The Terminally-Ill Rejects the Approach (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9

After greeting Mother and stepping away, people approached me to offer their condolences.

Among them were Elizabeth and Sylvia, who until recently had shown peak levels of affection toward Hezen.

“Louise Belle, are you alright? I never imagined Lord Hezen would conceal such a grave truth and still become engaged to you…”

“Oh, Your Highness! The moment I heard Lord Hezen doesn’t wash his hands after using the lavatory, I sensed something deeply wrong with him!”

“That was close! You nearly married a eunuch!”

“Ah, haha… Yes, indeed.”

I gave a vaguely appropriate reply and tried to slip outside—but Sylvia suddenly grabbed my arm.

“Your Highness is utterly hopeless.”

“Huh?”

Without warning, she started provoking me.

“You’ll need to develop better judgment when it comes to men from now on.”

Though her words sounded sharp, her flushed cheeks betrayed her as she kept chattering at me.

‘What’s this? Could she possibly…?’

Her odd behavior planted a seed of suspicion in my mind.

“I share Sylvia’s sentiment entirely, Lulu. Your taste is so poor that if left unchecked, you’ll become a disgrace to the Imperial family.”

Elizabeth also cleared her throat a few times in agreement.

‘Did she just call me Lulu—my nickname—instead of Louise Belle?’

A strange, fluttering feeling rose in my chest, and I blinked at them with wide eyes.

But I quickly shook my head.

‘Nah, that can’t be it.’

Mistaking their feelings for affection toward me had happened once already—and that was enough.

At that moment, a commotion erupted.

‘Gasp!’

My head turned instinctively toward the noise, and I froze in place.

“Oh my, it’s Prince Salto!”

Sylvia whispered excitedly beside me in a hushed voice.

Salto—no, Anselot—the very man I’d spent the past week diligently avoiding… had just entered the banquet hall.

Yet something about his state seemed off.

Scattered across his snow-white hair and pristine ceremonial white attire were crimson, irregular splotches that looked exactly like…

“Good heavens—is that blood?”

“…”

At Sylvia’s alarmed exclamation, I silently held my breath.

Anselot strode calmly into the hall, utterly unfazed by the murmurs around him, drenched in blood as he was.

His eyes darted about as though searching for someone—until they locked directly onto mine.

“Ah, Princess Louise Belle.”

He called out to me precisely, his eyes softening warmly.

He approached my stiffened form and bowed gracefully in greeting.

“I apologize for my tardiness. Please forgive my discourtesy in failing to attend you, Your Highness.”

He grinned as he spoke.

His intimate demeanor drew curious stares from the surrounding guests.

“I was delayed receiving a gift.”

The moment he murmured the word ‘gift,’ a flash of killing intent glinted in his eyes.

I could feel the crowd around us gasp and exchange uneasy glances.

My eyes involuntarily flicked to the bloodstains on his hair and clothes, but I absolutely did not want to know what his ‘gift’ truly was.

The moment I learned the truth of that ‘gift,’ I feared I’d end up the same way.

“…Discourteous? Not at all.”

I forced a stiff smile in reply.

“How kind of you.”

Anselot beamed happily and tilted his head toward me, then leaned close to whisper gently in my ear:

“If you promised I could stay by your side, why do you keep dodging me like a frightened mouse?”

[This is the timeline separator]

Hezen barely managed to reattach his dentures.

Thankfully, his inventory still contained [Sticky Slime of the Honey Snail].

Yet even with his dentures back in place, his charm rating hadn’t fully recovered.

Perhaps because his honor had plummeted after exposing himself so disgracefully before everyone.

“Damn it. How did this happen?”

Recalling his recent humiliation made his whole body tremble.

The plummeting affection ratings and the whispering gazes aimed at him wouldn’t leave his mind.

Just then—

[SYSTEM] You have acquired the title 【(Rare) Seedless Watermelon】. [SYSTEM] You gained 2490 EXP as a reward for obtaining a rare title. [SYSTEM] EXP exceeds maximum limit. During the tutorial phase, your level is restricted to below 10. [SYSTEM] Your honor decreased by 600 due to your new title effect. (Honor: 199)

His mouth fell open in shock.

“S-Seedless watermelon…?”

Could it possibly mean exactly what he thought it meant?

[SYSTEM] Rumors have spread that you are a eunuch. Charm decreased by 500. (Charm: -1)

“…!”

This time, his eyes bulged wide open.

“A-a-a-a eunuch…?”

What on earth had transpired in the ballroom while he was away?

“My remaining honor and charm…”

Everything he’d built up until now had collapsed in one devastating blow.

At this point, he didn’t even feel like trying to recover his lost honor and charm.

“This godforsaken game!”

Hezen had absolutely no desire to continue playing.

Furious beyond reason, Hezen frantically searched his interface for the [Exit] button.

But something was strange.

The formerly blue [Exit] button had turned gray.

“What… what is this?”

Though something felt off, Hezen stubbornly pressed the [Exit] button anyway. Then…

[SYSTEM] You cannot exit the game during scenario progression. Please complete the scenario.

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

Hezen panicked.

He couldn’t exit the game?

He pressed the button several more times, but the system message remained unchanged.

