mother knows best

In the original otome game, the heroine had enlisted Magnaolia’s help to bypass the council and security guards while she snuck in to rescue Leonis. But here and now, the only person that could help Orion was a voice in his head, and that voice wasn’t being very cooperative right now.

“What do you mean you don’t know how we can rescue her?” Orion exclaimed furiously. “That wasn’t what you said a moment ago!”

“That was before I checked Aries’s affection levels,” the Entity replied. “How are you going to get in and out safely by yourself?”

“With your help, obviously?”

“In case you aren’t aware, I’m just a voice of guidance. There are limitations to what I can do.”

“Then guide me!” Orion exploded, attracting several curious stares from nearby passersby that were leaving the town hall. He’d stepped outside because it was too crowded, and because he was starting to get odd looks while having an animated conversation with the wall. It wasn’t any better here, but at least he could yell into the proverbial sunset without disturbing too many people.

“Let’s try again with Aries,” he said, struggling to lower his voice. “He won’t just sit back and let the council lock up an innocent person.”

“How do you prove Halie’s innocence? Her guilt is carved into the clay in her own writing.”

“Fuck,” Orion said, taking a deep, steadying breath. “We really were set up. What if I steal the tablet and forge a new one? Tell the council they made a mistake, or something?”

“How would that accomplish anything?”

“Take advantage of Aries’s strong sense of justice…?”

The Entity sighed wearily. “Justice, huh? That’s only going to backfire in your face.”

“Then let’s talk to Aries again,” said Orion. “I’m sure if we explain the situation, he wouldn’t be able to turn a blind eye to Halie.”

“My guy, his affection is at 0%. Zero. Nothing. Nil. There’ll be no special treatment, only jail time for you too when he discovers you’re together.”

Together. He liked the sound of—

“Okay, okay, back up. You’re getting off track.”

Orion cleared his throat noisily, embarrassed. “Ah. It’s just—zero is…oddly low, I guess. They got along so well, so I’d have thought the number would be higher.”

“Halie picked all the options to drop those levels on purpose. I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”

“Huh? Why?”

He remembered that she did say something like that, but all the way down to zero?

“Damn, you’re pretty stupid,” the Entity said with a sigh. “EIther way, using Aries is off the table. A love interest at 0% isn’t much of a love interest at all.”

“Then I’ll save Halie myself,” Orion insisted. “I’m prepared to do that.”

“Prepared, my ass. You’re going to barge in there and expect me to do everything for you.”

“Isn’t that how we’ve been making it through so far?” he said wryly. “You want to save her too, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

There was no moment of hesitation, just a strong and quiet sense of certainty that seeped through Orion’s veins and tugged at his heart. He could feel the Entity’s conviction blending into his own, and he was more sure than ever that this was his own will, not Magnaolia’s. Not to be heartless, but he couldn’t care less about the kids at the clinic, nor the randos that begged the council cult to grant their wishes.

He didn’t care about the story either, really.

He wanted to save Halie simply because she was Halie. Not the heroine of this otome game or whatever, but the stupid, rude, ridiculous girl who couldn’t even see him for who he was. Orion wanted a chance to talk with her more. He wanted her to tell him all the things that she liked, rambling on and on and running out of breath because she was so excited. He wanted to tell her everything he never managed to say out loud because he was too much of a coward to face himself.

And most of all—

“Can you please stop confessing in front of me? This is uncomfortable.”

“Then stop listening in!” Orion spluttered, loudly enough that his voice echoed across the road and into the brilliant orange sky overhead that was starting to feel like home.

He must be losing his mind.

-

In the end, he couldn’t do things alone, of course.

Orion ended up crawling back to Dr. Fuchisia for help because she was the only person he knew in this cold, dark world. And she was Magnaolia’s adoptive mother, so maybe she’d let it slide if he asked for advice on how to break into a jail cell…?

“Don’t come crying to me if it goes poorly,” the Entity had said, but between the two of them, they couldn’t come up with any better ideas. So Orion went to the clinic, fully intent on getting on his knees to beg for help.

It turned out he didn’t need to go so far.

“Ah, Mahogainy’s made the council folks become a bunch of paranoid old rags,” Dr. Fuchisia said flippantly, and Orion could’ve sworn he heard the Entity make a choking noise in his mind. “Throwin’ anyone they suspect of colluding with Caeruleum straight behind bars.”

“Yeah,” Orion said, nodding. “Real awful.”

“So what you’re saying is my future daughter-in-law has been imprisoned in the town hall,” she said. “We can’t have that.”

It was Orion’s turn to choke.

“Y-yeah,” he managed. He hoped Halie would never find out about this, otherwise she might just murder him in cold blood and get sent behind bars again, and this time for good—

“Focus.”

“In my day, there was one foolproof way to walk right into the detainment quarters,” Dr. Fuchisia was saying, rummaging through the filing cabinets at the back of her office. She pulled out a medical clay tablet, and gave him a wide, cheeky grin. “They say you should always listen to your doctor. How ‘bout you try and be a doctor for a day, Orion dear?”

-

The whole contaminated water plotline had fallen to the back of Orion’s mind until the doctor took him to visit patients that were still suffering from its effects to this day. The rows of cots in this back room were occupied by older folks, and Orion felt his heart leap into his throat.

He saw missing limbs and fingers, and crumbling, drying clay where skin and flesh should’ve been. It was a cruel and jarring reminder of the world outside, of the lasting damage that would never really go away. He wanted to feel pity and compassion, but he tasted the metallic flavour of dirt on his tongue, and he felt like he was going to be sick.

“We still don’t know why it does this for some people, and not others,” Dr. Fuchisia said as they walked, motioning for Orion to hand her a roll of gauze from the side shelf. “My guess is it’s an allergic reaction—you okay there? If you need to puke, do it outside.”

“Chill. It’s not as bad as you think,” the Entity suddenly spoke up. “The clay is there to stop the decomposition from spreading.”

“The one thing that can hold the contamination back,” the doctor said, as if she could hear what the Entity had told him, “is ironically, this clay. Curious, isn’t it?”

Orion nodded wordlessly, holding back the urge to throw up on the floor.

“Here’s what you do: tell them you’re her doctor, and that she requires urgent treatment. I’ll forge a set of medical records and get a bottle of clay for you to take with you.” Her fuschia eyes glittered behind her thick glasses, filled with more determination than worry. Orion could see why Halie said she was so cool. She was cool. Cooler than any of the main characters.

“Getting out is on you,” she continued. “But at least I can help you get in. So make sure you rescue my daughter-in-law successfully, alright?”

“I will,” Orion said reverently. Of course he would, if it was the last thing he did.

“No longer denying the daughter-in-law allegations, huh.”

Shut up.