The Terminally-Ill Rejects the Approach (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14

The pupils of Hezen’s eyes that night were clearly tainted—enough to kill me and still have power to spare.

‘For now, it’s better not to go anywhere crowded.’

One of the conditions to clear Hezen’s awakening quest was “[a crowd of over 100 people].”

Among the official events coming up soon, only the main banquet on my mother’s birthday met that requirement.

‘I absolutely must attend my mother’s birthday banquet, but…’

On that day, it would be hard to find a plausible excuse to skip out like I did today.

Maybe I should just claim I’m sick that day?

Even if I earn some disapproving glances for missing it, it’s still better than dying…

“Imperial Princess, is something troubling you?”

At that moment, Sylvia spoke to me.

Though Sylvia was old enough to attend the hunting tournament, she had come here with me today under the excuse of feeling unwell.

Yet judging by how enthusiastically she’d enjoyed boating earlier, her “poor health” seemed like just an excuse.

“Lady Winstar, why do you say something so obvious? Of course she has worries—she’s not unaware of Lord Hezen’s situation.”

Elizabeth scolded Sylvia.

“Indeed, that day truly was shocking… that Lord Hezen…”

Another young noblewoman, who’d been huddled with the group, chimed in.

I quickly scanned the affection levels floating above the noblewomen’s heads.

Back at Elizabeth’s tea party, their affection had all been proudly at 999, but now it had dropped significantly.

Well, that was only natural—no woman would admire a man who’d earned the rare title of “Seedless Watermelon.”

“More importantly, Your Highness—what’s going on between you and that person?”

A countess’s daughter, who’d clearly been plotting how to strike up a conversation with me, finally asked.

“That person?”

I tilted my head in confusion, prompting the countess’s daughter to light up and exclaim,

“Why, Prince Anselot Luhenhart, of course!”

“Huh? Oh…”

I blinked and stared at the countess’s daughter who’d asked about Anselot.

‘Why are you asking me about that lunatic?’

“Yesterday, as soon as Prince Anselot arrived at the ballroom, he looked for Your Highness first!”

As if answering my unspoken question, the countess’s daughter clasped her hands together as if in prayer and cried out,

“Someone who rarely smiles and usually keeps a stern expression was actually gentle and smiling in front of Your Highness…”

I thought I knew exactly which moment they were referring to.

‘Why do you keep avoiding me? Like a little mouse.’

He’d said that with a bright smile and a soft voice.

Well, for a threat directed at a mouse, it was admittedly rather sweet…

“Later, you both went out briefly for some fresh air and returned together, right? When Your Highness was heartbroken over Lord Hezen…”

“That’s right! You came back together! Did Prince Anselot comfort you?”

“Goodness, how kind of him!”

Other young noblewomen nearby chimed in eagerly.

‘No, it wasn’t nearly as romantic as you all imagine…’

Feeling bewildered and speechless, I kept quiet and just listened to them…

“Could Prince Anselot really be as eccentric as the rumors say?”

“What would romance with someone so dangerous and unpredictable feel like?”

They’d even started using the word “romance”!

“What? Romance?”

I cried out in shock.

“Romance? It was a fight for survival—my life was on the line!”

Remembering last night’s desperate battle, a shiver ran down my spine, and a soft “Ugh…” escaped my lips.

“Oh my! So it’s a love worth risking your life for!”

“It sounds just like a novel!”

But my horrifying sincerity clearly didn’t reach these young noblewomen.

“So at the Emperor’s birthday banquet, you’ll be partners with Prince Anselot again, won’t you?”

“No, wait—I…”

I was about to firmly deny that Anselot and I were anything of the sort when—

Splash.

A man appeared in the space where only women had gathered.

“Oh!”

Recognizing the newcomer, the noblewomen swiftly unfolded their fans to cover their faces and turned away.

“Hezen?”

I frowned as I looked at him. The one who’d appeared was none other than the seedless Hezen himself.

“Lulu.”

Hezen called my name and acted as if we were acquainted.

“I heard you were here, so I came.”

Why hadn’t that guy gone to my mother’s hunting tournament and instead shown up here?

I glared at him with wary eyes.

There were only about eight noblewomen here, plus their attendants—no more than thirty people total.

‘Which means Hezen won’t cause trouble here.’

Still, I kept my guard up as I watched him.

Hezen briefly scanned the affection indicators above the noblewomen’s heads, then looked back at me.

At first glance, his composed smile seemed no different from usual…

‘No. He’s tainted. Especially those bloodshot eyes.’

