CHAPTER 11:
Finally, Just the Two of Us
Tap, clatter.
The shattered system window fell to the ground and vanished without a trace.
“Th-the system window…!”
Hezen stammered in panic, glancing around wildly.
But the system window was nowhere to be found.
…They’re all gone.
I swallowed hard, feeling a chill crawl down my spine.
It wasn’t just the noisy system window that had disappeared.
The pink status window above my head. The interface and quest windows that used to activate whenever I got close to Hezen.
All of it—completely gone.
What happened? Does that mean those cursed quests are gone too?
I couldn’t reveal to Hezen that I could see the system windows, so I kept quiet.
Just then, Hezen suddenly lunged at Ancelot and grabbed him by the collar.
“You—! You…! What did you do?!”
One of Ancelot’s eyebrows rose in irritation at the rude gesture.
Holy—!
I stared in wide-eyed shock at what Hezen had just done.
“It was you, wasn’t it?! It’s your fault! RuRu suddenly rejecting me, the system windows disappearing—it’s all your fault!”
Hezen screamed at Ancelot.
Oh no. He’s lost his mind.
Either he’d snapped from shock, or he had a death wish.
He was picking a fight with Salto! The man notorious for slicing people’s necks with a smile if they so much as annoyed him!
And Hezen’s behavior couldn’t even be described as just “slightly annoying.” It was downright suicidal.
But unfortunately, I had no loyalty left for Hezen.
While that idiot’s being an idiot, I need to quietly sneak away.
I was still reeling from the disappearance of the system, but escaping was the immediate priority.
“Hey.”
Ancelot looked down at Hezen with an icy gaze and let out a short word.
Just that one syllable was enough to make Hezen flinch and release his grip on Ancelot’s collar.
“Wh-what…!”
Bluffing after being so obviously scared—pathetic.
Ancelot looked down at him with a cold, emotionless face. The lack of visible anger somehow made it all the more terrifying.
“Let’s say it was all my doing,” he said slowly, curling his lips into a crooked smile. “The system’s gone now. So what do you think will happen if I kill you right here?”
“…!”
Hezen froze, horrified.
As a player, he could feel pain but couldn’t die before reaching the ending. Normally, he’d just reset. Or, if he spent money, he could instantly revive on the spot.
But with the system gone…
“I’m really curious. Aren’t you?”
Ancelot asked, his tone filled with eerie amusement.
“I-I-I, I…”
Pale as a sheet, Hezen trembled in place—then bolted.
He ran so fast, it almost looked like he used a skill.
That guy’s supposed to be the protagonist?
I watched his pitiful retreat for a moment before shifting my gaze toward Ancelot.
Tap. Tap.
Ancelot straightened his rumpled collar with a dissatisfied expression.
Oh, crap.
I realized too late I’d lingered too long watching Hezen’s meltdown.
I need to get out of here too—
But the moment I took a step,
“Ah.”
“Eek!”
Our eyes locked.
His face immediately lit up.
“Finally, we’re alone, Princess Louibel.”
Ancelot’s eyes curved into charming crescents as he smiled.
That smile was both devastatingly handsome and terrifying.
“Y-yeah. You sure are good at counting. If I disappear too, you’ll finally be the only one left. Well, I’ll get going now. Bye.”
I replied awkwardly and tried to leave, but his low voice caught me in my tracks.
“Our little princess is trying to run away again, like a sneaky little mouse.”
“Eek!”
“Earlier too—you tried to escape when I wasn’t looking.”
“Wha—Escape?!”
Feigning ignorance, I tried my best to sound innocent.
“Why would I run away? I just had something to discuss with my ex-fiancé.”
That wasn’t entirely a lie, so I held my head high.
Then Ancelot stepped in front of me and lowered his gaze to meet mine.
“You know something?”
“…?”
“You’re adorable when you tell obvious lies like that.”
For a moment, I could swear his smiling eyes gleamed ominously.
“You’re so cute. Can I poke your cheek just once?”
