Prologue Everything was perfect. I didn't mind that the one-bedroom basement apartment was only the size of a bathroom in my previous home. And the fact I would have to get a job to support myself sometime soon ‘was also not an issue. Everything was perfect because I had finally escaped from that hellish house I used to call "home." [had finally gained my freedom. I could've been perfectly happy for the rest of my life with just that alone. But it wouldn't last. "I'm pretty sure I told you to live quietly, like a mouse, without making any fuss; so quiet not even your breathing could be heard," he spoke. His glare, filled with hatred, was focused on me as if he was looking at some hideous bug. I kept my head down. "They say you made a scene and acted like a mad dog at the banquet celebrating the crown prince's return." The icy, deadly glare that promised violence and death was familiar to me. It was the kind of gaze I often received at that house. Even though it was familiar to me, that didn't mean I was comfortable experiencing it again, “What were you thinking?" The man continued. His aura was so oppressive I could barely breathe. My lips trembled from fear. It was then, in that moment, a white text box appeared in front of me. I could see the words as they were written line by line. 1. How do I know? 2. Ididn't have a purpose. 3. (With a pitiful tone of voice) Well... Um, that's. What is this... a dream? I thought. I nearly voiced the words out loud but could not. I can't speak. It was as if something was stuck in my throat. I couldn't let out a sound! "You had better speak." The man in front of me threatened as I stood there in silence. His deadly aura ‘was so strong I could feel it on my skin. Where am I? Who is this person? I just woke up after falling asleep! I don't know what this is, but if I don't choose an answer I might die! Without much consideration I selected option number 3 in the white box. "Well... Um, that's..." The same words from the box left my lips automatically; I had no control over my What the? What's this?! I thought. My jaw dropped, baffled at my own actions and words. I couldn't wrap my mind around the current situation. I was in an unfamiliar place when I woke, and found myself face to face with this stranger who held a deadly intent. I couldn't think of a single explanation. "Well um that's... what's next?" He demanded with a terrifying look. He didn’t seem to like my incomplete answer. As if on cue new sentences appeared in the box. 1. I'm sorry. I'l act appropriately next time. 2. A stupid maid was the one to start all this fuss. 3. Those lesser beings treated me lowly. Me, who is the only daughter of Eckart! ‘There was no time to idle and contemplate what was going on right now. I quickly picked the best answer I could considering the mood. "'m sor -" He interrupted before I could finish. “If this was something that could end with a simple apology, we wouldn't be standing here in front of each other right now." My heart dropped hearing his piercing tone; I curled my body instinctively, keeping my head low. "Penelope Eckart," He continued in an icy tone. Penelope Eckart? The name seemed familiar somehow. "As punishment, we'll withdraw our name, 'Eckart', from you for some time."‘That line and the name were very familiar. With a start I raised my head. I could see the face of the man before me clearly, now. The man who stood some distance away from the bed was not one of those people from that house, as expected, but a foreigner I've never seen before. He had ocean blue eyes with hair as black as obsidian. Above him was a long bar that resembled a phone's battery bar with a white word that sparkled inside of it - Favorability. "From this moment onwards I place you on probation. Not only are you banned from attending banquets, but you are also banned from leaving your room. Think of what you did wrong and how you should act from now on while you repent." I could only stare up at him in silence. What I did wrong? "What are you looking at?" He said with a frown, "Why are you avoiding my eyes and looking elsewhere?" He was displeased with me staring at something else instead of paying attention to his words. But I did not react. I could only stare at the bar above his head. [Favorability 0%] ‘No Way.. I thought. I shook my head a few times without realizing, rejecting what my eyes were showing me. It was truly unbelievable; really, truly. “The rumors of your insanity must have been true." He spat. He glared at me for a moment then abruptly turned away. He walked through the door with quick long strides as if he couldn't stomach being in the same place as me a second longer. I could only watch as [Favorability 0%] moved away from me. What did I do wrong? I thought. Staring at the back of the retreating figure I could begin to consider what was going on. But before I could, I felt someone else's eyes on me, with an aura that full of malice. I turned to find another man in the room standing with arms crossed in the shadow by the door. He had the same ocean blue eyes as the man who just left and hair pink like a delicate rose. He stood there, smirking with contempt. [Favorability -10%] ‘The words sparkled in white above the young man. It's even in the negative! "Stupid bitch. Serves you right." Such ugly words came from his pretty face. He left the room, following the dark haired man, slamming the door as he went. Finally alone with time to think, my mind could only draw a blank. I was so shocked I wasn't thinking clearly and I couldn't understand what was going on at all. After afew moments began to come back to my senses, This room and those two men both seemed somehow familiar. “It’s a lie, right? There's no way, though." I could finally speak freely when alone, though I didn't realize iat the time. This scene, those people -It was all identical to a scene from that game t was playing Before going to bed last ight Te was playing out as Wit were teal Pgutin Nontof mel And With me as ne ofthe characters in the game “"V'm dreaming right now," I muttered to myself, Try as I might, I couldn't think of any other explanation for what was happening other than a dream, But no matter how much I pulled at my hair or pinched my cheeks I still couldn't wake from this dream, "N, no... No, no! No! I say no!" Penelope Eckart. She was the villainess of the most popular otome game for girls these days, and the heroine of the hard mode difficulty.Chapter 1 ‘The story of an orphan adopted into a wealthy noble family - What a romantic setting, especially for a girl. If it were a novel or television drama she would be the heroine of her own Cinderella story. The reality was nothing like the stories. Real life isn't a novel or a drama. When my mother died my estranged father, a wealthy businessman, adopted me. For the crime of suddenly appearing in their lives, my two older half-brother bullied and harassed me from day one. ‘They were cruel. They insulted me and even pulled pranks with my food. My halfbrothers' torment became my new normal. Any hope of reprieve at school was quickly dashed. They made my school life miserable, They made me "target number 1" for the school bullies. The biggest bully was my second half-brother, the younger of the two. He wasn't much older than me and we spent one year of school together. Even after he graduated the bullying only got worse. That's how it always seemed to go. If ever anything changed, it always changed for the worse, never better. It didn’t help that Father's wife died from an illness. Her death hung heavy on my brothers. Even though she died long before I was born those insane bastards blamed the young me as if I were the one who killed their mother. Their torment was so relentless I almost began to believe I really was the one responsible for their mother's death. ‘Though I lived in luxury, I felt every part the beggar in my own home. Living with my mother in a one: room apartment or a future in an orphanage, either would have been better than the life I had with my father and brothers. I lost a noticeable amount of weight and it seemed that with each pound lost I gained scars and bruises, as if to replace the missing weight. The man who called himself my father, who brought me into that house, didn’t even care. He didn't give a damn about anything they did. Why did you bring me here if all of you were going to be like that? Just send me to the orphanage already! I would often think to myself. ‘And when I did lash out with anger or complaints, they meant nothing to anyone. For someone like me, ‘who lived in poverty with a single mother, it was best to just give up. I would only regret it if I resorted to begging for love and affection from people who treated me worse than a wild animal. I wanted to leave, but I didn't have a single dollar of my own and no place to stay if Ileft. So I studied hard until I graduated. It paid off when I was accepted to a prestigious university. It wasn't because I wanted to be recognized by those bastards. I worked hard to get into a prestigious university just so I could have a reason to move out and escape that hellish family. ‘The day I received my acceptance letter I ran to my father with a bright smile for the first time in my life, "Father! Look! I was accepted! I was accepted!" I nearly shouted with joy. "So? Spit out the reason you came to me." He responded gruffly. He didn't have a single word of congratulations. I didn't really care, though, since I didn't expect anything from him, “I want your approval to live on my own. I want to live close to the university; it will help me to succeed. You can at least do this much for me, right?" Father frowned at this unexpected request. I couldn't help but wonder why. Isn't this beneficial for them, too? The child they all hate so much tells them she'll leave on her own ~ how could they not be happy about this? After a moment's pause father continued. “Alright. I approve." My escape plan worked out smoothly! There was only one problem. Father left the job of finding a place for me to stay to the first asshole, my oldest half-brother, who was preparing to lead both the family and the family company as heir. It's because of that miscalculation I get to live in this underground basement filled with dust and mold. But if that was the price to pay for freedom, it was fine with me. Nothing could make me unhappy after leaving that house. soon forgot about my depressing middle school and high school years. At university I made many new friends. And it was thanks to these friends I was introduced to that game. “Lady's Love-Love Project? What the hell? That sounds so childish." I said, It was an extremely popular phone game among my friends. The illustrations and the title of the gamewere more than enough to know what kind of game it was, and it made me cringe. I really wasn't that interested in playing it, but it was all my friends talked about at school. Not wanting to be left out, I downloaded it just to check it out. It was my day off from volunteering, so I had nothing else planned and plenty of time to play. ‘The game was divided into normal mode and hard mode. | figured it made sense to do the normal mode first. I clicked on the button for normal mode without hesitation. I figured I could play a chapter or two and then go to bed. The game started with a prologue video that introduced all of the characters. “Lost during an accident 6 years ago, the youngest daughter of the ducal house comes back and regains her title as a Lady." ‘The story began with the innocent and pure female protagonist entering the stage with light, bright and happy background music. | ignored the pretty illustrations; quality artwork wasn't anything special in games like this. It was a classic Otome style game - you capture the hearts of the male characters by raising their interest or favorability in the heroine. While you're at it, the heroine can also get rid of the villainess, raise her wealth, and raise her fame among the people. At the end of the game you receive a love confession from the male character with the highest favorability. ‘The game was actually really fun. The cringy-titled game that seemed so childish was actually good. It had an intricate plot that was nicely planned-out and well written. The game also had a lot of problem- solving so I didn't get bored. The game system was quite advanced for a cellphone game. Even though high quality illustrations aren't uncommon in games like these, I found myself drawn into it; it was clear the illustrator put their heart and soul into the artwork. It also didn't hurt that the story matched my own circumstances with the heroine being the long-lost child of a wealthy household. So in a way I ‘was personally invested in the game. Among the male capture targets there were the two older brothers of the heroine. The main story was set within the ducal mansion. The two brothers didn't welcome their younger sister who appeared out of nowhere, but instead they only bothered her. Similar to what I went through. I thought to myself. Though the treatment I received was as different ‘as night and day compared to the heroine of the game. Over time the brothers felt guilty for how they treated their sister. Watching the protagonist captured their hearts little by little had me diving deep into the game. Me, who only wanted to try the game, found myself now drowning in it. Even though it was my first time playing a game like this I reached the end easily. I had to agree with my friends, it was fun. But the normal mode was way too easy, even for a beginner like me. From the start all of the male characters' favorability towards the heroine started at 30%. At that point they may ‘as well have called it easy mode instead of normal mode! I couldn't put the game down and saw every character's ending within three hours. After beating all of the normal mode endings a box popped on the screen that said ‘Hidden Ending’ with a lock on it, I clicked it "A hu-- hundred dollars?! Are they crazy? Why is it so expensive?" To see the hidden ending, you needed to either pay a ridiculous price or finish the hard mode of each route. "Shit... I's already midnight though." For a brief moment I thought about my early morning classes, “Abh, whatever! Let's finish it!" I had to be insane, controlled by a game like that. I never would have done something like that before. 1 excitedly clicked on the hard mode button. A different video played for the prologue. Grand music began to play as the characters were introduced. “Ooh, the protagonist changed to her." ‘The villainess from normal mode, the fake young lady of the ducal house brought in to replace the real daughter who went missing when she was young, now graced the screen. The hard mode story was set during the time before the heroine appeared in normal mode. It felt like a completely different story. "Maybe this is why the game is so popular." If thought I was tired before, the appearance of the hard mode protagonist's detailed illustration on my screen woke me up for sure. I only grew more and more interested.