Can't wait to hear more from the land of oddly pale characters, unless embarrassed or corrected. Each chapter's end leaves me sad and disappointed and wanting much more of this, meaning you have me hooked!!!
On the subject of the middle of the scale scene, absolutely! More possible different outcomes, while hard on the designer, means more replay-ability. Also injecting certain trap choices where the story controls an arrogant or manipulative player and corrects them unexpectedly with consequences outside their usual preferences could be fun, even if the story then dominates them and forces them all the way to the other extreme. As can completely randomized events creating a never the same story twice game.
And getting the princess out of the boring damn castle and back into trouble where every spoiled brat belongs is a must! It will be amusing to see the changes in their dynamic now that the MC isn't the naive little girl she once was. And neither is the princess!
Let the sparks fly!
Keep in mind there is a war on meaning innocents always suffer, the brave always die and, in real life, evil always prospers and usually wins. But then this is a game!