The way he stretched out the word so made chills run down my spine.
“N-no! Absolutely not!”
I shook my head quickly.
For all I knew, poking my cheek was a new method of assassination.
“Then can I pat your head?”
“No! That’s not allowed either!”
I shut that down just as fast.
What if he pretended to pat me and crushed my skull instead?
“How about holding hands?”
“Nope!”
I shoved my hands behind my back.
My hands are precious, thank you very much!
At that, the faint smile on his face vanished, and he asked seriously:
“But you let me last time.”
He must’ve been talking about the time in the western garden when he kissed the back of my hand while introducing himself.
Yeah, well—that was before I knew you were Salto!
I bit my lip and stayed silent.
“Then what is allowed?”
He tilted his head, puzzled.
“You said you’d let me stay by your side… Was that a lie?”
He said it in such a calm tone, but why did it sound to me like, “Did you lie to me? Do you want to die?”
“Lie? What lie? There’s plenty we can do together!”
I denied it strongly, and Ancelot looked at me.
“Like what?”
“L-like talking! Like this!”
I forced a smile as I replied, and he let out a small sound of realization.
“Ah, like this.”
Without realizing it, I had backed far away from him while talking.
“You did that with him too, didn’t you?”
He stepped toward me slowly.
“No, wait—didn’t you two have even closer conversations?”
“I did not—Eek!”
I tried to deny it but let out a scream when I found him suddenly right in front of my face.
“How about… you try not being afraid of me, Princess?”
He gave a soft laugh.
“I know what kind of rumors are going around about me.”
“…”
“But I don’t just kill anyone, you know. I’m not crazy.”
Yes, you are! You’re Salto! You tried to kill me in the garden!
As if he’d read my mind, Ancelot let out a sigh and took a step back.
“I’m serious.”
“…”
“You still don’t believe me.”
His voice sounded oddly dejected, and his smile turned bitter.
Under the moonlight, his pale face looked… lonely.
Why’s he smiling like that?
My heart softened just a little, and I spoke carefully.
“…No, I believe you.”
“Really?”
His dejection vanished, and he smiled brightly.
His crescent-shaped eyes pulled me in as he met my gaze.
“Then, Princess Louibel Azester…”
He called my full name with deliberate formality.
“May I come just a little closer to you?”
“…”
I still couldn’t bring myself to nod, too wary of closing the distance.
That’s when—
“There she is!”
A flurry of footsteps rang out, and a group of people rushed toward us.
“Bug detected!”
“Rear garden path behind the Crystal Hall. Two bug entities.”
“Surround the bugs.”
We were suddenly surrounded by a strange group of people.
“Wha…?”
I blinked in confusion.
Among them were palace servants, sword-bearing knights—and even Roana, the maid from my palace who I had just spoken with hours ago.
“Roana?”
“Surround the bugs.”
Roana repeated the phrase mechanically, her voice flat.
Her eyes were clouded with a dull gray. She didn’t seem like the Roana I knew.
I started to retreat in alarm—but then I felt a firm hand gently grip my shoulder.
“Ugh. More of the system’s lackeys.”
Ancelot muttered with a bored expression as he looked around.
“The system’s lackeys…?”
“Yes. The system’s cleaners.”
Bugs, cleaners… I was more confused than ever.
Then, near Ancelot, white orbs appeared—the same ones he used when attacking me in the garden.
The orbs stretched and transformed into a long spear.
As soon as Ancelot grasped it, the so-called [System Cleaners] flinched and drew their weapons.
Some held sharp shuriken and daggers. Others somehow produced huge axes and bows from who-knows-where.
Those are real…
In all my twenty years as Louibel Azester, I’d never seen such weapons.
“So many of you, like a swarm of ants. How utterly uncute.”
Ancelot’s lips curled into a mocking smile.
And then, all at once—
“Terminate the bug.”
“Terminate the bug.”
“Terminate the bug.”
The system cleaners launched a coordinated attack—
On me.
