Ellis's POV
Before I was born into this world, my life was hell. My father was a drunk, and my mother only yelled at everyone and thing. Then there was my brother growing pot in his room and constantly getting into debt with the wrong people. I spent countless nights so fearful that someone would break into our home for their money, lying wide awake in my room. That even happened once.
Luckily I was spending the night in the park after my mother threw me out of the house. My brother was beaten so severely that he spent the week in the hospital and yelled at me for not being home at the time. He said if I were they, he could have cleared his debt by handing me over to the men who beat him. After he told me that, I was thrown out of the hospital and nearly arrested for assaulting my brother.
At school, things were no different. The girl I once called my best friend would bully me. The teacher didn't care. They always turned a blind eye to my tormenters as long as there were no injuries. The rest of my classmates would usually join in on the bullying. I could deal with the insults and threats, but what made my blood boil was that they claimed it was for my own good. They kept insisting that as soon as I stopped pretending. The thing was, I wasn't pretending.
I was never like the other girls I knew. I felt nothing when they talked about hot guys and showed pictures of their crushes. At first, I thought something was wrong with me. I didn't like the topless men or the models in bathing suits my friends gushed over. I never felt what they felt towards boys, even when a handful confessed to me. I was so worried I might be broken, but then I met her.
It was when my family went on holiday that we met each other. My drunk ass father forgot to fill up the car, and we were focused to stop in some village in the middle of nowhere. There was a queue to get to the only fuel pump in the place, so I went for a walk to stretch my legs. I didn't go far, fearing my parents might leave without me, but I found a quiet spot to sit and wait until I saw my family's car pull up to the pump.
Unfortunately, the local girl gang had already claimed that spot. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by five girls holding baseball bats. One of them shoved me to the ground and started demanding I pay them for sitting in their spot, but I had no money on me. Telling them that only infuriated the girls. The one that shoved me even raised her bat, but someone grabbed her arm.
She was so pretty and looked just like the girl with the bat, but I felt something looking at her I had only heard my friends describe before. The new girl talked the other into leaving before she helped me up and apologised for her sister's behaviour. I could barely speak when I responded and blushed when I stuttered my words. I was so embarrassed, but the girl kindly assured me there was nothing to worry about.
I wanted to stay in that moment forever. The girl's eyes were warm and gentle, while her hand was soft and reassuring. Unfortunately, my mother yelled at me to get in the car, forcing us apart. I regretted not asking the girl her name and a way to stay in contact with her. If I had known that would be the last time we saw each other, I would have never left her side.
When I returned from our family's holiday, I was upset we didn't stop in that village again. For the first time, my father managed to remember to fill up the car in his life, and it came at my expense. I never forgot that girl. I even sketched once. I really wish I could have seen her again. I never felt what I felt with that girl with anyone else. Not my boyfriend in school or whenever someone showed me pictures of handsome men. It was only when I looked up only that I realised why.
At first, I denied it. At first, I refused to believe what I had found. Still, after reading a few stories and gathering more information online, I couldn't deny that I was gay. I didn't tell my parents. My father would have been too drunk to understand, and my mother would have likely hit me. as for my brother, we never got along, so this wasn't something I could talk to him about.
In the end, I talked to the girl I thought I could trust. My best friend, whom I thought I could confine, only worsened things. At first, she seemed understanding, but the next day, she showed her true colours at school. She told the entire class I was gay, and that was when the bullying started. At first, it was only small things like making me stand outside while the girls changed and not letting me into the toilets when another girl was using them. Then things got worse as everyone abanded me.
I was an outcast. Someone that was only insulted. During school trips, when we would stay somewhere overnight, I had to share a room with the teachers. My classmate laughed and cursed me when they claimed to be afraid I would insult them during the night. The boys were just as bad, with a few asking to watch when I got a girlfriend and others saying that going on a date with them would cure me. Things got so bad after a few years that I even began to believe I was sick.
If it wasn't for a game I found by accident, I might have continued to believe something was wrong with me. I can't remember what it was called, but it was about a maid who fell in love with her mistress. Seeing the maid struggling like I had, watching her find the strength to act on her love and finally win over the love of her life, made me cry. If it wasn't for that game, I would have never found the strength to be who I really am. I became addicted to games ever since then involving two girls finding love. They were my only assurance that I was not sick in the world.
