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Chapter 2
Evelyn calmly reread the choices.
Options one through three were things she had already tried many times before. Familiar choices, with predictable outcomes.
But what was this?
Threaten him…?
Her brow furrowed automatically.
This was a choice she had never seen in all ninety-nine regressions. What on earth was happening?
Still, considering Evelyn’s usual personality, it wasn’t entirely impossible. She might not have been calm, but she had threatened people with all sorts of nonsense before.
While her attention was briefly caught by the system window, Ludwig grasped the drawing room doorknob and spoke.
“I hope we never have to see each other again, Evelyn.”
The system window blinked rapidly, as if urging her to choose.
A direction she had never attempted before. A completely new route would surely unfold.
…Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
After glancing between Ludwig and the system window several times, she finally opened her mouth.
“Your Highness… won’t you regret it?”
He paused.
The strength slowly drained from Ludwig’s hand gripping the doorknob. Narrowing her eyes, Evelyn carefully observed his reaction.
Without turning around, Ludwig replied,
“…What do you mean?”
The important part was the system prompt that had said “Threaten him.”
It hadn’t specified exactly how she should do it.
Did that mean anything within that framework was acceptable?
After a brief moment of thought, she spoke.
“I mean, won’t you regret letting the Rosenthal Ducal House slip away like this?”
The words—and even the tone—were completely unlike the usual Evelyn.
It had been so long since she’d spoken like an actual human being that it almost felt refreshing.
Then… would this work too?
“This engagement is— ngh!”
She bit her tongue on reflex.
Tch. So that wasn’t allowed.
She’d been about to say something like I wouldn’t marry you even if this engagement were free, but apparently dialogue that violated the overall flow was impossible.
Which also meant there truly was no way outside the given choices.
She couldn’t tell whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Perhaps sensing something strange, Ludwig slowly turned around with a slight frown.
“You think I’ll regret it?”
“…Of course. My father, my brother, and I will all become your enemies.”
“How arrogant. I don’t underestimate the influence of House Rosenthal, but… I have many other options besides that.”
Must be nice having options. Some of us can’t even speak freely.
Feigning a smile, Evelyn asked,
“Can you truly be certain of that?”
“…I honestly don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
Honestly, she agreed with him.
Based on the data from her previous ninety-nine regressions, the easiest way to prevent Ludwig from becoming a tyrant was to stop him from falling in love with the Saintess.
But she had no idea whether acting like this would actually help.
“If you insist on breaking off the engagement, then there’s nothing I can do. But I wonder which noble houses will remain by Your Highness’s side during the coming struggle for imperial power.”
With a gentle smile, she added,
“My father is extremely prideful. If he suffers even the slightest wound to his pride… he tends to hold grudges rather persistently.”
Ludwig’s eyebrow twitched.
It was the first time.
Across all these countless timelines, Ludwig had never shown her anything except contempt or disgust.
But now, for the first time, he looked genuinely irritated.
Still, his expression soon returned to its usual cold composure.
“…Are you threatening me right now?”
“No, Your Highness.”
Evelyn obediently lowered her head.
“I merely informed you of a possibility.”
Even that alone was already completely unlike the usual Evelyn. Though Ludwig, distracted by his unfamiliar irritation, didn’t seem to realize it.
“…Without the Rosenthal name, it seems there’s nothing left of you.”
And you’re only realizing that now, idiot?
Wasn’t the whole reason he’d gotten engaged to her because she was the daughter of House Rosenthal?
She wouldn’t deny that Ludwig had suffered plenty because of Evelyn’s outrageous behavior. But the fact that he had never once treated his fiancée warmly deserved criticism too.
No wonder Evelyn became more and more unhinged over time.
And wasn’t he the same? If you stripped away the title of Crown Prince, what exactly was left of him?
“In any case, I won’t stop you. But whatever happens afterward, Your Highness will have to bear the consequences yourself.”
“Are you planning to throw tantrums again? At every noble lady I happen to treat kindly?”
“Of course, Your Highness. Do you still not know me?”
She deliberately flashed him a bright smile.
Hmph. Go back to the imperial palace and tremble in fear. I’ll make sure you never even hold another woman’s hand again!
The muscles in Ludwig’s cheek twitched. But perhaps deciding she wasn’t worth responding to, he simply turned away.
“I’ll speak separately with Duke Rosenthal regarding the broken engagement. I hope we won’t cross paths again.”
