I’m Trapped in a Bloody Reverse Harem Game - Chapter 52

Watching the village chief hastily leave, Adrian’s smile disappeared. Though I couldn’t figure out what he was planning, the video was nearing its end.

What exactly did he tell them to retrieve?

Suppressing my curiosity, I sped up the video again. Two days later, the village chief returned, his face flushed with excitement. His expression was filled with madness, as were the faces of the villagers who entered with him.

“Grab him.”

“V-village chief?”

“Finding a child who consumed the herbs within three days wasn’t easy. Adrian, you’ve done well during this time.”

“This isn’t what you promised!”

“Your efforts will surely be appreciated by the Crown Prince.”

The people who barged into the herb chamber restrained Adrian’s arms and legs and dragged him to the altar.

What?

It finally dawned on me what Adrian must have told the village chief. He had instructed them to bring a child to the altar!

I had thought he was preparing a proper escape plan, but it turned out Adrian had completely lost it.

As Adrian struggled against the villagers dragging him to the altar, I bit my lip nervously.

What do I do? The video is almost over…

The progress gauge was nearly full, and within a few hours of in-video time, this situation would conclude.

Could the video really be ending with Adrian’s death?

That can’t be! Adrian is a capture target. There’s no way he would die like this…!

“Chief!”

While I was anxiously biting my lip, Adrian screamed. The village chief ignored him and turned his gaze beyond the herb chamber. When he looked away, one of the people restraining Adrian raised a grotesque dagger high into the air.

The jagged, serrated blade of the dagger aimed directly at Adrian’s body.

No!

I rushed toward Adrian, who was lying on the altar.

<You have made contact with Adrian.>

• You have entered a special situation.
• Do you wish to protect Adrian?

I wanted to push Adrian off the altar, but it was impossible due to the men holding his arms and legs. Instead, the familiar system window appeared in front of me.

Without thinking, I nodded.

Of course, yes! He’s my capture target—I have to protect him!

“Wha—?”

As I frantically nodded, Adrian stopped screaming and opened his eyes. For a brief moment, his gaze met mine.

<Adrian has obtained information about the player.>

• Information obtained: ‘The Player’s Eyes.’

“Ah!”

The moment our eyes met, the sinister dagger grazed my shoulder as I shielded Adrian.

Ah, it hurts!

<Adrian has obtained information about the player.>

• Information obtained: ‘The Player’s Scream.’

“What is this?”

“Why is there blood… coming from midair?!”

Blood dripped from my shoulder, which had been pierced by the dagger. Adrian, lying beneath me, widened his eyes as drops of my blood splashed onto his face.

The villagers, startled by the blood dripping from thin air, hesitated, but I was even more shocked than they were.

I said I’d protect Adrian, but I never agreed to be stabbed!

Reeling from the intense pain, I groaned and collapsed onto Adrian.

“It hurts…”

“Wait, you… are you the one?”

“Yes…”

“Why are you bleeding…? Where are you hurt? It’s not your neck, is it?”

Adrian, reaching out to where the blood was falling, brushed against my arm as he spoke.

“Your arm… your shoulder was stabbed? Can you stop the bleeding?”

“I don’t know…”

The men holding Adrian fled after seeing blood fall from thin air, leaving Adrian free. He quickly sat up.

“Answer me! Can you stop the bleeding or not?”

“I’m doing it… but you can’t hear me.”

Adrian pressed his hand against my wound and shouted. I groaned in response. As his palm became slick with blood, Adrian muttered anxiously.

“I meant for myself to be stabbed, not you. Why did you shield me…?”

He couldn’t hide his confusion as he mumbled.

<You have acquired a special wound!>

• The same wound will now appear on your current body.
• A special wound has triggered the creation of ‘Adrian Capture Event (Special).’

<Special Event Preview: ‘Reunion.’>

• Triggered when Adrian sees the player’s wound.
• Condition: When Adrian confirms the player’s wound.
• Reward: Adrian’s affection will significantly increase.

<To protect the player, recovery speed has increased by 150%.>

• The wound is rapidly clotting.
• Increased recovery speed will remain active for 24 hours.

“Is this the place?”

As I checked the system windows, a familiar voice echoed.

“Sir Lucius, it’s dangerous. Please step back.”

“It’s fine. These are the herbs I’m going to use, so I should see for myself. Dion, stand back—you have other knights with you.”

Lucius and Dion? They’re here?

While Adrian, still dazed, pressed against the wound on my arm, knights entered the herb chamber.

The knights who came inside confirmed Adrian on the altar and reported to Lucius.

“Sir Lucius, there’s a child in the herb chamber.”

“A child?”

“Yes, and he’s bleeding. What should we do?”

“Bring him here.”

At Lucius’s command, the knights grabbed Adrian’s arms.

“Let go!”

Adrian twisted his body, trying to escape their grip.

“Let go of me!”

