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Chapter 7
“Milady, thank you! Sob, thank you so much…!”
At the crack of dawn, Jini came rushing into my room and threw herself flat on the floor.
Her eyes were already swollen from crying all night.
“Ah, geez, you scared me!”
Startled, I recoiled.
Jini was bawling like the world had collapsed, tears and snot everywhere. No, actually, it was more like her world had just been rebuilt.
“M-Milady…!”
“What?!”
“I heard you visited my mother yesterday and bought medicine for her. Sob… thank you so much! You’re the benefactor of my entire life…!”
Jini sobbed uncontrollably as she slammed her forehead against the floor. Outside the room, whispers could already be heard.
No, seriously, how did she find out?
I hid my face, never said my name! There wasn’t a single clue that should’ve exposed me.
Could it have been Rakiel…?
But I quickly shook my head.
We had barely even faced each other properly, let alone had a real conversation. It made more sense that someone had simply seen me leaving the mansion yesterday.
Just as expected, Jini, still sprawled on the floor, hiccuped through barely understandable sobs.
“Sniff… M-Milady… sob… Mother said you came yesterday… sob… she saw the family crest embroidered on your robe… sniff… and Anne said she saw someone wearing a robe leaving your room… sob… It was you, wasn’t it? Waaah…”
Who the heck was Anne? And my robe had the family crest on it?
I raised one eyebrow and secretly flipped over the robe I’d hidden yesterday.
Right there on the back was the family crest, bold and unmistakable.
…Damn it.
Ding!
[Quest “Maid Jini’s Worry” failed to meet conditions. Reward reduced by 50%.]
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“E-Excuse me?”
My stats!
Jini stared at me with startled rabbit eyes.
I hurriedly opened the status window, only to see my Freedom stat had dropped. Of course, the level had reset back to 0 too.
Wait, so even getting caught afterward causes a penalty?!
My hands trembled as I clenched my fists.
This scam system!
“M-Milady! Thank you so much… sob… my mother really wants to see you again someday…”
“Oh, stop bawling already! You’re so noisy I could die. Why’d you come all the way here just to whine?”
“H-Hic!”
I’m going insane here!
Do you know whose fault it is my rewards got reduced?!
At my current low level, every single stat point was precious. This kind of loss was massive.
“So what if I helped? It’s not like I saved your whole family or anything! It was just medicine worth fifty gold! Why are you making such a huge deal out of it?!”
“F-Fifty… hic… fifty gold…”
Jini stammered, unable to continue.
“T-Thank you, Milady! Waaaah, thank you! Thank you so much!”
Getting angry somehow made it even worse.
“I said shut up!”
“Y-Yes! I’m sorry, Milady. Thank you… sob… sorry, thank you…”
“Are you apologizing or thanking me? Ugh, why did they hire such an incompetent crybaby? Stop sniveling and get out already!”
Only after I grabbed the ink bottle sitting nearby did Jini finally scramble out of the room while bowing repeatedly.
Haah… At this rate, how long would it take to max out my Freedom stat by collecting scraps like this?
I needed freedom now. Immediately.
Meanwhile, in the imperial palace, the Crown Prince was steadily becoming a tyrant, and with my current abilities, I couldn’t stop him at all.
“Damn it, isn’t there any other way to say whatever I want besides Freedom?”
[ can be increased up to Lv.10.]
“No, not Freedom—ugh, forget it.”
I threw myself onto the bed and buried my face in the pillow.
It felt like the future that had been overflowing with hope just moments ago had been snatched away from me. My bold first attempt had ended in failure, and I felt myself sinking lower and lower.
…Should I just give up? Honestly, it probably doesn’t matter anymore anyway. Even if I try hard now…
…
“…As if I’d lose to that!”
Giving up my ass! I’ll crush this head-on!
I possessed a Mental Strength stat of 3,259.
The moment I sprang up with the determination to overturn everything, the first thing I obviously needed to do was find quests.
I started rampaging around the mansion like a madwoman. Naturally, the entire estate fell into chaos.
“…What’s wrong with Milady?”
“No clue! I think she’s finally snapped!”
“Come to think of it, I saw Jini leaving her room crying earlier.”
