I’m Trapped in a Bloody Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 171

Dragging my feet across the herb chamber, I came to a stop when I saw the drawer where the herbs were stored.

I recalled how Adrian had grumbled before I entered the game, saying he had run out of herbs. If this was the place, there should still be some of the herbs I’d given up for Dahlia’s treatment.

Maybe I should take just a little.

I’d never tested whether items stored in the inventory during the game could be taken out into reality, so this seemed like a good chance to find out.

I couldn’t let real-life Adrian inherit these horrific memories, so I’d just take the herbs and lie that I got them from this world’s Adrian.

<Herb Acquired!>

• You’ve collected a ‘rare herb’.
• Special drug crafting is now available.

As I picked up the herbs I had given to Dahlia, a system window appeared announcing the acquisition. It blinked three times as if in praise, then pointed with an arrow toward Adrian’s drawer.

<Herb Acquired!>

<Herb Acquired!>

Deciding to follow the system’s guidance, I opened the drawer it pointed to and added the herbs there to my inventory as well.

“All done.”

Satisfied after looting all of Adrian’s herbs and checking my now-abundant inventory, I attempted to escape.

With the pain between my legs and in my chest scraping at me every step I took, I felt no guilt about stealing Adrian’s herbs.

This was compensation. Compensation.

At last, I stepped out of the herb chamber and squinted against the sunlight I hadn’t seen in so long—at least, I wanted to squint.

“Jeez… you could try living a little more brightly.”

Before capture, Adrian’s office had thick blackout curtains hanging from every window. I sighed and threw a few of them open.

Only then did the light pour in. Squinting, I looked around.

I searched for something sharp, but nothing caught my eye.

“Hmm…”

I wasn’t in any condition to go far, and I couldn’t waste more time. I rolled up one of the curtains from the window. Grabbing the end of it, I carefully perched myself on the windowsill.

It had to end in one go.

But my hands were trembling so badly that even looping the curtain around my neck took a long time. It was scarier than stabbing myself with a knife.

“Ugh, seriously, I never thought… I’d end up doing something like this…”

With a hoarse voice, on the verge of tears, I grabbed the curtain wrapped around my neck with force. All I had to do was release my grip from the window, and I’d be able to log out—but my body shook and refused to move.

“Still… I have to.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath.

“Adrian. Next time, please remember me properly…”

To forget the fear, I muttered a pointless final remark and pushed off the windowsill with one hand.

***

The next thing I saw wasn’t a logout system window.

It was Adrian, yanking the curtain back with fury in his eyes as he glared down at me. The force with which he pulled made my neck sting. It hadn’t broken, but I could already tell I’d be dealing with muscle pain for a while.

Ah, come to think of it—I forgot to lower the sensitivity settings.

If I had fallen just like that, I could’ve been in real trouble. I might’ve felt the fall exactly as it was. While I let out a sigh of relief, Adrian, towering over me as I lay crumpled on the floor, panted roughly.

Thick veins throbbed along his neck. He stared down at me with bloodshot eyes and spoke like chewing his words.

“What do you think you’re doing…?”

<Warning! [Adrian] status unstable!>

<Character [Adrian] is extremely unstable. To protect the player, your system authority has been temporarily elevated.>

<[Administrator Mode] is now available.>

<It is recommended to delete character [Adrian].>

• Deleting the character in this playthrough may affect real-life Adrian’s memory.

The system window I’d seen before ominously filled my vision. As my vision swam in red, a blaring warning tone rang in my ears.

Adrian was saying something, but I couldn’t hear a word of it through the noise.

Frozen by the sudden system warning, I couldn’t move a muscle, and Adrian approached. A new system prompt popped up, urging me into action.

<Set sensitivity to 1.>

“Sen…”

As I mumbled blankly, Adrian’s foot came down on my ankle.

And pain surged before I could brace for it.

“Aaaaagh!”

“If you disappear in front of me one more time, next will be your wrists. Try running again, and I’ll make sure you can’t walk or crawl.”

Se—sensitivity 1, I need to lower it!

Adrian placed his foot on my other ankle. Following the system’s prompt, I hurried to set the sensitivity lower.

I managed to do it just before he stomped on the other ankle.

Even with sensitivity lowered, my brain—already shocked—continued registering the pain. It felt as though the twisted ankle was truly broken.

I tried to process what had just happened.

Adrian… Adrian broke my ankle?

I couldn’t even string the thought together properly.

While I cried in terror, Adrian removed his foot and grabbed my hair. He began dragging me back to the herb chamber.

L—logout. I have to logout, now.

I called the system in a panic and tried to initiate logout.

<If you reconnect to this playthrough, logout may be restricted depending on your location.>

<It is recommended to delete character [Adrian].>

• Deleting the character in this playthrough may affect real-life Adrian’s memory.

