Chapter 190

My whirling thoughts finally came to a standstill when I saw the system window. Then memories came flooding back to me.

The game... Ivonne... the fragment... brainwashing...

“Son of a...”

None of this was real. The moment I realized this, the window began to blink as if it were preparing to disappear at any moment. This seized my full attention. Brushing aside the tears that had gathered in my eyes impatiently, I jabbed at [Accept].

<SYSTEM>

Shout the words of the magic spell until the [Brainwashing Progress Bar] reaches zero percent!

(Magic spell: Lakratio)

A slowly filling progress bar appeared over the apparitions of my family, already almost at 90%. It so strongly resembled a real game that my jaw dropped at the sight of it and I stared blankly for a moment. The progress bar turned bright red and began to glimmer.

“Huh? Oh no...” I realized that it was nearly full. Casting aside any embarrassment I might have felt about it, I blurted out the spell.

“L-lakratio!”

A loud, mysterious booming sound made everything around me vibrate.

90%

The vibrant red of the progress bar dimmed a little. It seemed as if the spell was actually working.

“Sh*t, lakratio!”

My relief was short-lived. It began to fill rapidly once more, even as I kept shouting the spell over and over.

“Lakratio!”

“Lakratio!”

“Lakratio!”

Just as the damned system message had said, the percentage dropped by a greater margin the louder I shouted.

52%

The bar had rapidly shrunk to half its previous size. The awful hallucination that still surrounded me began to form cracks, shattering like it was made of glass.

It’s vanishing! Glancing between the bar and the rapidly forming cracks, I screamed at the top of my lungs with grim determination,

“Lakratioooooo!”

44%

The cracks continued to grow in every direction. Then the image shattered completely with a loud noise, everything falling apart around me. My family broke into tiny fragments and fell to the floor in a shower of glass.

All of it was fake. However, seeing a fragment that contained my second eldest brother’s face, I was reminded of the terrible pain and distress I’d just endured. My expression grew stormy thinking about it.

“H-how... how did you...”

Once the scene had vanished entirely, I found Ivonne standing before me, her eyes so wide they looked in danger of falling out of her head. I was inside the game once more, in Penelope’s room.

The progress bar was still floating overhead. As soon as I saw Ivonne’s shocked face, however, I grew so furious that all other thoughts flew from my head entirely.

“But I was so close to succeeding! How did you break free so quickly—”

“You b*tch.” Gritting my teeth and glaring at Ivonne, I yelled at her, “I told you to leave me the f*ck alone!”

I’m going to make you regret this.

“W-wait, Penelope...”

“Take this! Lakratio!”

A ball of white light whooshed into existence and slammed into Ivonne’s chest. She gurgled upon impact and was sent flying before she could even react. Her tiny form slammed into the wall noisily, then slid to the floor. Ivonne lay there like a broken doll, blood pouring from her mouth.

“Whoa.”

I backed away from her crumpled body, surprised by the spell’s power. The progress bar faded entirely from view.

Did I succeed? Why isn’t there another message? I stared uncertainly at the air before me, waiting for a system notification, then turned my gaze to Ivonne.

“Gah! Penelope. H-help me...” Ivonne begged, even as she spat up more blood. “I’m sorry, I truly am. Penelope, please—” she reached out plaintively, and I only scowled in return.

I felt no pity for her. She honestly gave me the creeps.

Die, you hateful monster, I took a step closer to her, my inner dialogue resembling the script from an exorcist movie. The anticipated system notification flashed white in my vision.

<SYSTEM>

Special quest failed!

You suppressed the [Forces of Evil], but your mind has been overtaken by a [Mental Curse (18%)]!

“Huh?”

My eyes widened as I read the message.

But I did as the game told me to, why did I fail? Before I could protest, the words within the window changed.

<SYSTEM>

~Main Quest: The Other Side of Truth~

Visit the [Tomb of the Ancient Laila] and find the [Mirror of Truth] to lift the curse.

“What the—”

At that exact moment, someone threw the door open.

“M-my lady!”

Two people were standing in the doorway.

“M-my goodness... my lady! What is going on?”

“Lady Ivonne!”

It was Emily accompanied by the head maid. They seemed too shocked to speak, the older maid immediately rushing to Ivonne’s side in dismay.

Shit... I’m done for. I put a hand to my forehead as the head maid fell to her knees beside Ivonne, who by now had fallen unconscious. They’d just walked in to find the duke’s lost daughter lying on the ground, covered in blood, the adoptive daughter looming over her.

As far as the game’s story went, today’s events would only prove to everyone beyond a doubt that I was the villain who was tormenting poor Ivonne.

Run! I need to run! It was as if there was a siren blaring in my brain. I knew instinctively that I would be in deep trouble if I didn’t run now.

“Lady Ivonne! Lady Ivonne! Wake up!”

The head maid was wailing as if Ivonne were dead. I hurried over to the desk. Pulling out the key I always kept on me, I realized it was unnecessary after seeing the drawers. They were supposed to be locked but had all been yanked open.

That scary b*tch. Nothing was missing, thankfully. She apparently wasn’t interested in the other magical trinkets in my possession beyond the fragment.

I quickly retrieved what I needed, including a small purse filled with gold coins that I’d set aside for emergencies, as well as the magic bracelet that asshole Derrick had given to me. Something glimmered from within the depths of the drawer, so I reached for it as well.

It was the magic scroll gifted to me by the crown prince—a map of Ancient Valta.

The ancient tomb of the Laila. Recalling the main quest I’d just been given, I made a split-second decision to take the scroll with me as well. No doubt it had glowed to indicate that I would need it. Shoving them inside a worn travel bag, I was about to leave the room when the head maid abruptly stopped wailing and planted herself in my way.

“What do you think you’re doing, my lady!”

“Move.”

“You’re not going anywhere! I’m going to inform the butler and the duke immediately about what you’ve done—”

There was a metallic clang. The head maid, mid vicious threat, collapsed forward, her body landing with a dull thud. Emily was standing behind her holding a stool high in the air.

“E-Emily.”

“Wear these, my lady,” she held out a bundle of fabric for me to take.

Eyeing the cloth warily, I realized it was the uniform usually worn by the male servants. “But why?”

“You’ll be caught immediately if you try to leave dressed like that. I’ll take care of things here. Don’t worry, just go!” Emily shoved the clothes into my hands and then began dragging the unconscious head maid toward Ivonne. Propping them up against each other in a sitting position, she began tearing up some sheets and tying them up.

She saw me staring and shouted, “Hurry and leave, my lady! There’s no time! Go!”

“Thank you... Emily,”

I forced my lips to form the words with great difficulty. Honestly, I knew that I hadn’t been an ideal mistress. She was loyal to me, but I’d always rewarded that loyalty with suspicion. I’d never imagined she would go this far to help me. My heart pounded in my chest. I regretted that I wasn’t nicer to her. “Sorry for everything.”

“Don’t be sorry! I’m your personal maid,” Emily grinned brightly, as she always did. Then she said in a playful tone, as if to put my guilty conscience at ease, “You’re talking like we’re the villains! We’ve caught the real villains right here!”

She was repeating the words I’d said to her in the past—I felt a hot rush of gratitude.

“Thank you. I’ll... be going now.” I was afraid of everything at that moment, but I had to leave quickly if only to save Emily from Ivonne, who would wake before long.