‘The villainess who was evil to the angelic heroine was now the one who had to win the hearts of the strict love-guarded male leads. It was exciting in a way I couldn't quite explain. Since normal mode was so easy I thought, how hard could hardmode really be? I expected the choices would be a bit more difficult and that was all. How wrong I was! "Ack! Ack! Why did I die again!?" Hard mode was extremely difficult. ‘The villainess's story was set up such that raising the capture targets' favorability was extremely hard. It wasn't only that - the favorability raised would instantly drop to 0% and you would get a game over after just one mistake. Game over wasn't just a normal game over, either. Every game over was a very disturbing death for the villainess-turned:protagonist. "Why did it have to be so extreme?" ‘The illustrations were realistic and cruel. I frowned at the illustration of the protagonist losing her head by the crown prince's sword. "This crazy game....." ‘Though I tried to sincerely make good choices, I still died several times. I was so frustrated! What was the producer thinking making hard mode like this? This was horrible game design! I died so many times I was getting stressed out. "Please let me live for once, please!" At first my goal was unlocking the hidden ending, but that goal was long forgotten and replaced with a new goal: to see the poor pitiful villainess not die and live a happy life with at least one of the male leads. What makes the villainess the guilty one? She looked so evil in normal mode, but if you look at it from her perspective, she didn't really do much wrong. Why is everyone treating her like this? Honestly, it was the author who made her the villain! The heroine in the normal mode earns everyone's love too easily. No matter what choice I made favorability went up. On the other hand, the abused and mistreated villainess only became more miserable, no matter how much she begged for affection. Her circumstances reminded me of my life before. "I'm seeing the endings to this no matter what." I was resolved, I was killed again by those bastard older brothers. My grinding teeth could be heard throughout the room. I died so many times I couldn't even remember! My hands trembled, clenching my warm phone. I ‘was getting too emotional. It's just a game. But I couldn't stop myself from pressing the reset button again and again. With each reset I started again from the beginning. I chose the correct lines, slowly raised their favorability, received fame, glamour and money to open up the new route. "Ack! Why!? Why!?" I died again, It was so annoying. I might be better off just buying the favorability using real money. If the producer's goal was to make others pay for the damned thing, they greatly succeeded. They even made me, a person who values money like no one else, want to buy favorability and the hidden ending. In the end I did not use my own money. But I was on fire all night playing to see the ending with at least one of the capture targets. Die, start over. Die, and start over again. Die, Die, And die again. I kept dying until sunrise. I played all night but I was never able to see the ending for any of the routes, "Buck..... Again..." [almost pressed the reset button, but I just couldn't handle it anymore. I was exhausted. I fainted and fell asleep with my phone still in my hand. When I opened my eyes next a man addressed me. "Penelope Eckart." The man stood before me. There was a long empty bar that resembled a phone's battery bar with a white word that sparkled inside of it - Favorability 0%.“As punishment, we'll withdraw our name, 'Eckart', from you for some time." I was the villainess in a game I could never beat.Chapter 2 My Lady." "My Lady. Please get up now." Even though I was deep asleep, I woke from just the faintest presence of someone whispering above me. Hoping that all of this was just a dream kept me awake all night. I refused to accept what happened. I spent hours wishing hard to just wake up. I must've fallen asleep at some point, though. "Lady." A cautious woman's voice called out to me. Is she calling me? I thought. The two men with blue eyes had already left, and from what I could remember no one else was in the room last night except for me. I supposé by a process of elimination that meant the only one who could be addressed as "lady" was me. I didn't answer her. I was drowsy and lost in thought. Answering the person calling out to me was not ‘on my mind. A moment later I heard a rustling sound from behind. Half-awake I decided it was time to get up from bed when a lightning sharp pain shot up my forearm from outside of the comforter. "Ack!" My eyes flew open and I screamed, jumping and kicking my comforter away. I pulled my sleeves up to see what caused the sudden pain. I looked wide-eyed at pale skin that contrasted starkly with my sky blue pajama sleeves. My jaw dropped; my forearm was covered with blue and purple bruises and scars from what looked like needle marks. If the skin of my arm were fabric, it would be littered with holes. I was still in a state of shock when I noticed a small drop of blood oozing from a freshly pricked mark. "You're awake now." The woman's unconcerned voice came from beside the bed. I turned to find a brown haired girl with a face full of freckles. She was a maid. When I played the game none of the maids had faces, but they all wore the same maid outfit. A maid outfit just like what the girl standing at my bedside wore. I don't know where she hid the needle, but there was nothing in her hands now. She merely stood there observing me, mocking me with a satisfied grin. What's wrong with her? Doing this kind of thing to someone just sleeping in bed!? Topened my mouth to snap at her. "1 No matter how hard I tried no words came. Damn it, my voice won't come out! Am I not able to say anything if there aren't any choices? Why isn't anyone helping me in this kind of situation? Damn it! All I could do was glare at the maid, unable to speak. The maid acted as if nothing of note had happened. “I've prepared the bath. If you would please, go and wash yourself, Lady." Her lips curled in an evil smile as she began to make the bed with me still in it. It was clear she was used to getting away with doing harm to this body. I sat on the bed a while, biting my lower lip, but eventually the maid urged me to leave and go to the bathroom. She said she prepared the bath, but the only thing I found was a basin of ice cold water. I got goosebumps just dipping my fingertip in it. I didn't expect her to attend to me, but this, this is just too much. I thought, ‘The game did say the villainess was terribly mistreated, but it never explained the specifics. Seeing how I was being mistreated forced me to again confront the reality of the situation: I've actually entered the game. I pulled up my nightgown sleeve to look at the old scars and freshly forming scabs. Tears began to well up. What is this? Nothing like this was shown in the ga- I suddenly remembered an illustration from the game where the villainess wore an open-shouldered dress. The villainess had several small dots drawn ‘on one of her forearms. I thought it was a small mistake by the artist or possibly a birthmark. I thought that maybe they were something important that would come up in one of the stories | failed to unlock. I never would have guessed they were traces of Penelope's abuse! For a brief moment in this unbelievable mess, I was surprised at how detailed the game's story was to have such small yet important details in an illustration.“Lady. Breakfast has been prepared. Are you done yet?" The maid urged from the other side of the bathroom door. I was annoyed, but I didn't have a choice. I dipped my hand into the freezing cold water. This is nothing. I suffered far worse from those bastard step brothers for years. This barely tickled! I was so angry I wanted to lash out at the maid, stabbing that bitch with a needle like she did to me, but I would have to restrain myself. There was just too much I didn't know. And I was still stuck in a state where I couldn't even speak freely. 1 dried my face with a towel and stepped out of the bathroom. I could see a small table set with some food on it, just as the maid said. It seemed I would be eating my meals in my room. It was probably part of my probation when the first son of the Duke grounded me. “Take a seat, Lady." ‘The maid pulled me towards my seat. As soon as I sat down I frowned. The food before me wasn't fit for human consumption; it didn't look edible at all. There was a plate with a piece of moldy blue bread and a bow] filled with some sort of thick grey soup with mysterious solids floating around. Is this pile of garbage my meal? I'm supposed to eat this? I thought. “Hurry up and eat. I know you're hungry." The maid smiled widely. I clenched my teeth and glared at her. A white square popped into view right in front of my eyes. 1. (Flipping the table) What's this? Are you crazy?! Bring me the chef right now! Right now! 2. (Shove the fork in the maid's mouth) You're telling me to eat this slop that not even a dog would eat? How about you do it first! 3. (Eat) ‘These choices, I knew them. I got "Game Over" twice at this scene from choosing wrong. If I chose option 1 every one of the workers would run to the duke and act pitiful and make Penelope out to be a villain. The oldest son who grounded Penelope would hear about it and become so furious that he would prohibit anyone from bringing Penelope "even a single drop of water" during her probation. Penelope would die of hunger and dehydration. On my next attempt I chose option 2. It just so happened that the second son of the duke was passing by and saw the commotion. He jumped to get the villainess off of the maid. In the process he would push Penelope so roughly that She would fall to the floor. Her fork would also fall and stabs her in the neck, killing her. It was truly a ridiculous way to die. In the end there's really only one option to choose. I thought to myself. ‘The scene that followed option 3 was probably one that held some story about the relationship between the villainess and the workers at the mansion. But when I was playing the game I didn't want to watch ‘a scene where the villainess-turned-protagonist was mistreated, so I skipped this episode. There were plenty of other episodes I had to unlock anyway, so I didn’t need to play this one right away. At that moment, though, there was no “return” button that would take me back to the "Episodes" menu. Damn. I ruefully glared at the maid standing next to me and helplessly selected number 3. As soon as I did I began moving automatically by no will of my own, as if someone was controlling my body! My hand took hold of the spoon, scooping up rotten soup. Though I desperately did not want to eat it and fought against it, my hand only trembled slightly as it made its way from the bowl to my mouth. A few drops of grey liquid fell to the table. No matter how strong my disgust was, no matter how strongly I willed it, I couldn't stop my body from moving on its own, The soup was thrust into my unwilling open mouth. Ugh. felt the warm sensation of grey liquid on my tongue and at the same time was overwhelmed by the horrible taste. This wasn't food. It was the taste of boiled organic garbage. My body continued to act on its own, swallowing the garbage water. ‘The maid gasped, as if she really didn't expect me to eat it,Urgh. I feel like I'm going to vomit! I gagged. I was trying so hard to forget the disgusting feeling. I guess that once is enough. | wouldn't die from just a spoonful of organic garbage. I let out a sigh of relief since I safely got through an episode. I was wrong. What's it doing? What? The hand that held the spoon didn't stop. My hands continued to force moldy blue bread and grey soup into my mouth. The maid's face went pale as she watched me eat the spoiled food. My body only ceased its involuntary movements when the Duke's second son happened to enter the room, "What are you doing?" He asked. "Y: young master Reynold!" The maid panicked at the sudden arrival. “Urgh, ugh!" I groaned. Unlike the maid I didn't have the time to focus on our new guest. It took all of my strength to maintain my composure. I felt so nauseous, as if everything I had consumed would come gushing out any moment. I covered my mouth with both of my hands as I gagged. Why do I have to go through things like this? I already experienced more than enough before entering the game. How many times did I suffer at the hands of those two bastards in that hell house? Whether it was school or my food they never left me alone. Because of them I was constantly sick. I've had enough experiencing this kind of stuff in the real world. And now I have to experience it again in this fictional world? The thought made me sick. “Uhh, ugh..." A strand of saliva escaped my mouth, oozing through the gaps between my fingers. I began to tear up from both disgust and the unfairness of the situation. I groaned like a person who just drank poison, Hearing my groans the young man with pink hair approached me. "Hey, are you oka..." he stopped mid-sentence and his eyes grew wide in shock. He stood frozen; his expression grew even more shocked as he saw what was set out on the table. “This...” He looked down on moldy blue bread and rotten soup. It was a mess. No one in their right mind would ever guess that this was served to a lady from a ducal house. Not even a commoner would eat this garbage. At the sight of the half eaten food and his adopted younger sister, heaving and covering her mouth while growing ever more pale, the young man's expression turned from shock to horrifying anger. “What the hell? Hey, what did you just feed her?" “Y, young master! Th, this is, well..." the maid turned pale at the deathly aura coming from the young man. She began to tremble in fear. He obviously never would have guessed. | thought. How could someone just passing by ever have ‘guessed that the fake lady who always complained or made a scene would be quietly eating rotten food, purposely prepared, without complaint? “How dare you mock the duchy! You, a mere maid doing such things to her master's food!?" The pink haired man snapped at the maid who wouldn't answer properly. "Young master! That, that's a misunderstanding! Young master!" She pled. "Get out of my sight! Get out of here now!" He shouted, "Y, young master!" “Tl kindly explain this whole thing to my father and brother," he threatened. "Is there anyone out there? Where's the butler!" The pink haired man turned to the door.calling for help.Chapter 3 "Is there anyone out there? Where's the butler!" The young man shouted toward the door. It was not long after that the butler, along with a great many of the staff, came bursting through the door. "Second young master! What's the matter?" The butler asked. “This bitch!" He pointed at the maid, "Take her away and lock her in a cell." "Y-young master! I'm sorry! Young master! Young master!" the maid who had been tormenting me since this morning cried out as she was dragged from the room. With a single gesture of the pink haired man's head she was gone. I couldn't do anything during the commotion. I was preoccupied with my own body's rejection of my so- called breakfast. I leaned weakly against the chair; one hand still covered my mouth. The pink haired man reached a hand out to me, lightly taking hold of my shoulders. This gentle gesture was unexpected. "Hey. You okay?" he asked. I couldn't answer him. “Why did you just sit there, eating those things in the first place? You should've screamed and flipped. the table, or made some kind of fuss like you usually do." Either he was picking a fight with me, or he was actually trying to console me. He was exactly like the character from the game, If I didn't eat it, my neck would have been stabbed by a fork because of you. I thought. I was annoyed. 