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Prologue
“Phew…”
The intruder dressed in black leaned against the wall and let out a sigh of relief.
Another day, another successful quest.
[Quest 1–1 Complete (7/10)]
It’s really almost over.
She quietly left the room, intending to hide in a place she had found in advance until the day passed.
However, a sudden rumbling from her stomach forced her to stop dead in her tracks.
Grrr…
“……”
Was the last time I ate three days ago?
Even then, it had only been a small loaf of bread. She wasn’t even sure she could call that a proper meal.
I might get caught because of my stomach growling… I don’t have a choice.
After rationalizing it that way, she stole some food from the kitchen and made her way to her hideout.
The food she had taken was cake. Since the owner of the house hated sweets, desserts like this were always left behind.
Besides, I’ll feel less guilty if I take the leftovers.
The only light in the dark room came from the blue moonlight streaming through the window.
The intruder plopped down on the floor near the window, the brightest spot in the room, and began eating the cake.
How many bites had she taken?
BANG!
She hadn’t heard so much as an ant making a sound, yet the door suddenly flew open.
The person standing in the doorway should have been asleep by now…
The owner of the house!
“Shit…!”
She reacted immediately and tried to flee, but the owner was faster.
He closed the distance in an instant, effortlessly subdued her, and asked,
Ugh…!
“Miss Mouse, how many days has it been this time?”
His deep voice was unhurried. A distinctive sense of authority and aristocratic elegance flowed from his voice and manner of speaking like a lingering fragrance.
The intruder had turned to flee, but he shoved her against the wall, pressing her cheek into it.
Her mask, which she had half removed while eating, was now completely off. When had he even taken it off?
Damn it… This is so humiliating…
She struggled with all her might to break free from his grip on both her arms, but it was useless, just as she had expected.
She soon gave up and, imitating the owner’s relaxed demeanor, spoke with an air of nonchalance.
“Will you stop calling me a mouse already?”
“I can’t very well call a lady a little rat, can I?”
“Ha. A lady? Give me a break…”
Their absurdly casual exchange, so at odds with the situation, was tinged with amusement.
The owner, wearing a faint smile, gently prompted her for an answer.
“So, how many days?”
“Seven.”
“You’re lasting longer and longer.”
After making a remark that could have been either praise or admiration, he moved while holding both of the intruder’s wrists in one hand.
When they reached the window, the night breeze rushed over them.
Her blue hair fluttered wildly, threatening to lash against his murky blue eyes.
The owner extended his arm straight forward, and the intruder’s upper body, still held firmly in his grasp, tilted out of the window.
“Any last words?”
The intruder let out a scoffing laugh, just as she had when he had used the ridiculous word lady, and turned her head toward him.
Her expression was perfectly calm, as though she had no idea what kind of situation she was in.
“You know these aren’t my last words.”
The owner gave a quiet chuckle at the answer he had expected and simply let go.
She fell from the third floor but landed on her feet, as if it were only natural, then stood up without a scratch.
“Ha…”
Looking around, she saw the owner’s knights approaching.
Anticipating what would happen next, the intruder abandoned any thought of escape and looked up at the third floor.
“You could’ve just pretended not to notice me. I only needed to hold out a little longer.”
Even as the knights carried her away, each holding one of her limbs, she stubbornly maintained her deeply disgruntled expression.
Just as she rarely showed her emotions dramatically, the owner merely lowered his eyes with indifference, despite her unreasonable attempts to blame him.
He was eating the cake she’d been having earlier, which he must have discovered at some point.
He hates sweets, yet he’s deliberately eating it.
Why was he so infuriatingly smug as he pressed his lips together to chew the dense, rich cheesecake?
She glared up at him with deeply furrowed eyes and spoke with a sneer.
“Does a Grand Duke have no dignity? Eating with someone else’s used fork?”
However, her sarcasm was wasted. He deliberately twirled the small fork in his hand as if to show it off.
“Ugh, you’re so annoying.”
The owner smiled as though he had just scored a point against her and murmured,
“See you again, Miss Mouse.”
“Damn it… What’s wrong with that man now? ‘See you again,’ my ass! If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have thrown me out in the first place!”
After being tossed out of the mansion, I kicked every stone I came across on my way home.
By now, I was used to breaking into the mansion and getting thrown out, so my heart no longer pounded as violently as it used to.
……I’m not sure I like the fact that I’ve gotten used to trespassing.
It seemed my sense of caution was growing duller with each passing day. I needed to stay sharp.
Actually, it’s only natural for the owner of a house to kick out a trespasser. He’s not the one at fault.
The real one to blame was the system.
I glared at the system window floating in front of me, which I was using as a substitute for a lantern.
[Quest: Chapter 1–1 — Ainsworth Mansion, Main Building, First-Floor Corridor]
The window displayed nothing but an address, but it was clearly telling me to break into the same house I’d just been kicked out of.
And if I refused the quest…
[Death if not attempted within 47 hours, 30 minutes, and 46 seconds]
How the hell did I end up transmigrating into a game like this…?
