Gacha Kingdom Building

Isabella moved toward the speakers playing music, still facing the ground, making it impossible for me to get even the smallest glimpse of her face.

Isabella: "Hmm~ Someone was enjoying themselves~"

Miwen: "Just a little bit."

Still avoiding my eyes, she turned and approached me.

Her attitude and tone were quite lighthearted, but it bothered me that she kept avoiding my eyes.

If she was fine and really did not care about what happened, then... Such a thing wouldn't be necessary.

This, to me, considering everything I knew about her, felt like a tough act.

She had learned a lot about how to fake and hide her own feelings these past few months thanks to the image of the Umbral Duchess that she had to maintain, but...

Judging by how easily I saw through her, this poor act could only be explained by her feelings being too strong to hide completely.

Isabella: "Then... It's fine for me to enjoy a little too, right?"

Miwen: "Of course... If you would give me the honor."

This was a delicate moment... I wanted to understand how she felt before I spoke so that I could carefully consider and choose my words.

But she wasn't making it easy for me, and while I knew the overall picture, as is true for many of the game events, things could have taken different forms.

Isabella: "...I'm sorry."

Miwen: "Hm? Why would you be?"

Isabella: "I think I wasted the opportunity you gave me."

I knew I couldn't help Isabella directly once she entered the building, so in preparation, I gave her my phone and taught her how to access the videos on it a few days ago.

It was the best way to use the evidence Lana gathered, but...

Unfortunately, it seems like things went as I expected.

However... I couldn't blame Isabella for this.

She was fighting against someone whose words would never see the shadow of doubt cast on them.

One whose character should undoubtedly be good and honest.

A woman who embodies the hope of everyone living on this continent.

One who is supposed to one day selflessly risk her life to stop the calamity that will rise in this continent.

A Saint.

Isabella: "When Edmond and Sabrina started accusing me, I did as you told, but... I don't think anyone was convinced by it."

...The end-of-the-year party is known to us by another name.

A condemnation event... This common and generic term is used in many games like the one this world is supposed to reflect.

In it, the characters point out all the wrongdoings the villainess has done against the heroine, showing all the proof and evidence they have gathered.

Of course, this game is the same.

Isabella's condemnation starts innocent enough. She is confronted by Sabrina, who after many clues, believes Isabella to be the one behind everything that has happened to her.

Then Edmond joins in, followed by her brothers and eventually even her butler joins in.

Of course, he shouldn't even be allowed inside, but at the saint's and the prince's request, he brings many detailed reports and large amounts of evidence of everything Isabella did, and everything she made him do.

It's not wasted on me how comical it is for him to so heroically invade the main building upon their request and signal just to lay out everything Isabella has done when I, having taken his role, chose instead to spend my time enjoying Mia's company.

However, the fact still remains.

Whereas the Saint's campaign inevitably always ends at the battle against the Dragon of the North, many of the campaigns the girls had with Isabella end at this exact point.

Among the many fates for her, they usually find Isabella losing her title, imprisoned, or even executed.

Fortunately, the girls eventually discovered a way to avoid the most tragic endings.

If one of the game characters' favorability is higher for Isabella than Sabrina, she will achieve a "good ending" with them.

This is quite hard to do considering the rate at which Sabrina improves her relationship with them, especially since in this world, from the very first semester, it already seemed like they had been charmed by the Saint.

However, at least when it comes to her brothers, Isabella has one advantage.

Her father's scheme is a scripted event in which she is bound to gain a lot of favorability with them.

And to our surprise, it seemed like she actually performed better in this world than we thought possible in the game.

She earned their trust and respect by challenging and winning the title from them, and she also did an amazing job at managing the territory in their place.

Considering their relationship had also improved naturally with our help, this should have been enough for Isabella to obtain their help.

If Lenard's conditions are met, he will help Isabella flee the nation, taking work to give her a proper, quiet, and decent life.

In Albert's case, he will defend her in court, and after a long session, he will get her on house arrest where she'll spend the rest of the days.

While both cases still see her suffering consequences for her actions, including the stripping of her titles, they are far preferable to when she doesn't meet the conditions with any of the other characters.

The best scenario though would be to have Edmond on her side. Not only does he protect her, but he is also the only character who allows her to stay in the academy and continue the campaign.

As for her butler... The girls never managed to get him on Isabella's side. Not even once.

And so... we have absolutely no idea what happens to her if he decides to help.

Miwen: "Don't worry... Given the circumstances, I hardly blame them. As long as they were shocked enough to stay on the fence, it's already enough."

I was once in their place, and I too couldn't believe what was so obvious.

I believed the Saint to be a selfless girl... From what we saw playing Sabrina's campaign, she was truly an innocent girl mercilessly attacked by an envious Isabella.

But unlike the game, Isabella from this reality never did anything against her.

