Elise Moreau. A character Eli couldn't remember for the life of him.
He remembered every other heroine perfectly — their arcs, their deaths, even the exact moment each one of them made him want to throw his phone across the hospital room. But Elise Moreau?
Nada.
Eli was irritated. He thought he knew everything about the game, but apparently not.
"Why can't I—"
Knock knock.
Eli froze.
Then, a voice came from behind the door, light and polite.
"Miss Moreau? The Young Lady is asking for you."
Eli stared at the door, then he looked back at the mirror.
The girl in the mirror looked back at him with absolutely zero advice to offer.
"Ah—one moment!" he called back, his own honeyed voice still foreign to him.
Eli started pacing, his skirt swishing with every step in a way that was deeply unpleasant to acknowledge. If he could, he would immediately change into what he was used to. Men's clothing, of course.
He sighed, a sound of pure resignation.
"I'm in Heroines of the Ages. I'm a maid. I have no idea who I am, no idea where I am, and I have to tend to my Young Lady…"
Eli's heart raced.
"I have to change!"
He spun around, snatched the maid uniform off the chair, and held it up in front of him with both hands.
It was an ornate piece a regular maid would have dreamt of wearing: black and white, gold trimming along the collar, polyester buttons, and an apron so crisp it could probably stand on its own.
But never mind that, the first problem with changing was immediately apparent.
He had completely ignored the fact that… his body wasn't of a man anymore.
Eli looked down and screamed internally for about three seconds.
"Okay. OKAY. I have freaking boobs! I mean, men have boobs too, but you know. BREASTS."
He stood there pointing at his own chest like it was a sacred relic, not daring to touch.
He also realized that his joystick… was no longer available. So empty… yet so full and right.
Eli's face was tomato red. It couldn't have been redder than this.
"Ahem. Let's move on."
The second problem was the corset. He spun it around three times trying to figure out which side was the front, accidentally laced it backwards, unlaced it in a panic, almost strangled himself, before somehow got it on through sheer will and determination.
"Oh. My. God. Who designed this torture device, man!?"
But the biggest problem hit him when Eli finally looked back in the tall mirror.
He was beautiful…
NO—
The girl staring back at him was so devastatingly beautiful it made his brain short circuit all over again.
"Why are you so pretty!? I've always wanted to date a boyish-looking girl, not become one! Stop being so… pretty."
Eli was literally falling in love with himself, and he could not stop it.
Knock knock.
"Miss Moreau. Is something the matter?"
Eli snapped out of it.
"N-Nothing! Everything is fine!"
He pointed at his reflection on last time.
"Pull yourself together."
He smoothed his apron, fixed his maid headpiece, took one deep breath, and marched to the door before stopping an inch before it.
"Okay. I'm sure once I meet the Young Lady, I'll figure out what's going on."
More than half of the heroines in this game were from big noble houses — daughters of duchesses, countesses, and all sorts of bigshots! And this Young Lady should be someone he could recognize.
Eli was certain of it.
Finally, he swung it open with the confidence of a man who had definitely not just spent ten minutes fighting a corset.
There, a young maid stood in the hallway, looking up at him with wide, patient eyes.
"The Young Lady is still waiting, Miss Moreau."
Just then, the blue windows popped up, almost startling him.
[You are now in the Main Mission Area.]
[New features have been unlocked: [Bond], [Linked Heroines], [Story], [Index], [Storage].]
[Assimilation has been temporarily increased to match with the Main Story.]
[Elise's instincts are taking hold.]
Eli stared at the windows floating before his eyes, completely forgetting the maid standing in front of him.
"What the… new features? What does any of that—"
Then, his eyes landed on the last line.
Elise's instincts are taking hold.
"Wait, wait, what does that me—"
And then something very strange happened.
His back straightened. His chin lifted. His hands, which had been hovering useless in front of the system window, came together neatly in front of his apron, and his face settled into an expression of effortless composure.
"My apologies for the wait."
Eli blinked for one last time.
'…Huh?'
"Shall we?"
The young maid blinked, then smiled with obvious relief.
"Of course, Miss Moreau."
Elise, accompanied by the young maid named Fiona, walked down the corridor with elegance. As a maid, their etiquette, mannerisms, and actions represented their masters.
