When I almost hallucinated I was really a character in the game, a warmth softly embraced me from behind. 

“It’s all right, Phi. Take a breath.”

Luca’s gentle voice, who hugged me from behind, finally made my breathing easier.

As Luca opened my stiffened fingers, the dagger in my hand fell on the pavement with a serene sound. His big hand overlapped with my hand, covering it. Luca’s hand was gloved, yet, I felt his warmth, telling me just how cold my fingers were.

“Luca…”

“Don’t worry, I’m here. I’m sorry to have left you alone.”

I shook my head silently. Luca hugged me even tighter, touching his lips on the side of my forehead and my earlobe as if comforting me.

“Hey there, it’s not the time for flirting.”

The Crown Prince said in a low growling voice, startling me, and I finally returned to myself. Indeed, we were in front of the public. I didn’t expect there would come a day when the Crown Prince would take a jab at me.

I hurriedly tried to separate from Luca, but far from releasing me, he began to kiss my nape loudly.

“Lu-Luca, release me.”

“It’s okay not to mind what His Highness said. He’s just jealous.”

“That’s not the problem. I’m embarrassed!”

Luca reluctantly got away from me and once again looked at the circumstance. The Crown Prince softly pushed away Marika and tried to take an appropriate distance.

“Lord Alphonso, I really…”

With tears pooling in her eyes as she shook her head, Marika truly gave the image of a cute and helpless young girl, and even I, who knew her true color, couldn’t help but feel compassion for her for a moment.

However, the Crown Prince was unexpectedly calm.

“House Dyural’s young lady, it’s merely my opinion as an individual, but Philia isn’t the kind of person who would point a blade at anyone. It’s hard to believe your claim that she suddenly tried to stab you.”

“But…”

Marika’s eye, who shook her head, restlessly moved around as if she was looking for something. 

I was startled and looked around like Marika while following my memories about the Royal Court game. 

There were four characters to capture in the Royal Court game: Crown prince – Alphonso, Knight – Laurenz, Young nobleman – Luca, Assassin – Region.

After clearing all the four routes, it became feasible to capture the hidden character town doctor Bart in Bartromeo’s route, who was the royal family’s illegitimate child.

Bart’s route branched off from the Crown Prince’s route. Right after the event where Philia tried to assassinate the heroine, Bart, who had sneaked in the party dressed up as a performer of the troupe of magicians, rushed to attack the Crown Prince in an assassination attempt.

At that moment, the choice to warn either Bart or Alphonso would be presented to the player.

The future would be changed depending on the option you chose. To capture Bart, you naturally had to call out his name, but Bart’s route would fail if you called out for the Crown Prince. As a replacement, the future where you would become the crown princess would be open for you. 

I wondered if Marika was aiming to make this a reality. Or rather, she might’ve been aiming for this ever since she said she had already captured Bart. 

Nevertheless, the dangerous situation where someone was lurking around to take the Crown Prince’s life was more important than her intention.

I tried to recall Bart’s face and the outfit he wore today, but because I didn’t like the development, it was hard for me to recall the scene from the route I played only once. 

As I was getting impatient, Marika’s gaze fixed on one point. Among the troupe of performers gathered in the courtyard, a conspicuously tall man was wearing a hat. A man in an exotic costume, with several throwing knives in his waistband and an unusual, curved blade in his hand, walked out nonchalantly.

Before I could scream about the danger, Marika’s lips were drawn into an arc, and the next moment, she stood out in front of the Crown Prince, spreading her hands as if to protect him.

“You Highness Alphonso, watch out!”

Unlike me, who was unphased, the people around me were startled at Marika’s sudden call and didn’t understand what to do.

In that gap, Bart quickly closed the gap as imagined, and Marika shouted impatiently.

“Someone, hurry up and catch him! It’s an assassination aiming for the Crown Prince’s life, who’s trying to take over His Highness Alphonso’s…”

“How do you know this?”

The air in the surrounding area changed once again as soon as the Crown Prince’s gloomy and cold voice echoed.

“Certainly, this man is the late child of my grandfather Orlando I, the only one with royal blood who can take over my position. He also has grudges against my family.”

“Your Highness Alphonso… You knew?”

Together with the flabbergasted Marika, I was also stunned.

How did the Crown Prince know about the facts disclosed only at the end of the final stage of the game?

Bart took off his hat and shook his head lightly. The same deep crimson color hairs as the Crown Prince’s fluttered in the night wind, hiding his expression, but at the very least, he didn’t seem like he would attack the Crown Prince. 

“I should be the one to ask that. How did you know about the fact which only I, the concerned party, know about? Tonight is the Pesach Night, and you can’t hide the truth.”

As he questioned her, the Crown Prince’s callous expression didn’t seek the answer.

The imperial guards moved as if to protect the Crown Prince from Marika and looked at the petite young girl with vigilance.

“You knew about the existence of the person who has royal blood. You knew that person holds resentment against the royal family, don’t try to hide the truth. It’s also natural to equate this as rebellion.”

