IHDOE Ch 65
She climbed the stone mountain alongside Katan.
[Satina] "I'll go alone from here. Make sure no one approaches."
[Katan] "Understood."
Instead of leaving right away, she closely inspected his face.
[Katan] "Is something wrong, My Lady?"
[Satina] "No, you just look suspiciously cheerful, which makes me wary."
[Katan] "Ah."
[Katan's affection has increased by 1.]
He brushed a hand over his face as if caught off guard.
[Katan] "Taking only me means you trust me that much, My Lady."
[Satina] "Well, I suppose so..."
Since the route where he betrays the female lead and flees in the original game has been destroyed.
As long as that issue was resolved, he was a fairly reliable target character.
[Satina] "Anyway, I'm counting on you."
[Katan] "Understood."
Leaving him behind, she climbed a bit further until she spotted a stone shaped like a raven with its beak open.
I found the right place.
She pulled the Golden Room Entrance Ticket from her inventory window and inserted it into the bird's open beak.
The bird's mouth, which looked like ordinary stone, swallowed the gold ticket. Light filled its eyes. Touching it triggered a system notification.
[Do you wish to move to the 'Golden Room'?]
[Satina] "Yes."
Nodding, she immediately teleported to an underground plaza.
The first thing she saw was a massive door carved with scenes of the ancient empire. A blind knight stood guarding the entrance.
Sensing her presence, he greeted Satina with a moved expression.
[Knight] "Ah... Your Majesty. Have you finally returned? Though villainous fools lusted after the treasure, I guarded this vault believing you would return."
Satina glanced at the piles of bone fragments scattered beside the knight.
She was not the first person to enter this Golden Room. Some had accidentally stumbled in while roaming the stone mountain, but all met their demise by the guardian knight's blade.
Modified with ancient empire technology, the knight had long since ceased breathing, yet his resolve remained, guarding the Emperor's treasure vault.
Satina swallowed hard, her face tense.
Thanks to using the ticket, he misidentified her as the Emperor for now. But if he discovered she wasn't, she would become just another pile of bones.
In the game, the female lead read a letter left by the ancient emperor, laying the knight to rest peacefully and easily obtaining the treasure. However, while Satina obtained the Golden Room Entrance Ticket, she hadn't obtained the letter.
To get that, I'd have to reach right before the game's ending.
So she decided to pretend to be the Emperor.
[Satina] "Yes, you have guarded it well all this time. You are commendable. A knight worthy of my praise."
[Knight] "Your Majesty."
His voice trembled with emotion.
[Knight] "Forgive my impudence, Your Majesty, but your voice sounds markedly different from what I remember."
[Satina] "Much time has passed. The vessel I previously inhabited couldn't withstand the march of time."
She lied casually.
[Knight] "Ah! Then Your Imperial Majesty's noble visage has changed as well?! To think I can no longer behold your radiant countenance!"
[Satina] "Indeed. Now step aside. I must retrieve my treasure."
[Knight] "Of course. Your Majesty is the true master of this treasure, the one entitled to possess all creation."
Stepping aside, the knight spoke.
[Knight] "Now, Your Majesty, please present your token for entry."
[Satina] "Token?"
[Knight] "Yes. Did Your Majesty not command it yourself? That since many thieves would covet this place, none should enter without your personal token."
A token? What's that?
Her mind raced.
This didn't appear in the game...
Pondering briefly, she decided to bluff.
[Satina] "Nonsense! When did I ever issue such a command?! Are you implying that I must prove my imperial identity to a mere servant like you?!"
Bellowing, based on the Emperor's personality revealed briefly in the game, the knight bowed deeply.
[Knight] "Ah... This tyrannical temperament, this sharp tongue... You are indeed the Emperor, Your Majesty."
She was speechless, but fortunately, it seemed to be the correct answer.
[Knight] "Forgive me, Your Majesty! I have erred! So many thieves have targeted the vault of late that I committed an unforgivable insolence against you!"
She decided to play a card that would completely erase the knight's lingering doubts.
[Satina] "I am thoroughly disappointed in you, Amaneho!"
Calling his name from the game, the knight's body froze as if struck by lightning. Falling to his knees instantly, he cried out.
[Amaneho] "Your Majesty! You remembered my name!"
[Satina] "Ahem, of course. You guard my treasure; how could I forget your name?"
