The butler's face hardened.
"How dare a mere maid try to harm her master!"
He roared in a terrifying voice.
"Have you allied with another noble? Or is this the work of the royal family?"
"No, it's not...! Butler, it's all a misunderstanding!"
"Poison was found in your possession, so what exactly is the misunderstanding?"
At his sharp rebuke, Marie fell to her knees and pleaded.
"I-I don't know anything about it! It must have been the young lady! It's all part of her scheme! She must have poisoned her own food and is trying to pin it on me! Think about it! How could a mere maid like me obtain such a rare poison?"
The butler hesitated for a moment at her words, then looked back at Satina with suspicion in his eyes.
The sight was absurd.
'No matter how much he dislikes me, this is too much, isn't it?'
But my life was on the line here.
With Marie taking this stance, it actually worked in my favor. I could use this to get rid of her once and for all.
She asked calmly.
"But Marie, you brought the food and stayed by my side the whole time. So when could I have added the poison?"
"I'm telling you, I saw you! I saw you put the poison in!"
"Then why didn't you say that to the butler from the start?"
"Well, that's because...!"
"You said earlier that I must've poisoned my own food to frame you. But why would you stand by and watch, only now claiming that you saw me poison it? Why didn't you tell the butler right away that I had poisoned my food?"
"That's because... the young lady threatened me, saying she wouldn't leave me alone if I did!"
"A threat? From me?"
Satina asked, looking down at the bland soup.
Marie's face flushed bright red.
Even she must have realized how ridiculous her story sounds.
" I don't know anything! Please, believe me, butler! How could a maid like me obtain poison?"
"You don't necessarily have to get it yourself. Someone else could've given it to you."
"Don't be ridiculous! Why would I...?"
"Shut your mouth!"
The butler glared at Marie with fierce eyes.
It seemed the conversation between Satina and Marie had finally made it clear who the real culprit was.
"A mere maid from the House of Bersaebet dared to bring poison into the mansion and attempt to harm her master. Lock her up immediately and make sure she doesn't take her own life!"
"It's a misunderstanding! Truly, it is! I didn't mean to... Ahhh!"
Marie clung to the butler, begging, but she was dragged out by the guards.
Once Mari was gone, the room fell into silence.
It was Satina who spoke first.
"Since you've discovered that the maid was up to something thanks to me, I trust you'll inform Father properly."
The butler glanced at Satina with a displeased expression.
He had thought it was another one of her tantrums, but it turned out that the maid really had been trying to poison her.
"If something like this happens again, I won't stand by quietly. Please try to live quietly. Peacefully."
"As long as nothing happens, I will."
The butler gave her a wary look.
Normally, Satina would have felt hurt by his words, but, constrained by her situation, she would bite her tongue and say nothing. It was obvious to see.
But now, she just smiled serenely as if it didn't bother her at all.
"I will have a new maid assigned to serve you by tomorrow."
Normally, the butler wouldn't have cared much about who served Satina, but seeing that relaxed smile, he felt uneasy.
After all, Satina was the young lady he had to serve.
***
After the butler left, Satina slumped into the chair in the now empty room.
"Sigh..."
The whole ordeal had been exhausting, draining all her energy.
As she sat there, she recalled what the system had told her moments ago.
"What was that you said earlier? That a push like that wouldn't kill her?"
[The quest was to 'expel the maid from the mansion.']
[The quest would still have been cleared if the maid had been thrown out as a corpse.]
[According to the rule, if someone is accidentally pushed, causing them to fall and suffer fatal injuries, it is not considered intentional.]
[Given the player's status as a 'duke's daughter' and the deceased's status as a 'commoner,' the player would not be punished for such an act].
[Liv was merely providing appropriate guidance to help you clear the quest.]
"So you're saying... I was supposed to kill her?"
She was so dumbfounded that she could barely speak.
"Are you seriously telling me to kill someone?"
It was to clear the quest.
[Thanks to your cleverness, the maid and another noble were linked, allowing you to clear the quest].
"Enough; I don't want to hear about these strange methods anymore. They're unsettling."
No matter how determined she was to reach the ending, there were limits to the means she was willing to use.
'Is it because it's an AI? It seems a bit lacking in morality.'
Still, to navigate this harsh world, she needed the system's help.
[Understood. I will consider it.]
Ding!
[Quest completed.]
[The player has revealed the maid's crime and restored the dignity of the noble family, earning 5 points of fame.]
[A secret outing ticket has been awarded.]
[The affection window has been unlocked.]
[Since the ending route has been destroyed, the '002. The Maid's Betrayal' ending is now available.]
"What does unlocking an ending even mean?"
Before she could finish her sentence, her vision turned black, and her body was sucked somewhere.
Satina slowly blinked and looked around.
"Where is this...?"
It was her room.
The calendar and clock on the wall indicated that she had just returned after being ordered to stay in by her father.
Knock, knock!
There was a knock on the door.
