"My Presepe."
Siegfried's elegant face shone brightly in the moonlight.
"You are incredibly beautiful today as well. I wonder if the goddess in the legend was just like you."
Siegfried's voice, as it continued slowly, was filled with deep affection.
It was not just his voice. As he gazed at Presepe, his face was affectionate, warm, and gentle, just like the sunshine of a spring day.
But it didn't last long.
"Is it because you are this beautiful, Presepe?"
Siegfried, whose day had suddenly hardened coldly like midwinter frost, gripped Presepe's tender cheek with his veiny hand and continued speaking.
"The reason other men keep eyeing you again and again."
"..."
"Whenever that happens, I think to myself, 'Wouldn't it be more helpful to me to kill people like that, rather than monsters or magical beasts?'"
Siegfried was the very last character Presepe pursued.
Also, it felt somewhat normal.
However...
'No, it must be a lot, right?'
Presepe's purple eyes wavered briefly.
"It's ridiculous. To think that the Knight Commander, who is supposed to uphold God's will and protect the people, would harbor such impure thoughts..."
Yeah, don't think like that. Please. You're a Paladin. And a Knight Commander at that.
Presepe muttered words to herself that wouldn't even reach Siegfried.
"But I’m not sure.”
Siegfried whispered in a low voice into Presepe's ear.
"Could God's will, the position of a Paladin, be heavier than that terrible jealousy?"
"No... wait a minute..."
"You are the first person who made me feel the desire to make someone completely mine."
"..."
"So I pondered, how—what on earth method should I use—can I make you exist as mine alone forever? How should I do that?"
Her fingertips were trembling in bewilderment. With a loud thud, a series of transparent windows rose up.
These were things Siegfried could not see.
In other words, something visible only to Presepe.
And in those transparent windows.....
[1. But even now, I am yours alone.]
[2. Poor Siegfried, there’s no way there’s a way to do that, is there?]
[3. If you find a way, please let me know. Whatever it is, I will follow you.]
A wide variety of options were written.
Presepe clenched her fist tightly.
Let's rule out the second option for now. Then, the correct answer is either the first or the third. No matter which you choose, it is a 50% probability.
The first one seems like too much flattery, doesn't it? I once gave a similar answer to another character and already died once.
I guess I should go third. Judging by what he says, Siegfried doesn't seem to have found a solution yet. He certainly wouldn't suddenly go mad and draw his sword...
Presepe decided to choose the third option.
"If you find a way, please let me know. Whatever it is, I will follow you."
[Siegfried/Affection 89]
"...Follow me?”
[Siegfried/Affection 100]
At that moment, she saw the affection status window above Siegfried's head filling up.
Presepe realized that she had chosen the correct answer.
Yes. So please, now...
Let me live for a while.
And it was that moment.
What Siegfried took out of his bosom was.
"I told you that back then. My god is the chief god of Ateloia, but your god is not the chief god, but me, Siegfried."
Well, I had no choice but to do that if I wanted to win you over...
"Maybe it started back then. That I believed someday you would give me an answer I liked, like this."
The moment Presepe saw the medicine bottle full of black liquid, she guessed.
The fact that it fucking happened again.
"If we drink this, we can be together forever. Completely each other, just the other. Without anyone's interference."
No!
I hate it!
You die!
She wanted to say that, but what came out of her mouth was completely different.
"I love you, Siegfried. I can endure anything as long as I can be with you."
She wanted to cover her mouth, but the damage was already done.
Siegfried smiled as if moved, then slowly uncorked the bottle. Then he filled his mouth with the medicine.
He kissed Presepe.
She could clearly feel the sour medicine going down her esophagus.
You bastard. After all, you're not the one drinking it! I'm the only one drinking!
"Look, Presepe."
"Siegfried..."
"Now you are entirely mine. Mine, whom no one can covet..."
Soon, Siegfried's handsome face gradually became blurry.
"...And like that, you will be able to serve only me forever. Even if we are separated."
Her vision was flickering.
'I thought it would be different this time…'
With those last words, Presepe slowly closed her eyes.
The fifth male character, Siegfried—even in Siegfried's route, there was no happy ending.
***
[Presepe in the Cage]
A reverse harem dark game that had garnered immense anticipation from many people even before its release. As is typical of this genre, the premise was simple. There were a total of five male characters. Within that, the user simply had to pursue them according to their own taste and preference. A story incomparably intricate compared to other games, and delicate, beautiful artwork created with tremendous effort. Everyone spoke in unison, talking about the success of [Presepe in a Cage].
It was a story limited to 'right before launch'.
To sum it up in one word, [Presepe in a Cage] was a failure.
The story was intricate... but it was too simplistic. You can easily tell just by looking at how much suffering I'm going through right now—specifically, how miserable the ending was for Presepe in every route. You couldn't even argue that this was a 'merry bad ending.'
The artwork was beautiful and pretty... but too delicate. However, it was a mistake to use that skill to capture the gruesome endings of Presepe with such endless realism.
Still, she had managed to somehow get by up to this point. However, the biggest direct hit was waiting.
It was just a bug.
