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It is the Late Middle Ages, in a small kingdom in the midst of upheaval.
In times long past, the royal family laid waste to the kingdom in their savage, inhumane fight to possess the throne. To avoid this tragedy ever occurring again, it was decreed that someone with a pure, beautiful heart would represent the people and choose each future king. They would be known as “Belle”.
Your king has died, and a new story is about to unfold. Eight princes stand in line for the throne. Eight princes called “beasts” for their ferocity in battle. Only one can be chosen as the next king. Only Belle can make that choice… And this time, you are the one known as Belle.
In a world of war and intrigue, Belle and the Beast must fight against fate’s cruelty if they ever hope to find true love.
A new story begins here: a story of Beauty and her Beast unlike any you’ve ever known.
–Ikémen Prince: Beauty and Her Beast
The game obviously takes heavy inspiration from Beauty and the Beast. It’s set in a fictional world in the Late Middle Ages with mostly French and some Germanic influences. The nations surrounding the central country, Rhodolite, also feature Italian, Japanese, and Arabian elements, and perhaps some others that I just haven’t noticed or pinpointed yet.
I call A Dove’s Tale and its family of stories historical romances, but I haven’t paid too much attention to historical accuracy yet because the game doesn’t. It’s a fictional world, so it doesn’t have to, and its target audience is modern women, so language and concepts need to be modern and relatable to reach a wider audience.
When I finally get to a point where I feel the storyline is complete, I actually want to focus more on historical accuracy. I’ve done some basic preliminary research, but I’ll have to do a lot more when I get to that point. Here’s a quick summary for anybody who’s interested.
Per Wikipedia, the Middle Ages lasted from the fifth to late fifteenth centuries (400s -1400s). The Late Middle Ages started in the fourteenth century (1300s).
A major key to pinpointing the game’s setting in a real-world timeline is the development of guns. These were first developed in the 1300s, but they were dangerous to use and unreliable, so knights and mounted cavalry continued as the norm in warfare until firearms became safer and easier to use. When guns became useful, the knighthood died out.
The game says guns exist, and Obsidian, the antagonizing power on the continent, is working to develop and improve them ahead of the times, so that all sits well with the 1300s.
Corsets weren’t around in the Middle Ages, by the way. I’m cutting them out in the next rewrite. I’m sure Ivetta will appreciate that.
Also, plumbing. I joke there will always be toilets in my stories, because I put my characters through enough trauma without denying them indoor plumbing, and really, it would be pretty rotten of me to make Ivetta haul buckets of water from a well every time Chevalier wants a bath.
But this is a fictional world, so I can get away with that. And indoor plumbing has actually been around longer than people realize. Rome had many engineering marvels, including indoor plumbing. Flushing toilets existed in ancient Crete in the sixteenth century BC. Medieval Iraq (eighth to thirteenth centuries or 700s-1200s) had sewer systems and running water supplies for public bathhouses.
Moral of the story? I figure the Rhodolitian palace and other domiciles of royalty and wealthy, high-ranking nobility can keep their plumbing, and those who can’t afford such luxuries can deal with outhouses and chamber pots.
You’re welcome, Ivetta.
Any history buffs out there? I’m always open to feedback and suggestions for all of my stories, and history did-you-knows and resources are especially welcome for this particular area.
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