Villains Are Destined to Die

Chapter 7

Creak.

I felt the duke’s eyes on my back as I turned the doorknob and exited the room. It felt strange, since he was acting completely different from how he had been when I entered. Having left the office, however, I decided to push it out of my mind. The duke wasn’t one of the NPCs I needed to curry favor with, and I wouldn’t have any reason to see him again after I reached an ending with one of the male protagonists at my coming-of-age ceremony.

I closed the door carefully and turned to leave. That was when an icy voice pierced the quiet.

“I thought I told you to stay out of my sight.”

I gasped, startled. I turned and saw a huge man standing in the corridor. The words “[Affection Score 0%]” shone in the gloom. The man had dark hair which seemed to meld with the shadows and blue eyes.

The duke’s eldest son, Derrick.

“Emily.”

“...”

“She’s a faithful maid that has worked in our house for 10 years.”

Derrick's footsteps rang on the floor as he emerged from the darkness. Crossing the broad corridor with only a few steps, he came to stand right in front of me and turned his intimidating blue eyes down toward my face. He had the look of a man who’d discovered a pest in his home.

I cringed at the hatred and scorn that emanated from him, even though I hadn’t really done anything wrong.

“No one was willing to be your personal maid, not even for a considerable bonus. Emily was the only one who volunteered to take the difficult position.”

“...”

“Well, that ends today. Your conceited behavior has driven the last maid remaining to you away.”

I suddenly felt indignant. When had I said I wanted her banished from the house? His pink-haired brother had made much more of a fuss than I had.

I’m the one who nearly died eating that rotten food!

I wanted to shout at him, but the words “[Affection Score: 0%]” glowing over his head stopped me.

Hold it in. If that drops any further, I’m dead.

I breathed deep, repressing my irritation. Affection score 0%. 0%... I repeated inside my mind. I was already drained from groveling at the duke’s feet earlier. And because I’d been so focused on disabling the dialogue options, I couldn’t remember much about this scene in the game. Staying calm, I decided to use the game’s systems to figure out what was going on.

Turn dialogue content on.

1. Ha! Did she service you in bed, perhaps?

2. She’s being kicked out of the house because she deserves it.

2. (Glare without saying anything.)

Having skimmed through my options quickly, I thought:

Turn dialogue content off! Off!

<SYSTEM>

Would you like to set this to [OFF] now?

[Yes. / No.]

I hurriedly pressed [Yes]. If I went with the crazy options provided by the game’s developers, I’d be dead in an instant. My brain was humming, trying to think of a solution, and Derrick’s expression turned colder and colder at the delay.

“Ha! You’re ignoring me now, are you?”

He almost seemed to be threatening me. I had no time to dally.

“I’m sorry for causing a scene,” I said.

How many more times would I have to apologize for something I hadn’t done? It hurt my pride to have to continue to cower like this each time. I hated it, and it left me feeling miserable. But it would be a small price to pay if it kept me alive. These people were not even real people, but virtual characters inside a game.

“That girl scratched me, Father! Bro!”

“You wretched child, you act just as pathetic as you look.”

I’d begged for forgiveness countless times during my life with my hateful half-brothers. That hadn’t been so different from my current situation. Not begging for mercy hadn’t put me at risk of death, of course, but I’d been just a child at the time, and everything had been equally scary. Groveling and cowering became an everyday occurrence. Compared to the life I’d already lived, Penelope’s current lot was nothing to complain about. After all, unlike myself, she had actually caused trouble.

Perhaps because I’d already been through much worse, it actually felt easy being inside a game in which begging for forgiveness was a promising strategy.

Again, this is way too similar to my own experiences, I mentally grumbled, recalling the thought I’d had when I first found myself in this game. Then I said in an even tone, “As you said, I was arrogant and conceited.”

“What... did you say?”

“My own behavior is to blame, so you needn’t fire the maid. In fact, I just asked Father for forgiveness.”

Derrick’s expression grew strange, his blue eyes slightly round. His reaction was similar to the duke’s.

I continued smoothly, finding it easy to repeat the words I’d already said. “I shall stay out of your sight from now on, so you needn’t worry about me. Please forgive me once more.”

I then gave a deep bow.

Did I sound too insincere? I wondered, suddenly worried that maybe I hadn’t been convincing enough. Even if this game’s story could be brutal, he wouldn’t suddenly cut me down when I was begging for mercy, would he?

I was quite certain that Derrick wasn’t a psycho like the crown prince though, and it was with a lighter heart that I waited for his response. I wanted to get this over with and return to my room. Even standing was proving difficult now. Come to think of it, that damned maid had made me throw up in the morning, and I’d had nothing to eat since then.

Despite my earnest desire to rest, it took Derrick a full five minutes to speak.

“Just... this once.” He finally conceded.

“...”

“I shall overlook it just this once.”

It occurred to me that this was easier than I’d expected when he immediately added, “But remember, this is the last time I’ll forgive your arrogant ways.”

His response was much haughtier than the duke’s.

As expected, however, I had avoided death. I felt relief, but I couldn’t bring myself to thank him for it.

Yeah, yeah. Of course, Your Majesty, I thought sarcastically, just as I would often do with the first of my detestable brothers, before giving another deep bow. Then I turned around so I could go to my room immediately.

“Ah...”

I felt a sudden rush of dizziness, and my vision started to fade. The relief seemed to have taken the strength right out of my legs, and I swayed on unsteady feet.

I’m going to fall!

The floor was rushing up to greet me now. Then someone grabbed me by my shoulders roughly.

“Hey!”

I felt two hands propping me up. I turned to see bright, burning blue eyes. Derrick had grabbed me before I could fall.

“You ate spoiled food, didn’t you?” he said gruffly, sending a jolt through my body.

While I stared in surprise, he asked, “Shouldn’t you call for a doctor?”

My inner turmoil immediately settled.

So he knew. He had known it wasn’t my fault, and yet had tried to blame me for what the maid had done. If I hadn’t begged him for mercy right away, he would likely have tried to kill me like in the game’s storyline.

I felt like someone had doused me with ice water.

“No, Lord Derrick.” I jerked my hand from his grasp, the movement almost instinctive as I didn’t know what might come next. I immediately regretted my actions, however. Suddenly afraid that he might be offended, I did my best to smile at him. “I just told you that you won’t have to bother with me ever again.”

So piss off.

“If you’ll excuse me.”

With another polite bow, I hurried away. I supposed I looked silly, the way I rushed down that corridor, like someone was hot on my heels. But my worry wasn’t unfounded. I was afraid he might shove a knife in my back for swatting his hand away.

In my hurry to escape to the central staircase, I failed to notice the look on his face.

* * *

“Lord Derrick, huh...” Derrick muttered, watching Penelope’s retreating form. The girl who didn’t dare address the duke as Father, would saucily refer to him and Reynold as “brother.”

Somehow, he couldn’t forget the way she’d blanched when he’d caught her. There was a strange light in his blue eyes as he watched her hurry away, almost at a run. Soon, however, he turned away as if no longer interested.

[Affection Score 5%]

White letters that Penelope failed to notice glowed above his head of black hair.