[Amaneho] "I assumed Your Majesty would have long forgotten someone like me."
[Satina] "Nonsense."
[Amaneho] "Every doubt within me has washed away. The true master of the treasure has finally returned!"
The massive door behind the knight opened slowly.
Watching dazzling gold and jewels reveal themselves within the gap, Satina cheered internally.
Satina stored the ancient empire's treasure in her inventory window and stepped outside.
Enclosing several ancient gold coins in a pre-written letter, she handed it to Lekan.
[Satina] "Here, Lekan. Deliver this to Hedzel. Can you do that?"
Chirping happily, Lekan flapped his black wings.
[Lekan] "Friend! Do well!"
He soared toward the capital at high speed.
Now I just wait for Hedzel's reply.
Satina returned to the western fortress.
She administered the completed cure to the infected patients. Upon taking the medicine, the patient's fever broke, and consciousness returned.
[Patient] "Ugh... Where am I...?"
[Resident] "He opened his eyes!"
[Resident] "Lady Satina created a cure for the plague!"
[Crowd] "Woooah!"
People who had been anxiously watching the patient's condition burst into cheers. Some fell to their knees praying, while others burst into tears looking at Satina.
[Successfully completed development of the cure!]
[Player's fame spreads widely across the Western Fortress!] [
Player's fame increases by 10!]
News of Satina spread throughout the Western Fortress.
[Resident] "Did you hear? Lady Satina completely drove out the disease that plagued our fortress!"
[Resident] "We don't need to worry about the plague anymore! She is the real Saintess!"
[Guard] "I owe my life to her. Anyone calling her a fake Saintess from now on will have to answer to my sword!"
[Player's fame increases by 1!]
[Player's fame increases by 2!] [Player's fame increases by 1!]
[Player's fame...]
Fame has surpassed 60.
Satina thought, watching the continuous notification windows. Thanks to coming to the western fortress and curing the people, she had raised her fame significantly.
Only 40 more to go.
[Satina] "Should I check affection scores for a change? Liv, show me the affection window."
[Appealing to the Constellation of Destiny to measure player 'Satina's' bonds.]
Lexion: Affection 3
Sharlan: Affection 33
Serpens: Affection 50
Katan: Affection 43
Tyron: Affection -68
She tilted her head at the slightly unexpected numbers.
[Satina] "Was Katan's affection always like that? It's higher than I expected."
[Liv] "Liv makes no mistakes. Perhaps notifications sounded while you slept and went unchecked?"
[Satina] "Is that so?"
[Liv] "Yes. Furthermore, the notification window was cluttered due to Serpens for a while."
[Satina] "Hm, that could be. At any rate, not much remains until the Normal Ending."
To achieve the Normal Ending, she had to seek asylum in the Free City-State before the Summer Foundation Festival.
Three conditions were required: First, break the engagement with the Crown Prince. Second, reach an affection score of 50 or higher with 3 target characters. Third, reach a fame score of 100 or higher.
Good, everything is progressing smoothly.
With her fame rising from this incident, her standing had shifted markedly.
Then should I bring up breaking the engagement soon?
To do that, while raising Sharlan's affection, there was one person she had to deal with first: her father, Duke Bersabet.
Now that her fame had risen significantly, even if she broke the engagement with the Crown Prince, the probability of being forcibly married off to some unknown man had decreased noticeably.
Still, Father wouldn't just stamp the annulment papers.
Duke Bersabet was the type who, if she broke the engagement, would bind her by force and throw her into the Crown Prince's bedchamber.
So before the Summer Foundation Festival, I need to send Father far away and make Sharlan the Acting Head of House Bersabet.
Then she could use Sharlan's affection to get the annulment stamp.
Satina unfolded the reply from Hedzel.
[Hedzel] "I received your letter. As you said, the money in that treasure vault is enough to buy up all the red maltstone circulating in the market. But are you serious? If we do as you say, the price of red maltstone will skyrocket, inflicting heavy losses on your house's business. Are you really doing this?"
She wrote a reply without hesitation.
[Satina] "Yes, proceed as planned."
That was the only way to send her father far away.
Requested by readers—hope you enjoy it! If you do, feel free to leave a rating or review on KakaoPage, Naver Series, Ridi, and Novel Updates.
Comments