Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Even though his affection score had gone up by 3% in such a short period, I wasn’t pleased.

“What are you doing here?” Eckles asked softly.

“Can you lower your sword, please?” I asked, staring down at the wooden sword he was still holding against my neck. “It’s uncomfortable.”

“Oh...” he exclaimed.

With a movement—so swift I couldn’t catch it—the sword was gone. The blade sliced through the air as he raised it above his head. A long shadow fell over my face, and I flinched, closing my eyes involuntarily.

I knew it was unlikely, but I was scared he might strike me with the sword. Suddenly, the sound of something splintering caused my eyes to snap open and find that the sword lay on the ground in two pieces.

What the...

My eyes slowly tracked from the sword to Eckles as he fell to his knees in the mud.

“Mistress.”

“...”

“I’m sorry.”

He knelt before me, begging for forgiveness.

“I... I dared to...”

The way his face contorted reminded me of a child about to burst into tears.

“Punish me.”

The rain was beginning to come down more heavily. Droplets dripped endlessly down Eckles’ face, down his shapely nose and sharp jawline. He looked so pathetic. But I recognized immediately where his gaze had fallen. His eyes were focused on the red ruby that adorned my left index finger. I sighed, barely audible. I glanced between Eckles and the discarded pieces of the broken wooden sword.

He’s asking me to punish him, but he looks ready to attack if I so much as raise a finger against him.

Eckles had thrown the pieces of the sword aside with some force, as they were half buried in the mud, the sharp, jagged edges pointing straight up. I had a sneaking suspicion that—were I unfortunate enough to trip and fall—I would end up impaled on them.

Ugh...

Just thinking about it made me tremble. A stray thought came to me regarding the dialogue choices that I had turned off.

In the real game, I’d have died during this scene.

I’d have reset the game over and over until I could finally make progress in the story. Of course, I couldn’t be a hundred percent certain since I hadn’t played Eckles’ storyline in hard mode. However, I’d spent enough time in this game world to instinctively know that I’d reached a crossroads.

What does Penelope need to say to survive right now?

I regarded Eckles—still kneeling at my feet—with cold eyes. His gaze was fixed pitifully on the ground in the pouring rain. I wondered what was going on inside his head. His home country had vanished overnight, leaving a talented swordsman to be nothing but a slave in the mud. He probably hated the arrogant aristocrat who had bought him for an extravagant price and despised his current situation, which forced him to bow his head obediently if he wanted to survive.

It wasn’t hard to guess how he was feeling. He’d immediately attacked when he’d realized someone was behind him, and I’d seen for myself the venomous hostility in his eyes. It told me everything I needed to know about the rage that must be bubbling inside him. I knew there was only one viable solution. I had to smile innocently like the heroine of normal mode who knew nothing about the way the world really worked.

I just need to tell him it’s all right, that everything is fine. But I couldn’t bring myself to say those empty words. How can I just say that everything’s fine?

He could have killed me with that wooden sword.

“Eckles...” I said, clenching my quivering hands into fists. I decided I couldn’t give him false platitudes, so I changed strategies. “Has someone been bullying you?”

Even though I’d rescued Eckles, I still had to continue thinking of ways I could survive. This wouldn’t change as long as I was playing Penelope—the villain of this story.

“As far as I’m aware, the knights who serve the manor are treated very well. Why are you training in this weather?” I asked.

“...”

“And all alone, at that,” I said, forcing myself to smile. All the while I was keeping a wary eye on him in case he suddenly shoved me toward the jagged wooden sword pieces.

“Hmm?” I pressed. Eckles’ face was empty of emotion, and he stared blankly.

“You’re all wet,” I said, trying again.

I knew it was useless, but I bent, tilting the umbrella so that it shielded him from the rain. His long lashes were heavy with dewy raindrops. I reached out and softly wiped some of the moisture from his eyes.

“Tell me, who forced you to train out here in the rain?”

Eckles flinched when I brushed my hand against his face as if my fingers were hot brands.

