Spoiler: Second Cover Alternate Title: 악녀의 남주농사는 망했습니다, The Evil Woman's Male Lead Farming Failed Raws: Kakao Author: Yoo Eun-bi, 유은비 Chapters: 148 Year of Release: 2023 Synopsis: I was reincarnated as a villainess in a tragic reverse harem novel, who later gets killed by the hands of the male leads. Suddenly a status window appeared giving a death notice. [ SYSTEM: Only you can save this world - Stop the blackening of the characters and prevent the world's destruction! ] [ Penalty for Failure: Death ] I didn't even have time to cry. It has already been 8 years, since I have been struggling to survive reducing the male leads blackening rate. [ SYSTEM: Congratulations! You saved the world by preventing the characters from blackening safely! ] *** If I successfully completed the mission, I would've got the quest reward. I was about to leave seeing the male leads who grew up as a fairly normal person, surrounding the female lead. "Did you say you're leaving now?" I was interrupted by the suspicious man, who was taking nonstop. Didn't I stop the blackening? Why are his pupils dilated? “Lucia. I thought we were friends.” Why does the brown-haired guy look like he's tinted with sadness? “The world is harsh. Something like you will be eaten alive in less than an hour.” Oppa not everyone in the world is like you. The situation got tangled. I was about to complain to the system. [ ADMIN: … Do you like that punk that much? ] [ ADMIN: More than me? ] … Now even the system administrator started acting strange. ----- Same author as: • "I Became the Tyrants Pet"/ "남주인공의 삐약이가 되어 버렸다"
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Spoiler: male lead Elios, considering Adrian has blue eyes and Elios has golden eyes, I guess he is the blonde haired man in the second cover
RIP to me, I had posted a really detailed overview of the characters, world-building, ect, and then it looked like it got double -posted...so I deleted it I'll try to type it up again later I probably won't be so over-detailed with the status screens each time, but I think it's useful in the beginning to show Spoiler: Prologue-Chapter 5 Summary Prologue: while reading a book, Rohesia asks her brother the meaning of a word she comes across. That word is 'annihilation'. When he gives her the definition she is suddenly struck by the self awareness that she is in a novel that ends in total destruction and that her brother is one of the depraved male leads. Rohesia is so shocked she bangs her head on the table and immediately tells her brother to live a good moral life and care for people who get hurt. Suddenly a system screen pops up telling her that the Quest "Awareness of the World" has been completed and she has gained exp, level up! It welcomes her to the world. She falls over in shock and another screen pops up Admin: Are you alright? -- We receive the Overview of the OG novel. MC read the 19 rated novel because obsessive leads are to her taste but while she had expected the male leads to be mostly affectionate with a moderate level of obsession, the male leads reached a point where they were willing to kill everyone other than the female lead. The character of Rohesia is known as the Poison Rose of the Utel family. She is poisoned to death by Adrian in the second half and her whole body turns color. As she dies Adrian tells her "Now you really resemble a poison rose". When the novel ends with total annihilation, MC leaves her first ever review. Shortly after she is diagnosed with cancer and dies after a struggle with it. In current day Rohesia hasn't done anything wrong yet and Adrian is probably locked in a basement. His personality is being ruined in real time. The Admin window speaks to her again telling her that only she can save the world by clearing quests and stop the blackening of the male leads. She asks how to prevent the blackening and the Admin tells her that childhood experiences leave a great impact on a person's life. If she meets the characters she can help them. The admin seems strangely excited. She asks why the system believes she can do it and the system says "That...is a secret" Rohesia tries to summon a status window and succeeds. It tells her Lv. 2 Youngest Lady of the Utel Family Skill Point 1 Condition: Slight Headache Charm: C Reputation: Not Rated Arden shows up to take care of her and his status also shows up Eldest son of Utel Condition: Calm Charm: B Reputation: C Rohesia feels a little cheated that she's lived in this body for 10 years but her stats are lower than her brother, lol. She tells Arden that he should knock before entering a ladies room and another status tells her that she's completed the quest "Give advice to Erden, the male protagonist who is confused by moral concepts" (112/3) she notes how much the number overtakes the completion criteria since she's been nagging Arden since she could speak. She gets 1 coin and another level up. The quest level also goes up and she auto completes the next couple of levels on Erdens quest. She gets to lvl 10, with her new goal status being at (99/300). -- Additional info pops up on Arden's profile Affection: 30 Morality: 15 The Admin tells her that having a high affection increases the likelihood of the character taking your words to heart, however if the blackening rate is high, it can become counterproductive to their morality. She can check the blackening rate by using coins. She has three coins. She's tempted to use the coins but she knows well from video games that items gotten easily in the early stages should be saved rather than spent impulsively Suddenly another Quest pops up. She needs to meet Adrian, the male lead trapped in the basement and starving, within 24 hours. The penalty for failure is 'Death of the Pale Poison Rose' a timer starts counting down. The penalty is clearly referencing the OG's Rohesias death by poisoning where her entire body turns blue and then white from the poison. Unfortunately, the Utel family and the Belos family don't have any prior connections. The Utel is an alchemist family, their status is more of an honorary position rather than from noble blood. Her family is not involved with politics. As she's panicking over this, Arden hands her a black potion that he says he made to help stabilize her nerves. When she receives the item the status window tells her that the effect is unknown. Since she doesn't feel sick, she saves it for later. She tells Arden she wants to go out but he says she can't leave the house right now because there's are guests over. Specifically, Duchess Belos, Adrian's step-mom and the one who locked him in the basement. She changes course and says that she wants to meet the guest after all. She doesn't forget to thank Arden for caring about her, which gives her a +1 to favorability. She rushes to where the Duchess and her father are talking. From the small bits that she can overhear it seems that the Duchess is asking for something and her father is refusing. The Admin window suggests gaining a skill that will help her in this situation. Most of the skills are grayed out as not available to purchase yet. She has 9 skill points. The skills available are 'Eavesdropping', 'Deceit' and 'Charm'. She hurriedly picks skills and then hides behind a pot to eavesdrop just as the chief alchemist of the family Hieronymus comes to inform her father of news from the Imperial Palace. As soon as her father leaves, Rohesia rushes into the room where the Duchess is. The Duchess is initially rude to her but Rohesia pretends to be stunned by her beauty and clings to her while flattering her, the Duchess's attitude towards her softens and becomes more amiable when she realizes that she's the Utel daughter. She seems to think that she can have a better chance of getting the Marquis to agree to her request if she is chummy with Rohesia so she invites Rohesia to her house the next day. Rohesia latches on and insists on going immediately but her father interrupts to try to separate her from Melisandra. Melisandra and Rohesia combine forces to convince him. At the Belos Mansion, Melisandra is doing her best to win over Rohesia with snacks. Rohesia knows this kindness will only last until Melisandra realizes that the tactic of winning her over won't convince the Marquis, but she needs to establish a reason to keep coming to the mansion since even if she meets Adrian today, she can't stop his blackening with just one encounter. She takes out the black potion and lies to Melisandra, claiming that it's a love