"Lady Presepe, please don't keep secrets from me."
Fenrir's voice, as he softly spat it out, was much lower in tone than usual.
That was not to say, however, that he was looking at Presepe with a different expression than usual. There was still no murderous intent to be felt from his eyes, which were red like the burning sun, and he did not do anything at all that could exert any pressure.
But it was a strange thing.
This person's vibe is...
Was it always this dangerous?
Am I feeling wrong?
Presepe had no way of knowing.
"If you have a secret from me, it will affect my ability to protect Lady Presepe."
Fenrir continued speaking.
"My top priority is always your safety, Lady Presepe, so I hope that something like that never happens."
It wasn't wrong.
However, it was truly a remark that could only be made out of ignorance of Presepe's situation.
How can she tell him that this place isn't actually reality but nothing more than a game, and that she must somehow find the real male protagonist, win him over, and escape this place? That is how she must return to her reality...
"Won't you promise?"
Fenrir asked with a slight smirk.
"Even I would be hurt if you spoke so harshly to my face."
“No, no.”
A flustered Presepe waved her hands and said.
"I am fully aware of how much effort the Grand Duke puts into helping me. I also know that I should be very grateful. Therefore, I will try my best to be as honest as possible from now on."
It wasn't a lie.
Instead, excluding things like games or real male protagonists.
Even Fenrir had no way of knowing Presepe's true intentions.
Perhaps that is why he smiled with his characteristic smile.
To be honest, Presepe wasn't the only one hiding a secret.
Because it was the same for Fenrir.
"Presepe is indeed a half-monster, since his father was a monster, and he died a long time ago at the hands of humans."
The smile vanished from Fenrir's face as he ruminated on Vidar's words.
I really should tell this story.
But can we trust his entire story?
A being that doesn't even clearly reveal its identity while talking about things like 'insignificant monsters'?
It was just as Fenrir was deep in thought by himself.
"Anyway, thank you very much, Grand Duke."
"Suddenly?"
"I was a little worried. I thought that if you found out I might have monster blood mixed in me, you might look at me differently than before."
For Presepe, her father's existence was connected to Vanessa's will, and conversely, Vanessa's will was highly likely to be the biggest foreshadowing leading to the real male protagonist.
So, it didn't really matter whether the father was a monster or a god. The most important thing was just finding out the truth and finding the real male protagonist.
However, Fenrir was an ordinary human who had lived in the world of <Presepe in a Cage>. Moreover, in this world, monsters do not kill and harm people, do they? This could be a significant issue for him.
“That won’t happen.”
However, Fenrir answered firmly and decisively.
"No matter what kind of being Lady Presepe is, I will not change the slightest from where I am now."
Really?
...Even if he finds out that I'm not the real Presepe?
"From time to time, it seems that you have a tendency to worry for no reason, Lady Presepe."
Fenrir smiled faintly and said.
"Instead of doing that, why don't you try thinking about something else?"
“What if I have other thoughts...?”
“What do you want to do?”
Huh?
Presepe's eyes widened at Fenrir's words, which were difficult to understand.
“When you become free.”
"..."
"What would you like to do when the time comes that no one oppresses or restricts you, Lady Presepe, and, as you said before, puts you in an annoying or difficult situation?"
So, what if you're out of the game?
It was truly a perfect case of having the same dream.
“I don’t know.”
Presepe, lost in thought, answered in an empty voice.
"At first, I definitely had a lot of things I wanted to do, but now, honestly, I can't really think of them."
“What exactly is."
“I forgot everything.”
Presepe said with a wry smile, muttering.
“What kind of person I was”
All she remembered was, at best, the three letters of the name. Yoon Ju-yeon.
She wanted to find out why she clutched her left chest when surprised or flustered, why she started this damn game, and what kind of person she was—what she liked and what she disliked.
She couldn't even remember what kind of face she had anymore.
As if she had actually become Presepe in the game.
She couldn't believe this was so ridiculous.
Presepe wore a dejected expression.
“But I know.”
Fenrir's strangely gentle voice filled the small room.
"Isn't Lady Presepe kind and warm?"
"..."
"You like flowers, and on days when the stars are bright, you enjoy sitting under a tree, feeling the breeze, and people-watching."
Fenrir continued speaking.
"You always speak gently, but you call Archmage Ivan a crazy bastard and possess a strange, yet novel, sense of adventure that no one has ever thought of, such as trying to use dog poop as medicine."
Presepe finally let out a small laugh.
"If you do not remember, Lady Presepe, I will tell you. One by one. I will explain it to you step by step. What kind of person you are."
The tone of his voice was extremely dry, but she was well aware that within it lay warm kindness.
"Later, after a long time has passed..."
So Presepe stared at Fenrir in silence for a moment, then parted her lips in a low voice.
"Even if these days become a distant past, I will never be able to forget Grand Duke Fenrir."
Find the real male protagonist. Even if she succeeds in conquering him and actually gets to leave the game.
So even if these nightmarish memories were to fade little by little like a miracle, it seemed like she wouldn't be able to erase him. This man in front of her.
"I won't forget."
Fenrir spoke forcefully, as if refuting it.
"I guarantee it. That kind of thing will absolutely never happen."
The moment Noah and Attar were killed.
No, from the moment Vidar gave Presepe the choice while revealing all the truth and explaining how to approach him, Presepe's future was already set.
Because they are all going to die anyway.
If he gets rid of everything like that, and only he remains...
He supposed he's the only one she can choose.
So, there was absolutely no way that Presepe would forget him.
Because he is the one who will stay by her side until the end.
"Kevin will be away for a short while tomorrow as well. However, the soldiers will remain stationed in the village, so there is no need to worry."
Starting tomorrow, she was scheduled to investigate the Forbidden Forest with Siegfried and the Knights.
Of course, the investigation was nothing more than an excuse, and although we both had the same objective.
"You may freely roam the village, but please do not come near the Forbidden Forest."
Fenrir continued speaking.
"I heard that there is a side path leading to a forbidden forest, especially to the west of the village. I did hear that it is under control, but please do not go near there."
"Two days before heading to the Imperial Palace, she was found in the Forbidden Forest. Unconscious."
What flashed through her mind at Fenrir's words was the story she had heard from Malea earlier today.
You must be talking about the same place, right? That side path where her Mother, Vanessa, was found unconscious.
"And the investigation into the Forbidden Forest will be finished within a week."
“...A week?”
Then, once the investigation is finished, I’ll have to go back to the capital, right?
What happened to Dietrich and Ivan? But what if I haven't even found a clue about the real male protagonist by then? What if I haven't found out why Vanessa told me to go to the Forbidden Forest?
Suddenly, it felt like impatience was rearing its head.
'If the investigation is wrapped up safely, should I ask the Grand Duke to take me to the Forbidden Forest...?'
Then maybe I can salvage something?
Presepe looked at Fenrir in thought, but there was no way for Fenrir to know what was going on inside her head. So, looking at Presepe affectionately, he parted his lips in a low voice.
"You should go to sleep now. You must be very tired."
"Grand Duke, please get a good night's sleep too. You have to go do an investigation tomorrow."
"All right."
Fenrir slowly closed his eyes with a short answer. Of course, he wouldn't be sleeping properly, but it was merely a gesture of consideration, fearing that Presepe might feel uncomfortable knowing he was awake.
"..."
Presepe quietly gazed at Fenrir's neat profile, where the moonlight had fallen, then slowly turned her head and closed her eyes.
'I should go to Vanessa's house first tomorrow...'
Not long after that, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
However, Presepe did not know.
Where she would go the next day, who she would meet, and what would happen as a result.
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