Chapter 92

Daphne (2)

“Who… died?”

I heard the news while I was in the middle of reviewing the incoming students’ documents at the military academy.

Plato had clearly run all the way here in a hurry. He was still struggling to catch his breath and couldn’t continue speaking.

Perhaps it was because he had run until he was winded.

Or perhaps it was because the news he had to deliver was of her death.

The rims of Plato’s eyes were red and swollen.

After finally steadying his breathing, he spoke quietly to me.

“They say… Lady Daphne has passed away.”

What in the world was he talking about?

Since entering this world, I had never been this bewildered.

I hadn’t even been particularly surprised when Lieutenant General Radu recently handed me a chocolate dyed a vicious purple with poison.

‘Daphne… is dead?’

The first possibility that occurred to me was that someone might have tried to poison Daphne again.

The next thing that came to mind was—

“Meursault.”

“Yes? Ah, yes. Major General Meursault is currently at Lady Daphne’s residence, but he isn’t in his right mind either, so I…”

Plato apparently thought I was asking what Meursault was doing and began explaining.

But none of it entered my ears.

I had remembered the status window I had once seen for Daphne.

[Name: Meursault’s Wife
Route: Merry Bad Ending—Hayden
Affiliated Zone: Cola
Equipped Item: Bewitching Violet Eye
*This player uses a different system version and cannot receive friend requests.]

Her route had clearly been listed as “Merry Bad Ending—Hayden.”

I had dismissed it as unimportant at the time.

But faced with the news of her sudden death, I couldn’t help remembering another player who had died in a similar manner.

The player from Safe Zone 8.

‘Could it be because she ignored her route and married Meursault…?’

Of course, I had once thought my mother had been erased because she failed her route too.

But she had apparently had enough time to leave the zone after giving up on marrying Hayden and care for the sick in the slums.

That was why I had believed the dating-sim possessors were different.

I had wanted them to be different.

They had been forced into lives they never wanted, inside bodies they never wanted, and into marriages they never wanted.

I didn’t want them to spend their entire lives trapped in this world like that.

Unlike my mother, I wanted Daphne to be happy.

Then I remembered something Daphne had said to me before.

—The quest forced me to marry Hayden… but I regretted it almost immediately. So I asked you to help me divorce him. I told you I would rather die and spend whatever time I had with Meursault.

‘No way.’

Had Daphne chosen Meursault over Hayden despite knowing what would happen?

But now that Daphne was dead, I could no longer ask her.

“Lord Haydam, are you all right?”

Plato asked me that despite looking far from all right himself.

I snapped back to my senses and said,

“What about Anton?”

“Pardon? My father must naturally be shocked as well, but—”

“Go to Anton.”

“To my… father?”

“Go right now!”

When I rose from my seat and shouted, Plato flinched in confusion.

Then, still looking as though he had no idea what was going on, he hurried out.

There was a reason I was worrying about Anton even though confirming the truth of Daphne’s death was urgent.

‘Whenever Daphne was poisoned in the game, Anton always committed suicide too.’

I had to prevent Anton from dying as well.

Praying that Plato would reach him in time, I headed for Daphne’s residence.

When I arrived, I heard the servants crying out in confusion.

Normally, they would have subjected me to a strict entry procedure at the entrance.

But none of them were there, likely because they had all gathered at Daphne’s side.

I ran into the lobby.

There was Daphne, her eyes closed and her face deathly pale.

And Meursault was holding her in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

‘Character Inspection.’

I instinctively tried to open Daphne’s character information.

The system did not respond at all.

Strangely, Daphne had a faint smile on her lips.

The moment I saw that smile, an inexplicable sense of emptiness washed over me.

‘You really… knew?’

Perhaps the reason she had hesitated to confess her feelings to Meursault until the very end—

Was because she knew this would happen?

Had I encouraged her only to lead her to her death?

A chill ran down my spine, and suddenly I found it difficult to breathe.

