My consciousness, which had been in a light sleep, was easily brought to the surface by the slight movement.
I had been praying all night to wake up from this nightmare, but it seemed I had dozed off at some point.
"Miss."
The cautious voice sounded again.
'Is it calling me?'
The two men with blue eyes had left, and no one had entered this room since.
Therefore, the only person who could be called 'Miss' was me.
"..."
I was lost in thought, still half-asleep, and couldn't respond immediately.
Then, a rustling sound came from behind.
Only then did I fully wake up. As I tried to muster the strength to get out of bed, a sudden pain shot through my exposed arm.
"Ouch!"
My eyes snapped open.
I screamed and kicked off the blanket, sitting up. I quickly rolled up my sleeve to check the source of the pain.
'This, this...'
Looking at the bare skin under the loose nightgown, I opened my mouth in shock.
The thin arm was covered with deep blue needle marks.
If it were fabric instead of human skin, it would surely have been riddled with holes and tattered.
As I stared in horror at the fresh blood droplets on the new wounds, a calm voice came from beside the bed.
"You're awake."
I turned my head to see a brown-haired woman with freckles standing there. She was a maid.
Perhaps to save on illustration costs, the maids in the game all wore the same maid uniform without distinct faces.
The woman in front of me was no different.
She had already put away the needle she had used on me, and her hands were empty.
However, her eyes, which carefully observed me, were filled with a mixture of sinister pleasure and mockery.
'What kind of thing do you do to someone who hasn't done anything?'
In a flash, I was filled with anger and opened my mouth to shout.
"..."
But no sound came out, as if I were a mute.
'Why don't the choices appear when I need them? Damn it!'
Unable to speak, I just glared at her, and the maid acted as if nothing had happened.
"The bath is ready, so please go and wash up, Miss."
A wicked smile spread across her face as she pulled back the blanket. It was a familiar sight.
I bit my lip and sat there, but under the maid's urging, I had no choice but to go to the bathroom.
She said the bath was ready, but the bathroom was empty except for a basin of cold water.
It felt like she had brought in ice water; just dipping my fingertips in made my hair stand on end.
'I didn't expect any special treatment, but this is really too much.'
In the game, the villain often received poor treatment, but such detailed scenes were never shown.
The overwhelming realism forced me to realize once again that I was really inside the game.
Rolling up my sleeve and looking at the needle marks again, tears welled up in my eyes.
'What? This wasn't in the game...'
But then, a scene flashed through my mind.
An illustration of the villain in an off-shoulder dress.
Compared to the other flawless illustrations, the villain's arm had small, scattered marks that looked like broken lines.
'I was crazy. I thought they were real marks!'
Or maybe they were a subtle hint in a story I never completed...
Who would have noticed that they were signs of abuse?
I was both amazed and impressed by the game's solid structure.
"Miss, breakfast is ready. Have you eaten yet?"
At that moment, the maid's urging voice came from outside the bathroom.
'Oh, really, you're not even worth a punch.'
I was annoyed but had no choice but to dip my hand into the ice-cold water again.
After years of being tormented by my step-brothers, this was nothing to me.
Since I had become the villain, I wanted to give that girl a taste of her own medicine, but I needed to gather more information first.
Unfortunately, I couldn't even speak freely at the moment.
Wiping my numb face with a towel, I stepped out of the bathroom. A table with a meal was set up by a large window.
It seemed I had to eat in the room due to the punishment imposed by the Duke's eldest son.
"Sit down, Miss."
I was led to the table by the maid and immediately frowned.
The food on the table was barely edible.
The plate contained a piece of bread with blue mold in the corner and a gray soup with unidentifiable chunks floating in it.
"Eat quickly. You must be hungry."
The maid smiled and urged me to eat. I clenched my teeth and glared at her.
At that moment, a white square window appeared in front of me.
1. (Knocking over the table) What is this? Are you crazy?! Call the cook immediately!
