IPSC 12

Chapter 12

The Imperial Judicial Department’s Isolation Room

This was where nobles who had committed crimes were confined.

Unlike an ordinary prison, there were no iron bars. At a glance, it almost looked like a quiet reception room.

Seated upright on the red sofa in the center of the isolation room was Vivian.

Her appearance was immaculate, proving that she was every inch a noble young lady.

Across from her sat Count Angus, dressed neatly.

With a worried expression, he spoke.

“Vivian… tell me honestly, will you?”

“……”

When Vivian remained silent, pressing her lips together, the count gently coaxed her.

“You must confess in your own words if you want to avoid the maximum sentence. At this rate, the trial will go badly, and it won’t do the family’s reputation any good. Please… say something, my dear.”

“…I can’t say it.”

“Vivian, how can I help you if I don’t know what happened?”

Despite the count’s pleas, Vivian only lowered her head, her lips tightly sealed.

Just then, the door to the isolation room opened and a guard entered.

“Visiting hours are over.”

The count stood and tried to persuade him.

“Please, allow me a little more time with my daughter. We haven’t had enough.”

“If you do not leave immediately, I will carry out my duties in accordance with imperial law.”

Reluctantly, the count exited the room. Even after he left, Vivian remained seated alone, motionless like a statue.

By the time darkness began to fall, Vivian lifted her head at the sound of movement.

“Gasp—!”

A stranger wearing a hood pulled low over their face stood before her.

Vivian’s face turned deathly pale, almost bluish. Her body began to tremble like a leaf in the wind.

“I—I didn’t say any—anything… I didn’t—”

Her teeth clattered violently. Tears welled up in her eyes as she dropped to her knees.

“P-please… spare me…!”

Large tears fell one by one onto the floor.

The stranger reached out a hand toward Vivian and murmured in a low voice.

“Awe Silentium Aeternum. Claudatur Vox, Obvolvatur Anima.”

“N-no—!”

Vivian tried to speak, but only a muffled groan escaped her lips, as if something were blocking her voice. It felt as though an invisible force was strangling her throat.

“Cough—!”

She spat bright red blood and collapsed onto the marble floor. After twitching violently for a moment, Vivian went completely still.

Perfect silence announced her death.

* * *

Like a dog chasing a chicken only to stare at the roof afterward, I blankly watched Jerome’s retreating back.

What the hell?

Why isn’t the skill activating?

And why did Jerome suddenly put up an iron wall?

I’d never had a skill fail during gameplay before.

“Don’t tell me…!”

I immediately pulled out a mirror.

Reflected back at me was a pale face with dark circles under the eyes. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t an appearance that inspired affection.

Did he lose interest just from seeing my face?

Did my pity-bait strategy backfire?

Still, Jerome is a male lead candidate. There’s no way his character is so trash that he’d ditch the female lead just because she looked a bit ugly for a moment.

I took a deep breath to calm myself and opened the system window.

As I scanned it, a new message had been added.

[Skill activation failed.]
[To activate the skill, special conditions must be met.]

Special conditions?

What is that supposed to mean? How am I supposed to meet them?

Wasn’t taking care of Vivian enough?

I thought the day I could go home was just around the corner, but the system’s last-minute nonsense threw everything into chaos.

Figures. Things had been going a little too smoothly.

A game notorious for its brutal difficulty wouldn’t suddenly go easy just because one villainess was gone.

As I stared blankly at the spot where Jerome had disappeared, Lowell suddenly poked his head in.

“Where did Duke Winston go?”

“Eek!”

Why does this elf appear without making a sound every time?!

Clutching my pounding chest, I replied,

“He said something urgent came up and left.”

“Already? That’s too bad. I didn’t even get to say hello.”

Lowell smiled brightly.

For someone who claimed to be disappointed, he looked awfully cheerful.

What is it? Did something good happen?

Maybe I was just in a foul mood, but seeing him so upbeat while I was depressed over a failed route really rubbed me the wrong way.

Then Lowell flashed the freshest smile I’d seen from him yet and continued,

“I have something to tell you, my lady. His Highness the Crown Prince has ordered an investigation team to be dispatched to determine the cause of the increase in monsters.”

Ah… so it’s already time.

Around this point in the game, the imperial palace always sent out the Imperial Knights to investigate the monster surge. Lowell, as an imperial mage, was no exception.

“You’ll be joining this expedition as well, my lady, so it’s sudden, but you should pack your things.”

“When do we depart?”

“At dawn tomorrow. Will you help me pack?”

I nodded and followed Lowell to gather our belongings. As we packed magic books and tools, he hummed to himself.

Is going on a dispatch really that exciting?

When I played the game, Lowell always complained that he had too much research to do and hated being sent out.

