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There Is a Sequel to the Story

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*****

When Margaret Porta turns sixteen, her engagement to—well, let’s just say “Insert Target Here”—is officially decided.

From a commoner-born Baron’s daughter to the heroine of the hour, she’s become the Cinderella everyone is jealous of.

***

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the two Marquis daughters who bullied her have their engagements to Prince Arnold broken, and they are sent off to a monastery to live out their days in confinement.

Unlike Gardinia, who seems to have accepted her fate, the second villainess, Magnolia, is absolutely devastated.

Let’s rewind to the moment of her downfall at the Prince’s graduation party.

Amidst the jeers and laughter of the crowd, she doesn't just have her engagement broken—she finds that neither her father nor her brother, both of whom are Margaret’s devotees, will lift a finger to help her.

On the contrary, she’s met with scathing rebukes and insults, leaving her to collapse to the floor in defeat.

The one watching her shattered form from the sidelines is Prince Julius (18) of the Marinase Empire.

As a foreign exchange student, he’s been secretly nursing feelings for the Magnolia who loves Arnold so wholeheartedly, but to a Magnolia blinded by her own obsession, his feelings never stood a chance.

He had planned to return home with only his memories, but seeing the cruel way his beloved girl is being treated, he declares that he’ll take her for himself instead... only to be turned down on the grounds that they can’t exactly marry off a “wicked woman” who would bring shame to the nation to a prince of a neighboring country.

Unable to do anything, he blames himself for just standing by and watching, then returns home with a broken heart.

***

Before long, word of this incident reaches the Azenda Margraviate.

Azenda used to be a small nation called the Principality of Azenda, but after a past war, it became a territory of the Ascald Kingdom.

The current Margrave is Gerald’s father, but due to friction that’s lasted since Gerald was young, the two sides are completely estranged.

Claude (32), the Margrave’s adopted son and Gerald’s brother-in-law, hears the news and his heart aches for her. Neither the grandfather nor the uncle have ever actually met her.

In looking into the facts, he decides the punishment is way too harsh—even if it’s not exactly something to be proud of—and petitions the King, begging to take her into the Azenda territory so she can live quietly. But, as expected, his plea falls on deaf ears.

Despondent, he finally gets word that the carriage carrying her will be passing near the territory. He catches a glimpse of the girl through the carriage window, and he’s struck by her beauty, falling in love at first sight.

Claude is widely believed to be the survivor of a Baron’s family from the old Principality of Azenda.

But his true identity? He’s actually the hidden, long-thought-dead Prince (the Grand Duke) of the Azenda Principality.

Claude is always grateful to the foster father who raised him, but that father has become completely shut off after learning of his granddaughter’s plight.

With the Ascald Kingdom’s corrupt government and the mounting pressure on Azenda, the common people are on the verge of an uprising. Claude makes a decision: Overthrow the royal family. And rescue the girl.

He reveals his true identity, decides to revive the Principality of Azenda, and calls his troops to arms—

***

Meanwhile, the knight tasked with escorting her takes pity on the beautiful girl and stages a fake ambush on the carriage to let her escape.

Magnolia, wandering lost through the forest, finally reaches the highway, only to be picked up by a cross-dressing lady knight and a female business tycoon. But then...

Meanwhile, the Prince who returned to his own country also declares war on the Ascald Kingdom to rescue Magnolia.

With the "face that could topple a nation," Magnolia, at the center of it all, the kingdom is once again dragged into the fires of war...

What will happen to the love between the two princes and the Prince (Grand Duke)? How will the cross-dressing knight, the business tycoon, and the knight who let her go get involved? And wait, is there a third man lurking in the shadows...?

And what will become of Magnolia's fate!?

It's a sweeping epic of love and hatred for characters tossed about by fate.

The romance simulation game: *Playback♡Min-Koi II: This Time, the Heroine is a Hyper-Adorable Villainess!?*

***

P.S. It's R-15 rated.

Prince Julius is the protagonist of our other title, *Harem x Harem* (R-18).

Expect some racy content and a bit of yuri (girl-on-girl) stuff.

***

(Wait, wait, wait, wait—hold on a second!!)

Magnolia didn't know what to scream about first, so she collapsed onto the table again.

「......!!」

「A-are you okay?」

She was far from okay.

She was taking massive damage.

Still face-down on the table, she asked Violet a question.

「......Can I ask you about these in order?」

「Yeah...」

She bolted upright, her face—which definitely didn't look like a proper young lady's anymore—inches away from Violet's.

「First off, what's up with this Prince Julius from the Marinase Empire?」

「Oh, that. The prince from the neighboring empire two years above us comes to Ascald as an exchange student.」

Violet nodded as if it were obvious.

