Chapter 1: Townsperson A Remembers the Memories of His Previous Life

“Anastasia, as of this moment, I am breaking off my engagement with you!”

A man's voice echoed through the glittering dance hall.

The setting was the royal castle in Luluden, the capital of the Sentlaren Kingdom. The Royal Academy’s end-of-year party was in full swing.

The owner of that voice was His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Karlheinz Bartille von Sentlaren. With the blazing red hair and striking blue eyes characteristic of the Sentlaren royal bloodline, he was a slender, toned, and undeniably handsome man—the very archetype of a fairy-tale prince.

Clinging to his side was a petite, dainty woman with pink hair and green eyes. Her name was Amy von Braises, the daughter of a baron. She gazed up at him with a trembling, anxious expression that practically begged for protection.

Four other handsome men surrounded the Crown Prince, standing like a wall to shield the girl.

First, on the right, was Marcus von Beinz. As the heir to House Beinz and the son of the Head Court Mage, he cut an intellectual figure with his black hair, brown eyes, and sharp spectacles.

Second was Leonard von Jukes. The heir to Viscount Jukes, the Captain of the Royal Guard, he was a muscular youth with brown hair and blue eyes that simmered with conviction.

Third was Oscar von Wimlett. He was the heir to Marquis Wimlett, the wealthiest man in the kingdom. His long, wavy golden hair and green eyes gave him a beauty so ethereal he was often mistaken for a woman.

Finally, there was Claude Justine de Westadale. The third prince of the neighboring Westadale Kingdom to the west, he was a rugged, wild-looking man with black hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin.

The woman currently facing the Crown Prince’s declaration of annulment was his fiancée, Anastasia Kleiner von Ramslett. She possessed long, beautiful hair the color of a pale moon, piercing ice-blue eyes, and refined features that gave her a dignified, albeit stern, aura. She was the daughter of the prestigious House Ramslett, one of the three Great Ducal Houses of the realm.

“Your Highness, I’m afraid I don't understand,” Anastasia said.

“Hmph. Still as slow-witted as ever, I see. A woman with a soul as rotten as yours is unfit for the crown. Amy—with her kind heart and her powers of healing—is the only one worthy of being my fiancée.”

Anastasia’s brow twitched, but she didn't let her composure slip. She stood her ground against the Prince.

“Are you suggesting that this woman, who knows nothing of etiquette, the duties of the nobility, or the governance of a nation, is the superior choice? Your Highness, do you truly believe she is capable of serving as the Mother of the Nation?”

Anastasia maintained her mask of indifference, directing a frigid stare at Amy.

Amy flinched under the weight of that gaze, prompting the Crown Prince to pull her protectively into his embrace.

“Don’t be absurd! Her kindness is exactly what this country needs. We have no use for a woman like you who does nothing but hide behind petty logic. Besides, we are well aware of the numerous counts of harassment you’ve directed at Amy! A woman of your character is the one who is truly unfit to lead!”

Fire burned in the Crown Prince’s eyes as he denounced her. Behind him, his four lackeys chimed in with shouts of agreement.

I could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I could just say, “And then I woke up from that dream.”

My name was Allen. I was a perfectly ordinary eight-year-old boy living in Luluden, the capital of the Sentlaren Kingdom. My only family was my mother. We were poor, but we got by.

The only thing that wasn't "ordinary" was the fact that I had just let out a sneeze so massive it shook my brain loose, triggering the return of memories from my previous life—a life where I had worked as an aeronautical engineer.

Don't worry, I was still Allen. It felt less like a possession and more like my personality had simply been running on autopilot until the memories suddenly came flooding back. I was confused, sure, but it didn't feel "wrong."

However, I had a much bigger problem. The situation was bad. In fact, it was catastrophic.

To put it simply, I was fairly certain this world was the setting of an otome game called Magical Fantasy: Love's Heart-Pounding School Life.

For now, let's just ignore the absolutely tragic naming sense of the developers.

The reason the situation was so dire was that, at this rate, my mother, the townspeople, and I were all going to be slaughtered eight years from now.

I realized this the moment I connected the names of my country and city with the recent news of the engagement between the eight-year-old Crown Prince Karlheinz and the Duke's daughter, Anastasia.

So, I had to act.

Wait, I was getting ahead of myself. Let me finish explaining the game’s plot first.

In the original story, Anastasia eventually reached her breaking point after being subjected to the Prince’s one-sided verbal abuse. She threw down her glove, Challenging Amy to a duel.

People often mistook Anastasia for a woman of ice, but in reality, she was just someone who suppressed her intense emotions through sheer force of will. In that moment, her self-control finally snapped.

However, despite her issuing the challenge to Amy, the Crown Prince—her own fiancé—stepped forward to act as Amy’s champion.

Since no one in their right mind would dare strike the Crown Prince, Anastasia was forced to fight him herself. She lost.

After her defeat, she never showed her face at the Academy again. She was exiled to a rural monastery, but on the way there, she was attacked by bandits and vanished.

Now, that was already a pretty garbage tier plot—ahem—an unfortunate development, but it didn't end there.

