IHDOE Ch 3

The butler's face hardened.

[Butler] "How dare a mere maid attempt to harm her master!"

He shouted in a frightening voice.

[Butler] "Did you join hands with another noble? Or did the Imperial Family order this?!"

[Marie] "No, Butler! This is all a misunderstanding! I mean……!"

[Butler] "Poison came right out of your pocket, so what on earth is a misunderstanding!"

At the sharp, furious shout, Marie fell to her knees and begged.

[Marie] "I-I know nothing about this! Lady Satina definitely did this! This is entirely her staged performance! She must have put poison in her own food to frame me! Think about it! How could an ordinary maid like me obtain such precious poison?"

Marie's words made the butler hesitate, and he turned to look at Satina with eyes full of suspicion.

Watching the butler's reaction left Satina baffled.

No matter how much he dislikes me, isn't this going too far?

Yet Satina's life hung in the balance too. Marie's desperate defense actually worked in Satina's favor. She could use this chance to finish Marie off once and for all.

She asked with calm composure.

[Satina] "But Marie, you brought the food and stayed by my side the entire time. When could I have possibly put poison in it?"

[Marie] "I told you I saw it! I saw Lady Satina put the poison in!"

[Satina] "Then you should have said so to the butler from the beginning."

[Marie] "T-That is……"

[Satina] "You said so earlier. You claimed I must have put poison in my own food to frame you. But why did you just stand by watching me do it, only to claim now that you saw me put poison in the food? You could have told the butler that I poisoned the food from the moment he arrived."

[Marie] "That is, well…… because Lady Satina threatened that she wouldn't leave me alone if I spoke up……!"

[Satina] "Threatened? Me?"

She asked back while looking at the watery soup. Marie's face flushed bright red. Even to Marie, the story sounded absurd.

[Marie] "A-Anyway, I know nothing about this. Butler, please believe me! How could a maid like me obtain poison?"

[Satina] "You didn't necessarily obtain it yourself. Someone else could have supplied it to you."

[Marie] "Don't speak such nonsense! Why would I……!"

[Butler] "Shut your mouth!"

He glared at Marie with terrifying eyes. Through the exchange between them, the real culprit became obvious.

[Butler] "How dare a servant smuggle poison into the mansion and attempt to harm her master! Lock that maid in the dungeon immediately, and watch her closely so she doesn't take her own life!"

[Marie] "This is a misunderstanding! A complete misunderstanding! I only meant to…… Ahhh!"

Marie clung to the butler and begged, but knights dragged her out. The commotion shifted the carpet lying on the floor, but no one in the room paid attention to such a minor detail.

Once Marie vanished, silence hovered in the room. Satina spoke first.

[Satina] "Thanks to me, you uncovered a maid plotting treason, so I trust you will report this well to Father."

The butler looked at her with a displeased face.

She got lucky this time.

He had assumed she was causing another senseless disturbance, yet that maid carried poison intending to murder Satina.

[Butler] "If something like this happens again, I will not stand by either. Please remain quiet. Quiet."

[Satina] "Unless something happens, I shall."

The butler studied Satina with an uncomfortable expression.

Normally, hearing such words from the butler wounded her pride, yet her desperate status prevented her from speaking back. Now, however, she merely smiled softly as if unbothered.

[Butler] "……I will assign another maid to serve My Lady by tomorrow."

Normally, he wouldn't care what became of a maid serving Satina, but her relaxed smile pricked his conscience. After all, Satina was a lady of the house he was sworn to serve.

---

After the butler departed, Satina slid onto a chair inside the empty room.

[Satina] "Phew……"

Staging a wild uproar so out of character drained every ounce of strength from her body. That brought to mind what Liv had said moments ago.

[Satina] "What did you mean earlier? Saying a shove like that wouldn't cause death."

[Liv] "The quest required you to 'expel the maid from the mansion'."

[Liv] "Even if the maid is expelled as a corpse, the quest is cleared."

[Liv] "According to Imperial legal precedent, if a shove accidentally results in a fall or injury causing death, it is judged as lacking intent."

[Liv] "The player's current status is 'Duke's Daughter' and the deceased is a 'Commoner,' so no punishment applies to this act."

[Liv] "Liv merely provided appropriate guidance to ensure quest completion for the player."

[Satina] "So you wanted me to……"

Stunned disbelief rendered her speechless.

[Satina] "……kill a person?"

[Liv] "It was for quest completion."

[Liv] "Fortunately, the player's wit linked the maid to another noble, successfully clearing the quest."

[Satina] "Forget it. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, so don't suggest such bizarre methods again."

[Liv] "She is not someone worthy of your concern."

[Satina] "Still……."

Regardless of doing whatever it took to reach the ending, she lacked the desire to go that far.

Is it because Liv is an AI? It seems to lack morals.

Yet surviving this harsh world required the system's help.

[Liv] "I will take that into consideration."

[Liv] "However, Liv will do everything possible to achieve the ending chosen by the player."

Ding!

[Liv] "Quest complete."

[Liv] "Exposing the maid's crime and upholding noble dignity awards the player 5 Fame."

[Liv] "1 Secret Outing Pass granted."

[Liv] "Affection Window unlocked."

[Liv] "With the ending route destroyed, 'Ending 002. The Maid's Betrayal' is now unlocked."

[Satina] "What does unlocking an ending……"

Before she finished her sentence, her vision turned black, and an invisible force dragged her body somewhere.

She blinked slowly and looked at her surroundings.

[Satina] "This place is……"

It was her room. Checking the calendar and clock on the wall, she had just returned after Duke Bersabet ordered her confinement.

Thump, thump!

A knocking sound echoed at the door.

[Marie] "You're awake. Why didn't you say anything?"