2. (Shoving a fork into the maid's mouth) You expect me to eat something even a dog wouldn't? Why don't you eat it first!
3. (Eat it.)
I had already failed this scene twice in the game.
When I chose option 1, the Duke's employees all went to the Duke to complain about the villain's cruelty.
The Duke's eldest son, who had imposed the punishment, heard the news and, in anger, banned the villain from even a drop of water during the punishment period.
I starved to death.
In the next attempt, I chose option 2.
The Duke's second son, who happened to be passing by the villain's room, rushed in and pulled the villain away from the maid.
In the process, the fork fell and pierced the villain's neck.
It was a truly absurd death.
'In the end, there's only one right choice.'
This episode in the game must have been about the tug-of-war between the villain and the Duke's long-serving employees.
However, I didn't want to see the protagonist being helpless from the start, so after dying twice, I moved on to another episode.
There were dozens of episodes I needed to complete, so I didn't need to stick to this one.
But now, there was no 'Back' button to choose a different episode.
'Damn...'
I glared at the maid standing beside me and reluctantly chose option 3.
My body moved as if controlled by someone else.
I picked up the spoon and scooped up a mouthful of the rotten soup.
My hand trembled as it brought the food to my mouth, reflecting my strong aversion.
Gray droplets fell from the bowl onto the table.
But I couldn't stop my body from moving.
The spoon filled with rotten soup was forced into my mouth.
"Ugh."
The lukewarm broth touched my tongue, and the revolting smell filled my mouth.
This wasn't food. It tasted like garbage that had been boiled.
But my body forced me to swallow the garbage.
"Choke!"
The maid, who had been watching me, gasped, perhaps not expecting me to actually eat it.
'Ugh, I'm going to vomit!'
I reflexively gagged, trying to suppress the nausea.
'Now that I've eaten once, it should be over.'
I wouldn't die from eating a bit of garbage.
Relieved to have passed the episode, I sighed.
But it was a mistake.
The hand holding the spoon didn't stop.
'Why is this happening! Why is this happening-!'
I had to keep putting the moldy bread and gray soup into my mouth.
It wasn't my will.
The maid's face grew paler as she watched me eat the spoiled food like a madwoman.
My body finally stopped when the Duke's second son, who happened to be passing by, entered the room.
"What are you doing?"
"L-Lord Leonard!"
The maid was taken aback by the sudden presence.
"Ugh!"
I had no time to pay attention. I had to quickly cover my mouth with both hands.
Nausea surged up, and I felt like everything in my stomach would come rushing out.
'Why do I have to suffer like this?'
I had already lived through such experiences before entering the game.
How many times had I starved in that hellish home because of those two brats?
And now, I had to go through the same thing in a virtual world?
"Ugh..."
Saliva dripped from my palms.
Tears welled up in my eyes from the injustice and the physical revulsion.
Stumbling as if I had been poisoned, I groaned, and the pink-haired man standing near the door approached with a shocked expression.
"Hey, are you okay...?"
He stopped and stiffened when he saw the table.
"This is..."
Moldy bread, spoiled soup.
It was a mess that no one, not even a commoner, would eat for breakfast.
Moreover, the sight of the second son, pale and covering his mouth, and the half-eaten food.
The pink-haired man's face twisted with anger as he turned to the maid.
"Hey, what did you feed her?"
"M-Master! It, it's not what you think, Master!"
The maid trembled with fear under the murderous glare.
'Of course, she wouldn't know.'
How could a passing extra know that the fake princess had deliberately prepared spoiled food and forced me to eat it?
The pink-haired man's anger flared at the maid's inability to answer.
"Have you no respect for the Duke's household! A mere maid to do such a thing to the master's meal...!"
"M-Master! It's not like that, Master!"
"Get out of this room immediately."
"M-Master!"
"I will personally inform Father and my brother about this. Is anyone else here? Butler!"