While I had embarrassed myself immensely while doing so, I had accomplished what I set out to do. Albeit I didn't do so much, all I did was give a simple push, a small suggestion.
Ava may have stated there was no point in attempting something that could only end in failure, but she secretly always had thought of taking the test, wanting to accomplish what her brother failed to do. They had the same blood in their veins after all, the two had similar aspirations in life.
But Ava was intelligent, perhaps more than enough for her own good, she saw her brother's story as a warning to not live selfishly, that empty dreams ended in tragedy, yet didn't realize that living in such a way blinded her to what she could accomplish through her talent.
She was like that in the original story up until the end, only moving and acting for the sake of others, too afraid to act for herself in fear of failure. I hoped that this time, things could change for her.
"Whew..."
I ruffled my hair as I got off the ground. There was a good chance that Ava would take the test now, of her own volition this time, not simply to accompany Wendy. This was good of course, Ava was a valuable asset in facing the arcs and events that would occur in the academy, but I still had a bitter taste in my mouth.
Ava's addition to the cast of characters in the academy was definitely a good thing for me, but perhaps not the greatest for Ava herself. After all, in every route of the game, Ava would always die. It was an event that would call the curtains on the fake genre the game masqueraded as for the first few arcs, showing Wendy that her life in the academy would not be all rainbows and sunshine but a series of bloody battles and tearful goodbyes.
Perhaps Wendy had not replied to Ava's messages wishing to cut her off, wanting to take her away for the circumstances that led to her death. But I couldn't let that happen, while I had no intention of letting Ava die, I also didn't have the intention to allow someone with her talent to fall into the background of the story.
"So Wendy, I guess I'm sorry, but your way of doing things won't lead to one where you're happy."
I could only say a half-hearted apology, knowing Wendy wouldn't be the happiest with many of the things I planned to do.
---
I was still standing alone in the alleyway near the academy testing grounds, I should have already left once I had known that Wendy hadn't come but there was one more person I wished to check up on.
The main love interest of "New Dawn Academy" and the first prince of the country, Damien Belmond.
Originally, he and Wendy should have had a chance encounter after Wendy took the test, but now that event wouldn't occur. That would bring one large change to the story, one I expect may even show up in the DLC information tab soon.
The story went that the first prince, known for his pride, honour and character, came to a testing ground for commoners under a pseudonym, wanting to pass and gain admission to the academy on his own merits and not the name of his family. Here, he noticed a purple-haired girl, who had been lost in her thoughts, nervous over her results in the exam. The girl, mulling over her choices in both the written and practical exams, took no notice of her surroundings and tripped as she went down a flight of stairs.
The prince, a kind man, swiftly caught the girl in his arms and attempted to bring her to safety.
But!
In his rush, he accidentally fell himself, the back of his head meeting the cold stone of the concrete floor. Normally, such an injury would be no problem for the young prince to brush off as he had an abundance of stats and fraudulent traits.
But it was a particularly unlucky day for the prince, the very girl he attempted to save had activated a trait of hers in the confusion of what was happening, thinking that she was perhaps being assaulted.
It was a trait that lowered the stats of the girl's adversaries, one that she hadn't had too much control over.
This series of comedically unfortunate events led to a large wound appearing on the back of the prince's head as well as...
Amnesia.
Yes, the premise of the first love interest in NDA was an amnesiac prince, Wendy would bring the young handsome man who had attempted to help her to the hospital only to be accosted by the royal guard. Thankfully, the amnesiac prince had kept his kind character and forgiven Wendy, but she still felt guilty and wished to help the prince in return for what she had done, leading to the start of their relationship.
Now, with Wendy no longer present, these events wouldn't occur, meaning that the prince wouldn't lose his memories.
While this was a big change in the story, I was in fact, fairly optimistic about this change. The prince was always known for his character before his loss in memories, so he would at least be an ally for the events to come, even if his lack of a connection to Wendy meant that his involvement wouldn't be as intimate as it once was.
The reason I had stayed was to make sure the prince had still chosen to come to the testing grounds, meaning that there hadn't been any changes to his actions yet.
And...
To steal the event from Wendy.
This didn't mean I had any intention of courting the prince of course, but it was a good opportunity to make a connection with him.
I could be saved by the prince, this time with his memories staying intact, and use the fact that I didn't know his true identity to try and become his friend, maybe offer to buy him a meal as thanks.
Then, once we met at the academy, I wouldn't simply be a random classmate of his, but an unlikely connection he had an encounter with before the school year.
It was nothing too big but forging bonds with the strongest characters was at the top of my list for surviving this world, especially since skill fusions were such a large factor in combat.
I waited patiently for a good while until I saw my target, the 3rd of the people I had noticed in the crowd before, he wore a long coat that ran down to his knees, its hood over his glossy blonde hair. Gleaming red eyes beamed out its cover, darting around as he strolled listlessly.
It was Damien, the first prince of Belmond.
This time, I avoided staring too much, trying not to have the same misunderstanding happen as before.
Seeing him come closer, I made my way towards the staired evenly, this time being sure my intentions weren't being seen through.
I pulled out my phone. acting as though my attention was on it, feigning obliviousness to the set of descending stairs in front of me.
Finally, my feet found air and my body tumbled over, I waited for the kind prince to jump into action and stop my descent...
*CRACK*
Instead, I felt a red hot searing pain in the front of my face. Multiple impacts coursed through my body as I rolled further and further down the stairs, I could hear my own bones crack and snap as my weak, untrained body smashed into the sharp edges of the the stone staircase.
Finally reaching the bottom, I laid bare on the ground, numbly, my ass over my head. My view, which had turned upside-down, caught a slightly smirking young man staring, as though he found what happened amusing.
Eh eh eh???