Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Whilst feeling a twinge of unease at Marina’s words, Ekaterina returned to the dorm, went over her lessons with Flora, and once she was alone, she earnestly tried to recall her memories.
What memories, you ask? Memories from her past life—specifically, from when she played the game. To avoid triggering a “doom flag,” it would probably be best not to do the same things she did in the game.

Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I even remembered what a “doom flag” was.

The school festival was one of the major events. As for what Ekaterina—the villainess—did there, and how things turned out…
How did it end again…?

Oh no……I felt myself turning pale…

My memory!
It’s not that I don’t remember at all, but it’s incredibly vague!

What I do remember is… Onii-sama complimenting Ekaterina, who was wearing a flashy dress, saying she was beautiful.
Other than that…

Uhhm?
What did our class do… Oh, right—because of the “villainess” Ekaterina, the heroine was still being ostracized by the class even by this point, so acting alone was the right choice… wasn’t it? To raise the prince’s favorability, that was the right choice… wasn’t it…?
But then, what did the class do at the school festival, and how did it turn out?

I forgot! Gah, my memories of the game are fading so fast!

W…well, I lived a life completely unrelated to the game’s storyline during summer break, after all. I was worried I’d forget, and now I really have…
Pull yourself together, me!

But still, there are so many other things I need to remember and do!
Like running the duke’s mansion—which has a three-digit staff—as the mistress of Jurnova and school classes like magic control, managing the glass workshop, handling all sorts of things related to Onii-sama’s work, the history of the Imperial Kingdom and this world, all kinds of general knowledge… there’s just so much!

And then… I guess my sense of danger regarding those “doom flags” is fading without me even realizing it. The more I get to know this world, and the deeper my relationships with the people around me become, the more the Ekaterina from the game feels like a distant memory…

Waaah. I can remember things like the Snowball Earth Event and the Tosa Domain’s caste system, so why do I forget about the game so quickly, me?!

…I guess it’s because I wasn’t really that interested in otome games to begin with.
In that weird mood I was in right before I died from overwork, I decided on a whim to try an otome game, but I wasn’t really the type who liked them to begin with. I just got hooked on Onii-sama; the game itself wasn’t really… that great, after all.
All I remember is Onii-sama.

Maybe I should’ve jotted it down in a notebook while I still remembered.
But when I thought about what would happen if someone saw that notebook… I just couldn’t bring myself to take the risk. I even considered writing it in Japanese so no one could read it, but scribbling a bunch of that mysterious language would probably look suspicious in itself.
Also, to be honest, I don’t think I can write Japanese. Just like when I speak, the words I write get automatically converted to Imperial, so if I try to write in Japanese, I’d probably have to think about every single character as I go.

Uwaah… what should I do?

No, wait. Calm down, me.
Remember, I sorted out a lot of things before the second semester started.

It’s hard to imagine the same kind of doom from the game happening to me and Onii-sama, but I can’t say it’s impossible.
The most likely cause of that destruction would be a conspiracy by Jurmagna.
If they exploited the sins committed by Ekaterina, the “villainess,” and dragged Onii-sama into a condemnation leading to ruin, that would explain the game’s ending. So, to avoid showing them any weakness, I absolutely must not do anything bad!

Therefore… as long as I don’t do anything bad, whatever our class does at the school festival won’t have a major impact.

I’m such an idiot…
I thought about it so hard, yet I’ve gotten caught up in the game again.

…Wait, just as I was feeling deflated, it hit me. In the game, the class put on a play. Ekaterina’s flashy dress is actually a stage costume.

But the heroine, Flora, got left out of the play. Or rather, the correct choice was to accept being left out and give up on appearing in the play. Then, to liven up the school festival, the heroine came up with the idea of decorating the school on her own. By this point, she had close friends in other classes and the kitchen staff, as well as an ally among the teachers. Thanks to their cooperation, the beautifully decorated school earned praise from visitors.
Then, in the school festival vote, she was chosen as the “Most Outstanding Person,” received an award, and became the prince’s partner at the ball held later on.
Looking back now, I’m not sure if that’s plausible or not… Decorating the school on her own—it was a whole different ballgame from just making flowers out of tissue paper for the festival’s visuals. Even while I was playing, I couldn’t help but think, “That’s way too amazing.”
But Flora-chan’s potential is off the charts, after all. She might actually pull it off.

Remembering that doesn’t really help me now, but it made me feel better, so I’ll call it a win.
For the school festival, I think a class-wide chorus would be fine. Since the groundwork is already laid—with everyone agreeing that our performance should be a musical—I’m sure my suggestion will be accepted if I propose it. After all, I want to keep this separate from the game. For my peace of mind.
I wonder if I could ask Olga-chan to do a solo. Is there some rule that says, “Singers summoned by the God of Music shouldn’t just sing whenever they’re asked!”? Well, since I haven’t even been chosen yet, there’s no point in speculating about that. I’ll just discuss it at the class meeting and ask her then.

All right! That concern is settled.

“Milady.”

Just as I’d finished thinking things through, Mina called out to me.

“Ah… What is it?”
“The dorm mother called me, and I picked up a letter for you. It’s from Lev.”
“Oh my! Thank you, Mina.”

With a smile, Ekaterina thanked Mina—as expressionless as ever—and took the letter.

Lev, the genius artisan at the glass workshop, must be working hard every day on crafting glass pens. The piece he was commissioned to create as a gift from His Imperial Majesty to Her Imperial Majesty was successfully delivered to Her Imperial Majesty, and she was reportedly delighted with it.

*“If I write with such a beautiful pen, I’m sure I’ll be able to write beautiful words. It might even make my heart beautiful.”*
*“Your heart is already beautiful enough, but if we’re talking about beautiful words, I’d like to receive a love letter.”*
*“Oh? Don’t you want to ask me directly?”*

It seems that’s the kind of conversation they had.
Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty. We intend to use your words as a tagline for our advertising, by we I mean Khalil.
Still, Their Imperial Majesties are so in love!

Meanwhile, Lev—who was making a name for himself in the imperial capital as an undisputed master craftsman—was currently working on a commission for Duke Jursein. He must have been struggling with how to portray the goddess of beauty he’d been asked to create…

Ekaterina read the letter with excitement and let out a cry of joy.

“I hear the item commissioned by Duke Jursein is finally complete!”
“Is that so?”
“I’m going to the Murano Workshop next weekend. I’ll write a letter to Lev—Mina, will you deliver it for me?”
“Of course.”

Seeing Ekaterina’s seemingly aloof yet clearly delighted expression, the corners of Mina’s mouth lifted ever so slightly.