In the game, there's a feature called [Bonds] that lets you check out a character's past or future. To access it, you need to have their bond affinity at 100%.
This is the story of the protagonist and his best friend. The story that Erselica and all the players knew.
◇◇◇
A 5-year-old boy was in the Royal Palace garden. It was Liam, playing all by himself. Since he was the sole heir to the throne, nobody was supposed to get close to him. In the future, two boys would randomly approach him at a formal event, and that's how their friendship would start.
But the kid here had no clue that was coming.
"Hey, you're Liam, right?"
Out of the blue, a boy spoke to the crown prince. Liam looked up, and his little eyes landed on a boy his own age. He had blonde hair and green eyes. His name was...
"Yeah, that's me. Who are you?" asked Liam. The boy, with an innocent smile, introduced himself. "Good day. I'm the only son of Duke Kingsfort, Klein von Kingsfort. Call me Klein if you want."
Liam quickly shut his eyes to make sure it wasn't a dream.
"Umm... wanna play with me?"
"Of course! I've always wanted to meet the prince and play with him. It's a miracle."
Klein smiled happily at Liam's words, and together they built a sandcastle.
◇◇◇
Liam turned 8 years old.
It was his birthday party.
"Good evening, Your Highness Liam. I wish you a magnificent night and a very happy birthday."
A blonde girl in a red dress said that to him. The girl meant it from the bottom of her heart, while Liam...
"Th-thank you, Alicelotte. I-I have to excuse myself to go greet the other guests."
"I understand. Have a lovely evening."
"...Likewise."
He politely left the spot where the girl was.
He headed over to the adults' tables. At one of them was Marquis Balzac, who slipped him some sweets.
After greeting everyone—which normally shouldn't happen since he was the birthday boy—he managed to catch a glimpse of a girl in a corner, eating cake all alone.
Her eyes had this lonely look you shouldn't normally see in a kid.
That's when a familiar voice called out to him.
"Liam."
Turning to see who it was, he lit up.
"Klein! You came!"
"Hehe, no way I'd miss it. Here, your present."
Normally, gifts were left on a table after you entered the palace, not handed directly to the birthday kid. But that didn't matter here, 'cause these two, Liam and Klein, were so tight they were called best friends and childhood buddies.
They were chatting happily when the same girl from before walked up.
"My carriage has come to pick me up. Young Klein, Your Highness, have a good night."
The girl said goodbye to them both. Klein waved casually, while Liam stammered, "L-likewise."
The girl curtsied and left the room. For some reason, her beautiful red eyes looked a little watery.
Once she was out of the room, Liam deflated like a beanbag.
"*Phew~* I really thought my heart was gonna stop."
"You really can't stand Alice, huh?"
"It's not that I can't stand her... I just don't like her being in the same room as me. I still remember when she jumped out a window to get away from my mom and even set a room on fire. No way I feel comfortable being around her."
"Hahaha, yeah. Only you would say something like that, Liam."
"Klein..."
Liam made another deflating sound, and they both laughed like normal kids.
What they didn't know was that, at one of the room's windows, a little head had peeked in, curious to see what was going on inside.
The little girl made a sad face, fighting back tears as she walked to her carriage.
She was the only one who had actually said goodbye to the prince; the others hadn't bothered.
◇◇◇
"Your mother almost got you engaged to Alicelotte!"
Liam was now 11.
"We were talking about the sanctuary. How did we end up talking about her?"
Liam and Klein were in a private room, studying up on the Saint's sanctuary.
The legend says that once, the world was almost destroyed by some mysterious force.
A woman rose from the ashes and the people's suffering. She had a strange power that repelled all the attacks from the mysterious being.
In the end, she saved the world. On a great island where she was buried, she left her last will.
"Upon this place, a kingdom shall be founded. In this kingdom, the next Saint shall be born! My followers shall care for this country alongside the family tasked with protecting this land!"
That was the lore in the game. That's what all the kids, adults, and old folks knew.
What they didn't know was that even a non-profit needs cash to keep going.
Over time, people started prioritizing their own stuff over the sanctuary. That's when a bunch of powerful guys decided to become its patrons.
