Chapter 19
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Death
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"Kyaaaaah!"
Helena screamed as she stumbled back behind her chair. The chair toppled over with a loud crash.
"You crazy bastard! Get that away right now! Are you going to or not?!"
She tried to cover her eyes with her hands, but her fingers were spread apart. Her ears flushed red all the way down to her nape. Her breathing grew ragged. Disgust? No. It was overwhelming shock and instinctive embarrassment.
"How about it, Your Majesty? Can you feel my sincerity?"
I took one more step forward. My member swayed heavily.
"I want to serve you with this. I want to fill the depths of that noble body of yours with my apology."
"Shut up! I said shut up! Get out! Turn off the screen!"
Helena fumbled desperately for the button on her desk. But my [Fusion] mana was controlling the crystal orb. The screen didn't turn off. If anything, it zoomed in even more clearly.
"I can't turn it off, Your Majesty. Not until I do."
I whispered softly. [Persuasion Lv.2] activated.
"Helena. You wanted to see mine, didn't you? That's why you requested this private audience."
"No! Don't talk nonsense!"
"Be honest. You've thought about it every night. This thick thing sliding into you, Your Majesty."
"Ugh... I'll kill you!"
Helena huffed and drew her sword, swinging it at the air. But I on the screen was out of reach. She glared at me with eyes brimming with tears of rage and shame.
"Fine. I'll turn it off."
I said as I pulled up my pants.
"But on one condition."
"C-condition?"
Helena gasped out the words. Her gaze lingered on my crotch.
"One more day. Hold your army back."
"Ha! Don't make me laugh! We're advancing right now!"
"And meet me again tomorrow morning. Right here in front of this screen."
I continued.
"But this time, take off that hideous armor."
"What? Have you lost your mind?!"
"A dress. That white ceremonial gown from the Roselia royal family. The one where your skin shows through faintly. Wear that."
"You mad bastard, do you think I'm your concubine or something?!"
"If you don't..."
I placed my hand on my belt buckle again.
"Tomorrow, I'll show something else instead. I could broadcast it across the entire Empire. The sight of Roselia's queen blushing while admiring the emperor's manhood."
It was blackmail. But the [Persuasion] skill wrapped the threat in the guise of an 'irresistible offer.' It stirred her fear and shame, clouding her judgment.
Helena bit her lip until it bled. Her hands trembled violently.
"F-fine. One day."
She squeezed out the words.
"Until tomorrow morning. And that dress..."
She couldn't continue and turned her head away, as if to hide her flushed face.
"I'd rather die than wear that in front of you!"
"I'm looking forward to it, Queen Helena. You'll look beautiful."
I smiled and waved.
"See you tomorrow."
Pop.
As I cut the connection, the screen went black. The room fell silent once more.
I collapsed to the floor. My heart felt like it would burst. Success. I'd bought another day. And I'd pulled her one step further into my domain.
The door opened behind me. Karls entered.
"Is it over?"
Doubt filled his voice. He seemed to sense the strangely heated air in the room.
I brushed back my sweat-soaked hair and looked up at him.
"Yeah. It ended very well. I've got until tomorrow morning."
Cold night air seeped through the tiny cracks in the stone walls, drifting lazily through the prison.
The magic stone embedded in the wall flickered intermittent blue light like a firefly on its last legs, and my shadow stretched long and short across the floor in time with its uneasy glow.
The prison's unique stench—damp moss mixed with the smell of old straw—clung to my nostrils, but tonight it didn't feel repulsive. If anything, it almost seemed cozy.
It was the afterglow of victory.
I lay with my back against the hard stone floor, pulling the wool blanket Duke Karls had tossed me up to my chin.
My mind was filled with plans for tomorrow morning's performance. Roselia's pure white royal gown. Helena's skin faintly visible through the thin silk threads. Her face flushed with shame, her eyes trembling.
Just imagining it sent thrilling shivers racing through my veins.
'The amplified effect of [Persuasion Lv.2] was definite. Tomorrow, I can push even harder.'
The smile on my lips wouldn't fade. After 98 deaths, this was the perfect chance for a counterattack. I'd toppled Adella, brought Helena to her knees, and maneuvered Karls like a pawn.
Everything was falling into place like clockwork, just as I'd planned.
My eyelids grew heavy. My relaxed body craved sleep. Before drifting off, out of habit, I called up the system window. It was my lifeline, the numbers that sustained me in this unreasonable world.
"........."
I blinked. Thinking I'd seen wrong, I rubbed my eyes and stared at the screen again. The blue text remained the same. The number 10. In the frozen display, only that digit glowed ominously.
My heart sank.
'Wasn't it 11?'
I'd definitely saved Lucas and gotten one more as a reward. It had gone from 10 to 11. That was just a few days ago.
And this morning, I'd gone to the Oath Room and finished that steamy negotiation with Helena. I hadn't died in the process. I hadn't been sliced by Karls' sword or tumbled down the stairs.
So why was it 10?
I kicked off the blanket. Cold air hit my bare skin, raising goosebumps all over. I bolted upright and patted myself down. Neck. Still attached. Chest. No holes. Stomach. No guts spilling out.
No pain either. None of that horrific residual memory from death—the warmth of blood spurting from a severed neck, the pressure crushing my heart.
'No way.'
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
Had I died while asleep?
No, it was right before falling asleep. I'd definitely closed my eyes while lost in happy fantasies. Yet when I opened them, it was night again. My sense of time was warped.
Did I not fall asleep but die and reset? If so, when? One minute ago? One hour?
I looked around. The prison was unchanged. The squeak of rats in the corner, the crackle of torches at the end of the corridor, the steady drip of water from the ceiling. Everything was peaceful and quiet. No traces of murder, no signs of intruders.
But the numbers don't lie.
It had decreased by 1. Someone had killed me. So swiftly and stealthily that I hadn't even noticed. Snuffed out my consciousness before I could feel pain.
'Poison? Or magic?'
The water Adella brought was clean. The hardtack from Karls was safe. The air? Or an invisible blade slicing my throat?
Terror washed over me. All my past deaths had 'reasons.' Karls' rebellion, the maid's poison, the soldier's spear. Knowing the cause let me counter it. But this death was unexplained. A death without memory.
I crawled to the iron bars. Gripped them. The cold metal bit into my palms. I peered down the corridor. Empty. The guards had pulled back far as per Karls' orders.
Who could have come in? To this perfect sealed chamber.
It felt like something lurked in the shadows. A wall stain looked like a face, the rats' gnawing sounded like footsteps. My back prickled. The sensation of unseen eyes targeting my nape.
I drew my knees up and huddled. The system window's '10' floated like a ghost in the air. My victory-drunk brain screamed in belated alarm.
This prison wasn't a safe zone. Not even a fortress guarded by Karls. It was a slaughterhouse that could erase one life like mine without a sound, anytime.
I dry-washed my face with trembling hands. The cold sweat on my palms chilled me.
Cold sweat ran down my spine to the tip. The thin prisoner garb clung damply to my skin, unpleasantly.
The '10' hovering in the corner of my vision burned into my retina like a branding iron, refusing to fade. My heart hammered irregularly against my ribs. No memory of death meant my consciousness had been severed in an instant, without even time for pain.
My brain spun at full throttle, overloaded. This prison was under Duke Karls' direct management. In this sealed room where not a soul could enter without permission, the suspects who could kill me were extremely limited.
"When did I die..."