“Tsk tsk, looks like another storm hit.”
The maids whispered among themselves.
I shot them one glare, and they scattered instantly in fright.
Tch. If you’re going to gossip, at least don’t do it where I can hear you.
I stomped through every corner of the mansion.
My goal was to gather as many quests from as many people as possible.
Investigating Jonas could wait. First, I needed to build a foundation that would let me move more freely.
As a result, I spent the entire day shouting things like, “Get out of my way!” and “Drag that bastard away and lock him in his room immediately!” until my throat went hoarse.
But when I returned to my room, I smiled in satisfaction.
[Quest: Stable Keeper Tommy’s Love Story
Reward: +6 Stats]
[Quest: Sir Maren’s Wish
Reward: +10 Stats]
[Quest: Chef Pern’s Missing Recipe
Reward: +10 Stats]
…and so on.
I gathered quests from practically everyone I made eye contact with. If I completed all of them, I could somehow push Freedom up to Lv.3.
Of course, the rewards would be halved if people found out it was me.
Rolling up my sleeves, I started clearing the quests one by one, beginning with the highest rewards.
“Please deliver this to Pern. Hm? Who am I? You don’t need to know that.”
“This is tuition money for Sir Maren’s younger sibling. Just say it’s from an anonymous sponsor.”
“Could you deliver this note to Ria? Tell her Tommy sent it.”
This time, I made sure to wear an old robe without any family crest and ran around until my feet ached.
Absolutely no one could find out it was me.
The moment I completed the final quest—
Ding!
[ has reached Lv.3. “Conditional Branching Choices” feature unlocked.]
[In certain situations, additional “Irregular Actions” may now appear alongside existing choices.
※Only activates with specific individuals or emotional states.]
…Huh?
“Irregular Actions?”
Was it talking about the choices I got when I first met Ludwig?
Things like “Threaten him,” options that granted high Freedom points.
‘Oh, not bad.’
As long as the system considered it acceptable, this basically meant it would allow me a certain degree of freedom within the available choices.
Smiling in satisfaction, I closed the status window.
At this point, it felt like it was finally time to move.
Time to root out the traitor within the family.
[Warning! If observed by others, actions may be restricted according to current limitations.]
Ah, right. My hood.
Only after seeing the system message did I realize I hadn’t hidden my face. I quickly reached back and pulled the hood lower over my head.
‘Need to finish this before anyone notices me.’
I crept quietly down the moonlit corridor.
I was on my way to search Jonas’s room in secret.
Jonas Kramer.
She was the duke household’s financial aide. The kind of person no one suspected—or rather, shouldn’t suspect.
If Jonas really was the spy…
…I didn’t even want to imagine it.
Jonas’s office door was locked. After glancing around, I reached toward a nearby corridor window.
Oh, it’s open. Careless idiot.
Creeeak.
“…!”
At the sound, I held my breath and pressed myself tightly against the wall while scanning the surroundings.
Only after confirming no one was there did I inhale again and slowly open the window.
Then I grabbed the frame and climbed inside.
After carefully shutting the window behind me, I let out a breath.
“Haa…”
Honestly, instead of sneaking around this carefully, wouldn’t it be easier to just barge in here openly, throw a tantrum, and casually search the place while pretending I knew nothing?
[Impossible.]
‘…Why?’
[Access to the administrative wing is unavailable.]
Ah.
Well, naturally. Evelynn would never come to a place like this, so the premise itself was impossible.
Looking around, I saw several neatly organized document files arranged on the desk. The bookshelves were also perfectly sorted by color and height.
“…?”
Did Jonas have obsessive-compulsive disorder or something?
I frowned while surveying the unnaturally pristine room.
This is bad. Even touching something slightly would leave evidence.
I cautiously approached the desk.
If I handled things carelessly and Jonas realized someone had broken in, she might destroy every piece of evidence. Like a turtle pulling its head into its shell.
As I hesitated, a familiar notification rang in my ears.
Ding!
[A clue has been detected through the player’s <Observation (C+)> skill.]
[An object inconsistent with the room’s arrangement has been discovered.]
[Detailed Information: Bottom-right drawer — protruding handle]
