IDNJH 05

Chapter 05

It seems the Duke has finally lost his mind.

Come to think of it, if I were in his shoes, I’d probably lose it too—if my child, especially one who’d been out of favor and had been desperately buttering me up just to be treated as family, suddenly destroyed centuries of the family’s prestige to the point of no return.

Still, I always thought the Duke would remain aloof no matter what, but I guess he can fall too.

*’Well, he’s only human after all.’*

This situation will soon become as if it never happened, just like always. Duke, just hold on a little longer.

“Diya, what are you doing? This isn’t the time for—”

Anyway, by now, someone’s affection should have dropped.

Curious, I looked at Gwyneth, who was still earnestly saying something.

*’I thought his affection would drop first, aside from the Duke.’*

As I mentioned earlier, once affection reaches a certain level, it doesn’t drop easily—but there were still sensitive spots that, if triggered, would make it plummet. For the Duke and Gwyneth, one of those sore spots was anything related to the family.

Yet for some reason, even though I was trampling the family name into the mud, they showed no sign of wanting to kill me. In fact, they were even trying to evacuate me, as if planning to go to the guillotine together.

“Quest window.”

I murmured quietly to check the affection scores, and the quest window appeared.

Skipping the first quest as before, I saw a new quest instead of the completed one.

—

**[Raise your family’s affection to 90]**

If affection drops to 60 or below, it will be automatically considered a failure.

Kallion Barderia: 70/90

Gwyneth Barderia: 75/90

Felix Barderia: 71/90

Kairos Barderia: 73/90

Goal Success: Reward – ‘Someone’s Memory Fragment’

Goal Failure: Death

—

*’Huh. Why have all three barely dropped at all?’*

I scanned the affection scores with a puzzled feeling, then stopped at the goal success section.

The item name was vague and unlike the straightforward ones I’d seen before. Curious, I clicked for details.

—

**[Item: ‘Someone’s Memory Fragment’]**

: An item containing a fragment of someone’s memory.

—

……That’s it for the description?

Is this system messing with me now? “Someone’s memory”—whose memory, from where, about what? The value changes entirely depending on the subject.

“What are you muttering to yourself? Are you even in your right mind right now?”

“Felix.”

“No—ha! This is so frustrating! She’s just been standing there blankly this whole time! Waving her hands at thin air!”

“Could Sister be under the control of dark magic……?”

“No, that’s not it. She was able to talk just now. ……Though her tone was different from usual.”

Ah……. So stressful.

The system window was annoying, the monsters’ cries were deafening overhead, and the conversation of that hopeless trio was just grating.

Of course, from their perspective, I’m the hopeless troll.

*’I’m too tired to wait for the apocalypse.’*

Wanting the situation to end quickly and reset, I decided to lower the three siblings’ affection. Since this round was clearly already a failure, dragging it out any longer would only waste my time.

But actually trying to lower their affection on purpose—I wasn’t sure how to do it. Maybe because it was over 70, even poking at their sore spots didn’t seem to work well.

I considered bringing up the Duchess to provoke Gwyneth and Felix, but it felt like insulting the dead and cursing my own parent, so I dropped it.

*’Can’t be helped.’*

I didn’t want to, but I’d have to reenact the manner of speech that had gotten me thoroughly scolded during my turbulent middle school days. Childish as it was, I thought it was the best way to make someone lose affection.

Though it’d been so long that I wasn’t sure I could pull it off.

“I’m not going.”

“What?”

“I said I’m not going.”

“Get a grip, Diya. Can’t you see the situation? If you stay here, you’ll be taken away.”

“I know. But what’s that got to do with you?”

“What do you mean? We’re family. Of course—”

“Family?”

So even that bastard Gwyneth could say things like that.

I was slightly moved by the result of my enormous effort.

*’Maybe I actually have a talent for rehabilitation?’*

But the thought vanished the moment I remembered that this result had been achieved through my countless deaths and rebirths.

Putting aside useless thoughts, I focused on the task at hand and channeled my inner rebellious phase.

Tilting my head slightly, I put on a sneer I’d never shown them before.

“I’ve never once thought of you as family.”

“……What?”

“I was just playing along to survive. If my behavior felt familial to you, then you must feel the same about your maids and servants, right? So the Barderia family was a big happy family all along?”

As I spat out my words with sarcasm, the three of them grimaced.

*’Wow……. That’s brutal.’*

Do they even realize how terrifying their own faces look?

I was a little intimidated, but I didn’t show it and tried to continue—

“How…… how could Sister say that……?”

Huh.

I was slightly taken aback by Kairos’s eyes, trembling with genuine shock.

To react that strongly from just one line. In terms of cost-effectiveness, this was great, but somehow it left a bitter taste.

Still, since I’d confirmed it was working, all I had to do was keep going.

“You don’t remember the things you’ve said, do you? That’s why you’re shocked by something so trivial.”

“What……”

“Well, I guess since I kept smiling and acting cute while approaching you until my face cramped up, you figured I’d forgotten everything too—so you just forgot as well. Or maybe you simply didn’t feel the need to remember.”

But this part actually stung a little.

When Gwyneth subtly played politics within the family to shrink my position and treated me like a ghost. When Felix harassed me every time I caught his eye. When Kairos ignored my words, pushed me away telling me not to talk to him, and made me fall hard. When that bastard of a father turned a blind eye to all of it.

“I remember all of it. Every single one.”

Perhaps I’d gotten too immersed in the act, because my voice carried a bit of force.

I don’t think I hold any resentment or hatred toward them anymore. Too much time has passed to cling to those feelings. And besides, dwelling on the past alone wouldn’t change anything.

I’ve decided that to me now, they’re simply nothing.

It’s foolish to hit a wall and pour out genuine anger and energy at it. Unless I had the power to break that wall—and I don’t.

I paused briefly to organize what to say next, and took a deep breath.

Three pairs of eyes felt heavy. Their gazes felt so piercing that I turned my head away.

*’Ugh……. I feel like throwing up.’*

I still wasn’t immune to being the center of attention.

“Yeah, I’m the one who broke the seal. I learned dark magic too—a long time ago.”

“You……”

“All of you who go on about family—you never even knew what that family member was thinking all this time, did you? Want me to tell you now?”

“……”

“Every single second with you was unbearable. Every day was a series of nightmares. You think you’re the only ones who didn’t like me? I never wanted siblings like you either. And on top of that, that damned Barderia label inside and outside the family never stopped bothering me and wouldn’t let me go.”

The words flowed out smoothly, as if my worry about whether I could do it well was unfounded.

*’Am I actually talented at trash-talking?’*

Praising myself inwardly, I secretly glanced at the three of them—their faces were colored with rage and shock.

Even Gwyneth, who usually kept his expressions thoroughly in check, was showing raw emotion—so he must have felt quite betrayed.

However, since no monsters were attacking me and no debris was flying my way, it seemed their affection hadn’t dropped below 60 yet.

When I prayed for them not to drop, they fell so easily—spoiled brats!

Still, a little more should do it.

“I’m sick of pandering to you, of you not remembering what you did to me and still acting so brazen, of smiling at you. It all ends here.”

“……”

“If there’s a next life, please let’s not meet as family. That would be too horrible. No—let’s not even cross paths or brush past each other. For both our sakes.”

With that, I turned my body away.

If their affection still didn’t drop after hearing that, then those three siblings were actually rats disguised with fake nails.

Patting myself on the back for a perfect performance, I was about to call up the quest window to check their affection—when at that moment, the ground began to tremble.

*Kwooooooosh—!*

The earth shook violently with a tremendous roar.