Disclaimer: This chapter contains content that may be disturbing to some readers. While I've kept the extent of the content very little, it is still there. You have been warned in case you can not handle even a bit of dark content. It's understandable, really. For the 'already dulled to such things' people, please carry on. :)
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I opened my eyes on my bed and sat back straight.
Looking ahead with unfocused eyes, when I finally collected my memories, I only muttered the words:
"That was fucked up."
I stayed silent after that, still processing all the new memories I had just received.
I now knew a lot—in fact, everything—about my new identity and my family. But I was really unsure of what to think of some of those memories.
'What the hell…?'
***
[–30 minutes ago–]
I left the dining room after my breakfast and went straight to my room.
The house, which was a mansion, in fact, was huge and I almost couldn't find my room. Almost. I did manage to remember the familiar paintings on the wall and thankfully found the right room.
I entered and locked the gate from the inside, thankful that they had locks. I didn't want anyone intruding on my privacy, after all. I did say before leaving that I'll be in my room, and I was hoping they won't disturb me for a while but I couldn't be sure of that.
Heck, for all I knew my family might think I was acting suspicious and come to check on me. Or the maids might come for whatever reason. It kind of made sense that they would want to stay close to me to ensure all my needs were fulfilled or something, I assumed.
So, I had to get those damn memories quick.
I lay on the soft bed, feeling stressed and nervous rather than comfortable, and directed the System.
"Do it. Give me all of Alexander's memories."
[Prompt: Assimilation of foreign memories of the Target: Alexander K. Maximus. (Y/N)
Warning! While assimilating other's memories, in this case, one that belongs to this body's original host, the user might face positive and negative effects on his mental being!
Warning! Assimilating long-term memories may cause trauma, and brain damage, or in some cases creates a split-personality in the user's mind, along with other negative effects!
Warning!…
…]
There were more lines in the notification, but I didn't bother reading any further and immediately questioned the System with a frown.
'Uhh, System. What the hell is this? These warnings. Is this even safe?!'
I had thought it was going to be a simple task of me getting Alexander's memories with no repercussions. But the side effects were awful!
'Why would anyone do something so dangerous?!'
The System promptly cleared my misunderstanding.
[It is advised that the user reads the entire thing before concluding.]
My frown deepened but I did as I was told.
[Prompt: Assimilation of foreign memories of the Target: Alexander K. Maximus. (Y/N)
Warning! While assimilating other's memories, in this case, one that belongs to this body's original host, the user might face positive and negative effects on his mental being!
Warning! Assimilating long-term memories may cause trauma, and brain damage, or in some cases create a split-personality in the user's mind, along with other negative effects!
Warning!…
…
…
Note: Due to the effects of your skill '????', all negative effects will be completely negated. The user will assimilate all the new memories, without any mental or spiritual problems to his being. In this case, it will extend to any physical problems as well.]
'Ah… I guess I reached the conclusion too soon, then. I should have read the note at the end. Sorry, System.'
[It's alright, Alex. :)]
'Emoticon? Huh. Not that I hate it or anything. It's kinda cute. Wait, is it doing it because I find it cute? Something to think about, I guess. Well, it doesn't matter. First things first.'
After reading through the prompt one more time, I gave it an okay, and soon my vision turned black.
***
[–Present–]
I took a deep breath and hoped this won't become a trauma as the note said. At least I didn't feel like it had become a trauma. I felt okay. Well, a bit shaken and surprised, perhaps; but still relatively okay.
'Damn, this kid went through something awful. I'm sorry for him.'
I now had complete access to Alexander's memories, from the conscious ones to the unconscious ones, and the ones he didn't even know he had.
And among these memories, 'I' had gone through something rather tragic.
Molestation… or rather, unknowingly done molestation, if that even makes sense. By his eldest sister, Olivia.
'I didn't know Emma had an older sister. What the hell…'
***
Olivia K. Maximus, the firstborn of Elizabeth and the late Walter K. Maximus.
4 years ago, she was married to one of the Dukes, a charming and noble man in his own right. Their marriage was grandiose. Even the Empress had come, which was as rare as snow falling in the middle of summer.
The reason was simple. The Duke was the older cousin of the current Empress who was the ruler of the Arendelle Empire, one of the biggest Empires in Criotopia. Not just for humans, but for all species around the world. It was a definitive nation.
