“F***, it’s f***ed up.”

Vivian, watching the video feed, unwittingly blurted out a curse.

It’s ruined.

Not just ruined. It’s ruined beyond repair.

‘To think we kidnapped the original female lead.’

Such an unfortunate incident should never have happened.

Trying to kidnap the male lead but ending up with the villain was dangerous enough, but now we’ve even kidnapped the female lead.

In other words, it means the flow of the original story might have completely collapsed.

Actually, I was worried when we kidnapped Dietrich too, but I was trying hard to ignore it…

Now that we’ve kidnapped the female lead as well, I had no choice but to acknowledge it.

At this point, even if we kidnapped Callys now, it was safe to say the chances of things flowing as in the original were significantly lowered.

‘…I wondered why this target’s face seemed so strangely familiar.’

Of course it was, since it was Dietrich’s younger sister whom I had just bid farewell to this morning.

Without realizing this fact, I had been expecting it to be Callys. Vivian grabbed her forehead.

‘Why on earth was she dressed as a man in the first place?’

I had never heard anything about Ludovica, the original female lead, having a hobby of cross-dressing.

If I had known she had such a hobby, I would have at least been more careful when kidnapping her.

Vivian felt like burying her face in the floor and crying right then and there. But this was not the time for that.

She had to somehow salvage this situation.

“But how on earth do I fix this!”

Even if she somehow managed to calm down the rampaging Ludovica, no solution came to mind for the tangled original story.

As Vivian was on the verge of tears, Ren hurriedly put a robe on her. It was a special robe that blurred one’s features.

“Lady Vivian, it’s dangerous. Please evacuate outside first. I’ll handle that person.”

“No. I should go. Ren, you stay right here and don’t move. I’ll handle this.”

Although she wasn’t sure how to revive the original story yet, she planned to go and soothe Ludovica first.

If left alone, it was obvious she would damage property like Dietrich did.

‘I can’t bear to see the hideout get completely destroyed when it was repaired not too long ago.’

As I prepared to go out, taking off the robe, Ren grabbed my arm.

“It’s dangerous. You can’t. At least let me follow you.”

Vivian smiled wryly at Ren’s unusually stubborn behavior.

He wanted to follow even after witnessing Ludovica easily break through the heavy iron door.

Unlike her, Ren was just an ordinary person. Of course, he had no special abilities to rely on.

Nevertheless, his concern for her and willingness to step forward was somewhat touching.

“Oh, don’t worry. Trust me and stay here. Listen to me, okay?”

To be honest, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t scared.

After all, she was going to meet someone who was wildly swinging around a terrifying blood-red iron mace.

Moreover, in the original story, Ludovica had torn people apart countless times.

Not a bear, but people.

‘She might try to tear me apart too, the one who kidnapped her…’

Anyway, since it was a situation she had caused, she had to resolve it herself. Isn’t there a saying about solving one’s own problems?

As she tried to reassure Ren and leave, he held her back, insisting she at least wear a mask.

‘Well, I guess it’s better to cover my face. I might be recognized otherwise.’

Dietrich had recognized her identity as Vivian Schmidt just from a brief glimpse of her face. Ludovica might do the same.

She put on the mask and quickly rushed outside.

Since things were already ruined, she planned to go as quickly as possible to at least prevent property damage.

But was it just her imagination?

For a moment, it seemed like her shadow was wriggling.

‘Huh?’

Looking down again, the shadow was calm as if nothing had happened.

‘Did I see things because I’m too desperate? That can’t be.’

Shrugging off the embarrassment, she dashed off at full speed again.

And so, Vivian, who had bravely run towards Ludovica on her own feet, came to a stop in front of her, feeling thoroughly intimidated.

“Is it you? The kidnapper?”

Facing the original female lead who spoke in an ice-cold tone, she felt more scared than she had expected.

The blood-red iron mace, like the blood of beasts, looked even more threatening up close.

Suddenly, scenes of Ludovica tearing people apart in the original story flashed through her mind.

‘Maybe I should have just run away after all.’

She had been determined to somehow calm Ludovica down, but now regret washed over her belatedly.

“Eek. I’m, I’m sorry. Yes, it’s me. I’m sorry.”

She tried to maintain her composure, but it wasn’t easy.

In the face of Ludovica’s overwhelming aura, Vivian kept apologizing, thoroughly frightened.

Somehow, she seemed to exude an even more chilling aura than Dietrich.

Meanwhile, Ludovica looked the suddenly appeared, frantically apologizing kidnapper up and down.

‘This scrawny human kidnapped me?’

Though her entire body was covered by the mask and robe, she could vaguely make out the kidnapper’s build from the silhouette.

Despite being able to kidnap her, a sword master, without her knowledge – which surely indicated great skill…

The person before her was a slender woman who barely seemed to be of average height.

Moreover, although she was the one who had kidnapped her on a whim, the kidnapper was, for some reason, trembling.

‘Did she get scared just because I smashed up the building a bit, even though she dared to kidnap and confine me? How cute.’

Her interest grew at the kidnapper’s appearance, which was different from what she had imagined.

As she took a step closer, the kidnapper tried to distance herself by slowly backing away.

“Hmm.”

She didn’t like the kidnapper’s attempt to escape.

Ludovica grabbed the kidnapper’s shoulder in one swift motion and pushed her against the wall.

Then she trapped her between her arm and the wall so she couldn’t easily escape.

“Where do you keep trying to run off to? If you brought me here on your own, we should talk, shouldn’t we?”

