IHDOE Ch 72

Startled, she struck his hand away, prompting him to soothe her hastily.

[Man] "D-Don't be startled. It's me."

The unkempt man was a frequent customer at the bakery.

[Man] "I-I heard. That the bakery went under."

[Satina] "Yes..."

Trailing off, she averted her gaze.

Encountering a man who usually cast sinister glares at her in a deserted alley felt uncomfortable. Moreover, his demeanor suggested he had been lying in wait for her.

He couldn't have stalked me, right?

A terrifying shudder ran down her spine. Looking around frantically, no passersby in sight.

[Man] "I-It must be so hard. I-I'll help you."

[Satina] "Thank you for the sentiment, but it's overwhelming. I'm fine."

Despite her refusal, the man refused to back down.

[Man] "I-It's fine. Don't feel overwhelmed."

He closed the distance abruptly.

[Man] "O-Once we marry, assets become shared between husband and wife anyway."

[Satina] "Pardon? What are you..."

[Man] "I-I know everything. You l-like me too, Satina."

[Satina] "...I do?"

Ignoring her words, the man spoke with an ecstatic expression.

[Man] "W-When I first saw you, Satina, I was stunned. It felt like an angel appeared. Everyone avoided me, but only you smiled at me..."

[Satina] "No. I don't know what misunderstanding you have, but everything I did was because you were a customer."

[Man] "Y-You don't need to play dumb. I know your heart completely."

He snatched her wrist.

[Man] "Among the customers, I'm special to you."

She tried to wrench her captured wrist free, but it proved difficult. It only provoked him, prompting a tighter grip on her wrist.

[Man] "D-Don't reject me! Th-Then why did you smile at me like that if you felt nothing...!"

Alarm escalating, she tried to flee with a scream, but the man clapped a hand over her mouth.

[Satina] "Mmmph!"

[Man] "Y-You're vile! Y-You seduced me first! I... I...!"

She thrashed with all her might, yet her efforts proved futile.

Am I going to die like this?

Just as terrifying dread seized her, a newcomer grabbed and twisted the man's wrist.

[Man] "Aargh!"

Scrambling free from the man's grasp and adjusting her clothes, Satina looked at the newcomer.

It was Sharlan.

[Sharlan] "I wondered how well you were living after running from the family... My, my."

Perhaps he had an important business nearby. Impeccably dressed, he stood out like a gem amid the old, dilapidated houses.

He locked eyes with her, offering a delighted smile as if thrilled beyond measure to see her in such a state.

[Sharlan] "I never expected to find you looking like this, Sister."

[Satina] "You... How are you..."

Was the sequence of misfortunes she suffered indeed Sharlan's doing? Though she had suspected as much, facing him directly left her stunned, as if struck on the head with a hammer.

He glanced down at the man's wrist in his grip.

[Sharlan] "Ah, right. You and I no longer have any connection, yet I meddled unnecessarily."

Releasing the man's wrist, he offered a gentle smile.

[Sharlan] "Now, pay me no mind and continue what you were doing."

Stepping back two paces, he acted as though he had no intention of intervening.

Bewildered by Sharlan's sudden shift, the man clutched his aching wrist, paralyzed.

Tilting his head, Sharlan urged him forward.

[Sharlan] "Why hesitate? I told you to finish what you started. Whether you take her away to violate her or strangle her to death right here, I will not interfere. Because she has nothing to do with me anymore. Ah, come to think of it, calling you 'Sister' is no longer appropriate either."

He smiled at her with curling eyes.

[Sharlan] "Since you are no longer Satina Bersabet. Isn't that right, Miss Satina?"

Unnerved by Sharlan's incomprehensible demeanor, the man backpedaled hesitantly before turning and fleeing.

[Satina] "Sharlan, what on earth..."

Appearing out of nowhere, every single word tumbling from his mouth turned her stomach inside out. Dumbfounded and lost for words, she could only mouth silently before he chuckled.

[Sharlan] "What is it, Miss Satina? If you have something to say, speak up."

He strode toward her. Looking down at her, he smirked.

[Sharlan] "Why? Were you expecting me to gladly rescue you on the spot? As if there were any connection between us."

Placing a hand on her shoulder, he whispered in a gentle voice.

[Sharlan] "Do we share blood, or are we bound by the same house? We are complete strangers without any connection."