potion. Melisandra's interest is piqued. Rohesia is taking a guess that this is what she was asking the Marquis for. She says that a person can only make a love potion once in their life and that her father made it for her so that she can marry whoever she loves most later on. Melisandra quickly tries to manipulate Rohesia into giving up the potion by saying that surely Rohesia is so charming that she'll never need it. Rohesia questions why Melisandra, a beautiful married woman, would need a love potion but implies that if she visits more she might be more inclined to give Melisandra a gift. Melisandra agrees but is fed up and leaves Rohesia to entertain herself. She sneaks out under the guise of using the bathroom and starts exploring the grounds. As she's desperately searching, Admin starts chatting with her out of the blue, telling her that she's doing well despite such a short notice quest. She asks the Admin who they are, they do not respond. She asks why they're suddenly bothering her who was living a peaceful life. The Admin tells her that living as she was isn't the right way, it would've led to her death anyways. They assure her that they're as eager for her to succeed as she is. Admin then informs her of the map function which she activates. There is a black rhombus quest icon indicating Adrian's position. The admin guides her with detailed instructions, even telling her when the coast is clear. She is led to a warehouse where she finds the stairs leading down to the basement. Adrian initially mistakes her for Melisandra so his first words to her are cursing her --- As soon as she introduces herself she clears the first quest but another Quest activates. Within 7 days she has to lower his blackening rate to 70%. The penalty for failure is "The Petals of the Poison Rose Fall Eight Times" Adrian's status pops up Tied Up Beast Condition: Overwhelming anger Charm: C Reputation: B Affection: -10 Sociability: 10 Blackening Rate: ? She uses a coin to check his blackening rate and it is at 89%. She is informed that for a safe future all characters blackening rate should be lowered below 50% and that a bad ending will be entered if even one person hits 100%. She can suppress blackening rate by raising the individuals personal indicators such as Morality(Arden) and Sociability(Adrian). While talking to Adrian he is suspicious of how she knows his name and chokes her. When she tells a lie that is too outlandish, the Deceit skill doesn't activate to help her. She has to correct it to something more believable, which is unfortunately saying that Melisandra told her about him but that she wants to help him. She uses coins to purchase some temporary light from the System so that they can see each other's faces. Her Charm passive skill activates.
Spoiler: final villains The main and final villains are Rohesia's father, Marquis Utel, and his long-time aide (forgot his name). Both of them created the Ouroboros organization whose purpose was to destroy the world to purify 'evil' and start anew. They want to cause a massive explosion using Rohesia's heart that was turned into a dagger as a detonator, and Lexia's (her adoptive sister) heart as the bomb.
Ok, second try at a general character and world overview with no major spoilers Spoiler: OG Novel- 'The Sacrifice of the Thorn Bush' Clunky title translation, I know. The actual plant being referenced is the Ulex Europeaus, otherwise known as a Gorse or Whin. It is a shrub with fragrant yellow flowers but large, dangerous thorns. The most literal translation would be The Gorse's Sacrifice or The Gorse's Victim but...that doesn't sound that poetic either, does it? Regardless, in the OG novel, the heroine Lexia is pursued by three male leads (Adrian, Arden and Nathaniel) whose obsession spirals to such extreme levels that they're willing to kill anyone and everyone who isn't Lexia. The novel ends in total destruction with all the main characters dying. Spoiler: FL- Rohesia Utel/Rosia Red hair and green eyes. Nickname is Rosia. OG Rohesia was known as the Poison Rose of the Utel Family. She is poisoned to death by Adrian for harassing the heroine. Our MC reincarnates as her after dying of cancer in her previous life Spoiler: Arden Utel Red hair, green eyes. The older brother of Rohesia. In the OG novel he was a skilled alchemist with a mysterious charm who tries to use a love potion on the heroine, among other things. He has a flawed sense of morality. Rohesia's main goal in preventing his corruption is to teach him proper values. Spoiler: Utel Family- Other The Utel Family is lead by the Master Alchemist, Marquis Utel. The title of Marquis is an honorary title given for the families achievements in alchemy rather than noble blood. The Utel Family are public servants but they have recently withdrawn from political and social circles. Marquis Utel always appears to pay more attention to Rohesia than his son. The Tenants of the Utel Family are Progress and Enlightenment. They must always be improving on what has been accomplished in the past, and those improvements should be for the betterment of mankind. Hieronymous- Chief Alchemist serving the Utel family Spoiler: "OG FL- Lexia" Light blond hair, green eyes. A commoner who will be adopted into the Utel family. Lexia's role in the story will start in approx 6 years from the time Rohesia has gained self-awareness, by Rohesia's estimate. - more TBA Spoiler: Adrian Belos Black hair and blue eyes. Sword of the Empire and an Eminence Grise Male Lead (behind-the-scenes manipulative type character) in the OG novel. The Belos Family is gifted with strength and endurance but Adrian has exceptional abilities even for a Belos. In the OG Novel he poisons Rohesia and uses magic to monitor Lexia. At the age of 12, his stepmother locks him in a warehouse basement without food. In the original, he breaks free and kills his stepmother along with six others. Rohesia must help him while he is trapped in the basement and raise his sociability to prevent him from reaching total corruption. Spoiler: The Belos Duchy- Others The Duke of Belos deeply loved his first wife, Adrian's mother. After she died he remarried Melisandra, but does not love her and treats her coldly. Melisandre is obsessed with obtaining her husbands love and takes out her anger at being ignored on Adrian, abusing him and eventually locking him in a basement. In the OG novel she dies by Adrian's hands when he escapes. Oinos Lestrom- the loyal Butler of the Belos Family. Is like a grandfather to Adrian. Spoiler: Nathaniel Stewart Brown hair and violet eyes. The rising star of the Chancellor's family. In the original he's the "nice guy" archetype who comforts Lexia and seems the most normal throughout the first half of the book but becomes bitter and jealous that the other two male leads still receive Lexis's attention despite being scum. He winds up kidnapping and gaslighting Lexia. As a child, Nathaniel is very shy and has a puppy-like demeanor. However he has uncanny intelligence and intuition. Rohesia must raise his self-esteem to prevent corruption. Spoiler: The Stewart Family- Others Nathaniel's father is the Marquis Stewart. Despite the lower rank, they are considered the rival family to the Belos Duchy due to the Marquis' position as the Chancellor and his hold over the courts. Marquess Stewart - the second wife of the Marquis. Nathaniel's mother. Has a delicate disposition and poor health. Brown hair and violet eyes. Spoiler: System and Admin The system is very much like a video game system. There's an in-system currency that Rohesia can spend to use features or buy special items at the Systems Shop. There's status windows, a map features, quest guidance, a skill tree, ect. While the System operates like a program, the Admin will directly talk to Rohesia and help her. The Admin seems invested in Rohesia succeeding and shows favorability towards her. Spoiler: Divine Magic and Alchemy In the world of this novel Divine Magic is believed to be gifted from divine beings. You must be born with magical ability to become a Wizard and the Wizards are headed by the very wealthy and influential Magic Tower Alchemy is achieved purely through human ability and anyone who is willing to study diligently can become an alchemist regardless of magic talent. Spoiler: Elios Anatole Golden hair (?), golden eyes. The Lion of Heaven. Revealed to be the Admin early on. Head of the Magic Tower with unprecedented skill and an image of being gentle and modest. Possesses golden mana, the purest form. Predicts a Doomsday that will end the human race and proposes the method of saving the world through using Rohesia. Spoiler: Magic Tower- Others The Magic Tower wizards have dreams that can predict the future. They are actively trying to prevent the Doomsday predicted by Elios. Umbriel- wizard serving under Elios. Spoiler: The Imperial Family The Empress- Soleil Curacao Blanc (Her name could also technically be written as Sorrel but I think Soleil is more accurate to what the author was going for, although I recognize how funny it is for her to essentially be named Sun White) Green eyes. Has a favorable impression of Rohesia. More TBA Spoiler: Ouroboros A mysterious underground organization seeking to destroy the world. The Magic Tower is investigating them
