I’m Trapped in a Bloody Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 141

Orias was unable to recover from his shock for a long time. Even as I instructed Ardal to prepare for our departure, he remained silent.

I had been careful to adjust the level of impact after seeing how the Orias in the third playthrough had reacted, yet even this was the result.

Ardal, seemingly concerned about Orias, glanced at him with an uneasy expression.

“Lady Haniel, are you sure we should leave His Holiness like this…?”

Unlike me, who had been ready to leave without hesitation, Ardal hesitated, unable to take a step forward.

Although Orias only appeared shaken, with no serious physical issues, I gave Ardal a slight nod.

“Alright. If we leave him like this, I’ll feel uneasy too.”

My reason was different from Ardal’s, but I was also worried about Orias.

What if he never apologized to me?

“Orias.”

As I approached, Orias flinched, his pale face trembling. His complexion was as white as his hair, his expression filled with something close to fear.

“Haniel…”

His gaze, fragile like that of a beast sensing its own abandonment, was directed at me.

I recalled his past words—how he had claimed he wouldn’t care if he was abandoned.

Back then, it was he who had been prepared to cast us aside. The image of him leaving me behind as I clung to him was still fresh in my mind.

Unlike when we first met, Orias now blinked in confusion, utterly at a loss. He barely managed to utter my name, his eyelids fluttering.

I let out a sigh and raised my hand. Orias, slumped on the bed, was at just the right height for me to reach.

I ran my fingers through his hair, now returned to its original color, and said, “In the end, things turned out just as Priest Theodora said.”

“Haniel, I never intended for this to…”

Orias stammered, about to make excuses once again.

It was far from the answer I wanted.

Before he could finish his sentence, I wrapped his hair around my fingers and yanked it hard.

“Another excuse.”

“Ugh!”

Orias winced, furrowing his brows as he looked at me.

His hair tangled tightly around my fingers, to the point that it would be difficult to unravel without cutting it.

I pulled at it a few more times before letting out a quiet laugh at Orias’s pained expression.

A face that had always maintained a composed elegance was now twisted in discomfort.

It reminded me of his childhood—of the times when he would grumble at me and my brother with a similar frown.

As I gazed at his scrunched-up face, I muttered in a small voice, “…I liked it much better when your hair was this color.”

Before we had entered the temple, when the three of us and Theodora had lived together—those were the happiest days. I didn’t know if Orias felt the same.

“I felt the same way.”

Orias, unable to meet my eyes, responded in a sharp tone.

Since I hadn’t expected an answer, I simply pretended not to hear him and released his hair.

What had seemed hopelessly tangled came loose much more easily than expected.

Orias watched as Ardal and I left, never once blinking.

***

<The Saint Is a Spy – Third Playthrough>

<Welcome to the game.>

As soon as I logged in, a tingling pain shot through my hand. I frowned and flexed my fingers.

“…Why are you only waking up now?”

The moment I moved my fingers, a hoarse voice spoke. It was Orias, holding my hand. His voice was low and reprimanding, as if scolding me.

I twisted my wrist in his grip, trying to pull free, but he tightened his hold. My fingertips turned white from the pressure.

I pointed at my numbed fingers with my chin and spoke, “That hurts.”

Orias’s eyes flickered downward, and he reluctantly loosened his grip—but he still didn’t let go.

Letting out a small sigh, I examined his face. It seemed he hadn’t rested properly while I was logged out. His expression was terrible.

Judging by his short, clipped words, he had regained his memories properly, but instead of speaking, he simply stared at me intently. His golden eyes gleamed strangely, as if he had come to a firm decision.

Slowly blinking, Orias, still looking at me with those bright golden eyes—the symbol of holy power—smiled like a child.

“Do you know how much trouble you caused by collapsing like that?”

Hearing his lighthearted complaint, I scowled.

What the hell was this guy saying?

I had expected an apology the moment I opened my eyes. Instead, I was greeted with an absurd rebuke. I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even respond properly.

While I let out a hollow laugh, Orias pulled himself up and suddenly yanked me forward.

“Ugh, what are you doing?”

Orias didn’t answer. He dragged me outside without a word. I barely managed to slip my shoes on as I was pulled along.

“Orias, at least tell me where we’re going!”

“You’ll know when we get there.”

Orias responded in an annoyingly indifferent tone, his expression just as shameless.

Wait, what was even happening?

I was at a loss for words at Orias’s incomprehensible behavior.

The last time I had seen him before logging out, he had been in shock from watching me collapse.

He had remembered conspiring with Zoro to kill my brother.

He had regained the memory of killing me with his own hands.

He had paled, unable to process it all, only able to stare at me.