1 wanted to talk back at him so badly, but I couldn't say anything without those damned choices. Hah... It's done with, right? I was able to win the fight with the maid thanks to some unexpected help ~ not that I was thankful. Something like this never would have happened in the first place if the members of the Duke's family, including this bastard, didn't just ignore the situation. And it wasn't just this one maid who bullied the villainess. That personal maid was just one of many. Everyone in the mansion probably abused the villainess. None of them liked her. That bastard probably ignored all the bullying over the years, even after seeing the villainess made miserable. Even though I only woke up a short while ago, I already felt extremely tired, “Hey. You look really ill. Should I call for a doctor or something?” The words were spoken half- heartedly. The young man seemed to be bothered that I wasn't answering him. But the sight of him bending down to examine my face and his hands gently holding my own, it almost seemed like he was genuinely concerned about me. It was at that moment a white chat box appeared in front of me once again. 1. Don't bother. 2. Why do you care? Get out of my room! 3, Don't pretend to be kind. It's disgusting. It was terrible of how I had to make another whole-hearted decision, even in this kind of situation, to be able to live. I chose the least offensive of the three crazy options the writers came up with. "Don't bother." My mouth moved on its own. The words came out weak. The line matched my own feelings. I wanted to say it with all my heart, but I was still struggling to hold back "breakfast." "You..." Understanding the meaning behind my words, the pink haired man frowned, but only for a moment. 1 glanced at him again. He was as cold and emotionless as ever. It gave me goosebumps. Then again, maybe I was seeing things; I was not in the best state to observe anything that well. "You... Yeah. It's none of my business if you want to eat just anything given to you and get sick like a beggar." The man who a moment ago was crouching down to check my condition now spoke cruelly.“There aren't any physicians in this mansion that would waste their time on you anyway. Eat whatever you want and die. Who cares?" The pink haired man turned to leave. Above his head sparkled: [Favorability -3%] His favorability had risen. It was -10% yesterday. A seven percent increase was a huge amount considering how difficult it was to increase favorability in hard mode. Even with this increased favorability I wasn't happy. A negative favorability was still negative. One wrong move still meant death, If I knew his favorability would rise this much I would've finished the first episode. I thought. Iretreated to the bathroom. After emptying my stomach I stood and rinsed my mouth at the sink. Looking in the mirror I saw a pale beautiful woman gazing back. "Penelope." The girl in the mirror spoke the name at the same time. Words that wouldn't come earlier, when I really wanted them, came easily when I found myself alone. The girl in the mirror had large turquoise eyes that shone like emeralds. Deep azalea pink hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back; it swayed delicately with every move I made. She was truly a beautiful woman. But no matter how I looked at it, it wasn't me. It wasn't my face. "Penelope Eckart. Eckart... Ha." Eckart - the family name of the one and only ducal family in the Inka Empire. I died a lot during this episode. It was basically the start of the hardmode of the game. I died because I chose the lines that best matched the character's personality. Penelope was reckless, so I chose the reckless lines. It was fortunate that I tried multiple times after my first death in this episode. If T didn't... | sighed a long, deep sigh at the thought of what could have happened a few moments ago. Tturned my attention back to the mirror. “Hmm... Pretty. Very, very pretty. At least I have that going for me." I thought Penelope was pretty from the illustrations, but now that I could see her face in person, I realized that the beauty she possessed wasn't the sort of beauty that could ever exist in the real world. If this had happened to me before I left my father's house, I probably would have been excited and even happily accepted this unbelievable situation, thinking it was some sort of gift from god to the pitiful me. Thad endured that damned house. I had succeeded in finally escaping. I was accepted into a famous university known all over the world. I had my own place where I could finally relax, even if it was small and dirty. Everything in my life was going great and bringing me closer towards the brightest future. But now I found myself living Penelope's life where every tiny little mistake meant immediate death. This was not better. This was far worse. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I was the heroine of the normal mode where every decision I made was like walking along a flower path? “But why? Just Why!?" I demanded of no one in particular. Why, for me who just succeeded in escaping that hellish house, did this happen? It just wasn't fair. I slammed my hands down on the sink. This girl's beautiful face reflected a harrowing expression in the mirror. She was more furious than sad and looked every part a magnificent villainess. “Hab...” I sighed deeply and ran my hand through my hair flipping it out of my face. Come to think of it, how was Penelope described in the game? [Although she was a lady of the only ducal house in the Empire, she was originally a commoner without even a family name. After losing her mother, a poor traveling merchant, to an illness at the age of twelve she was adopted into the Eckart household due to her similar appearance to the missing Lady Yvonne.] ‘There was only one reason she was able to become a lady of the ducal household. It was thanks to her appearance that resembled the lost daughter of the Duke; pink hair of the deceased duchess and blue eyes of the Eckart family. It made me think of the second son of the Duke who was here a short while ago. His hair was a delicate shade of pink, like a rose or cotton candy. The hair of the woman in the mirror was more deep magenta than it was pink. Her eyes, turquoise in color, were distinctly different from the ocean blue of the other ducal family members. “He should have continued looking for his real daughter. Why did he have to adopt some random kid?" As Penelope grew her appearance became less and less like the Duke's daughter. The duke soon lost interest in her and made no efforts to see her. As the Duke's interest waned, her two step brothers andthe mansion's workers’ abuse increased. "It's so similar to my own life it's uncanny..." Penelope's life and the treatment she received were awfully similar to my own. It was something I didn't realize when I played the game. The realization made me feel depressed. Fake Lady. Every worker in the mansion called Penelope fake. Even though she was breathtakingly beautiful, in the eyes of the others she was a poor crafted counterfeit that just didn't belong. Maybe the story would flow differently if she acted cute towards the others? But her personality was bad and her ties to the ducal family were only coincidental because of her appearance. I thought back, again, to the prologue of the story. It explained that Penelope was always on guard towards everyone like a hedgehog with its spikes up. She always caused trouble wherever she went no matter the place or situation. I wondered why the choices for her lines were all something that would certainly cause a scene. I nodded my head, finally understanding why the choices were so insane. Penelope seemed powerful because of her Eckart name. Unlike the naive normal mode heroine, she was keen and sharp. I sort of understood Penelope. It's only been a few hours and I can tell just what kind of treatment Penelope's been receiving here. Even if she's a violent fake, if they had any sense, they wouldn't torture a child that the duke officially adopted, by poking her with needles or feeding her spoiled food like that. Not even a maid would treat another maid that way! Penelope was only 12 years old when she was adopted into the ducal family. If she was abused from that day on... the thought made me shiver. There's not much a child can do if, no matter how hard they scream, no one listens. Nothing could change the fact that she was abused all of the time, even until today. No one was even the least bit merciful to Penelope, and it killed her inside. Is this their way of justifying her being a villainess? I feel sorry for her. [lifted my hand and stroked Penelope's soft cheek. The woman in the mirror looked so sorrowful. Even so, I pushed down my feelings of pity for her. This wasn't the time to be wallowing in pity for someone else. I was Penelope now. It meant that I could be killed at any time by the male leads, just like Penelope in the game. Chills ran down my spine as I recalled that fact.Chapter 4 I needed to figure out a way to survive. In hard mode it was very difficult to raise the favorability of the male capture targets and a drop to negative favorability meant certain death. It was even worse when dealing with the duke's second son. His favorability was already in the negative. Any interaction with him would be immediate death if it didn't have a rise in favorability. After Left the bathroom I searched my room for a pen and piece of paper. I needed to organize all of the information I had about the game and the characters. How fortunate for me that this ‘fake lady’ at least had some of the things a noble lady was entitled to have. In Penelope's large bedroom there was a grand bookshelf and writing desk. I promptly took a seat at the writing desk. I dipped the end of a quill into some ink and began to write. "Characters first," I said out loud to myself. ‘There were five male capture targets in the game: The two sons of the duke, the crowned prince, the wizard and the knight. I wrote down everything I could remember on the blank sheets of paper. First there was Derrick Eckart, the eldest son of the duke. Technically, as the heir apparent, his title was "Young Duke." He was a typical nobleman. In general he had no interest in Penelope because he ‘was too busy preparing to be the next duke of the Eckart family. However, he did hold a strong and intense contempt for Penelope for taking the place of his blood-related sister. It was rare for Derrick to Kill Penelope in the game directly, however he never forgot to punish her when she made a mistake. Punishments like yesterday when he restricted me to being grounded in my room. ‘The next was the youngest son of the duke, Reynold Eckart. There really wasn't much to say about him. He was a quirky and passionate guy with a bad temper and overly critical personality. He was always picking fights with Penelope any time he saw her. He was also the ringleader among those who abused Penelope. He was the first to bully her, and his abuse opened the gates for the stafl's abuse. And right in line with his quirky personality, any time he was the harbinger of death for Penelope it was always something weird or unexpected, like falling on a fork. Now that I think about it, these two are kind of similar to the bastards from my old house, aren't, they?" I clicked my tongue and reviewed the information on the two. ‘These two had the easiest routes to master in normal mode. It was probably because they had family love for Yvonne and not a lover's love. Penelope was not the least bit related to those two, so there was no way to know if their routes would again be the easiest. Not to mention Reynold’s favorability started negative! Not even 0, but negative! It was like the game's creators were sending me a message - Reynold was hopeless so don't even try. Besides, I was the sort of person to get sick at even hearing the ‘word 'Oppa.' I shook my head and scribbled a large X over their names. "These two are hopeless." I decided to completely give up on the two brothers, "Next, the crowned prince." I wrote down what I could remember. Callisto Regulus, the crowned prince. ‘The only information I had about him was from the normal mode route. The crowned prince, who held little value for his own life due to unfortunate childhood events, meets the angelic protagonist who heals his heart before he ultimately punished the villainess Penelope. That was justice done in normal mode, but from Penelope's perspective the crowned prince was a grim reaper. When I played hard mode the crowned prince killed Penelope more than anyone else. I pressed the reset button, skipping cut scenes to go right back to the start, so many times during his route that I don't even remember most of what happened in the game. “Let's not even get close to the crown prince" I said as I vividly recalled the illustration where Callisto slit Penelope's neck. Chills ran down my spine. I quickly scribbled an X over the crowned prince's name, and did so a few more times for good measure. ‘The next was Vinter Belldandy. He was a wizard and a nobleman with the rank of a marquis. When working as a sorcerer he keeps his, noble identity hidden. He worked as an information broker; he exchanged information and mysterious objects. It was thanks to his profession that he was able to both discover the protagonist was the duke'song lost daughter and learn of the villainess's evil plans, which allowed him to warn the protagonist or foil the plot on his own. He was the most helpful character for getting honors and glamors. In general he was a sweet man who helped the protagonist from behind the scenes. 