All evidence against her was both circumstantial and fabricated by the true culprit.

But that's the problem.

Isabella was not the culprit.

She didn't steal anything from Sabrina. She didn't push her down.

She wasn't the author of the death threats, nor the one behind all the pranks.

Every single time... the culprit was the victim herself.

And to make matters worse... She was purposefully trying to paint Isabella as the culprit.

Isabella: "I just don't understand why... Did I do something against her?"

Miwen: "No... It's the contrary. She chose to do this because you weren't doing anything."

...Because she had to ensure this world followed the script.

After all, this is the world she loves.

A world where everything always works out for her...

I once thought that maybe this world was trying to course-correct to follow the game's script as much as it could...

Considering my theories about the ones behind this Event, it made sense that such a thing could happen, but...

While I still think I'm right about most of what I previously believed, I have to concede that I was wrong about the world trying to follow a script.

The truth was much more simple. It was all being done by a selfish girl who loved the idea of this world existing only for her.

Of course, I, much like all the students of this academy, couldn't believe such a thing at first.

It went against the very nature of the Saint, defying what we saw from Gabriella and Raella, and also what we had seen in the game regarding Sabrina.

She was supposed to be a good, innocent girl.

But it's clear that the Sabrina we see is not the game's character.

Ever since we first met, I already had doubts about her identity.

She seemed keen on getting close to me, almost as if she knew my importance to her before even knowing me.

She quickly and effectively gained favorability with the characters, always choosing the best course of action in every event.

At the time, I thought all of that could be explained by the nature of this Event.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

But the encounter with Raella was the tipping point for me.

I could accept her being confused about Raella's existence as a Saint. At least emotionally.

But she seemed conflicted on a more instinctive level.

Almost as if she didn't understand how another Saint could exist at the same time as her.

And if that wasn't enough, she used a spell that she shouldn't known about unless she, like us, had already played the game up until the second semester.

But what really made me suspicious was the encounter with Raella.

Not only did she seem confused by her existence, but she also used a spell that she shouldn't have known about unless she, like us, had already played the game up until the second semester.

And the final nail in the coffin was her reaction to Gabriella.

According to her report, Sabrina was confused by her very existence.

She couldn't understand why there were two Saints at the same time.

While this might not have been the case in this world, it is a common occurrence. For example, in Elizabeth's world, she was attacked by a multitude of Saints, Sages, and Heroes alike.

Of course, that's a bit of a special case, but the fact remains that the Gods will try to protect their worlds and fight wars with however many Saints or Heroes they deem necessary.

Thus, judging by the way she reacted to Gabriella, I confirmed that Sabrina wasn't aware of the inner workings of this world.

All that she knew about it were the things shown in the game.

As such, I decided to do one last test... To see whether or not she knew her own story.

And of course, she failed completely.

I proposed to her an incident that had never happened, something she should be able to deny so easily.

And yet, she had no clue about it, not feeling confident enough to even question whether or not something like that had really happened.

Which meant... Sabrina does not know and has no way to know about things that weren't shown in the game.

And that's because, like me, she's an outsider to this world.

If I had to guess, she came here at about the same time I did.

Judging by her lack of knowledge regarding such worlds, as well as the fact that she must have played the game, there is only one world I can think of as her original one...

But whatever the case with her is, I can't help but feel sorry for Isabella.

By all means, this was supposed to be the best possible reality for her.

With my help, it wouldn't be far-fetched to think she would have been able to make friends with the true Sabrina shown in the game.

I can see her defending and helping Isabella as well.

And yet, this is what she ended up with.

The girl in front of me, meekly trying to hide her emotions by sticking close to my chest has spent her entire life trying to prove her innocence to others.

Always accused of things she did not do or weren't her fault, never believed by anyone...

After all this time, and everything she went through... She now faces the exact same scenario.

All the blame was placed on her, and no one believed in her simply because of who she was.

I can only imagine how gut-wrenching it must be.

No matter how innocent she is. No matter what evidence she has to defend herself with.

After everything she went through, In the end, her words are still worthless...

Isabella: "That's not the case."

Miwen: "...?"

Isabella: "This time, I wasn't completely alone. My brothers were caught by surprise, but... Once I showed what you gave me, they defended me. There wasn't much they could do or say since they didn't really understand the situation, but..."

I was surprised by this, but I was also thankful.

Those two ended up keeping their promise.

Miwen: "I see. I guess I didn't give them enough credit."

I'm sure it must've been hard for the two of them.

After all, those two always had a hard time raising themselves against someone with more authority than them.

But now that it mattered the most, they chose to confront the prince and the Saint for her sake...

Well done.

Isabella: "I'm really sorry, Miwen. I wanted to show you that your efforts weren't in vain. That you didn't have to worry about me anymore. But even with your help... This was the result..."

Miwen: "As I've said, this time, it couldn't be helped. Let's go back and think about what we can do from now-"

Isabella: "No..."

