Princess Annabel, who is unable to use magic, is entering into a political marriage, but her fiancé, King Daniel, treats her with affection. But Daniel’s words of love turn into words of hate; Annabel and her knight, Edoile (Ed) are imprisoned and their kingdom conquered as another princess, Karina, becomes Daniel’s bride.
A twelve-year-old Annabel wakes up and thinks all of that was just a dream. But when she realizes she has Ed’s Magic Stone — the last thing he created before he presumably died — she knows she’s traveled back in time to six years ago. Annabel decides to live her life more freely this time around to avoid her (and her kingdom’s) downfall. Her first idea? Go to school!
Reset! The Imprisoned Princess Dreams of Another Chance! seems like it would fall into the revenge time travel/slip genre, as it’s the combination of Ed’s death and seeing Karina that awakens Annabel’s long-latent magical abilities. But her younger self is still unable to cast spells. Most of all, though, Annabel doesn’t have much of a plan or goal. Her thought process is basically do things differently = different outcome. A bit simple and childish. In Annabel’s defense, while she wasn’t a lazy, spoiled princess, she wasn’t raised to just be married off. So even though Annabel has six extra years of knowledge, she doesn’t (or can’t) become some sort of 3D chess master.
Still, I wish she had some sort of long-term aim. I mean, avoiding marrying Daniel shouldn’t be hard, but you’d think she would try to be dropping hints to her family or find an aide to secretly investigate. Instead, she’s focused on her school studies and other new experiences like going to town or horseback riding.
Oh, and falling in love. Annabel initially assumes this Ed is her knight from the past, but he’s not. They weren’t romantically involved before, but Annabel’s special attention toward Ed makes it easy to understand why he falls for her. Annabel doesn’t pick up on the signs or her own changing heart for years.
While on that subject, the progression of time wasn’t handled well in the story. There’s an event, then Annabel narrates it’s been several months. Rinse and repeat. I had a hard time remembering how old she was and what grade she was in. The latter is somewhat important because some school events are only open to certain grades. Also, Annabel joins the academy in the middle of the year, so that throws things off a bit as well.
Most of the novel falls into a typical fantasy/medieval school life light novel, but there’s an added layer of mystery here different from most time loop stories. No one knows how Ed was able to send Annabel into the past, and she eventually begins to wonder about life in her original time. Like, in this life, she learns the castle has teleporters. So is it possible her “old” family was okay? Is this literally her dreaming? Did Ed even really die? And speaking of Ed, how much will current-Ed discern from the existence of past-Ed’s protection spell and Magic Stone? One of the two bonus stories is from his point-of-view, and it beautifully demonstrates his jealousy and curiosity regarding the creator of that stone.
Whether Annabel tells him or not, I like how the past may not be disregarded by her or the novel. In the author’s notes, Misawa writes the two are connected and some foreshadowing was included. Annabel’s tale of experiencing school life and first love is enjoyable, but these elements pushed Reset! The Imprisoned Princess Dreams of Another Chance! volume 1 out of “just good” territory into one I’m very much looking forward to continuing.