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Chapter 1 — To Death or to Madness.
“How could you do this to me!”
Despite her lovely pastel pink hair and delicately cute face, she wore a ferocious expression and screamed viciously.
In response, the neat blond man standing before her let out a small sigh.
His expression clearly showed that this wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened—he looked thoroughly fed up.
“That’s not what happened, Siena.”
“Liar. I saw you take her side right in front of my eyes, Damian!”
In the direction Siena was pointing, a blonde beauty stood looking helpless and flustered.
“Siena, I was merely trying to stop you from laying a hand on Lady Lili.”
Damian tried to explain calmly.
He had come here because of an appointment with Siena and happened to run into Lili on the street.
She wasn’t a stranger, so they simply exchanged greetings—that was all.
But before he could even explain the situation, Siena charged in and tried to slap Lili without hesitation, so he instinctively pulled Lili away.
That was the entirety of it.
“And Siena. Lower your voice.”
This was a bustling district where nobles frequently came to dine or shop.
Just as expected, nobles were already gathering in small groups at a distance, glancing over as if some spectacle had occurred.
But his fiancée seemed utterly unconcerned with the eyes of others.
“Why should you worry about that? If she hadn’t come sniffing around you in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to do anything!”
Siena didn’t seem to grasp Damian’s words at all.
Instead, she shouted even louder, as if wanting everyone to hear.
And such un-noble-like vocabulary.
Could that woman truly fulfill her role as the mistress of the Duchy of Otis?
He had long since given up on expectations, but whenever faced with Siena like this, he couldn’t hide his disappointment.
“You.”
Siena glared venomously at Lili.
“I told you not to approach Damian ever again.”
“Lady Siena, that’s a misunderstanding. We just happened to run into each other and exchanged greetings.”
“Don’t lie. Do you think I don’t know you approached him on purpose? Shamelessly seducing a man who already has a fiancée?”
“Siena Hargreaves.”
Rubbing his throbbing temple, Damian called Siena’s name in a low warning tone.
The murmurs of the onlookers could now be heard even from here.
This pathetic love triangle would surely become the talk of high society for a while.
It wasn’t the first time, but rather than getting used to it, it was becoming increasingly unbearable.
“What!”
Siena turned to Damian with a huff, then flinched and froze.
The cold, hardened expression on his face startled her with a sudden fear.
Siena burst into tears.
It was her only available move in this situation—because crying always made Damian stop scolding her and let things slide.
But Damian, too, had learned Siena’s tricks through countless experiences.
When would she ever realize that he hadn’t given in out of soft-heartedness for her tears, but rather out of sheer exasperation at such evasive tactics?
Damian left Siena where she was and turned his head toward Lili.
“I apologize, Lady Lili.”
Then, a transparent selection window appeared before Lili’s eyes—invisible to Damian.
After a moment’s deliberation, Lili chose one of the options.
<SYSTEM> SELECT
A. You have nothing to apologize for, Duke. It’s Lady Siena who is at fault.
B. Please tell Lady Siena directly. This is unpleasant every time.
C. I’m fine. Rather, what about you—getting misunderstood because of me?
D. ……
“I’m fine. Rather, what about you—getting misunderstood because of me?”
As Lili expressed her concern, Damian smiled faintly.
[Damian Otis’s Affection 27% ⟶ 32%]
He was utterly exhausted by his fiancée’s childish temperament, and so Lili’s mature and gentle consideration was immensely welcome.
“Please don’t worry about it. That is a matter between Siena and me. More importantly, were you on your way somewhere?”
“Ah, yes. Well…”
“Let’s go. As an apology, allow me to escort you.”
“Oh, but Lady Siena is…”
“It’s fine. Siena needs time to calmly reflect on what she’s done as well.”
Without so much as a glance at Siena, Damian led Lili away from the spot.
Caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, Siena blankly watched their retreating figures.
Lili glanced back with an awkward expression.
Meeting her eyes, Siena, seething with rage, burst into tears and collapsed onto the ground.
“Waaaaah.”
She cried louder, as if wanting him to hear, but Damian neither returned nor looked back.
Soon, as Damian and Lili disappeared from view, Siena abruptly fell silent and covered her face.
Then she sprang to her feet and dashed off in the opposite direction from Damian and Lili.
Running aimlessly, Siena reached a sparsely populated open area, placed her hands on a worn stone wall, and gasped for breath.
