Chapter 6

“I… I don’t think she’s coming back up.”

Priest Kalat, a high-ranking priest of Ralphicanism and the Oath Supervisor, was the first to break the awkward silence. They had stared at the sea for a long time, but unfortunately, the poor maid did not surface. She had proudly proven her innocence, but… it was clear she hadn’t managed to save her own life. He clasped his hands lightly, preparing to offer a prayer that she might find eternal rest by Ralphican’s side.

Oscar, however, was so incensed by the priest’s irresponsible behavior that he threw aside the decorum due to a high-ranking clergyman and snapped.

“Right. So, what now? Are you saying that maid was actually innocent?”

“Indeed. The maid known as Belita was not the culprit who murdered Lord Robert—”

“Ha! Isn’t that just suicide? Didn’t that maid just choose the easy way out and kill herself because she was backed into a corner and couldn’t take it anymore?”

“No matter how high-born a young master of the Rubel family may be, such blasphemous remarks toward the divine—”

Instead of being defused by the conversation with Kalat, Oscar’s rage only intensified. He turned that anger toward the source of this entire disaster: his cousin, Hereis.

“Hey, is this right? Does this look right to you?”

“What does?”

“I mean, he was your father, so I can’t tell you what to do, but shouldn’t you have made a more careful decision? We just lost a witness! And in such a pathetic way!”

Unlike Oscar, Mo Je-won—who was experiencing this entire situation as a mere game—took a sip of water out of frustration. An illustration of Oscar’s furious face popped up on his monitor.

“Look, Oscar. Nothing came out of Belita’s interrogation anyway.”

-Lol we’ve already been through this.

As Mo Je-won explained his predicament to the viewers while clicking through the dialogue options, Hereis argued back exactly as he was instructed.

“With so many witnesses, whatever that maid said would have just led to a messy execution anyway.”

“If we had at least interrogated her properly, something might have…”

“You think something would have come out?”

“…”

“Um… in that case, I will process the maid as innocent. May I take my leave now?”

Oscar and Hereis simultaneously glared at Priest Kalat for his tactless interruption. Despite breaking into a cold sweat, Kalat seemed to be waiting for an answer. In response, a two-choice action prompt appeared before Mo Je-won’s eyes.

“Well, I obviously have to jump here.”

-I’m curious, but isn’t that just a suicide ending?

-I bet it’s a ‘Game Over’ suicide ending lol.

-Here we go again.

-You’re not jumping? You’re not jumping? YOU’RE NOT JUMPING?

-Lol Kalat’s just looking for his clock-out time.

-Let’s be serious now, pick option 1.

-One joke is enough.

“It doesn’t make sense to go back to the mansion without achieving anything.”

-True.

-But dying is a bit much.

-Can an Oath actually work like that?

-That cliff is insanely high, can the protagonist even survive?

-It’s a toss-up.

-Don’t think by our standards. People in this world are superhumans who can fire sword energy.

‘It’s a total mess.’

Perhaps because it was the dawn shift, the chat was particularly sharp. Normally a man who walked his own path with stubborn conviction, Mo Je-won hesitated.

‘I need to get the story moving soon.’

Even Mo Je-won, who played his own way at first, was starting to feel the pressure and frustration after seeing a string of bad endings.

‘Looking at it again, it really does look like a suicide ending.’

Just then, a donation came in that cleared his hesitation.

“Life of Conviction-nim, thank you for the 100,000 won! Ah, well, I can’t NOT do it now, can I?”

-Can’t ignore a hundred thousand.

-A hundred thousand is a force of nature.

And so, Mo Je-won clicked the second option.

“Hey, are you crazy?!”

“Hereis!”

Leaving the frantic Rubel family behind the moment the option was selected, Hereis stepped off the cliff and plummeted down, exactly as Seo So-shin had done.

“Go! Get down there this instant!”

‘Damn it, why is he wavering so much? He’s the type who’d pick option 2 no matter what. Did I read him wrong?’

At that moment, Seo So-shin was underwater, relying on his air bubbles while watching Mo Je-won’s stream.

‘I’d have been in big trouble if I hadn’t used this.’

That notification had popped up after I’d held my breath for ten minutes. My joy was short-lived, however; as the situation took a strange turn, I grew too anxious to wait and ended up using the donation ticket. It felt like a bit of a waste, but if I hadn’t used it, he might never have come to save me.

‘I’m freezing to death…’

Splash!

Feeling a slight vibration, I looked up to see the protagonist, who had just plunged into the water. Worried he might discover the secret of my survival, I kicked the stone far away and paddled my legs toward him. Since I was bound by ropes, it didn’t exactly propel me forward, but it seemed to help the protagonist spot me. Looking flustered, he grabbed the end of the rope tied around me and hauled me toward the surface. I broke through the water just as I was reaching my limit.

“Puhah! Cough… Whew…”

“Huff, huff…”

‘I seriously almost died…’

“You… how on earth are you still aliv—”

The protagonist asked me with a terrified expression as I struggled to catch my breath. His face was deathly pale—I couldn’t tell if it was from the shock of seeing me alive or from the freezing water draining his body heat.

“Before that, let’s go rest over there. I feel like I’m going to die.”

I pointed toward a hollowed-out space beneath the cliff, eroded by the waves. The protagonist agreed, and we managed to swim there. Once we reached the spot, I collapsed and couldn’t move for a long time.

“Lord Hereis! If you can hear us, please shout!”

“I think it’s around here…”

“What if something happened to him…?”

“Quiet! Don’t say such ominous things!”

They had somehow managed to find the path leading from the cliff down to the shore; the murmur of voices grew close. Suddenly, one man spotted us and pointed frantically, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Over there! Someone is over there!”

