When I was little I read a lot of manga and watched a lot of anime. My favorite type where the isekai adventures. Whether summoned, transported, or reincarnated I loved to watch as the protagonist would battle with overwhelming power or simply using luck and clever ingenuity to beat the bad guys.
I often wished that it would happen to me but it never did. Well not until my death 65 years later.
When I opened my eyes I saw the face of an elderly man. He wore a crown over his head and had white hair that made him looked dignified. With his blue eyes looking down on me the old man spook what sounded like a name, "Edwin Von William Highland"
It turned out it was my name. It took me a week to come to terms that I had somehow been reincarnated into the world of Arvenia.
At first, I was excited, I couldn't believe I was havening my very own isekai adventure and couldn't wait to see what type of cheat skills I had obtained - but that happiness would soon turn to disappointment and sadness.
Arveina was a world of sword, magic, demi-humans, and elves but that is where the similarities with my favorite manga's and anime ended.
There was no skill menu's nor any cheat like abilities, if you wanted to use magic or a sword skill you would have to spend time and effort to lean them all. I would often sigh at this but not because I am lazy or anything like that, but because I lucked in both magic powers also known as mana, and talent in close physical combat.
As heir and only child of the King, there was a lot of pressure on me to be more like my father but I never showed even a glimpse of his level of swordsmanship. Many nobles would often throw their daughters at my father, encouraging him to have another child, but he never even batted an eye at them. For him, his only love was my mother who died giving birth to me.
She had a weak constitution from birth but that did in no way hide her beauty. According to my father, he had never seen such beauty before and he will never forget it.
Part of me felt guilty. I would often feel like I caused her death but my father would brush it off as a foolish thought.
"She knew the risks but never wavered in her determination of having a child. Even now I all-inspired by her bravery; you should too." I cried like a little girl at those words. They helped me push myself to do better and in time I would realize that if magic and swordsmanship were not my callings than research and administrative talent would be.
Like I said earlier I am not lazy. While I loved my manga and anime I was no NEET. I majored in science at a top university in Tokyo and did some business management courses in the later years of my career.
My father saw my potential and when I was only 12 years old I was sent to the holy academy in the holy land.
The Holy land Kingdom is a country in the topmost part of the continent. It was created over 8000 years ago by the 12 goddesses temples the world only religion. It is one of the most advanced kingdoms on the continent only left behind by the two empires and the Saifuddien kingdom.
I remember being excited to go to the academy. It was a place where rich royals and nobles from across the continent went for their education as well as to make connections.
As I walked through the streets with my aides I was almost dazzled by magic tools that were being used by everyone in the streets and shops. Almost, because they didn't hold a candle to the technology of my former world.
I attained my classes regularly and like in my old world I didn't quite fit in The Kingdom of Highland was located at the southwest end of the continent. While its size was big it was not a rich kingdom.
Many Kingdoms and even Dukedoms looked down on it. Of cause those feelings where well-entrenched into the minds of the royals and nobles at the academy.
Many would mock me or make fun of me and some even called me 'commoner in royal robes' but that didn't hurt my feelings at all. I was determined to learn all I could and use that knowledge to help my Kingdom grow.
I would often get ideas by using my old world as a blueprint and send messages to my father on the ideas I came up with. He would often be impressed by them and had secretly established 'the high chair' a secret organization dedicated to research within the kingdom. It was made up of the most loyal of knights under the Kings guard and I was put in charge of them.
All this happened in only 9 months since arriving at the institution and I must say I was well pleased with myself. My joy was further heightened when I met the three of them for the first time.
The fifth princes of the Kingdom of Jarodor, Princess Louise Messalina Jarodor. With blond hair and red eyes like shining rubes. She was beauty among beauties. Her slider body looked amazing even if it was the kind of body is that you would expect from a holy knight in training. Her modest chest did no way devalued her as a woman but instead amplified the aura of nobility she displayed.
The twenty-fifth princess of the elven kingdom of Everwood, Siraye Inastina Everwood. With light green eyes that reminded you of the evergreen forests of Everwood, long brown hair that overflowed past her shoulders and of cause the legendary elven beauty; made her seem like a goddess. While she may have had a flat chest, her beauty was more than enough to seduce any man in the world. She was said to have a flexible body - a typical aspect of an elven ranger. Many boys would wonder just what of type positions she could do in the bedroom with such a flexible body.