She’d already decided that it was useless to argue about Gerald and Brian’s settings—that was just how it was—but now they were throwing in some random Prince?!

Apparently, this game company had three different otome games set in the same universe.

There was the *Min-Koi* series set in the Kingdom of Ascald, *Harem x Harem* (or *Hare-Hare* for short) set in the Marinase Empire, and apparently another one set in the Monteorona Theocracy (she had to skip that one because they were running out of time).

「*Hare-Hare* has Prince Julius as the hero. It’s an eroge, basically.」

「...Why is the protagonist of an eroge a romance target here!」

As Magnolia stood there in shock, Violet laid it out like it was the most natural thing in the world.

「Because Magnolia is the character that packs in all the male fantasies. You’re a ditzy, busty beauty. People expect a few risqué episodes, don't they?」

「Wait! Magnolia is busty!? Look at this face—it’s clearly completely flat!」

(The portrait of my great-grandmother was flat too!)

She poked at her own face and pressed Violet, totally intense.

「You're busty.」

「...Ugh! My heat rash, my stiff shoulders...」

She thought she’d finally escaped that misery in this life.

But the dead-eyed response came back without a hint of hesitation.

「You're busty.」

「............」

Well, whatever. (It’s not 'whatever,' but still...)

More importantly, she felt like a terrifying combo attack was coming next.

「Brother Claude, he's actually a prince...?」

「Yes.」

Just how many extra characters and floodgates were they going to open? She couldn't help but shoot a dead-eyed glare in the direction of the office.

How on earth did they end up adopting a prince...?

(Is this part of why Grandfather didn't get a title upgrade? Even if they hid his identity for Claude’s safety, were they planning on returning Azenda to the prince... or the Grand Duke?)

Even if it wasn't the original title of Margrave, that would explain a lot.

And the estrangement between the Gilmore family and the Azenda Margrave family could be explained by that, too.

What's more...

「Brother, you’re single at thirty-two because you’re all hung up (on me/the past)?」

They were practically in the same boat. But thirty-two in this world was a whole different beast than thirty-two on Earth. Plus, unlike a Japanese commoner girl with no responsibilities, he had to take over as the Margrave, right?

「And I don't think he's the type to fall in love at first sight, either. Let alone reveal his hidden identity and start a war so easily?」

Magnolia crossed her arms. Violet crossed her arms and tilted her head, too.

「Hmm. I don't know what the real Claude-sama is like, but in the game, there’s all that stuff about the royal family's corruption and pressure.」

The royal family’s corruption... Right.

She thought back to the Queen and the Prince she’d met yesterday. It was definitely possible.

「Besides, if there isn't at least some plot convenience, the game wouldn't move forward at all.」

「...Yeah, I guess that’s true...」

A story that was just peaceful would be boring. She wouldn't be able to play that for long. She’d get bored. It needed some incidents, some highs and lows... at least as a work of fiction.

She didn't need any of that in real life, though.

She couldn't say she was convinced—not by a long shot—but if she wanted to keep the conversation going, she’d have to swallow it whole.

...Time was running out.

She’d thank the knight who let her escape later; for now, she’d put that aside.

「So, the cross-dressing lady knight is the East Wolf Marquis, and the female business tycoon is Baroness Orsay, right?」

*Yuri elements?* Those people were straight (probably) and married women, too.

To her surprise, Iris was also happily married.

...Since she was the heir to a Marquis household, it made sense from a status perspective, but still. Apparently, her partner was a childhood friend and they were totally in love.

「Are you guys already acquaintances?」

「Yeah. Though there’s no way those two are like that, for sure.」

「Hm? But the partner is 'Mag-tan', you know?」

「Ehhhhh!?」

She jumped on her chair, startled.

Wait, that’s impossible!!

「No, I’m straight too, okay!?」

「Look, the protagonist is Mag-tan. She packs in all the male fantasies...」

「............」

R-15, a third man, war...

「I thought this was a romance sim where you enjoy a Cinderella story woven by beautiful guys and pretty girls, wasn't it?!」

What's with this "epic of love and hatred"? Part II suddenly turned into something way more ominous and dark. The gap between the goofy, dorky title and the actual content was just brutal.

Still.

There was one thing she had to insist on, at least.

「...First off, Claude-Brother's birth is a secret to everyone. Absolutely no one. Otherwise—」

She didn't know if the consequences were the same in this world, but if they were, she couldn't risk letting it slip. Even if the Margrave household was keeping it a secret, if it ever leaked...

Magnolia held up her thumb, pointed it down, and slid it across her neck from left to right.

「Death, DEATH...!」

If she didn't want to be silenced, she’d have to keep her mouth shut while she was still breathing. Violet nodded her head up and down at breakneck speed.

*****

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