TVMF 14

Chapter: 14

“Before you kill anyone… ask me first.”

—Ding!

[SYSTEM: Due to the effect ‘Best Actress Award—You’ll Give It to Me, Right?’ your smile appears friendly and harmless.]
[SYSTEM: Due to the effect of Lv.3 ‘Deception,’ your proposal is perceived as convenient and sweet.]

Whether the system messages were truly working or not, Adrian—who had been staring straight through me—grumbled as he asked,

“So… I only kill the people you approve of?”

Yes!

Once again, I felt relieved that I’d invested in the Deception skill.

I hadn’t expected it to work this well—but it really did?

“Yeah. That’s right.”

What I was aiming for, of course, was insurance for my own life.

I’d do everything I could to lower his corruption rate, but if circumstances went wrong—and Adrian, fulfilling his role as the male lead, decided to kill the ‘villainess’ me—

You promised! You said you’d ask me before killing anyone!

I’d be able to play that trump card.

In an excellent mood, I pushed Adrian back toward the bathtub.

“Alright, then let’s start by making you look like a proper young duke. Should I call the attendants back in?”

“No. Don’t.”

“You have to wash thoroughly. If there’s any dirt left, I’ll take care of it myself.”

“Get out, Utel!”

I retreated quickly, just in case something else came flying at me—grinning the whole time.

He said ‘get out,’ not ‘get lost.’ He’s improving!

Beyond the bathroom door that slammed shut, I soon heard splashing water.

Adrian didn’t come out for quite a while—he was probably paying off all the baths he’d missed in one go.

After finishing the prepared snacks, sleep crept up on me. I leaned back on the sofa and drifted off, a swordsmanship manual covering my face.

When I woke up, the book was gone.

Lowering my gaze from the ceiling, I found Adrian standing beside me, staring without moving. It was unclear how long he’d been there.

“Done washing? You could’ve woken me.”

My voice came out a little hoarse from sleep.

When I took his hand and pulled it closer, I felt him flinch slightly in surprise.

“You washed under your nails properly.”

Checking each finger carefully took a bit of time.

When I looked up, I realized Adrian was staring straight at me.

The fact that he hadn’t slapped my hand away meant he was exercising considerable restraint.

I quickly let go.

“I’ll check the back of your neck.”

Though the air was still sharp, Adrian obediently turned around.

His black hair brushed lightly against my breath.

Worried that even that might irritate him further, I hurriedly checked his neck.

“All clean. Good. You can turn back now.”

Instead of glaring at me in irritation—as I’d expected—Adrian avoided my eyes.

…Huh?

The atmosphere felt strange.

But it was probably just the awkwardness of suddenly being in a proper room after being locked in a basement for so long.

The tension had simply drained away all at once.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat to reset the mood.

“So. Shall we talk about the plan now?”

There was a reason I’d sent the servants away.

This was to discuss strategy with Adrian—somewhere free of Melisandra’s eyes and ears.

“Go on.”

As Adrian’s gaze darkened, so did mine.

“First, the main strategy.”

Step one: make things big.

Gather as many people as possible and hold a banquet at the Bellas estate.

Since Melisandra had stopped imprisoning Adrian, the start was promising.

Convincing her meant we were already halfway there.

Step two: expose Melisandra’s crimes during that banquet.

But for that…

“We need evidence,” Adrian pointed out.

“Yeah. Do you know of anything that could serve as proof?”

With the duke absent from the Bellas estate, the people who could testify about Melisandra’s unchecked cruelty—aside from Adrian himself—were the servants.

But they were firmly under her control.

The reason I’d sent them away under the pretense of bathing was precisely so they wouldn’t overhear this conversation.

In a situation like this, what we needed was a loyal ally—someone who wouldn’t waver even before the authority of the duchess.

“Come to think of it…”

“Hm?”

After thinking quietly, Adrian spoke hesitantly—unlike himself.

“I thought the butler would definitely help me.”

“The butler?”

Right—of course!

In noble households, the symbol of loyalty was practically synonymous with the butler.

Yet strangely, the Bellas household had none.

At best, there was a senior servant who hovered around Melisandra like a sycophant.

“There… was a butler?”

“Yes.”

According to Adrian, there had been an old butler who had served since the previous duke’s time.

He had watched Adrian being born and cherished him like his own grandson.