“Eek, yes. Of course, of course.”

Vivian tried to answer as calmly as possible, but her insides were in turmoil.

‘W-wall slam? Did I just get wall slammed? By the female lead?’

Vivian was so confused by the sudden turn of events that her head was spinning.

Meanwhile, Ludovica reached out and removed the kidnapper’s mask. Vivian couldn’t even resist.

“…!”

The face of the kidnapper hidden behind the mask was finally revealed.

Her wavy short hair had a lilac-like purple hue.

The woman with round, gentle eyes had an incredibly lovely face.

‘A rabbit? A puppy?’

She possessed an appearance too harmless to be believed as someone who committed such a bold act as kidnapping.

Her trembling appearance, like a rabbit before a predator, seemed to stimulate the sadistic tendencies within.

Ludovica felt the urge to tease the kidnapper.

“So, what’s the reason for kidnapping me when I was perfectly fine?”

“Ah, well… that is…”

“Shh. Let me guess first?”

Vivian nodded slightly, fidgeting under the overbearing attitude.

“Hmm, perhaps you wish to die by my hand?”

“W-what?”

A sudden statement. Vivian visibly startled and stammered.

‘Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared. I have my ability. I can escape if needed. It’s okay.’

However, despite repeating this to herself several times, she couldn’t easily calm down.

Far from relaxing, her shoulders became even more tense.

Ludovica looked down at her and raised the corner of her mouth crookedly. It was a chilling smile.

“Isn’t that right? You must have heard the rumors about red eyes. Kidnapping me fearlessly after seeing my eyes, there can’t be any other reason, can there?”

“…Rumors?”

Contrary to her expectation that Vivian would tremble, she tilted her head as if not understanding what Ludovica meant.

“The rumor that those with red eyes crave blood.”

Only after hearing the content of the rumor did Vivian show the reaction Ludovica had expected. She startled visibly and shook her head vigorously.

Seeing Vivian’s noticeable confusion, Ludovica let out an eerie laugh.

“Hehehe, I’m joking. You kidnapped me because you like me, right?”

L-like? Vivian was surprised once again.

She had been surprised so many times already that she felt her liver might not survive this.

‘I just thought it was Callys and kidnapped them!’

To begin with, kidnapping someone because you like them, what nonsense is this?

Faced with the female lead’s illogical train of thought, Vivian tried to answer in the negative.

However, the negative response came up to her throat and then went back down.

It was because of Ludovica’s following statement.

“If that’s not the case… There’s no need to keep a mere kidnapper alive, is there?”

The blood-red iron mace was suddenly summoned back into Ludovica’s empty hand.

Faced with this threatening sight, Vivian answered reluctantly, as if eating mustard while crying.

“Yes, yes. You’re so pretty and handsome. So I developed a liking for you and kidnapped you. Huung, I’m sorry.”

“Hehe, really?”

Vivian nodded desperately.

Only then did Ludovica curl up the corners of her mouth as if satisfied.

It was an expression no different from a devil who had finally obtained what they wanted.

Vivian could only break out in a cold sweat at that chilling face.

“This is the first time I’ve received such an intense expression of interest. Do you like me enough to want to kidnap me? You’re cute.”

A statement Vivian couldn’t possibly understand. Something was seriously going wrong.

“I like you. I’ll specially make you my friend.”

Suddenly friends?

Vivian was once again bewildered by the female lead’s unpredictable way of thinking.

“What, you don’t want to? In that case, after all…”

Ludovica raised her hand holding the weapon.

The terribly shaped weapon threateningly blocked Vivian’s view.

It was clear that if touched by those spiky iron balls made of pure magical power, not even bones would remain.

“W-what are you saying! Of course we should be friends! Friends! Let’s be friends! Wahaha!”

As if she had been waiting for this, Ludovica dispelled the summoned weapon. The iron mace dissipated into the air with a whoosh.

Finally, she released the arm that had trapped the kidnapper and stroked Vivian’s light purple hair as if petting a dog.

The soft, fluffy texture pleased her greatly.

“Yes, that’s how you should answer. Now that we’re friends, we should introduce ourselves, right? My name is Ludovi…”

“Ruby! Can I call you Ruby?”

Vivian hurriedly interrupted Ludovica’s sudden attempt to reveal her identity.

‘If we reveal our real names to each other, it’s over. We’ll never be able to fix the original story.’

With this in mind, the nickname she hastily blurted out seemed quite good upon second thought.

“…Ruby? I’ve heard that friends call each other by nicknames. But why Ruby specifically?”

“Well, because your eyes are as pretty as rubies. They’re just like sparkling rubies.”

“…”

Ludovica was silent for a moment, as if lost in thought.

Vivian quietly rolled her eyes, watching Ludovica’s reaction.

She hoped the nickname wasn’t bad. She felt anxious, but fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“…Let me call you by a nickname too.”

“Oh, by all means! Um, please call me Sapphire.”

‘Ruby followed by Sapphire. Even I think it’s too cheesy.’

But this was the best she could come up with while trying to quickly think of a nickname that wouldn’t be too specific.

However, unfortunately, this didn’t seem to please Ludovica. Judging by how one of her eyebrows shot up.

“Aren’t nicknames supposed to be given by friends? Rather than Sapphire… Vivi.”

“Pardon?”

“From now on, I’ll call you Vivi.”

Huh? Vivi?

Why is my name coming out there…?

Faced with a nickname almost identical to her name, Vivian couldn’t hide the fluctuation in her eyes.