Since I haven't had any luck being able to buy chapters from Kakao (since I'm not a Korean citizen and getting verified as a foreigner is a little annoying), I get chapters as they become free. I will give summaries in the form of Story Arcs or sub-arcs Spoiler: Saving Adrian Arc Pt. 1 Chapters 6-16 -6- Rohesia gets a sidequest to feed Adrian, who is starving. She regretfully leaves Adrian with the lights and makes plans to come back. Meanwhile, at the Magic Tower, Elios (revealed to be the Admin) is watching Rohesia through a crystal ball when another wizard, Umbriel, comes in and inquires about the progress. Elios' says that it's going better than expected. The chance of success has gone from 0.6% to something like 3.6% (sorry I don't remember the exact number). The other wizards aren't sure why Elios is pinning the fate of humanity on Rohesia but they trust him implicitly despite their doubts. -7- Adrian waits alone for Rohesia, thinking bitterly that she plans to break her promise to return Rohesia returns home and asks her father to return to Belos the next day. He tells her she can't because the outside world is dangerous. The Belos Family can subdue anyone using the pretext of protecting the Empire. Rohesia bargains to go the day after tomorrow instead. As the family sits down for dinner, Arden roughly inquires as to why Rohesia was out so late. She advises him that if he's worried about her safety, he can say it in a nicer way, then asks what he would do if something had happened to her. He says that he would eventually find out who it was and disguise their death as an accident by pushing them off a cliff. Rohesia questions if she can ever guide a kid like this onto a moral path and the Admin quotes a Proverb about patience to her and then nags her about eating a balanced diet. She then receives a quest to eat certain portions of vegetables, meat and bread. Afterwards she receives a system notification that as a reward for completing her daily quests, all non-fatal abnormalities will be recovered through getting a good night's rest -8- Rohesia is unsatisfied with this reward since it just seems like the natural result of getting rest. Noticing her displeasure, the Admin agrees to up the reward. She now gets a ticket, she can trade in 10 of them for 100 System Coins. She accepts this and goes to bed. The Admin breathes a sigh of relief. She visits the Belos Duchy again with packed food very early in the morning. She knows she probably can't get away with her previous trick of slipping away every time so she needs a new way to access Adrian. She tells Melisandra that when she got lost the other day, she stumbled upon Adrian and that he said he the Belos' son. Melisandra breaks out her own acting skills and starts to tearfully claim that she loves Adrian but it was the Duke, rather than her, who locked up Adrian before he went off for his expedition and he forbid her from freeing or helping him in her absence. Rohesia is so disgusted by Melisandra that her acting starts to slip and Melisandra is almost suspicious, but Rohesia manages to calm herself and resume her ruse. She says that, since she isn't part of the Belos household, and since Melisandra is claiming to love Adrian, surely she would have no objections if Rohesia were to visit and feed him. -9- Rohesia goes to Adrian with her thermos of porridge and bottle of water. When she gives him the thermos he throws it back at her, but he accepts the water after she shows him that she hasn't done anything to it. The System suddenly gives her a quest to show Adrian the joy of life by making him laugh, with a time limit of 5 minutes. She throws out a lot of jokes but miserably fails, the Admin seems very amused though. Rohesia apologizes to him and pours the porridge into a cup for him, she tells him she knows she's not funny, but she just wanted to see him smile. He has a small response to that. When she urges him to eat he asks her why he should. She says he should focus on eating rather than revenge. He lunges at her and grabs her, asking how she knew he was planning on revenge. She says it's obvious, looking at his situation and the look in his eyes -10- She tells him that she's going to get him out of this place without blood on his hands, she's going to help set things right. He scoffs at that, asking what a helpless kid like her can do. She responds that she was able to get this far, coaxing the Duchess, being able to visit him, being able to notice he was planning revenge. Physical strength isn't everything. She's going to make sure Melisandra pays for her sins. She says that she'll tell him a detailed plan next time she visits. She refills the porridge cup again (he spilled it when he grabbed her) and tells him to eat. As she leaves she gets the notification that he actually ate this time. Adrian's affection rating rises to 1. Rohesia summarizes her thoughts when she gets home. We learn that Lexia is a commoner who gets adopted into the Utel family. Rohesia plans to leave the capital when Lexia enters the picture, just in case. She should arrive in six years so Rohesia considers that as her time limit. Rohesia falls asleep and the Admin expresses concern that she almost got hurt today (when the thermos almost hit her). Of course, she can't see the message because she's asleep. The gold status window flickers to a darker color for a moment. The next morning Rohesia approaches Arden and asks her if there are alchemy potions or devices capable of hypnosis or brainwashing. Arden thinks she must've fallen in love with the son of the Belos Duchy and lectures her that if she has a crush on someone she shouldn't use things like brainwashing on them. Rohesia is touched by Arden's morality and enthusiastically affirms that he's right and he should remember that forever. She then immediately follows up by asking "So, such an amazing alchemy tool, where can I get it?" -11- Rohesia learns from Arden that all of the families inventions are kept in a warehouse, but she will need their father's permission to enter. She asks her father and he shows her around. One of the first things he shows her an invention he made when he was young that dramatically decreases the time it takes to perform alchemy when used together with a special type of fuel. This is a type of furnace that secured the renown of the Utel family since, in the past it took anywhere from days to months to perform alchemy. With this invention, alchemy can be performed in a few hours. As her father continues to show her this and that, the system points out what she's looking for: hypnotic beads. They release a colorless and odorless incense smoke that puts the subject into a hypnotic state. In the novel, Arden also uses these on Lexia. She quickly swipes one with the justification that she's just preventing Arden from using them later. The Admin then questions Rohesia about what she plans to do with the bead, he seems hesitant about her stealing and Rohesia thinks that despite encouraging her to lie that this system is surprisingly upright. Her father suddenly calls out to her and asks her if she knows what the family values of Utel are. They're enlightenment and progress. Progress means Utel must always produce results that are better than what was accomplished in the past. Through that progress, they must make a positive impact on others. That's Enlightenment. He tells her that she, too, is an Utel and her actions must follow those same values. He then leads her out of the warehouse and she wonders if he saw her steal the bead. Rohesia visits Adrian again with more food. Adrian asks her what she gets out of helping him. She ponders over it before putting her father's words to use. She says it's