We continued walking, this time much slower. Supposedly, he was leading me to a spare room somewhere in the depths of his grand castle.
“So, why do you pretend to be an old man?” I asked.
“People seem to think that old wizards are stronger than young ones, so it’s partially to dissuade any attacks, and partially to keep any suitors away.”
“You have suitors?”
He sent me a look over his shoulder. “Even guys like me have the occasional fan,” he mumbled, looking away, voice sort of quiet.
What did that mean? “Guys like you?”
“Let’s not discuss my appeal, or lack thereof,” he grumbled.
I was very confused. “No I—I know you’re super hot,” I assured him, because I wasn’t sure what he was getting so upset about, “I just didn’t think anyone else knew you're smokin’. ‘If he pretends to be an old man, how can he have suitors?’ is what I meant by that.”
Solomon didn’t seem to know how to respond, because he took a couple seconds before neutrally replying with, “I’ve been spotted a few times when I go on walks. It’s been a while since, but there was a villager a few years ago who wanted to… pursue something with me.”
“And you… want to dissuade people from dating you?” I asked.
This was fascinating to me because (of course) I wanted to know what my chances were for getting a look at what he was packing between those thick thighs of his. I know nothing will really happen–how many times must I remind myself, this is just a 13+ otome game! There’s no murder, and there’s definitely no sex.
The guy characters may look fine as hell (again, the game was popular due to its art alone), but the raunchiest scene in the whole game was a kiss between the protagonist and whoever she was dating, depending on the route you played. A chaste kiss, of course. I wasn’t even sure if this Solomon character could masturbate, since that definitely wasn’t written in the original game. Then again, I don’t recall his character existing at all-
Wait.
Wait.
Waaaaaaaiiiitttt.
There was a bonus route for those who finished all the other routes. I never did, of course, since I got bored after completing the main Prince route, but I’d heard rumors of a few bonus characters you could try and charm. Hadn’t one of them been a magical man? Magical man = wizard? What had the character’s name been…
Max? No. M.. Matt. Matthew. Matthew Solomon!! That’s right! So this wizard guy... is a main character in the game?
In that case, simply by associating with him, I’ll encounter the protagonist at some point, right? I never played Solomon's route, so I don’t know how they meet/how the heroine charms him. Unless she’s already dated him…? I didn’t know where I currently stood in the Marry the Crown plot timeline. Was I already after the events of the game? Was I during? Before?
No, no, it had to be before, if I was still a vilified fiend to the public. Which meant, yes, at some point, I would encounter the protagonist, explain my Tragic Backstory™, befriend her, and get rid of this debt! I’d have to live at the castle, supposedly, but hey! That just meant my lodgings would be set for the rest of my days! The future was looking up!
“I can’t date any villagers,” Solomon said. “I made a deal with the Crown, remember?”
“Am I going to get you in trouble?” I asked, seriously worried now. What, where people from the royal kingdom watching Solomon at all times?
Solomon sent me a look over his shoulder again. “… Do you have anyone who should be looking for you?”
“No,” I lied. Straight to his fucking face. And I’ll do it again. Listen. I’m the antagonist of this story, and who knows how long I’ll be here? I’m not going to fuck with the plot and get arrested, okay? I’ll do whatever I have to in order to stay out of the eyes of bounty hunters until I can meet up with the protagonist and be forgiven for all my sins and past transgressions. Sorry Solomon, but I have to risk it.
“Then, we should be fine.”
“Why are you doing so much for me?” See, I hate it when characters usually ask this in anime, because it’s like, what do you want them to do? Realize they’re being too caring and snap back to reality? Why would you ask!? But, now that I’m living the moment, I can understand the urge. It was impossible not to question his intentions. Solomon genuinely had no reason to trust me. He had hard evidence not to trust me, if he just looked a little harder—but he wasn’t looking at me much at all. Perhaps he was trying to be gentlemanly by not staring.
Maybe he… thought I was hot? I wouldn’t blame him—Erin had the kind of body that excused her of being a total bitch the whole game. People still went gaga over her, despite her poor personality, because she was that hot (which was the point). Like, how mean girls in movies are always super popular despite their shit attitude, just because they’re very pretty? The same sort of thing worked with Erin, except exaggerated to anime proportions, meaning her ‘beauty’ was all in her voluptuous body (which it kind of had to be, since same-face-syndrome made it so her visage wasn’t jaw-droppingly gorgeous, compared to other characters). Again—hot people can get away with a lot.
But, the wizard character couldn’t find Erin hot, according to the plot. Erin’s whole backstory was circled around caring for her brother and evading criminals; nothing about boarding with a hot wizard in the woods, let alone the same wizard the protagonist would later go on to (maybe, should the player chose that route) date. Which meant I was already changing up the flow of the plot, which was… maybe okay? Would this dream of mine follow the main plot? It was too early to tell if I’d royally fucked anything up, but since the protagonist was the main focus of the story and nothing I’d done up until this point would affect her at all, perhaps it was alright?
But, again, could the wizard be attracted to Erin—a villain? It wasn’t written in the otome game plot, so he shouldn’t be able to. Just like how people couldn’t murder, or fuck, because it wasn’t written in the plot.
“My castle is magic,” said Solomon. “It can judge a person’s character better than any man or beast, and… when you first began knocking on the door, it was wary but… curious. And then, I don’t know what you did, but…” Finally, Solomon glanced back at me, his eyebrows furrowed. “It was begging me to let you in, so I thought I should at least check the door. I trust this castle’s magic.” Solomon put his hand on the wall, pausing in their descent deeper into the castle. He smiled softly at the wall, a small, intimate gesture that struck me as how one might regard their pet, or perhaps a trusty vehicle.
I didn’t know how literal the castle’s magic was, but I figured I should be thankful. If it had honestly judged my character and allowed me entry after I whispered to the door, then maybe… me being here was okay? I wasn’t ruining the story; this was alright?
I walked to the wall as well, and I placed both palms against it. Immediately, I felt some sort of warmth brush back against my palms. Was this… magic? I pressed my forehead to the wall, between my palms, and whispered to the stone, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The magic felt warm against my face, like sunshine against my cheeks, and I smiled. The castle seemed pleased with me.
When I stepped back, feeling a little flattered and shy because of it, I was startled to find Solomon eyeing me.
“What?” I snapped, because I was feeling oddly vulnerable and I didn’t know what my face was revealing. I didn’t want him to see anything there that I wasn’t ready to share.
“Nothing,” Solomon replied, but his voice was dubious.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, instead.
“The guest wing,” was the wizard’s reply as we continued walking.
I could hardly feel the pain in my ankle anymore—it was all numb.
“I wanted to give you a place to stay with a bathroom nearby. I’m on the opposite side of the castle, so you don’t need to worry about running into me.”
That was the least of my worries, but go off I guess.
“Is there anything I can do to compensate you?” I tried. “I can clean, or, uh, cook?” Yes, let me cook! Then I’ll steal some of your food, since I don’t have any money of my own…
“That won’t be necessary,” Solomon rejected instantly. “I wouldn’t ask that of you.”
“Then, let allow me to be candid: I don’t know how long you’ll let me stay here, but if I have my way, it will be quite a while. That said, I don’t feel comfortable mooching off of you for free.”
Solomon sighed. “Do what you want.”
I grinned at the back of his head.
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