The system repeatedly recommended deleting Adrian, but foolishly, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

While I sat there pathetically crying, Adrian dragged me back to the room where I’d been imprisoned.

The poorly-oiled door creaked sharply as it shut.

<You are in a logout-restricted area.>

<Your stamina is critically low.>

• You will enter a fainting state in 10 seconds.

As I felt Adrian fastening restraints around my wrists, I lost consciousness.

***

“Sir Adrian, I came to see the Saintess—”

“She’s out.”

“I have a matter where I’d like her help… Could you tell me when she might return…?”

“I don’t know.”

A researcher from the herb chamber stopped Adrian on his way to his office with a question. Adrian, holding something other than documents, frowned and replied curtly.

“Do not ask me about the Saintess from now on.”

He cut off the researcher’s question before it could be completed, responding coldly as he passed by.

The researcher stared blankly at his retreating figure and tilted his head. Adrian, who rarely revealed emotion, was showing clear displeasure.

Adrian’s demeanor had started to darken a few days after the Saintess vanished.

There were several accounts of people witnessing his vacant expression.

Rumors circulated that he was carrying unknown baggage into his office. Those who sought to undermine Adrian began spreading baseless claims that his mental faculties were deteriorating.

Adrian, who would’ve normally snuffed out such rumors before they took root, remained locked in his office, taking no action.

Even when official duties brought him to the main palace, he never stayed long. Lately, he had even declined visits from Lucius and Dietrich.

“He’s really gone mad, hasn’t he?”

A researcher watching Adrian’s hurried steps toward the office muttered bitterly. Adrian’s shoulders flinched slightly at the comment, but he didn’t look back and continued walking briskly.

***

“I brought a change of clothes. I’ll need to rewrap your ankle before you change, so extend your leg this way,” Adrian said as he entered the room at the back of the herb chamber.

The Saintess, curled in a corner and hugging herself, ignored the soft, warm blanket that had been tossed aside. At the sound of Adrian’s voice, she curled up tighter.

When she had first been locked up, she had brazenly provoked him without even realizing she was imprisoned. But ever since her ankle had been broken, she had noticeably withdrawn.

Seeing her thin shoulders trembling, Adrian strode toward her and threw down the clothes he had brought.

Because the Saintess would start crying as soon as she heard the sound of his footsteps, Adrian now had to go through the tedious process of changing his shoes every time he moved between his office and the herb chamber.

Having broken her ankle with his shoe, she must’ve developed a fear of the sound.

Adrian, now standing before her, forcibly pried her arms away from her legs and yanked her injured leg forward.

The leg in his grasp trembled pitifully.

The body, thin from days of refusing food, shivered in his hands. Displeased by the sensation, Adrian clenched his teeth and said, “I told you I’d treat your wound.”

“D-don’t… I don’t… need it…”

Her voice was so faint that only Adrian could make it out.

The guilt he had been suppressing stirred uneasily in his chest. Her murmured words, spoken without making eye contact, overlapped with the voice of the one from his memory.

“I-I can do it. Please… let me have it,” she stammered and pointed at the bandage in Adrian’s hand.

She wiped the tears pooled in her reddened eyes with the back of her hand and reached out, her frail arm trembling. Her wrist had thinned drastically over the past few days.

Adrian frowned and grabbed her wrist. “Before I break your wrist too, relax your leg.”

At his threatening tone, she curled in on herself and pressed against the wall. But his words had an effect—she shut her eyes tightly and relaxed her leg.

Adrian lifted her limp leg onto his thigh and wrapped the broken ankle with a clean bandage.

As he tied the final knot, Adrian looked at the Saintess’s face. Afraid to meet his gaze, she squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head to the wall.

“It’s done.”

As soon as he let go of her foot, she squirmed away and retreated back into the corner.

The sight stirred a surge of irritation and lust in him.

Since that day when he had succumbed to incomprehensible desire, his body had become hyper-aware—every time he saw her, it recalled that moment.

Adrian stared at her hunched figure, just within arm’s reach, then stood up.

“Get changed. I’ll wait outside.”

Ignoring the sharpened senses, Adrian tossed the clothes in front of her and walked out the door.

As soon as he left, he could hear the rustle of her changing clothes from within.

The sound rang out vividly, and Adrian shut his eyes tightly.

Since their coupling, Adrian had started to question his own reason for imprisoning the Saintess.

Letting out a deep sigh, Adrian suddenly noticed a shift in the sounds from within the room.

It wasn’t the sound of someone getting dressed—it was the sound of fabric being tied around something.

Rushing to open the door, Adrian’s eyes fell on the Saintess, standing before the wall where the chain was anchored, her clothing draped down like a noose.