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vvyvernicus · 5 months ago

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Since I didn't officially participate in AU-Gust this year, I wanted to show off an AU I came up with for The Villainess Wants To Make Her Husband Slim Down fandom.

@juchioris has made plenty of shorts for this fandom for the AU-Gust challenge, so please check them out if you're interested!

This isn't a fanfiction per say, but another alternate AU with key details focusing on one character in particular who has major changes in comparison to canon, which alters the original story.

It's a little throwback to an old post of mine, where I turned the male lead, Alois, into a "Cold Duke of the North."

This expands on this version of him. Also spoiler warning for key changes that alter important plot points in the original novel!

It's a little lengthy, so I'm putting it below the cut!

In the original plotline of this universe, Alois Montchat is reviled as "The Toad of the Swamp". At the time our main female protagonist Camilla meets him, she is repulsed by him, as he has all the features that earned him that nickname (he is obese with blemished skin that's bumpy like a frog's). However, in this AU that is not the case.

This AU's Alois takes on a more regal appearance, more befitting of his status as a Duke. He's always well groomed and dresses in fitted clothes. His skin is clear because he regularly applies special creams to combat the strong magic in the air that damages people's skin in Mohnton. He's also a lot leaner than his canon self, no longer eating unhealthy meals and avoiding exercise.

His personality has shifted as well, fitting well into the "Cold Duke" stereotype. However he is also more confident and feisty than his more mellow counterpart. If someone doesn't agree with him, he's quick to assert his authority and won't hesitate to use his appearance to threaten others. There are still traits that remain the same, as it's still Alois at his core.

Underneath the intimidating aura, he's quite antisocial and a recluse. He disdains the idea of social events and refuses to go to them, not because in the distant past that his family was excluded from them, but because he just doesn't like people. Still loves reading and learning about history.

His first meeting with Camilla is much different. Originally, Camilla is sent to him as a bridal candidate as a punishment since no one wants to be wed to the hideous toad duke. In this AU, Camilla is still punished for being a villainess, but is essentially sent away to die.

This Alois is rumored to be monstrous, as he doesn't socialize and people who have interacted with him mention his poor temperament. Since Mohnton is a land where criminals were dumped, it would suit him to have a ruthless side to him. Camilla is sent off to be a bridal candidate for him, since other women are too scared, but it's wildly expected that Alois will just kill her instead. Camilla still has her uncontrollable temper and bad attitude, which everyone assumes will frustrate Alois and he'd put her out of her misery himself.

Camilla herself is not thrilled about this and is even a bit worried about the potential of dying at Alois' own hands. She still loves Julian, but has come to the terms that he wants her dead since he himself came up with the idea to send her to Alois. When she meets Alois, she does find him attractive, but also intimidating.

Instead of screaming at him to lose weight like in the original story, she holds her tongue more at first, worried that a wrong word may get her killed. Their first meal together is intense, with Alois telling her that he has no intention of keeping her around and that he doesn't trust her. Not wanting to get thrown to the streets, Camilla's new goal is to find ways to get on his good side while she tries to figure out a viable escape plan that guarantees a comfortable life for her.

Now, delving into the more spoiler territory of his character, Alois is a man who experienced some serious childhood trauma. This is still the case in the AU variant of him.

The events in the original are still canon up until Alois is 15 years old. This means that:

1. Camilla had still given him her cookies when he was 10.

2. He was taken from his true home and had his memories wiped.

3. His "parents" still treated him poorly and forced him to adopt fake traditions with the intention of altering his appearance.

Alois is secretly the true second prince in the story, but he was kidnapped and swapped with a fake shortly after his 10th birthday. He was forced to grow up in Mohnton and assume the identity of the heir to the duchy. However, because of his princely features (his red eyes and silver hair), Alois might be revealed as the true prince and ruin their plan.

To avoid looking too much like a distinguished royal, Alois was forced to eat an absurd amount of food, all heavily doused with fat and sugar. He also was not permitted to use skin creams to protect against the miasma in the air. Because of this, he rapidly gained weight just as planned.

However, once Alois turned 15, was when a switch flipped inside his brain in the AU. Tired of playing the part of the obedient son, suffering at the hands to please his parents, he rebelled against them. He was sick of eating the revolting food all the time, tired of feeling terrible as the food took a toll on his health.

His parents were not pleased and it devolved into a huge fight between them. He lost control of his magical powers during the fight and ended up killing them. At first he was shocked, but ultimately relieved not to be under their control anymore. The senior servants panic and try to control the situation, but he threatens to do the same to them if they dare force the traditions to continue.

Alois ends up losing the excess weight by returning to a healthy diet and engaging in active hobbies; favoring ones that can allow him to defend himself without relying on magic as it can be unpredictable. Despite this, he retains trauma from feeling like a prisoner in his own body for 5 years.

