Episode 4
Soft sticky rice red bean mochi puppy.
Just as the name suggested, it was a white, squishy puppy that looked exactly like a glutinous rice cake.
Shiny black eyes sparkling with curiosity, and a tiny, moist, adorable black nose.
Even now, the image seemed to linger vividly before Lucy’s eyes.
When she played before, after Lucy failed the quest, Elisha had been the one to receive the puppy from the emperor and take it everywhere with her.
Every time Elisha appeared in front of Lucy, she would deliberately bring the puppy along, and the little one would trot diligently after her on its short legs.
‘That puppy was supposed to be mine.’
Lucy regretted it deeply, even now.
Her obsession with the soft sticky rice red bean mochi puppy wasn’t simply because she wanted a cute pet.
‘It’s absolutely necessary for a later quest.’
Lucy once again keenly realized what kind of trash game she had been possessed into.
To dangle such an important pet right at the very first quest.
And it was the first—and last—chance to obtain it.
At this point, it was practically the game begging players not to clear it, like holding a shaman ritual to ward off success.
‘This time, since I absolutely must see the true ending, I have to get that puppy no matter what.’
Lucy burned with determination.
The failure penalty didn’t even register in her mind.
Honestly, going from -100 reputation to -120—what difference would it really make?
The person with nothing left to lose is always the most frightening.
[Quest accepted!]
[Imperial palace banquet date: D-14]
[Make thorough preparations and earn the emperor’s recognition!]
At the system window’s guidance, Lucy’s expression grew serious.
She tried to recall the memories from when she had played before.
They say failure is the mother of success—by failing the quest, Lucy had gained a sense of what needed to be done to succeed.
But precisely because she knew the method, her current situation with negative stats felt all the more disadvantageous.
However.
‘On the flip side, if I can just fix these negative stats…’
She would be able to succeed in the quest and obtain the soft sticky rice red bean mochi puppy as well.
‘For now, it’s time to wait.’
Lucy calmly steadied her heart and waited.
And the next day, the emperor’s command that Lucy had been waiting for finally arrived.
＊＊＊
Early in the morning, Lucy boarded the carriage.
The imperial decree given to her was simple.
For the time being, she was to stay at the temple and focus solely on recovering from the aftereffects of the accident.
The rumor that she had become such an idiot that she couldn’t even move without a maid’s help or solve basic problems had been tremendously helpful.
The servants of the annex whispered among themselves that the “abandoned princess” Lucy was now being forcibly confined to the temple, but to Lucy, it was nothing but a blessing.
What kind of place was the temple?
It was a gathering place for priests who healed people with sacred power.
The game developers, perhaps wanting to add some adventure flavor to the dating sim genre, occasionally handed out monster-hunting quests.
The so-called “monsters” weren’t anything impressive—just rare animals, really.
The items obtained from hunting were used to capture the male leads.
Every time, the temple served as both a save point and a place that increased stamina by a fixed amount.
[You have received the priest’s blessing at the temple. Your stamina has increased by 20.]
Along with such system messages.
‘If I receive focused treatment at the temple, even my negative stamina should recover easily.’
Of course, she hadn’t come to the temple solely to raise her stamina stat.
‘The temple is where Cecil resides.’
Lucy recalled her first meeting with Cecil.
Not only had she driven his favorability into triple-digit negatives, she had also torn apart the cloak he cherished so dearly.
It had been an utterly painful first encounter, but Lucy decided to boldly forget the past.
Who was she, after all?
A player who had cleared the game by creating her own strategy guide when no one else provided one.
‘Though it ended up being a guide for the execution ending.’
Still, it hadn’t been a complete waste of time.
There were a few pieces of useful information among them.
‘Especially when it comes to Cecil.’
During her previous playthrough, Cecil had been the male lead whose favorability she could raise relatively easily.
The more opportunities she had to meet him, the greater the chance of successfully capturing him.
‘Recover stamina and raise Cecil’s favorability at the same time.’
Heh heh. It seems the system has underestimated me far too much.
