Chapter 3
“Lady, where are you going!”
As I burst out of my room, the startled voices of the maids trailed after me. But my attention was fixed solely on the glowing red arrow floating in the air.
That must be pointing to Valeria’s location!
Blink, blink.
9:59, 9:58… The numbers started ticking down like a timer. My stamina had already fully recovered, so I immediately sprinted after the arrow.
“Right! I remember now—Duke Kainan!”
In Empress Maker, the story begins with Valeria being falsely accused and cast out of House Kainan, charged with having neglected the death of her mistress—the Duke’s daughter.
“So that’s why! She was a character who was supposed to die from the very start, wasn’t she?”
I finally understood why I, a game veteran, had never heard the name Triciarene Bay Kainan. Triciarene was canonically dead from the beginning of the story, so her name had hardly been mentioned at all.
Whether it was good or bad luck to possess the body of someone already destined to die, I wasn’t sure. But the real problem lay elsewhere.
Of all people… why did I have to be the daughter of that Duke Kainan! This isn’t something to celebrate just because I woke up as a noble lady!
In every possible ending, Duke Kainan meets a miserable fate. True to his role as the main villain, he is stripped of his title and exiled beyond the Empire’s borders—for the crime of framing the heroine and expelling her unjustly.
And since I had possessed his daughter, my fate was now tied to his. I only had three years to reach an ending, but if I was exiled along with him, that meant game over.
“No way. I must stop Valeria from being expelled right now!”
The most urgent thing now was to find Valeria. All the routes and strategies were already well stored in my head, so there was nothing else to worry about.
I can’t wait to see the hidden ending!
Hehe. Just imagining it already made me grin like an idiot. Passing servants stared at me as though I’d gone insane, but I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was the time limit glowing above my head.
“Ugh, why is this mansion so big!”
Hallway after hallway, staircase after staircase, and still the arrow didn’t end. My lungs were burning, but I couldn’t stop. I ran, and ran, chasing the arrow.
[Time Limit: 0:32]
“What, already?”
Barely half a minute left. Just as I thought I couldn’t go any farther, I finally saw it. The arrow stopped before an iron door that looked unmistakably like the entrance to a dungeon.
“Here!”
Bam!
Too desperate to waste time, I kicked the door open. Inside, I caught sight of familiar pink hair. Valeria was on her knees, and two burly men—probably knights of House Kainan—stood menacingly before her.
“Lady? What brings you here?”
The knights froze, clearly shocked. To them, the drowned and half-dead young lady suddenly appearing in the dungeon must have been nothing short of bizarre.
Panting, I rushed over to Valeria. The intimidating men instinctively stepped back.
“Valeria, are you alright? Let’s go back to my room.”
But something was wrong. As I lifted her by the arm, I realized her clothes and hair were completely soaked, dripping water. Her face was ghostly pale.
Why is she this drenched?
Blink, blink.
Above Valeria’s head, a glowing pink orb pulsed. Click it, it seemed to say. I tapped it with my finger—but nothing happened. Frustrated, I stomped my foot.
Wait! Maybe it’s done with the eyes?
The moment I blinked deliberately at the orb, a rectangular window appeared before my eyes.
[Character Status Window]
Whoa. Just like in the game, I can check the status window here too!
But before I could marvel further, one number at the top caught my eye and sent chills down my spine.
[HP: 5/999]
What the—single digits? I’ve never seen that before! If Valeria dies, it’s game over!
“You there. Hurry and help me carry Valeria to my room!”
My back prickled with dread as I ordered them. Soon, I returned to my chambers with Valeria in tow. The anxious maids who had been waiting for me sighed in relief when I appeared.
“My lady, you’re back!”
“Clear my bed. Lay Valeria down on it.”
“…What?”
“Lay her on my bed, I said! No time! You—go fetch the physician who treated me earlier. And you—bring hot soup. And some tea for colds.”
“Y-Yes, my lady!”
The maids quickly obeyed, dressing Valeria in dry clothes and laying her on my bed. Their expressions said it all: Why is she suddenly being kind? Clearly, Triciarene’s reputation wasn’t great. No doubt, like her father, she’d treated servants worse than animals.
Well, maybe this is actually a blessing in disguise. In stories, when a villainess reforms, everything starts going her way. From now on, I’ll just treat people better.
I gently wiped Valeria’s clammy forehead with a dry towel.
“You can’t die, Valeria. My life depends on you.”
As though she’d heard me, Valeria’s eyelids fluttered. Her clear, cherry blossom–colored eyes peeked open. From her parched lips came a faint murmur.
“…My lady?”