1 didn't know what he was like in hard mode. I was already busy dying at the hands of the crowned prince and two sons of the duke before Vinter's route ever even started. Not knowing much of his character in hard mode, I thought there was a decent possibility he might have some potential, unlike those other three brats previously mentioned. I decided to leave his name unmolested for now. “And last, Iklies." I wrote the name on the page. Iklies was a foreigner slave who was made a knight of the duke's household. The duke went out to town one evening and happened to come across Iklies, saw he was outstanding in swordsmanship, and bought him at a high price at an auction with the intention of making him a knight in training. Later on he became the youngest sword master and was even given a noble status. He was a fan favorite and won the contest for "most handsome" character. Even though I never encountered him in hard mode, Iklies was the one character I had the best chance of reaching an ending with among the five. He was the only one who ever felt any sympathy for Penelope, even up until the very end. Penelope was the last master he had served before being granted noble status and he even tried to stop her from bullying the protagonist. “Hah... There's nothing here that really helps me at this point, is there?" I let out a deep sigh when I looked at my finished list. I really didn't know that much about hard mode since I made almost no progress in it. And even if I had made more progress through hard mode, I didn’t know if that knowledge would be useful since I didn't know if things here would be the same as the game back in reality. The two things I knew for sure were that I would definitely die if I screwed up and a male character's favorability went negative and that I had a time limit to reach an ending. Penelope's coming of age ceremony marked the end for me. I had to finish the route for at least one of the capture targets before that day. That was the day the protagonist would make her debut in the story, the start of normal mode. Poor Penelope. I thought. She lost everything when the real daughter of the duke appeared, just as she became an adult. If didn’t end up with one of the male capture targets it was incredibly unlikely I could survive beyond then even if I didn't act like a villainess. Of course there was no guarantee that I would survive that long, either. "Ican't die." I clenched my teeth as I contemplated my sad future. I couldn't die. I had just escaped from that rotten house. I had just gained my freedom. I couldn't die in ‘a game like that. “can't die no matter what." My morning classes were waiting for me. I'd survive and go back to where I belong. I was determined to live. It was at that moment someone knocked at the door, two sharp raps. ‘The door opened abruptly, giving me no time to hide the papers with the information on them. "Lady." The white-haired elderly butler stood at the door. He did not come in further than the doorway. "His Grace has commanded your presence." I knew he wouldn't be able to read the language written on the paper, but even so I felt put out by his rude attitude. Even back in the real world the household manager wouldn't just open a door and walk in like the butler did just now. And the real world didn't, have class-based nobility like this one. It was indescribably rude for a butler to open a noble lady's door without approval. While contemplating how I should handle the butler a white box appeared in front of my eyes. 1. (Throw an object in the room) You dare open the door to my room without permission? 2. Ifhe has anything to say tell him to come to me himself, 3. (Glare for 5 seconds then get up) Okay. Ah. | forgot about that. I forgot that I wasn't allowed to get angry about things the way I wanted. Even so, I also didn't want to do any of the three options would force me to do. I thought a moment and chose the third option, annoyed. Favorability, interest, whatever; I needed to do something about these option boxes! Okay." I hid the papers deep in the drawer before getting up. I followed the butler out of the room. Ionly knew about this mansion from a few illustrations, so I took this chance to carefully observe my surroundings. The mansion was massive, like the sort of European castle you would see in a movie. Penelope's room was on the second floor. The mansion was very busy; a lot of staff passed us as we walked through the halls. Their sideways glances as we went were anything but kind. I ignored them. ‘Those kinds of gazes didn't bother me in the least; I had been glared at like that far too often before I came here, ‘The butler led me to the first floor and we soon arrived at a well decorated door. This must be the duke's office. The butler raised his hand and rapped on the door, three knocks. "Your Grace. I escorted the Lady here." The butler said to the closed door. "Come in." I could hear the duke from the inside. The door creaked as the butler pushed it open. 1 couldn't help but feel nervous as I entered the room. Author note: Oppa is an endearing way for a woman to refer to an older male, be it a brother or just someone you are close to, But you wouldn't be reading this story if you didn't already know that. Author Note: There were multiple names for the wizard: Buinter Verdandi, Vinter Verdandi, Vinter Berdandi. I went with Vinter because I believe the original translator this rewrite is based on confirmed it was supposed to be Vinter. Considering the propensity to use Enligsh words and names, I think it probably should be "winter" but Vinter is what the fanbase is most familiar with. I chose Belldandy for the surname because based on the Korean spelling and pronunciation guide for that spelling it seemed obvious to me that "Belldandy" was the English word they were going for. Author Note: For Iklies his name could have been Eclipse, Eclise, or Iklies. The manga went with Ikdies, and I have no dog in this fight so Iklies it is.Chapter 5 As entered the room I tried to convince myself there really wasn't anything to be nervous about. It's only a single scene from a game. I thought. Even so, my hands quivered, if only a little. I thought it might be a subconscious reaction caused by the similarity to my own father and how it mirrored the duke's behavior towards Penelope. Even after fully entering the room the duke did not raise his head. I hesitated, but forced myself to approach his desk where I stood waiting, hiding my quivering fingers. I bowed in greeting. My voice still wouldn't come out, so there was no way I could show my presence through speaking. Reading the mood of the room I thought simply waiting was what I ought to do. "You've come." The duke glanced at me. He raised his head slightly. He had the same black hair and blue eyes as Derrick. His face showed no emotions, exactly as one would expect of a high status noble, exactly as shown in the game's illustrations. At this time a white box popped into my view. 1. Why have you called? 2. I'm busy. Please get straight to the point. 3. (Glare without speaking) Out of all the crazy options, 1 was the least offensive. I pressed 1. "Why have you called?" My voice came out on its own. “heard there was a commotion this morning." No sooner did the duke finish his statement a new set of choices shifted into the box. 1. It's not something Your Grace should worry about. 2. You probably wanted the commotion to happen. 3. It wasn't my fault, This was all that stupid maid's doing! Hah! These insane choices! | felt like I was losing my mind reading those absurd options. Thad experienced this exact scene once before. In the real world when I was playing the game I thought it would be fun to make Penelope a Sassy Chic Femme Fatale and gleefully picked the second option, It still blew my mind that I was seeing the scenes from the game play out before me. Even though I'm called a villainess... what sort of father would treat his not-blood-related daughter so poorly? Shit! I made my choice; I refused to press any of the options on the screen, When I didn't say anything, just standing there, the duke put down his pen and lifted his head to face me properly. His eyes were sharp and keen when he looked at me. Treally hope this decision doesn't raise a death flag. I gave in and chose option number 1. Trembling I clenched my teeth shut and tried to do everything could to not speak. “It's not something Your Grace should worry about." I couldn't stop the words and in the end they only came out sounding really weird, "Penelope." I flinched as the duke spoke; his voice was cold as ice and held no warmth at all. Was there really no changing the flow of the story, no matter how much I tried? “Has it already been 6 years since you came to this house?" I reached back into my memories, looking for the right information from the game. The heroine and villainess were both the same age, 18. Penelope was adopted into the duke's family when she was 12. That meant that, yes, he was correct. Wait a minute! I recalled something I had previously forgotten about the game. The coming of age ceremony was held for an individual's 18th birthday. If Penelope was adopted 6 years ago at age 12 then she was almost 18, That meant there wasn't much time left until Penelope's coming-of-age ceremony, right? Then much time do I have until the real Lady of the Eckart family returns?"I don't know if you know, but it's not easy to step a foot in this house. Only those who have proven their worth, that they can be of use to our house who have passed rigorous testing, may enter through the gates of our Eckart mansion." The Duke continued. "I stood silently. "After adopting you I did not hesitate to fund you as the lady of the family. I even allowed you to spend your money lavishly, doing inexcusable things." cal! [still said nothing. “However, I can't seem to figure out what good you have brought to our family these past six years," He said. I couldn't deny that what he said was true. I would have at least held a sliver of hope if I looked even a bit like his blood-related daughter. But Penelope's hair and eye color were too different. I wanted to nod while saying that his words were all true, but I couldn't move an inch while the duke was speaking; the system was controlling my body. The white box reappeared. 1. So are you going to kick me out? 2. [told you, I did no wrong! 3. (Kneel down) Finally! Iwas glad to see an actual normal answer I could choose without hesitation. It was the first time I felt excited since coming to this world. Worried the options might disappear with my continued silence, as they did before, I quickly pressed the third option 1 fell to the floor with a thud. My body automatically moved to kneel. It felt like some force kicked me on the back of my legs, and hard, with a heavy weight pressing down upon my shoulders. Ack! Why is it so strong!? The fall hurt more than I expected and my eyes began to water. "You, what are you doing?" The duke spoke, his eyes wide. He seemed more shocked by the loud thud than I was. I never chose this option as my decision when I was playing the game. I mean, it didn't make sense. Why would someone with Penelope's personality kneel down? The box appeared again, 1. Is me kneeling down the only way to make you satisfied? 2. (Glare with no words) 3. 1m sorry for everything, father! I quickly pressed on the third option “I'm sorry for everything, father!" My voice came out a shout, possibly because I pressed 3 with absolute certainty and confidence, "What?" The duke asked as if nothing made sense. At that moment the familiar white box popped up again. Hidden Quest [The Lost Title Of A 'Father'] Mission Complete! As a reward, the function [Choices ON/OFF] is given Do You Want To [OFF] The Choices? (es. / No.] With nothing holding me back, I clicked on the [Yes] The Choices Is Now [OFF]. If You Wish To See The Choices Again, Shout [Choices ON} Finally the frustrating white box disappeared completely from my view. Awesome! I inwardly celebrated, clenching my hands into a fist. ‘The game's hidden function, [Choices ON/OFF], permitted me to call the duke, ‘father’. If chose [OFF] the choices in the game would appear as only numbers: 1, 2 and 3, without the lines being shown. At other times simple answers or replies, like "yes" or "no" or a character's name, could be typed in directly with the keyboard. It was an easy function to gain in normal mode. It was a feature that wasmeant to keep the game interesting by avoiding repetitive dialogue options and in accepting short dialogue choices, it made the game go faster. I rarely used it. There really wasn't a point; easy mode ‘was already incredibly fast. I didn't pay much attention to this scene in the hard mode. I suppose it was because I only chose the aggressive lines. I had no idea that this feature was also available in hard mode, because I kept choosing the wrong lines. Granted, I didn't really want the feature; I was addicted to choosing the lines with attitude for the villainess, I didn't know back then that the addiction would become a poison to me later on, and that later on would be right now. I thought. I heaved a sigh at my foolishness back then. I recited the words by my ‘own will, and not from 3 lines in a white box. "Father." Hearing the words leave my mouth by my own will was so touching to me that I thought I could cry. ‘Tears literally lingered in my eyes. And the duke, who never seemed to have heard the word ‘father’ from Penelope, looked on with eyes wide in disbelief. I continued with my words, not the least bit affected by the duke's reaction. “Lapologize for making a commotion during my days on probation. This incident is due to my negligence in the care and handling of my servants. I will deeply reflect upon my actions during the rest of my probation." I begged, kneeling on the ground. Ifyou thought about, I'm not at fault for the commotion this morning. I was the victim. A maid bullied me. My fault? My ass! But if you think about Penelope's actions so far, that's not important. I would be the one in trouble if I act stubborn. The only way I could survive is by bowing down like that. My very life was in danger. Even though I got the function to turn off choices, there was still a high possibility of me saying or doing something that would have a penalty of death if I failed to take the situation seriously. It was an obvious thing ~ Penelope was already grounded and on probation after one commotion and went and made another one during it, too. I was in a dangerous position. The so called 'young master,’ Derrick, ‘was also the one who grounded me this time. I know acting stubborn and aggressive during his probation would only lower his favorability towards me, seeing any commotion as acting out against his authority. “I know I have acted immaturely until now, but if you let it go just this once I will do my best to prove my worth until my coming of age ceremony." I finished. I didn't move an inch even after I finished talking. I had never begged like this, kneeling on the ground, even to my real birth parents. That was just proof of how shitty this game was. Here I am, begging with my body down to the ground. Just hurry up and forgive me already. I thought. 