[2]-3: GAME OVER? /continue：YES

Finally, the graduation ceremony arrived.

Entering with Lord Jud’s escort, I felt the gaze of the entire venue upon me.

I don’t mind standing out.

The striking sky-blue dress, designed to match Lord Jud’s eye color, was adorned with embroidery in the same color as his hair, displaying the royal crest. It was the finest dress that only I, who had earned the trust and favor of the Crown Prince, could wear.

Locking eyes with Mireille, I smiled.

“You must be frustrated, Mireille, not getting Lord Jud as your escort. I’ll make sure to bring you more humiliation in the future.”

Mireille returned a composed smile, but it was undoubtedly a facade.

For all her bravado, she acted bold despite being a coward.

I wonder how long she can keep up this act?

During the ceremony, Lord Jud sitting next to me occasionally gazed at me with affection.

Thanks to Mireld, Lord Jud might seem ordinary, but I’ll endure that…

As the ceremony came to an end, everyone moved to the party hall.

The party began with a meal and socializing.

The toast was supposed to be given by Lord Jud on behalf of the graduates.

As he began, Lord Jud announced something significant:

“Everyone, before we commence with the graduation party, allow me to make a ‘major announcement.’ I, Crown Prince Judrich Floren, hereby declare the annulment of my engagement to the Lady Mireille Gasstark!”

Huh?

He’s saying this now…??

It feels a bit awkward.

People seemed ready to drink, so some were surprised, and a few even spilled their wine.

Seems like a poorly timed announcement, but… oh well!

“Mireille Gasstark! You have committed numerous malicious acts against Baroness Isla Donovan! A woman as despicable as you is unfit to be the Crown Princess. Therefore, I declare the annulment of our engagement!”

Lord Jud began to condemn Mireille with determination.

“Mireille, apologize to her here and now! Isla is deeply hurt,” Lord Jud signaled me, and I approached him.

Facing Mireille directly, I finally got to see her pale at the annulment of the engagement.

Wait, what?

“I committed malicious acts against Isla? Can you be more specific?”

Huh? Why does Mireille seem so composed?

She’s supposed to be a coward…

Mireille, in a calm tone, asked, and it felt eerie.

“Don’t play innocent, Mireille. You’ve been belittling Isla and showering her with heartless remarks!”

“I haven’t showered her with anything. Has anyone present seen me verbally abusing Isla?”

Even as Lord Jud tried to condemn her, Mireille calmly denied everything.

The contradictions in the testimony of witnesses Lord Jud called were refuted not by Mireille herself but by her friends. When did they become so close with the sons of the prime minister and the knight commander?

And Lord Jud, he’s so clumsy.

He’s completely being outmaneuvered by Mireille.

Despite saying things like “leave everything to me,” he’s making a fool of himself!

Is he perhaps an idiot?

As I nervously watched, Mireille questioned with cold eyes.

“First of all, a fundamental question. How does Crown Prince Judrich intend to elevate Miss Isla, who is no more than a baroness, to the position of Crown Princess? Her social status is too low, and she hasn’t received any education befitting a queen, has she? Don’t you think making such a woman the Crown Princess could cause problems in the country? How do you plan to persuade His Majesty, considering all these aspects?”

Ugh…

I couldn’t help but tense up.

Even I am concerned about my social status.

Because the event of becoming the adopted daughter of Duchess Meldel didn’t happen, I haven’t been able to join the Meldel Duke’s family.

“Hmph. I’m well aware of that. But I have a special plan!”

I believed in Lord Jud without a doubt.

…Until the unexpected ‘problematic statement’ came out.

“Mireille, normally, even having you in my sight would be bothersome. However, I’ll give you some credit for your cunning. Therefore, after assuming the throne, I will graciously accept you as my concubine. Consider it an honor!”

Excuse me???

“Isla possesses a pure heart and the talent to grasp the hearts of the people. However, without the education befitting a queen and with the status of a baroness, fulfilling the role of a queen would be difficult. So, in the future, I plan to welcome Mireille as my concubine and entrust her with all political affairs! Feel free to work to your heart’s content.”

A crackling sound, like the sound of glass breaking, echoed in my mind.

The sound of trust in Judrich crumbling away.

This guy. He’s an empty-headed scumbag…

He wasn’t only loving me! Why is he boldly declaring infidelity?

This is just unbelievable!

Both I and everyone around me, including Mireille, were utterly disgusted.