The forty-fifth daughter from the duchy of Vidfamne, Lady Rania Euphemia Vidfamne. As expected of the merfolk, her beauty could easily challenge that of elves and her overflowing chest with 'boin-boin' sound with the siltiest movement could hypnotize men in an instant. With shining blue hair and eyes as well as her good proportion body you would understand why she was well sort after woman among men.
The first time I saw the three of them was from a distance. They were my seniors at the academy by three years and four years by age. They were also my fiancées.
While our engagement was not officially announced it was a well-known rumor that the royal families as well as the duchess of Vidfamne had arranged for our union. Perhaps this was the main reason I was harassed by the boys at the academy.
I would often try to meet with them but they were often too busy for us to meet in private, thus we would mostly meet at social gatherings in the city to which I was most often not invited to.
It would depress me that I would not get the chance to meet those beauties often but I would encourage myself by imaging all the naughty things we would be doing once we were officially married.
While I don't know what strings my father pulled to arrange the marriage between me the two princesses I knew lady Rania's engagement was something my Kingdom and the duchy of Vidamne had been planning for a long time.
With deep blue eyes and silver shining hair. She was one of the three heavenly beauties of the continent. She like her daughter had an overly sexy body, with perfect curves, succulent lips, and big breasts. She was the true meaning of 'beauty perfected'
In fact, her beauty was so perfect that to date she has never met a man would not be charmed by her beauty.
She had used this beauty to charm men for the past 3000 years and strengthen her duchy. She developed a policy of giving birth to children only to have them married to other families thus creating a blood tie to such families.
The children of the house of Vidfamne are renewed beauties with high intelligence. For this reason, many noble families would more than welcome them into their bloodlines. While having them marry into the main branch was something most families could not allow because of the fear of having an heir who would be long-lived thus putting the family at a huge disadvantage when it came to forming future blood ties.
Most advantageous marriages are marriages between an heir and a daughter from the main household. If the head of the family was someone who was long-lived then the chances of the child inheriting any time soon would be slim thus no one would offer their daughters to such a child. While there might be the solution of the head simply retiring early it would hurt the family image as enemies of the house might spread some bad rumors about the reason for retirement - thus that option could not be looked upon with much favor.
It was for this reason that most children of Vidfamne married branch families or became second wives or concubines but this did in no way mean they had little or no influence in the family. In most cases, they had a large influence on families.
Rania Teresa Alumet Vidfamne used that influence to protect and develop the duchy.
The duchy of Vidfamne was located southeast of Highland. A small duchy with only four cities. It is the home to the merfolk, a demi-human race that looked like humans on land and mermaids in the water. There were the smallest population among demis and the duchy was the only place you would find them in large numbers.
The duchy was not a very fertile land with sea breeze constantly blowing saltwater on the fertile land it made it hard for the duchy to grow crops in large quantity.
Rania Teresa Alumet Vidfamne knew her duchy wouldn't survive if she was to develop it in the same manner other kingdoms and dukedoms did and thus opted for the option of marring off her children and forming powerful connection on the continent.
For this reason, her daughters' marriage to me was arranged.
Truth be told such an arrangement was agreed upon 4 kings before my father but the marriages between our families always fell through for one reason or another on the part of the duchy.
This created a lot of friction between the kingdom and duchy as my royal family accused the duchess of not honoring the arrangement of marriage in exchange for the kingdom being part of the military alliance that had sworn to protect the duchy.
But the duchess always played it off as being out of her control, "Regrettably, my daughter has chosen to marry another but I could not have foreseen such an event happening; rather than dwell on the past shall we not look towards the future. I am fully committed to the joining of my family to yours or do you intend to withdraw from our arrangement?"
It was clear to see from the way she would often reply to my family's accusations that my Kingdom wasn't highly valued by the duchess, going as far as asking if we wished to cancel the arrangement. In front of such a response, my family would simply bite its pride and ask the duchess to offer another bride to which she would often reply
"Ara Ara ... I am not a daughter making magic tool you know and their others who are waiting in line for one of my daughters you know, you will have to wait a bit you know"
I can only remember the sigh my father made when he told me of the circumstances behind our engagement and I couldn't help but sigh myself.
Nether less I am engaged to marry lady Rania, part of me feels like history would repeat itself but perhaps I will be the lucky royal who marries a Vidfamne beauty.
Hmm... why do I feel like I have set off a flag?