1 ‘was tired, still fatigued from this morning and in need of rest. I was slapping myself mentally to stay alert. "You..." The duke looked down at Penelope as if he she were a stranger. He was slow to speak his next words. He carefully considered what to say. “I... Understand what you are saying. You may rise." He spoke, "Yes." I stood up without hesitation, glad, because my legs were so tired I didn't think I could have knelt much longer. "The words spoken by an Eckart carry a great weight, Penelope." The duke spoke in a low tone as he looked directly at me. "Do not let this chance that you earned today go to waste. You should leave now" he finished. "Yes. Thank you, Father." I made my retreat from the room soon as the words passed my lips. I did not want to risk the duke's anger were I too slow to leave the room.Chapter 6 ‘The door creaked loudly as I left the duke's office. I could feel his sharp gaze on my back until the door closed behind me with a gentle click. It was a bit refreshing to know he would look at me differently now than how he did when I first entered the room. But there really was no point in caring about that. ‘The duke wasn't a character I needed to gain favorability with. His existence was unimportant right up until the coming of age ceremony. “"Y'm sure I told you to live as silently as a mouse without causing any commotion." A cold voice spoke. I gasped and turned in surprise. There in the hall in the shadow of the drapes stood a figure whose body language made it clear he was not happy to see me. In the dark I could still see the shining letters above his head [Favorability 0%J. The dark figure with black hair and blue eyes, barely visible in the shadows ~ it was the first son of the duke, Derrick, "Emily," he paused for effect, exiting the shadows in two quick steps, "has been a loyal maid who worked in the ducal estate for nearly 10 years." ‘The man crossed the large hall in a few quick steps. He was in front of me before I knew it. He leaned over me and looked down with a deadly aura. He glared as if he were looking at garbage. I did nothing ‘wrong, but I had to cower myself before his hatred and disgust. “No matter how much extra money we offered, no one was willing to be your personal maid. Emily was the only maid who agreed to serve you. But I guess today marks the end of that, since you went crazy and chased out your one and only maid because you didn't know your place." I felt bitterness at his unfair words. When did I go crazy or chase her out? The one who went crazy was that brother of yours. And it was me who was almost chased out of this very life by eating that rotten food! I wanted to shout I was so annoyed by the situation. It was only the [Favorability 0%] above Derrick's head that stopped me from speaking my mind, Hold it in. Ifit goes any lower, I'm dead. I thought. | inhaled and exhaled a few times to regain my composure. [Favorability 0%] I was already tired after talking with the duke. And I focused so strongly on unlocking the ‘choices off feature that I couldn't remember much of what happened in this scene when playing the game. So I decided to get some help from the system. Choice On. A familiar white box appeared before me. 1. Ha! She must have served you very well at night in bed, huh? 2. She was chased out because she did something to deserve it! 3. (Glare without saying a word.) Choices Off! Off! Scanning through the choices I mentally shouted. Was this game trying to get me Killed? Do You Want To [OFF] The Choices? [ves / No] I quickly pressed [Yes]. If I picked one of those three I would be headed straight to hell! Time continued to pass while I was sorting through my options and Derrick's gaze grew colder. “I suppose you don't even hear my words anymore?" His glare was so sharp I was certain he was going to kill me. i guess I had no choice. “L apologize for the commotion." How many times would I have to beg like this even though I did nothing wrong? I still had a little thing called pride! It was so demoralizing to bow my head down like this, like a slave. But this was nothing if it meant I would live. Besides, these people weren't even real. ‘They were just some fantasy characters from a game.Father, that bitch scratched me. It'll leave a scar! Father! Brother! I was wrong. Father, brothers, I was wrong! Of course, the tiny bitch acts like a beggar! So vulgar! Thad begged for forgiveness countless times before in that house, before I went to live on my own. This situation was no different. Well it was a little different. My life wouldn't have been in danger if I didn't beg and apologize like in this wretched game. Even so, I was just a child back then and every situation felt like it was life or death, like it was killing me. As a child [lived begging, prostrate on the ground, so often my hands may as well have been feet. Our situations were so similar, but I couldn't really compare those times to this. Penelope actually did create some major commotions, unlike when I was a child. I don't know if it was due to my experience in my past life with all of the apologizing, but apologizing now came easy. This is annoying similar. I thought again about my past life. "As you said, I did not know my place until now." I continued, "What?" "Since I was the one who wasn't able to handle the situation in the first place, you don't need to fire her. I was just on my way back to my room after begging father for forgiveness as well." Derrick's expression changed upon hearing my words. It was weird. His blue eyes grew slightly wider. It was a similar reaction to the duke's. “Iwill live quietly from now on, so quiet you won't even notice me. There will be no need for you to concern yourself with me. So please forgive me this once." I bowed my head. Repeating these words was not very difficult. I had already said these lines so many times before. He was silent. Was I too lifeless while talking? I only realized how insincere I sounded after saying the words. His silence worried me. He wouldn't slice his sister's neck out of nowhere over a bit of insincerity, would he, even though it's a cruel game? I waited for an answer hoping I was right about this not being a critical life-or-death situation like one of those with the psychopath crowned prince. I wanted to end this quickly and get back to my room. Even standing was torture. Thinking about it, then I realized that my body was not in the best condition following the morning's incident with the maid. I hadn't eaten anything since, either. It felt like 5 minutes had passed before Derrick finally spoke. "This once." He paused. "I'll forgive you just this once." Without giving me a chance to thank him he added, "However, keep in mind that this will be the last time I'll put up with your arrogant behavior." His response was worse than the duke's but I was relieved to at least avoid death. I couldn't bring myself to thank him. I bent forward and bowed, a disgusting feeling came over me the same as it always had with the elder bastard in my previous life. I lifted my head and turned to go back to my "Ab..." my head throbbed and I was overcome by dizziness and nausea. My vision blurred. I didn't know if it was the sudden relief from avoiding death, but all strength left my legs. I lost my balance and stumbled. I'm falling! "Hey." Someone grabbed onto my shoulder, pulling me up. I turned my head and saw flaming blue pupils right before my eyes. Derrick had caught me. He prevented me from falling. "Theard you ate rotten food." He said. My head began to clear as I heard his emotionless voice. "Do you need to call for a physician?" He asked as I stared at him in surprise. My mind cleared completely in an instant. He knew. He knew that the commotion with the maid wasn't Penelope's fault. He knew but he still tried to push all of the blame onto me? If I didn't beg for forgiveness like the game scenario, he would have killed me without hesitation. I felt like ice water had just heen dumped on me. "No, young master." I snatched my hand out of his. It was an unconscious movement that came from my instinct to survive. I regretted it almost immediately. Derrick would probably feel uncomfortable from my action, so I forced myself to smile.“I just promised that I would do my best to make sure you don't need to concern yourself with me." So mind your own business. | added in my thoughts. “Excuse me; I will be taking my leave." I politely bowed and quickly walked away. It must have looked ridiculous to see me, a noble lady, practically running down the hall as if | were being chased by something. But that wouldn't be too far from the truth; I was scared he would take out his sword and point it at me. I couldn't notice it at the time, hurrying down the hall towards the stairs, the look on the face of the man behind me. .cThe first young master, huh?" Derrick unconsciously repeated what Penelope said before she left. That bitch couldn't even call the duke ‘father,’ but she always called him and Reynold 'brother:' The image of her pale face as she fell ‘wouldn't leave his mind. His blue eyes flashed as he watched Penelope leave, running away. He didn't let it trouble him, he turned away disinterested. [Favorability 5%] Penelope failed to notice the words that sparkled over his headChapter 7 I hurried up the stairs to my room. I quickly closed the door behind me and jumped straight into bed, "Whew..." I sighed in relief. My stiff body melted into the soft squishy mattress. It was nearly lunch time but I felt as if a whole day had already gone by. I took a few deep breaths to calm my heavy-beating heart; meeting with Derrick had left me nervous. After a few moments I began to laugh. “Ha! Look, I'm still alive!" The relief of narrowly escaping death was exhilarating after experiencing failure so many times in the game. I was even able to keep my composure when panicking and called Derrick the ‘first young master.’ While relaxing in bed I began to think back on the game. When | first tried hard mode Derrick's favorability was one of biggest problems, even more than the other characters. Whenever I'd get his, favorability to go up with carefully made decisions, it always went down more on the next choice. For the longest time I couldn't figure out the reason why. Why is his mood so erratic? I had thought. I only figured it out after a countless number of deaths. Derrick hated it when Penelope called him ‘brother.’ That was why whenever I chose an option with the word ‘brother’ in it his favorability would sink, even if it was an otherwise good dialogue choice. “How petty. He's even worse than my real oldest bastard.” I frowned. But it was thanks to that knowledge I was able to keep myself alive. Let's never call him brother. I repeated the thought a few more times, like a mantra, for good measure. Of course, my goal was to never even face him so I ‘wouldn't even have a chance to avoid calling him brother, but it was something to keep in mind just in case something happened and our paths crossed. While thinking about all of this I started to feel hazy. I need to eat something. It was lunchtime then. But after all of the shock I went through that day I didn’t really feel hungry. Ah, whatever. I thought. I closed my eyes and decided to sleep instead. Maybe it was because I just wanted to escape from this, reality after the events of the morning. Soon after closing my eyes I drifted off to sleep. “Why is this in your room?" A voice colder than deep winter ice came from above. “Answer, you sneaky bitch! You stole it!" A loud shout followed from the side. "Reynold!" The duke warned. Reynold was unable to hold in his anger and stomped his feet. What is this? I stared blankly and lowered my head. There I saw two small hands. This was Penelope's dream. "Speak, Penelope. How do you have the Young Mistress's necklace? I thought I told you that you were forbidden from entering her room." The duke asked, “Father... I told you, that bitch stole it without a doubt!" Even with the duke's warning Reynold could not hold back from vulgarity in his fury. "I didn't steal it! I didn’t do anything!" Penelope glared at Reynold while shouting. "Shut up! Stop Lying! How did Father's gift to Yvonne end up in a drawer in your room?" Reynold shouted while dangling a necklace in his hand. “I don't know! I never went into that room!" Penelope shouted, refusing to admit anything. It was Penelope's first time ever seeing that necklace. "I saw everything." A man came forward from the gathered servants, pushing his way past them. The duke and Reynold turned to face him, "Butler." The duke said, indicating he should continue, "Thave seen Lady Penelope going up and down from the third floor often these past few weeks. I've checked just in case and Lady Yvonne's room was not locked." Everyone, including the Duke, turned towards the little girl expectantly. Even Penelope could not ignore all of their accusing looks. “It, it wasn't me." She took a step backwards,It was true that she had gone up to the third floor often. It was the floor where the fewest servants walked around and it connected to the pathway for the attic. Penelope went up to the attic so she could escape her abusive maid, not because she wanted to steal anything. She would have wanted the necklace even less if it was something that belonged to the real lady of the duke family. "Lreally didn't, father! I never once went into that room!" Penelope shouted, looking up at the duke, eyes pleading, full of affection and trust. He was the one who brought her to this place after all. However, the duke would only ignore her with an icy glare, "You, butler, lock every room on the third floor securely, especially Yvonne's room.” "Of course, Your Grace." “Also, bring the jewelry maker to the mansion tomorrow." “E, father..." Penelope froze in place, her face pale as a white sheet of paper. The duke did not say a word as he left. "You should've left the mansion when we told you so, stupid idiot." Reynold whispered after making sure the duke was out of earshot. He pushed Penelope roughly and followed after the duke. "Trash." Derrick coldly muttered, glaring at Penelope as if she were literal garbage. After that the dream changed showing different scenes. Penelope visited many stores and bought a monstrous amount of jewelry and accessories. She spent so much money that Derrick and Reynold ‘would get infuriated and accuse her of