Read Novel Full Chapter 4
Chapter 4
I didn’t think we’d meet here!
***
Leonardo Valentino Aldini was the biggest villain in the game.
Jet black hair, golden eyes like the moon. Although a male character, his eyelashes were drawn as long, a face so perfect, he’d make your jaw drop, and slender in physique but also tall.
In his default picture, he was drawn with a fearless smile. He was incredibly strong, and it was impossible to fully see through the intent of his actions. He was an unobtainable enemy character but was still wildly popular among the players.
[” Hey what happened? If you don’t do anything, all that is precious to you will be destroyed, Francesca……….Hahahhah, that’s it, that’s the expression I wanted to see on your face!!”]
[“Do you hate me? Don’t worry, that hatred will also end one day.——–one day, I will most certainly put an end to your life after all.”]
High on charisma, an ability to instantly get into the hearts of people, and all that so he could achieve his own objectives. That was the kind of character he was.
(He was still super popular back in my past life wasn’t he……..)
While walking alone through the city, Francesca recalled her past memories.
Today she was wearing a dress designed to travel incognito, and giant round hat that hid her face, as she walked through the main street of the royal capital. Since she had secretly snuck out of the mansion, she had no escorts with her.
(Even they put ads on the rail stations of city, Leonardo would always get a version solely to himself. Even before I started playing the game myself, all I knew about it was Leonardo’s face. Even though he wasn’t even a playable character.)
Leonardo was the young master of the Aldini family. One of the big 5 families that controlled this country. And even among those, the Aldini’s specifically emphasized [power] over everything else.
He was also 17yrs old, like Francesca. Although he had become the head of the family when he was only 10 because both his father and elder brother had died.
Normally, when a child is made the head of a family like that, they always have a guardian who holds the real power and the child remains nothing more than a decoration.
But Leonardo was born with all the talents needed to succeed in the underworld.
A smart brain, bravery that made him fear nothing, and a prudent nature that helped him carefully and calmly think about everything. While he always acted like he was pulling everyone along with him, in reality he was a cold hearted man that trusted no one and didn’t depend on anyone other than himself.
Leonardo had begun to show these characteristics even when he was just a child.
And when he became the family head, he made all the adults of the family follow him and bow to him in no time at all.
(And now, [I] was that Leonardo’s fiancée……….)
She inadvertently ended up staring into the distance just thinking about it.
(All this purely because my grandfather and Leonardo’s grandfather had made a promise that if [two children of opposite sex were born in the two families, we’ll have them engaged]……..)
And thus, Francesca, long before she could even think for herself had her future husband decided for her beforehand.
(It feels weird. In the game she lived away from the city from the age of 5, and even in this life, I was mostly avoiding Leonardo so we have still never even met.)
To make sure her hat didn’t fly off with the wind, she used an arm to keep her hat in place as she walked through the crowd.
The April breeze was warm, and the people seemed lively making the whole city look more bustling than usual. On the main road beside the footpath, various carriages were going to and fro.
(——-What a big city.)
While observing the stone paved main road, Francesca unintentionally stopped in her tracks.
(The fact that this city was renowned across the entire continent as one of the most flourishing ones was also all thanks to the big 5 families that support the kingdom from the shadows………)
And Francesca was none other than the only daughter of one of those families, the Calvinos.
While her family name brought a lot of authority, it also came with a lot of resentment and grudges. Normally, that doting father of hers would never allow her to go on a walk all alone in the city.
But there was a reason why she had gone out of her way to sneak out of the mansion like this.
Francesca closed her eyes, and heightened her concentration.
(…………someone’s watching. Not too far, not too close either. Their eyes are locked on to me.)
From the moment she had left the mansion, she had felt this gaze locked on to her.
As for who was it and what motive they may have? Well, she happened to be fully aware of it.
After all, tomorrow was the day Francesca would start her academy life. And today was the day the main story began.
(……….here it comes……….!)
The moment her eyes opened, the carriage that happened to be passing by her opened, and a big arm of a man flew out at her.
“———“
And the arm grabbed on to the ribbon on Francesca’s waist.
With the centre of gravity of her body grabbed on like this, Francesca’s body quite easily lifted into the air. And she was forcefully dragged towards the carriage that had curtains covering all the windows.
