Evelyn

  ***

  My eyes shot open and once more I found myself in the forest, but now it was day time. I suppose I had fallen asleep at some point without realizing it. What did I dream about? I’m not sure I even had a dream. Pushing myself off the floor, I remembered what happened st time and checked myself for ants. Luckily there was none on me. The growling in my stomach once again reminded me of my st meal. I doubt I can find any food out here. Rabbits? No, I don’t know how to hunt. Even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to prepare it.

  As the sounds of my stomach filled my ears, I looked at the nearby grass. I mean, sheep can eat it. Maybe I can too? Ripping a handful of grass from the floor, I stuff it into my mouth… It’s bitter…

  …

  Without changing into my magical girl form, I continue my walk. I wonder if there’s a river nearby? Every so often I would pause and listen to the forest around me. I couldn’t hear any running water, just the birds, small critters, and wind in the leaves. I guess that’s good. None of these things seem like they want to eat me at least. My stomach was still growling, but I didn’t want to eat another handful of grass. Not yet at least. Trying to ignore my stomach, I kept walking.

  Lin

  ***

  Two weeks have passed since Duke and Duchess Eytell went to their summer vil with Little Evelyn, so they should be arriving there soon if they haven't already. As the three are away, most of the servants, aside from the most essential ones, are on vacation. Myself, being Little Evelyn’s caretaker, has some time off as well since after all she is in the care of her parents. Not only that, but the staff at the vil is well prepared for them.

  Walking in the market, I see children smiling and walking with their parents. I wonder if one day I’ll see Evelyn smile like that? As rude as it is to think this, Evelyn is a strange child. She always acts proper and has never been selfish. I’m sure that the other servants with children think so too. Compared to normal children, Evelyn is a very low maintenance child. Aside from cooking, she can do most everything by herself. If she had been born a commoner, she likely could do that as well. In any case, I’m gd that she is a good child. I’ve heard nightmare stories from others who have friends working for different families. I shudder to think of what a different child she could have been.

  Buying what necessities I needed for the week, I head home, thinking about my own child. She should really visit soon. I’ll need to send her a letter, though with her working for the regent’s family, I doubt she’ll get any time off. They have twins, and if I remember correctly, they should be the same age as Little Evelyn. I wonder if they’ll become friends?

  Regent Twins

  ***

  Hello I’m Lloyd Rsenr. Son of the regent, first in line for the throne, not that anyone knows it yet. In my past life I was a high school student who died in a bus accident. It looks like I was reincarnated into an otome game that my sister got me to py. If manga is to be believed, then normally in these types of situations I would expect to be reincarnated as the main character which is one of the many saints. However te in the game’s life cycle the developers added DLC which allowed you to py the game from the perspectives of the capture targets and change the story in new and amazing ways. I am one of those capture targets.

  ---

  And I’m Lna Rsenr. Daughter of the regent, also technically first in line for the throne. In my past life, I died in the same bus accident as that idiot that I now call my twin brother. I didn’t py that game like he did, but for some reason I’m also here. Not only that, but we have a sneaking suspicion that others were reincarnated in this game world as well.

  ---

  Right, well being called an idiot aside, the two of us are currently having a strategy meeting. Although it’s been five years, I still remember much of the game’s plot. It helps that I wrote it down as soon as I could. But for the moment, that’s not much of a concern. Meeting up in my room, we looked at the journal together.

  "So, what’s the next event?” Lna asked.

  “It’s this one, can’t you read?” Lloyd asked.

  “It’s your writing, you read it.” She said.

  “I know what it says, you read it.” He said.

  Truth be told, this journal was written when Lloyd was two and he had used a piece of coal to write it. So maybe it wasn’t as useful as he would have wanted.

  “Okay, well.” Lloyd closed the journal. “I’m fairly certain that it’s the event where the viliness turns evil.”

  “Okay, so can we do anything about that?” Lna asked.

  “I think we have a few years until that, so we should be fine.” He said.

  “Then what’s the point of this meeting?” She asked.

  “That’s because I need your help.” He said. “I- alright there's no easy way of saying this, but I forgot her name.”

  “What?” She asked.

  “It’s been years!” He compined. “I can’t remember every little detail from a game I pyed for a few weeks!”

  Despite this excuse, Lna still looked at me as if I was an idiot. Not wanting this to continue, I quickly turned away.

  “Look, all we need to do is stop her from becoming a vilin!” Lloyd said. “It should be easy enough, right?”

  “And how do we do that if we don’t know who she is, when she turns, or where she is?” Lna reasonably questioned.

