I’m Trapped in a Bloody Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 10

A voice pierced through the silence, waking me. It was a deep, solemn voice of a man.

“Your Holiness.”

“How is Sister Haniel’s condition?”

“The physician found no major issues, but she’s still…”

The voices around me prompted me to open my heavy eyelids. My entire body ached as if I had been beaten, and my fingers barely moved. Struggling to find my voice, I coughed softly before managing to lift my gaze. Two tall men stood by the bedside, conversing.

“…Ah.”

“Lady Haniel!”

“You’re awake, finally.”

Ardal, who had been bowing in front of the Pope, rushed toward me the moment I stirred. He knelt by the bed and grasped my limp hand. Blinking groggily, I focused on his distorted expression as he asked urgently.

“Are you alright?”

“What… um, what happened?”

When my voice faltered due to the soreness in my throat, Ardal let go of my hand and poured water into a cup from the table. Climbing onto the bed, the mattress tilted slightly under his weight. He placed a hand behind my back, gently lifting me halfway.

“Can you drink some water?”

He tilted the cup carefully as I nodded, helping me drink. Once I had taken a few sips, he set the cup aside and returned to his place kneeling by the bed.

Why is he kneeling again? I didn’t expect it to be so easy to make Ardal kneel. He kept dropping to his knees like a guilty man, which made me frown slightly. Shifting my gaze, I looked at the Pope, who stood calmly nearby.

“Ardal said you overexerted yourself, Sister Haniel. Something must have kept you busy last night?”

The Pope’s lips curved into a sly smile. At his comment, I noticed Ardal’s shoulders tense visibly. He lifted his somber black eyes to glance at me pitifully. Though he seemed to have much to say, the Pope’s presence kept his lips tightly sealed.

Following my gaze to Ardal, the Pope gracefully pressed a hand to his forehead. “You’re even going so far as to forcibly strip Zoro of his teaching authority and do something so unlike yourself.”

Despite his exasperated tone, the Pope’s words were calm.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself, Ardal?”

“No, Your Holiness.”

“Not even regarding why Sister Haniel collapsed?”

“……”

Ardal’s gaze turned to me. It was clear he would remain silent unless I spoke first. The Pope’s sharp voice broke the tension.

“If you remain silent, I’ll have no choice but to assign Sister Haniel’s education and protection to someone else. At least offer an explanation for failing to protect her.”

“I won’t make excuses. But I have no intention of relinquishing my authority as her teacher or her guard, Your Holiness. Punish me instead.”

“Your attitude suggests this arrangement itself might be punishment enough.”

“If necessary, I will resign as Commander.”

What are these men even talking about?

I had no intention of letting Ardal, whom I had worked so hard to win over, be taken away from my side. Nor did I want him to give up his title as Commander of the Holy Knight Order, one of the most captivating aspects of his character. The title of Commander itself was incredibly alluring—how could I let that be discarded?

One of my personal goals in this game was to share an intimate moment with Ardal while he wore the uniform reserved only for the Commander. Not right now, of course—I’d need to become more accustomed to the game first…

“Your Holiness.”

At my soft call, the Pope’s sharp golden eyes turned to me. His gaze was predatory, like that of a wild beast, making me hesitate slightly before speaking.

“I don’t understand why Ardal needs to explain himself for helping me.”

“Sister Haniel, you don’t need to go out of your way to defend him.”

“No, I’m not defending him. Ardal merely helped calm me after I consumed an aphrodisiac.”

“An aphrodisiac? Calmed you? What on earth happened last night?”

The Pope’s expression grew incredulous at my explanation.

“And if that was the case, why didn’t you come to me immediately? Why was Ardal…”

“Please don’t blame Ardal. It’s my fault, not his,” I interrupted.

“No, Lady Haniel, the fault is mine. I should have assessed your condition better,” Ardal said, interjecting into the conversation.

The Pope narrowed his eyes as he watched us both insist the fault was ours. Listening to Ardal’s straightforward acceptance of blame without offering any excuses, the Pope regarded him with a calm, measured gaze.

“Hmm.”

The Pope crossed his arms, letting out a quiet hum.

“Very well. I won’t impose any further punishment on Ardal.”

“Oh, thank goodness…!”

“Ah…!”

Relieved, I let out a deep sigh, genuinely grateful that Ardal could keep wearing that pristine white uniform. Ardal also seemed relieved, his typically stoic face softening with a faint smile as he glanced at me.

