Tragic Heroine

“What the hell is this?!” shrieked a high pitched voice that should have never come out of a man’s mouth. Touching his hands to his throat to check for soreness, Larry felt skin as smooth and soft as fine silk. The final nail in the coffin that buried his manhood, however, was that he had now confirmed the loss of the partner that had been with him since birth. His beloved brother in arms had departed without him even knowing why or how. 

As if that wasn’t enough stress on his plate, he finally registered his surroundings. Looking around frantically, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar environment. It wouldn’t have been surprising if someone told him he was kidnapped and the bastard who took him mistakenly flew him to France, and somehow snuck him into a bedroom in the Palace of Versailles...

Ok, so maybe that explanation was a little unrealistic, but this could all just be a really surreal dream… right? 

Who am I kidding, this is way beyond the level of a dream! He screamed in his mind. A feeling of impending doom wrapped its claws around his chest. The information in his brain conflicted with what he believed to be logical, or even possible for that matter. His thoughts raced from one unlikely conclusion to another in an effort to process the situation he found himself in.

That was when he remembered the oddly surreal dream that he had before waking up: a voice that behaved like a computer program, as well as vague recollections of it mentioning some kind of system. Larry recalled his surreal exchange with Christiana Lorien, the female lead whose death in the newest novel issue had traumatized his innocent mind. Although he recounted her telling him something, he had barely registered any of those words. All of his focus was on how beautiful she looked as a real 3D waifu… 

He quickly cleared his throat to wash his head free of unnecessary thoughts, attempting to mask his flustered face from no one in particular.

He snapped out of his contemplation after hearing sudden footsteps which thundered from outside the bedroom’s gold-rimmed doors, which appeared dysfunctionally large and heavy.

Fuck! Are these my Russian kidnappers?! I already lost my little brother, don’t tell me you want my kidneys now! Fully expecting the doors to burst open to pave the way for a ski-masked man screaming out slavic expletives, he was pleasantly surprised instead when a woman dressed as a maid rushed in. 

“Your highness! Are you alright? I heard a scream coming from your room… ah.” The woman dressed in a maid uniform, who addressed Larry as “your highness”, had suddenly stopped speaking. She registered the sight of the disheveled young girl before her: clothes sticking to her skin with sweat, eyes opened wide and shaking in fear and panic, and hands clenched close to her chest in cautious anxiety. Her many years of serving as a maid of the Lorien royal family gave her the insight and quick-wittedness to know what to do. Steel shown in her eyes as instincts and experience guided her; time was of the essence. 

“Your highness Christiana, did you just have a bad dream?” She asked in a gentle, soothing tone. “If you would desire a warm and comforting bath while I wash your soiled clothes, I can prepare one in no time at all.”

“Ah… yeah…” Larry responded halfheartedly. His mind was on other things at the moment.

Christiana? Did she just call me ‘your highness Christiana’? Did I hear that right? A growing feeling of unease mixed with his chaotic emotions. He didn’t even get the chance to ruminate on this sudden information when the maid approached him with a warm smile not even five seconds later.

“I’ve drawn the bath, your highness,” the woman said. “Now, hold your arms up please.” Unable to comprehend these instructions in the midst of an information overload, Larry’s brain shut down.

After running on autopilot while the maid undressed him, he now found himself submerged up to his collarbone in a snug bath tub with steam diffusing into the air. Despite all the events that had occurred earlier, he remained silent now, and his expression was blank. The reason lay in what he saw in the water’s reflection.

Even if the girl who stared back at him looked years younger than the one who showed herself in his dream, they still shared an uncanny resemblance; such that he didn’t fail to recognize her even from a moment’s glance. 

Blue hair and gem-like aquamarine eyes. His hair and his eyes. The iconic traits of The Guardian Knight’s Saga’s female lead, Christiana Lorien. 

“This… can’t be real.” He could no longer deny it, and could no longer escape the impossible reality that stared at him from the water’s surface. His senses so far had told him that everything around him was real, but he felt at a complete sense of loss over the image his eyes relayed to his brain, as well as the foreign voice that came from his own mouth. 

[*Ding!* Installation complete. You have been bestowed with the Heroine Creation System! Congratulations, new host!]

He quickly covered his mouth to suppress another piercing shriek that threatened to arise as a natural reaction to the disembodied voice that made itself known in the presence of a bathing young girl. That would have surely led the oddly attentive maid into the room to make sure he was ok. 

Damn! Isn’t this just one surprise after another? What the hell is a Heroine Creation System?

[You needn’t be concerned, host; this system will explain your current circumstances to you shortly. However, it first recommends that you perform deep breathing exercises to slow your rate of respiration and assume the proper state to efficiently absorb information.]

“...” Larry began to take slow breaths in and out. While the sudden appearance of a voice in his head claiming itself to be a ‘Heroine Creation System’ was certainly something that warranted further panic, hearing that it would explain the situation to him caused him to calm down. Seeing that it’s host had resumed normal mental faculties, the system began its explanation.

[Host’s soul is currently residing in the body of individual Christiana Lapis Lorien, princess of the Lorien royal family.]

“...” If the voice in his head told him so, then it had to be true. 

