TIRS13

CHAPTER 13:

 Clear Conditions

A dark room, its windows blocked by blackout curtains.

Hezen hadn’t stepped outside his bedroom once since the previous night.

Still in the same wrinkled shirt, he had spent a sleepless night on his bed, nervously gnawing at his thumbnail.

Fortunately, the system window that had briefly vanished had returned not long after.

But even that short span—less than an hour without the system—had terrified Hezen.

Ever since this game began, he had always been its protagonist.

All in-game systems revolved around him, and he had never felt fear.

But last night had been different.

Hezen couldn’t stop replaying the scene of himself running away from Ancelot, unable to respond to his threats. And the look on Luivel’s face—how pathetic he must have seemed in her eyes.

But in that moment, the chilling aura that radiated from Ancelot had left him with no choice but to flee.

Without the system window, he had been utterly ordinary—so ordinary that he didn’t know how to do a single thing.

Just like in the real world.

“This goddamned garbage game!”

Hezen shouted into the air.

He wanted to get out of the game as soon as possible.

But no matter how many times he furiously clicked the [Exit Game] button with bloodshot eyes—

[SYSTEM] Game cannot be exited during active scenario. Please complete the scenario.

—only that cursed message popped up!

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!”

The [Exit Game] button remained grayed out, showing no sign of reactivating.

In a fit of rage, Hezen kicked at the floating system window—just like Ancelot had done the day before.

“Aagh!”

But instead of damaging the window, he ended up crumpled on the floor, clutching his aching foot.

The system window shimmered above his head, entirely unharmed, sparkling as if to mock him.

“Damn it! Even the system window’s against me…!”

Everything felt awful. Hezen was furious. He was on the verge of madness, desperate to escape the game.

He was overwhelmed by emotions he’d never experienced before—frustration, fury, fear.

And on top of all that—that quest!

With bloodshot eyes, Hezen glared at the floating quest window in the air.

[Main Quest: The Lover’s Death]
Awaken through the death of your beloved !
Note: The death must occur in front of a large crowd. Let the world witness the birth of a new hero!

▶ Clear Conditions: Death of lover, witnessed by 100+ people
▶ Reward (Success): Awakening
▶ Penalty (Failure): Bad Ending

Penalty: Bad Ending.

He didn’t know exactly what that meant, but it obviously wasn’t good.

Maybe something like a eunuch ending…

“Even then, who knows if getting the bad ending would even let me leave this place…”

He might just end up stuck in the game, living out a eunuch’s life forever.

The system said the game could only be exited after completing the scenario.

Hezen glanced toward the floating Side Quest window.

[Side Quest: Stop the Breakup! (2)]
The Empress is doubting your fertility.
Before her royal physician arrives to examine you, raise ’s affection level to 500 or more and make her retract her statement.

▶ Reward (Success): Luivel’s support, +500 Honor
▶ Penalty (Failure): Empress’s Wrath, Breakup

“If I get dumped, the main quest fails too.”

But raising Luivel’s affection seemed hopeless—because of that guy.

That crazy prince from Luenhart!

He had to be up to something. The bug messages, the disappearing system window—none of it was normal.

Just then—

“Sir Hezen, you have a visitor.”

A knock, followed by a servant’s voice from outside his room.

“Visitor…?”

Hezen frowned.

“It’s Prince Orent from the imperial palace…!”

“……”

Hezen’s expression darkened instantly.

He and Second Prince Orent were hardly on good terms.

Hezen, originally a commoner, had become a rival to Orent after facing him in a martial arts tournament. But really, the only thing Orent had over him was his noble birth. No way a background character like him could compete with the main character.

That’s why Hezen always looked down on Orent, who, in turn, frequently belittled Hezen’s origins.

“Bring him to the parlor.”

It wasn’t a welcome visit, but Hezen couldn’t exactly refuse a prince. He threw on something presentable and headed out.

Since the prince had come unannounced, Hezen didn’t look especially polished as a host.

As he walked toward the parlor, he noticed that the prince had brought an excessive entourage—his estate was practically overflowing with Orent’s people.