Tilting her chin upward, he examined her expression.

[Sharlan] "Yet I can't fathom why you wear a face as if betrayed."

She knocked his hand away sharply.

[Satina] "Sending officials to the bakery... Was that your doing too?"

He nodded readily, as if she asked the obvious.

[Sharlan] "Yes. I did it. Is there a problem?"

[Satina] "Getting me fired from the academy, having me dismissed as a governess... Was all of that... all you are doing?"

[Sharlan] "I assumed you already knew, so why bother asking?"

[Satina] "You..."

[Sharlan] "Now you realize as well, don't you, Sister? That once you run from the family, there is nothing you can accomplish. Discarding the surname Bersabet leaves your life ruined like this."

[Satina] "I know... I know you hate me."

Her hands trembled violently.

[Satina] "So I vanished from your sight. I traveled far from the capital so you wouldn't even have to look at me! Then why... Why on earth are you doing this to me?! Why?!"

Unable to suppress the fury surging inside, she grabbed his collar and shouted.

[Satina] "At least give me a reason! What did I do so terribly wrong to you?! Was entering the family my choice?! Did I deceive your family?! So I handed over all my businesses as you wanted! Wasn't that enough?! What... What did I do so terribly wrong to you...?!"

Burying her face against his chest, she wept.

She knew Sharlan hated her. Yet why go to such lengths? As if unable to endure unless he destroyed her life entirely.

[Sharlan] "A reason..."

He tilted his head thoughtfully, blonde hair spilling over his forehead.

[Sharlan] "I don't know either. Inflicting this upon you causes me no loss... so I simply did as I pleased."

[Sharlan] "Would knowing the reason change anything? If it's that important, feel free to imagine whatever you like."

He offered a brilliant smile.

[Sharlan] "Because the outcome won't change anyway."

[Satina] "You really are trash. You son of a bitch."

[Sharlan] "If cursing relieves your feelings, feel free to indulge. Even so, Sister..."

A carriage that he seemed to have prepared in advance pulled up before them. Looking toward the carriage door, he spoke.

[Sharlan] "It is time to return home."

And so, Satina returned to Bersabet's mansion once more.

Upon learning her name had never been removed from the family register in the first place, she tried to slap Sharlan on the spot. Of course, catching her wrist, he thwarted her attempt.

Thus ended her brief taste of freedom. He strictly restricted her outings. Even on the rare occasions she stepped outside, she had to be accompanied by Sharlan or a knight he assigned.

Eventually, disgruntled by the sight, Rebecca poisoned her, resulting in her death.

---

Satina woke up in bed with a scream. She curled inward, wrapping her arms around her trembling frame.

I thought I'd grown accustomed to suffering terrible fates in bad endings.

Her whole body shuddered from sensations so vivid and realistic that it felt as though she had experienced them.

[Satina] "...Liv."

She needed to hear the system's voice. The dry, mechanical voice impossible to hear during a bad ending sequence.

[Satina] "Liv!"

[Liv] "Yes, Player."

Relief settled over her only upon hearing Liv's voice reminding her this was a game. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath.

For a moment, I forgot this was a game.

While she usually shared every sensation with 'Satina' during bad endings, this time felt different. Perhaps because the ending sequence lasted so long, she had completely forgotten this was a game and that she was experiencing a bad ending, losing herself entirely in the scenario.

Satina stared down at her hands, still trembling. The sensation of attempting to slap Sharlan and having her wrist caught seemed to linger.

I know it's a game, but...

Squeezing her eyes shut, she clenched her fists.

[Satina] "Liv, is this really just a game?"

Could an experience so immersive, so visceral, still be called a game?

A monotonous mechanical tone answered her query.

[Liv] "Of course. The game currently being played by the player is the handsome youth dating simulation."

[Liv] "Rest assured. Liv will assist the player in clearing the game."

[Satina] "Right, of course. It should be..."

Yet her instincts whispered a different answer.

In the first ending she had witnessed, the female lead married the Crown Prince while Satina was betrayed by her family, reduced to a vessel exploited to extract holy power.

And in the ending she had just seen, Satina succeeded in amassing wealth and annulling her engagement with the Crown Prince.

How could a penniless, wretched Satina abandoned by her family earn that wealth and succeed in breaking the engagement?

Was she actually inside a game?

---

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