I’m Trapped in a Bloody Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 161

The door wouldn’t open. Trying to break it down didn’t work either. Dion kept calling out to the Saintess in front of the locked door. The butler and servants who had rushed over at Dion’s violent actions tried to stop him. Only after the servants were pushed away and the knights arrived could they pull Dion back from the door.

“I’ll bring the key right away. Please calm down for a moment…”

Several knights clung to Dion to restrain him. Held by the arms, Dion stared intently at the Saintess moving inside the greenhouse.

The Saintess, who had been sitting on the ground, slowly began to move again. Her pace was sluggish, and she occasionally staggered, as if something was wrong. Seeing her moving again, Dion took a deep breath, as if trying to calm himself. His chest rose and fell heavily with his breathing.

After steadying his breath, Dion gave a rough order, “Get the key immediately. The rest of you—check if there’s any other entrance we can use to get inside.”

The knights holding Dion looked at each other uncertainly, none making a move to release him.

As no one stepped forward, Dion shouted, “What are you waiting for? Move now!”

“Ah, yes!”

The knights restraining Dion quickly sprang into action. Confirming that they were busily searching around the greenhouse, Dion exhaled slowly.

***

Aaaah, this is terrifying.

I cracked my eyes open, then squeezed them shut again. I wasn’t completely blind. Maybe because of the Eyes of the Wraith, I could vaguely make out shapes.

Terrified, I thought to myself,

I-I feel like I’ll see something if I open my eyes…

It was just a thought.

As I kept my eyes shut, the system began pressuring me with warning sounds that the time was running out. It was probably telling me to hurry up and find the key and get out, but that was easier said than done!

Grinding my teeth, I finally forced myself to stand.

“Hoo…”

Letting out a deep breath, I gingerly opened my eyes, and the system window appeared. Even with impaired vision, I could still read the system windows.

<Ability ‘Eyes of the Wraith’ is in use.>

• Eyes of the Wraith are unaffected by the status ailment ‘Blind.’
• Status: ‘Blind.’ Eyes of the Wraith efficiency is increased.
• Eyes of the Wraith become stronger in certain areas.

After reading the system, I understood the situation. To properly use the Eyes of the Wraith, I had to be in a ‘blind’ state.

I tried to stay calm and assess the situation, moving my stiff head. I kept thinking hard to push down the fear.

The ability is called Eyes of the Wraith. The ‘wraith’ here refers to the woman who married the former head of the family… Then that means what I’m seeing now is probably what she saw?

Thinking that way made it feel less scary somehow…

Because of the ‘Confusion’ status, my thoughts were a bit jumbled, but the fear subsided.

Having made up my mind, I opened my eyes wide. It felt anticlimactic, but thankfully, the greenhouse looked perfectly normal. My field of vision was narrow and blurry, but not so bad that I couldn’t move.

<Health is decreasing!>

<Movement speed is decreasing!>

What made it hard to move was the buildup of other status effects. My legs trembled as I barely managed to take a step.

My whole body ached like I’d overexerted myself the day before. It felt like I was dragging a heavy body around.

Could I really escape like this? If the key was placed somewhere high up, it’d be hard to even reach it.

I sighed and checked the time. Only 11 minutes remained. As I moved, scanning the surroundings, I stopped in front of the platform I had passed at the very beginning.

The key was sitting right there on the platform.

“It wasn’t here when I checked earlier…”

<You have completed the condition to obtain the key: ‘Greenhouse Problem Solved.’>

• You can now acquire the key.

As I muttered in disbelief, a system window slowly appeared.

Narrowing my eyes, I read the window. If there’s a prerequisite, the system usually informs me ahead of time. It didn’t tell me there was a condition to pick up the key until now.

Wait a second—did the system put it in plain sight because I was being so hopeless?

<You have remained in the hidden stage, “Greenhouse of the Past,” for over 50 minutes.>

• (5) Sleep: In 10 minutes, you will be forcibly put to sleep for 24 hours.
• If you fall asleep in the greenhouse, the current event will be automatically destroyed.

As I began to doubt the system, a new window popped up, overlapping the previous one.

Someone must’ve taken pity on my condition and intervened, putting the key where I could easily find it. Staring blankly at the key in the open, I lifted a hand to cover the corner of my mouth as it curled into a smile. It reminded me of someone familiar.

The way the system was treating me now was a lot like Priest Theodora.

