Chapter 22
In any case, Cynthia mostly kept her responses to his provocations internal, responding outwardly in a very succinct way. She either didn’t answer and just smiled, or relied on her experience as a mid-sized company employee to give just enough of a response to get by.
At the same time, under the pretense of helping him recover his memories as promised, she told him stories she’d made up. The kinds of memories fiancés in this country might plausibly share were just things like taking walks together, having tea, reading books, or attending society parties—so she had to repeat similar variations and add small events to keep him from getting bored.
But for all her effort, his reaction wasn’t great. Segleninde would just lie on the sofa with a bored expression, listening, and then say, “So? What next?” That was about it.
If she paused, he would subtly prod her to continue, so Cynthia had to rack her brain to invent stories that might keep his interest without contradicting the established backstory. Whether he was actually interested or not, she couldn’t tell.
He listened well enough, but most of the time he looked like someone who put on boring TV just to have something in the background.
At least, he never tried to kill Cynthia.
She’d been quietly wary of one of the villain’s abilities—’Suggestion’—which, in the game, if you got caught by it, you could lose all your hard-earned items and allies in an instant. If you were unlucky, it could even make your companions fight each other to the death.
It seemed that, having lost his memories, Segleninde had also forgotten how to use most of his magic. Thanks to that, Cynthia could at least be sure he wasn’t secretly manipulating her with Suggestion.
Spending time together like this, Cynthia came to learn about the real personality of Duke Segleninde Wincastle—a side never described in the game.
Segleninde was arrogant, insolent, and had no sense of manners. He was mostly cold, and the way he ran his mouth was so reckless, it was almost more shocking than the fact that the head of one of the three most renowned ducal houses—who also happened to be a monster who killed people—was a jerk.
To sum it up simply.
‘He’s a total thug!’
That’s just the kind of guy he was.
Sometimes he even did weird things.
More than once, when Cynthia was so tired she lay down to nap on the sofa, she’d sense a strange gaze, open her eyes, and nearly faint at the sight of two red eyes staring down at her from above. She’d pretend to be talking in her sleep and curse at him.
It really was like he was observing her. In any case, as if he wasn’t human, his odd behavior came across as entirely natural.
Even the novelty of his angelically beautiful face and sculpted, statue-like physique wore off fast. Being stuck with this villain, who had no concept of consideration and threw around snide remarks at every turn, was enough to make her feel like she’d achieve enlightenment from sheer frustration.
Who said she could handle this kind of blockhead? She was starting to reach her limit.
Even when she tried to put distance between them, he’d immediately follow as if he were bored, pick a fight, and if she ignored him, his expression would turn cold as he asked, “Are you ignoring me?”—making her worry about her own survival. Cynthia was starting to think she should just act crazy and try going outside.
And then the moment came when she really had to make that decision.
It felt like about forty hours had passed since they’d holed up in the dressing room. The biscuits had run out.
“…Haa.”
One meal a day—if it could even be called a meal—on tiny portions, and thanks to being in the body of a noble lady hardened by extreme dieting, she’d managed to survive on just a few pieces of biscuit.
But this was her limit. The spirit of a Korean who’d been used to three meals a day, plus late-night snacks, was screaming from hunger.
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