I’m Trapped in a Bloody Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 177

After leaving the confessional, I returned straight to my room and waited for Dietrich to come find me. Since we were scheduled to depart for the Empire the very next day, I was sure he’d come to see me soon.

As expected, Dietrich requested a private audience.

“Forgive me for the late hour, Lady Haniel. The Grand Duke…”

Ardal spoke with a tense look. He must’ve known I hadn’t slept at all tonight due to various obligations.

To someone like me, who hadn’t gotten even a wink of sleep, a noble requesting a private meeting at this hour was nothing short of offensive. He seemed ready to turn Dietrich away if I so desired, but this was the very visit I had been waiting for.

Hiding my fatigue, I rose from my seat. “Tell him to wait in the drawing room. I’ll be there shortly.”

After throwing on a coat, I gave my hair a quick tidy and headed for the drawing room.

I stopped Ardal from following and told him to wait outside. He looked displeased, but nodded outside the drawing room as I instructed.

Inside the drawing room, Dietrich—looking fresh as ever even at dawn—was waiting for me. His eyes curved as he spoke in a smooth voice.

“My apologies for the late hour, Saintess. Or perhaps I should say the early hour?”

It was nearly 4 a.m. By the standards of early-rising believers, it was already morning.

“It’s early, indeed. What brings you here, Grand Duke?” I replied coldly.

Seeing me treat him like an ill-mannered guest who had appeared at dawn, Dietrich shrugged and took a seat.

Without permission, he sat down and said magnanimously, “This could take a while, so please, have a seat, Saintess.”

“…At this hour, I don’t believe there’s anything the Grand Duke and I need to speak about privately. That’s what I intended to tell you by accepting this audience…”

“Why not hear me out first? Who knows—you might end up thinking it’s a good thing I asked for this meeting.”

From his lips, curved in amusement, came a voice soft in tone. His attitude was overly sweet, not at all fitting someone who had come to threaten me.

With a sigh, I sat down. The moment I did, he got straight to the point.

“Saintess, don’t you have a secret you’d rather not get out?”

“…I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”

“I’m talking about your relationship with His Holiness.”

“His Holiness and I, of course, share the bond between Saintess and Pope. What exactly are you trying to suggest, Grand Duke?”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

Dietrich leaned forward and propped up his chin. There was mockery in his smiling expression. He believed everything I had said in the confessional.

I had confessed that I couldn’t believe I had such a deep relationship with ‘Orias.’ The ‘deep relationship’ mentioned was meant to imply not a romantic one, but perhaps a familial one—like siblings—for the sake of progressing Dietrich’s route.

Orias’s route was already completed, and the main focus this time was Dietrich.

To Dietrich, who didn’t know what kind of relationship we truly had, the mention of a ‘deep relationship’ could only sound like something romantic, which was exactly what the Dietrich in the real world and I had intended.

“For example, your relationship with the man you refer to not as His Holiness, but as ‘Orias.’”

“How do you know about that…!”

“The Saintess who loves everyone. How fittingly saintlike of you.”

His chuckling voice was full of delight. He was cornering me and clearly enjoying the power he held over me. Seeing my surprise, Dietrich proposed something in a tone of immense satisfaction.

“If it’s something that must never be discovered, perhaps it should never have been confessed to God.”

“Don’t tell me you heard it in the confessional?”

“Where I heard it isn’t really the point now, is it?”

“Then what is?”

“What matters is how I plan to use it.”

I bit my lip and glared sharply at him, but Dietrich only looked even more pleased.

He said, “I have only one proposal, Saintess. Though, since you’ll have no choice but to accept it, it hardly qualifies as a ‘proposal.’”

His voice was laced with mockery.

“Marry me, Saintess.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Become my fiancée and come with me to the Empire. Shall I repeat it more clearly?”

Astonishingly, Dietrich here was making the exact same ‘proposal’ that the Dietrich in the real world had.

“I’m going to propose engagement to you. It’s the most effective way to create a scandal around you.”

That unshakable tone Dietrich had used when he made it clear there was no other option flashed through my mind. As I hesitated, briefly recalling the Dietrich from reality, the one before me spoke in a coercive tone.