“I…”

“I have evidence, Marika. There was some intelligence about you from a source, and so you were under surveillance for a month and a half. You instigated his animosity against the royal family. I have also confirmed that you casually gave him the information that tonight is ideal for infiltrating… You used this man and tried to approach His Highness.”

It was unexpected that they set up the traps in this form, and I was enlightened by Laurenz’s expression, who glanced at me fleetingly.

Laurenz’s behavior got closer to her knowing about Marika’s deceitfulness. The Crown Prince’s entry was too timely to consider a coincidence. 

They grasped her actions and reverse-plotted tonight’s event.

I felt my spine freezing. Marika’s action, who tried to create the same situation as the game by using the previous world’s knowledge, was seen as a dangerous act that could even lead to high treason by the royal court. 

“Don’t make any irresponsible remarks. I just acted thinking it’s dangerous His Highness Alphonso…”

“You mean you moved instinctively to protect Your Highness from your acquaintance? It’s too absurd, Marika… Bart, you also figured it out already, haven’t you?”

The man, whom Laurenz called out with a familiar tone as if he already knew him, said as his expressions were covered with his long bangs.

“You were using me, Marika, weren’t you?”

“I-I wasn’t, Lord Bart….”

“It’s not like I mind you using me. If you were forced into an unwanted relationship with the Crown Prince, I thought it’d be all right even if I had to rebel to save you.”

“I don’t remember forcing her.”

The Crown Prince quipped in displeasure.

“Ahh… that’s how it was. I… wanted to believe in Marika, though.”

As Bart felt powerless, the sword dropped down with an unbelievably light sound. 

I didn’t know how they did, but the royal palace won over Bart to a certain degree and got him to cooperate in this scheme, perhaps to win Marika’s heart. If that was the case, I wondered if the assassin was also held down by the royal court. 

No one was surprised, but Marika and I, who knew about the situation, were shocked by the development. 

Only we both were unaware of this script in reality. Laurenz wiped off the frivolous smile from his face and narrowed his ashen purplish eye coldly.

“Marika de Dyural, you are arrested on suspicion of being involved in treason.”

“T-That’s ridiculous! I can’t… the heroine can’t be guilty of treason! Al will remain the same arrogant and haughty crown prince, and Laurenz will never awake to his true love if I’m not here!”

“Although I did get the report that you have pseudologia fantastica… I didn’t know it was that bad.”

Beginning with Laurenz, the onlookers stared at Marika in amazement, who finally fell into a frenzy and kept shouting. 

Amidst that, slight anxiety was smoldering inside me. As if something was stuck… 

As I gazed around, I saw Bart standing a little distance from me. 

Looking at his side profile which was hidden with long bangs, I felt sorry for his unfortunate position, both in the game and in reality. 

Born as the abandoned child of the previous king whose existence was ignored, he grew up living a life as if crawling on the ground with his mother. He swore to take revenge against the royal family, but at the same time, he had feelings for the girl he found while he was living as a town doctor. When the girl was about to be snatched by his nephew, the Crown Prince, who walked on the blessed path in contrast to himself, he tried to take the man’s life with the hand that saved others… Or so was the setting of Bart’s character. 

As I looked at the man, I wondered what he thought. His fate changed, according to Marika, whether it was in game or now in reality. Then, my eyes caught his movement of pulling out the pocket knife casually.

As expected, the Crown Prince was… Or not, ahead of his gaze was Marika.

As soon as I noticed this, my body reacted before understanding the meaning. 

His words in the game revived in my mind as I rushed forward in my hard-to-move dress as if flipped.

If you’re going to be snatched away by another man, I’d rather…

That was what he muttered in the game. 

I remembered. Bart was someone who would rather kill the girl who betrayed him and choose someone else. 

He was someone who’d resort to violence when it came to love.

“Lady Marika!”

Marika’s vacant eyes looked at me as I shouted. 

I extended my hands to push away Marika while thinking I couldn’t make it in time for Bart’s inconspicuous movement.

I felt the chilly, sharp cold in the hand I stretched, but I collapsed on the ground with Marika before I knew its origin.

“Sister!”

“Get Bart!”

“Your Highness, leave him to me!”

“Get away… Philly!”

My body, which couldn’t move while feeling my surroundings getting noisy in one breath, was suddenly pulled away with terrifying strength.

Because I was grabbed by my waist, which was tightened by a corset, I felt like I would vomit.

“Sister, sister…”

“C-Calm down… Luca…”

“But blood is…”

Pulling me off Marika, Luca grabbed my hand with shivering hands. 

I was subconsciously startled from seeing the blood gushing out from my bare upper arm.

Most likely, the knife grazed me. The cut was clean and crisp, so there was no pain now, but it was bleeding quite a bit, and it didn’t look good because of the blood. 

However, when I looked at Luca, whose face was even paler than mine, I felt strangely calm.

“It’s all right. It doesn’t hurt that much.”

