WHEN I WAS STILL MANDY MÜLLER, a New Zealander girl with rich and strict parents, who raised me far from everybody and homeschooled me because they didn't like the thought of me getting closed to anyone but them, I was addicted to books and comics and most of all, otome games. And once my parents preferred to see me liking those things than engaging with other people, they didn't even bat an eye about me spending every single penny of my fat allowance on those things.
And it wasn't like I didn't like social media, but more like my hacker mom found a way to block my access to all of them. But honestly, at some point, I was okay with that. My parents' way of raising me, turned me into an introvert when it comes to even thinking about speaking with others.
But that doesn't mean I didn't want to have friends or to have a relationship with others. That's literally to reason why otome games got me addicted to them. Because I used to read books and comics to run away from real life, but with otome games, it was more like I used to incorporate the main character and try to imagine myself being acquainted with other people.
Knowing that I liked those things, every time there was an upcoming new fantasy book, comic, or otome game, my parents used to tell me in advance. Which would also get me hyped and smiling at the clouds in the sky, or the plants in the garden. They used to say that it was my present, for being an amazing daughter and a clever student.
So, as a big fan of reverse harem games, there was no way I wouldn't get excited about the release of Lady Harrington.
And the story this time was situated in the Human Kingdom of Mhorgain, the biggest Kingdom in the sole Continent of Ciaran. In a magical World called Luthais. House of humans, shifters, vampires, dwarves, and beasts.
There were four kingdoms and the dark area which was the home of beasts. Humans ruled the Kingdom of Mhorgain. Shifters ruled the Kingdom of Preas. Vampires, the Kingdom of Seathan. Dwarves, the underground Kingdom of Gormlaith. And lastly, the beast's territory was called the Endless Woods.
But the story lacked because besides having such rich races and a variety of cultures, it was only focused on the human realm. And it was also said that they were in piece with the other Kingdoms. Which was a little disappointing, but the story made it up for it.
The female lead was a girl called Lisa Harrington, the only daughter of Marquis Harrington. With pale skin, golden waist-length straight hair, and eyes in the color of orange sapphire stone.
Well, she was the typical gorgeous aristocratic noble girl. Just not as typical when it came down to manners, once she had a fearless personality and would stand her ground in front of everyone, even in the face of the Royal Princes, or the villainess.
About the villainess, she was the daughter of Duke Julius Winter and Duchess Beatrix Mhorgain-Winter, Princess Amelie Mhorgain Winter. And to me, she was the most underestimated and beautiful girl in the game, with her black wavy hair, like the starless night sky, that fell like a waterfall until her hip, and shiny emerald green eyes. Tho the people in the story, conveniently thought that the female lead was the most gorgeous among them.
Princess Amelie inherited her good looks from her mother, who was coincidentally the younger twin sister of the Late Queen Marilyn Mhorgain. She was the first wife of the current King and the rightful heir to the throne. Once he got the power by marrying her.
And tho Amelie was supposed to be the cousin of the five Royal Princes, she wasn't. Her aunt, Queen Marilyn had a weak body and couldn't bear any child in her womb, so the King took in five mistresses and got all of them pregnant at the same time, and all of them gave birth to a Prince.
Once none of them were the son of the Queen and neither had the blood of the Mhorgain running through their veins, there wasn't a Crown Prince yet. After the Queen suddenly died sleeping, and I believe she was poisoned by her husband, he made a decree that the Crown Prince would be chosen through a 'fair but secret' process. And the Royal Heir would be announced in their 21st year alive.
Personally, I think that was all some bullshit part of some hidden scheme the King had in mind. But at first, I couldn't know that for sure.
Plus, I believe that once Princess Amelia had the Mhorgain blood running through her veins, she should become the Crowned Princess, not one of the King's bastards. But as a professional otome game player, I knew that was all part of the plot armor, designated so Lisa would become the highlight of it all.
Amelia was in the role of Villainess solely because she was promised to the Next King, and because of that, she had to spend time with all the five Princes. And as you may have guessed, they are targets of Lisa and all of them conveniently fall for her. So, Amelia had no other choice but to fight with her.
I won't deny that Lisa's boldness triggered her conflicts with Amelia, because she believed in the rumors about her being a madwoman, and without having the slightest desire to get to know her to make her own judgment, she threw shade at her. And tho she was badass, something she annoyed me because she thought too highly of herself and used to think that only her point of view was accurate.
And the game failed again when it came to Lisa's background, conveniently saying she was born badass like that. I don't buy it because in my viewpoint it should have a good reason for her to be like that, it would make the story more consistent. Nevertheless, the story itself was good and made me forget about that for a while.
The targets were: Prince Valentin, with his blond hair and dark green eyes, Commander of the Royal Knights. Prince Erik, with his honey hair and dark pink eyes, Head of the Information Guild. Prince Kaleb, with his black hair and pitch-black eyes, Head of the Assassins Guild. Prince Benjamin, with his silver hair and honey eyes, Head of the Royal Bank. And lastly, Prince Nathan, with his dazzling pink hair and turquoise eyes, Head of the Mage's Tower.
All of them were prodigies and won their positions at a young age. And though some of them didn't seem to be the fighter type, they had all been strictly trained in martial arts and the art of fighting with weapons by their father since they were young enough to walk.
Now regarding Lisa's relationship with them, I believe she caught their attention thanks to her straightforwardness. But she probably fell for them thanks to their good looks, once she cared so much about that. She also wanted the throne.
And tho she annoyed me, I don't think she deserved what happened to her in all the endings.
As I predicted, a big plot twist happened and I confess it caught me off guard. At first, I had chosen Prince Kaleb's ending, because I'm usually more attracted to black-haired guys. But then he murdered her and became the King.
I thought it was because he was the Head of the Assassin's Guild, and so I let go of him and also of Prince Valentin, letting him come last place because I thought the same could happen once he's a fighter and blonde. Once I'm always skeptical when it comes to blonde male leads, though I don't know why.
Either way, I tried Prince Erik's ending, and she died. Then I tried Prince Benjamin and Prince Nathan's ending, but she also died in both. So I thought it was because she was meant to be with Prince Valentin, but I was wrong again.
And in all the endings, the common thing was Lisa's death, Amelia marrying the chosen Prince and also dying by their hands. But the last one I expected was because she had Royal Blood inside of her.
So I realized that the secret plan the King had to choose the heir was connected to Lisa dying at the end, as well as Amelia. But once Lisa was the main protagonist of the game, she was their goal. While Amelia was probably a side effect.
From the beginning, they approached her, pretended to be in love, won her heart, and for some unknown reason, killed her in the end so they would become the Royal Heir. It was pitiful and it made me angry.
I got so angry that in the heat of the moment, I threw my iPad at the wall and ended up breaking it without playing the last chapter and the extra mode. But the end of it angered me so much that I didn't care about that.
Especially after my favorite character died for literally nothing, just for the plot and without any explanations afterward at all.
This plot had so many roles that I didn't even get to know the male lead's background, neither Lisa's nor Amelia's. The only somewhat rich backstory they gave me was the history of the world and its races, Kingdoms, especially the main setting. It was shallow. And I got so mad that I spent a week in a bad mood.
Somehow I ended up getting a bad fever and having the weak body I had, I ended up not recovering. And died.
Want to know something even more horrible? I reincarnated as Amelia. In the fucked up world of Lady Harrington, where all the roads will lead to my doom. And with all my memories from my life as Mandy.