Then he said, his voice almost a sigh, “No one...”

“...”

“No one forced me to.”

“Why are you out here, then?” I asked softly.

“It’s just... I...” he said, trailing off. His eyes trailed from my hand up to my face. “I want to become a real knight as fast as I can so I can serve by your side...”

“...”

“That was why I was training alone, Mistress.”

“I’m proud of you,” I said, smiling gently.

His gray gaze focused on me, losing its watery sheen.

“Since you’ve been training so hard, I’ll have to reward you.”

The letters above Eckles’ head began to blink again. I did my best to tamp down my emotional turmoil, so nothing showed on my face.

“Shall I tell the servants to set up a tent so that you can train even when it rains? Or is there something else you want?”

“...”

Eckles shook his head silently. My eyes fell to the broken wooden sword.

“Oh, right. Your sword is broken. I’ll have to get you a new one,” I offered.

“...”

“I shall summon a weapons trader. Or would a blacksmith be better? That way a completely new weapon could be forged for you—”

“Mistress,” he said, cutting me off. “I’d like it if you came to see me more often.”

His reply baffled me. I regarded him with wide eyes as he continued.

“You’ve not come to see me once since you brought me here...”

“...”

“I thought you’d forgotten about me.”

There was something like blind devotion in his eyes as he gazed at me like he was desperate for my affection.

“Ha...” A mocking laugh—it might have been directed at myself, I couldn’t be sure—escaped my lips. I was certain now. I’d found it strange. A killing machine that had dispatched so many with such ease had knelt at my feet so readily. Just as I played the role of loving master to build up his affection score, Eckles was pretending to be a loyal dog to ensure his survival.

Maybe not a dog. He’s more like a lion cub.

Like a fool, I’d never once thought that pursuing Eckles would be dangerous in any way, but I wasn’t so sure anymore. I hadn’t pursued all possible routes in hard mode and maybe that had now come back to bite me. In any case, quitting wasn’t an option.

“All right... If that’s what you want,” I replied.

[Affection Score 25%]

Eckles smiled faintly at my easy agreement.

“You’ll catch a cold, Eckles.”

His lips had slowly begun to turn blue since he’d stopped his grueling training. I kept my voice as gentle as I could but showed no hesitation as I straightened, taking my umbrella with me. The rain began pelting Eckles’ naked upper body once more.

“Stop training for today. That’s an order.” I turned away abruptly and was already several paces away when he called after me softly.

“Mistress.”

I glanced back and found that he was still kneeling in the mud. His eyes were fastened to me, and he didn’t bother trying to escape the rain as if it hadn’t even occurred to him.

“Why aren’t you... punishing me?”

“...”

“I nearly hurt you.”

No, he hadn’t only nearly hurt me.

You could have killed me.

My lips pursed but I forced them into a smile.

“Only a fool would punish a loyal knight over such a trivial matter, Eckles.”

“...”

“You didn’t do it on purpose, did you?” I turned and strode away before he could answer. I could feel his eyes watching me as I left the training grounds. I had neither commanded my one and only knight to get up nor had I granted him forgiveness. Fortunately, he didn’t try to call me back again.

I fled down the path, uncaring that my dress was getting soaked. I passed through the grounds quickly, in stark contrast to my earlier wandering. I’d been walking carefully in order to keep my skirts dry.

The Eckles route doesn’t guarantee my safety.

This discovery left me feeling dismayed. It wasn’t anything new, all things considered. All five main love interests started with a zero or negative affection score. I’d died more times than I could count in the first episode of hard mode. What had I been thinking, expecting an easy way out of this?

How foolhardy of me to approach him so fearlessly!

Just thinking about the kiss of the wooden sword against my neck made me feel dizzy all over again.

“Ah...”

I came to a stop. Unaware that I was still partly exposed to the rain, I leaned against the wooden pole I had found myself standing next to. My knees felt like they might give out at any second. I glared into the fog until the dizzy spell cleared.

At that moment I suddenly knew: “I need to meet with Winter as soon as possible.”