The Main Plot Begins
[Debuffs have been removed!]
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Main Plotline Triggered!]
[Congratulations! You have successfully secured your first target]
[New Love Target: Evelyn Ashbourne]
[Affection Points: -5]
Evelyn's lips were soft, like melting clouds, warm and delicate, especially now that the horrible debuffs had finally lifted.
But just as she was beginning to process that strangely pleasant sensation, the weight of a hundred burning stares pressed into her back like daggers.
She immediately released herself away, frantically looking around, and only now did the gravity of her actions fully sink in.
"Oh, uh—I'm sorry!" she blurted, grasping Evelyn's shoulders in an attempt to comfort the girl. But the moment their eyes met, Evelyn's big, glassy, teary orbs stared back at her like a kicked puppy.
What have I done!? New target, my ass! She looks traumatized!
Meanwhile, Raphael was malfunctioning. His mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air, his pupils shaking as if his entire worldview had just shattered.
He rubbed his eyes once, twice—no, five times.
But the horrifying reality remained: his former fiancée—Verena, the bane of his existence—and the girl he had planned to dramatically confess to under the moonlight… had just kissed.
"W-W-W-W-Wh?" His voice cracked. "I thought—"
I'm sorry, but I have to do this…
Without hesitation, Verena grabbed Evelyn closer, looping a firm arm around her waist. The heroine squeaked, flinching as her cheeks grew an even darker shade of red.
"Please, my lord, you are far too arrogant," Verena said smoothly, tightening her grip as she whispered yet another frantic apology into Evelyn's ear. "The one I love… is Evelyn!"
The impact of those words must have been too much. Raphael, the great and mighty warlord, the man feared across the battlefield, collapsed to his knees.
That was how the party ended.
Everything is a joke! I barely got to this world and I feel like I'm already working my ass off!
Verena slammed the door shut behind her as she arrived back at home, barely containing the urge to scream into a pillow.
Those goddamn noble gatherings!
Always filled with gossiping vultures, fake smiles, and, ugh, Raphael! Did he really have to act like that in front of everyone?!
And don't even get her started on the fact that she had kissed Evelyn. Evelyn! The delicate, weepy heroine who was probably still in shock!
"Lady Verena!" A maid gasped at the sight of her unladylike outburst.
The woman was prim and proper, looking as if she had stepped straight out of an etiquette manual, and Verena swore she could hear a scandalized gasp even when she hadn't spoken yet.
Internally, Verena groaned. Externally, she forced herself to take a deep breath, smoothing down her dress as she schooled her features into something resembling grace. "Ah... Forgive me, I was simply… overwhelmed by the evening's events."
"My lady, you were acting quite strangely at the ball. You—" She hesitated, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You kissed Lady Evelyn. In front of everyone. And then declared your love for her."
Yes. Yes, she did do that. No need to remind her.
Verena massaged her temples, sighing dramatically. She didn't even know this maid was. "I fear I may be unwell. Perhaps I should retire to my chambers early tonight?
"Very well, my lady. Please do rest. It is your first day at the academy tomorrow."
The what now?
"H-Huh?"
The maid closed the door with a soft click, leaving Verena alone with her thoughts.
She sat in silence, trying to piece together the fragments of her predicament.
In the novel, Verena had eight times to reach the point in the finale, but how? What triggered it?
How did she figure out things out?
The thoughts tangled together in her mind like an unsolvable puzzle, leaving a dull ache in her skull.
Then, a knock cut through her thoughts.
"Lady Verena," A calm, measured voice.
She groaned, forcing herself up. Who was it this time? She swung the door open, already annoyed.
A manservant stood there.
"What do you—"
A cold, metallic sensation buried itself deep into her stomach.
For a second, her brain refused to process it. She looked down.
A blade.
The hilt pressed against her skin.
Then the pain hit.
A wave of agony crashed into her, sharp and searing, as the blade was ripped out. Blood gushed from the wound, soaking her dress.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
She collapsed, her body hitting the floor with a sickening thud.
Her vision blurred.
Sounds melted together into an incomprehensible mess.
Finally, everything was black.
...
...
...
...
"No need to apologize, girl," a familiar voice said, smooth and assured.
Verena gasped. Her eyes snapped open.
What just happened?
The familiar tightness of a corset crushed her ribs. The heavy weight of countless stares bore down on her.
H-Huh?...
Where was she? This was reality, right?
"Verena... I declare that we break off our engagement!"
What?...
Standing before her, with a smug expression, was Raphael.
[You've used up one out of eight regressions! You have seven left.]
She was back. Again.
That made no sense. She followed the system, right? So why was she killed?
Verena rubbed the spot where the blade had pierced her, but there was nothing. No wound, no blood—just the suffocating tightness of her corset. Was she truly back?
"Why so shocked, Lady Verena? This was inevitable," Raphael said smugly, as if he hadn't just shattered her life twice in one day.
Was this it? The true plotline? Was this where the regressions finally started?
She tried to focus, but everything was a blur. The manservant. Who was he?
Then it clicked.
The other male lead.
Evelyn's childhood friend.
The second, unchosen love interest.
The nice guy who everyone thought was a green flag, when in reality, he was the reddest one of them all.
Norvan Huliet.
A yandere.
Her breath hitched as her gaze swept over the crowd, scanning for that unmistakable green hair and those soft yellow eyes.
And there he was.
Watching them. Trembling in jealousy.