“There’s no way it shouldn’t hurt. We have to stop the bleeding hurriedly.”

Just as Luca took off his tie and tied it on my wound, Michela, dressed in the white Knight’s uniform, approached.

“Are you all right, Philia?”

“I’m fine. I think it just grazed me.”

“I heard that man’s an expert knife thrower. His knife was so well sharpened it could have cut your neck clean off.”

“I don’t want to hear that. I was just lucky…”

“It wasn’t luck. It’s thanks to this.”

Michela put the familiar sapphire cuff in my hand.

“This…”

“It’s all because Luca threw this that changed the knife’s trajectory, even if it’s only a bit. My God, the accuracy was really unbelievable, but I’m surprised you noticed Bart’s movement in all this ruckus.”

I indeed felt I couldn’t make it in time, and yet, it was a miracle it all ended with just a small injury. It was merely an impulse to protect people when I hadn’t trained my body at all.

Michela shrugged her shoulders, though I didn’t know if it was out of admiration or exasperation. I looked at Luca, whose face was still pale, and he replied awkwardly.

“I was looking at you, so I noticed what was happening. But it will be my lifelong regret that I couldn’t stop it happening before you got hurt like this, though.”

Marika would have died if he had stopped me, so let’s call it a good ending.

“I see. It’s because Luca was looking at Philia in many ways.”

“So what?”

Michela said it in a teasing tone, to which Luca made a face as if to say, “What’s wrong with that?”

Somehow, I felt sorry for myself.

The capture drama during the party was quickly dealt with, despite the matter’s importance. I could feel they had prepared for it thoroughly as well. 

When I was looking in half-amazement thinking, “Just how far they have plotted,” the Crown Prince approached me.

“Philia, are you injured?”

“Yeah, she’s seriously injured. She needs absolute rest, so please don’t approach her or talk to her.”

“I didn’t ask you.”

Before I could say anything, Luca, who was snugly next to me, answered, and the Crown Prince gazed sternly in annoyance. They were at odds as usual for unknown reasons.

Not ignoring him, I answered while putting my hands on Luca’s hand which was tightly wrapped around my waist to pacify him.

“It’s merely a scratch. Not something that’s worth Your Highness’ concern.”

“How can I not worry? A woman should not have scars on her skin, you fool.”

I subconsciously blinked. It was rude of him to say that, but I guessed he must’ve been worried. Just as I was about to give him my gratitude, the hand on my waist hugged me even tighter. 

“There’s no point in showing your concern at this stage. If you hadn’t called out for me on a trivial errand, Phi wouldn’t have been left alone, to begin with. You should have had a guard following her. It was possible to pull Phi away when she was about to be taken away, but I wonder why there wasn’t any movement?”

The Crown Prince’s face was bitter at Luca’s deep voice.

However, that middle-aged knight among the imperial guards had called out for Luca earlier. It seemed he was on the lookout for the timely entry of Luca and Crown Prince and others.

I was content that they came in time, but Luca seemed displeased.

In the end, tonight’s uproar was a game of misunderstanding and deceit where Marika deliberately guided Bart, triggering the event of the Crown Prince’s assassination attempt and then trying to save him, reproducing the scene of the dating simulator game. At the same time, the royal court side misunderstood Marika’s intention and kept her in the dark to get conclusive evidence.

To be honest, I would have preferred to have it done somewhere else, but I guessed it was inevitable for me to get involved in all of this since I was born as the villainess lady Philia. 

In regards to this, I had already resigned myself to fate, but it was understandable for Luca to be angry, who didn’t know all of this. 

However, if we still continued to criticize each other, there would be no progress.

“Luca, listen to me and calm down… Your Highness, what will happen to Marika?”

From an objective viewpoint, Marika’s actions were like an outrageous wicked woman who incited a dangerous person to enter the royal capital tried to gain the Crown Prince’s favor by staging a make-believe assassination attempt and becoming queen.

But I knew very well that she didn’t have any malicious intent.

Although I knew that Marika, who was the same reincarnated person as me, couldn’t distinguish between the game and reality, I pretended not to see it and left her on her own accord as she plunged into the wrong direction to save myself. 

It would leave a bad aftertaste if she were sentenced to capital punishment for high treason.

“You don’t need to worry about this. Forget it.”

“I don’t mean to be meddlesome, but I’m worried about her.”

“What’s done is done, and even though we’ve kept this quiet, we can’t any longer. Normally it should have been capital punishment… But Marika is still a young girl. I guess they will try to keep it as amicable as possible.”

“I see.”

Trying to keep it amicable meant a painless method. Or that only her life would be spared? 

Although I was from the Duke d’la Love family, the daughter of aristocrats had no say in the country’s affair. It would be strange if it could be done, and it shouldn’t be done.

I wondered if this was my punishment for not stopping her in time and making me experience guilt for the rest of my life. 

As I shivered from the depression and the night’s chilly breeze, Luca’s arm kept hugging me.

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