The Crown Prince seemed to have thought it was a brilliant idea all by himself and looked surprised at everyone’s reaction.

No, this guy is totally useless!

If I leave everything to him, it will be the ruin of both of us.

I pushed Judrich aside and confronted Mireille.

“Mireille-sama, you truly are a cunning person! Right now, we’re not talking about me; it’s about whether ‘Mireille-sama is suitable to be the Crown Princess’! Don’t change the subject!”

I forcefully redirected the conversation back to the issue at hand.

Whether I am suitable as the Crown Princess is irrelevant at this point.

If I can bring Mireille down and create a vacancy for the position of Crown Princess, there will be room for me to assert myself later.

As long as I can establish connections with Duchess Meldel, things should go according to the game!

Anyway, for now, I have to focus on bringing down Mireille.

Otherwise, the blade intended for Mireille will end up piercing me.

“Mireille-sama is not a suitable woman to be the Crown Princess! After all, you discarded the flowers I gave you, didn’t you!?”

The incident of her trampling the bouquet is my current trump card.

I’ll somehow use it to grab onto Mireille and bring her down!

At that moment, the King entered the party hall.

To my surprise, Mireld was with him!

I instantly felt excited.

Could this be an alternative route with Mireld, not the Crown Prince route?!

Coming at such a tumultuous moment, it’s too wonderful.

Is Mireld planning to assist in condemning Mireille?

I knew it, I will marry you!!

The King frowned upon hearing about ‘Mireille trampling the flowers.’

“You trampled on the flowers? Mireille, what does that mean?”

Mireld promptly answered.

“I regret to inform you, Your Majesty. My sister Mireille was infuriated by receiving a bouquet from Baroness Donovan and proceeded to trample on it. I can confirm that this is an absolute truth.”

Fantastic!!

Mireille turned pale and staggered.

I’ve been wanting to see that expression for so long!

She seemed unfazed by anything Judrich said, but when scolded by Mireld, she makes that face? Could it be that she has a brother complex?

Too bad, Mireille. Mireld is on my side—

“Actually, today I have prepared the same flowers that Miss Donovan gifted my sister. I would like to present them as a gesture to Crown Prince and Miss Isla.”

Wait, what?

Following Mireld’s signal, dozens of servants entered the party hall, each carrying a large white bouquet. They handed them to me and Judrich, and the bouquets that couldn’t be received were piled up at our feet.

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait. No.

These flowers—

“These are… ‘Farewell Flowers,’ aren’t they?”

“As His Majesty says.”

Mireld took one of the bouquets and held it high.

“These are ‘Farewell Flowers’—wildflowers that commoners use to fill the coffins of the deceased. Miss Donovan sent these to my sister.”

A scream twisted its way out of my throat.

“N-no, that’s not true! What I sent was just regular roses… I would never send funeral flowers—”

“Hmph, a transparent lie.”

Mireld ruthlessly condemned me, stating that he had checked the flower shop records.

He accused me of deliberately sending Mireille farewell flowers to provoke her and stir up trouble.

“…You deceived me, Mireld!”

Pretending to be interested in me, extracting information.

“Given such flowers, it’s only natural for Miss Mireille to be furious! Did you purposely instigate and create a commotion by intentionally provoking Miss Mireille? You are the despicable one, Miss Donovan.”

The King’s furious roar echoed, and both Judrich and I were sentenced to exile from the capital.

Judrich, who had tried to confront the King, was knocked down by the King’s scepter. This guy is really useless.

The guards surrounded us and forcefully escorted us away.

Wait, this is insane.

Stop it, let go.

As we were being led away, I spotted Duchess Meldel among the guests.

I didn’t know she was here!

Desperately, I raised my voice.

“Granny! You’re Duchess Meldel, right!? I’m actually your granddaughter. So please help me!! Your son, Powell, eloped with a commoner woman, right?! I’m the child they had! Powell and I look alike, don’t we?”

Thank goodness, now she’ll surely help me…!

However, Duchess Meldel stared at me with disdain.

“How impudent! If you intend to insult our family, I won’t forgive you! Guards, quickly escort her away.”

Th-this…!

Why?

I was taken away with Judrich—

**One Month Later**

… A ‘downfall in life.’

There are no better words to describe my current situation.

What awaited me was indeed a hellish daily life.

Banished from the Donovan Baron’s house, I had returned to being a commoner and was subsequently expelled from the capital.

Living as a woman alone is dangerous, so I decided to pretend to be married to Judrich, thinking, “It’s better than being a ‘scumbag.”’ But it turned out to be a massive failure.

