Episode 96. Conclusion (1)

Beth was gripped by overwhelming terror. Her entire body was restrained, and her tears, which usually swayed others, had no effect on either the Emperor or Percy.

‘I’m going to end up in an even worse situation.’

If she could just stop breathing, it wouldn’t be as terrifying as this. But the memory of being captured and imprisoned by Percy not long ago was still fresh in her mind—especially the moments when she had faced death again and again.

‘Daniel.’

With her mouth gagged, she couldn’t call out to him. And seeing Daniel’s unstable state, she knew he wasn’t someone she could rely on. Yet, the desperation and fear clouding her mind made her instinctively cling to him.

‘Daniel, help me. You’re the only one who can save me. You’re supposed to help me.’

Beth stared at Daniel with pleading eyes, and tears welled up naturally due to the fear of death.

And then, something strange happened. Whether it was Beth’s desperate plea reaching him or something else, Daniel suddenly turned to look at her.

His body began to tremble violently at the sight of her tears. Then, without warning, he turned toward Sienna.

“Because of you, we’re miserable! Die!”

He lunged at her.

* * *

‘Ah, has he truly lost his mind?’

That was all I could think as I watched Daniel charge at me. Whether he hated or liked me, couldn’t he pick one? His erratic behavior made it even harder to deal with him.

‘If he’s being controlled, then I do pity him, but…’

No one would want to be like this, flipping between states of mind like a madman. But regardless of my sympathy, he was undeniably a nuisance.

Before Daniel could reach me, Percy stepped in, grabbing Daniel’s wrists with both hands.

But, as they say, crazy people are strong. Even though Percy was larger and stronger, Daniel’s frantic struggles caused Percy to stagger.

“Sienna!”

Was that his way of telling me to run? I knew my place. At this moment, the best way I could help was by getting out of the way.

I nodded in understanding and prepared to bolt. But then Percy shouted something entirely unexpected.

“Hurry, sign it!”

“What?”

Sign? Sign what? The marriage contract?

Is this really the time for that? And why is the contract even relevant right now?

More importantly…

‘I already signed it earlier, didn’t I?’

My head was filled with confusion, but my body moved according to Percy’s instructions. I looked down at the contract I had signed earlier. It seemed perfectly fine, except…

‘Ah, I got the name wrong!’

Out of habit, I had signed as Sienna Liata. But hadn’t Julius just announced my new name today?

I quickly drew a line through the old name and, with elegant strokes, signed my new one:

\- Sienna Zulatán

As I lengthened the tail of the final ‘n,’ the pen slipped from my fingers, and immediately, a system window popped up.

※ A critical system error has occurred.

“What?”

An error? With my name?

I blinked in confusion, and the system windows began to flood in, as if on cue.

※ Attempting to recover from the error.
※ Recovery failed!
※ Retry?
※ Retry failed!
……

Several attempts to recover, followed by repeated failures. After all the retries, the system window froze, as if the entire system had crashed.

“What the…?”

The first to notice the change was Julius. He looked at the back of his hand with a surprised tone.

“The mark has disappeared!”

“What did you say?”

The barcode on the back of Julius’s hand—vanished. My eyes widened as I turned to look behind me. Percy, too, loosened his grip and removed his glove. Daniel, who had been struggling against Percy just moments ago, now clutched his head, seemingly back to normal.

“Ugh, my head… hurts.”

I watched Daniel in his agony before turning to meet Percy’s gaze. His eyes, which had momentarily shown confusion, returned to their usual calmness as he looked at the back of his hand. He gave me a small nod. The barcode had disappeared from his hand as well.

‘Does this mean Percy and Julius are no longer characters in the game?’

As the sudden change in the game’s setup left me feeling disoriented, a new system notification chimed.

※ Congratulations. You have successfully avoided death.

It was the notification signaling the completion of the quest I had to endure for 100 days.

‘Just like that?’

I was surprised, but it made sense. Beth, who had tried to put me in danger, had been neutralized, and Daniel seemed to have regained his senses.

‘But what happens now that it’s over? What happens to this game?’

While I stood there, lost in thought and staring blankly into space, all the system windows disappeared, leaving only one final notification.

※ Do you accept your reward?

[Reward: Eternal Happy Ending]

“What in the…”

An eternal happy ending? It felt as if the role of the heroine had been switched on me. I was so bewildered that I protested to the system.

“If it’s a reward, shouldn’t I be able to go back home? How is staying here forever supposed to be a reward?”

If you clear the game, you should obviously return home, right?

But the system wasn’t having it.

※ Do you accept your reward?

“Hey! This thing just says whatever it wants!”

Shouldn’t it at least ask what I want before offering a reward?

While I was in the middle of my pointless argument with the infuriating system, Percy approached me with a concerned frown.

“What do you mean, Sienna? Return home?”

“Well, Percy, it’s just that…”

I hesitated, unsure how to explain everything to him.

As I was trying to talk to Percy, the system continued to press me with its message.

※ Do you accept your reward?

Annoyed, I shouted back at the system.

“No! Happiness is something I have to fight for myself. It’s not something someone else can just give me!”

An “eternal happy ending”? There’s no such thing. Happiness and unhappiness are two sides of the same coin. They coexist, making one appreciate the other.

After a brief silence, the system finally displayed its last message.

※ The system will be permanently shut down. Thank you for using it.

“Hey! Wait a minute!!”

So, am I going to live in this world forever, even though the game is over? Before I could get any proper explanation, the system shut down. With it, all the restrictions that had been placed on us were lifted. I no longer felt compelled to say harsh words, and Beth’s tears no longer held any power.

Julius rolled his neck and stretched his arms as if shaking off the stiffness.

“Whatever just happened, it’s finally over. It’s been a long time coming.”

I narrowed my eyes. That was not something Julius, who supposedly didn’t know this world was a game, should be saying.

“What do you mean by that, Julius? You know something, don’t you?”

“Maybe that woman over there knows more than I do.”

“Beth.”

Julius gestured towards Beth with a nod. Since the confrontation happened during a banquet, we had already dismissed the nobles from the hall. Now, only Beth, Daniel, Percy, Julius, the imperial guards, and I remained in the vast space.

I pointed at Beth, who was glaring at us with a venomous expression, and commanded.

“Untie her mouth.”

“Yes, Princess.”

I wanted to hear what she had to say. As expected, as soon as her mouth was free, she started spewing venom.

“You fool! You ruined everything! You kicked away the chance to live in a world where you could be eternally happy. A world like this will never come again!”

It’s astonishing how consistent she could be. I replied with a bored tone.

“A world where only you are happy, you mean. That kind of world deserves to disappear.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! This is a game! I am the protagonist! Of course, everything should go my way!”

“Oh my, how spiteful. How did you survive all this time, keeping those words to yourself?”

“Ugh.”

So even Beth had been playing the role of an angel all this time, just as I had been forced to act as the villainess.

Daniel, who had been listening to the exchange with a deeply furrowed brow, asked.

“A game? Protagonist? What is all this about?”

“Sir Daniel.”

It was a strange thing. Recently, every time I looked at Daniel, he seemed so worn out that it startled me. But now, just by having his sanity back and his gaze clear, the atmosphere around him felt entirely different. I cautiously asked, “How do you feel? Are you in pain?”

“My head feels heavy. As if I’ve been plagued by bad dreams and couldn’t get any rest.”

Daniel responded softly and then added, his gaze now full of contempt as he looked at Beth, “But I remember everything. What that woman made me do.”

Made him do? Like when she ordered him to attack me, or something worse?