotal life moment.
Forgot. How to. Leg.
Prince Alric blinked.
Then — miracle of miracles — a small smile tugged at the corners of his perfect lips. "You must be new here."
"I am," she mumbled, trying not to hyperventilate. "I'm Lilia. Lilia… Hearthburn—no, Hearthwell."
"Miss Hearthwell," he repeated, and the way he said it made it sound like a title from a romance novel. "Then allow me to welcome you to Evermere Academy."
He stepped back, releasing her gently. Lilia managed to stay upright through sheer will and secondhand embarrassment.
All around them, a hundred girls sighed.
His entourage moved on, the crowd swallowed him back into its glittering flow, and the courtyard returned to normal — if slightly more breathless than before.
Lilia stood frozen.
She felt the aftershocks in her bones.
That had been the first flag. The first major route event. She had triggered it like a landmine.
She slowly tilted her head toward the sky, expression blank.
"...I'm going to die in this world."