They offered to help out financially, but only in exchange for a position in the organization.
It wasn't really an organization; it was just a commune of people who believed in a legend, and nobody even knew where the creator's tomb was.
As time passed, the Saint's sanctuary became the Holy Church. Instead of having a central place to talk about their faith, they used a huge basilica for prayers and other stuff.
The leader was the Saint, but some guy said an organization needs a leader everyone knows is alive. That guy was reluctantly accepted as the Supreme Pontiff of the sanctuary.
That's what these two boys were studying, but Liam let slip a bad memory about his mom.
"My mom said she wanted to make Alicelotte my fiancée. Apparently, the topic came up in a chat between her and the Duke's wife."
"I'm glad the Prime Minister shot that idea down. Although my mom looked really ticked off for some reason."
Klein heard that, and his pencil clattered to the floor. Then he looked at Liam, surprised.
They kept talking about it, but for some reason, Klein's face twisted into this weird grimace. Liam thought it was just concern, so he dropped the subject.
◇◇◇
Finally, the day had come. At 16 years old, the crown prince entered the academy.
Before heading into the auditorium, the two friends were cramming one last thing.
"Alright, one more time, tell me without forgetting."
Klein was holding a folder stuffed with documents. It was all about the court ranks. A lot of students were clueless about them, so Liam had to explain it to everyone.
Both were wearing their white uniforms.
Liam, still nervous, answered.
"The ranks that aren't important to the palace are..."
Rank 13.
Slaves.
Rank 12.
Regular Knights.
Rank 11.
Commoners.
Rank 10 (Lower).
Honorary Knights or sons of Baronets.
Rank 10 (Upper).
Non-heir sons of nobles.
"Very good," said Klein. "Now, what are the noble ranks?"
Liam, sighing in a panic, spoke up. "They're made up of the low nobility, which are..."
Rank 9 (Upper/Lower).
Grand Baron, Baron / Baronet.
Rank 8 (Upper/Lower).
Viscount, Chief, and Heir.
"Almost done, you're doing great," Klein said, his voice full of encouragement.
Meanwhile, Liam went on, "Next are the high nobility and high-ranking positions."
Rank 7 (Lower).
Earl and Bourgeois (minor merchants).
Rank 7 (Upper).
Bourgeois (wealthy merchants).
Rank 6 (Lower).
Count and Margrave.
Rank 6 (Upper).
Magnates and Marquis.
Rank 5 (Lower).
Ministers.
Rank 5 (Upper).
Prime Minister.
Rank 4 (Upper/Lower, as applicable).
Bishop, Duke, Grand Duke, other members and relatives of the royalty or those with royal blood.
Rank 3 (Lower).
Archbishop.
Rank 3 (Upper).
Crown Heir.
The headmaster had stepped up to give his speech. It was super short. Liam was getting antsy, but Klein told him to chill.
"Come on, only the most obvious positions are left!" Klein exclaimed. Noticing his friend's confidence, Liam spoke up, sure he had it down.
Rank 2 (Lower).
Supreme Pontiff.
Rank 2 (Upper).
Queen.
Rank 1.
King.
After he finished, Liam deflated like a balloon. Klein handed him a water bottle. Then, the headmaster called him up. His friend wished him luck, and with confidence, the prince stepped up to the platform to speak in front of all the students.
◇◇◇
"Klein, guess what?" Liam shouted, turning to his friend.
"What's up? Is something wrong?"
"Okay, so, today I met this girl. She's a commoner. It was really fun talking to her. I've never felt this way before."
"I see. What's her name?" said Klein, asking the game's standard intro question.
Liam replied, "Her name is Irisdina."
◇◇◇
"Klein, is it true what happened yesterday?"
The end of the month had arrived. A party was held to celebrate finishing the first semester.
At that party, something went down. Alicelotte, the daughter of one of the 3 Lords and his friend's fiancée, had publicly insulted him and then challenged him to a duel.
Liam couldn't believe what he was hearing, especially a certain name.
"So that Bradford kid is messing with you now..."
