Dude Don't Leave Me Hanging Like That! I Have So Many Questions.

Dude don't leave me hanging like that! I have so many questions.

One Thousand and One Nights

[This is a idea-fanfiction collaboration with @ship-ovnik​]

“Your Highness, would you like to hear a story?”

“Story? Do you know about something that the Crown Prince of this empire doesn’t know?”

“It’s a little story that could brighten up our evening”

Callisto put glass of wine on the bedside table and got out of bed, gave her his hand and sat her down on the couch opposite the other, on which he lay down comfortably with his head thrown back.

Surprisingly, His Highness turned out to be an attentive listener, who interrupted from time to time, asking a small clarifying question. Of course, it is much easier to surprise an inexperienced viewer, or rather a character from the game, with a retelling of “Harry Potter”, “The Chronicles of Narnia” and even “Winx” or “Twilight”…Literature that has never existed in this world.

If Siyeon had been asked if she had assumed that running away from the Eckart family would turn out to be the prince’s concubine, she would have immediately cursed this man, not sparing the magic stone, and ran away from him as far as possible. But here she is, in the palace of the Crown Prince, sitting in his chambers and trying in every possible way to delay the moment when he reaches out to her for caresses, retelling to him the plot of teenage literature from her world.

It was crazy, but damn it, he liked it, and he listened, greedily swallowing every word.

When Siyeon woke up in Penelope’s body, she realized with horror that it wasn’t a stupid dream at all. She got into the world of the game, becoming the main villain.  Knowing the plot and further events, she tried to rationally figure out how to complete the game without repeating the sad end of Penelope. But after trying to use the game mechanics, in the form of answer options, as well as to establish relations with her brothers, she realizes that no matter what she chooses, she will still be in a losing position. Siyeon spends too much time trying to establish a relationship, and the risk of a bad ending does not decrease, the potential protagonist can change his mind at any moment and leave her with nothing, choosing Yvonne at the very end of the game. Neither Vinter, nor Callisto, nor Iklies inspired her with confidence. There is only one way out - to achieve a good ending for Penelope herself, without the participation of male characters.

“Surely there is a hidden ending in this game, where the villain remains alone and goes into the sunset so as not to interfere with the happiness of the main characters,” she thought, collecting jewelry and dresses with her to get money from their sale, on which she could live comfortably for many years.

Wearing a magic bracelet, Penelope hid her appearance and went to a small dysfunctional town where no one would ask her a single question about where she got such jewelry.

Penelope goes on a little trip, wanting to get away from the capital. And finally, she finds a small town in the south where  needs a man in the town hall who can read, write and count. The elder turns out to be an elderly old man who was happy to hire her. Penelope helps in the library along the way, sorting books and helping to organize a file cabinet, while studying paleontology and the history of the ancient world, trying to learn more about the empire and its rules.

But after a few months, the quiet town turns into a noisy farce. Everyone is preparing for the holiday - the return of the Crown Prince from the war with victory. Fortunately for the residents, their city was one of the transit points before returning to the capital to replenish supplies and get some rest.

Hearing this news, Penelope was scared to death. She needed to avoid meeting a madman so that the game would not force her to participate in a chain of stupid quests for the sake of a percentage of sympathy over his head.

In order not to accidentally pass the game on a “happy” ending with him.

Penelope, as the elder’s assistant, was obliged to help with the counting of provisions and preparations for the celebration. That’s why she went to the military camp, where she met Cedric Potter, the assistant to the Crown Prince. And it would seem that the nightmare has passed… But, alas…

During the festivities in the central square, Penelope, enjoying the fireworks, did not notice how someone quietly crept up behind her and grabbed her hand.

“Is a beautiful lady walking here all alone?”

*The title is a reference to work about the Persian king Shahryar and his wife Scheherazade.