As the Young Lady's maid, Elise had to ingrain the long-standing rule… and some more, but she loved every single bit of it. To serve the Young Lady, it was her pride and joy.
She greeted other maids who were cleaning the halls, gave some pointers on how to clean correctly. Everything was within her duties as the Housekeeper.
Soon after, the young maid slowed to a stop before a grand set of double doors, towering and mahogany, and then turned to him with a small bow.
"The Young Lady's chambers, Miss Moreau."
"Thank you."
As soon as the young maid stepped away, Elise's hand reached out and pushed the door open.
And swung open, it did.
She stepped inside without hesitation, delighted as the Young Lady awaited her presence.
The room was enormous, bathed in the warm gold of the morning light pouring through all cathedral windows. The flowers crowded every sill, coloring the scene with pinks and whites.
And then, it snapped.
Now, Eli suddenly found himself in the opulent scenery of a bedroom.
'What did I just…'
He hadn't even noticed.
One second he was staring at the system window in the hallway, and somehow he had walked an entire corridor, greeted people, and given cleaning advice like it was the most natural thing in the world.
And he… enjoyed it like it was his own doing.
The pride in his step as he walked those halls. The warmth when he greeted the other maids. The satisfaction of correcting a junior maid's grip on a cloth. The flutter in his chest the moment Fiona said they had arrived at the Young Lady's chambers.
All the emotions that should have been Elise's… became his.
Before he could dwell on it, his eyes found the Young Lady.
Standing right in the middle of it all, in a black silk robe with her long white hair cascading loose over her shoulders, silver jewelry perfectly complementing her porcelain skin, was a girl.
'I… I know her.'
Eli thought immediately, but his head was in such a mess that he couldn't recall anything. As if it wasn't enough, he felt a pull on his heartstring and had butterflies in his stomach.
'Useless fucking brain! Remember for once! You are a degenerate who played this game all day long, dammit!'
He walked further into the room and came to a graceful stop a few paces from the white-haired girl; his hands folded neatly in front.
"Good morning, my Lady. My sincerest apologies for the delay."
The girl turned from the window. Her light purple eyes caught the golden light like pale amethysts.
She was simply ethereal, so much so even the heavens would gasp.
"Elise."
Accompanied by a voice that sounded like dark brown velvet, the girl bloomed a quiet smile that could stop hearts.
And because of that angelic smile, every single neuron in Eli's brain activated at once.
'White hair. Purple eyes. Calm like ice. That smile—'
His internal monologue finally screeched to a halt.
'IRENE LAGRANCHE. IT'S YOU. It's… really you.'
Irene Lagranche, one of the five heroines who survived until the final act. A famed beauty, genius mage, and… a fallen noble — at least, not yet.
'If that's Irene Lagranche, then I must be in the Prologue!'
House Lagranche was introduced as a Great House that had definitely seen better days. Due to the Marchioness' death, the House suffered from the incompetent rule of Irene's father.
While the Marquess fumbled and the House further weakened, their enemies crafted a sinister plan to completely wipe the name Lagranche off the map. And they succeeded, killing everyone in sight and burning everything to the ground.
Except for Irene, who was saved by the Hero.
But that was the event that kickstarted everything in the game.
Eli remembered all of it vividly.
But then… like a stone dropping into still water, one particular memory surfaced from the bottom of everything.
'Wait.'
In the entire prologue, there was this one cutscene. Right at the beginning of the attack, before the chaos swallowed everything whole… a maid stepped in front of Irene.
'Oh no…'
A maid with short teal hair.
'No, no, no, no—'
Pink eyes, with a beauty mark beneath the left one.
'…You have got to be kidding me.'
He smiled serenely at Irene, who was completely unaware of the full-blown catastrophe.
'I remember now… Elise Moreau. You… you sacrificed yourself to save Irene.'
Elise, the first one to die, forgotten by the people, even himself.
And Eli… was her now.
Then, the familiar window shimmered into existence.
[Prologue: House Lagranche]
[House Lagranche, once a prosperous Great House of the Latia Kingdom, is soon to perish, and everyone will die.]
[Objective: Ensure the survival of Irene Lagranche.]
[Reward: Death]