“We’re not here to harm you, so calm down.”

Adrian let out a shrill scream, unlike the one he had uttered when the villagers grabbed him earlier.

The scream he let out on the altar felt fake compared to this one. Was he acting earlier? I think I heard him say he meant to be stabbed.

“Hey, calm down.”

“Hic… sob…”

The knights dragged Adrian in front of Lucius, who frowned as if he didn’t know what to do with the crying child.

“Why was he lying there? And bleeding too… Dion, stop standing around and get a blanket.”

Watching Adrian kneeling before Lucius, I pressed my hand against my wound. My palm was soaked with blood.

Without answering Lucius’s question, Adrian attempted to return to the altar. I approached him and lightly touched the back of his hand.

“Ah.”

Adrian gasped softly when I brushed against the back of his hand, staring blankly into the air.

I opened his palm and slowly wrote a message.

[I’m okay.]

Adrian’s palm was already stained with blood, making it hard for the words to be visible. I traced the letters carefully with my finger on his red palm.

[I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.]

<Situation intervention has ended.>

• Situation interventions: (3/3)
• The event has been completed.

As the system announced the end of my intervention, my hand passed through Adrian’s, losing its solidity. Adrian stared at his open palm, blinking emptily.

After a moment, thick tears began to fall onto his hand.

Dion, watching Adrian sobbing while holding out his palm, draped a thick blanket over his shoulders.

“If you tell us what happened, we can help. Don’t cry—just explain.”

But Adrian couldn’t answer Dion. Like an ordinary child, he simply cried with reddened eyes.

<Adrian’s disposition has been determined!>

• Adrian’s disposition: Good+

<Bonus Affection Points Gained!>

• Adrian’s affection has significantly increased.
• The probability of affection-increasing events occurring during a reunion with Adrian has increased.

<Past Video Ends>

As the system announced the event’s conclusion, the figures of the young characters began to fade away.

Looking at Adrian with his tear-streaked face, I held my wound and sighed in regret.

How could a child who once cried so innocently grow into someone who wouldn’t shed a single drop of blood even when stabbed? I couldn’t fathom what must have happened to turn him into such a cold-hearted person after this point.

Even as I stared regretfully at Adrian’s crying face, the system continued its work diligently.

<Your understanding of the plague has reached 100%.>

<You have acquired the recipe for the plague cure!>

<You are waking from your comatose state.>

***

“Haniel!”

As the video fully ended, I opened my eyes in Dion’s arms in the present.

“What’s going on? Is it a side effect of that poisonous herb?”

“No, it’s not like that…”

“If it’s not that, then why did you faint! We’re returning to the palace immediately.”

Before I could even deny Dion’s assumption, his face, miserably contorted, turned fierce as he shouted and stood up. Carrying me in his arms, he strode toward the door Hella had closed.

Dragged toward the palace before even completing the event, I pushed Dion away and stood up on my own. My efforts to escape his arms were short-lived, as my legs wobbled the moment my feet touched the ground, and I ended up leaning against Dion’s chest.

White spots danced in my vision, and a wave of nausea surged through me. Now that I thought about it, my shoulder had been throbbing continuously. When I consciously focused on the pain, it worsened. Holding my shoulder with a groan, Dion’s eyes followed my hand to my shoulder.

“Haniel, your shoulder is bleeding…”

“Oh.”

“How did you suddenly get such an injury?”

Dion, steadying my faltering body, sharply pulled at my collar and raised his voice.

The wound I had sustained while watching the past video was still there on my shoulder. Seeing the ghastly, torn wound, Dion urgently began staunching the bleeding.

“How could you have gotten this kind of injury…?”

Dion muttered repeatedly in dismay as he wrapped the wound with his own clothing. After carefully dressing the wound, he spoke firmly.

“We’re returning to the palace.”

“Dion.”

“You need immediate treatment for this wound…”

“Dion!”

I shouted at Dion, who wasn’t listening to a word I said. My raised voice caused him to frown.

“Don’t shout; it’ll make the wound worse.”

“It’s bandaged now. That’s enough. There’s something more urgent right now. I need to go and make the cure.”

‘Adrian’s Request’ wasn’t complete yet. The goal of this event was to create a cure and treat the villagers’ illness. I had to make the cure.

Hearing my declaration, Dion frowned deeply and asked, “Are you in your right mind?”

His tone suggested he couldn’t comprehend my words at all.

If I were thinking clearly, it wouldn’t make sense to endure such a wound and still insist on making a cure for the villagers…

Unfortunately, I was nothing more than a pitiful player who had to follow the system’s instructions.

Before my eyes, a system window flashed menacingly.

<Failure to craft the cure will result in the failure of ‘Adrian’s Request.’>

• If ‘Adrian’s Request’ fails, Adrian’s route will be destroyed.

Since I was aiming to capture all characters, I had no choice but to follow the system’s directive and craft the cure to save the villagers.