Love the Guard, Be the King - A Visual Novel

Two children raised together. One, a future King. The other, his whipping child.
Their relationship? It's up to you to develop.

This is the first game in "The Many Kingdoms" Visual Novel series.

Love the Guard, Be the King is purely a Fantasy Visual Novel game focused on Romance and/or Friendship, written and developed by solo dev Ligia Nunes, author of "Bear in Sheep's Clothing."
This is a game with extensive LGBTQ+ representation in which you can choose to play as straight, gay, bi, pan, ace, etc. In this first game of the series, you only have one Love Interest, Mathias.

✨Age suggested: 16+ for non-explicit sexual scenes, some soft swearing, and violence.✨

MATHIAS’S HEART HAS BEEN bleeding since his father, the former King, decided to punish you for his mistakes. As the youngest child of a lesser bourgeois, you were raised in the castle, between the King’s cruelty, the Queen’s friendship, and Mathias’s kindness (or supposed kindness?).
Now, more than twenty Carnivals since your arrival, the King is dead and the Queen’s sickness worsens each day. As the azure taint spreads in the kingdom and the Opalean Wars come to an end, it’s Mathias’s time to sit on the throne. Will the docile Prince become a kind King, a violent Monarch, or a ruthless Tyrant?
Will you have any say in it?
And how much will your relationship change? Develop your personality and see how your choices build and change your bond with Mathias. It’s time to help him choose. Will your monarch Love the Guard or Be the King?
FEATURES
Create your Dragon Commander; choose their gender, name, appearance, and hobbies.

Build your personality.

You past helps you build your future: decide how you feel about your past and see how that develops your bonds with the other characters of the cast.

270K+ words

Black & White aesthetic

24 black & white CGs + 2 colored illustrations

One Love Interest with five possible types of branching relationships, non-romantic options included, and possible romantic rendezvous with other characters while in Mathias’s friendship route.

LGBTQIA+ friendly + representation (you can choose your gender and your relationship with Mathias and Mandreis)

Age suggested: 16+ for non-explicit sexual scenes, some soft swearing, and violence.

THE CAST
♥ Mathias Jan Yvanson (Love Interest) - The Crown Prince - 28 - He / Him - Bi/demisexual
You and Mathias were raised together. As you grew up, he would often read for you, treat your wounds, and he honestly thought he was protecting you while your whole life went up in flames.
Mathias is the future King of Opala, but something seems to be missing, and you're not the only one who sees it. With Mathias being the target of a ravenous court, it's up to you to give him the guidance and answers he needs—or to sit back and watch as the flames get higher. He may seem innocent and good, but there's an underlying layer of guilt shaping his personality. Will you enforce it, break it, or use it in your favor?
♥ Mandreis Jay Yvanson (possible fling) - The Grand General - 26 - They / Them - Pansexual
Mathias's sibling and the-one-who-didn't-have-a-whipping-child. Like you, Mandra was also a victim of King Elias's punishments, and it shows in the many scars they carry.
Everything Mandra does has a reason, and no matter how reckless, rude, or violent they may be, you can be sure of one thing: they'll have Mathias exactly in the place he should be, one way or another. Mandra was once the child who ran after you and Mathias. Today, they're the Grand General of the Opalean Forces, and the symbol of everything that could've gone right—but didn't. Their intentions? Not even the Goddess knows. Their heart? It belongs to only one person.
♥ Melike Jal Yvanson - The Ambassador - 22 - She/Her - Bisexual
Mathias and Mandra's younger sister and the child-who-was-sent-away. Melike has been living in Safira as a hostage and ambassador for the past five years. She is considered The Royal Flower of Opalean nobility, and despite having stayed almost a decade away from home, she is still loved by the nobles and the people alike.
Also known as the “Child of the two Queens,” Melike has always been a constant in the Opaleans' lives. When Queen Yvana lost control, Melike’s missives from Safira, read out loud by criers in the public market, were the only thing filling her people with hope.
Melike is a gifted Arcano, attentive, gentle, and terribly intelligent—but she is also dangerous. She likes the metaphor about flowers and thorns, but, as her namesake indicates, she prefers the idea of being poisonous.
♠ Queen Yvana Jal Yvanson - THE Queen - 53 - She / Her - Bi
The Queen was the one responsible for bringing you into the Castle, decades ago. She used to be sweet and good while you were growing up, but something changed and nobody knows exactly what. Now, as the Azure Taint consumes her, Queen Yvana seems to slowly go back to her former self. Be careful, though. Her gentle countenance hides secrets that go much beyond the black cherry wood forming her crown.
♠ Doctor Helena Filtchen - The Spymaster The Royal Doctor - 56 - She / Her - Lesbian
Brutal when needed, incisive when asked, and always paying attention. Some people might think her long-lasting, romantic relationship with Queen Yvana left her too soft to keep acting in the shadows, but Dr. Filtchen is always ready to prove them wrong. She's now focused on studying the Azure Taint and on finding a cure. If she'll find it in time or not, that's another story.
♣ Master Mercurio - The Great Arcanos - ??? - He / Them - Demisexual
Nobody knows exactly where he comes from, but "Master Curio," as Mathias has always called him, is possibly one of, if not the most powerful Arcane Mage in all the Five Kingdoms. Nobody knows why or how Master Curio chooses their students or how many they are, but he is in Opala now to train Mathias—and he better not waste the opportunity.
♣ ...And YOU! - The Dragon Commander
Child of a lesser bourgeois, you were raised in the Castle with everything a royal child could have—plus a painful coating of scars that mask your back, arms, nape, and face. Build your own Dragon Commander, your relationship with Mathias and the others, and discover the past that binds you all, so you can stir your present in the direction you want... and maybe decide the future of the entire kingdom.

About the dev:
Writing stories that welcome you home. Brazilian, 90's kid, panromantic, demisexual, interested in all things artistic.
Ligia Nunes is an award-winning writer, Visual Novel Developer, feminist, queer, and Brazilian Latina born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil. At the same time writer, illustrator, translator, and terrible karaokê singer, she's the type of supervillain who's decided to dream big and conquer the Word. Ligia puts her characters to play, battle, and fall hopelessly in love in medieval settings built with her favorite cities' dark corners as bricks, technology as blood, and Brazilian folklore as soul. When she’s not wickedly plotting against her main characters—or making them pine for one another—she’s developing games or searching for the perfect pistachio ice cream.