“What?! Where, where are they?!”

The man took the lead and ran toward us, with the others following close behind. Unlike me, who had no strength left, the protagonist seemed to have recovered enough energy to slowly pull himself up.

“Duchess! The young master is safe!”

“Wait… what’s that black seaweed over there?”

You bastard. Black seaweed? It’s a person, you idiot.

“Man! That’s not seaweed, it’s hair! My… my lord, did you find the girl’s corpse?”

“…”

The protagonist couldn’t find the words to respond, so I simply lifted my head and glared at the crowd. When I flinched, the people were so startled they fell backward.

“Uwaaaaagh! The corpse… it moved! It moved!”

The protagonist let out a deep sigh…

“Let’s move elsewhere for now.”

Back at the mansion, the protagonist calmly recounted what he had witnessed. Other priests, summoned by Kalat, had joined the gathering. The more they listened, the further their jaws dropped toward the floor.

“Are you sure she didn’t just swim to a spot out of sight, surface, and then dive back down?”

“No. I had a full view of the sea from the top of the cliff. She never surfaced once.”

“I saw it too. It’s hard to believe, but how could she swim when her entire body was bound in rope?”

Oscar and Lady Rachel, who had been watching from the cliff the entire time, testified as well.

“Which means…”

“This… this is the first time! Someone has survived this punishment… I mean, this Oath!”

“Then… then did Lord Ralphican truly speak through her, declaring her innocence?!”

“This also proves that our Church hasn’t been killing people indiscriminately!”

Oh, so that’s how they’re taking it. The priests began making a scene, hugging each other and jumping for joy.

“Th-this is impossible.”

A familiar voice drifted from the distance. Sera Clock. Right, you were still here. I thought about it for a moment, then spoke to the ecstatic priests.

“I heard the voice of God within the sacred waters.”

I spat out some seawater that had surged up late and continued to speak through labored breaths.

“Puh-hugh, cough… The true culprit is… Sera Clock.”

Sera Clock’s face turned pale in an instant as she stared at me. This is for poor Belita, Sera.

“Seize that woman named Sera Clock immediately! She is the worst of the worst, specifically named by Lord Ralphican himself!”

The servants’ gazes shifted toward Sera. Unable to withstand the pressure, she screamed in protest.

“This… this is nonsense! I’m not the culprit! I didn’t kill Lord Robert! Bel—Belitaaaagh! You think I’ll let you get away with this? I’ll never let you go! Never!”

…Well, considering those will likely be Sera’s last words, I might as well listen.

“Don’t think you’ll be safe after doing this to me! You’ll regret this moment for the rest of your life!”

“Silence. Drag that woman out at once.”

Lady Rachel, exhausted by everything that had transpired today and her spirit broken, muttered weakly and gave a dismissive wave. The soldiers, catching the signal, dragged Sera away. Later, the protagonist requested my testimony. I told them everything exactly as it happened: how I had woken up in Robert’s room to find him already dead, and how I had rushed out to call for help only to find the soldiers already framing me based on Sera’s words.

Regarding Sera, there was one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

The good news: a search of Sera’s room uncovered the dagger used to kill Robert—the murder weapon itself. With conclusive proof that Sera was the killer, the credibility of my “Oath of Innocence” soared.

The bad news: despite torturing Sera to find out who was behind her, nothing was revealed. They said she died under the extreme ordeal; I suppose even that venomous spite she used to curse me wasn’t enough to withstand the agony.

“We are gathered here today under the providence of Lord Ralphican. Yesterday, a father, a brother, and a friend departed to be by Lord Ralphican’s side.”

Robert’s funeral was held at the capital’s cathedral on a gloomy, rain-drenched day. Members of the Rubel family dressed in black mourning clothes, along with vassals, collateral relatives, and allied houses who had been at the mansion that day, were all in attendance.

“Death is not the end, but a new beginning. Let us bless the new path our departed shall walk.”

Of course, I wasn’t actually allowed to attend the ceremony; I was stuck waiting outside. It wasn’t necessarily because servants were forbidden from attending, but rather a matter of priority. The interior was packed to capacity, and even some noble guests had to stand outside.

“First Lord Vincent, and now Lord Robert… misfortune truly never ceases for the Ducal House.”

“Tell me about it. It’s as if the family is cursed.”

“That aside… there’s no way a mere maid acted alone. Did they catch the mastermind?”

“No. Which makes it all the more tragic.”

Just as the nobles whispered, the case sank into the abyss of mystery, exactly like the original game’s plot.

“Could it be that the maid and Lord Robert were in an inappropriate relationship…?”

“Hah! Surely not! Are you suggesting it was a crime of passion?”

The dead could not speak, but baseless rumors continued to swirl even where there was no smoke. Somehow, the taste in my mouth turned bitter.

“Lita, we have to get ready for the funeral procession.”

“Ah… right.”

Well, Sera had disappeared from the Affection window. It felt a little cold to say, but I felt relieved now that the “-80” was gone. It meant there was no longer someone actively looking for a chance to stab me in the back. Ah, I shouldn’t think like that, or I’ll end up being punished—

M-Mistress? Does the Rubel family even have any female direct descendants right now? My gaze naturally drifted toward the church where the ceremony was ongoing. Through the open doors, I could see Hereis, Oscar, and Carlo—all the ‘male’ direct descendants.

…There were none. There were absolutely no female direct descendants.

Wait a minute. I’m a girl right now, aren’t I?!

‘Th-then, you’re telling me to… a man…?’

It had been one week since I possessed a character in this game. Not only had I lost what was between my legs, but now I had to seduce a man.

‘Ah, I’m f—’