Of course, Lucy would later come to regret her overconfidence—but for now, she had no way of knowing.
“We’ve arrived.”
At the coachman’s announcement that they had reached the temple, Lucy quickly wiped the smug smirk off her face.
Before stepping out of the carriage, she peeked outside through the window.
Even early in the morning, the temple entrance was packed with people.
People from all over the empire who were unwell had flocked here.
Among them were nobles and commoners alike.
The temple’s policy was that everyone must be treated equally before illness.
However, nobles were allowed to stay in the main temple building and were given private rooms.
As a member of the imperial family, Lucy would also be staying there.
“Princess Lucy.”
The maid who had gotten off first reached out to help her down.
Lucy took the hand and stepped out—only to suddenly feel her body sink downward.
‘Huh?’
Ding!
[Stamina depletion!]
[While traveling by carriage away from the annex, your stamina has reached its limit.]
[Side effects of the ‘Health status abnormality’ have been triggered.]
Side effects?
‘I just rode in a carriage, what kind of…’
Her bewilderment lasted only a moment.
Lucy’s legs wobbled like those of a newborn giraffe, and then she collapsed with a thud.
“Princess!”
The maid who had been supporting her cried out in panic, and at the same time, the surroundings buzzed.
“Princess?”
“What? The person who just flailed her arms like a flightless bird and fell—is that the princess?”
At the people’s murmurs, Lucy couldn’t bring herself to lift her head.
It’s always more embarrassing to fall after desperately struggling not to fall than to just fall cleanly.
“Then is that Lady Elisha?”
“Why, you know—the second princess who was kicked out of the palace and is living in the annex.”
“Ahh. You mean ‘that princess.’”
“According to the rumors, because of the accident, not only her body but her mind is… not quite right…”
The eyes of the people looking at her openly turned curious and intrigued.
On top of that, when the temple servants hurriedly brought a stretcher for Lucy, even more attention focused on her.
Flustered, Lucy waved her hands.
“I’m fi—”
“What are you saying, Princess! You might have sprained your ankle!”
The maid’s voice trembled with tears, and Lucy couldn’t bring herself to refuse.
In the end, carried on the stretcher, Lucy squeezed her eyes shut.
Even so, the stares felt like they were pricking her skin.
She was inwardly praying for nothing more than to leave this place quickly when—
“Cough, cough!”
A violent coughing sound erupted nearby.
The gazes of Lucy and the others turned toward the source.
There stood a man whose presence was so striking that he completely overshadowed Lucy’s earlier clumsy fall.
The man who had coughed up blood had his mouth and the hand covering it smeared with crimson.
The scene was straight out of a horror movie, forcing even Lucy to stare at him with wide, shocked eyes.
Jet-black hair like the night, pale skin.
Deep, neatly groomed brows framing seemingly indifferent blue eyes.
The man was strikingly handsome—enough to make one’s eyes widen—but his physical condition looked so poor that he seemed as though he might not last the day.
Anyone could tell at a glance that he was a terminal case; the atmosphere around him grew solemn.
“W-who is that person?”
“You don’t know? He’s a famous patient receiving special care in the temple’s special ward.”
“Isn’t he the heir to the Faraday ducal family?”
At those words, Lucy’s eyes flew wide open.
The heir to the Faraday family.
‘That’s another male lead from the game.’
Alexander Faraday.
The true male lead who appears last among all the male leads, the flower of romance fantasy—the Northern Grand Duke.
‘Alexander came to the temple? And coughing up blood?’
Lucy turned to look at the man again.
Her expression subtly shifted as she stared at him intently, scanning him up and down.
‘That’s… not Alexander?’
The Alexander she remembered looked completely different from the man before her.
Alexander had silver hair and violet eyes.
His aura was one of perfect health, with eyes shining with vitality.
He was the complete opposite of this sickly man who exuded gloom from head to toe.
‘Then…’
Lucy’s eyes narrowed.
‘Who the hell is that man?’
Who is he that he’s taken Alexander’s place?
