After coming out of the bathroom, I hurriedly looked for a pen and paper.
Now that I have become Penelope, I must find a way to survive, no matter what.
In the hard mode of this game, the affection points that I had worked hard to raise could easily drop, and if they went negative, it would lead to death.
The second son of the Duke, who started with a negative score, was even worse. If he didn’t turn positive until he reached 0%, he would definitely die.
First, I needed to organize the information about the game that I knew.
Fortunately, even though I was a fake Penelope, everything that should be there was there.
I saw a luxurious bookshelf and desk placed in one corner of the spacious room.
Without hesitation, I walked over, sat down at the desk, and busily dipped the pen in ink.
"First, the main characters."
There were a total of five main male characters in the game.
The Duke’s two sons, the Crown Prince, the Mage, and the Knight.
Unlike the normal mode, where a base of 30% was given, in the hard mode, all the main male characters started with 0% or negative affection points.
I began writing down everything I remembered on a blank sheet of paper.
First, Derrick Eckhart.
Derrick, the Duke’s eldest son and the young Duke, was a typical nobleman.
He was too busy maintaining the family line to care much about Penelope.
However, deep down, he harbored a strong hatred and contempt for her, who had taken his sister’s place.
While Derrick rarely killed Penelope directly in the game, he would mercilessly punish her whenever she made a mistake.
This would give the player a penalty and limit their choices.
For example, due to the punishment I received yesterday, I was now confined to my room.
Next, the second son, Leonard Eckhart.
There was no need to elaborate on him.
He was a troublemaker with a foul temper who constantly picked fights with Penelope.
He was the one who led the effort to torment Penelope within the Duke’s household and often caused her to die in ridiculous accidents.
"Looking at it this way, they’re not much different from the bastards in my own family, are they?"
I read through the information about the Duke’s sons that I had written down and clicked my tongue.
In the normal mode, their routes were the easiest to complete.
This was because, due to the blood relationship, the game focused on 'family love' rather than romantic love.
However, since Penelope shared no blood with them, there was a high possibility of a different ending from the harmonious family ending in the normal mode.
But I shook my head firmly.
I then drew a large X over their names, rendering my efforts meaningless.
"These guys have no hope."
Leonard, in particular, started with a negative affection score.
Not just 0, but a solid negative.
Why negative? It was the creator's design.
Since there was no hope from the start, it was a hint that seeing an ending with Leonard was futile.
Moreover, I was someone who shuddered at the mere sound of 'big brother,' so I decided to give up on both of them.
"Next, the Crown Prince."
The Crown Prince, Calisto Regulus.
The information I had about the Crown Prince was all from the normal mode.
A tyrant who had become indifferent to life due to a troubled childhood, he reforms after meeting the angelic heroine and then executes the villain, Penelope.
From Penelope’s perspective, the Crown Prince was no different from a grim reaper.
In fact, during the hard mode, he was the character who directly caused Penelope’s death the most.
I had reset so many times while playing the Crown Prince’s route that I barely remembered what happened.
"I shouldn’t even go near this guy."
I thought of the explicit illustrations of my neck being sliced by Calisto’s sword.
A chill ran down my spine.
I drew several Xs over the Crown Prince’s name and hurriedly moved on to the next male character.
Next was Bunter Verdandi, the Mage and Marquis.
As the Mage setting suggests, he had an eccentric personality and operated a merchant guild while hiding his title.
He traded various information and secret items in the black market, which helped the heroine discover that she was the Duke’s long-lost youngest daughter.
He also provided information about the villain’s schemes and directly intervened to protect the heroine.
Additionally, he was a significant character in enhancing the heroine’s reputation.
In the normal mode, Bunter displayed romantic magic and was a sweet guy who supported the heroine both materially and emotionally.
However, I wasn’t sure how things were in the hard mode.
Before I could properly progress in Bunter’s route, I was killed by the Crown Prince and the Duke’s sons.
Still, compared to the others I had marked with Xs, Bunter had more potential, so I decided to leave him for now.
"Last, Eclis."
Eclis, the Duke’s knight, was a former slave.
The Duke, who was out one night, noticed Eclis’s exceptional sword skills, bought him at a high price, and made him an apprentice knight of the family.
He later became the youngest Sword Master and was granted a title, making him a prime example of a 'young and handsome guy' who made it on his own.
Eclis was currently the only one among the five male characters who offered hope for an ending.
In the normal mode, he was the only male character who sympathized with Penelope until the end.
Perhaps because he had once served her, he was the most passive in trying to stop Penelope from tormenting the heroine.
Although I hadn’t met him in the hard mode yet...
"Ah... Looking at it this way, there’s not much that can really help me."
I sighed deeply, looking at the paper I had just finished writing on.
The information about the hard mode was extremely limited due to the frequent roadblocks in the game’s progression.
Even if I knew a lot, I couldn’t be sure how much of the game system applied to the reality I was currently experiencing.
The only thing I could be certain of was that if the male characters’ affection points dropped to negative, I would die, and there was a deadline for seeing an ending.
The deadline was Penelope’s coming-of-age ceremony.
I had to break one of the male characters’ routes by then.
This was because the real daughter of the Duke would appear on that day.
'Poor Penelope.'
She loses everything when the real duchess arrives just as she becomes an adult.
This was the start of the normal mode.
If I didn’t connect with anyone by that day, there was a high possibility that I would die at the hands of the male characters who had fallen for the heroine, even without playing the villain.
Of course, there was no guarantee that I wouldn’t die at the hands of other male characters before then.
"…I can’t die."
I clenched my teeth at the grim reality.
No, I can’t die.
I had just barely escaped that hellhole, so how could I die in this game?
"I won’t die."
Morning classes were waiting for me.
I would definitely survive and return to my original home.
I looked up at the sky and made a vow multiple times to survive no matter what.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
Before I could hide the paper with the game information, the door burst open.
"Miss."
The person who appeared was an old butler with white hair.
He stood outside the room and stated his reason for visiting without coming in.
"The Duke is looking for you."
Although he couldn’t see the writing on the paper from where he was, I was annoyed by his rude attitude.
Even when I lived in the main house, there was a person in charge of the household.
Although he didn’t like me either, he wouldn’t barge into my room like that.
Moreover, this was a setting of a strict class-based society, not a democratic one.
As I was debating whether to get angry or not,
A white square window suddenly appeared in front of me.
1. (Throwing an object) How dare you open the door without permission? Do you want to die, old man?!
2. If you have something to say, come in yourself!
3. (Glaring for 5 seconds before standing up) Fine.
'Ah.'
I had forgotten again. I couldn’t just throw a tantrum here...
But I didn’t want to act as extreme as the choices suggested.
I chose the third option with a sigh.
Whatever the affection points, I had to figure out how to deal with these damn choices first.
"...Fine."
It was fortunate that the Duke was looking for me.
I hid the paper with the game information deep in a drawer and stood up.
I followed the butler out of the room.
Since my knowledge of the Duke’s household was limited to fragmented scenes from the game, I carefully observed the mansion as I made my way to where the Duke was.
The Duke’s mansion was enormous, like something from a modern European film.
Penelope’s room was on the second floor.
The mansion was bustling as the day began. I saw many servants hurrying through the corridors as I moved toward the central staircase.
The glances I received from the servants as I followed the butler were not friendly.
But I walked past them calmly.
I had received such looks countless times before coming here, so they didn’t bother me much.
The butler led me down the stairs to the first floor and stopped in front of a grand door.