The First Love Interest (Unfortunately) Appears

Herianna Amonita, a new transfer student at the prestigious Magufi Academy. She and her brother Equiron are orphans living by themself in a kingdom called Virtestas. After losing their parents at an early age, the siblings were forced to travel from one place to another until they eventually ended up in a village on the outskirts of the Virtestan kingdom. The villagers helped the siblings with getting accustomed to their new home, and taught the siblings how to take care of a house on their own. They allowed the siblings to stay in a house that had been standing empty ever since its previous owner moved to the kingdom’s capital. One day, the siblings receive invitations from Magufi Academy, welcoming them to attend as transfer students. After enrolling at the academy, Herianna has to go through many challenges - whether it’s about improving her magical abilities, or dealing with dangerous beings. On her journey, she meets reliable friends who will fight by her side and - potentially - might find love along the way. The decisions she makes on her journey will lead to either a happy ending or to her demise. If the player makes the right decisions, the story ends with Herianna erasing the curse that’s plaguing the kingdom, and being in the arms of her chosen love interest.

That was the plot of NoroMagi.

“...And…you’re telling me that you’re her?” 
Akito was in disbelief as his sister explained the story of her favorite otome game: NoroMagi. This sounded absurd. Then again, all of this was absurd. According to Fuyumi, the two of them had now woken up as the siblings from the game. Herianna was the heroine while her brother was a side character. Supposedly, the brother - Equiron - wanted to hone his magical abilities in order to become the kingdom’s greatest knight. Meanwhile, Herianna’s journey through the game entirely depended on the player. But her ultimate goal remained the same; to save the kingdom of Virtestas from a curse. In order to do that, the player had to raise Herianna's stats, and learn spells. The game even allowed the player to customize her hairstyle and outfit whenever there was an event outside Magufi Academy, or when she would go on a date with one of the guys. Some outfits were locked behind certain romance routes and endings. Unsurprisingly, Fuyumi had unlocked everything prior to the save data getting corrupted.
“I’m sure. This is what Herianna looks like” Fuyumi assured him.
“Then what about the guy I’m supposed to be?”
“Equiron is…uhm…”
An awkward smile appeared on her face. Based on her reaction, Akito understood that the brother’s role was so insignificant to the story that he didn’t even have a character sprite in the game. That’s why she didn’t recognize him earlier.
“I-I wasn’t thinking clearly because I wasn’t fully awake yet!”
A lie. It was painfully obvious. Fuyumi had always been a terrible liar. Well, nevermind. The brother’s role wasn’t important right now.
“Whichever the case, this doesn’t seem to be a dream. According to you, you look like the heroine from the otome game you love. And we’re in her house. Did I get that right?”
“It looks like it…” Fuyumi replied in a concerned tone.

This was bad. What if they really were trapped inside of the game? How were they supposed to get out? Was that even possible? Akito dreaded the answer to the last question. As much as he wished for all of this to be a dream, he couldn’t deny the facts in front of him. Said facts raised the question about what their next steps would be. Sitting here wouldn’t help them.
“We should look for a way to get back. Do you know where the library is?”
Since the two of them were apparently in a world with magic everywhere, maybe there was a book mentioning something about traveling between worlds. Rather unlikely, but it was at least better use of the time than just waiting around.
“Virtestas has a big library in the center of the capital. But the player can't go there. If they want to level up Herianna’s intelligence, they send her to Magufi’s library” Fuyumi explained.
Fair enough. Of course, there was no guarantee that the answer would be in the academy’s library either, but it was worth a shot.
“Might as well give it a try. I'll wait downstairs while you get dressed” He turned to leave, but was stopped when Fuyumi spoke up.
“We can’t go there”
Akito raised an eyebrow while giving his sister a questioned look. “Why not?”
“I don’t know where it is…”
He stared at her with an unimpressed facial expression. Feeling the need to defend herself, Fuyumi let out a frustrated huff.
“The game just transitions from the house to Magufi! Complain to the game developers if you have a problem with it”
There wasn’t much she could do about that. The game developers most likely hadn’t even thought of an exact map outside Magufi Academy either.
“Then how does she end up at the academy?”
“A carriage comes to pick her and Equiron up at the start of the game” 
Right on cue, they could hear the sound of horses coming from outside. Upon looking through the window of Fuyumi's bedroom, they saw a carriage that was being pulled by four horses approaching the house. She let out a gasp.
“They’re here! And I’m not even dressed! My hair is a mess! I haven't showered yet!”
Akito could suddenly feel his sister pushing him towards the door, and out of her bedroom.
“Distract them!” she said before shutting the door.
He sighed.
Different world, same problems.