Ever since he met Irisdina, some guy named Rudel had been harassing and bothering her. Because Liam isn't a violent person, he'd let that Rudel guy off without any punishment or consequences.
After asking what happened, Klein just said it was nothing.
Liam tried talking to his mom to help Klein break off his engagement with Alicelotte. No luck. The feeling of not being able to help his best friend was eating at him.
Klein, with his head bowed and tears in his eyes, said, "It's okay, Liam. Thanks for worrying about me. I'm sure Alice has her reasons, and it's partly my fault."
"That's not true! You didn't do anything wrong... I... I'll enter the inter-school tournament too!"
"I'll use a mask and a fake name and help you take that guy down!"
With that, Liam rushed out of the room to head to the palace and get the mobile knight he'd been gifted years ago.
When Liam left the room, Klein was...
(Liam...)
(Ahahahaha, hahaha!!)
...Laughing his head off inside.
(Please, Liam, don't be so gullible, hahaha.)
(I'm dying, you're killing me with laughter, seriously!)
(You've always been an idiot who blindly trusts others.)
(The funniest part is, the whole Alice thing was my doing, hahaha.)
(Every time I was having fun, that sow would show up to lecture me. So I spread some nasty rumors about her. The only true part is that she really was harassing your commoner girl, but according to my informant, she did it because you make all the noble daughters uncomfortable by hanging out with a piece of trash who's less than human, hahaha.)
(Yesterday, when I was having my fun, she came to bother me, so I threatened her. Then some country bumpkin trash came to mess with me. She didn't defend him, but since she had no choice, she accepted that loser. The look on Alice's face when she took that poor wretch—that's a joy I'll never forget, hahaha.)
Klein covered his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. He also looked like he was holding himself to keep from pissing his pants.
◇◇◇
Several years had passed since graduation.
Liam became king and married a commoner girl, who, as if by some crazy coincidence, turned out to be the new Saint.
But there was a problem: it was Liam himself.
He hadn't even been on the throne for 4 years and already wanted to bail. Klein was with him.
"So... you're still hung up on that Bradford kid's death, huh?"
A couple of years back, Liam had killed a student who'd gone violent.
The student tried to attack the stands, right in the section where Irisdina was sitting.
Liam, seeing that, decided to use his rifle-tipped swords and wrecked that kid's armed unit.
It was a quick death.
Then, at the end of his first year at the academy, there was a coup d'état led by Bismarck Household. They said it was revenge for what happened to their daughter.
In the end, the combined fleet of the other two Dukes crushed the house trying to seize the country and executed the head and heir.
Liam was signing some papers. They bore the signature of the new Prime Minister, Marquis Balzac, since the old predecessor was a geezer the new minister thought was a joke. The document stated that absolute power was being handed over to Klein.
"Are you sure about this? You won't regret it later?"
Klein was asking Liam about this.
Then, King Liam said, "Yeah. I'm not cut out to be a ruler. With our current situation against the empire, we need someone more qualified, and that's you, my best friend."
Klein cried as he watched Liam sign the document. They weren't tears of sadness... but something else, while he struggled to keep a terrifying smirk off his face.
◇◇◇
"Klein, what is the meaning of this?!" Liam, the former king, demanded as he stared at the corpses of his wife and parents, run through with swords.
He was on an island that originally belonged to some baronial family, sold off ages ago.
Slowly, laughing all the while, Klein took out a dagger and crouched down to talk to Liam, who couldn't process what was happening.
"Hey, are you stupid, huh? ...No, you're a complete idiot, ahahahaha!"
Up in the sky, invading fleets were visible. The sails and crests bore the mark of a country called the [Holy Magic Empire].
Only days had passed since Klein became king.
Tossing his knife from hand to hand like a maniac, he laid it all out.
"You see, my dear best friend, you... are a truly gullible moron, ahahaha. Seriously, did you never notice how many people tried to warn you about this?"
"Even when the head of Bismarck Household, watching his son's head roll into a basket, screamed at you not to trust me!"
"Even when the old geezer of the former Prime Minister was dragged off to be thrown down a well for trying to talk you out of going to war with the Bismarck's, you threw him under the bus so fast it's just hilarious to remember."