not knowing her proper place. After that day Penelope never called the duke ‘father' again, A soft knocking woke me from sleep. I lazily opened my eyes but I did not reply. Another set of knocks ‘came soon after. The knocking seemed rushed, which made me realize the person knocking was angry or impatient. I slowly sat up in bed. "Who..." Before I could finish my sentence the door burst open. “Lady, it's me." A bright light came through the door. It was then I realized how dark my room was; it seemed the sun had already set. My eyes burned from the sudden light. I frowned and turned towards my guest, "Butler?" I asked. "I came here because there was an urgent matter that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible." ‘There were only a few times the when the butler came to find me in such a hurry. My heart dropped. Did something happen? Was a death flag raised while I slept? "What is this urgent thing?" I asked. My voice came out shaking, Did those brats try to blame me for something again? What am I guilty of now? "We need to decide on a new personal maid for you before dinner, my lady." My mind went black from the words he so casually said "Wait." I lifted a hand and stopped him. The butler paused. He seemed displeased with me stopping him; he furrowed his brow slightly. Is that it? The first thing I felt when he explained this urgent issue was an overwhelming and ridiculous sense of relief. Soon, however, rage took over. The reason you opened the doors to your sleeping superior's room without permission was just to pick a new maid? I was dumbfounded. "Butler..." I called to him in a deep, low voice. "Yes, my lady." "What's your name?" "Pardon?" He asked at the unexpected question. I decided to be gracious and repeated my words for him, "Lasked you, what is your name?" “It's Pennel, my lady.”"Then what is my name?" "My lady, why are you asking these questions all of a sudden?” the crease between his brows deepened. “Answer what you're asked. What is my name?" I was stern “You're Penelope Eckart." He answered, having no other choice. "Yes. Penelope Eckart, a noble." I nodded and emphasized my surname. I continued, "I've never heard of any such etiquette wherein a commoner without a last name dares to enter a noble's room as he pleases. Do you perhaps know something I don't, head butler?" ‘The butler stood, shocked, suddenly aware of his transgression. Stupid Penelope, I thought. If she was angry with the rude and hateful way the staff treated her, she shouldn't have screamed and thrown tantrums, but used her title and rank as a noble to show the others their place instead. By showing her rank she could have ensured they would not mistreat her again. The formally adopted noble daughter of the duke's family, the young mistress, what a good title to use in these sorts of cases, I thought. "Adding to that, a man entering a young lady's room without permission... what will people think if rumors start to spread?” ".." The butler said nothing. "Aren't I right?" I smiled innocently. "L... Lady!" The butler shouted in panic at hearing my words. Of course, as expected, the effect was great.Chapter 8 ‘The man who once looked down on Penelope trembled. It was one very satisfying sight to see. I pushed down my smile and put on a serious face. "Do I need to point out every little thing for you to understand? You know my throat hurts" I said with a low voice. This was an expression used mostly by high class nobles to admonish lower class nobles and commoners. The Eckart family was the highest ranking nobility, with none higher other than the royal family. “I... Lapologize, my lady." The butler seemed to understand the meaning behind my words. He dropped to the ground immediately and knelt. "In my impatience I have wronged you. Please forgive me!" He continued. The scene was refreshing to watch. It completely erased my poor mood from the morning. For a brief moment I thought that I might have gone too far, to treat a person this much older than me in such a way, but I still didn't tell him to rise. Penelope must have been looked down upon by this man, who had been ignoring her for the past six years. She deserved to have this moment. “I'm afraid it will be unpleasant for me to see you for the time being." I said coldly, looking down on the butler. "Of course, I don’t think it's only me who feels this way. So if you have anything you wish to accomplish that involves me, send someone else instead." “But my lady, itis my duty as the head butler to hire maids for the household "Yes, or no." I coldly interrupted him. "All want to hear from you is a yes or a no.” "Yes. Iunderstand, my lady." The butler replied. His face was noticeably creased from worry. “Then for your dinner..." He continued "I don't need it. So you can leave." Intending for those to be my final words to him, I turned away. I did not see the butler rise from the floor, but I did hear his careful footsteps as he left the room. The door to my room closed with a soft creak, very different from the manner in which it was opened. The room ‘was filled with darkness again. A wave of worry washed through me as soon as he left and I thought about what I just did. What if he reports every single thing to the duke? "Well what can he do anyway?" I reassured myself. There was really nothing he could do. And there was nothing I could do at this point, either. Treating the butler as I did was all I could do to lessen Penelope's feelings of unfairness. Besides, it was just some scolding. I didn't make a fuss or throw anything. I didn't scream, Come to think of it, in the game there was a reputation system where you could raise your 'fame' by improving your relationship with the people around you other than the capture targets. Doing that ‘would help unlock all five of the capture targets’ endings. I had no intention of doing that here like I would in the actual game. I didn't need to see all of the endings. I only needed to survive just one ending. It would be a waste of my energy and emotions to try and change the hearts of people who had nothing to do with me or my survival. “Fame, my ass. I'm already busy enough just trying to maintain the interest of two of the five capture targets to survive." I said to myself. Increasing the favorability and fame for everyone was so much easier to do in the game; it was just too much work when it was reality, I closed my eyes once again, setting all of my thoughts aside. I wanted to go back to the restful sleep I was having before being interrupted by both the butler and the dreams of a younger Penelope. I woke early in the morning without the help of a maid. Penelope must have been a diligent person to wake so early with ease. That was a bit surprising when thinking about the sort of personality Penelope had. I rose from bed and stretched. Just then someone knocked on the door to my room as if they had been standing there waiting for me to ‘wake up this whole time. For a moment I sat still on the bed and stared at the door - I was curious if my warning from last night was effective. After a moment with no one bursting through it hecame clearthat the message had been made clear. "Who is it?" I called out, "My lady, it's Reina." It was the head maid. It seemed the method I used yesterday had worked. I was satisfied with the result. "Come in." I called. The door opened and a middle-aged woman entered my room. "Have you slept well?" She inquired. "Why did you come?" I asked. "came to assign a new personal maid for you because of yesterday's incident, my lady. Please let me know if my lady has someone particular in mind" There's no way there would be. | thought. I didn't give an answer to the head maid, “Otherwise, I will choose one on my own..." She volunteered after my silence. Of course no maid would volunteer to be my personal maid. "Who was the maid who served me before?" I asked. "What? Do you mean Emily?" "Ab, yes. Emily." I asked, pretending to be curious. "Has she already been kicked out?” "No, she wasn't, but..." “Then what is she doing now?" Her eyes were full of questions, curious as to why I would ask about the previous maid, "For failing to serve you properly, she received a three month pay cut and is now in charge of laundry. Why are you asking about that child?" Her face began to show clear signs of anxiety and her mask of confidence was crumbling. As expected, she had at least some idea of what had been going on. Or perhaps she was the real agitator hiding behind that maid? "Just tell her to continue being my personal maid." I spoke calmly, setting those suspicions aside. "Pardon?" “It's inconvenient without anyone serving me right now. Even if we hire someone new, they will do poorly until they learn how to do things properly. It'l be better to just keep the original maid who has experience if it's going to be like that." The real Penelope wouldn't have bothered to include all of that extra information. But because this was my request, I decided to be more careful about it. “If you understand, then I'll ask you to bring her up. I'l leave that to you." I smiled at the fallen jaw of the speechless head maid, "..but the second young master personally punished her for what she did to you my lady, so..." "So? You can't?" I cut her excuses short and demanded an answer. The head maid stood speechless. It had only been two days and it became clear to me that people in this house never did as I told them right away. I either had to scold or warn them. Is it always like this? It wasn't like this in normal mode. Everyone in the mansion would just listen to the heroine and do whatever she asked. I grew annoyed after a minute, but decided to think of this as an opportunity to change things. "It would be best if you just do as I say when I ask you to." I intentionally used the words ‘when I ask you to," because it conveyed a sense of pleading rather than commanding. Did I really have to behave how Penelope behaved, with violence and havoc, to get anything done around here? “I told you that it's inconvenient. So just send her up already. Or does the head maid want to serve me personally instead?" “If that is how you feel, I will ask for His Grace's permission, my lady." It was a clear statement that she ‘wouldn't do as I said until the very end. It was a ridiculous situation. There wasn't a single person who followed Penelope's orders without question. "There's no need. I'll go see father right now myself." I stood up on the spot. I continued, "Since thingsended up like this, I'm going to explain to him in detail what happened yesterday and ask him to forgive Emily. There won't be any problems then, right? Where is father right now?" “L... Lady!" The head maid's eyes went wide when she saw me ready to go at any time. ‘The case yesterday was taken care of with one small punishment for one maid, but if I were to get further involved things could get complicated. Emily wasn't the one who led the bullying, nor was she the only one involved. If someone like the head maid was found to be a bystander while knowing about abuse against the young mistress of the ducal household what kind of uproar could occur? “H... his Grace went to the royal palace earlier." “Is that so? Then later when he comes back. "I'l bring Emily right away!" The head maid was panicked, worried I'd go find father, aware of what that could mean for herself and the other maids. “I must have become a worrywart with age. I wasn't able to understand my Lady's mercy right away, being so old. My apologies." ‘The head maid's lowered head did not make me feel refreshed, only bitter: I didn't plan on raising my fame points by getting closer to the people around me, but I felt like the fame I had at that moment must have been reaching negative numbers. "Should I bring Emily right now, my Lady?" The head maid suggested carefully, though I could still hear the panic in her voice. "Head maid, I hope you won't make me repeat myself again." I spoke to her. My day was already ruined. “Leave.” Emily entered the room with breakfast in hand. She must've received intense instructions from the head maid because she arrived quickly after Reina left "My Lady. I'l prepare the b-breakfast..." Emily's hands shook terribly as she set the breakfast table. She must have suffered a lot after what happened yesterday. Eating the rotten food was crazy at the time, but it paid off; the food on the plate was much better today, consisting of fresh salad and a juicy steak. It looks okay on the outside. I thought. I didn't feel like eating it, though. My body was still recovering from the shock of eating rotten food. I stared at Emily. She stood stiffly at my side as I slowly ate a bite of food. She couldn't bring herself to meet my gaze. Is she felling any guilt, though? She was probably dying to know why I chose her to be my personal maid again. I hadn't finished even half of my food when I called for Emily. "Y-yes my lady?" she jumped in surprise, interrupted from being deep in thought. I reached out a hand. "Hand me the needle." "Huh? What?" "The needle that you have been using to prick me with every morning." She gasped when she realized what I was talking about. Her face went pale and she fell to the floor, kneeling. "My Lady! I.. I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" She apologized while smashing her head on the ground. Really, Why would she do such a thing if she was just going to apologize like this? I felt disgusted. 1 ‘wasn't the person she should be apologizing to. The real Penelope would never get to hear this apology. “Didn't you hear from the head maid? Don't make me repeat myself." "M-My lady..." "Hand over the needle."Chapter 9 Emily trembled so hard I thought she would collapse at any moment. She raised her arms to her tied-up hair and after a moment she pulled out a large needle. She held it out to me in her hands, Oh ho! Nicely hidden. 