Yet in just a few days while I was logged out, he had become this composed?

Was this guy really just trash?

I glared at the back of Orias’s white head as I walked.

Was it impossible for characters with an evil disposition to be redeemed? Was deletion truly the only answer? These thoughts kept looping in my mind.

Following Orias’s long strides without a single consideration for me, I bit my lip.

I had really thought he would apologize this time.

A stinging sensation welled up in my eyes, resentment burning at the lack of acknowledgment. If this was how he was going to act, I had no choice but to delete him.

After losing my brother, Theodora, and even myself, how could I possibly stay with someone who felt no guilt?

Orias remained unstable, and if he didn’t change, then just as the system had warned, he would end up harming the people I cared about again.

I had logged in to keep myself from deleting him, but what was the point of this?

Unable to contain my anger, I huffed furiously and roughly wiped away the tears pooling in my eyes with my sleeve.

Even a short apology would have sufficed. Just saying he was sorry, that he would never let jealousy consume him and hurt others again—that would have been enough. I would have been willing to forgive him.

Perhaps he had heard my sniffling because the grip on my hand tightened. Orias kept pulling me forward without even looking back.

Should I just delete him right now?

The moment I tilted my head, preparing to open the system, my eyes widened at the sight before me.

“This place…”

This was where I had buried my brother’s belongings. Ardal and I had come here in secret and created a grave for him. How had Orias found this place?

“Why are you so surprised?”

“H-how did you know about this…?”

I stammered. Seeing my dumbstruck face, Orias smirked mockingly and yanked me closer.

“You know whose holy power I’ve been using. It wasn’t hard to track down a place marked by his traces.”

Gone was his usual elegant demeanor—he carelessly plopped down onto the dirt ground and began digging up my brother’s grave.

Using holy power, Orias unearthed the mound of soil until he found the box where I had placed my brother’s keepsakes.

Reaching into the hole, his large, unblemished hands—hands that had never known hardship—became covered in dust.

Brushing the dirt off the box, Orias broke it open in an instant and held it out to me.

“…What are you doing?”

He had dragged me out here without a word of apology, and now he was digging up the grave I had created?

Just how much worse could he behave? How much more disgraceful did he plan to be?

“Is this really Orias’s item?”

“You said it wasn’t hard to track traces. Shouldn’t you already know?”

“Yeah, I do know. I just wanted to be sure,” Orias answered smoothly.

That expression again. The same one he had worn right after I logged in—the look of someone who had made a decision.

I tried to figure out what he was planning. But unlike in the past, Orias had become skilled at hiding his emotions. His once-expressive face was now unreadable.

Receiving my scrutinizing gaze, Orias moved his hands deliberately.

<Warning! An abnormal access attempt to the inventory has been detected!>

As soon as Orias pulled a book out of the box, a system message popped up.

<Item ‘Game Guidebook’ has been lost.>

Reading the system message, I immediately turned my eyes toward the book in Orias’s hands.

As I had suspected, the handwriting had seemed oddly familiar before.

So the guidebook had been connected to my brother’s belongings.

I held out my palm. Orias then briefly placed the book onto my hand but then pulled it back with a smirk.

“What exactly are you trying to do?” I snapped, unable to hold back my frustration.

If that was my brother’s belonging, what did he intend to do with it? What did he mean by ‘being sure’?

Annoyed by Orias’s inexplicable behavior, I lashed out. But despite my sharp words, he only smiled vaguely.

“What are you trying to pull this time?”

A crack finally appeared in Orias’s ever-present smile. For a brief moment, he looked at me with sorrowful eyes before his lips curled into another cryptic smile. Then he pulled me to my feet.

“You’ll see.”

Even now, he didn’t apologize. Frustrated by Orias’s evasiveness, I ruffled my hair roughly with both hands and muttered in irritation.

“Log out.”

I needed to see Ardal’s face to calm myself down.

As I collapsed, Orias caught me naturally. Through my fading consciousness, I faintly heard him whisper to me.

“…I’ll set everything right.”

Before I could process his words, my vision went completely dark.

<Exiting the game.>

“You logged out earlier than usual this time.”

I had only been logged in briefly before logging out again, prompting Ardal to greet me with relief.

Just before arriving at a new residence, I was still on Ardal’s back.

As I removed the robe covering my head and stood up, the residence Adrian had prepared came into view.

The agreed period with the others was about two more weeks, and my progress in the third playthrough was now at 70%.

Looping my arms around Ardal’s neck, I opened the system.

“Check inventory.”

The ‘Game Guidebook’ that Orias had taken in the third playthrough was still in my possession here.

I needed to find out what he intended to do with it before logging back in.