because she's a Utel. Alchemists strive to create and study change, but an Utel must strive to ensure that the changes they cause are for good. Adrian is unimpressed and disappointed since he was secretly hoping she was doing it out of some sort of affection for him. He says that she just wants to help him for self-satisfaction. He puts his hand on her neck and says that she wants him to trust her, but does she trust him? Or does she just want to release him in order to use him like a dog? What will she do if she sets him free and he decides to kill her anyways? -12- Despite Adrian's words and actions, looking into his eyes, Rohesia can tell that he's scared too. That internally he's begging to be helped. She tells him it doesn't matter what he does in the future, she can deal with that later. Right now he needs help. Adrian releases her and admits defeat. He accepts the food from her and his affection rises while his corruption rate lowers. She tells him her plan. Rohesia goes back upstairs and tells Melisandra that Adrian will listen to her from now on so she should release him. She then surreptitiously activates the Hypnosis Bead. The Hypnosis Beads make the target more susceptible to suggestions but she still needs to make a convincing enough argument. Melisandra is deeply invested in the Belos family maintaining it's current status as the top family of the empire, so Rohesia digs into this insecurity and brings up their rival: the Stewart (Chancellor)family and their control over the courts. Even if Belos is on top now, if the heir of the Belos family is locked up like this and is never shown in public what will happen to the Belos reputation in the coming years? How can the Duke be respected if it comes to light that he is at odds with his own successor (keep in mind that Melisandra is pretending that the Duke is the one who ordered Adrian's imprisonment). She suggests that if Belos wants to stand a chance against the Stewart family, she should hold a charity banquet like the Stewart family often does and present Adrian there to show off what a promising heir he is. She slips here and says that Nathaniel Stewart, the heir of the Stewart family, has already been praised as an outstanding talent so they need to compete. But Melisandra is confused by the name Nathaniel and asks if she meant Carlyle. Rohesia doesn't know who that is but quickly rolls with it and after confirming that Melisandra will bring Adrian to the banquet as suggested, puts Melisandra to sleep In the Magic Tower, Elios watches and is deep in thought about how Rohesia, a girl who hasn't debuted yet and wasn't deeply involved with magic, was able to think of using (and know how to use) Hypnosis Beads on the Duchess -13- Elios thinks that it's fun to watch Rohesia and he's curious what she will do next. He hopes she can survive until the Day of Fate and save the world. After all, they only have one chance. The next day, when Rohesia visits the Belos mansion with food, all the servants rush to greet her. They say that the order was given to let Adrian out but he won't listen to them and they're scared to approach him. Since she's been talking with him, they hope she can bring him out. She goes down to the basement and the shackles are already broken but Adrian is sitting in the dark with a fierce atmosphere. She reaches out her hand to him and then offers him a bean pudding. She tells him it's a Utel tradition that after being locked up for a while, you should have bean pudding. (The fraud ability doesn't activate so I don't know if this is true or not lmao. But I'm pretty sure it's just a joke.) She leads him out of the basement by the hand, but what Rohesia doesn't realize is that it's not the servants or Melisandra that broke the shackles, it was Adrian himself, which is why the servants are so scared of him. The servants attempt to bathe Adrian but he resists so strongly that they once more beg Rohesia for help and she finally relents. Adrian asks her why he should let the people who went along with his harassment touch him. Rohesia assures him that this is temporary and he needs to go along with it for now. Adrian asks if he can kill them all after Rohesia is done with her plan and she tells him no. Life is precious. There are people who deserve to die and people who don't, it's important to be able to distinguish that. Adrian asks how one is supposed to determine who deserves to die and who doesn't and Rohesia is stumped as to how to explain -14- Adrian asks if he should only kill people if she allows it and, at a loss and wanting to save her own neck in the future, she agrees to that idea. She convinces Adrian to wash up and then gives him some privacy. She falls asleep while waiting for him. When he comes out she flusters him by checking his hands and hair to make sure it's all really clean. They get to discussing their plan. They plan to reveal Melisandra's crimes at the banquet, but they'll need to gather proof. All of the servants will be on Melisandra's side so they probably won't get collaborating testimony from them. Adrian suggests that the old butler used to treat him like a grandson. When Adrian was locked in the basement he had expected the butler to help but he hasn't seen him since. It's obvious Melisandra must've fired him or done something else to him. Rohesia receives a new subquest to find the butler before the banquet in exchange for a greatly reduced Corruption Rate. After Rohesia leaves, Adrian thinks about her. He thinks its amazing that he finds himself wanting to believe in her, but he also thinks that if she betrays him he can lock her in the basement where he was being kept. Melisandra comes to visit him -15- As planned, Adrian decides to play nice with Melisandra and calls her Mom. Melisandra is touched by finally being acknowledged and hugs him, saying that she was too harsh and she'll treat him well from now on. Rohesia has a nightmare in which an adult Adrian, after getting together with Lexia, accuses her of using him as a puppet. She swears to him that she never saw him that way and tries to call on the System, but it only tells her that she has failed her Quest. She tries to run as Adrian draws his sword and wakes up as she feels pain across her back. She calls to Admin and asks if it's searching for another player to do the quest instead of her. It tells her that it isn't. "There's only one opportunity. For you, and for me." She feels relieved knowing the System at least can't abandon her. She then asks if her presence was no longer needed to save the world, would the Admin still help her? The Admin falls silent and Rohesia feels very lonely. The next day when Rohesia visits the Belos Mansion, Melisandra asks for the "love potion". Rohesia feels like there isn't any harm in it as the Duke is still far away on his mission and won't be back for a while. It will take some time before Melisandra will realize she's been duped. She hands it over and tells Melisandra to use it carefully. After Rohesia leaves we get a scene from Melisandra's perspective. She thinks that Rohesia is a fool. When she married the Duke of Belos he offered her marriage on the condition that he would never love her. She thought that, like a novel, he would eventually come to love her anyways. When even Adrian refused to love her, she began punishing him. It's true that she wanted the Duke and the Duke's son to love her, but the true reason isn't because she was after the love itself. She wanted the advantages and power that came with being loved by the Dukes family. As long as they both ignore her, she can still be dismissed by others. But she's realized that if she wants absolute power over the Duchy, it's a lot easier if she's the only one left. She takes out a second hidden bottle containing a potent poison and puts a drop of it into the "love potion". What she really needed all along was the distinctive Utel family potion bottle. She sends the potion off with a letter to some of her men stationed along with her husband, claiming that the potion is a special tonic made by the Utel family. The Duke won't eat it if he knows it comes from her so she would like for them to discreetly slip it into his food. However, Melisandra fails to take into account that the security at the garrison is stronger than she thought. After leaving Melisandra, Rohesia and Adrian meet up to search the butlers old office for clues but they find it heavily padlocked. Suddenly Adrian grabs her and hides under a nearby table with her.