To be honest, I played Freedom Heart because I fell in love with the villainess Angelina Lamonia. I played the game religiously, hoping to find a hidden yuri route that would let the heroine and villainess get together. Still, there was never a happy ending for Angelina. I even looked up mods to see if there were any to fulfil my desire, but no one made anything like that. The only mods I found for the game put the male love interests in skimpy outfits or left them naked. I wish I was good with computers and could have made my own mods for the game.
In the end, I could only draw the scenes I wished had happened in the game. I kept them hidden under my bed, with drawings of that girl and me kissing and holding hands. I really wanted to see her again. Unfortunately, those draws led to my family finding out about my dating preferences. My brother found those drawings, and my parents kicked me out without even listening to what I had to say.
For several months I lived on the streets stealing food and drinking from whatever source I could find. My home was nothing more than a box hidden in the bushes of a park. I was at my wit's end and just wanted things to stop. Every day the bridge over the river became more and more tempting to jump. If I hadn't wanted to do one last thing before I jumped, I might have ended things sooner.
I wanted to confess and let that girl know my feelings for her. I stole a card and pen before returning to that village. I hiked, hid in the back of trucks and did whatever it took to get to her. I was beaten a few times when the truckers caught me, but I refused to give up. In the end, after two days, I reached her.
I stood across the street watching her deal with customers behind a small corner shop counter. She looks so much more mature now than she did back then, but my heart flutters when I see her. Her sister was there too, looking at the goods on the shelves while glancing at my love. I can remember how I waited for her to be alone. I can remember trying to think of the words to say when I gave her the letter I wrote. I prayed that I had found the right words in the letter and that my feelings would reach her.
But then there was a gunshot. I can't even begin to describe the pain I felt watching the girl fall. It was like that bullet had torn through my heart. I still see her face as she lay in the growing pool of blood in my nightmares. I dropped my letter and ran. I know I was crying, but I couldn't feel my tears. I just ran into a nearby forest until I tripped on something.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself face to face with god. The old man who sat across from me told me that I would be given a second life after I was forced to endure so much suffering. He said I will be sent to a fantasy world and offered to boost my magical power, but I wanted something different. Instead, I was reborn with the knowledge of how to perform a ritual that could stop the person I love from dying.
When I realised I was reborn as Ellis Lockridge, the heroin of the otome game Freedom's Heart, I cheered. As soon as I was old enough, I performed the ritual and gained the power I needed to stop Angelina from meeting a bad end. I planned everything down to the last detail. When the events of the game started, I was ready, but…
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"Thank you, Arial," Prince Marshall smiles. "Your tea is perfect as usual."
This is wrong. Prince Marshall is meant to be my enemy. He is supposed to be a scheming, two-faced villain who lets Lady Angelina take the fall for his actions. Instead, Prince Marshall is polite and a model student. I keep expecting him to be up to something, but nothing ever happens. Something is wrong. He hasn't even tried flirting with me once since the events of the game began.
"Eleven tea is still superior," Zeno comments. "But the cakes you made are delicious. Would you care for me to feed you one, my lady?"
Zeno, the second prince of the elf kingdom, is also different. Instead of being pervy and trying to sleep with me, he is doing something far worse. He is trying to steal my Lady Angelina! Even now, he is trying to feed her. Luckily Lady Angelina's pet dragon stole the cake from Zeno's hand. I need to keep a closer eye on him in case he tries to sneak into Lady Angelina's room at night.
"Please leave my sister alone," Lady Angelina's brother Noah shoots the elf prince a glare.
Noah has changed as well. He isn't interested in me at all and is obsessed with Lady Angelina. If I am not careful, he might steal her from me.
"Bozzair, don't steal food from people's hands!"
Lady Angelina is probably the character who has changed the most. In the game, she was the picture-perfect noble. Beautiful, refined, and elegant, and she had the terrible attitude you would expect from someone in her role. But I still loved her even as she worked against the heroine. Now though, Lady Angelina is kind, strong, bad at noble stuff and the victim of bullying herself. I was afraid she might have changed so much that I wouldn't like her anymore, but instead, I fell in love with her even more. When I look at her, I get the same feeling I got when I saw that girl back in my old life. I promise you, Lady Angelina. I won't let you die.