Yeah, screw you too.
This time Ludwig opened the door without hesitation and left.
Only after confirming he was completely gone did Evelyn spit out the blood pooling in her mouth.
“Ptooey, ptooey. Ugh, tastes disgusting.”
Seriously, was she insane? Did she even realize she was supposed to be a woman?
After wiping the blood from her lips with the back of her hand, she collapsed into a chair in the drawing room.
Only then did her sense of reality begin returning.
“Haah… What am I supposed to do now?”
She raised an arm to cover her forehead.
“How the hell am I supposed to reach that damned ending? At least let me switch characters!”
Ding!
“I’m so sick of seeing the Crown Prince’s face!”
Ding!
“AAAH! Shut up! What now?!”
Looking around frantically for the source of the annoying alert sounds, her eyes landed on a strangely colored section at the edge of her vision.
“W-Wait… notifications? There’s a notification button?”
A tiny bell-shaped icon was flashing noisily.
Instinctively moving her finger toward it, she suddenly froze in shock.
[A new ability has been unlocked in celebration of reaching your 100th regression.]
“…What?”
The floating system window immediately displayed another message as soon as she confirmed it.
[Starting tutorial.]
“Tuto… rial…?”
‘Right… weird windows were appearing earlier too.’
At the same time, the system rapidly began opening countless windows.
Like the opening screen of a game, they displayed explanation after explanation.
At first, she stared blankly.
Then she slowly began pressing the buttons one by one. Memories from her original world resurfaced vividly.
“This is insane… Then why didn’t this appear before? Wait, does the ‘new ability unlocked’ mean the system window itself?”
As she opened and closed windows while trying to understand the situation, she spotted unbelievable information in the status screen.
“What the hell… Mental Strength, S++? My stat is 3,259?!”
This is insane…
So that’s why she’d stayed sane even after ninety-nine regressions!
Honestly, it would’ve been better if she’d just gone crazy!
“Oh—Freedom!”
Only after discovering the status window did she remember the message she’d seen while talking to Ludwig.
It had said that branching choices were activated according to the Freedom stat…
So this meant the fourth option had appeared because of that.
[Freedom: Lv.0 (2/5)]
“…That’s way too low!”
Her Mental Strength was 3,259, but Freedom was only 2?!
Wasn’t that ridiculously unfair?!
“Whew… no, it’s fine. At least I have it now. Thanks to this, today ended without me causing a complete shitstorm.”
She scanned through the other stats.
Memory, judgment, perception…
Ah, charisma too. Well, Evelyn was overflowing with charisma.
But wait. If there were stats…
“Does that mean I can raise them?”
[Please complete the quest.]
“Wah! You scared me! You can talk too?!”
It could answer questions? Pretty advanced. Was it AI?
AI really was convenient—
“….”
It could… answer her?
“T-Then tell me how to get out of this world! Please—let me out!”
Ding!
[Impossible.]
“What do you mean impossible?! I don’t even know why I’m here in the first place! Who brought me here?!”
[Unable to provide an answer.]
“Stop giving me these trash answers and explain properly! You people trapped someone here without permission—what the hell is wrong with you?!”
[Unable to provide an answer.]
Y-you…!
She wildly swiped at the blinking system window, but the translucent screen couldn’t be touched.
With nowhere to direct her anger, she finally exploded.
“You insane bastards! Do I look easy to mess with?!”
[Unable to provide an answer.]
No matter how many curses she screamed, the answer remained the same.
“And you call yourself a system?! Damn it, don’t you have customer service or something?! Call the administrator!”
[Unable to provide an answer.]
She was seriously going to lose her mind.
Grabbing fistfuls of her hair, she repeatedly slammed her head against the table.
She’d thought she’d finally found a clue—
Only for it to turn out to be a rotten thread.
“AAAAAH! This is so frustrating!”
Just as she screamed into the empty air and collapsed backward—
Ding!
[Main Quest Generated.]
[Quest Name: The Secret of House Rosenthal]
Objective: Reform the internal affairs of House Rosenthal.
Reward: +20
“…What?”
Reform the household’s internal affairs?
“…So you’re telling me to remodel the ducal estate?”
[Correct.]
“Right after my fiancé broke off our engagement and I’m about to be socially ruined?”
[Correct.]
“Are you completely insane?! Are you trying to drive me crazy?!”