Spoiler: Saving Adrian Arc Pt.2 Chapters 16-27 As they hide under the table, Melisandra's personal aide, Rasmin enters grumbling and complaining about Melisandra and being overworked. Rasmin unlocks the door, still talking to herself about how she needs to write down Melisandra's orders in her diary before she forgets again. Adrian and Rohesia exchange glances, tacitly agreeing that they need to get Rasmin's diary. Rasmin goes into the locked room and Rohesia comes out from the hiding spot and starts calling loudly, pretending to have just entered. When Rasmin comes out to see what she's doing, Rohesia acts spoiled and demands raspberry jam tarts. Rasmin tries to shake her off but Rohesia insists that she wants Rasmin to personally go to the kitchen to get the tarts. Adrian takes advantage of the distraction to slip into the room. Meanwhile Rohesia has to resort to throwing a full flop-on-the-ground crying tantrum in order to make Rasmin leave for the kitchen. She then joins Adrian in the formerly locked Butlers room. It appears that Rasmin has been using the room in the Butlers absence since there are a number of books on how to deal with difficult bosses, lol. The diary they're looking for is on the desk and Rohesia falls into contemplation as she reads it. The diary details that the Butler was poisoned with a drug that made him lose his memories and then was assigned to laundry duty (the lowest paying job) in the east wing of the Duchy. Adrian and Rohesia go to the laundry room and see that while the butler does his job diligently, the other servants bully and harass him. As the other servants leave, they approach him. -17- Even though the Butler has lost his memories, his training and ingrained behavior as a butler remain as he notices Adrian and Rohesia. He gives them some candy and sends them on their way, not recognizing them but assuming their identities as noble children. Adrian tells Rohesia that this is the candy that the Butler has been giving to him since he was a child. He used to act reluctant to take it but now he regrets that behavior. Rohesia tells him that there's no need to regret, because he can do better in the future. She believes they can still fix this and asks Adrian to believe in her. Rohesia runs to see Arden and asks if there are potions that can restore a person's memory. Rather than responding to her question, Arden wants to know why she's changed recently and why she's always running over to the Belos Duchy. He's also noticed that she's gotten better at lying lately. While Rohesia ponders over what she can tell him, Arden jumps to the conclusion that she must like the Belos boy that much and asks if she did something to his memories as well if she's suddenly asking for this medicine. She denies doing anything to Adrian and Arden asks if the potion is still for the sake of Adrian. She can't deny that. Arden finally asks "Is what you're doing dangerous?" Rohesia responds "If this person doesn't get their memory back...then it will become very dangerous for me." Arden says that whatever she's doing is her own business, but if it's dangerous he has to intervene, although he claims that it's just because their father will yell at him if she gets hurt. Rohesia is touched by this display of familial protectiveness. The system informs her that Arden's affection and morality scores have risen. Arden says to tell Adrian that if he wants to get someone's memories back to meet him in the downtown area of the city (Ballalaika) the next day. That night Adrian sits alone in his room and looks at the pieces of candy. A servant delivers the message from Rohesia to meet them in the city. Adrian finds it very funny that after boldly declaring she'd fix the problem, she immediately ran to her brother for help. He laughs and is then shocked at himself for doing so. The next day, Adrian and Arden are immediately at odds with each other, having an intense stare down. Rohesia tries to ease the mood by introducing them to each other but Arden immediately says "I wanted to see who Rosia was always rushing around for, but you're nothing special." -18- Arden continues to say that Adrian isn't Rosia's type because Rosia likes tall, pretty, cheerful men. Rohesia is a little baffled as to how Arden would've gotten this info. Adrian ignores that part and asks why Arden keeps calling her Rosia. They explain that it's a nickname and he sullenly asks why she never told him. She asks if he would use her nickname even if she had told it to him and he says no. Frustrated, Rohesia cuts to the chase and relays to Adrian the information about recovering memories that Arden had explained to her yesterday. In short, there's not an easy alchemical solution, they need something that will serve as a memory trigger for the butler. They've come to the city for this purpose, since it will be hard for them to search the mansion inconspicuously. Adrian points out a sheet music store and says the Butler used to play lullabies for him. She goes and gathers all the lullaby sheet music when the System gives her a sudden quest to find and play the lullaby that the butler used to sing within the next five minutes. Rohesia is embarrassed by this quest because she can't play an instrument and it's a bit rude to suddenly start singing inside the store, and her singing is pretty bad, but the system tells her she'll get a good reward so she embarrasses herself and Arden by going through the sheet music and singing them one by one, offending the ears of all the passerbys. Arden finally can't stand it any longer and starts to drag Rohesia out of the store but luckily the last one she sang was the right one. The quest is cleared and Adrian's affection raises slightly and his corruption rate lowers a bit. Rohesia can't bring herself to be happy because she feels like the Admin was just trying to make fun of her. As expected the Admin pops up and is very amused, saying he never thought she'd actually do it but the results were great so it turned out for the best anyways. Rohesia thinks that while the Admin is a jerk, Adrian is even weirder for being charmed by her terrible lullaby singing. Adrian and Arden then go to find a cologne that the Butler used to like and Rohesia rests on a bench. They have 3 more days before the banquet meaning their time limit for making the Butler remember is pretty tight. She feels like even if they get the Butler to confess that she's missing something important Meanwhile, at the Magic Tower... -19- Elios is thinking about the night that Rohesia asked if he would still help her if her presence wasn't essential and he never responded. An aide comes to deliver a report. The aide informs Elios about Melisandra's ploy of sending off the poisoned potion to the Duke of Belos, but says it is unlikely that Melisandra's men will be able to do anything to his food since he always eats separately. The Aide then says that the cooperation between the First Prince and 'Ouroboros' has been confirmed. We are told that Ouroboros is an underground group that seeks to destroy the world. Elios thinks that it's also for Rohesia's survival that Ouroboros be properly investigated. He goes off with his aide to handle this important business. After finding the memory triggers in town, Adrian and Rohesia go back to the laundry room to meet the Butler. They try the cologne first, which seems to spark some sort of recognition in the Butler. Rohesia goes to sing the lullaby but Adrian stops her and begins to sing it himself. Adrian has a lovely singing voice, unlike Rohesia. The Butler starts to cry but is confused as to why the song and the smell of cologne is making him feel sad. Adrian asks if he is reminded of anything but the Butler only shakes his head. Even until the end of the day they are unable to return his memories. As Rohesia has to go back home Adrian asks if this isn't a reasonable situation to kill the