“When I was locked in the basement, I thought Butler Oinos would come rescue me before long.”

“But he never came.”

Adrian nodded.

Believing that even the one person he trusted had been turned by the wicked duchess must have deepened his despair.

It surely accelerated his descent into darkness.

But now, things were different.

After leaving the basement, Adrian realized the butler was nowhere to be found.

The man who used to say, over and over, that even in death his bones would be buried with the Bellas family.

“That wicked woman must have dealt with him. Otherwise, she couldn’t control the estate so freely.”

“I think so too, Adrian.”

I nodded in agreement—

—Ding!

[SYSTEM: You have 1 new quest.]
[QUEST: Rescue the Bellas estate’s butler before the banquet.]
[Quest Reward: Adrian’s corruption rate -7]

A side quest had been updated.

Now that I thought about it, the main quest condition was to lower Adrian’s corruption rate to 70% within seven days.

After working hard to manipulate Melisandra, the banquet day had been set as the final day of the quest.

Let’s check his current corruption rate first.

[SYSTEM: Spend 1 coin to check the corruption rate?]
[Yes]

[Adrian’s Corruption Rate: 81]

Eighty-one.

It had been 89 when I first checked—so coaxing Adrian and getting him out of the basement had lowered it by eight.

If rescuing the butler reduced it by seven more, that was a generous reward.

[QUEST: Failure Penalty: ‘The petals of the Poison Rose will fall eight times.’]

Even though we’d grown closer, Adrian could still kill me in eight pieces if I made a single misstep.

I couldn’t trust him too easily.
And I definitely couldn’t give him my heart.

“Utel?”

When Adrian called out to me as I drifted into thought, I put on an innocent smile—like I knew nothing at all.

“Yeah?”

[SYSTEM: Due to ‘Best Actress Award—You’ll Give It to Me, Right?’ the ‘innocence’ in your expression is amplified.]
[SYSTEM: Due to Lv.3 ‘Deception,’ ‘A Face So Slippery Even a Fly Would Slide Off’ is activated.]
[Your ‘Charm’ stat temporarily increases by one level.]

All while thinking—

Hurry up and clear all these quests, then run somewhere without any male leads at all!

Bellas Estate, Adrian’s room.

The door creaked open, and dim candlelight spilled into the darkened room.

“Adrian?”

The person who entered was nothing like the girl Adrian had reluctantly accepted.

The target of countless vows of revenge.

The woman he’d sworn to tear apart alive the moment he escaped the basement.

Now, Duchess Melisandra approached him—unguarded.

But instead of preparing to kill her, Adrian recalled another scene.

Listen carefully, Adrian. I’m going to get you out of here.
Strength isn’t just physical. What matters is the power to move hearts.
All I know right now is that I need to help you.
Before you kill anyone… ask me first.

A warm voice, echoing through the darkness like light.

Confident green eyes.

At first, the girl had been nothing but irritating. Her intentions suspicious.

But even to Adrian—who had built walls around his heart—Rohesia seemed sincere in how she treated him.

Her words had led him out of the basement by a more flexible method than the one he’d planned.

Truthfully, Adrian still wasn’t certain that exposing Melisandra’s crimes was a punishment more fitting than slaughtering her and everyone under her command.

But there was something about the girl—acting as though she knew everything, urging him to trust her—that carried weight.

A power that made you want to believe, just once.

A power that made you mistake sparks flying from her eyes and the scent of roses around her body for a promise of a richer world.

If it’s a lie…

If it’s nothing more than empty bravado.
If she turns out to be Melisandra’s pawn after all.

Then killing her together with the duchess wouldn’t be too late.

No.

A small smile curved Adrian’s lips.

Locking her in the same basement he’d once been trapped in didn’t sound like a bad idea either.

Watching what excuses she’d come up with then—with that smooth tongue of hers—might be entertaining.

“Yes, Duchess.”

“Oh my. You should call me Mother.”

“….”

The moment she claimed that title with her filthy mouth, nausea and disgust welled up inside him.

He wanted to tear her apart.

But he endured.

Now was the time to play along with Rohesia’s tune.

“Yes… Mother.”

True revenge required patience.

What mattered was the power to move hearts.

Suppressing the revulsion boiling within him, Adrian slowly relaxed his stiff expression—

—and a faint smile spread across the boy’s face.