Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Shiver in the Game? It Might Be Electrocution
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A strange expression crossed the head butler's face at my mutterings. I quickly shook my head.
On the flip side, starting today, things could turn blissful for us.
I glanced at Dalia, who looked utterly carefree. The five-year-old girl hadn't shed a single tear even after losing her mother. She was too young, and her mother had never shown her much affection anyway. It was only natural.
"Big brother. Your face is all mysterious. Hard to read."
Dalia met my eyes with a blank look.
Her stoic face and speech overlapped eerily with my late sister's. The resemblance was downright chilling. Yeah, my sister used to say stuff like that all the time.
'Bro always has that enigmatic look. I don't know what you're thinking, but as long as it's not because you're upset over me...'
The moment that familiar voice echoed in my mind, my vision blurred.
"Are you... going to cry?"
"......"
"Oliver's been hating me. But now big brother's always alone with Dalia."
"Alone with Dalia...?"
The instant I heard Dalia's voice, my consciousness swayed like motion sickness, and my dead sister's words suddenly resurfaced.
'If I were Dalia, I'd kill 'em all and become emperor.'
Wait. Dalia? Dalia? Dalia!
I'm in the world where my sister wanted to live, aren't I?
I had a gut feeling. The chance to fulfill my sister's dream had come to me. A burning desire not to let this opportunity slip away.
The chance to protect my fragile sister had been given to me once more...!
Now that I'd entered the game itself, I could twist the scenario however I wanted. Change the future where Dalia gets courted and rejected by men in a pathetic mess. Change the future where Sierra Gluttony gets shunned without parents.
After my sister died, I'd played this nauseating game hundreds of times.
If I could use the knowledge I have to alter our future!
If this pathetic brother could grant even one of my dead sister's wishes!
"Ugh......"
Amid the dizziness and confusion, Dalia's eyes gleamed sharp like a cat's in the dark. In that moment, as if enchanted, she was all I could see.
My small, pitiful sister.
'Yeah, my sister's not really dead yet......'
Like I was possessed, my mouth moved on its own.
"Don't worry."
My new sister looked up at me with an innocent face that knew nothing. I gave her a gentle smile.
I wasn't sure if I was talking to Dalia or my dead sister as I said,
"I'll make it happen for you too. The massacre ending."
It was time to rewrite the game's scenario.
***
[Flower of the Garden That Never Sleeps]
Shortened to "Sleepflower." This game, dubbed an otome romance, followed the heroine Anemone seducing six different men.
People in this world could wield magic, and those skilled in swordsmanship could become Swordmasters. It wasn't just humans—demons, dragons, beastkin, fairies, and other fantastical races lived here too.
Thanks to this wild setting, the male leads each had diverse statuses, jobs, and races.
In this chaotic world mixing all sorts of races, humans even split into factions and fought among themselves. The biggest conflict brewed between the imperial family and the church.
At the imperial family's core was the unlucky Crown Prince Taimus Sequoya, and at the church's stood the equally unlucky Saint Edmund Myselium.
The crown prince and the saint looked great in their illustrations, but their personalities were selfish, and they put on an obnoxiously virtuous act.
Their cowardly habit of using underlings to check each other was pathetic.
Sure, it would be nice to say, "Who cares if they're vile—as long as I thrive," but it wasn't that simple. One of the crown prince's underlings was me.
In the scenario, Sierra Gluttony later ends up as the crown prince's subordinate. He gets intimidated by the prince's feats during the demon subjugation expeditions that happen multiple times.
Thanks to the immense wealth and manpower of the ducal house backing the imperial side, the crown prince wins the heroine and becomes emperor.
A nauseating conclusion.
'That's just the original story.'
Now that I was Sierra Gluttony, I wouldn't let things play out that way.
Not that I'm saying I'll side with the church.
From what I remember, the Gluttony Ducal House was the empire's richest and most promising family. Whichever side I chose, the scales would tip that way.
So, I'll back myself.
"Duke Sierra, Lady Dalia. We've arrived at the church."
Escorted by the head butler, I stepped out of the carriage to a vast garden resembling a botanical display. Many mourners had already arrived, and their gazes turned to us in unison.
But everyone's eyes were off.
'I know that look well. The gaze of disdain and contempt. The kind I've gotten my whole life.'
No one outranked a duke, yet no one greeted us first. They were treating us siblings like total nobodies.
It finally made sense why Sierra acted the way he did in the game. Always cowed, lacking confidence. Falling head over heels for the heroine's kindness after a few gestures. Pathetic.
Sierra's personality had been shaped by attitudes like this.
"Ha, unbelievable."
Are they all idiots? They should be tripping over themselves to impress us.
"Head Butler Alberto, I've got a question."
"Yes, I'll answer anything."
"Has our house gone bankrupt?"