Duchess, after seeing what she's done to the Butler as well. Rohesia says he can't and desperately grabs the hem of his clothes as tears start to well up in her eyes. She believes that if Adrian kills the duchess, he won't be able to go back from it and it will be all over for Rohesia as well. Adrian reassures her that he'll at least give her until the banquet to try to resolve the situation without killing. As Rohesia rides home in the carriage she breaks down, feeling like her efforts are collapsing in front of her even after doing everything the system asked of her. She calls out to the Admin but doesn't receive a response (because Elios is out following the lead on Ouroboros). She begins to worry again that the Admin has abandoned her, that maybe it went off to find a smarter, more capable person to save the world. In anger she lashes out and punches the side of the carriage, which hurts her hand a bit. The pain in her hand reminds her that it's not all over yet, she's still alive. She calms down and checks Adrian's corruption rate. It is currently 78, if she can make the butler regain his memories it can go down to 70. She regains her determination The morning of the banquet, Rohesia slips one of the Hypnotic Beads into a secret pocket of her dress. She hopes that perhaps the hypnotic state can help the Butler recover his memories and, if all else fails, she can use it to subdue Adrian in an emergency if he tries to kill Melisandra at the banquet. Her father stops her in the hallway and she tells him she's going to the Belos mansion early to help set up the banquet and see Adrian in advance -20- Rohesia's father kneels down to look her in the eye and tell her that no matter what anyone says, she is a Utel and it is fine for her to use the power of Utel, but she should always keep in mind her own safety. Rohesia once again thinks that her father must know about the hypnosis beads, but she feels too guilty to admit to stealing them or try to explain her reasons. Her father then let's her go without any further objections. Back at the Duchy, Rasmin is telling Melisandra about Rohesia's odd behavior the other day and how she realized afterwards that Rohesia might have seen her diary where all of Melisandra's orders to her are written. Melisandra thinks back to Rohesia's past suspicious behaviors and wonders if Rohesia is actually more cunning than she had given her credit for. As Rohesia arrives at the Belos Mansion, Rasmin is there waiting to bring her to Melisandra. Admin appears to say that something is suspicious and to apologize for being absent the other day due to his work. Rohesia quietly converses with the Admin to tell it that the plan to restore the Butlers memories didn't work. The Admin tells her that she can't rely on the System too much, in the end she's the one who has the ability to complete the quests and affect her immediate surroundings. However, the System is here to help where it can. Rohesia notices that the direction Rasmin is leading her doesn't seem to be the parlor where she is usually brought. She questions Rasmin but just receives a vague answer asking her to wait. Rasmin gives her a cup of tea and asks her to drink it. Rohesia puts the cup to her lips and notices how intently Rasmin is watching her, she feels that it's too suspicious. She says she needs to use the bathroom and asks Rasmin to lead the way but Rasmin, having been fooled once, asks if she's lying again. Rohesia doesn't give in and raises a fuss until Rasmin agrees and brings her to a private bathroom and waits right outside the door, not giving an opening to escape. Rohesia takes out the hypnotic beads and calls out to Rasmin that there's no toilet paper. -21- Rohesia continues to act bratty to Rasmin until, angry, she opens the door a bit. As soon as she does, Rohesia activates the hypnotic beads. The hypnotic beads can only work properly on a subject whose sense of reason is already somewhat weakened by insecurities or strong emotions such as sadness or anger. Rasmin's anger at Rohesia makes her more susceptible and Rohesia tells her to report to Melisandra that she has succeeded in locking her up. Rasmin walks away but shortly after Rohesia hears a thud. She peeks outside and sees that Rasmin is laying collapsed in the hallway. Standing over her is the Butler. Rohesia thinks that he must've regained his memories after all. Both of them speak at the same time saying that there's no time. Rohesia tells the Butler that she's worried Adrian is going to kill Melisandra and the rest of the household staff. The Butler is worried for Adrian's safety but also says that the Duke is in danger. The Butler, whose name is Oinos Lestrom, tells Rohesia that he had overheard Melisandra talking about her ambitions to take control of the Duchy through murder, but at that time the Duke had already left for his expedition. He tried to send a warning through to the Duke, but then Rasmin turned on him and poisoned him, making him lose his memory. Oinos shows Rohesia a secret passageway to the central basement. Rohesia remembers that, in the novel, the Northern Duke's duty is keeping monsters in check. They also make a great deal of money from selling the monster parts that have unique properties. When the Duke is away it's important to have a communication line open to the Duchy in case of emergencies. In the secret basement is a magical pillar that can be used to instantly communicate, but also to view the movements of others. In the novel, Adrian uses it to secretly monitor Lexia. This pillar is something that is only known to the Duke and his trusted subordinates, so Rohesia is confused as to why the Butler is letting her see it when even Melisandra wouldn't know of it. Above the pillar is the broadcasted image of the Duke of Belos. In the novel he never makes an appearance after Adrian kills Melisandra so Rohesia knows very little about him. Rohesia realizes that in the original novel, Melisandra must've somehow succeeded in her plot to kill him while he was away. The Butler reports to the Duke and the Duke tells the Butler that he caught someone messing around in the kitchen with a vial. He pulls out the Utel potion vial from his pocket -22- The Duke finally notices Rohesia and asks who she is. Rohesia comes right out and admits that she's the one that gave the potion to Melisandra. She explains that she gave a "love potion" to Melisandra in order to be able to visit Adrian who was locked up in the basement. When he hears that Adrian was chained up in the basement, suddenly the Duke teleports directly into the room and asks for confirmation. He then asks if the Utel family is also participating in the banquet and she confirms that as well, since a lot of powerful families were invited. The Duke begins to head to the Great Hall right away and Rohesia follows after. She's surprised that the Duke takes her at her word so easily but realizes that he simply has the confidence that he can handle her even if she was lying. Rohesia gets a notification that she cleared the quest of saving the butler. Adrian's corruption rate should now drop to 71%. A new subquest arrives to uncover Melisandra's sins at the Banquet. Meanwhile at the Banquet, Melisandra is smug believing that Rohesia has been locked up by now and she can use her as a bargaining chip against the Utel family later. The Banquet is in full swing and, as planned, there are many influential families including the Empress and the Stewart family. The rest of the Utels have not arrived yet. She spots Adrian and tries to play the part of the loving mother but Adrian is back to acting coldly towards her, he just walks past her. Melisandra doesn't mind though because she plans to poison Adrian and pin it on Marquess Stewart. She plans to have her servants testify in her favor and claim that Marquess Stewart was trying to eliminate her own son's competitor. She doesn't