Meanwhile, low mutterings spilled continuously from her lips.
“Embarrassing. Humiliating. Cringeworthy.”
She mumbled similar words as they came to mind.
Without a doubt, she’d be kicking her blanket dozens of times tonight as well.
Having gone through this countless times—so many she’d lost count—how could she ever overcome this humiliation that she just couldn’t get used to?
She felt like digging a hole in the ground right now, laying down a coffin, climbing in herself, and nailing the lid shut.
“I want to die. Really.”
Without thinking, she slammed her fist against the stone wall, then let out a silent scream, writhing with a reddened face from the pain that felt like her hand might shatter.
“Hah, haha.”
They say when people are pushed to their limits, laughter comes out.
Clutching her aching hand, Siena collapsed onto the ground and let out a hollow laugh.
Siena Hargreaves—the daughter of Earl Rosewood and the fiancée of Duke Damian Otis.
A tiny villainess, one of the disposable pawns meant to connect the reverse harem game’s male lead Damian with the heroine Lili… barely even an extra.
Now, inside her, someone else resided.
—
It had been two months since I became Siena.
It all started when my friend, a game developer, asked me to playtest a reverse harem game.
“I’m already busy as hell, and now you want me to play a game?”
“Just this once, please? We’re like family, aren’t we? You can’t even do this much for me?”
“Hey, I have zero interest in games. Why are you asking me?”
“Because if you, of all people, get hooked on this game, it’d be a total jackpot.”
When I didn’t respond, my friend clung to me even more.
She said she’d been pulling all-nighters because of this game, and judging by the dark circles under her eyes, she wasn’t lying.
“I’ll pay you a reasonable fee.”
“Cash?”
“How about in-game currency?”
“Wanna die? I said I don’t play games.”
“You might get addicted to this one later, you know.”
“…Just buy me a meal.”
This is what I get for having a friend like her.
But she’d been a huge help to me both materially and emotionally since childhood—someone I could rely on.
I couldn’t bring myself to refuse, so I agreed.
My busy period at work would end this week anyway, so I figured I’d play it over the weekend.
My friend was so grateful—though she didn’t cry—she even groveled uncharacteristically, installed the game on my phone, and gave me a brief explanation.
“A reverse harem. What a fantasy.”
“It’s something that could never happen to you in real life. So satisfy your desires through the game, at least.”
“As if that would satisfy anything. No wonder you can’t date.”
“Shut up. What makes you any different?”
Despite being the one asking for a favor, my friend hit right where it hurt.
“Please give me an honest, thorough review.”
“…And buy me drinks too.”
“Fine, fine. If this blows up, I’ll get a huge incentive bonus, so I’ll treat you big time. Just give me a cold, honest evaluation.”
And so, to faithfully fulfill my friend’s request, I started the game—only to find myself, at some point, having become this woman: Siena Hargreaves.
I have no idea how this happened.
When I opened my eyes, I was already inside the game.
“Sigh. Of all people, Siena Hargreaves. If I’m going to end up like this, couldn’t I at least be the protagonist?”
In reality, such a fantasy would be impossible—so at least I could satisfy that urge here.
But it seems I’m just not destined to be the protagonist, here or there.
However, there was another issue that troubled me even more.
Siena Hargreaves is an NPC—she recites predetermined lines and performs predetermined actions.
Whenever the “event” involving Lili, Damian, and Siena occurs, I’m forced to spout childish dialogue, throw tantrums, and make a scene.
Regardless of my will, and no matter how much I resist, it’s useless.
“How many events are left?”
I know for certain that Siena’s exit comes when Duke Damian Otis declares the engagement broken, but the events leading up to that are hazy in my memory.
If I’d known this would happen… well, who could have predicted being sucked into a game? But I should have taken it more seriously instead of skimming through it.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground with my arms folded, I tried hard to recall the upcoming events.
“Sigh, I can barely remember… Huh?”
Only then did I notice that there was someone else’s shadow on the ground besides mine.
I whipped my head up to find a strange man looking down at me.
A tall man with naturally disheveled black hair, dressed entirely in black.
The shadow of the wall fell over him, obscuring most of his features, but his vivid blue eyes were unmistakably clear.
“What are you looking at?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“You’re fascinating. I’ve never seen a crazy woman before.”