Somehow, Judrich and I reached a small city in the outskirts and barely managed to survive by relying on the local charity house.

Every day, I lived mingled with the destitute in the charity house’s crowded sleeping quarters…

The distributed meals consisted of poor-quality potatoes and tasteless soup, and the jobs arranged by the charity house were nothing but harsh agricultural labor.

We were made to work from sunrise to sunset, and most of the daily earnings were taken as payment for staying at the charity house.

No baths, only worn-out and dirty clothes.

It was unbearable.

“I’ve had enough! I can’t stand this kind of life anymore!”

On the way back to the dormitory after finishing a day of farm work, I shouted.

I threw away the farming tools I was holding, and in my everyday clothes, I ran away from the farm road.

I didn’t care about anything; I just wanted to escape, escape, escape!

“—Aah!”

At that moment, someone grabbed my arm from behind.

My hair was pulled, and I was showered with insults.

“Where do you think you’re going, Isla? Running away alone, abandoning me, you coward! Are you planning to forsake your responsibility toward me!?”

It was Judrich.

In this harsh month, he had completely lost his sanity.

Emaciated, his eyes unfocused, he looked like a “dangerous guy” from any angle.

“What!? Are you kidding me!? Why should I take responsibility for someone like you!”

“Because of your deceit, I ended up in this miserable state. You have an obligation to make me happy! I won’t allow you to run away alone! If my ‘wife’ escapes during work, I can already see the charity house officials mocking me… Damn it, don’t laugh. Don’t make a fool of me, me, me, aaah!”

This guy is really losing it.

“Aaah, damn it, damn it! It’s all Mireille’s fault! Because she made a fool of me, I got deceived by Isla… Damn it… I want to kill Mireille. I can’t go back to the capital… Aaaah.”

I can’t stand my life and want to start over.

If I could turn back time, I would never choose such an incompetent man!

… But redoing it is impossible.

Even in the game, it had an ‘irreversible’ auto-save system.

Without using cheats, it was an irrevocable game.

… Without using cheats.

A sudden idea crossed my mind.

(Perhaps, if I use a cheat, I can choose a different route…)

A brilliant idea.

I felt a sense of hope.

“That’s right! I can use a cheat! By using ‘Noel,’ I might be able to redo this life!”

Why didn’t I realize this sooner?

I never tried to utilize Noel, the trump card, in this life at all.

The reason for the failure of this life must be there.

“Noel? Cheat? What are you talking about?”

Even when Judrich asked, I ignored him and focused on thoughts about Noel.

Noel is not a capture target; he is just a background character living in the commoner district of the capital.

Noel is, so to speak, the mascot character in charge of mini-games.

After going through several consecutive events to increase intimacy, Noel starts providing mini-games like rhythm games and puzzles.

There were passionate voices from some fans of the game, like “Noel is so cute ♡” or “I can only love Noel!!”, but I didn’t really care about Noel. I couldn’t understand what was good about such a character, and I had no interest in the mini-games.

Finding no merit in dealing with Noel, who was unrelated to the story progression, I ignored all the events in the commoner district where I encountered Noel.

(… That was a mistake. I should have interacted with Noel, raised intimacy, and then asked for a ‘time rewind.’ If I had done that, I could have rewound time!)

Despite being labeled as the ‘Mini-Game Character,’ Noel actually had a hidden skill – the “time rewind ability.”

According to wiki information, by triggering many events with Noel and maxing out intimacy, you could receive a one-time “time rewind” to any desired moment.

(… So, Noel was what my life lacked!)

If that’s the case, it’s not too late. I should return to the capital now, engage with Noel to raise intimacy to the maximum, and ask for a time rewind. I’ll choose a different capture target and bid farewell to this miserable situation.

As I started running again, Judrich persistently chased after me.

“Wait, where do you think you’re going?”

“Leave me alone! I’m going back to the capital to meet Noel!”

“Going back to the capital? Are you an idiot? You’ll be caught at the checkpoint, that’s for sure.”

“Shut up! I have to do something!”

While we argued, a man in travel attire appeared and addressed us.

“Are you two planning to return to the capital?”

Surprised, both Judrich and I stared at the man. The man, with dark, lifeless eyes, unnaturally curled up his lips.

“If you intend to return to the capital, we can assist you.His Highness Judrich Floren, and Isla Donovan, Baron Donovan’s daughter, correct?”