expect the charges to actually stick but it will still negatively affect the Stewart family reputation. In addition, when her husband dies the Utel family will be implicated, wiping out two birds with one stone. Just as Melisandra is gloating, a servant announces Rohesia's entrance. Rohesia enters and greets the Empress first, charming her with flattery. Marquess Stewart comes to greet Rohesia next. The Marquess doesn't seem to be in good health as she is coughing. As Rohesia is about to offer her a lozenge, she notices a small child peeking shyly from behind her skirt. -23- As Rohesia realizes that the child is Nathaniel, she gets a status window pop up Nathaniel Stewart Chancellor's Son Condition: Very Shy Charm: A Fame: B Affection- 25 Self-Esteem- 9 Corruption Rate- ? In the early days of the original novel, Nathaniel always appeared as the most normal character and was always the one comforting Lexia. However over time he grows bitter and jealous that the other two still receive Lexia's attention despite being scum and decides that since being nice isn't working, he'll become the same type of monster. He kidnaps and gaslights Lexia later on. However the current nine year old Nathaniel in front of Rohesia now is just a cute and shy child with a puppy-like impression. He greets her very politely while blushing. Their conversation is interrupted as music starts to play and people find their dance partners. Adrian calls out to Rohesia and she's relieved to see him and that he doesn't seem murderous. He holds out his hand to invite her to dance. She accepts, thinking it's a good opportunity to talk discreetly. Adrian tells her that he was worried that she had run away and she assures him that she hasn't given up and catches him up on the progress. Adrian isn't surprised that Melisandra planned to kill his father but he is surprised she would be bold enough to try to hurt Rohesia. He says that there's no change in the fact that Melisandra deserves to die. However the only reason he hasn't killed her is because Rohesia is so confident. He whispers to her "Don't let me down." As the dance ends, Rohesia still feels like she's missing something. It's at this point she realizes that Melisandra might also use this banquet to try to kill Adrian as well if her real goal is to usurp the Belos family altogether. As if to confirm her suspicions, the System prompts her to uncover Melisandra's hidden plot. Rohesia and Adrian notice the very conspicuous Champagne Tower where the host will invite everyone to a toast later. If Adrian is poisoned during this moment, Melisandra will have the perfect opportunity to put on a show of being a distressed mother in front of all the guests while pinning the blame elsewhere. So as not to be too conspicuous, Adrian and Rohesia split up. We learn that the Duke and Butler are outside the banquet hall, waiting until the time is right to make their entrance. Rohesia and Adrian hope to figure out which glass is poisoned and use it as evidence before the toast is made. -24- Rohesia surmises that Melisandra obviously wouldn't risk poisoning the cup with her own hands, a servant is likely being paid off to do it, and that servant will be the one who will know what cup has the poison in it. Rohesia purposefully finds a servant carrying a drink tray and trips them, causing them to spill the drink on her dress. She then asks to be taken to get the dress cleaned. The servant leads her to a dressing room and the servant takes her dress and leaves to quickly wash it. Using the mini map, Rohesia is able to track the servant to the employee area where many of the banquet workers are and eavesdrops. They gossip about how Melisandra hit Rasmin in public (after seeing that Rohesia was not locked up like she was supposed to be) and how they're glad they're not the ones on the receiving end, although if anyone makes a mistake they will be. Someone worriedly brings up the poison, wondering what will happen to them if anything goes wrong but they're quickly hushed. Having gotten confirmation that the servants are in on it and that the poison is potent enough that one drop is supposed to be enough to kill an elephant, she goes back and waits in the dressing room. The servant brings her back her washed dress. As she goes back to the banquet hall, she sees that her family has arrived and that the champagne is being served. She finds Adrian and goes to his side. The servant comes out and pours the champagne into the champagne tower and one by one the glasses are handed out until everyone has one. Melisandra gleefully insists Adrian makes a toast. Rohesia looks to Adrian and signals for him to do a cheers with her and he quickly understands her plan. They clash their champagne flutes together and the liquid in both glasses splash and mix together. Adrian then goes to several of the rest of the guest and clashes glasses with them too, effectively making it so that a little bit of his drink has also splashed into many of the guests drinks. On the side, Melisandra is watching, increasingly nervous. Adrian makes a little speech, where he shares an anecdote that in the old days, cheers were used to ensure that if two people were drinking together, one person can't poison the other because the drinks will mix together and ensure mutual destruction. He rubs it in further: "Of course, there's no poison in these cups." Everyone laughs "But today, taking after the old custom of showing trust between the host and the guests, we share a toast with each other and whisk away any little doubts that may be in our hearts as we spend an enjoyable time together." Everyone is caught up in the atmosphere and continue to toast each other. Rohesia decides to push Melisandra to the very edge with a bold move. She cutely and innocently approaches the Empress and asks to do a cheers with her as well. The Empress' servant tries to stop her but the Empress insists on doing it. Even Rohesia is surprised that the Empress is actually going to accept. Right as they're about to clash glasses... -25- One of Melisandra's servants screams for them to stop and rushes over. The servant desperately tells the Empress not to drink, it's poisoned. Rohesia was actually betting on Melisandra herself being forced to step in, but she thinks this works too. After all, anyone in on the plot should be smart enough to know that if the Empress were to be harmed, the scale of the investigation won't be the same as if Adrian or the guests were to die. The Belos duchy itself would likely be seized as the scene of the crime, the employees could very well be imprisoned and tortured for information. The truth would come out one way or another. The servant continues on to tell that the poison was just supposed to be in the cup of Adrian, no one intended for the drinks to get mixed through toasting. The servant immediately ousts Melisandra as the one who gave the orders. The other servants, hoping to lighten their potential sentences, also rush over to snitch on Melisandra, citing that she threatened and bribed them. They even confess that Melisandra planned to blame the murder on Marquess Stewart. Melisandra meanwhile is frozen on the spot, having turned as white as a sheet. She attempts to defend herself but is quickly captured. Melisandra starts to lose it and yells at Rohesia that this is all her fault, but Rohesia just plays innocent, which enrages Melisandra further. At this moment, a voice announces that he also has something to accuse Melisandra of, and the Duke makes his grand appearance with the butler, Oinos. The Duke says that he was forced to urgently return after hearing about what was happening in his absence. Oinos then lists off the rest of Melisandra's misdeeds. As proof, the Duke brings out the vial of poison. Of course, everyone recognizes the vial as the Utel family's work but Marquis Utel orders Arden to get his bag of tools. They