Marie stepped into the room, uttering the exact words Satina had heard hours ago.

[Marie] "You are going to eat dinner now, right?"

Leaving and returning, Marie brought the watery soup. Everything up to this point matched what Satina experienced.

She stared at the soup before her. The body moved on its own according to 'Satina's' original will. It was as if she became a spectator trapped in "Satina".

"Satina" ate the soup with a somber expression and spoke.

[Satina] "Thank you for the meal."

At 'Satina's' polite greeting, Marie gathered the dishes and stepped outside. Once she left, "Satina" slumped onto the bed helplessly and muttered.

[Satina] "Did everyone forget today is my birthday? Well, it has always been like this."

Satina was an unnecessary presence in this house. While her stepsiblings enjoyed lavish birthday parties and received congratulations from all around, she received none. Living in this house, family members never congratulated her even once.

Without even thinking to change out of her street clothes, "Satina" drifted into sleep.

A short while later, creak—the door opened cautiously. Entering first to check 'Satina's' condition, Marie gestured to the people behind her.

[Marie] "She is asleep. Hurry inside."

Following her, two male servants entered Satina's room. As if rehearsed, they lifted "Satina" naturally and placed her inside a crate.

[Marie] "T-This settles my debt, right?"

[Servant] "Yeah, stop worrying."

[Servant] "Just make sure you don't get caught for a while."

[Marie] "Understood."

Just then, "Satina" woke up.

[Satina] "What…… Mmph!"

[Servant] "Damn it. What, did the drug not work properly?"

[Servant] "Did you feed her the entire dose we told you to?"

[Marie] "I-I definitely put the whole bottle in! Do something! People will arrive if this keeps up!"

Gagged, "Satina" waved her hands helplessly toward Marie.

Help me. Save me.

Struggling with all her might allowed "Satina" to seize a brief opening. Just as she tried to break free and flee from the servant—

[Servant] "Damn it. Stay still!"

[Satina] "Ah!"

The servant grabbed her by her hair. The violent pull slammed her head hard against the wall, causing her to collapse.

[Servant] "We're screwed! I told you to fix that violent temper of yours!"

[Servant] "What do we do? She looks dead."

Consciousness faded. Listening to the voices arguing over her body, "Satina" closed her eyes. At that moment, a sharp alert chime rang, pulling her back to reality.

Ding!

[Liv] "Ending 002. The Maid's Betrayal has concluded."

[Satina] "Hah!"

She snapped her eyes open and looked around. Before her lay the messy room left behind after Marie was dragged away moments ago.

W-What was that just now……

The agony of her head slamming into the wall, the feeling of blood draining from her body, and the cessation of breath remained terrifyingly vivid.

[Liv] "Are you alright?"

[Satina] "Mm-hmm."

Its calm, mechanical voice unexpectedly provided comfort.

[Liv] "My apologies. Liv bears responsibility for failing to consider the player's mental fortitude."

[Satina] "No, I am fine. More importantly, what was that? If I failed the quest, would I have died like that?"

[Liv] "Yes."

[Satina] "……"

The brief response suffocated her.

[Satina] "I treated this half as a joke……"

Chills ran over her skin at the realization that a single mistake meant actual death.

[Liv] "That was the ending awaiting the player upon quest failure."

[Satina] "……"

[Liv] "Fortunately, the player completed the quest, destroying that ending route."

[Liv] "You no longer need to worry about this ending."

[Satina] "Right, that is a relief."

[Liv] "Don't worry."

[Liv] "Liv is doing everything possible for the player's ending."

[Liv] "Following Liv's instructions will ensure the player remains safe."

[Satina] "I hope so."

She had no desire to die such a meaningless death. Determination to reach the Normal Ending surged fiercely inside her.

[Satina] "At least securing rewards makes this worthwhile."

Opening the inventory window, she found the 'Secret Outing Pass' earned by clearing the quest. It was a convenient item that transported the user to any stated location for thirty minutes before returning. Consequently, obtaining it in the game had proven difficult.

[Satina] "The reward is generous."

[Liv] "The reward matches the difficulty."

[Satina] "Indeed. It was quite difficult for a tutorial, wasn't it?"

As a precious item, Satina wished to save it, yet game progression demanded visiting one specific place first.

[Satina] "Before that, let us check Affection levels first."

[Liv] "Requesting the Constellation of Destiny to measure Player Satina's bonds."

Male Lead Target 1: Affection 0

Male Lead Target 2: Affection 10

Male Lead Target 3: Never Met

Male Lead Target 4: Never Met

Up to this point, no major issue existed.

However.

Male Lead Target 5: Affection -60

[Satina] "Minus sixty? Is this broken?"

[Liv] "State-of-the-art AI system Liv doesn't malfunction."

[Satina] "No, but still……"

Minus sixty?

Even negative numbers should have a limit. She couldn't even guess what terrible grudge caused this. The figure was high enough to suspect Satina had somehow killed his parents.

Is this target even winnable?

A headache throbbed in her temples. What ending awaited her down this path was obvious without looking. She would either die at Target 5's hands or perish by his subordinates.

Unlike the lovely heroine who enjoyed everyone's affection, Satina fretted over being murdered by a male lead, a cruel reality that brought tears of frustration.

If I don't want to die, I must work fiercely.

To do that, she needed to cure her incurable illness first. The disease's name, unknown even to Satina herself, was 'Divine Curse.' It was a condition where internal energy channels blocked as the patient grew, preventing holy power usage. Because of this illness, she couldn't use divine magic despite being a saintess candidate.

If only I had known this earlier.

Had her memories of Korea returned when she was younger, she might have lived a far better life than now. Curing this disease—which hardly anyone knew about—was no simple task, but she knew the single method to heal it.

[Satina] "I will use the Secret Outing Pass."

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