Did our stock plummet overnight just because I became duke? Is that it? If not, does this attitude even make sense?
"Or are these ruffians in front of me higher-ranked than me? That might be different."
The butler's face twisted. He twitched his mustache and shook his head.
"No, Your Grace. The Gluttony Ducal House's wealth and honor have no equal in the empire."
"The one downside is that the current duke is just me—a fifteen-year-old."
"......"
As we crossed the garden following the butler, a few people hesitantly offered timid greetings.
But having raised my sister on scraps of affection, I could tell. They didn't like us.
It was obvious they were forcing it, as if they had no choice. More families whispered behind our backs and backed away.
"People hate us."
Dalia's flat voice rang in my ears. Cold treatment even a child could notice.
"It's fine, Dalia. We can hate them too."
I looked down at Dalia as I spoke. She didn't reply.
"Alberto. The mourners seem thrilled to see us. Got a list?"
"Yes, of course. I can identify every house represented here."
"Then remember and mark every single one. We'll need to send gifts."
I'd grown numb to being ignored. There were times I desperately sought approval, times I faked cheer for my sister's sake so she could live decently.
But in this world, I had no need for that.
Why? Because I'm the duke.
The empire's wealth flows through our ducal house, and I, Sierra, am a mage to boot.
Sierra's magic was kinda underwhelming from what I recall, but it'd be enough to protect Dalia and scare people off.
In this life, we'll never be unhappy.
As we neared the church's main entrance, a mournful tune from the band drifted over. Like a signal, the scattered mourners began filing inside.
The butler and I memorized each person vanishing into the church—he for marking his list, me to check for male leads.
Excluding me, there were five male leads.
Crown prince, hero, merman, priest, dragon.
I had to recruit or neutralize them to prevent Dalia's misery.
Fancy talk for massacre ending—going around "dunking" them one by one like "From Manager Kim" would just land me the criminal ending.
'Can't spend my remaining life in prison.'
Killing the male leads outright wouldn't make Dalia happy anyway.
If I'm getting revenge, do it right.
Make them grovel for Dalia, then bring them low. Have them beg the beautiful, talented Lady Dalia of the duchy, "Please, just look at me once."
That'll take meticulous planning.
If meticulous is too hard, I'll just throw money at it. Sierra's loaded.
My top priority: grant my dead sister's little wish.
Which is the happiness of the pale kid beside me—Dalia.
"Is Crown Prince Taimus here?"
I scanned eagerly for the prime revenge target, but no "strikingly handsome yet heroic blond who captivates all ages and genders" in sight. Obviously.
Among male leads, the crown prince was top watchlist.
He held a pillar of human power, had that irritating "transcends races with his looks" setting, and the title of empire's Swordmaster.
The butler was busy circling names on his list. I pressed it down lightly and asked, "Did the crown prince visit?"
He flipped through hurriedly and shook his head.
"No. An imperial proxy came instead."
"I see."
"Busy with the beast subjugation force, it seems."
I knew about the beast subjugation force.
To the empire's east and north lay a continent swarming with beasts. Together called the Recluse Lands.
Mindless beasts didn't stay put—they eyed human territory hungrily.
Humans had to cull them periodically. Hunting yielded meat, hides, magic tools—economic boon too.
My Gluttony House always joined subjugations, earning big merits. Per the lore, the previous duke was a great warrior who hunted beasts himself.
The current duke—me—would join too...
From game memories, Sierra gets flak for his sloppy magic and ends up helped by the crown prince. Utterly embarrassing fate.
"I'll join the beast subjugation too, right?"
I prayed no, but the butler hesitated and nodded.
"It may be frightening, but it's an opportunity not to miss. You'll serve Crown Prince Taimus up close, Your Grace. Didn't young master say last time? If you stroke the prince's ego right during subjugation, the scrutiny would lessen..."
"Stroke the crown prince's ego?"
"......"
So he planned to approach subjugation with that timid attitude? I couldn't hide my disbelief.
'How narrow-minded and cowardly was Sierra?'
It matched the game's description perfectly.
Duke Sierra Gluttony. Noble-born, yet pathologically timid.
Sierra quailed daily before the crown prince's might and charisma. A coward overwhelmed by his own title. Childhood nickname: "Coward Sierra."
List Sierra's losses from timidity: military command, territory, spoils, business rights, even his lover the heroine. Marriage proposals with imperial allies always crashed.
Each time, Dalia threw tantrums from rage and shame. Her reputation tanked further, narrowing Duke Sierra Gluttony's position.
All tragedies stemmed from the crown prince looking down on Sierra.
Hundreds of hours of Sleepflower play boiled down to one fact.
Get despised by the imperial family, lose everything.
"Is the imperial proxy here now?"
"Yes. They're meeting the bishop before the service."
"I see? Then..."
Tell them to wait!
That imperial family? Not scary at all!