~

A<!7¤ quietly observed the giant building in front of him, amazed by the archite
Error: Invalid ID
Reloading...
...
Reload complete

Equiron quietly observed the giant building in front of him, amazed by the architecture. The academy looked like an old castle from the medieval times. Despite this, its tall stone walls and sturdy pillars were perfectly intact. He couldn’t even see a single stain on the walls while walking along the path towards the academy's main building. There were large banners hanging on the walls - all with the same design. White background, golden pattern that resembled the sunrise and a silver pegasus spreading its wings in the middle. He presumed that the banners were of either the kingdom’s flag or Magufi’s. Students from thirteen years old were also walking towards the academy’s main building. From the looks of it, this academy wasn’t just for high schoolers.
The students, except the freshmen, were wearing the academy’s uniform. All Magufi students wore black jackets with golden straps, and the academy’s emblem on the arm. The male students wore dark blue ties around their necks and white pants. The female students wore dark blue bow ties and white skirts. Magufi Academy seemed relatively lenient with the dress code. Jewelry, accessories and styled hairdos were all welcomed. It was an unusual sight for Equiron, albeit a pleasant one. Back home, a student would’ve been sent to the principal's office for just having highlights in their hair. He knew this because a certain girl had previously been sent to the principal for that exact reason. Their mother received a call from school that day.

The two siblings decided to take a short break outside the main building, observing their surroundings. According to Herianna, there was going to be an entrance ceremony soon - to welcome the new students. Right now, all the students were waiting for the bell to ring.
“Look, there he is”
Nearby students mumbling between each other caught their attention. The siblings turned to see what people were looking at. Or, rather, who they were looking at. Approaching the academy’s entrance was a tall student with two horns on his head, one on each side. His long hair - a clashing combination of raven and crimson - was nearly touching the ground. Instead of wearing the academy’s uniform, he was dressed in black clothes, which style and silky material reflected a noble background. A long, black cape was attached to his coat. The color inside of the cape matched his crimson hair tops. Golden pieces of jewelry were hanging on the clothes. Even the earrings appeared to be made from pure gold. He was walking with slow yet-

“Excuse me” the unique individual spoke in a deep yet soothing voice. A random male student was standing in the way, causing the former to stop walking.
The poor nobody looked startled, trembling in fear from being stared down. Meanwhile, the unique figure remained expressionless throughout their encounter.
“You are directly standing in the way of my grand entrance”
Without any hesitation, he used magic to fling the startled student away somewhere. No wand. No words. He didn’t even need to raise his hand to do anything.
Somehow, the thrown student managed to land on a tree branch, completely unscathed.
Once the small predicament had been dealt with, the unique student resumed walking as if nothing had happened while everyone else was staring in shock.

He was walking with slow yet prideful steps, as if he was from a higher social class. The smug look on his face didn’t help. His ruby red eyes remained focused forward, as if the other students didn’t exist.
To be honest, he looked like a villain. Equiron assumed that this was one the enemies who the heroine ended up defeating at the end of the story of NoroMagi. Perhaps this was the person who cursed the kingdom in the first place.
He glanced at his sister beside him, and noticed that she looked awestruck. Confused about her reaction, he gently nudged her arm to get her attention.
“Is that guy important?” he whispered.
Herianna’s reaction reminded him of a starstruck fangirl. Whoever this character was, she was clearly thrilled to see him.
“It’s Magrema…!” she quietly whispered back, trying to constrain her excitement.
Equiron flinched when he heard that name. Magrema?
That name belonged to one of the heroine’s possible love interests. This guy?