  “That’s because we are the ones who rescue her, leading to her obsession with us.” He said.

  “So, no matter what, we’ll be too te to save her?” She asked.

  “No it’s like… Okay, maybe we will, but we need to treat her well so she doesn't get messed up in the head!” He said.

  “Right, and do you know how to do that?” She asked.

  “No but… I’m sure it’ll turn out well.” He said. “In the game, after saving her, I ignore her for one of the heroines who gains the spotlight and she grows jealous. So I just need to not do that.”

  “And how many different heroines can there be again?” She asked.

  “Uh…” He hesitated, taking a moment to think before finally giving up. “I don’t know…”

  “Okay…” She sighed.

  The quest to save Evelyn, the viliness, was off to a rocky start.

  Evelyn

  ***

  “That makes nine…” I muttered to myself, using a rock to create another notch in the walking stick I have grown fond of.

  Nine days out in the woods… Well, it could have been worse. Those rain clouds in the sky could have come sooner. Man. That looks like it’s going to be a big storm. Hopefully my shelter holds up.

  On day four of my stay in the woods, I found a shallow cave near a river to make my shelter. The opening was a bit rge, so it let in a good amount of light, but the wind made it cold at night. Luckily I knew how to weave baskets from my past life, so I was able to use that skill to make a door out of some branches. It’s actually two yers with leaves and moss between them, so hopefully it keeps the rain out. I also managed to catch lots of fish! It’s actually four, but it’s a lot for me! Hopefully.

  Right now I’m trying for more and also trying my hand at smoking them so they st longer. I’m not sure how it’s done, but I’ve seen enough movies so I know what it needs to look like, and I think I’ve got it. Low fire, lots of smoke, and… let it sit for a while? I hope I don’t get sick.

  Anyways, since I’ve been out here for a while, my clothes aren’t in the best condition. Then again, it’s not like they were keeping me warm at night anyway. So, I’ve been looking for repcements, but obviously I can’t find anything. Magical girl powers? Yeah, I’m not very strong at the moment… and It’s been getting harder to transform even under the moonlight. Maybe my previous transformations were using my remaining magic from earth? I might not be able to use them in the future, so I fear I may be stuck here…

  No bad thoughts! Let’s take things one step at a time! Firstly without magic, how can I make a fire? Well I found some white rocks that I’m going to call spark rocks. When I hit them together, I see sparks. I haven’t been able to make a fire with them yet, but I have high hopes for them! Next is tools. If I get attacked by a demon, I’m dead. So, I’ve made several spears, some of which have stone points. They aren’t too sharp, but they are pointy. Let’s hope that I don’t need to use them. I also have a club, but that’s hard to swing around, so let’s stick to the spears. Ah, a bite!

  Catching another fish, I pulled it out of the water and hit its head with a rock. Sorry Mr. fish but I don’t want to keep eating only grass. Let’s clean you out. Luckily I’ve gone fishing with my neighbors before, so I know how to do at least this much. My fishing line? I’m using thread from my dress. I had to braid it a few times so it’s strong enough, but the fish here are small, so I should be fine. Setting this fish with the others, I put a worm on my thorn hook and went back to fishing. Let’s hope for a few more before it gets too dark.

  Several hours ter, I feel a light rain beginning to fall. Wanting to get inside before it rained too hard, I decided to call it a day. I gathered my fish, picked up my walking stick and fishing line, and headed away from the river. Luckily my cave is up on a hill, so even if the river overflows I would be safe. Walking on my familiar path, I see a berry bush out of the corner of my eye. Looking away, I remembered the events of day seven… Let’s avoid those…

  A few minutes of walking ter, I saw the small channels that I dug at the mouth of the cave. Hopefully these work like gutters and keep water from pooling at the entrance or at least flowing inside. Brushing my feet off, as I had lost my shoes on day eight after cleaning my clothes after day seven, I entered my cave. The inside was sort of big? I couldn't stand up, but there was lots of space. In the back, there was my nest of leaves and dried moss, and a pile of crudely made spears, and my rock tools alongside my club. Okay, it was less of a club, and more of a big branch and the rock tools were more like... Rocks... But one of them was sharp, so they are good tools!

  A bit closer to the door was a piece of bark that had a pile of grass on it. I pce my fish there, to keep my food together. Crawling inside, I grab my door from the side of the opening and pull it in, wedging it against the sides. It’s dark in here…

  With the wind picking up outside, I made myself comfortable and looked at the door. Instead of trying to sleep, I wait until my exhaustion knocks me out. After all, it’s better than seeing mom and dad again…

  Grayburne