"You're awake. But why didn't you say anything?"
Marie entered the room, repeating the words she had said just hours earlier.
"Are you having dinner now?"
Marie, who had stepped out, returned with a bland soup.
So far, everything was the same as what Satina had experienced.
Satina stared at the soup in front of her.
Her body moved on its own, following 'Satina's' will.
It felt as if she had become 'Satina.'
With a gloomy expression, she ate the soup and said, "Thanks for the meal."
Marie cleared the dishes and left the room after Satina's words of thanks.
As soon as Marie left, 'Satina' lay weakly on the bed, mumbling to herself.
"Has everyone forgotten that today is my birthday? Well, it was always like this."
Satina had always been an unnecessary presence in this house.
While her other siblings held lavish birthday parties and received countless congratulations, Satina did not.
Not once in her life had she been congratulated by her family while living in this house.
Without even bothering to change out of her outdoor clothes, she drifted off to sleep.
A short while later, with a creaking sound, the door cautiously opened.
Marie, who entered the room first, checked Satina's condition and signaled to the people behind her.
"She's asleep. Hurry, come in."
Following behind Marie, two servants stepped into Satina's room.
As if it had all been prearranged, they naturally lifted 'Satina' and placed her into a box.
"Now, my debt is cleared, right?"
"Yeah, don't worry."
"Just make sure you don't get caught for a while."
"I will."
At that moment, 'Satina' woke up.
"What... Mm!"
"Damn it. What's going on? Did the drug not work?"
"Are you sure you gave her all the medicine we told you to?"
"I, I swear I put it all in! Just do something. People will come soon!"
'Satina' struggled, reaching out to Marie.
'Help me. Save me.'
With all her strength, 'Satina' managed to grab a small chance.
As she tried to escape from the servants—
"Damn it. Just stay still!"
"Ack!"
A servant yanked her by the hair.
Her head slammed into the wall with a loud thud, and she collapsed.
"We're screwed! I told you to fix that habit of yours!"
"What do we do? I think she's dead."
Her consciousness started to fade.
Listening to the voices arguing over her limp body, 'Satina' closed her eyes.
At that moment, a sharp notification sound brought her back to reality.
Ding!
[002. The Maid's Betrayal ending has been completed.]
"Gasp."
Satina's eyes shot open as she looked around.
She could still see the room in disarray from when Marie was dragged out.
'What, what just happened...'
The pain from her head hitting the wall, the feeling of blood draining from her body, the sensation of her breath stopping—it all felt so vivid.
[Are you all right?]
"Yeah."
[I apologize. It was 'Liv's' fault for not considering the player's mental fortitude.]
"No, it's really fine. But what was that just now? If I had failed the quest, would I have died like that?"
[Yes.]
The short response left her breathless.
The realization that she could have actually died sent chills down her spine.
[Fortunately, the player completed the quest, destroying that ending route.]
"Well, that's a relief."
[Please don't worry.]
[Liv is doing everything possible for the player's ending.]
[As long as you follow 'Liv's' guidance, you'll be safe.]
"I hope so."
She definitely didn't want to die such a pointless death.
Now, more than ever, she was determined to see the normal ending. The drive to survive surged within her.
"At least I got some rewards."
When she opened the inventory, she saw the 'secret outing ticket' she had received for clearing the quest.
The secret outing ticket allowed her to go to any location she desired for 30 minutes before returning, making it an incredibly useful item.
It was also extremely hard to obtain in the game.
"The rewards are generous."
[They match the difficulty of the task.]
"Well, it was pretty tough for a tutorial, wasn't it?"
Though she wanted to save the valuable item, there was an urgent place she needed to visit for the game's progression.
"But before that, let's check the affection levels."
[Invoking the stars of destiny to measure player 'Satina's' relationships.]
Target Character 1: Affection Level 0
Target Character 2: Affection Level 10
Target Character 3: Not encountered
Target Character 4: Not encountered
So far, everything seemed normal.
However...
Target Character 5: Affection Level -60
"-60? Is this broken?"
[The advanced AI system does not malfunction.]
"But still..."
'- 60?'
Her head throbbed with worry.
At this rate, she could already guess what kind of ending awaited her.
Either she'd die at the hands of the fifth target or be killed by one of their underlings.
Unlike the typical lovable protagonist who wins everyone's affection, Satina was more concerned about dying at the hands of one of the target characters. It was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
'If I don't want to die, I really have to work hard to survive.'
But to do that, the first thing Satina needed to deal with was the incurable disease she was suffering from.
The disease, whose name even Satina hadn't known, was called 'The God's Curse'.
Because of this disease, despite being a candidate for saint, Satina couldn't use divine power.
'I wish I had known this sooner.'
If she had remembered her memories of Korea earlier, she might have led a better life than this.
Of course, curing a disease so rare that barely anyone even knew about it wouldn't be easy, but Satina knew of the only way to cure it.
"I'll use the secret outing ticket."
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