Surprise! You’ve just woken up to find yourself in the world of the famous otome game, Twisted Lovers. Thankfully, you happen to be just some no-name extra in this life, so it's totally fine if you just sit back and enjoy all the drama provided by the main cast, right?
Well that was the plan, but for some reason, these trauma-ridden pretty boys just keep gravitating towards you despite your best efforts to blend in. You really shouldn’t have spoken too soon…
Twisted Wonderland x reader: a manhwa/otome game au
One of your first encounters with someone from the main cast happens one evening. Amidst a ball, the moonlight peeks timidly between curtained windows, stars shine across the sky vividly (almost mockingly), and you find yourself in front of Royal Heir! Kalim, who appears to be on the verge of unconsciousness, bound with rope and most probably, in all likelihood, very much in the middle of a kidnapping attempt.
If you hadn't been a Good Samaritan that day and pointed one very lost otome game protagonist in the direction of the restroom, you could have avoided this predicament entirely. Maybe you should have worked harder to convince your parents to let you stay at home today. Or maybe if you had just chosen to bear the very daunting task of socialization instead of taking a breather in some isolated area of the manor, you wouldn't have encountered, not one, but two significant characters in one night. In your defense though, with how frequent these balls actually happen in this world, how were you supposed to remember which ones included the important story events?!
You see, in-game, the protagonist was supposed to take a wrong turn and discover Kalim in your place. Really, of all the times your abysmal sense of direction decided not to appear, it was during the one moment it actually mattered, how fun!
Having basically squandered his chances of getting rescued (his royal aide would probably come for him, you try to rationalize desperately, but you know there's no guarantee to this. Can you really just leave his survival up to chance???), with a guilty conscience you steel yourself to help Kalim. Your memory manages to recall the route the main character took to avoid the perpetrators of the incident, and with a grunt, you haul his weight to rest on your side as you frantically try to escape in time.
After struggling to run for a good few minutes with the added weight, you finally arrive at the entrance to the room where his royal aid resides. Ok so, do I just leave him here?? As much as possible, you didn't want to expose yourself to any more interactions with the main cast. It'd be a lot of trouble if they keep pestering me for this. You spend a few minutes contemplating, but when muffled footsteps approach the door, you panic, and promptly flee the scene. Unbeknownst to you, an abandoned brooch with your initials sits in its lonesome next to Kalim.
Do avoid getting surprised if you're greeted by one Jamil Viper a few days later, accompanied with a gracious invitation to visit the Al-Asim estate. Man, you really should stop being such a klutz.
After that whole catastrophe of events, you avoid going to any balls for the time being, resorting instead to fulfill your duties as a noble by attending tea parties. Finally—smaller, more controlled chances of not running into emotionally unstable pretty boys. Or so you thought.
Unfortunately for you, your family and that of the Rosehearts’ seem to be so entwined within the same social circles. You do recall foggy memories from before waking up, of yourself having attended a number of events where Ducal Heir! Riddle Rosehearts has been present regularly. You usually just ignore each other, addressing the other with at most, polite indifference. So it should probablyyy be fine? He is, after all, one of the characters with an easier, non-complicated route. His story involving more family drama than that of any life-threatening, nationwide disaster.
And so you let it be, and all is going how it usually would, until on a random day, he addresses you, somewhat uncharacteristically hesitant, “Your bonnet is tilted.” He reaches out, and when you don't draw back, takes the opportunity to gently fix your attire. “It would do you well to pay more attention to your bearing.”
Dumbfounded, and a bit surprised by the encounter, you reply blandly; “Oh thanks, Rids.”
That seems to make him pause. You panic internally, Rids. RIDS?? WHERE DID THAT EVEN COME FROM? Oh man he's probably gonna explode at me. I am so screwed. So focused on your internal monologue, you fail to notice the mumble he lets out to himself: “You haven't called me that since we were children,” accompanied with the knowing glance he tosses your way.
Regaining some awareness, you squeak out: “S-sorry, I mean Lord Rosehearts.” He gives you a small, somewhat endeared smile (did your heart just skip a beat?) and pardons you. The conversation lulls to an end, both of you blending back into the party at hand.
From then on, Riddle, strangely enough, makes an effort to engage in minimal interactions with you. An offering of pastries here and some small talk about books there, startingly, you feel yourself warming up to him quite fast. This should be fine, I think? You're not really in any danger currently, why not indulge a little? It would be rude to shut him out for no reason. With your friendship blossoming, he eventually reaches out to invite you to a ball a mutual friend is hosting. You agree to attend.
Upon arriving you greet him, Lord Diamond, and his group of friends from the Heartslabyul dukedom. Goaded rather insistently to imbibe spirits by his friends, (something about celebrating reigniting old feelings? whatever that means) Riddle surprisingly relents. Which ends up as badly as you'd expect it to be. Come evening, he’s flushed in the face, with a loss of the steady dignity he usually holds himself with.
Feeling bad, you take it upon yourself to help him get some fresh air in the gardens. Though, once outside he seems to straighten up, regarding you with an inquisitive glance. “Do you…ever think about how we once were?”
“Huh?” Man, he’s seriously out of it. You remind yourself to limit his drinking next time.
“We used to play quite often, you and I.”
Now properly confused, you give him a look that asks him to elaborate. Maybe he’s confusing you for someone else? He continues, pouring out his heart: “I had my happiest moments, sharing my time with you then. It felt like, for once, I could be myself. My engagement with you might have been for convenience, but I never considered it to be just so. I felt that I could be happy, spending my time with you, a cherished friend for the rest of my life. But then your family had some problems and my mother deemed you inadequate. A-and I did nothing to defend your honor. My rose, will you ever forgive me?”
You recall in the game, there being mentioned this no-name fiance, a plot device used purely to emphasize his mother’s ruthlessness and acts of isolation. So that was you, huh. HUH
Your traitorous memories. How could they omit such a crucial detail????? Sure, you've been having trouble recalling stuff after gaining memories of your modern self, but to miss something like this???? Plot convenience sure is working overtime.
You’re incredulous, but you find yourself even more frazzled when he puts his hand on your cheek and caresses it gently. You take a look at his flushed, love-lorn expression and find yourself thinking, huh, well m-maybe this is fine?
A/N: Decided to write n publish my first ever official fic,, I hope its decent enough (ᵕ—ᴗ—) If the characterization is a little off, I apologize. I don't really have experience writing dialogue,, I didn’t bother doing an in-depth character analysis either since this was a personal, fun little experience I decided to try impulsively for my upcoming birthday (I only worked on it for a few hours TT),,,
Truth be told I'm not really satisfied with the writing especially for Kalim's part, but I wanted to post this before my midterms aaaa but I might write something for the other characters or make a continuation if i get used to this whole fic writing thing, but in any case tysm for reading!!!!!