Before waking up in this world, she had mentioned this character’s name, along with other characters from the academy, but Equiron couldn’t remember everything she said. The horns on Magrema’s head made it quite obvious that he was supposed to be a dragon in human form. He was supposedly one of the strongest characters in the game. That was all Equiron could recall, but there was definitely something else.
“I heard he burned someone alive for just bumping into him by accident” one female student whispered.
“I’ve heard that the king wanted to banish him, but was too worried about the consequences to do it” another student added.
“You heard his last speech, right? He wants to burn the entire kingdom to the ground!” a third student continued.
The more comments Equiron heard about Magrema, the more concerned he became. Burning people alive? Wanting to destroy the kingdom? And he said the last part outloud?
That couldn’t be it. Surely not. Those had to be rumors that the students were spreading. A typical scenario of an intimidating character being judged by strangers.
“Those comments are just rumors, right?” he whispered to Herianna.
“No, he did declare that he would burn the kingdom down”
Equiron’s face became pale from the revelation. Magrema actually said that? The two first comments from the students might’ve been false rumors, but still. The threat wasn’t fake?
This guy really is a villain. How the hell is he one of the love interests? Equiron thought to himself.
“And he does accidentally kill the heroine in one of his bad endings - when his powers spiral out of control” she continued.
It felt like time froze for a moment. Death? The heroine could die?
That settled it. He had to protect his sister from this villain at all cost. Even if that bad ending was a genuine accident, Equiron didn’t want to take life-threatening risks.

Magrema walked past them with calm steps, but eventually stopped when he felt an intense presence watching him.
“Hmm?”
Wondering where this sudden presence came from, he glanced at the students around him. His gaze shifted from one student to the other until it landed on the siblings that he just walked past.
“Ah…So this is where the menacing stare is coming from” he noted.
Herianna started to feel slightly nervous, and embarrassed on her brother’s behalf. She didn’t even need to see the glare on Equiron's face. He had a tendency to make scary expressions without realizing it.
“No, no! He’s not- I mean, he doesn’t mean it like that! It’s just how he looks”
Magrema’s gaze remained focused on Equiron. The villainous dragon didn’t seem offended. If anything, he seemed intrigued by someone actually having the audacity to glare at him. A human, to be exact.
“...I see” he replied, seemingly in deep thought.
Herianna shot her brother with a small glare.
“Right, Equiron?”
It took a moment for him to remember that he was Equiron now.
Honestly, he didn’t think highly of the dragon love interest. Not to mention the possible danger. It wasn’t like Equiron to keep his opinions to himself, but considering the circumstances, it would be in his best interest to at least be on neutral terms with Magrema.
“...Right” Equiron agreed before letting his facial expression become softer. “I’m sorry for offending you with my rudeness, Magrema”

The moment the dragon’s name left his lips, all nearby students loudly gasped. He was met by plenty of shocked gazes and whispers. Glancing around, he wondered what people’s problem was. Wasn’t his name Magrema? For a split second, Equiron wondered if he had misheard the name. 
She said Magrema, right? Did I get it wrong? Or was my pronunciation off?
He could hear the nearby students mumble to each other.
“Did the new guy just address Lord Supricus by his first name?”
"Yeah, and no honorifics either, Is he trying to pick a fight?"
Oh…That’s what Herianna had mentioned earlier. This was the dragon duke of the kingdom.
While Equiron was focused on the others’ reactions, he failed to notice the look of surprise on Magrema’s face. His surprised expression lasted only for a short moment before an amused smirk appeared on his lips.
“How…peculiar” he said. “Equiron, was it?”
Magrema walked towards him, until the former was standing directly in front of the latter. Their difference in height wasn't that big, but it was easy to notice that the duke was an inch or two taller. Once standing close enough, Magrema inspected the blond human with his sharp gaze. First the posture. Then the arms’ muscles. Then the facial feature. Eventually, their gazes met.
Equiron couldn’t help but to pay close attention to the ruby red eyes. Despite looking like a villain and having an intimidating aura, Magrema did at least have pretty eyes. Too bad those eyes were accompanied by that arrogant smirk of his.
“You have yet to receive your Resica, yet you still choose to be this bold?"
He took a step back from Equiron.
“I shall remember this encounter. Until we meet again, human. I expect you to keep entertaining me from now on”
With that said, Magrema turned around and then continued walking towards Magufi Academy’s entrance. As he walked away, he let out an amused hum, already anticipating their next meeting.