Chapter 15
By the time she was found, her once lovely face had become a pitiful sight, like that of a gaunt, starved mouse.
And that wretched appearance became the very reason she caught the emperor’s eye—an emperor who had never given her even a shred of attention before. Only then did he finally take notice of Sienna.
“Marigold! Who dared to do something so cruel to Marigold?!”
Naturally, none of the princesses stepped forward. They only offered flimsy excuses, claiming they had been playing hide-and-seek and were startled when Sienna suddenly disappeared.
And the emperor—who pretended to care for Sienna but was in truth obsessed only with the resemblance to Marigold in her face—let the matter pass without further investigation.
My impression after seeing that memory was simple.
‘This place is full of bastards.’
How could not a single one of them be in their right mind?
Every last one of them was the same. They bullied the weak and groveled before the strong.
Even the fact that Sienna was cruel to maids yet couldn’t utter a word to her attendants was nothing more than a way of life she had learned since childhood.
‘You people are the ones who made her into a villainess.’
And yet they dared to condemn her as one—what a complete lack of conscience.
As I clicked my tongue, a large hand suddenly grabbed my floating hand tightly.
As if by instinct, I knew who it belonged to.
“Percy?”
When I called his name in surprise, his crimson eyes curved gently.
Then a dazzling light enveloped my vision.
※ Morning has arrived.
I had grown somewhat used to the damn system window by now. Rubbing my eyes, I let out a sigh.
‘Another day has already passed.’
Time felt like it was moving far too quickly. Was it just my imagination?
‘It feels like I haven’t done anything at all. I haven’t even eaten properly. I thought I’d finally get a meal thanks to Percy, but…’
I got penalized. And when I opened my eyes again, a whole day had passed. Sure, Percy had come into my room late that night, but still—there was time!
‘Don’t tell me the penalty just deletes an entire day instantly?!’
I felt a chill at the thought of my already short lifespan being cut down even further.
Just then, a syrupy, overly dramatic voice sobbed softly beside me.
“Sienna, please wake up. You must wake up and comfort your brother.”
“…?”
What kind of nonsense was that? I turned my head.
And there he was.
Crown Prince Julius was sitting beside me, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief as if he were acting in some melodrama.
‘Why is this guy the first thing I see when I wake up?’
I had collapsed while trying to eat with Percy—so why was Julius here? None of this made sense.
No. This couldn’t be real.
This had to be a dream.
“This lunatic shows up even in my dreams?”
“Sienna?”
At my muttering, Julius widened his eyes, then tossed aside the handkerchief and grabbed my hand tightly.
“Sienna! You’re awake.”
If it were anyone else, I might not have reacted so strongly. But instinctively, I smacked his hand away.
“Take your filthy hands off me!”
Wasn’t he the one who had sent those strange accessories to provoke the emperor? Even if I didn’t know much about him, that alone was enough to make me hate him.
‘I don’t want to play nice with him even in a dream.’
But surprisingly, Julius didn’t seem offended. He simply tilted his head. Meanwhile, my palm tingled as if I’d been shocked.
“What the—why does my hand hurt?”
If this were a dream, it shouldn’t hurt.
Tilting my head, I pinched my cheek hard—and realized something shocking.
“…This isn’t a dream?”
On top of that, I could move and speak freely.
‘Why do I suddenly have this freedom?’
Come to think of it, I had felt this same freedom when I trampled Julius before.
‘Why?’
Was Julius special? Or had something changed in the situation?
As I was trying to make sense of it, Julius grabbed my hand again.
“Oh, Sienna.”
His syrupy voice sent chills down my spine.
“Well, I understand. It must feel absurd to you. After all, we weren’t exactly on friendly terms.”
At least he knew that much.
I frowned and shook my hand.
“If you know that, then let go. Before I decide to cut it off.”
Julius ignored my words and continued grandly.
“But I’ve come to realize something. That I didn’t truly know you. And so, I wish to reconcile with you. Let us move toward a beautiful future together.”
His overly theatrical tone made me scoff.
‘What kind of nonsense is this?’
Did he really think getting hit once would make him reflect? Unless he was some kind of masochist, that made no sense.
I shook off his hand again, glaring sharply.
“Cut the crap and tell me what you’re really after. Do you think I’ll just nod along because you said a few sweet words?”
At that, the smile vanished from Julius’s face. He looked at me with clear annoyance.
“…You really aren’t cute, are you?”
There it was.
I snorted. Good thing I hadn’t let my guard down.
‘Falling for that would’ve been disgusting.’
Just as I was about to demand his real intentions, a choice window appeared again.
▶ (Turn over)
▶ (Glare at him)
‘At least it seems to consider him family.’
Compared to the violent choices that appeared with Percy or others, these were surprisingly mild.
After a moment, I chose to turn over.
‘I don’t want to waste my energy.’
And maybe if I didn’t make eye contact, the choices would stop appearing—like with the maid before.
‘Then I might be able to talk freely again.’
As I lay there, Julius clicked his tongue behind me.
“The old Sienna was quite simple. She’d cry endlessly, yet just a few words would make her smile again. As if we could truly become a family.”
Of course. Trash until the end.
So he had just been pretending to reflect, trying to placate her.
‘Was the villainess really that simple?’
Thinking about it, maybe the people who seemed to support Sienna in the game weren’t truly on her side. Maybe they were just mocking her behind the scenes.
‘The more she lashed out, the more Daniel would hate her. For those who disliked her, it must have been entertaining.’
This was all part of the game.
And Sienna wasn’t me.
Yet the more I learned about the malice directed at her, the more suffocating it felt.
‘Did they really need to hate her this much?’
What had she done wrong?
Being born as the daughter of an empress favored by the emperor, resembling her perfectly, and even her mother dying in childbirth—none of that was Sienna’s fault.
‘Even if it’s just a setting, this is too cruel.’
As I squeezed my eyes shut—
Julius suddenly leaned in close and whispered.
“Still, I’d like you to at least pretend to get along with me. I’m not joking—I want us to form an alliance.”
“…?”
Why would the crown prince lower himself to someone universally despised?
I didn’t want to look at him—but those words forced me to turn back.
Julius shrugged.
And the moment I opened my eyes, I found myself in a completely unfamiliar room.
Tilting my head in confusion—
A neat, composed voice spoke from the doorway.
“You’re awake.”
The very person who must have driven Julius to seek cooperation.
A man whose very existence gave me strength.
“Duke Percy Stewart.”
Perhaps because I hadn’t made eye contact—or because the system had glitched again—my voice came out freely.
At my words, he bowed his head slightly.
“That is rather a stiff form of address.”
After hesitating briefly, I carefully called his name.
“…Percy?”
That seemed to be the right answer.
Warmth finally returned to his expression.
‘It’s just a name…’
And yet, why did it matter so much when I said it?
He was truly a strange man.
Daniel Bohannan felt a strange sense of unease today.
‘It feels like things aren’t going the way I want.’
He knew the reason.
Recently, when Sienna had been with him and Percy Stewart, she had looked only at Percy—and even hurled blunt accusations at Daniel.
“I already know about the beautiful mistress you’ve hidden in your estate.”
Not only that—she had barged in and even poured a teapot over the hired tutor.
Everyone in the Bohannan household criticized Sienna and comforted Beth. Even the usually stoic count showed her kindness.
But from that moment on, Daniel felt something was off.
‘Why did the tutor go to serve tea to Princess Sienna?’
That wasn’t part of a tutor’s duties, was it?