Passing the long line of knights, Hezen finally reached the reception room, where even Orent’s secretary stood at attention.

“You’d think he was the Emperor or something.”

Hezen scoffed internally.

“Greetings, Sir Hezen.”

Orent’s secretary, Cedric, bowed courteously. Hezen merely nodded arrogantly and brushed past him.

Orent, seated at the table, waved casually when he saw Hezen.

“Hey, Sir Hezen.”

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

“Come, sit.”

Orent gestured like he owned the place, offering Hezen a seat.

“You must’ve had a rough time with all those nasty rumors. I came personally to console you.”

The “rumors” he referred to, of course, were about Hezen supposedly being impotent.

“You really don’t look well. Haven’t been sleeping?”

Orent glanced at Hezen’s bloodshot eyes, veined red from the stress.

“Bastard.”

His words were soothing, but his eyes gleamed with amusement. Hezen clenched his fists under the table.

He must’ve come just to gloat after what happened yesterday.

“His Majesty will be sending a royal physician soon. Likely right after the birthday celebration. Don’t worry too much. If it’s not true, it’ll be cleared up quickly.”

“……”

Hezen didn’t respond. His complexion grew worse as he drank his tea in silence.

Orent, watching him, asked bluntly:

“Are things rocky with Luivel these days?”

“……”

“It’s just surprising. She used to adore you so much. Hard to believe she’d go so far as to want a breakup.”

Hezen scoffed inwardly.

What a joke. When had he ever shown interest in his half-sister?

He’d always looked down on her. Called her a disgrace to the royal family—illegitimate, father unknown.

“Saw her yesterday with that prince from Luenhart.”

“……”

But in that moment, Hezen wasn’t thinking about Orent anymore.

“Right. Luivel used to like me.”

His grip on the teacup tightened.

“I invested so much into her! She’s my fiancée! My key to awakening! My sacrificial fiancée!”

He was just one step away from awakening. Once he claimed his noble title and Luivel died, he’d fully awaken—and enjoy his perfect harem life!

“Yes, Luivel was supposed to help me awaken…”

Shaking with rage, Hezen suddenly looked up.

“Huh…?”

The floating system window’s words caught his eye.

Clear Conditions: Death of lover, 100+ people in attendance

“Now that I think about it…”

There were only two conditions for clearing the quest:

The death of his lover, and an audience of 100 or more.

There were no restrictions on how she had to die.

She just needed to die in front of a crowd.

“Nothing else matters. If I can just make sure Luivel dies where people can see—”

A thunderbolt of realization struck him.

“Wait… I can just kill her myself, can’t I?”

His eyes flashed with a twisted gleam.

Everything had to be completed before the Emperor’s birthday celebration ended.

Once the birthday banquet was over, the Emperor would send a physician to check his fertility—and then the breakup would be unavoidable.

Forget the side quest. All he had to do was kill Luivel and awaken beforehand.

“But there’s no other official event with 100 or more people before the birthday banquet… And how do I kill her naturally in front of that many people?”

Hezen half-listened to Orent boast about some monster-hunting adventure, tuning him out as he began plotting the perfect way to murder Luivel.

—

Two days had passed since the battle with the system janitors.

With guests arriving from all over the empire to celebrate the Emperor’s birthday, the imperial palace buzzed with festivity.

Today was the royal hunting competition, personally hosted by the Emperor—but I had chosen not to attend.

Unlike my siblings Gloria and Orent, I had no need to curry favor with our mother. I also had no desire to walk into a crowded, dangerous place.

Skipping an imperial event as royalty was a serious offense, but the lakeside boat outing gave me the perfect excuse.

Normally off-limits, the palace lake was open to the public for a week in honor of the Emperor’s birthday. Excited by the announcement, Lady Elizabeth hosted a boat party for young noblewomen—and I used the excuse of assisting her to avoid the hunt.

After the boating, I found myself seated alone at an outdoor table by the lake, lost in thought while the noble ladies chatted nearby.

I couldn’t shake the warning Ancelot had given me two days earlier:

“If he fails the engagement quest, he’ll face a bad ending penalty. So he’ll either try to prevent the breakup… or kill you himself to complete the awakening.”