1 thought. Of course Penelope was always the victim. It was hard to believe the torment was this intense. She must have wanted to scream at the maid who always abused her, but, couldn't because she didn't have proof. “H-here..." Emily's hands shook as she handed me the needle. I stared down at the object that had hurt Penelope so often. Holding it in my hand I could see it was just a piece of metal; it wasn't even that big. But I realized yesterday just how painful something small could be. How awful it must have been for her. How painful was it? To wake up to such pain every morning, and yet have no one notice as her arms went weak from pain or all of the scars and marks left by the needle. “Lift your head." I commanded through clenched teeth. Emily hesitantly raised her head. I could see despair in her wavering eyes. She was probably worried about what the violent Penelope would do to her, "Watch closely, Emily." I placed my hand palm-down on the table in front of her. It was a fragile milky white hand without blemish. I stabbed my hand without hesitation. "Ah! My Lady!" Even though I was the one injured, it was Emily who screamed. The needle was halfway in my hand before I yanked it out. "Ugh." I grunted. Blood oozed from the puncture wound. Even though I mentally prepared myself for this it still really hurt. My eyes watered, but I didn't let the pain show on my face. I smashed the needle back down into my hand again close to the first wound. "Ab!" I grunted, unable to endure the pain. “L, lady!" Emily's breathing was haggard. She didn't know what to do. Panic overwhelmed her and she began to cry at my reckless actions. What is she so scared about when she did things far worse than this before? I almost found it funny. "My Lady, hic! Lady, why are you doing this!?" “There's no need to cry like that, Emily. After all you gave me these wounds." I replied in a gentle tone. Her face went blank. ".. huh? Those wounds? Me?" “There's two right now, but it could be three later, maybe even four or five. More than that, even." Emily held her breath at my words. Her trembling stopped. "From now on I will accept everything you do for me without any suspicion or doubt: the bathing water, clothes, food... everything. But the wounds on my hand might just increase, and someone might just notice and think it's a bit strange." "M... My lady." Emily stared wide-eyed. “There will be people wondering, ‘who dares to abuse and mock the Eckart family? Who doesn't know their place?’ and look for a culprit. Someone like my brother Reynold.” I verbally attacked Emily with a smile like a blooming flower. I reached out a hand and gently touched Emily's face. "I'm saying everything will depend on how you act from now on." My personal maid gave no reply to my threats. Her face was so pale she looked as if someone had choked her. "You can get up now. You should do your job now that your master has finished her food." I withdrew my arm from her face. I turned my attention to the large window by the table. Emily stood abruptly and began cleaning the table robotically with both speed and skill. I guess she's pretty quick-witted. I could use her if I wanted to. I thought. The way people would think of me wouldn't change even if I got a new personal maid. I couldn't stay still and do nothing forever. Ihad to make allies I could use. The personal maid who abused Penelope was now one such person. I liked that I could use her past abuse as a weakness against her, and how she's quick to act and change sides for her own benefit, too. It also didn't hurt that she would immediately do what she was told without question. I watched Emily until she finished clearing the table. SLAM. ‘The door opened with such force it was a wonder it didn't break. I turned in surprise. Lovely pink hair fluttered in the air as Reynold Eckhart stormed into the room, glaring with a frown on his pretty face. "You." He hurried in. The bar that showed [Favorability -3%] grew close to me. “What the hell are you doing? Just what are you planning?* Reynold confronted me, his aura dark. “You!” He said when he noticed Emily. His frown deepened and his aura became deadly. "Y, y, young master.” Emily froze and her face went pale I quickly surveyed the table. Every dish was on a tray and the only fork was still set in front of me. I had a bad feeling about this situation so I put the fork on the tray. I looked around to see if there was anything else that could be used as a weapon. After confirming there was nothing dangerous I spoke. "You can leave, Emily." She quickly lifted the tray. "Don't you dare!" Reynold shouted. She paused. "Hurry." I instructed; the implication was clear: Leave before the aggressive young master causes another commotion. Emily seemed to understand the meaning of my words and left the room in a hurry. She looked like me yesterday when running away from Derick. When Emily left the room Reynold's, displeased gaze fixed on me. “Why are you acting like this? What are you planning to do?" He asked. I thought of what I would say. Penelope always spoke informally with Reynold in the game even though he was two years older. It was understandable that the two siblings would often fight considering their closeness in age. Just like me and the second bastard in that house. I thought. I considered talking formally to Reynold, the way I did to Derrick, because he was older than me. That thought quickly came to an end. It would be weird if a person who always spoke informally to you, even just yesterday, suddenly started speaking formally now. "Are you just going to ignore me now?" Reynold asked, displeased when I failed to reply. How impatient! I thought. "What do you mean ‘acting like this'? Just what did I do?" I replied to him the way Penelope would. “Why did you decide to keep that bitch and use her as your personal maid again?" He shouted. [Favorability -3%] sparkled dangerously above that lovely fluttering pink hair. What should I answer to avoid the death flag? I thought about turning the game's choices back on, but decided against it. Even if I did, the lines would all be useless. I gulped and stared at Reynold who was huffing in a fury. If it was the real Penelope she would tell him to mind his own business or tell him to get out of her room which would only bring her closer to death. J's nothing to worry about. You don't have to worry about it." I wasn't Penelope, so I sugar coated the words. Reynold probably wouldn't take anything I said nicely, but I tried anyway. I hoped this would be enough to end the conversation, "..What?" he asked after a pause. It seemed my words had the opposite effect. Reynold's gaze went, from dark to deadly. "Feeding her master rotten food is 'nothing to worry about' to you?" He shouted. "No, I meant..." “That lowly thing doesn't know her place and dared to ridicule the Eckart family! How dare she?! We don't need that kind of maid in the mansion. There are countless others who would beg to work here!" Reynold shouted. I was speechless at his unexpected behavior. There he was angrier than me and I was the victim! That lowly thing doesn't know her place. It was the same line Reynold always said to Penelope innormal mode. It made me laugh. “Are you laughing right now?" He asked with a frown. "How little does that maid think of you to dare do such a thing?” Yeah, that's right. Everyone in this house sees me as a fool. Just why was it that the people of this mansion thought the duke's daughter was so lowly? Just why wouldn't they listen to a single word she said? I thought. I calmed myself, knowing that if I said that, I would be dead. “I already went to see father about it yesterday. This is unnecessary." I looked at him with cold eyes of my own. “Of course you did. I told father to get rid of that impudent bitch immediately." Reynold added confidently with a puffed chest, proud of his actions. Was he expecting a complement for standing up for his fake younger sister, the same one he hated up until now? Unfortunately for him I didn't plan on doing that. "Father and elder brother didn't want to fire Emily." I said calmly. "What?" Reynold's eyes widened. "Father... and brother didn't?"Chapter 10 “Are you an idiot? You should've told them you were opposed, then!" Reynold shouted. "What would that change?" "What do you mean ‘what would that change’? Do you want to keep eating rotten food from now on or something...?" "Can you be sure a new maid wouldn't do the same thing?" "..." Reynold had no response to my carefully chosen words. [Favorability -29%] hung above his head. Thad to stay calm. I couldn't afford to antagonize him by pointing out the maid's behavior stemmed from his own attitude towards me over the years. It would only hurt his favorability, leading to my death. I wished he had an anger bar instead. With that I could easily plan my next move in the conversation simply by watching that bar. “I didn't see father yesterday to talk to him about firing the maid." I slowly started to speak after considering my words. "I got down on my knees and begged for forgiveness for causing a commotion during my probation." "What?" Reynold couldn't hide his surprise. He must have been shocked to hear that Penelope, who never once apologized before, had not only apologized but did so while kneeling down. "On your knees...? You begged...? No, wait... Did father tell you to do that?" Of course he didn't. I did it with my own will. But I wasn't going to say anything correct Reynold's misunderstanding. “I told him I would be careful not to cause any more trouble for the remainder of my probation. So please let go of this matter." I said in a pleading tone since I couldn't say what I wanted to say out loud. What I wanted to tell him was to mind his own business. If this aggressive bastard would just stay quiet and end this conversation my chances for survival would go up significantly. So let's not insult each other and live quietly now, hmm? I thought. "Please, brother." I implored. Reynold only stared as I begged in my mind for him to just let it go. He hesitated to speak, looking for the words he would say. "You really..." I could guess what he would say judging by his frown. He would insult me and it wouldn't even make sense, like always. He would accuse me of being crazy, certain I lost my mind after eating rotten food. It was all so tedious. "Don't you have any pride? You're going to just let it go even though you were treated like that?" His, words were well beyond what I expected. I felt a switch in me flip. I was livid, “Are you crazy? Just scream and throw stuff around like you usually do! That's more like you anyway!" Reynold shouted like he was the victim in all of this. I didn't feel the least bit thankful. "Didn't you expect these kinds of things to happen ever since the day you put the real young mistress's necklace in my room?" I said in a bout of uncontrolled anger. "You've done things like that to me ever since I got here because you wanted things like that to happen, am I wrong?" I said. "... What?" Reynold’s jaw dropped. Considering his negative favorability I really shouldn't have said these things, but I couldn't stop. That bastard couldn't possibly be asking me about my pride. The one ‘who was at fault for all of this, who brought Penelope to this point, was him, after all. The butler, the head maid, and Emily's actions were all just small pranks compared to what he did. Reynold paused at my harsh words. "Penelope, back then..." He squeezed the words out as if he had no breath. “I'm not trying to make an issue of it now. It's not my intention to resent you for what did. After all, I have also been acting foolishly and arrogant." ".." Reynold stood silently.“I've become sick of everything," I continued, staring deep into his blue eyes. "I'm almost an adult. I'm preparing for my coming of age ceremony. I can't exactly stay here in the Eckart mansion forever." Reynold’s face went pale. "You... What are you saying? Are you saying you're going to leave or something?" He asked as though he never considered the reality of my coming of age. “Everything depends on Father and elder brother." I shrugged. What I said to Reynold was completely different from what I originally intended. I had no intention of being sacrificed to a political marriage planned by father or first young master. Not that I really had to worry about that - according to the plot of the game that wouldn't happen. I planned to reach an ending with one of the male leads no matter what and leave this place, never looking back. But don't you worry Reynold, ['ll never target you. "So you don't need to concern yourself with me, Reynold." I once again told him to take his mind off of this matter: I'll take care of myself, so just insult me or whatever and leave. He continued to stand there. “It's time for my bath. Can you please leave now?" I said, glancing at the door. Reynald frowned. I was surprised; it was an expression I never saw in the game before. My heart dropped at the thought his, favorability might fall. Ididn't act like Penelope. I was so careful when I chose my words! Why? At that moment the empty gauge above Reynold’s lovely pink hair sparkled. (Favorability 3%] What the? My mind went blank. Why did it just rise? And 6% at that!? 1 was dumbfounded as I looked back and forth between the gauge and Reynold. *... Even if it was just for a moment, I was an idiot to show concern for the likes of you." The blue eyes that so often glared held a heavy sadness. He walked towards the door when he finished speaking. I thought I had to be seeing things. Sadness? There was no way. He slammed the door shut and I was met with silence. I rested my head against my hand, my elbow on the table supporting the weight. Something was weird “Are my lines really that much better with the choices turned off?" I asked myself out loud. "I should keep them off all of the time." I continued. I stood and made my way to the bath. It wasn't a lie when I told Reynold I needed a shower. I pulled on the string to summon the maids. I suppose I can't call him a negative bastard anymore? | thought. ‘The probation that felt like it would last an eternity came to an end before I knew it. “An invitation from the palace?" I asked. "Yes, my lady. The eldest young master asked me to tell the lady to prepare for it." "The eldest young... no, my eldest brother did?" I stopped myself from addressing him as the eldest young master the way the servants called him. I needed to keep calling him ‘brother' in front of the staff. I was this family's daughter, the youngest member after all, so it would be unnatural for me to address him so formally. To think Derrick actually told me to attend... Even though he did not say it directly to me that my probation was over, his instructions that I should attend the ball indirectly meant the probation was This is the invitation, my lady." Emily held the invitation with both hands and presented it to me. The name 'Penelope' was written on fine parchment adorned with the image of a golden dragon, the symbol of the royal family. It was an invitation for the second prince's birthday ceremony; it was tomorrow. “I should get ready quickly, then..." I muttered more to myself than to Emily. I wasn't exactly glad that my probation had ended. I just wanted to stay in my room and be served and not have to face either of the two brothers. But the game's plot meant it was inevitable that Derrick, Reynold and I would continue to cross paths, Wait. Thinking about the game and events that would occur in the future it dawned on me.If 'm going to the palace that means I might see the crowned prince!" No, it's a given! Though there wasn't a scene that showed Penelope traveling to the palace, there were sense set during the second prince's birthday banquet. It was the first chapter for the crowned prince's route; he makes