I Became the Protagonist's Best Friend in a Bishoujo Game

"Huh...?"

I intentionally let that out of my mouth, confused.

My voice trailed off into the quiet air of the empty walkway, sounding completely bewildered as I stared back at her.

"Vael... I’m not asking you to forgive me, but I just want to apologize for not being able to do anything."

Cordelia said that to me, her head slightly bowed. Her ocean-like blue hair fell forward over her shoulders, shadowing her face as she stood there in front of me with her hands tightly clasped together.

"..."

I don’t know what to say... I don’t know what to do.

My mind was completely racing, spinning in circles as I tried to process the heavy, emotional words she had just thrown at me out of nowhere.

Though, I decided to not think of anything for now and just calm down.

I took a slow, silent breath, forcing my chaotic thoughts to pause so I wouldn’t panic or give away how utterly clueless I actually was.

I raised my hand, signalling Cordelia to stop what she was doing.

I held my palm up gently in the air, creating a soft boundary between us on the quiet stone path.

She looked back up at me, and before she could even say anything else—

Her pearl-like blue eyes shimmered with a mix of surprise and hesitation as she paused, waiting for my response.

"Cordelia... You don’t need to apologize, I understand."

I told her that. My tone was low and calm, kept entirely steady to make sure I sounded like a mature noble who had already processed his tragic past.

"I don’t hate you, nor do I have any negative feeling toward you."

I added, then looking at her straight in the eyes—I met her mournful gaze directly, showing her a flat, unbothered expression that carried zero resentment or bitterness.

"I’m not your responsibility, you’re not accountable to anything that has happened to me."

"Thank you for worrying about me, I’m fine now."

I declared that, smiling a little at her.

I gave her a gentle, reassuring tilt of my lips, attempting to wrap up this overwhelming conversation before she dug any deeper into details I knew nothing about.

"Anyway, I still have something to do in my dorm. Let’s catch up later."

I immediately followed with that, trying to escape this situation.

I tapped the side of my phone, pointing loosely down the direction of the residential buildings to give myself a clear excuse to leave.

Cordelia opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but she stopped herself. She hovered there for a second, her lips parting as if to protest or explain more, but the firm boundary I set made her pull back.

"Okay, let’s talk again later."

She just forced a smile and told me that.

Her response was quiet, carrying a soft, lingering sadness, but she stepped aside to give me room on the path.

I gave her shoulder two light, friendly taps as I stepped past her onto the paved walkway.

"Let’s do our best in the test."

I told her that before walking past her.

I kept my pace steady and casual, moving forward without showing any visible rush or panic.

She just smiled and nodded at me, then she waved me goodbye. She turned around slowly on the stone path, raising her hand to give me a small, gentle farewell.

I just waved back lightly.

I raised my hand over my shoulder without turning my entire body around, continuing down the path toward the dormitories.

... ... ...

*****

"What the fuck is going on...?!"

I asked to myself as soon as I was alone in my dorm.

I quickly closed and locked the door, letting the electronic lock click into place before leaning my back heavily against the solid wall.

I was confused as hell still.

My hands were practically trembling as I ran a hand through my hair, my mind completely blown by the massive gap between game knowledge and reality.

I immediately opened up my phone, then messaging Ahri—I asked her if she knows anything about the Everwave Family.

My thumbs flew across the screen, typing out a quick, direct query to the one person who knew the deep political history of my original household.

Ping!

I received a reply in less than a minute, the notification chime rang out sharply in the quiet room, breaking the tense silence of my living space. And when I read it—

"Huh?"

My eyes widened.

I stared at the glowing screen, my heart dropping straight into my stomach as I read through the text line by line.

[Of course I know about them, while our family is one of the vassals of the Frostguard family—the Everwave family is in an alliance with the main family, they have deep bonds that run through generations now.]

[The patriarch and matriarch of each family were close to each other, they meet often at gatherings and help one another with dungeon clearing.]

Ahri explained to me.

The explanation came through clean and detailed, detailing an intricate network of high-noble faction ties that I had never encountered during my playthroughs.

"What? This wasn’t mentioned in the game at all."

I mumbled to myself, trying to remember if I missed any information at all. I guess I really wouldn’t know anything about this, because the character I control in the game--Zion--was just a normal citien with no ties with the nobility.

I paced back and forth across the room, frantically scanning my memory for any hidden lore drops, extra flavor text, or side-quest dialogue from the original game.

And as I was doing that—

Ping!

I received another message. It was from Ahri again.

The sudden chime made me freeze mid-step right in the middle of my room.

I opened it, and read its content—I tapped the screen, bringing up the second incoming message from her.

[Ah, and as far as I know; you’re supposed to be engaged with the eldest daughter of the Everwave family.]

"..."

I looked at the message.

I was silent. My whole body stopped moving.

The quiet room felt completely suffocating as the words burned themselves into my retinas.

The eldest daughter of the Everwave Family... THAT’S CORDELIA!!!

’ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!!’

I screamed internally. I didn’t know that there’s a connection between Vael and Cordelia, let alone them being engaged!

In the game, Vael was just a minor side character—a mid-tier support unit from Class 1-F who had a decent ice kit for crowd control during the early story.

There was zero mention of a high-profile political engagement with the main heroine from Class 1-A, nor any lore about their families being allied.

"Ugh..."

I let out a groan. I slumped down onto the edge of my bed, burying my face in my free hand as a pounding headache started to build behind my eyes.

Instead of just getting ready for the upcoming exam, now there’s another thing in my head.

My original plan was simple: train hard, support Zion, survive the dungeon test at [The Tower of Seven Gates], and stay under the radar as a reliable background character, the best friend of the protagonist.

Now I was suddenly tangled up in a complex, dramatic backstory with one of the most powerful main heroines in the entire academy.

And so, after realizing this... I kept asking for more information from Ahri, and she told me everything that she could.

I spent the next two hours typing back and forth with her, asking questions about allied houses with the Frostguard family.

Ahri sent back long text blocks explaining the Frostguard family’s internal relationships; the vassals, the partners, alliances, and group they belong.

I also started looking up the Everwave family, and finding clues about their connection with the Frostguard family.

I sat at my desk, opening up the academy’s official archive network on my device to search through noble registries, historical family trees, and old news articles regarding high-class alliances.

Piece by piece, the public records confirmed everything Ahri said—the Everwave and Frostguard families had shared joint territories, trade agreements, and marital contracts for generations now.

"..."

Slowly, another realization hit me. I haven’t thought about it before, but Vael—he’s from a high-noble family.

So...

"There’s just no way he wouldn’t have any connection from the heroines and main characters that are also nobles."

It made logical sense when I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture.

High society in this realm was small, tightly knit, and heavily interconnected through centuries of arranged marriages, political pacts, and shared bloodlines.

A core noble like Vael would naturally have pre-existing ties, rivalries, or arrangements with other nobles, be it with them being one of the main characters, or just a nobody from the game.

’I need to investigate more about this.’

I closed my phone, tossing it onto the desk beside my notebook as I leaned back in my chair, staring up at the quiet ceiling of my room.

If the game lore had left out something as massive as an engagement to Cordelia Everwave, there were likely other hidden background details waiting to blow up in my face later on.

I needed to uncover every single piece of Vael’s past, ensuring I wouldn’t get caught off guard by another unexpected encounter with the main character.