Also, the Duke family was among the 3 most powerful families in the whole empire, with close ties to the Empress, so it was also a formality for her to attend it. Though, nobody would have dared to argue if she had refused.
Anyway, the Duke's heir, Albert—the recently announced Duke from the Gororith household—and Olivia were happily married and were living as a loving couple to date…
… Or at least, that's what the world believed. But Olivia was suffering. Not because she and Albert were fighting; they were on good terms.
And it was also neither because Albert was a bad person nor held ill will against the other.
Olivia was an air-headed but caring beauty. She had some of the traits of her mother and had acted responsibly and properly in her new family. Even with some of her flaws, she was a good Duchess.
Albert himself was the picture of perfection. He was a kind, gentle, caring, charming, and responsible adult, both publicly and privately. He was picture-perfect in real life, something rare in the world I came from but apparently not so in this world.
Then where was the problem?
Well, there was just one teeny-tiny issue with him. He fancied guys, rather than girls…
Yes, he was gay.
But it was a very well-kept secret that he hid from both the world and his parents. The secret couldn't be made public due to political reasons. Even if this world didn't have much discrimination against same-sex relationships, the politics of the Empire was harsh. The other nobles were dying to get even a single spec of dirt so they could try to berate the new Duke and create false rumors. In their eyes, he was too perfect and had a great relationship with the Empress. The Empress, though, simply seemed to like this good-natured and honest attitude. Or so was what I knew from the intel I had.
Albert was a minor character in the game. Not one I cared about in the slightest, of course.
After their marriage, while he cared for Olivia as a person, he didn't do anything physical with her, nor could he truly love her. Heck, Olivia even made attempts on him herself at first, thinking he was shy, but then was let in on his secret after she was being forced to conceive a child with him by his ignorant parents. It ruined her life.
Albert just couldn't bring himself to do it for some reason. Maybe he thought it was wrong, or maybe he couldn't get his thing up. Whatever. Not that I cared.
Though, this made her a bit traumatized since the Duke's family, later on, started pestering and berating her indirectly for not bearing a child even after 3 years of their marriage. They even started calling her infertile, while they remained ignorant that their own son was the one who was at fault.
Olivia herself craved a child. But she couldn't bear one due to Albert's lack of interest in her physically.
This trauma for some bizarre reason started developing into a weird obsession with Alexander since to her I was the only "man" that was close to her and she wasn't the kind to "cheat on her husband with an outsider."
So, she blurted it all out to Alexander one day while she did something unspeakable. In her defense, she was not in the right state of mind, but she did something bad to her own brother.
Unfortunately, Alexander didn't want to hurt his beloved sister so he let her do it and stayed silent. It only fueled her actions as she noticed it too and couldn't bring herself to stop after doing it once.
Even normally, she had started showing excessive love toward him. Of course, the others thought it was just sibling love.
The head maid Laura (the cold-faced maid that came to my room today) knew of her troubles with the Duke and she was unable to help since this was a sensitive matter and she was just a maid in the end.
Meanwhile, Olivia began to fester feelings of "love," the romantic kind, towards Alexander, since he was the only outlet she could find for her boundless love and desire to be loved. And so, where she started from normal touching, caressing, and patting to kissing and touching Alex's intimate parts.
The only thing they hadn't done was intercourse since she seemed to still hold some hesitance and a tiny bit of morality inside her deranged mind.
All of this started about a year ago. And now she and Alex had a very inappropriate and strange relationship.
In all of this, Alex himself didn't seem to reciprocate her feelings of "romantic love" at all, but he didn't want to disappoint his loving and caring sister. He was, in fact, too young and innocent.
He was just a 10-year-old when it started and this whole series of incidents had left a scar of sorts in his mind, though he didn't understand it completely and hid it quite well from others, even Olivia.
So, even if he didn't hate his sister and went with her "requests" and "needs", he was becoming more and more internally unstable.
And now I had all of those feelings and experiences of his.
***
I looked down at myself and then immediately my mind remembered the image of a beautiful brunette woman, taking my still-maturing dick inside her mouth, while she smiled with love and affection.
"Ugh. This is really fucked up."
That comment was directed towards this whole situation with Olivia and the fact that I had gotten a hard-on from thinking about the sloppy blowjob Olivia gave 'me'.