test the potion within to show that it was initially a harmless nerve stabilizer that poison was added to. Of course Melisandra tries to claim that the Utel family were the ones that tried to poison the Duke, but Marquis Utel points out the obvious: if they were going to poison someone, why would they use their own bottles, and why would they, a family of alchemists, use such an easily traceable and mundane poison? The Utel family has a reputation for being competent so this argument is highly convincing to the gathered guests. Of course, Melisandra is still not willing to give up so easily. She once again shouts that its all Rohesia's fault, Rohesia told her it was a love potion and manipulated her. Tired of listening to this, the Empress steps in. -26- The Empress scolds Melisandra for trying to shift blame to a child, and then asks Adrian if the accusation of being locked up was true. In response, Adrian rolls up his sleeves to show off the bruises from where he was shackled. This sparks outrage amongst the guests and the Empress. Melisandra and her accomplices are dragged away. Rohesia takes a moment to discreetly check Adrians status window Adrian J. Belos Collared Beast Condition: Ebbing Excitement Charm: B Fame: B Affection: 3 Sociability: 28 Corruption Rate: 65 Her goal of having his corruption rate less than 70 is a success! Having cleared all of her quests, the death penalty related to Adrian's quest is released and she levels up several times. She's about to view her rewards when she is called by Marquess Stewart who assumes that her dazed look is from the shock of the situation and asks her if she's okay. However Nathaniel, hiding behind his mother's skirt says that they should thank Rohesia for revealing Melisandra's plot. He seems to be the only one to have caught on that she exposed Melisandra on purpose. Rohesia tries to brush it off as a coincidence but Nathaniel brings up the last thing Melisandra had said, about Rohesia giving her the "love potion". He points out that everyone else passed it off as desperate ravings but it only makes sense for Melisandra to have received that bottle in the first place if Rohesia gave it to her. He intuits that Rohesia must have learned of Melisandra's nature and set up a situation in which to expose her crimes. Rohesia feels a little alarmed at his uncanny intelligence, knowing that in the original novel he uses it for evil. Of course, Rohesia intends to prevent that. Nathaniel thanks Rohesia once more and she gets a notification of his affection rising. Marquess Stewart says it's rare for the shy Nathaniel to talk so much all at once and invites Rohesia to come visit sometime, however Rohesia notices that she is looking increasingly haggard and unwell. She finished talking with the Marquess and then is called over by her father and Arden. Her father doesn't look particularly happy and she feels she's probably going to have a long conversation later. Meanwhile, after hearing what Nathaniel said, the people surrounding her seem to be paying more attention to her. The system informs her that her Fame/Reputation is now C rank. As she's leaving she feels an intense gaze on her. Glancing back she sees that it's Adrian. -27- Later on, the Admin fills her in on how everything wrapped up after that. The charges against Melisandra were proven as true, it was also revealed that she had been manipulating the family ledger to siphon off Belos property and wealth into her personal accounts as well. Melisandra was stripped of her status and sentenced to death. The servants who came out against her had their sentence lightened but still were sent out to the countryside to do labor. Rohesia is invited to visit the Empress. The Empress says she wants to ask her just one question "When you asked to toast with me at the Belos family banquet, did you know that your cup was poisoned?" Rohesia has the impression that the Empress doesn't intend to blame her for endangering her, or she would have interrogated her immediately after the banquet. In fact, from the favorable look the Empress is giving her, she might be treated as a hero or burgeoning talent if she admits that she knew and set it all up. However, Rohesia doesn't want to get caught up with the Imperial family because she intends to leave after her quests are safely completed and Lexia arrives. She plays innocent and dumb, which surprises the Empress. She puts on a show of how she didn't know anything at all and how scared she was when she heard there was poison. She then bows down and she thanks the Empress. If the Empress hadn't been there, things wouldn't have played out the way they did, and Adrian might've died. The Empress asks if the life of a friend is more important than the life of an Empress and Rohesia responds "That is a question too heavy to answer, your majesty. I beg for your understanding." The Empress bursts out laughing and says that was the correct answer; the life of a friend is precious. Rohesia is surprised because she was just trying to dodge the question, but the Empress seems to have misunderstood. She commands her servant to bring out the reward she had prepared and says that whether she intended it or not, her actions prevented an incident that would've shaken the balance of the three families that serve as pillars for the Empire (Utel, Stewart and Belos), and she insists on her taking the reward. (The reward turns out to be a gold bar stamped with the imperial seal. The worth is 500 imperial coins) On her way home she thinks of the Empress' words calling the three families the Pillars of the Empire. She also remembers the System telling her that her quest is to 'save the world'. In the original novel, the story ends with all the main characters dying so she initially thought that the System was being hyperbolic. As in, if the main characters of a story die, that would be a bit like the "world" ending. However she realizes now that the system might be referring to a much greater catastrophe triggered after the events of the book. If the three pillars of the empire all kill each other over a woman, what happens to the Empire afterwards? And what would be the butterfly effect stemming from there? Rohesia once again wonders who the Admin truly is, and why she's the only one capable of stopping this catastrophe. However, since she can't get those answers right now, she turns her thoughts to where she will go when her quest is over and she can live independently. She peacefully falls asleep in the carriage. Spoiler: TLDR Version Adrian and Rohesia find that the Butler, Oinos was poisoned with a drug that made him lose his memory. With Arden's advice, they seek to restore his memory through using memory triggers. The plan to restore his memories initially seems to fail. Melisandra learns of Rohesia snooping around and orders for Rasmin to confine her so she can't cause trouble during the banquet. Rohesia uses the hypnosis beads on Rasmin to avoid being imprisoned and meets up with Oinos who belatedly regained his memories. Oinos shows Rohesia a secret communication chamber that lets them get through to the Duke who teleports to the mansion and cooperates with Rohesia to publicly uncover Melisandra's crimes. Melisandra plans to poison Adrian at the banquet and pin the blame on the Stewart family. Rohesia and Adrian cooperate to disrupt her plan and pressure her servants into confessing by spreading the poison in Adrian's cup to all of the other guests. All of Melisandra's servants turn against her, the Duke, the Butler and Adrian provide supporting evidence of her crimes and Melisandra is captured. Adrian's current main quest is cleared. Rohesia also makes her first contact with Nathaniel Stewart and impresses the Empress during the Banquet. Side note: there have been some updates added to the General Overview post above as well
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