But before his expression could settle, the Pope continued, “However, from now on, I’ll be personally observing Ardal’s lessons.”

“…Sorry?”

“I need to see for myself what’s going on. You’ll proceed with the lessons exactly as before,” the Pope declared, his golden eyes glinting ominously as he looked between me and Ardal.

Is this… a declaration of a three-player scenario?

In the first playthrough, I hadn’t even dreamed of such an event. My heart raced as my mind spiraled into foolish thoughts. Yes, bring it on. I’ll gladly accept!

I had already forgotten how one night with just Ardal had left me fainting.

***

“Going out? Now that I think about it, you mentioned last night that you needed to go home. Is there something you need to retrieve?”

“It’s not about bringing something back. There’s something I need to check. I want to go immediately….”

“I’ll prepare the carriage at once. Please wait a moment.”

After the Pope made his ominous declaration and left, I drank a stamina potion. This time, I carefully double-checked to avoid any mistakes. I should have reviewed the aphrodisiac’s precautions properly. It was clearly the developers’ trickery—a color designed to mislead players. Grinding my teeth at the thought, I gulped down the stamina potion.

Ardal, who had been silently watching me retrieve and drink the potion from thin air, asked a question after hearing my words. Seemingly worried I might exert myself again, he got up without delay, issued some instructions outside, and returned.

“You’re not fully recovered yet. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I just took a stamina potion.”

“…Lady Haniel.”

The aching in my body subsided as the potion worked its magic, restoring my strength. One of the perks of having a game character’s body was the quick recovery.

I waved the empty potion bottle at Ardal as I answered. He examined the bottle, hesitated, and then cautiously asked, “I saw you doing the same thing last night… Lady Haniel, can you really use magic?”

It wasn’t magic, just items pulled from the inventory. Magic wasn’t common in this world, so it wasn’t surprising that it looked like magic to him.

In this game, only the Pope and certain capture targets in the Empire could use magic or something similar to it.

Aside from the Pope, who manifested holy power like magic, the last remaining wizard was a capture target in the Empire. Explaining why would require delving into the materials stolen from the Holy Kingdom by the Empire, but that was far too lengthy a story.

…So I didn’t read it.

‘No one starts this game by reading the entire relationship history between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom.’

This was an adult game—there was no need to stress over the histories of the Empire or Holy Kingdom. Players just needed to follow the system’s or the Pope’s instructions to destroy or retrieve the stolen materials. Honestly, I hadn’t expected a proper story from an R-19 game.

Even in the reviews, people rarely mentioned the story. They only talked about how passionate their relationships with the characters were. That was my focus too.

So, I didn’t think much of the significance of the last wizard and the sole person capable of manifesting holy power. After all, it wasn’t a world entirely without wizards, and one still remained. It didn’t seem particularly unusual.

“Yes, well. It’s nothing grand, just enough to summon objects.”

“Lady Haniel.”

When I answered lightly, Ardal approached me with a serious expression. Kneeling before me as I sat on the bed, he quietly asked, “Does His Holiness know you can use such abilities?”

Searching through my memories of this playthrough, I couldn’t recall ever pulling out items in front of the Pope.

“No. I don’t think he knows.”

As I shook my head, Ardal’s stiff expression softened slightly, though he still looked grave. He placed his hand over mine, which rested on my lap, and said in a somber tone, “In that case, Lady Haniel, please never use your abilities in front of His Holiness. No matter what happens.”

“Why not?”

Did the Pope dislike wizards? I didn’t recall anything suggesting that. Besides, I wasn’t a wizard. Technically, what I used was similar to the holy power the Pope wielded.

As I tilted my head in curiosity, Ardal began to speak in a low voice.

“This is a story that only a select few in the temple know.”

“Is it a story I’m allowed to know?”

“……”

“I guess not.”

I interrupted Ardal’s words with a question. It seemed strange to me that such a confidential story would be shared with someone like me, who had only just entered the temple. Perhaps hearing this story would significantly alter the direction of the game. The difficulty level might spike, or new quests might appear.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, a system window popped up, as if waiting for my realization.

<Hidden Story – The Pope’s Secret>

• You can learn the Pope’s secret from Ardal.
• Listening to Ardal’s explanation unlocks access to the ‘The Pope’s True Feelings’ route.
• If you choose not to listen, the ‘The Pope’s True Feelings’ route will automatically be destroyed.

As expected, this was the key to entering the exclusive Pope route.