So it couldn’t be the expedition itself that had him in such a good mood.

What’s got him so happy?

Just as I was wondering, a servant approached and handed over a letter.

“Lord Cyprian, urgent news.”

Still humming, Lowell took the letter.

But as he read on, his tune gradually faded.

Lowering the letter, he spoke with a darkened expression.

“They say Lady Angus has died.”

“…What?”

Who died?

The unexpected news left me stunned.

“They investigated the isolation room, but found no signs of murder. They say she took her own life.”

“Oh my…”

I stood there with my mouth open, overwhelmed by how sudden it was.

I wanted Vivian to be punished, but I never wanted her dead.

She killed herself…

Did she choose death rather than live with her ruined honor?

In movies and novels, nobles who value honor often take their own lives to preserve it.

But if she truly cared that much about honor, she wouldn’t have used black magic in the first place.

Something didn’t sit right, and the fact that someone had died left a bitter feeling in my chest.

But Vivian was just a game character. A fictional person.

I didn’t need to feel sympathy.

I had my own problems to worry about.

Right now, all my focus needed to be on breaking through this game’s ending.

* * *

The Imperial Knights on horseback, supply wagons, and carriages moved through a dense forest.

Their silver armor gleamed in the sunlight, while rays filtering through the leaves cast net-like shadows on the ground.

I sat in a carriage with Lowell as we traveled.

Despite the peaceful surroundings, my mind was in overdrive, planning what to do next.

[To activate the skill, special conditions must be met.]

What are these special conditions?

Some kind of mission, maybe…?

No, seriously. Shouldn’t they at least tell me what the conditions are?

How am I supposed to achieve them otherwise?

I don’t even know what’s blocking Jerome’s affection. Should I just switch targets and hard-route someone else?

I looked at Lowell sitting across from me. He was quietly reading a spellbook, turning the pages with hands as elegant as carved jade.

…No. Calm down. No matter how desperate I am, I’m not a light-novel creep.

Shaking my head, a name suddenly surfaced in my mind.

Theodore Blair.

With his striking red hair, Theodore was a cheerful, energetic guy.

But his ending—being burned alive at the stake—was horrifying. Even as an illustration, it was shocking enough. If I’d seen an actual person burn, it would’ve been pure trauma.

Trying to romance a holy knight who forbade relationships in the first place was absurd.

I moved on to another option.

Harkin of the Imperial Knights.

Dark brown hair, sun-tanned healthy skin, and eyes that curved up mischievously—personally, he was the most my type.

Originally, Harkin wasn’t part of the Imperial Knights. Midway through the game, Lowell brought him to the Mage Tower, and his movements were as quick and wild as a beast. Anything involving physical prowess, he excelled at.

Impressed by his abilities, the commander of the Imperial Knights scouted him.

Aside from the fact that he suffered from pathological jealousy and killed innocent people, he was my ideal type—and a devoted lover who only looked at his partner.

But he appeared too late in the story, and I had zero confidence in reforming a serial killer.

Lastly, Crown Prince Caliton.

His arrogant personality made him irritating, but as they say, a handsome face is its own justification. Looking at Caliton’s flawless features, even his rotten behavior somehow made sense.

Out of the three, Caliton posed the least immediate danger.

But could I uncover the political faction that poisoned him? And what if I got poisoned too?

The old ways are often the best.

In the end, maybe Jerome really was my only option.

Just as I resolved to try pushing Jerome’s route as far as I could, the carriage came to a halt.

One of the knights approached and knocked on the carriage window.

“Lord Cyprian, we need you to step outside for a moment.”

Lowell leaned out the window. The sunlight streaming in made him squint slightly.

“What is it?”

“We’ve discovered traces of monsters.”

“Monsters?”

At the word, Lowell immediately got down from the carriage.

Following him, I saw a devastated forest.

Trees had been ripped out by the roots or snapped clean in half. The gouged earth was marked with sharp claw prints, and dark red blood was scattered everywhere.

Here and there, wild animals lay frozen stiff, as if they’d died in terror.

Lowell’s expression hardened. As he muttered a spell under his breath, the surrounding knights shifted into combat formation.

Then Lowell suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me close.

“Stay by my side this time. Don’t leave.”

No sooner had he finished speaking—

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The ground began to tremble. The vibrations grew stronger, and a monster nearly three meters tall emerged from the bushes.

“Krrrrr…”

Its head and legs resembled a chicken’s, its torso a serpent’s, and its wings those of a dragon.

The sheer pressure of its massive body felt suffocating.

I can’t believe I’m seeing this thing in person.

It was a basilisk—something I’d only ever seen in game illustrations.

And the stepping stone to my love route.