[Additionally, the host is currently in the royal palace owned by said royal family. Does the host have any questions?]

“How am I here?”

[Host fulfilled certain conditions at a certain time.]

“Oi, that’s not enough, you know? At least give me a proper explanation for everything like you said you woul-”

[Host fulfilled certain conditions at a certain time.]

“All right then, keep your secrets.” Larry believed that there was no use in further pursuing that line of questioning. “Can you at least give me the reason for why I’m here?”

[Host swore by his soul to the heavens above that he would save the individual Christiana Lapis Lorien at any cost. The heavens benevolently judged his resolution and self sacrifice to be worthy, and granted him the opportunity to fulfill his wishes. Additionally, this system itself was created with the sole purpose of assisting you.]

“...So some dude in the sky heard what I said and thought it would be worth fulfilling my wishes?” Even he, a bonafide degenerate in his past life, was speechless. Out of all the world’s tragedies, the one problem that God decided to solve was a light novel reader’s anguish over having read that his favorite female character died in the new volume.

[The acting administrator at the time found it charming that you were willing to risk limb, life and soul to assist a girl dimensions apart from your own. He’s a bit of a romantic, you see.]

“Hey, I was talking about a character in a book. A book, you know? Did he really have to isekai my ass to a whole new dimension? Could he not have gotten the author to just revise the damn novel? 

[In the words of my creator: “It should be more fun for everyone this way, and it’s more virtuous to strive to achieve your dreams through your own effort.”]

“...Can I go back?” Larry decided to bear with his anger to address the real questions. 

[Impossible.]

“Why?”

[This system was created for the sole purpose of fulfilling the host's wishes at the time of his declaration to the heavens. Additionally, the system had merged with your soul in the process of transmigration. There is no longer any option to go back, since doing so would forcefully tear the system from your very soul, damaging it greatly and making it impossible for you to reenter the cycle of reincarnation.]

Say what? What the fuck? So I can’t leave without basically suffering a fate worse than death! Larry clenched his teeth in exasperation. In the end he wasn’t kidnapped by Russians but by God! 

“So is there any way your administrator can bring me back all intact?”

[My creator has stated, ad verbum: “Once you have fulfilled your wishes, you can go back and I’ll make the trip risk free just for you.”]

“...State your demands.” Not only did God kidnap me, he’s blackmailing me too!

[When the host swore to the heavens, he had several wishes ingrained in his heart and soul which the administrator used as the baseline for the host’s missions in the world of Irudeia. Would you like them to be listed out?]

“Go ahead.”

[Mission one: Fulfill individual Larry Chrysler’s wish to see his OTP between Rayden Havelocke and Christiana Lapis Lorien come into fruition.]

[Mission two: Fulfill individual Larry Chryler’s wish to see Christiana Lapis Lorien live to the end of her natural lifespan.]

“...Can you say that again?” Larry felt lightheaded all of a sudden as his last remaining layers of mental fortitude were simultaneously shot through by the System’s anti-material rifle. 

[Fulfill your wish to see your OTP between Rayden Havelocke and Christiana Lapis Lorien come into fruition. Fulfill your wish to see Christiana Lapis Lorien, the body your soul currently resides in, live to the end of her natural lifespan.]

“Hey, I’m a guy at heart. There’s no way I’m going to fall in love with another dude.” Rayden Havelocke was described as a hunk with a body sculpted from marble in the novel due to his knight training, and was the complete opposite of a graceful and magnificent beauty. There was no way Larry was going to approach the guy with the intentions to romance him!

[In the words of my creator: Love is like a flower, for it will surely bloom under the need to reproduce.]

“...” Didn’t you say your administrator was a romantic? The meaning behind that sentence is pretty damn cynical! 

[That said, it is best if the host quickly loses whatever illusion they still have of being a man as soon as possible.]

“Ah? And why is that?”

[Gender dysphoria is a severe psychological condition that can quickly take heavy tolls on your mental state.]

“...” 

[Accept it.]

“Say no more, I don’t have the energy for this. Let’s just address the other elephant in the room.” 

He set his focus towards his second mission: to live till the end of his natural lifespan, which sounded straightforward at first. Unfortunately, The Guardian Knight’s Saga took place in a world where an onslaught of otherworldly creatures of unknown origin invaded human lands. At first being mentioned in the second volume, the invaders made their true threat known in the third and latest volume, when the female lead to that point, Christiana Lorien, had been brutalized and killed when attempting to defend her kingdom against the invading monstrous hordes.

Not only was the kingdom of Lorien the first to be attacked by these vicious legions, but Christiana, being royalty, had been burdened under noblesse oblige to defend her people. In other words, he, having taken over Christiana’s body, was under the biggest death flag imaginable!

“How old am I this year?”

[Your physical body is 12 years old, and you will turn 13 in a month.]

“...3 years, huh.” He had exactly 3 years until the Lorien kingdom would be attacked when Christiana becomes 16 years old. 

On this day, the countdown to the event that would decide Larry Chrysler’s and Christiana Lorien’s fates began.

 

A/N: Made the line spacings less large, and did a few minor edits to the chapter. Comment some feedback down below if you can!