“Are you saying we've met before?”
Atari's unexpected question left Precipe completely speechless. She couldn't respond, and she couldn't either.
“……”
Atari's sharp gaze focused on the frozen Presibe, his eyes as sharp as she remembered them.
The same look he had when he saw her chained up, writhing in pain.
“Judging by your reaction, I haven't completely lost my mind,” he said.
“……”
“Answer me.”
Is this part of the game's events? Prisippi instinctively glanced over Atari's head, hoping to find clarity.
[Atari Hanan/Affection Level???]
His level of emotion remained an inexplicable question mark. Even the dialogue options that would normally appear during conversations with characters were nowhere to be seen.
“……”
Atari's pink eyes sparkled with alarming intensity as she looked at Prisippi.
His behavior was not without cause, Atari was confused and agitated.
After all…
“I keep remembering things clearly that I haven't done yet. It's as if I've actually lived them,” he whispered.
“What…what do you mean…?” Prisippi stammered.
“At first, I thought it was just a dream, but it wasn’t.”
...the day they first met.
[Would you be okay with this? You fool.]
He thought that after hearing her clumsy and hasty apology and watching her retreat hastily as if she was running away from something serious.
And at that moment, when he held her delicate white ankle, he thought that it would fit well with the weight of the shackles.
[Yes, I designed my own set – thick and heavy.]
Given her slender body, the burden of iron would bring her even greater torment. That thought alone made him want to tie her up, no matter the cost.
But then…
[Atari, it hurts me…]
The trembling voice, the low moan...
Her body was chained, leaning motionless against the wall, her face blank as she stared into nothingness.
This is where it started.
Atari has heard countless dialogues and watched countless scenes.
From the Prisibe who smiled at him shyly, not knowing who he really was, to the moment they boarded the ship departing from Ateloria together.
Even on the first day he tied her up, her eyes were filled with confusion.
Were these memories only his own? Could it be just a hallucination or madness?
But could something so obvious be just an illusion?
Atari couldn't find an answer on his own.
“……”
Presibe could only stare at him in shock, unable to come up with a proper response.
From his words, it seems as if Attar...
…Keep memories of the end of the previous road.
Precipe has taken into account the possibility that something has changed.
But she never imagined it would lead to this.
So this is wrong too?
Strange choices appear, data behaves strangely...
Sure, Prisippi of the Cage was famous for her insects, but that was far beyond anything she could justify.
The Atari Hanan who was standing before her felt like a human being with a will of his own, and not just a character bound by pre-written lines and pre-determined actions.
“Whether you really can't remember or you just refuse to answer, I don't know,” Atari said, his expression contorted.
“Then we'll see if I can get you to talk properly?”
“What…what do you mean? Ah!”
Prisippi screamed as Atari suddenly grabbed her wrist. His grip was strong and inflexible.
While he was hugging her, he pulled something out from inside his coat.
Precipe knew what it was all too well.
[They will put shackles on your neck, ankles, and wrists... and lock you in a cage lined with mirrors. Doesn't this sound perfect?]
These were the restrictions.
For a while, I almost felt a ghostly pain from that ending with Atari.
"What are you doing?! Stop!"
In a panic, Presibe tried to free herself, but there was no escape from Atar's brute force.
The cold, hard shackle touched her skin, its coldness as cutting as his gaze.
Presibe closed her eyes, then gathered all her strength and kicked Atari's leg.
“……”
Atari faltered slightly, clearly taken aback by her sudden retaliation.
The handcuff fell from her hand, making an annoying sound on the floor.
slap!
A sharp sound rang out as Prisippi's palm met Atari's cheek, causing him to jerk his head to the side.
“……”
Precipe's face was a painting of raw emotion - disgust, fear and shame.
She remembered everything from Atari's way, every detail etched in her mind.
How she felt so miserable, unable to resist him or even speak out against him.
When I learned that Atari also remembered, everything changed.
This was not just the difference between someone capable of performing such actions and someone who actually did them.
It was as if her deepest weaknesses had been revealed.
“What the hell are you…!” Atari started to scream but suddenly stopped, his eyes falling on the tears gathering in Presippi's eyes.
“Precipie!”
He reached out to grab her again, but she was faster, and drove away without looking back.
“……ha.”
Atari let out an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
Her reaction almost confirmed it – his memories weren't just a fantasy.
"Damn you."
She held the key to this mystery.
Atari still had time. After the banquet, they would stay in Ateloria for a while longer.
He was going to find some solution. Shackles, ropes, threats, beats – whatever it takes.
With this decision in mind, Atari bent down to pick up the thrown shackle.
“……hmmm?”
He froze when he felt a presence behind him.
He suddenly turned around and was faced with a dark shadow falling over him.
***
Presibe ran frantically, and did not stop until she had completely escaped the garden.
Panting heavily, she clutched her chest, her face pale.
“Huh...huh...”
She carefully glanced behind her to make sure Atari wasn't following her before looking towards the guards in front of her.
It appears she escaped safely.
But this was not the end of her problems.
“……”
Her trembling hands were cold as she held them tightly, trying to steady herself.
“Everything...went wrong...”
Noah, Atari, Dietrich – all their appearances were distorted to the point of being unrecognizable.
Dietrich even disappeared after leaving the bank hall.
What was happening?
Why was everything going wrong?
She didn't make a mistake in her choices this time.
If the other characters also regain their memories...
What will happen next?
In the past, Presibe found solace in her ability to influence events.
But if things become like this, she will lose control of herself, and everything she knows will become useless.
Now, she couldn't even save her progress anymore.
As the familiar foundations of her world collapsed, her composure collapsed with them.
Fear crept inside her, controlling her.
For the first time, she desperately wished to return to the tower.
“I have to go back...”
But where?
The tower?
Or the ballroom, according to the original story?
Precipi was paralyzed, confused, when a piercing scream shattered the calm.
“Ahh—!”
The screams came from one direction
The garden.
“What's going on here?!”
The guards in front of them moved anxiously as a disheveled noble ran towards them, panic evident on his face.
“Someone's dead!”
"What do you mean?"
“It's Prince Atari...!”
...What?
“Prince Atari is dead!”