Even though the developers released patches over and over again, it was of no use. The bugs would sometimes freeze the game or swap the dialogue between male characters. They even arbitrarily deleted all the saved files.
It could be said that this was a fatal blow in a game that takes several days to play and has many male characters to romance.
Eventually, the production company went bankrupt, and [Presepe in a Cage] was forgotten.
And Yoon Ju-yeon made the mistake of playing this failed game.
But something was strange.
She downloaded the game, installed it, and pressed the start button, but... it didn't run.
[Notice: The game is not ready to run.]
All that happened was an unfriendly notification window popped up.
She should have just stopped there. For some reason, she struggled for a long time trying to launch the game. After suffering like crazy all night long, it was just around dawn that Ju-yeon finally gave up.
"I'm not playing this shitty game because it's disgusting and unfair."
After pouring out nothing but curses for about 30 minutes, Ju-yeon grumbled and lay down on the bed, asking to rest.
Then...
[Notice: The game is ready to launch.]
A clear notification window popped up above the blinking eyes.
[Notice: The game will begin now.]
That was the beginning of all this.
***
Not long after forcing herself to swallow the poison Siegfried had given her and feeling the burning pain in her insides...
Presepe opened her eyes in a familiar place.
"This bitch..."
Presepe, as was her habit, twisted her left chest and began to hurl curses into the empty air.
"You damn bastard.'
A total of five male characters appeared in [Presepe in a Cage].
Presepe reached the ending with the other four characters with great difficulty, truly great difficulty. She repeatedly died several times after making the wrong choices and drastically lowering her trust level.
However, the endings with them were all utterly disastrous. Suicide pacts, imprisonment, abuse… it was absolute chaos.
Compared to that group of psychopaths, at least Siegfried looked different.
The eldest son of a prominent Count's family and the knight commander with the highest status among all past commanders.
Siegfried, born on the Day of the Gods who protect Ateloia, was regarded as noble from birth, and as if to prove that statement to be true, he joined the Knights at a young age and began to show off his skills.
It is said that in less than three years, he defeated the swarming monsters of the west, including the most troublesome dragon, and was even bestowed a holy sword upon him by the Archbishop.
Someone once said that Siegfried was a man sent by the gods to protect Ateloia.
On top of that, Siegfried was excellent in character and temperament, so much so that his nickname was none other than 'The Sunshine of Ateloia'.
So you won't kill me, right?
She believed it like that...
"Did that bastard feed me poison?"
And just for me?
"At least the other guy died with me!"
Presepe stomped her feet.
Anyway, they say the quiet cat is the first to climb onto the stove. Ah, maybe that proverb doesn't quite fit.
Anyway, it is so absurd it’s driving me crazy. To think that Siegfried would kill me in such a sinister way just because I was so quiet and good!
I did see the ending, though, so why did you come back...
She didn't understand.
Of course, the Siegfried route wasn't a happy ending either, but there was still a glimmer of hope.
Now that she has defeated all the defeatable opponents, there is hope that she might be able to leave the game.
But it all came to nothing.
"What on earth am I supposed to do?"
If she couldn't exit the game and just kept repeating the same pointless deaths of targeting the same person again and again, it was meaningless.
Then am I doomed to live forever trapped in this game? Getting killed in all sorts of ways?
Presepe wore a blank expression.
"If only there were at least other characters left..."
I would at least have some hope.
A sparkling light shone on Presepe's face as she muttered in a daze.
It was a system window.
[Notice: You have seen the endings for all male characters.]
"... What's this?"
So, what should I do?
I can leave the game now?
Presepe opened her eyes wide with a flushed face, but her hopes were quickly shattered.
Instead, unexpected guidance followed.
[Notice: Starting Incognito Mode.]
"What?"
Presepe's purple eyes began to shake violently.
[Guide: Transfer. You can find and win over the real male protagonist.]
...The real male lead?
Usually, in games like this, the true male protagonist could only be pursued after you had seen all the endings with the other characters. In some cases, it was even impossible to meet him before then.
But did even a game like this have something like that?
To her surprise, the system window flashed.
[Note: You can pursue a male character you have already seen the ending with again, or you can pursue the true male protagonist. However, it will be very dangerous.]
The dangerous thing was already dangerous enough.
"Then. If I win over the real male protagonist..."
So if I succeed, maybe I can really get out of the game this time?
[Note: If you re-romance a male character you have already completed, you can uncover secrets that were unavailable in Normal Mode.]
She didn't care about that kind of thing anymore. She was just going to die again anyway.
This was a fixed option.
"Yes, I'll do it. I get it, but just tell me who the real male protagonist is..."
Tell me.
But the system window only offered an unnecessary greeting.
[Notice: We wish you success.]
"W-what? Wait a minute."
And that was it. The system window vanished without a trace, just as quickly as it had appeared.
"Hey!"
Presepe screamed with a look of utter bewilderment.
"No, you have to tell me who it is! How could you ask me..."
But before she could finish her sentence, Presepe's mouth snapped shut on its own.
Damn it.
Presepe instinctively knew.
The fact that this damn, no, this ruined game had started again.
"Lady Presepe."
Along with a knocking sound, a voice that was now all too familiar was heard.
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