I Don’t Want to Start a Story!

“Pardon?” Max couldn’t quite believe his ears. Gwendolyn Royse Amice Cateline Edvardsen, the third? How did she end up becoming ‘Bessie?’ Furthermore, wasn’t Edvardsen the name of the noble family overseeing this county? “You’re an Edvardsen?”

“Surprise!” Bessie hooted with laughter. He wasn’t shocked at all to see a prompt appear with the revelation. The mixture of familiar laughter and the thinning rain created a warm feeling for Max as he read it. It was such a silly story. Bessie already had her family.

Story Name:

Stand Together

Genre:

Feminist

Description:

The long-lost daughter of Count Edvardsen has finally returned. Can she blend into the family once more?

Goal:

Help Bessie become Countess Edvardsen.

Difficulty:

★☆☆☆☆

How to Start:

Reunite Bessie with her family!

“So, you’re an Edvardsen? What made you give up on being a noble lady?”

“Do I look like a noble lady?” Bessie continued to chuckle at the idea. Max bashfully shook his head. He didn’t want to offend her, but knew she had thick skin. “I didn’t then, and I especially don’t now. It wasn’t a difficult decision to leave that world and join Bill on his parent’s farm.”

“Ellie also struggled with mingling with others in that world.” His comment made Bessie raise her eyebrow, but he ignored it. “How did the two of you meet? It must’ve been difficult for a farmer to get to know the daughter of a count.”

“Well, Bill applied to become a knight. But he was too weak and lazy. Then he tried to become a gardener for the estate. But he killed all of the plants in his care.” Bessie leaned in as if she was telling a secret. “Hence why we raise cattle.” Max let out a sincere smile. Even if he tried, he couldn’t imagine Farmer Till slaving away in all their fields. “Lastly, he tried to become a cook.”

“But he can’t cook for his life.”

“I wouldn’t get too judgy, Max. You’re not much better at cooking.”

His smile froze slightly. She wasn’t wrong. It was one of the few skills he was never able to pick up, regardless of lifetime. He recalled spending a couple of lifetimes trying out stories related to cooking. Both ended with the kitchen blowing up after a few weeks. Luckily, he quickly developed the mentality of having a cast iron stomach after giving up on cooking. He learned to tolerate eating whatever scraps of food he could find when out of options. Unfortunately, his physical body couldn’t always keep up and keeled over a few times because of the food.

“But you’re right, he can’t cook at all.” Bessie let out another chuckle, and the rain around them turned into a trickle. It didn’t make much of a difference to them though since they were already soaked to the bone. “Over time, I slowly began recognising him. I admired his tenacity, and his… inability at most things.” She began showing a mischievous smile as she suddenly made intense eye contact, as if she was looking for something. “One day, he proposed to me out of the blue.”

Max suddenly didn’t like where the story was going. Farmer Till spent a long time trying to worm his way into the Count’s manor. Could he have proposed for disingenuous reasons?

“I know that look,” Bessie said, in a teasing voice. “My father had the same response when I told him.” Suddenly, she erupted with laughter again. “I’m just yanking your chain!”

“You were lying?” He wasn’t too sure where the lie began in her story.

“I proposed to him.” She said with a wink. “I needed to get out of that fucking house, and he was the only one willing to say yes. Even now, I’m not sure if he accepted because he thought he was going to enter the noble society with our betrothal. But he never complained when I showed up at his parent’s farm with two suitcases.”

“Did he tell his folks beforehand?”

“They were vaguely aware.”

“What about your family?” Max thought back to the prompt. “Did they look for you?”

“Nope, my father called me a disgrace and told me to never appear before them again.” And there was the main conflict in that story prompt. The idea charmed Max slightly. If he weren’t so committed to not starting a story, he would have accepted the prompt. “Not that I want to. My life here is perfect for me.”

“The noble life isn’t for everyone.” Max felt a twinge of pride for her. It’s difficult to choose your own path in life.

“You said Ellie struggled with it too.” Bessie was clearly testing the waters, trying to wade in the ocean without the tide pulling away.

“Mn.”

“What part in particular? The dreary lessons on manners? Pretentious food? Suffocating corsets?”

“She liked the corsets. Ellie was really into fashion and making clothes.” Max recalled fondly. “It was the people that had a problem with her… She… didn’t look like a noble lady either.”

“Girls can be catty.” Max scoffed in agreement. “Too vain to see past their noses. Just like Liv’s daughter…” Max could tell that some of the dots clicked in her mind.

“Just like Adelaide,” he confirmed her thought process. “Ellie and I knew a girl just like her. I guess you could say she was the villain in her story.” Bessie was still absorbing her realisation. “I did try to be… reasonably pleasant around her since you asked me too, but it seems to have gotten out of hand. I’m not quite sure what to do now. I don’t think she’ll take a simple rejection if she rounded up the village to storm the mayor’s house.” And also, because the prompt would lock them into a romantic story together. If he were to accidentally activate that prompt… well, it would be time to find out what body the system had in store for him next.

“She is entitled and stubborn.” Bessie showed her true feelings. Max was relieved to see she seemed to understand. “Good job you don’t have to go to the village often.”

? “I go almost every day?”

“Why?”

“To make the deliveries?”

“That’s Bill’s job?”

“Bill says his knee is bad, so he orders me to go.”

“Does he now?” Bessie had a dark look on her face.

Max could feel the storm brewing that was harsher than the heavy rain earlier. Time to get Cy wrapped up in it as well. “Yeah, and Cy has been making me help set up a stand for him to tell the villagers their fates. He’s always advertising his business to your customers whenever I make a delivery.”

“...Thanks for telling me, Max.” Bessie didn’t make eye contact as the rain suddenly stopped and the boards underneath refused to let out a squeak as she made her way back to the front door. The silence was uncanny as she let herself in. Just as Max was about to relax, he jumped out of his skin from the sudden noise.

“BILL! GET YOUR RAGGEDY ASS DOWN THOSE STAIRS, RIGHT NOW!"