How to Survive as the Horror Game Villain’s Fake Fiancée - Chapter 124

※ This book contains depictions of coercive/dubcon/noncon acts, violence, and gore. Reader discretion is advised.

When Cynthia remarked honestly that the outer garden felt a bit too empty, the very next day it was filled with all kinds of brilliantly colored flowers. The number of gardeners increased from one to three, and the shrubs were beautifully trimmed.

When Cynthia expressed her admiration and thanked Segleninde, his face flushed red and he grumbled that she was too noisy before hurriedly running off. Of course, if Cynthia simply waited in place for about a minute, he would always return on his own.

Pretending it was nothing, he would personally pick beautiful flowers and place them in Cynthia’s hands, and when she smiled brightly and inhaled their fragrance, he, too, would find himself unconsciously smiling. His heart felt so full that it seemed nothing else could make him happier.

But it still wasn’t enough. Once again, he briefly disappeared, only to return with an armful of blossoms and petals, which he scattered over her head.

A shower of beautiful flowers rained down. Cynthia, buried in the fragrant, fluttering blooms, first looked surprised, then laughed. With a bright face, he embraced her, and Cynthia returned the hug, reveling in the air colored like a radiant spring.

Segleninde was in love with her. By now, Cynthia knew this all too well.

But why, then, did she keep feeling so uneasy inside?

‘This is strange. Am I forgetting something?’

Was it just her imagination? She kept feeling as if something was slipping past her.

After Segleninde left again to return to his work, Cynthia began to wander the mansion. It wasn’t for any special reason. She just wanted to find a way to get rid of the vague discomfort that had been lingering lately.

“It’s still here.”

When she went to the main hall on the first floor, the save point she had first set was still there.

It was the same elsewhere. Unlike before, the music boxes were now playing lively, cheerful tunes, and when she touched one, a message like [Would you like to save?] appeared.

‘Seeing this, it doesn’t seem like Segleninde is controlling the entire game system.’

After all, he wasn’t affected by Save/Load, so there was no need for him to remove the music boxes. Cynthia thought that maybe her unease came from the existence of the Save/Load system, but after checking, she realized that wasn’t the cause.

So what was the problem? The unease kept knocking at her chest, as if telling her not to forget.

“Ah, come to think of it…”

Suddenly, she remembered something she had forgotten.

When she bought the Succubus Lingerie Set from Clara last time, she’d been so distracted by its appearance that she hadn’t thought about it, but at that moment her inventory window had opened without issue. She could even check her status window as usual.

That meant the game system was still functioning.

Could it be that the game wasn’t actually over yet?

After returning to her room, Cynthia opened her inventory window again. She’d assumed that after seeing the ending, the game would be over and all the system elements would disappear. But everything was still there. The Instant Death Dagger, the axe, the map, and so on. Every item she’d obtained before remained.

‘Maybe the reason Segleninde didn’t touch the music boxes is because, like the system that exists for me, there are elements even he can’t interfere with?’

Previously, he had said that the priests had taken part of his power. That’s why, by gathering people and holding banquets, he was recovering his strength through Cynthia. Because of this, maybe his control over the game wasn’t perfect.

Cynthia took out the map she’d found thanks to the teddy bear last time. When she spread it out, the red dot representing a human showed only herself. Segleninde’s location appeared as well, in his office.

As she studied the map for a while, she noticed an area she hadn’t checked before.

The mansion had a basement.

“…Basement?”

Indeed, beneath the first floor, in an otherwise empty area, a place labeled ‘basement’ was marked.

Had such a place always existed in the game? Eyeing the map suspiciously, she soon spotted, not a red dot for humans or a white dot for Segleninde, but a faint gray light.

It was right above the basement, in the multipurpose room on the first floor.

The moment she saw it, Cynthia started walking. She’d suddenly remembered an existence she’d forgotten all this time.

‘The teddy bear! You’re here!’