"Fuck. I'm seriously sick in the head. This is too fucked up. Why am I getting hard? Can you just calm the fuck down, junior?!"
At least, in all of this, I had become able to accept my new body completely. It happened subconsciously.
Still, I was not sure how I felt about this whole messed-up backstory. 'I' wasn't Alexander, but Alex. Even after getting all the memories, I knew I was still myself and those memories were more like me watching a movie based on the POV of Alexander K. Maximus.
[Please note that this world's history, including Alexander's case, is mostly made-up. There was no Alexander before you took over his body. I hope this helps clear your conscience.]
'… Actually, yeah. It kinda does. Thanks.'
That was somewhat of a relief, but then I found something else odd.
'Wait, but this is still the real world and not fiction, right? I'm real, right?'
[Yes. You and this current world are as real as you can be.]
'Then doesn't it mean the history of the world is real too.'
[For the people of this world, yes. But for outsiders, like you, it is in a rather hazy state. The Reincarnation System created this world with some original parts, Alexander and his backstory included. Those things only truly started existing when this world was created. But, while they are now real, they never existed in the past. In fact, everything in this world didn't exist and was not "real" until you reincarnated. So, does that mean the past didn't happen or it did? The answer is: It is whatever YOU choose to believe in.]
'Well, I mean, it kind of does. And also kind of doesn't… Okay. It's a bit too confusing. But I think I know what to think. 'Everything was made up, but everything, since I woke up, is real.' So, no Alexander was getting molested by his older sister. But it is now a thing since I am now Alexander with those made-up memories which are going to be real.'
[Yes. Please don't burden your conscience with the moral dilemma that never happened is my humble advice.]
'Hmm. You're right. I shouldn't overthink.'
As I thought about it more rationally, I managed to settle stuff about the 'past.' But I couldn't help but plan things ahead.
'The original Alexander from my memories never hated his oldest sister for doing what she did, but he was still afraid of it.
As for me… Well, I'll deal with it when the time comes.'
Olivia wasn't here for me to be worried about.
Though the problem was Emma.
I didn't know how, but she seemed to have found out about it. And the other one was, surprisingly, Laura, the Head Maid, who also happened to be Olivia's best friend.
Olivia blurted this secret to her when Laura caught her doing inappropriate things to Alex and ignoring her position, demanded an explanation as a concerned friend. And while Laura then never told others of the incident—never even dared mention it, in fact— Alexander seemed to have developed a deep fear of her since he thought she'll tell others of HIS wrongdoings. Poor kid thought it was his fault somehow.
Anyhow, I had solved one of the mysteries at least. Why Emma was acting weird. And it was crazy, to say the least.
I didn't know what to do to deal with the head maid. She wasn't my primary issue anyway, though she certainly needed to answer for her behavior. Perhaps later.
But from my memories, I did notice that I and Emma didn't have such a bad relationship in the beginning. We used to play together a lot as children. Then after our father's demise, Emma became somewhat distant from me and started focusing on Swordsmanship, which she had pretty much inherited from her father.
But it all really came crashing down when she discovered my and Olivia's… inappropriate intimacy one night.
'It happened a few months ago somehow, from what I can make out from the sudden changes in her behavior towards me from that time.
Now she is in a strange situation and doesn't know how to act with me. Even though it wasn't 'my' fault. I was the victim in all that.
'That silly girl. I'll have to talk to her. This can't go on. Seriously, this situation is troublesome… Why is my backstory so… complicated?'
Looks like I had my hands full already in this new life.
I had to plan things carefully, or else this barely stable family might break apart and fall to ruins. It didn't happen in the game, but this wasn't a game anymore, was it?
"Haaaaa…"
[A new Side Quest has been created!]
[Quest title: Mending the familial bonds
Description: You have finally learned of Alexander's memories, but they came with a shocking revelation. You have another elder sister who seems to have questionable taste. Your beloved Emma is uncomfortable around you and hides it behind a façade of anger. Your younger sister has her own unfulfilled desires.
As if that wasn't enough, the pillar that supports this family, your new mother, is suffering.
Objective 1: Clear your relationship status with your eldest sister Olivia. (Is she your sister or lover? Or both?)
Objective 2: Fix your relationship with your older sister Emma. (Get her Affection/Obedience/Reputation stats in positive values.)