Even from this distance, you could see the red glow from the flames of the Royal Capital.
"Why, Klein?" Liam asked through tears as soldiers stripped the corpses of his wife and mother.
With a look of utter disgust and a twisted smirk, Klein answered.
"You... are you really that dumb? We were never friends. You were always just a puppet. Thanks to you, us Kingsfort's were able to pull off our plan to take over the kingdom. We had to ask the new Prime Minister and Belmont for help, but that's small potatoes."
"We'll hand the capital over to the empire, and they'll make us nobles in their country. Isn't that a happy ending? All thanks to you, my best friend, hahahaha!"
Liam's face was a mask of pain—the same look worn by everyone who'd ever tried to help him. But thanks to Klein and his "friendship," Chlust, Frey, and Fritz all lost their lives for nothing.
The dagger slowly pressed against Liam's throat, and like a fountain, red liquid gushed out as the protagonist convulsed, giving one last look at the guy who called himself his best friend.
Side note: this is what was never shown when you finished the game. So, it was never proven that all the events around Liam's inner circle were actually orchestrated by others.
Even in the ending where Liam didn't kill Rudel, Klein would still pull off the rest after becoming the vice-king.
This was the 'true' outcome of the game. One that Erselica, the other players, and even the developers never knew about.
Everything was supposed to go down like that. Except something unforeseen happened.
◇◇◇
In a hangar lay a customized mobile knight with a horrifying look. Klein was there, coming straight from a meet-up with a guy he was supposed to crush.
The back opened up, revealing a small ladder to climb in. Normally, in the inter-school tournament, you rented mobile knights, but only if you could afford it, obviously.
Once inside, the hatch sealed shut. The guy placed his legs into two holes that simulated the unit's legs.
He put his hands into two holes at the sides, which sucked up his magical power.
A screen made of magical circles materialized, showing the outside view through the eyes.
The guy, Klein, was feeling pretty pleased about something.
"Trash and Alice, I'm gonna have so much fun with you, hahaha."
Minutes later, both Klein and the protagonist got their butts handed to them, beaten, defeated, and humiliated by some kid. Who then got rewarded for it.
Without knowing it, that kid, Rudel, saved a girl from ruin, saved a prince from his own guilt, and stopped an evil family's plan from succeeding.
Without a doubt, a "villain" prevented the bad ending for millions of people.
◇◇◇
Sometime later, in Duke Kingsfort's mansion, the owner and another man were having a heated conversation.
"Franz, your stupid son has put our whole plan in jeopardy!"
A thin man was screaming at the mansion's owner.
"I had to sacrifice Easton Household as a scapegoat because that old coot Ritzburg sent knights to my place over a fake accusation from that letter!!"
The owner, Franz von Kingsfort, had several bottles of liquor open on the table. Almost all were empty. His fancy suit was a mess because he'd tried to rip it off in his stress.
"I know, damn it! The worst part is the kid's an idiot not for sending the letter, but for contacting the headmaster, which left a paper trail for that bastard Siegwald to follow!"
The two men were furious and panicking.
"The pirates connected to us have been sold out, executed, or fled, all because of that Bradford brat!"
Behind a door connecting the room to the hallway, a boy was listening.
"Several allied houses or Bismarck's traitors have even been caught!"
Hearing that, the boy bit his lip hard.
"The plan was for your son to marry Bismarck's daughter and, from the inside, take over the house and bring down that old man!!"
"By the end of the stupid prince's school years, we were gonna execute the plan to turn the Bismarck's into traitors!"
"Now it's all fallen apart! Both Ritzburg and Siegwald have their guard dog! The nobles still on our side are scared of that kid! Even the consortium has refused to help us as long as he's alive!!"
"Damn it, I know! Quit stating the obvious! Do you think I'm an idiot? My ancestors have wanted the crown from the start, and thanks to my son, it's all crumbling!!"
The boy, Klein, heard that and could only think one thing.
(Guhh!! Damn countryside traaaash!! How dare you humiliate me like this?!)
Weeks later, Kingsfort Household was let off the hook for any incriminating evidence, thanks to an entity known as the Saint.