I clenched my fists and stared at him.

If Hezen had come looking for me, there were only two possible reasons:

Either to raise my affection and prevent our engagement from being broken off—or before that could even happen…

“Lord Hezen.”

Elizabeth stepped forward, shielding me as she spoke.

“What business brings you here uninvited?”

Hezen openly scowled, showing clear displeasure.

“Extras like you…”

“Ex… what? What did you just mutter?”

“Why else would I come? I was worried about Louise Belle.”

His arrogant tone angered Elizabeth.

“Nothing worrying would happen if you weren’t around. Leave at once.”

“…”

Hezen tightly pressed his lips together and glared at Elizabeth.

Just then, a system window appeared before him.

[SYSTEM] Using item .

‘What? A horn?’

I was startled for a moment.

The horn was a special item from , a paid item meant to summon a boss-level monster for players to kill and claim rewards.

Because of its monster-summoning feature, it had become such a meme—whenever an unwanted figure appeared, someone would joke, “Who blew the horn?”—that even I, who’d never played this trash game, knew about it.

Depending on the item’s properties and the user’s class, different monsters could be summoned, so I couldn’t tell what would call forth…

[SYSTEM] A mid-tier water-attribute monster is being summoned.

‘A mid-tier monster?’

I gaped in disbelief.

Hezen hadn’t even completed his awakening yet—he was still in tutorial mode.

And yet he wasn’t summoning a beginner monster, but a mid-tier one?

‘Besides, even boss-level monsters are hard to defeat alone!’

Then, a countdown appeared in the air:

5

4

3

2

1

[SYSTEM] Mid-tier water-attribute monster has appeared!

From the previously calm lakeside, a massive erupted—eight enormous tentacled limbs and an unmistakably bald head.

“Kyaaaah!”

“A—a monster…!”

“It’s the Bald Kraken!”

The noblewomen seated by the lake screamed and fled.

In an instant, the peaceful lakeside turned into chaos.

[SYSTEM] Using item . For one minute, your voice will echo throughout the entire system.

Seizing the opportunity, Hezen used the megaphone item to summon the palace knights.

“A monster has appeared by the eastern lakeside! All members of the Imperial Knights, assemble at the eastern lakeside to protect the people from the monster!”

Following the summons from their commander, knights began rushing toward us one by one.

‘Just as Anselot said.’

A chill ran through my chest as I realized it.

Hezen had deliberately summoned the monster in secret, using it as an excuse to gather the knights.

The moment over a hundred people gathered, he’d use the chaos to kill me.

Understanding his scheme oddly calmed me.

I’d thought I only needed to endure until the engagement was broken, but now that Hezen had taken things this far…

‘I have to force him to log out.’

With that thought, I watched the roaring face off against the knights.

“Come here, Lulu!”

Hezen shouted, extending his hand toward me.

I recalled my conversation with Anselot not long ago.

‘Then what should I do now?’

‘Use a bug to blind the system. Then he won’t be able to do anything—just like earlier, when he fled without saying a word to me.’

‘What do you mean, “use a bug”?’

‘I already told you. I am the bug.’

When I’d asked Anselot how to stop Hezen, he’d smiled gently and replied,

‘Use me, Your Highness Louise Belle.’

Under the moonlight, his whispering voice was so tempting I nearly nodded without thinking.

‘Good thing I held back. I almost used Hezen as an excuse to get tangled up with that lunatic.’

Anselot wasn’t just any ordinary lunatic.

He was being hunted by strange entities calling themselves “system cleaners”—far too dangerous to get close to.

Maybe it was because I’d seen Anselot’s handsome face yesterday, or maybe my blinders had finally come off—but Hezen, smiling gently as he reached out his hand to me, didn’t look impressive at all.

Still, I walked over and took his hand.

At that moment, I saw the corners of Hezen’s mouth curl upward smugly.

His own subordinates were fighting and getting hurt against the , yet this so-called commander just stood there—I felt rage rising, but forced it down.

After all, I’d only taken his hand to check the interface.

[Visible Population Count: 23]

In the corner of the interface, [Visible Population Count] was displayed in small text.

[Visible Population Count] referred to the number of people currently in the same game zone who were within visible range.

‘If Hezen’s real goal is to kill me, he’ll try to buy time until 100 people gather—and the moment that happens, he’ll strike.’

In other words, I was safe as long as the [Visible Population Count] hadn’t reached 100.

‘So I just need to log him out before that happens.’