Objective 3: Find what your younger sister Alice desires and fulfill her wishes.
Objective 4: Fix all of your mother's negative status effects. Furthermore, get her foundation grade back to its original value.
Bonus Objective: Confront and deal with the Head Maid Laura about your 'dark secret.' (She needs to answer you.)
Rewards: Olivia's Affection is locked at Max(As a sister or as a lover), Reputation and Obedience gains from Olivia, Emma's route is unlocked, Affection, Obedience, and Reputation gains from Alice, Alice is happier and attached to you, Your mother's lifespan returns to normal, You gain even more AP from her, Extra AP.
Bonus Rewards: Gain Laura's Obedience and Reputation, ???
Failure: The family might collapse in the near or distant future. Increased chances of death of one or more family members.]
[Accept: Yes/No]
'The fuck? That turned ominous real quick. Can you see the future or something?'
I wouldn't have been surprised if it could, given what it was and the foreboding content in the failures tab. But the System refused.
[No, but I can predict it somewhat. Though, I'm afraid that functionality is limited to the quests so I can't help you with everyday predictions. My apologies, but you don't have the privilege. Indirectly misusing the loophole with quests and future predictions won't work either since there's a thought and intent constraint already applied.]
'Oh, pity. Guess I need to figure out how to get better privileges then.'
I couldn't help but release another long and tired sigh. I couldn't deny the idea of foresight was very tempting.
'Well, this wasn't what I expected to do when I first came here, though. But it can't be helped. Accept.'
I had a lot to plan now. It hadn't even been a whole day and I had 3 different quests already.
'Hmm. I now know that I am exactly 4 years before the Academy arc, in other words, the story of the game, begins. That was when Emma, MC, and a whole bunch of important characters will join the Noble's Academy, along with a few other non-important characters in the game and maybe even new ones.'
Normally, it was supposed to be 2 years later when she turned 17, but due to her not attending private classes for 2 years from age 10 to 12, since she was still shaken from her father's death, she needed to take two extra years of classes. All noble-born children needed to have at least 5 years of private education unless they were exceptionally gifted in studies. Unfortunately for Emma, her genius didn't lie in studying.
Now, the commoners who joined the academy didn't have such requirements and as a result, they struggled in the Noble Academy even if they get in there for their talents. This was quite blatantly an attempt to marginalize and separate the minority of commoners by the system itself. The nobles clearly had a headstart. And the commoners had to catch up a lot.
That's what happened to the protagonist, who was a commoner as well.
'Speaking of, the protagonist and I share the same age. Another lucky "coincidence"? Or maybe not? Is it, System?'
[I actually don't know. There's no such information related to that.]
'Oh.'
Anyway, by the time Emma will be ready, I would be ready to go there as well. So, I was going to be with her.
'That's good. I would like to keep watch over the protagonist guy too. Does he have the 'dao of automatic waifu collection' in this world or what?
Anyway, as a noble-born of the Maximus household, I'll definitely be sent there to learn things, even if I don't end up inheriting the Marquis title from my mother by the looks of things—not that I really fancy it. But I know for sure Emma never inherited it? Then, who will? Alice? Olivia? … Or maybe I'm the wild card? Shit.'
I grimaced at the thought of having to deal with the territory and nobility head-on.
'… Give me a fucking break.'
Leaving that troublesome part aside, for now, it wasn't a long time, to be honest. I needed to do a few things before the canon starts— starting with getting stronger and meeting a few people from the story early on.
'I HAVE to meet that drunkard from Ross Town. He'll be my key to gaining absolute strength. There's no doubt about that. And then…'
I mused as I went deep into my own thoughts about what to do in the next couple of years and how.
It was ironic how just a while back I wasn't sure what I wanted to do in this life.
Well, now the work was already presenting itself, even piling up, I dare say.
***
So, we finally know the dark secret between the original Alexander and his older sister, Olivia. Emma (his sister) and Laura (the head maid) knows of this secret too.
How will MC deal with things? Well, you will have to read and find out.
This chapter became a behemoth at 3.5k after the edit! I have added more and hopefully this makes the story more coherent.
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P.S.: Thanks for the support on this story so far. I have got a few good and kind readers. Hopefully more will find my work and read it. :D
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Creation is hard, cheer me up! I need those tasty Power Stones, please. :)