“Spit it out. What were you doing with Atari Hanan in the park yesterday?”
As Dietrich exploded, a stream of options appeared over Precipe's swollen face.
[◆ Deny everything.]
[◆ Reply, “What matters to you?”]
[◆ Tell the truth.]
This time, the three options were glowing golden.
Faced with choices that were clearly full of errors, Preseppe's face was expressionless.
‘These are… normal choices. Unlike last time.'
She had no idea what this could mean.
“Answer me!”
[System: Failure to make a selection within the allotted time will result in a penalty. If no decision is made within 3 seconds, the game will be completely reset.]
She already knew what to do. Presibe was well aware that if she failed to make a choice within three seconds, the game would start over.
However, what were you supposed to choose when none of those looked like insects?
...Not that she didn't think to simply ignore it, but there was no better solution. In the end, Presibe chose to tell the truth. She felt lucky that the choices seemed relatively normal, at least this time.
“I went to the park to get some fresh air, but Noah stopped me.”
“…”
“And then, after exchanging greetings... Atari arrived and sent Noah away.”
Whether he hated Noah, Atari, or both, Dietrich frowned slightly.
“Then Atari tried to do something weird to me... so I slapped him. Of course, I know I shouldn't do that, but...”
“Weird?”
Dietrich's voice was icy as he repeated her words.
“He tried to tie me with the chain that was around the neck of a corpse. I ran away.”
“…”
“But suddenly someone shouted that Atari was dead, and I was so shocked that I went back...and, well, there he was.”
Dietrich said nothing, his distorted face alternating between staring at Precipe and looking at her little trembling hands.
“It's the truth,” Precipe murmured in a trembling voice as she looked at Dietrich. Specifically, she was looking at the emotion meter floating above his head.
As with Atari, Dietrich's affection meter began to decline until...
[Dietrich Ateloya/Affection???]
turned into question marks.
Just like with Attar.
“It's as if the game is forcing me to make flawed choices from the start...”
She knew that from now on there would be no choice during her conversations with Dietrich. The same thing happened with Attar.
While this meant that they could now speak freely, she wasn't sure that was necessarily a good thing.
Will Dietrich finally be able to regain memories of previous episodes? Including the part where he killed her?
Precipe's facial expression darkened as she looked at Dietrich.
“…”
Dietrich opened his mouth to speak but hesitated briefly.
The precipice before him looked different from anything he had ever seen before.
No matter how much he shouted or mocked, she was always expressionless, like someone incapable of feeling emotions.
But not today.
Today, the lady looking at him looked sad, angry, or perhaps a combination of countless emotions. This unfamiliar sight disturbed Dietrich.
“Pressipe, there's no lie in what you just said, is there?” he asked, changing the subject.
"If there's any lying, you won't like the consequences. I'll check everything with Noah Duffern as well!"
“If you don't trust me, why are you asking?” Precipie thought bitterly.
However, she was not rash enough to express these feelings out loud. Instead, she nodded with a grim expression.
Dietrich stared at her silently for a moment before rising from his seat. He grabbed the doorknob and turned to look at Presibe one last time.
“I didn't know you were the type to slap a guy in the face.”
"…What?"
“You've always been so submissive around me... repeating polite phrases like a doll.”
“Well, I mean… I couldn't slap you, Your Majesty. No, I'm sorry. That's not what I meant—”
Why could she never keep her mouth shut?
Prisippi knew that she tended to chatter as soon as she started talking, but she had had little opportunity to speak freely so far.
“Anyway, there is not a single lie in what I told you. Please believe me, Your Majesty.”
“You find it easy to ask me to believe you, don't you?”
“…”
“Especially since I am the most difficult person to convince in the world.”
After that, Dietrich left the place. While he was alone in the tower, Preseppe muttered: “Why are you acting like an angry child...?”
She had a slight displeased expression on her face before she gently slapped her cheeks to get rid of the feeling. At that moment she remembered waking up from a bad dream – one in which she couldn't even remember her name.
“Yoon Joo-yeon.”
She said her real name out loud.
Yoon Joo-yeon, Yoon Joo-yeon, Yoon Joo-yeon.
Unlike the dream, Preseppe repeated her name over and over, as if she wanted to make sure she would never forget it.
But…
[Verify...must verify...]
What did she need to confirm? And why?
As she stared expressionlessly into the void, Precipe realized something terrifying. She was slowly losing her memories of the real world.
“I can't remember anything...”
The only thing she remembers is that she fell on a narrow bed in a small room, cursing while doing so. A moment before you take possession of it.
At least I remembered her name – that seemed like a small miracle.
Prisippi instinctively pressed her chest, closed her eyes tightly, and then reopened them.
“Dietrich remembers or not...it doesn't matter...”
When she was the one who lost her true memories, thinking about such things seemed like a luxury. Maybe she could have used this situation to her advantage. If you can act out the script now, you may be able to make progress.
Prisippi decided to focus on what mattered: finding the true hero. She needed at least a hint.
“If I could leave...”
Throughout the game, Precipe's movement was severely restricted. Before the main plot began, the only place she could roam freely was this tower.
I decided to take action.
“Let's go through the characters' flashbacks. Show me the album.”
[System: Review the past memories of all characters.]
An album-like interface appeared in front of Presipe. Although Attar's presence had been erased from all the illustrations, and Dietrich's face was erily black, she ignored these details and carefully examined everything for clues.
***
Noah Duffern was Duke of the North, but his time in the North was very short.
Unlike other helpful dukes, Noah rarely cared for his own domain. He didn't even care about his parents. He left the hard work to his intelligent servants and spent his time in luxury, pursuing pleasure at his home in the capital.
Today was no different.
Noah was spending a rather boring evening in his luxurious home, doing nothing in particular.
...That was until an unexpected visitor showed up.
“I didn't expect you to come out like this,” Noah said, a little curious, as he greeted the unfamiliar guest.
“Grand Duke Fenric.”