“Yes, it’s me. Triciarene.”
“Are you… alright?”
“Thanks to you saving me, I’m fine. Truly, thank you.”
“I…”
“Don’t speak, Valeria. Just rest.”
She tried to say something more, but I shook my head. Wasting her strength now would only make things worse. Until the physician arrived, she had to conserve what little stamina she had.
“The doctor will be here soon. So close your eyes and rest, alright?”
“Yes. Thank you…”
Her weak reply made my nose sting. Even though she was just the game’s heroine, after spending a month here, I had grown genuinely attached to her.
[HP: 5/999]
“This is bad…”
Even after changing her clothes and warming her up, her health remained critically low. Just like in the game, HP wouldn’t recover unless she was given medicine or proper treatment.
Guess I’ll just check out her other stats until the physician comes.
I blinked again, opening the status window.
[Character Status Window]
[HP: 5/999]
[Charm: 67/999]
[Intellect (Locked)]
[Magic (Locked)]
[Swordsmanship (Locked)]
[Divine Power (Locked)]
[Dignity (Locked)]
[Player Affection: 13/100]
As expected—since we haven’t met the male leads yet, all the important stats are locked.
The biggest reason people loved Empress Maker was precisely this “stat-link system.” Each locked stat could only be unlocked by meeting the respective male leads, and the more time spent with them, the higher the stat would grow. Which stat you focused on determined which male lead you would end up with.
For example, to get the simplest ending—Duchess—you had to max out Intellect. For the most difficult ending—Empress—you had to max out Intellect, Magic, and Dignity all together.
Pfft. Raising stats? Child’s play for me.
With that thought, the road ahead felt like smooth sailing.
Though… the fact that my father was Duke Kainan was still a huge thorn.
Wait, what’s this?
As I scanned the familiar window, something new caught my eye.
A stat I had never seen before.
And unlike the others, it wasn’t black text—it was red.
[Player Affection: 13/100]
Is this… Valeria’s affection toward me?
Bzzzt—
The status window trembled, and bold letters appeared across it.
[Warning: If Valeria’s Affection reaches 0, the Player will die.]
What the—? Why are there so many ways to game over?
If Valeria dies, game over. If I die, game over. If we’re exiled, game over. If affection drops to zero, game over.
At this point, it’d be easier to count the ways you don’t get a game over. Was the developer raised on breeding glassfish or something?
But grumbling wouldn’t change anything. I had to start thinking seriously about the hidden ending—and how to get it.
Bang!
“Triciarene!”
A man stormed into the room, his face red with fury. The servants flinched and scurried out of his way.
“First you throw yourself into the sea and disgrace your father’s name, and now you cause chaos inside the house?”
As expected—he had arrived.
The one and only Number One Most Hated Character in Empress Maker: Duke Kainan.
Slicked-back black hair, shiny face, black mustache, greedy black eyes. That sharp upward tilt of his eyes and that grating tone of voice… the very picture of a third-rate villain.
So that’s where he’s been hiding. And wow, he really does look like a bargain-bin antagonist.
Duke Kainan ranted on, veins bulging in his neck. Not once did he ask if his daughter—recently dragged half-dead from the sea—was even feeling well.
At first I didn’t mind, but the more he went on, the more my irritation boiled.
“To think you’d bring that lowborn into your room, lay her in your very bed, instead of throwing her out immediately!”
“She risked her life to save me.”
“If she had done her job properly, you wouldn’t have fallen into the sea in the first place!”
“If you had treated me better as a father, I wouldn’t have jumped into the sea at all.”
His words caught in his throat. Bullseye. I didn’t know why Triciarene had thrown herself into the winter sea, but it was safe to assume it was his fault. And judging by his face, I was right.
The silence lasted only a moment before he stepped toward me threateningly.
Uh oh. He’s about to hit me, isn’t he?
I tried to back away, but Valeria was lying right behind me. If I moved, she would take the blow.
If I get hit, my HP will drop to zero. Absolutely not.
“Seems it’s been too long since you’ve felt discipline!”
The Duke’s gloved hand swung up high. It was obvious what was about to happen—but I couldn’t dodge.
Fine! Just hit me then!
I wrapped my arms protectively around Valeria and squeezed my eyes shut.
“…?”
But the pain never came. No slap, no blow.
Slowly, I cracked my eyes open—and froze at the sight before me.
The Duke’s reddened face twisted in anger, his raised wrist caught firmly in another man’s grip.
A man draped in a black cloak.
“You mustn’t strike the young lady,” the man said coldly. “Especially not her face.”
The chill of his gaze swept over me, and goosebumps raced down my arms.