I felt Isabella's heart beating faster and faster...

Isabella: "I once asked why you wanted to help me. Do you remember?"

Miwen: "Yes...?"

Isabella: "Well... You might not believe it since so much happened, but... this was the best year of my entire life. And it was all thanks to you. To tell you the truth, even though it was different from what I expected, you realized every single one of my dreams. You made me truly happy, Miwen."

So she said...

But I knew she was lying to herself.

After all, the completion of this Event was directly tied to her happiness.

If she had-

Isabella: "And I know what you might be thinking, but I'm not lying. The reason why the Event hasn't finished already is because... There's one last thing I wanted to do."

I was really surprised.

It seems like she had access to the Event's description ever since the first days.

This meant all this time, Isabella already had an idea of why I was so supportive of her.

Of course, this wasn't the only reason why I was helping her. I truly cared for Isa, but before I could explain it, she...

Isabella: "This is me, setting you free. Thank you, Miwen."

Her hands reached behind my neck, and before I could understand what she was doing, she had already stolen my lips.

I was surprised, but before I could say anything...

[Summoning! The Darkest Star Tries To Shine Bright

Ending Achieved: Her unique light, dark as it may be.

Against all odds, thanks to the efforts of the King, the Darkest Star of the Evretis House was finally able to shine.

She has finally experienced the happiness she has desired for so long.]

[Would you like to complete the Event and claim your rewards?]

[Yes/No]

I ended up being invaded by more information than I could handle, but...

First things first, I pushed Isabella away a little.

Surprisingly, she was holding me with all her strength, so she only took one step back.

Still, it was enough for our lips to separate.

Isabella: "...What are you doing?"

Miwen: "Isn't that what I should be asking."

Isabella: "No, but... Why are you still here? I ended the Event... And you don't have to worry about me anymore... Just claim your rewards and go be happy with your family... Please... I don't want to be a hindrance for you anymore, and... I can take care of myself now, so...Why are you still here!? Go. Shoo! Shoo..."

She was getting increasingly frustrated.

Was she really expecting me to disappear? Did she not plan what she was going to do afterward?

Miwen: "Isa... How do you feel about this world?" Discover stories at empire

Isabella: "Huh? I... Don't know. What type of question is that?"

Miwen: "Just answer it. Honestly."

Isabella: "Well, I... I can't say I hate it. I sure as hell don't love it either, but... After everything bad that has happened, there were also good things. I managed to reconcile and get closer to my brothers and Pamela... I got to experience... Some things that I wanted... I met you and the girls... All of the bad, but also all of the good... They happened here... I think I'm grateful for it, even though I still wish... You know... That things could have been better..."

I see...

So the score is two against one...

Isabella: "Miwen... What is your reason for staying? I don't believe you are going to stay 80 years here. And what you just asked me... Why are you trying to evaluate this world?"

Miwen: "You shouldn't ask questions when you already know their answers."

Isabella's Gift, The Darkest Star, has only one useful function.

It is able to summon calamities.

Isabella: "As I thought... You're not from this world, but Mia is. And she is a Snow White Wolf, so... You're planning on going to war with Hamperlon, right? It's why you've collected so many Snow White Wolves..."

Miwen: "It's not just because of her. This is not my first time in this world, and I have personal business with them as well."

Isabella: "In this case... Do you want my help? I could-"

It was a tempting offer.

Evretis is the biggest duchy in Terith.

Thanks to the previous ruler, Duke Albris, who conquered many tribes in the south, the soldiers of the duchy are somewhat well-trained, at least compared to the rest of Evretis.

They also have some war experience.

It's pretty significant, but...

Miwen: "You should worry about yourself first. Normally, your stripped titles should have gone to one of your brothers, but since they defended you... The crown might decide on another person. And if you resist..."

Isabella: "You say it as if you hadn't already planned for it."

Right...

I wasn't expecting the event to end today, so... I do have some pieces to play, even if they decide to use force to take away Isabella's title.

However, that's not the problem.

Miwen: "Isa... What I'm going to do is way worse than anything anyone has ever said about you. You spent your entire life trying to prove to everyone your innocence. It wouldn't be fair of me to make you guilty now."

Isabella: "...After everything that happened today, I'm still happy, Miwen. Do you know why?"

Miwen: "...?"

Isabella: "I stopped caring about them a long time ago. I mean it. Every single one of them. All this time, all they were good for was making me suffer. They never cared for me. You are the only one, Miwen. The only one I care about, and the only one who cares about me... So... Please, let me be by your side... It's the only place I'm truly happy. I want to help you like you have helped me..."

Isabella once again approached me.

I was expecting her to try another kiss, but instead, she whispered into my ears...

Isabella: "If I can make another wish. If I can dream more... I want the two of us to be together. Tonight. And forever."