The most disgusting part was that those bandits were actually sent by the Prince and his cronies.

The game never explicitly stated it, but there were plenty of hints dropped throughout the dialogue that made it obvious.

This event shattered the political balance of the kingdom, triggering a civil war. While the nation was eating itself alive, the Est Empire to the east took advantage of the chaos and invaded. The kingdom, crippled by internal strife, couldn't mount a defense against the Empire’s lightning-fast advance. Consequently, Luluden—the city I lived in—was burned to the ground.

That was the "bad situation" I was talking about. Honestly, I wanted to scream it from the rooftops: Don't drag the common folk into your pathetic little lovers' quarrel!

Regardless, my priority was ensuring my mother's safety. To do that, I had to prevent the imperial invasion entirely.

Simply packing up and leaving Luluden wasn't an option. Aside from my personal attachment to my birthplace, there was no freedom of movement in this country. Under this feudal system, the number of peasants directly correlated to a lord’s power. Unless you had a legitimate reason—like marriage or being adopted by family—you weren't allowed to move to another town.

I considered several options, but I eventually decided on one: I would prevent the villainess Anastasia’s "condemnation" from ever happening.

I had two reasons for this. First, since I knew the game's plot, it would be easy to predict what needed to be done to flip the script. Second, and more simply, I wanted to save her.

Anastasia was the only character I actually liked in that game. I didn't want her to die.

People called her a "villainess," but from my perspective, she was the only one making any sense.

“We live in a class system; behave with proper decorum.” “Observe the rules of ceremony and dining etiquette.” “You have a fiancé; be mindful of your actions and don’t invite misunderstanding.” “We live on the people's taxes; understand the weight of a political marriage and work for the sake of the realm.” “The Crown Prince and the nobility have responsibilities to fulfill. See them through.”

I might be paraphrasing, but that was the gist of her arguments.

And how did the "heroes" react? They called it bullying. They said she was condescending and annoying. They claimed she was a bore who did nothing but nag, and that "Love and Peace" trumped everything else.

And the result of their "Love and Peace"? The total destruction of the capital.

Think about it. Anastasia was betrothed at age eight. Since then, she had put in blood-soaked effort to become the perfect Mother of the Nation. As a Duke's daughter, she didn't just learn how to act the part; she was an incredible overachiever who mastered academics, magic, the arts, and even the sword without ever letting her natural talent make her complacent.

To have all that effort end in her ruin? It was just too much.

Furthermore, Anastasia didn't just die after she went missing. She was brutalized by those bandits, broken physically and mentally, and then sold to the Est Empire.

There, she was granted a demonic sword and turned into a "Dark Knight"—a puppet vanguard used to invade her own home, the Sentlaren Kingdom.

The "true" ending of the game involved Lady Amy awakening to her powers as a Saint (give me a break) through her compassionate heart. She and the five capture targets—the Prince and his four idiots—would then join forces to defeat the Empire and the fallen Anastasia, reclaim the country, and live happily ever after.

Oh, and Anastasia’s entire family? Even though they stayed out of the civil war for political reasons, they were framed as the masterminds and executed to the last man. That was another reason why Anastasia fell into darkness.

I mean, seriously. Right?

I couldn't help but feel the sheer malice of the development team.

As for why I knew all this? It was my shitty older sister’s fault. After getting dumped by her boyfriend, she crashed at my bachelor pad, got drunk every night, and made my life a living hell. She forced me to 100% complete this game and collect every single event CG, promising she’d leave once her mood improved.

“You’re a gamer, right? This should be easy for you,” she had said.

I couldn't exactly kick her out, and her drunken rambling was too much to handle, so I sucked it up and cleared the game. I was good at games, and at the end of the day, she was still my sister.

But God, I couldn't tell you how many times I felt a soul-crushing emptiness while playing a game where I, a grown man, had to raise the "affection levels" of a bunch of high-school-aged guys.

Ugh, just thinking about it makes my blood boil.

And despite being an otome game, the RTS (1) battle segments were absurdly difficult. The "Reverse Harem" (2) route was clearly balanced around microtransactions; I ended up parting ways with several ten-thousand yen bills just to get through it.

Actually, let’s stop there. This was all from my previous life, and it’s a "dark history" I’d rather not revisit.

In any case, I was going to save Anastasia.

It was a matter of pride. And sure, I’d be lying if I said I didn't think I might have a "chance" with her. She was a beauty, and her personality seemed perfectly rational to me.

Realistically, though, a commoner marrying a Duke's daughter was a pipe dream. I wasn't even a named character in the game. I wasn't even a "Mob" character; I was just part of the background.

If I had any "narrative weight" at all, it was probably limited to that one line during the fall of Luluden: "Afterward, the residents of Luluden were never seen again."

Eight years until the end of the world. I was going to do everything in my power to stop it.

I was going to shatter the scenario. I would save my mother, this town, and the villainess, Anastasia. No matter what.

1) Real-Time Strategy: A subgenre of wargames where players issue commands in real-time rather than taking turns.

2) Reverse Harem: A trope where a single female protagonist is surrounded by and sought after by multiple male love interests.