“If you refuse, I’ll have no choice but to let everyone know about the relationship between the Saintess and the Pope.”

“…You sound confident for someone with no proof.”

“Surprisingly enough—I do have proof.”

Dietrich placed a small magic orb on the table as he spoke. It was a magic orb he said he had received from Lucius and carried with him. It had no function other than detecting magic and holy power.

The me in reality knew what it was, but the me in this timeline didn’t—so I couldn’t give away any sign that I knew.

“Everything you said in the confessional has been recorded in this magic orb. Is this enough reason for you to follow my orders?”

“A magic orb…?”

“It’s common knowledge that the Imperial Crown Prince is a wizard. He’s the one who gave it to me.”

It wasn’t a convenient device that could even record sound, but it was more than enough for him to use as blackmail.

I put on a terrified expression and replied, “…You know this isn’t a decision I can make on my own, Grand Duke.”

“Who could possibly stop someone in love?”

“Are you saying…”

“From now on, stop seeing the Pope and say you’ve fallen in love with me. To the extent that you wouldn’t even be able to carry out your saintly duties without an engagement.”

Dietrich, who didn’t love me, was truly, thoroughly mocking me.

“Of course, I’ll also tell everyone I’ve fallen in love with you.”

***

The trip to the Empire was not postponed.

It was because Dietrich had ordered that I not see the Pope anymore. What he truly wanted was for me to act like someone deeply in love with him.

He had many goals he intended to achieve through me, but the one that stood out most clearly was the downfall of the Saintess.

“He’ll try to bring down and isolate you. Since that’s usually what happens when someone says they love me, it’s an easy thing to do.”

That people who loved him often fell and became isolated—that was too heartbreaking to hear.

Even while acting out the role he wanted, I couldn’t help but worry about the Dietrich in reality.

Because everything was progressing exactly as he had said when he confessed his weaknesses to me.

The only difference for this playthrough’s Dietrich, unfortunately, was that the Pope welcomed my attitude.

The letter Orias had sent said that he hadn’t expected me to show such an assertive attitude and that it made him happy.

Since this was exactly what he had wanted from me, the engagement was pleasing to him.

I discarded the personal letter he had sent me and only showed the official documents to Dietrich.

Seeing the official document approving the engagement, Dietrich said in a displeased tone, “He approved the engagement more easily than expected. I didn’t think the Pope would respond like this.”

“His Holiness said that if I asked, he’d gladly grant it.”

“Even for something like this?”

Dietrich flipped the document in his hand and spoke indifferently. As he read the document over and over with a bored look in his eyes, his gaze suddenly shifted toward me.

“The engagement is now confirmed, so we should discuss the details.”

“Details?”

“Well, first of all, drop the formal title. Call me Dietrich instead of Grand Duke.”

“…Grand Duke.”

“If you’re supposed to be in love, shouldn’t the way you address me reflect that, Haniel?”

He called my name in a mocking tone. A name he had blushed to utter even once in reality, claiming he couldn’t dare say it aloud.

“And second, come find me in person.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Thirty times. Even if I’m not visible, you’ll have to seek me out. If you find me and spend time with me—even if I’m with someone else—I’ll count that as one.”

“Thirty times?”

“If someone is truly in love, wouldn’t they want to keep seeing the other person? But since coming to find me again and again would be exhausting, I’m setting a limit,” Dietrich explained with a smile.

“You won’t come looking for me, will you?” I asked.

“Obviously not.”

When I thought about it carefully, it was a request full of malice. If I were to follow him around, the rumors about me would only get worse.

Seeing me chase after Dietrich while he never came for me—people would surely ridicule me.

But honestly, pretending to be in love was the easiest task for me. Because it wasn’t acting at all.

All I had to do was think of this Dietrich as the same as the one in reality.

Then I could truly love him, sincerely want to find him, and be with him.

Thirty times, a hundred times. Even if it went beyond that, I could spend as much time as needed searching for him. Even if others mocked me.

Unaware of this, Dietrich smiled as though he had succeeded in completely controlling me.