Episode 73. Obsession (4)

‘In the game, he stepped up like that.’

Beth bit her lip hard, unable to suppress the growing dissatisfaction. This was not the Daniel she admired.

‘I was so happy when I first possessed this body… but these days, it’s not fun anymore.’

In the game, no one but Sienna criticized Beth. After hearing Sienna’s harsh words, everyone would fawn over her, and they would point fingers at Sienna as the villainess. Beth only had to watch Sienna suffer.

‘But what’s the point if Sienna isn’t even hurt?’

Instead, Sienna held her head high, her expression unbothered, as if being the villainess was her rightful place.

‘This isn’t right.’

Beth realized that Daniel was staring at her with a puzzled look.

‘No! If I keep this up, Daniel will start having doubts again.’

Beth had only one method to handle Daniel. She dropped her head sorrowfully and murmured in a plaintive tone.

“Maybe we’re not meant to be together, Daniel.”

Appealing to emotions.

And the game’s absolute rule was that Beth’s appeals always worked on the characters.

“Beth.”

Daniel, who had been puzzled just moments ago, now embraced her tenderly.

“Why do you say such things? Did I upset you?”

“But earlier…”

You said I was of low birth and didn’t know the proper etiquette. Do you know how humiliating it was to have my origins exposed in front of so many people?

The words were on the tip of her tongue, but Beth swallowed them just in time.

‘No. If I utter even a hint of resentment, the system will warn me.’
Beth was the angelic heroine. She couldn’t blame or resent others. The only thing she could do was blame herself.

‘If I receive a penalty, time will rewind.’

Beth’s penalties were different from Sienna’s. She had already received penalties several times.

‘I don’t want to return to when Count Bohan was alive.’

She still felt no guilt about pushing him down the stairs. But pretending to accept the affections of a man who wasn’t her type again was something she didn’t want to go through.

Thinking of the late Count Bohan, Beth steeled herself and replied to Daniel with a faint smile.

“…No, it’s fine. Thank you. If it weren’t for you, that villainess would have imprisoned me.”

Recalling the fierce atmosphere earlier made her heart pound. Beth, bowing her head and remembering that moment, poured out her resentment towards Sienna, the only person in the game she could speak ill of.

“Lady Sienna is so cruel. Not only did she push me, but she also tried to imprison me for it.”

How wicked can one be? Did she deserve such a harsh punishment?

Beth seemed to forget that she had tried to frame Sienna for assault.

Daniel responded in a calm and logical tone.

“But you shouldn’t have gone to that place, Beth.”

Daniel’s rebuttal to her, who was supposed to take her side, made Beth’s face crumple. However, Daniel also started doubting her actions. He had been shocked to see his companion, a mere tutor, arguing with Sienna in a prominent place. Such places were not accessible just because one wanted to go.

Daniel frowned and asked,

“The closer you get to the upper seats, the fewer people there are. How did you end up there?”

“That’s…”

Beth’s answer was weak. The only reason she had was because Sienna Liata was walking there.

Her mind was solely focused on framing Sienna as the villainess and making her pay. As a mere tutor of a count’s house, she had limited opportunities to encounter Princess Sienna. With Sienna severing ties with Daniel, there was no reason for her to visit the Bohan house. Thus, Beth had to desperately seek out Sienna to create an incident.

The coronation was one of the few such events.

‘There she is!’

Sienna hadn’t even attended the emperor’s mourning. Hence, Beth had frantically followed Sienna.

And the series of events unfolded.

Since Beth was a beloved heroine in the game, she had acted without much thought. But being questioned by Daniel made her flustered.

Beth fidgeted with her fingers and stammered,

“I-I didn’t know. As you said, I’m not well-versed in etiquette.”

“You are my brother’s tutor.”

But even that wasn’t a valid excuse. Daniel questioned sternly,

“Are you saying a tutor who is unskilled in etiquette was teaching my brother?”

“T-That’s…!”

Beth’s face flushed hotly. He was right.

‘But the game never included etiquette lessons!’

In the game, the story progressed without her teaching a single lesson. Naturally, she didn’t know anything about etiquette because she had never seen it before!

‘I thought I could just let time pass in this world too.’

However, unlike the game, the job of a tutor in this world was real. If she didn’t teach a single letter, the lessons remained unfinished.

‘What if he questions me about that?’

If Daniel asked why she didn’t teach his sister, she would have no excuse. Saying she got possessed by a game character would be dismissed as madness.

So Beth pinched her thigh and forced tears to her eyes.

“Sniff, you must be ashamed of my mistake earlier, right? I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Why do you not argue against my words…?”

Daniel’s frown deepened as he looked at Beth appealing emotionally. But as tears streamed down Beth’s face, he forgot what he was questioning and replied in a daze, as if enchanted.

“…No, Beth. I was being too sensitive.”

Forcing himself to agree with something that didn’t align with his rational judgment, Daniel spoke slowly and distantly, his eyes unfocused, as if under hypnosis.

‘Ugh, this is so frustrating.’

Beth found the situation frustrating too. It wasn’t in her nature to soothe the male protagonist with tears to navigate a crisis.

She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, feeling her irritation subside as she saw Daniel fidgeting in front of her.

‘But tears are useful. Just crying seems to solve everything.’

She thought she could keep pacifying Daniel and wait for the right opportunity.

As she smiled triumphantly, she looked up absentmindedly and saw a handsome man with red eyes watching her and Daniel intently.

‘Who is that man?’

Why, and what was he looking at? She felt a chill run down her spine.

* * *

While Sienna and Beth were confronting each other at the coronation hall, Percy was forcibly keeping himself seated in the waiting room due to Julius’s stubbornness.

“Now will you let me go?”

“No.”

“I’ve done everything you asked. Do you still have a reason to keep me here?”

“There is. Because I don’t feel like it.”

Julius rested his chin on his hand with an irritable expression.

“If I let you go, you’ll head straight to Sienna.”

“If I swear not to approach Princess Sienna unless she comes to me first, will you let me go?”

His tone was gentle and polite, but the underlying meaning was clear, so it didn’t come across as respectful.

‘Sienna must be waiting for me.’

That was what he truly wanted to say.

Julius, easily reading his thoughts, scowled.

“Now I understand why Father hated you so much. You’re quite the nuisance.”

Percy laughed silently. It was amusing that someone who couldn’t even speak up before becoming emperor was now looking him in the eye.

Percy, who had been fidgeting with his fingers, spoke in a heavy voice.

“…You’ve killed all the Zulatan, making you the sole Zulatan.”

“So what?”

Julius retorted as if he didn’t see the problem, but Percy couldn’t just laugh it off. He stared at Julius with a sunken gaze. Julius, resting his head on his hand, spoke nonchalantly.

“It’s just a last-resort defense mechanism. As long as I’m Zulatan, I can’t die.”

“Do you think that makes sense?”

“You know it makes sense, Duke.”

“…”

This time, Percy fell silent. A name was a role. By killing the other Zulatan, Julius had ensured no one could take over his role.

‘The problem is that I can’t just laugh it off.’

It wasn’t like Percy could refuse the orders of Julius, who had miraculously become emperor. Percy clenched his fists in frustration. Julius, resting his chin, spoke in a languid tone.

“I’ll take Sienna.”

“Your Majesty!”

Percy stood up abruptly, shocked by the unexpected statement.