his debut at the birthday celebration. "No!" The words came involuntarily as chills ran down my spine. I recalled the illustrations where the crowned prince brutally sliced open Penelope's neck again and again. "M... My lady?" Emily looked at me with concern and surprise. I mustn't go. Maybe I could just say that I'm sick and I can't go? That's the only way I can avoid that crazy bastard. I felt panic welling up. Emily only looked on concerned, fearful she might have done something wrong. "Emily! Is father attending the ceremony tomorrow?" "His grace will be busy with work tomorrow. The first young master will personally escort you." r so screwed.Chapter 11 I was depressed. If | wanted to avoid the ceremony then I'd have to talk to Derrick. Talking to Derrick came with the risk that his favorability would go down, especially if he suspected I was faking being sick. If it was Reynold, I would've taken that gamble. I sighed, thinking about Reynold’s favorability that only recently rose above negative. It's hard enough just keeping Derrick's favorability at 0%, so I shouldn't even think about risking it. "Mc-my lady... are you alright? You've gotten pale." Emily asked, cautious about my grim expression. “Leave the room, I have something to think about." I gestured with my hand, annoyed, “Ha....." [let out a sigh as soon as she left the room. I'll die if I don't go. I'll die if I do go. This game is insane! [already missed those heavenly days of probation. "Everything will be fine if I just avoid the prince, right?" I thought back to the game's story. There ‘wasn't much to remember; I was too busy dying, I would meet the crowned prince at the maze in the palace gardens and then as soon as we began talking I would die. Again and again I kept dying. It's no exaggeration to say I had to press the reset button every 5 seconds. "I think just faking sick would be the best choice..." Wait! Should I just try dying? The idea had just popped into my head. It sounded crazy, but it wasn't really that bad of an idea. I might be able to return to my original world if I die in this world. A game over was a game over whether it was a death or reaching the end, right? What would the system do when a player, when I reached a ‘game over' scenario? Giving up quickly would be better than living this life for months while trying to reach an ending with one of these hopeless male leads. Also, the game had a reset button. In the game if I made a choice that would lead to a bad ending a ‘reset’ button would appear, sending me back to the start. With all of the other game options I had seen I thought I might get a reset button, too. Granted, there aren't any ‘back’ buttons or other icons like in the original game. But since dialogue choices could appear for me, it only made sense that a reset button might also appear. “Why didn’t I think of this before?" I was determined. I would meet with the crowned prince and try dying! I was exhausted from both waking up early and all the preparations for the banquet. I took a bath in a tub of hot water mixed with milk and fragrant extracts. I was given a massage. I did both a face and body mask. I felt half dead by the time the maids freed me from the bathroom and sat me at the makeup table. It wasn't just their physical ministrations; they were mentally exhausting as well. "My lady, how is this dress? It was bought during your last shopping trip, but you haven't worn it once so it's still new!" "My lady, what do you think of these earrings? They should go well with the dress." “I think tying half of your hair up would look better than tying all of it up. What do you think, my lady?" “How would you like your makeup, my lady?" ‘The questions were relentless. It made me wonder if maybe they actually hated Penelope. That was wrong; they were genuinely excited, far more than I was. I lifted my head and looked in the mirror. The treatments I received in the morning did their job ~ my face was glowing and looked more beautiful than usual Well, it really would be fun to decorate a face like this, I suppose. I nodded. I understood why the maids were so enthusiastic. “Take that dress back and bring me a dark colored one that will cover my neck. Keep the accessories to a minimum. Don't try too hard on anything else, either." I instructed.“Ehh?!" The maids jumped in shock. "But, my lady, it's a party hosted by the royal palace..." Their ‘words carried a second meaning, as if to ask ‘won't you need to dress up prettier than others?’ The red- pink dress with an open neckline that the maids originally brought would have gone well with Penelope's dark pink hair. And the accessories they picked out would have complemented Penelope's splendid beauty. But I wasn't going to the palace to show off Penelope's beauty like some sort of peacock. I couldn't possibly tell them I was going there to die, so I just came up with something I thought Penelope might say. "You don't need to try too hard. Just do as I say" I said coldly. The maids realized they couldn't convince me to change my mind. They suiked, their faces sad, as they went to the dress room. They returned. with three dresses that were far more demure than the original red-pink dress that excited them so. "This one," I picked a dark green evening dress. It wouldn't stand out in a crowd and it covered my collarbones. The maids helped me put on the dress after which I instructed them to do my makeup as lightly as possible. I wore small emerald colored earrings that matched Penelope's eyes. When the maids were finished I looked in the mirror and saw a girl so virtuous I thought she was going to a church to pray instead of a fancy party. This is enough I might just go unnoticed. I observed. My face in the mirror was bright with satisfaction which stood in stark contrast to the maids' dark expression. "Everyone can leave except for Emily." The maids left the room. I had one more thing to ask of my personal maid. “Emily, could you prepare a pair of gloves the same color as the dress?" "My lady, you're going to wear gloves as well?" she asked. She fidgeted as if she wanted to stop me from making my outfit any more reserved, “Although it's faded, I can't just go around exposing something like this to everyone, can I?" I said as I held up my hand. The needle marks were faint, hardly visible, but there could always be some noble with a keen eye who noticed it. Emily's face went pale. “If you understand, then go get them." “Y, yes!" I clicked my tongue as she left in a panic. There were times where she hesitated if I treated her too kindly. These little moments making her feel nervous were necessary to keep her in line. Derrick scanned me from head to toe with an expression that seemed to say, ‘this is rare.’ "It seems you've somewhat matured during your probation." This was our first meeting in days yet his attitude for Penelope was the same as always. I didn't have time to get upset about his attitude, though, because of the shining gauge above his head, [Favorability 5%] What the? When did it go up? His favorability for me went up without me even knowing it and 5% at that! I was dumbfounded. I couldn't help but wonder just how much he hated Penelope if all it took for his favorability to rise was not seeing her for a few days. If [knew about this earlier I would have pretended that I was sick and couldn't go. I started to regret my decision to attend the banquet. But it was too late, A fancy carriage with the Eckart insignia was already waiting at the front entrance. I bowed my head slightly to greet Derrick, and then reached my hand out to the nearby bodyguard for assistance getting into the carriage. I couldn't see what Derrick was doing at that moment because I was busy lifting my dress to step up. Only after I successfully entered the cab did I turn to look at Derrick. He was standing there with his hand stretched forward, looking at me with a stiff face. What's up with him? I thought. I tilted my head in confusion at his gesture. We needed to hurry and leave if we were going to arrive at the ceremony on time. He just stood there, frozen, when he should have been making his way to his own carriage, since there was no way he would ride in the same one ‘as me. I sat waiting for the door to close. But then Derrick, who had been frozen in place, got into the cab. What the? What's happening?! Why is he climbing up in here? I frantically searched my memories of our prior conversation, desperate to see if I did something wrong. Nothing came to my mind. The only thing we did was meet and say hello; it was obvious I didn't do anything wrong.“A, are we riding together?" Derrick sat down on the seat on the opposite of me. His brow creased at my question, "Do you have a problem with that?" he asked. "No, that’s not it, but..." I hesitated. What's wrong with you? You've never done anything like this before! I shook my head, making sure not to say anything like that out loud, “If you have a problem with it, you can ride in a different carriage." He stated matter-oFfactly. I glanced out the carriage window and honestly considered doing as he suggested. But it was too late for that. Derrick had already closed the carriage door when he got in. It would be odd if I opened it again and left. ".. [don't dislike it." I forced the half-hearted words out and looked back at Derrick. "It's because I'm happy..." I carefully glanced at Derrick to gauge his reaction. He glared a moment and then turned his head away. Look at him. If he was going to act like that anyways, if he hated it this much, why'd he have to ride with me and make it uncomfortable for the both of us? Is this some new way to annoy Penelope? I thought. I didn't know what to make of him. It was then I noticed above his head: [Favorability 6%] It went up by a percent. I could only stare wide eyed at the favorability bar as the carriage started to Alright. Nothing will happen from a simple carriage ride. I thought. I had an entire 6% favorability on my side. There couldn't possibly be a way to cause a 6% favorability drop during a short carriage ride. I figured that if I couldn't avoid it, I might as well enjoy it. But I came to regret riding in the same carriage with Derrick soon after departing. It's suffocating! Save me! The awkward silence was unbearable! It felt like an eternity to get to the palace. Every moment spent with the cold handsome man sitting with his arms and legs crossed in front of me was absolutely suffocating. The carriage was so quiet I ‘was scared to even breathe that the noise might cause a problem. At one point when I couldn't take it anymore I tried to open a window, but stopped when Derrick glared at me. After that he would glare at any little movement I made. Ugh! Why are you looking at me like that?! 1 would check on [Favorability 6%] every so often to make sure nothing had changed. I mentally shouted for joy when we arrived at the palace. I could finally escape the carriage of death! Ok, let's get out and get some fresh air. I thought. But before I could put my plan into action Derrick had already gotten up. With a click he opened the door and exited the carriage. “Take it..." He held out his hand.Chapter 12 Derrick reached out one hand to me as I stood up. Did he eat something weird? I thought as I shifted and held up my dress to exit. I blankly stared at him. Was he trying to escort me? "What are you doing? Aren't you going to get down?" He frowned. His question brought me back to my senses. I looked around; other nobles who also just arrived were staring at us, “Ab... Thank you." I quickly took Derrick's hand and exited the carriage. Hand in hand we walked up the stairs to the ballroom. "Now entering the heir of the Eckart ducal house, Derrick Eckart, and Lady Penelope Eckart." Our entrance was announced by a servant as we walked through the giant door and into the ballroom, “Don't do anything foolish," Derrick said coldly. "Don't forget that your probation just ended yesterday. If you cause another commotion you won't get just some timeout.” His words completely extinguished ‘any excitement I had for the banquet. I wanted to say something back to him, but I restrained myself. "Ok, I'll be careful." I made an effort to smile, but Derrick turned away without seeing it Tsk. I pouted while he wasn't looking. For the most part the banquet went smoothly. In other words, it was boring. As soon as we entered. Derrick left my side to greet other nobles. No one came to talk to me. Considering the rumors about Penelope's commotion at the last ball it was no surprise people were avoiding me. I stood in a corner where few people passed and watched as other noble ladies danced and whispered in groups. I'm not lonely. I thought. I came with a purpose today, and if it works out I can go back home. Just when is that damned crowned prince coming!? I couldn't help but notice the noble ladies glancing in my direction, probably gossiping about me. I thought I was going to reach my limit for being stared at when finally. "Now entering Her Majesty the Empress and His Royal Highness the Second Prince!" It was finally time for the event that started this chapter of the game. The nobles who were giggling and talking grew silent and bowed their heads or kneeled to the ground, facing the entrance. Following their lead, I also bowed. The empress and the second prince walked down the red carpet with poise and confidence befitting royalty. They both had golden hair that shined under the brilliant lights of the ballroom. The color was proof of their royalty. They crossed the ballroom and up the stairs to the raised dais with thrones where only royals were allowed to sit. Isn't that the seat for the crowned prince? I watched with surprise as the second prince sat on the chair in the middle, located higher up than the others. It was a golden throne with dragon decorations meant, for the emperor or in his absence the heir apparent. The emperor almost never appeared in the game so the crowned prince would sit there instead. But why is it the second prince? It was confusing to see the empress and second prince so calm when they did something so severely in breach of proper etiquette. Was it allowed because it was the second prince's birthday? "You may all rise." The second prince commanded from his seat. The people obeyed. “Thank you all for attending my birthday banquet even though I am sure you must all be quite busy. ‘Though it is nothing grand I hope everyone will have an enjoyable time." When the second prince finished his speech the party officially began. Now all that was left was. ‘Thud! A loud noise came from the entrance. "What the?" "Wh, what's happening?” "It came from the entrance. ‘The nobles chattering came to a sudden halt as they turned to face the source of the noise. A figure entered the ballroom and walked through the crowd, which parted for him. The room was so quiet I