“Waaaah, what’s hahpening!?”
“Hey, some girl’s getting kidnapped!!!”
The crowd around the place made a noise, and some even tried to rush towards the carriage but the carriage was running at full speed and catching it was impossible.
(———Just like the actual scenario!)
But ironically, the person in question, Francesca herself was very cool inside her head.
(Even in the game, I would get kidnapped by the mob. Under Leonardo’s orders of course.)
But to make sure she didn’t get completely dragged inside, she stuck her leg at the door of the carriage. And then stared at this arm that was trying to drag her in.
(This is it! This is what I wanted to confirm! I wanted to make sure that the memories I gained 12yrs ago were all correct………and now I have confirmation. The events of the original scenario are really happening as they were!)
The main story began with Francesca’s kidnapping.
Following Leonardo’s scheming, more and more incidents will begin to take place from here onwards.
(I have achieved my objective! I am now in the Prologue episode, and it’s at the end of Chapter 1 that we learn that the main villain is Leonardo.)
“Shit, this brat………! Stop resisting or you’re gonna get hurt!”
(I am allowed to safely return with no injuries after this incident in the Prologue, however, this incident ends up getting used as a trigger for an all out war between the big 5 families……..)
“I said stop resisting damnit, can you not hear……..!?”
From inside the carriage, I could hear the man begin to panic. But, that’s none of my business is it?
(There’s only grunts inside the carriage, Leonardo isn’t here………..then I have no use of this Episode any longer.)
Since the carriage was fast, her hat had already blown away. But Francesca ignored that for now and began to enact on her tactics.
“………Eii!”
“Ah!?!”
She stretched her hand towards the ribbon on her waist. That is, the part that the man had grabbed on to. The man had grabbed on to the back side of the ribbon, but the tying knot was actually in the front.
The moment she unfastened the knot, Francesca was freed from the clutches of the man.
“Im, Impossible!?!!”
“Alright then.”
Of course, all this was happening at a pretty fast speed so normally, if you suddenly jumped of a carriage, you’d get quite hurt.
But, it was precisely to prepare for days like this that Francesca had training hard for. She did a perfect roll on the ground as she landed, recovered, and stood up almost instantly.
“………..phew.”
Since she was wearing boots with no heels, her landing had been quite easy. The hem of her dress fluttered from it all so she had to quickly hold it down with her hands to avoid an embarrassment however.
The onlookers were all shocked from the series of events, and ended up applauding the girl.
(Alright, let’s go back now! Now that I know that the scenario will be followed as I remember, there’s a lot of things I need to do. To live the normal life I dream of, I will continue to avoid Leonardo like this and then make a lot of friends at the academy!)
With her resolve renewed, she quickly looked around hoping to find her hat that had been blown away amongst the stunned crowd.
(The wind was flowing south south west, and judging by the speed of the carriage, I think the hat should have gone somewhere towards that direction I think……..?)
Coming to that conclusion, the moment she turned around.
“Are you looking for this?”
“……..!!!”
The moment Francesca gasped in shock, her body was lifted up again.
(What in the world……!?!)
Just like the carriage before, she didn’t sense him coming this close to her at all.
Grabbed by the scruff of her neck, she was pulled up. Just as she was lost in thought, she was put down and seated sideways and made to look to the side, directly at the man holding on to the reigns.
“Ah……………….”
She realized that she had grabbed up and sat down on top of a horse. And the hand on her waist twisted her into position, making her inadvertently cling to the rider of the horse.
And once again, she gasped in shock.
After all, the man that had grabbed Francesca was none other than the man who looked even more stunning in real life than her memories.
Deep black hair you could get lost in, white skin like a porcelain doll.
Long, sharp eyelashes, a sharp nose, and lips that always seemed to have a cruel smile.
Even in this kind of situation, his appearance would put anyone in a daze. That’s just how beautiful he was.
“———I caught you. My dear Francesca.”
The man laughed, and put down the hat back on top of Francesca’s head.
If it was that alone, his actions might seem very gentlemanly. But his cold eyes gave away the ulterior motives that were impossible to understand.
(………..My enemy, [Leonardo]………!!!)
Francesca had no choice but to stare as the full moon-like eyes of gold gazed directly into her own eyes.