Chapter 35

‘Thanks for telling me now, damn system.’

As soon as Cynthia opened her eyes again and saw the message, she frowned. Maybe it was fortunate that she was able to at least confirm what had changed since the update. Before, it never told you which part you’d messed up and died for.

Now Cynthia was back in front of the sword-wielding statue.

Rubbing her neck, which still seemed to ache from the previous sensation, she glanced to the side. Segleninde suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him, asking in a noticeably urgent tone.

“Are you okay?”

“…What, what do you mean?”

“You were just spacing out. Did you really fall asleep with your eyes open in a situation like this? In its own way, that’s impressive.”

Hearing the usual thuggish remarks, she realized she was truly back.

But Cynthia was in no mood to feel relieved. She’d holed up in the dressing room for days just to avoid dying, and yet, to fall into a trap and die just for messing up a puzzle. The unfairness burst out of her.

“Ugh!”

“What, what’s wrong now?”

Actually, dying itself wasn’t so bad. The sensation of experiencing death was awful, but in the end, she was revived, wasn’t she?

She’d only been holding out hope that maybe this whole situation was a dream… But dying and still not waking up confirmed, beyond doubt, that this was reality. It was disheartening.

Still, nothing would change just sitting around.

“…It’s nothing. I just bit my tongue. Don’t mind it.”

“What? Bit your tongue? Damn it, let me see.”

“What?”

“Your tongue! Stick it out!”

Segleninde shouted in frustration and pulled Cynthia’s face close.

Her face gripped in his large hand, Cynthia stared at him in surprise.

He was the villain, whose hobbies included torturing and killing people. So for him to be so worried just because his fiancée bit her tongue… Was this also an invisible boost in affection? Cynthia glanced awkwardly, then slowly parted her lips.

Her small tongue flicked out timidly. At the sight, Segleninde momentarily furrowed his brow and, after glancing her over with a scowling face, let her go.

“You’re fine. Such a fuss over nothing.”

His words were as cold as ever, but as he started to let go, his hand briefly brushed the side of her neck, just where she’d been rubbing. His gaze, as if asking if that spot hurt too, made Cynthia strangely embarrassed, and she retreated a step, shaking her head.

His approach was weird, but he was worried, in his own way. Cynthia cleared her throat, feeling a sudden lump there.

She’d have to move the sword-wielding statue again. As she tried to recall how to phrase it to him,

“So, you want me to turn this again?”

“Huh?”

She’d saved before telling him to move the statue, hadn’t she?

But Cynthia figured the game had become more convenient after the update. There were other games where, if you’d seen a script before, the game would let you skip ahead.

“Yeah. That one, turn it over there.”

“You really make me do everything, huh.”

Once again, Cynthia maneuvered him into repositioning the statues.

This time, she carefully angled them so that they all looked in different directions, not at the second banquet hall, and not so that any of the statues were gazing in the same direction.

At last, she went to check the crossbow-wielding statue.

Grinding her teeth, Cynthia intended to give a good kick to the statue that had shot her in the throat. But.

“…What, what is this!”

The crossbow statue was shattered.

Black, blood-like liquid poured from the cut surface at its waist, soaking the floor. Its upper half had been pulverized, only fragments of stone and stains of blood were scattered about.

“Disgusting.”

Segleninde scowled and pulled her back.

What did this mean? Could it be that a new enemy, more dangerous than Segleninde, had appeared inside the mansion?

Cynthia hoped she was wrong, and quickly hurried off the balcony with him.

A faint sound echoed in Cynthia’s anxious ears.

Click—

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