Realizing he couldn’t quit, Hezen’s face turned pale.

It had been suspicious from the start.

They’d lured him in with special event rewards, showered him with items, even given him coupon codes for purchases—and now he couldn’t even log out freely.

“Then… what am I supposed to do…?”

Was he truly trapped inside this game?

A chill ran down his spine at the thought.

“No, there must be… there has to be a way to exit the game.”

He hastily reread the system message.

[SYSTEM] You cannot exit the game during scenario progression. Please complete the scenario.

“Complete the scenario…?”

His throat tightened.

Finishing the scenario quickly had become his top priority.

He needed to awaken to complete the scenario.

And his awakening condition was [Death of His Lover].

“Louise Belle—I need to find Louise Belle!”

Hezen burst out of the rest room and sprinted down the hallway.

Originally, he’d aimed to build a harem and hadn’t intended to rush the scenario or pursue awakening.

He found it far more enjoyable to charm female characters in a world where he reigned as the protagonist than to defeat the Mad Dragon and reach the ending.

But now that he knew he couldn’t exit the game, everything had changed.

All he wanted was to finish this damn scenario as fast as possible and get out.

Fortunately, Louise Belle was easy to find.

Unlike a mere extra, she always stood out prominently.

[This is the timeline separator]

“If you promised I could stay by your side, why do you keep dodging me like a frightened mouse?”

“…”

His gentle whisper made my blood run cold.

‘In exchange for borrowing this pendant, I ask only to remain by Your Highness’s side.’

‘Exactly as stated. While I stay in the Azester Empire, I wish to serve you from the closest possible position.’

Anselot had fixed me with eyes that promised death if I refused his proposal.

Needing his pendant to counter Hezen, I had no choice but to accept.

But no matter how polite he acted now, his true nature remained Salto.

A murderous madman who’d once tried to kill me!

Moreover, he was a suspicious outsider whose system windows didn’t even appear above his head.

For the past week, I’d dodged him with every excuse imaginable, determined to avoid crossing paths.

But now I played innocent.

“D-Dodging? What are you talking about?”

“You did dodge me.”

He stared straight into my face as he replied.

Stammering, I quickly changed the subject.

“B-But w-what’s with all this blood?”

“Curious?”

“No! Not curious at all!”

I snapped back, and he chuckled softly.

“How adorable.”

“…”

Why did that word ‘adorable’ sound to my ears like, ‘Say one more cute thing and I’ll kill you’?

Just then, Prince Orent approached us.

“Prince Anselot. What is that state you’re in?”

Though I stood right beside him engaging in conversation, Orent deliberately ignored my presence and addressed only Anselot.

Annoyance instantly flashed across Anselot’s face.

Luckily, he couldn’t linger by my side.

As Luhenhart’s envoy, he had to go greet my mother.

“Whew…”

While Orent escorted Anselot to Mother, I caught my breath and hurried outside.

The cold night air brushed against my cheeks.

‘What’s his real intention?’

Anselot’s feigned friendliness confused me completely.

He was absolutely not someone I wanted anywhere near me.

Beyond the fact he was a lunatic who killed people on a whim, countless other things about him felt deeply suspicious.

After surviving over a decade in the Imperial Palace on nothing but wary intuition, my instincts screamed one thing:

Anselot Luhenhart was dangerous.

‘I don’t want to get tangled up with him.’

But right now, I faced an even more urgent problem than that suspicious, dangerous prince from Luhenhart.

Even as I stood there, my remaining lifespan continued to dwindle.

‘By now, he’s probably reattached his dentures using the Honey Snail’s sticky slime.’

It was about time Hezen reappeared.

He’d need to restore his shattered honor, after all.

‘Maybe my earlier words made his honor drop even further.’

Lost in thought under the moonlight, I suddenly heard—

“Lulu!”

Hezen appeared, calling out in a panicked voice.

‘Ah, there you are.’

I turned to him with a bright smile.

“Hezen, did you reattach your teeth properly?”

“You—what rumors have you been spreading about me…!”

Hezen grabbed me by the collar and shouted.

As he drew close, his interface became visible to me.

I saw his skill [Luce’s Footsteps] still had a five-hour cooldown—and my eyes gleamed.

Hezen froze, momentarily speechless, staring dumbfounded at my subtle smile.

‘Tsk. Even now, he can’t keep his head straight.’

Unable to use that skill, Hezen stood no chance against my rage, which had already reached its peak.

[SYSTEM] ’s fury has reached maximum. [SYSTEM] ’s strength temporarily surges.

To my delight, the moment I faced him, my fury maxed out once again…

“Ah…!”

Hezen, blinded by anger and devoid of learning, only realized his mistake too late. He frantically tried to let go and flee—

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I seized his wrist as he tried to escape and grinned wickedly.

[SYSTEM] Emergency! [SYSTEM] Emergency! [SYSTEM] senses strong killing intent toward you! [SYSTEM] Catastrophe! is targeting your groin! At this rate…

This time, I truly kicked him right where it counted—with all my strength.

“AAAAAAAARGH!”

His agonized scream mingled with a cascade of system alarms.

[SYSTEM] Emergency! It’s destroyed! [SYSTEM] Emergency! You have become a eunuch!