Having Camilla as a bridal candidate was not something that Alois wanted. Not only does he distrust strangers, he also has no experience with women. So he does not know how to properly interact with her and tries to keep his distance initially.

When she arrives, he gives her the courtesy of having one meal with her per day, but he does not care to bring up conversation with her. Their meals are initially eaten in silence as Camilla tries to figure him out.

Although he is intimidating, he does not wish to bring any harm to Camilla. He makes sure that she is given proper accommodations so that she isn't uncomfortable during her stay. Even if he doesn't want to marry her, he's not cruel to her for no reason.

Just like in the original plot, when Camilla mentions that she likes cooking, he's compliant with her using the kitchen. He says that he would consider sampling some of what she makes, provided that it's not overwhelmingly sweet.

The servants still don't like Camilla much, but she also doesn't have to deal with the rude head maid Gerda.

While Alois is skilled with magic and has a lot of it because of his bloodline, he still trains regularly in other forms of combat. Mostly out of precaution and he finds that he can be more precise with physical attacks if he needs to defend himself in a pinch. As a result, he's in much better shape than his canon self.

This makes him look more like royalty, specifically more like a sibling of the two princes. There had been rumors of him being an illegitimate heir, with the past duchess having an affair with the king that resulted in Alois' conception. Alois himself couldn't care less about being a prince, truthful or not, and just wants to live a life of solidarity.

He trains so much because he is afraid of showing weakness after what he had gone through during his late childhood. Deep down, he secretly knows that his parents were trying to kill him off slowly by making him eat unhealthily for five years. So he does this as a continued act of defiance and self preservation.

Since Alois is not "The Toad of the Swamp", Camilla makes no jabs at his appearance. Instead she finds herself struggling to keep her eyes off of him, worrying that staring too much will have negative consequences.

Ah, the trauma. This poor man has a lot of it. Arguably more so than the original Alois, but probably a typical amount for cold dukes. While the canon Alois is slightly more open, this AU version buries his feelings like he's hiding previous treasure from thieves.

While he bottles up his emotions, there are times when they all come loose. Especially when his parents are brought up, more specifically the things they put him through. When Camilla eventually broaches this topic with him after seeing an old family portrait, with a younger, pudgier Alois, he completely loses it.

This is the moment Camilla realizes how flawed he actually is, despite his usual nonchalant, cold demeanor. She gets to understand him more as a person and see why he acts in the way he does. Camilla is terrible with providing comfort, but she knows how to listen, something that Alois never trusted anyone to do before.

Alois goes into full detail explaining his hatred for his parents actions and how he was rewarded by them by having to fix everything all on his own. He couldn't even trust his own servants, so many of them were discarded and replaced with new ones after the incident. He even goes so far to say that he doesn't even like his responsibilities that much, but he does then anyway because he is the sole heir to the dukedom.

From this moment onwards, Camilla decides to act nicer to Alois. Usually offering to be someone to vent to, in exchange Camilla vents her problems to him. This is what really starts to bond the two of them.

Just like in the original, Alois is still the ML, while Camilla is the FL. So by the same string of fate, they are destined to fall in love. And just like in canon, Alois falls first. Not to say Camilla isn't attracted to him initially this time around.

After they start talking and being more honest with each other, he finds himself wanting to spend more time with her. Though since he initially wanted nothing to do with her, it's hard for him to say he wants the opposite. So he spends a good portion secretly pining for her.

The main story events are when they really get to interact. Like when Alois has to go somewhere in the duchy, he makes up some excuse for why she should come along. At this point Camilla is no longer afraid of him and is somewhat happy to see new parts of the territory.

He's really bad at feelings. Poor guy doesn't know how to flirt to save his life, let alone have a charming conversation with a lady. His ego is too big to turn to Klaus this time around, so he's figuring it all out on his own. Camilla is usually not able to pick up on his interest, but she still finds him endearing.

At the very end of this AU they get married. Something we didn't see in the original story unfortunately. Alois ends up proposing to Camilla, who ends up liking him more than she expected, and she accepts.

I don't really have much to say about their wedding, just that Camilla's parents were not invited. Her personal maid from the royal capital, Diana, was able to come and then live with them in their estate. Other characters that show up, Klaus, Gunter, Nicole, they're all there too.

Oh right, the villains of the original novel. In this AU, it's bittersweet as while Alois and Camilla find happiness, the villains get away with their plans. Alois has no idea he's the true second prince and is finding his own happiness with the woman he loves.

Thanks for viewing this word dump of an AU! Not sure if I'll write a full fanfiction of it, but a small short here and there are high possibilities! This fandom needs more love.

#the villainess wants to make her husband slim down #growing fandom #otome isekai #au gust #au #fanfic ideas #alois montchat #character study #spoilers #traumatized characters #bing image creator #new fandom friendly #long post

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