Back then, whenever I couldn’t find a solution on my own, Priest Theodora would quietly offer one. I’m sure she did it hoping I wouldn’t notice, but I always caught on right away.

This was the same. Someone was watching me from behind and jumped in at just the right moment to help. Since Theodora’s power was part of the system, it wasn’t impossible.

Looking at the previous window, now covered by the new one, I briefly fell into nostalgia—then snapped out of it when I saw how little time was left and got my legs moving.

Priest Theodora is helping me like this, so I’ve got to give it my all too.

***

<-[Dion] Mansion Search (4/5)->

• Objective: Solve the problem occurring in the hidden stage and escape the greenhouse.
• Progress: 100%

<-[Dion] Mansion Search (4/5) has been completed!>

• Reward acquired.

<Dion’s affection has greatly increased.>

• Progress on the route ‘(Access Denied)’ has increased.
• Will be available after completing the required event.

<Status ailments acquired in the hidden stage, “Greenhouse of the Past,” will persist for up to 48 hours.>

<Current status ailments>

• (1) Poisoned (2) Slowed (3) Confused (4) Blind (5) Sleep

My health was completely depleted, and my body could barely move. As time passed, the effects of the status ailments worsened, and it took a long time just to carry the key to the door.

I unlocked the door in that miserable condition and collapsed outside. There were barely three minutes remaining.

As I fell through the door, someone caught me.

“Saintess.”

“…Dion?”

I opened my mouth, stammering. The Eyes of the Wraith must have only functioned properly inside the Greenhouse of the Past, because my vision was now blurry.

It felt like Dion’s face was right in front of me, but I couldn’t see it clearly.

As my gaze failed to meet his and my eyes moved vaguely, Dion flinched and reached out. Rough fingers touched my cheek.

“What’s wrong with your eyes? Wait, don’t blink…”

As if trying to get a better look at my eyes, he cupped my face and leaned in close. Still, I couldn’t see him clearly.

But unlike inside the greenhouse, this was a situation where I could feel safe. Despite everything, having Dion by my side eased my tension, and my body slackened. When I leaned into his arm and relaxed, Dion’s body stiffened.

“Saintess, stay with me. Don’t close your eyes!”

<Entering sleep state in 1 minute>

Dion lightly slapped my cheek as he shouted. He had likely held back as much strength as he could, but the impact to me was tremendous. I flailed my hand and grabbed his wrist.

If I kept getting hit by that large hand, I’d pass out even if I were awake.

“That hurts…”

“You’re conscious? Thank goodness…”

As I gripped his wrist, Dion murmured in relief. He sighed and looked as though he was about to ask me something more.

“Why did you go into the greenhouse alone? What happened in there… Saintess?”

His question overlapped with the system’s countdown beginning. It had been a long time since I had forcibly entered a sleep state.

Blinking slowly, I replied softly to Dion, “I’ll explain… after I wake up.”

“W-wait…!”

“When I wake up… Dion, your wound too…”

<Entering sleep state.>

Before Dion’s cry even ended, my vision turned pitch black.

***

“Call the physician!”

Dion sprang up holding the collapsed Saintess. The one who caught her as she fell forward outside the greenhouse had been Dion.

He had been watching as the Saintess approached the greenhouse door, and the moment she fell, he confirmed her condition. Her body, limp in his arms, had no strength left.

The most serious issue appeared to be her eyes. The unfocused pupils were the most common sign of vision loss. Sometimes, people temporarily lost their sight after suffering major trauma in battle—her condition resembled that.

If not properly treated early, it could lead to permanent damage.

Dion bit his lip anxiously.

The knights had ultimately failed to find another entrance, and the butler hadn’t brought the key. Everything Dion had done while looking at the greenhouse had amounted to nothing. While the Saintess escaped the greenhouse on her own, he had accomplished nothing at all.

Hugging the limp Saintess tightly, Dion stared straight ahead. Strangely, the corners of his eyes stung.

As he steadied his breathing, Dion said to the butler, “After the physician’s examination, we’ll move her to the palace. Prepare a carriage. Assign a skilled coachman so she won’t be jostled during transport.”

It was a decision made because the palace physician’s skills far surpassed those of any doctor available at the mansion. Though he would surely be blamed for refusing Dietrich’s offer to accompany them and letting the Saintess end up like this, he couldn’t delay her treatment.

He had to admit that he hadn’t been capable of protecting the Saintess.