As dizziness washed over me, I heard a familiar voice calling me.

“Lord Haydam.”

Meursault, who had been shedding tears while holding Daphne, looked at me as though he had suddenly regained his senses.

“Meursault.”

I took a step toward him, intending to comfort him.

Then a smile appeared on Meursault’s lips.

Without realizing it, I stopped where I stood.

“You came. Thank goodness.”

Thank goodness…?

“Lord Haydam, something is wrong.”

Meursault carefully laid Daphne down.

Then he crawled toward me, practically dragging himself across the floor.

“If it is you, Lord Haydam, you must be able to save Daphne in some unimaginable way. Isn’t that right? Lord Haydam…”

Meursault crawled closer and reached for my collar.

Just before his hand could grasp it, another hand suddenly appeared from behind and caught his.

It was Commander Hayden.

“Calm yourself, Meursault.”

The commander held Meursault’s hand, lowered himself, and met his gaze.

“Explain what happened first.”

“Your Excellency…”

“We need to know what happened before we can help.”

“…”

At those words, Meursault lowered his head.

“…It is my fault.”

“Your fault?”

“I dared to covet Lady Daphne… and that is why this happened.”

At first glance, it sounded as though he were merely blaming himself for failing to save her.

But to me, someone who knew that players were erased when they failed their routes, it sounded as though Meursault knew something too.

The commander must also have known that Daphne, a player, would not simply die so suddenly.

“Wait. There are too many ears here.”

Sure enough, the commander stood and addressed the servants.

“We need some time alone as a family. Everyone, please leave.”

Family.

Come to think of it, Daphne had been married to the commander until recently, and I was supposedly their child.

That made Daphne and me family.

She had once smiled brightly when she believed my mother had considered her a dear friend.

‘Even my mother gave Hayden up for this woman.’

Had I ruined everything?

The servants looked reluctant to leave their mistress behind, but they could not disobey the commander’s order.

They all withdrew.

Only after confirming that no one remained in the lobby did the commander turn toward Meursault.

“Now tell us. What happened?”

After Daphne accepted his proposal, Meursault had been staying at her residence.

The servants remained wary of him.

However, Daphne looked so happy that they merely acted a little curt toward him and did not oppose the remarriage itself.

They had served Daphne from closest by and therefore knew better than anyone that neither she nor the commander had ever held romantic feelings for the other.

Some of them were even relieved that their mistress could finally spend her life with a man who cherished and loved only her.

Daphne and Meursault sat leaning against each other, quietly talking.

In truth, Meursault had not had much contact with Daphne until then.

He assumed there would be many things they needed to learn about each other.

But Daphne knew a startling amount about him.

Meursault almost felt as though she had been watching his entire life from somewhere high above.

Daphne looked up at him with her hazy violet eyes and said,

“Why did we never speak like this until now? If I had known it was this easy, I wouldn’t have hesitated.”

“Spending time talking with you like this feels like a dream, Lady Daphne.”

“Just call me Daphne now.”

“Pardon? H-How could I possibly dare…”

When Meursault stammered in embarrassment, Daphne tightly clasped his hand.

“Meursault, the divorce papers will arrive soon. Once I sign them, I’ll become your wife. A married couple should be equals.”

“Even so…”

“Are you saying you won’t obey my order?”

“Pardon? You just said that husband and wife were equals… No, never mind.”

Daphne relaxed the deliberately angry expression she had made and laughed softly.

“Go on. Say it.”

“D-Daphne…”

“Again. Louder.”

“D-Daphne!”

“Well done.”

Meursault wondered whether this was truly how a married couple behaved.

He felt more like a dog undergoing training.

But he thought he would be perfectly happy becoming Daphne’s dog.

“Meursault, you’ve been smiling this entire time.”

“Talking with Lady Daphne—no, with Daphne—is simply too enjoyable. How do you know so much about me?”

“Because I’ve been watching you for a very long time.”

“R-Really?”

Her words sounded as though Daphne had also harbored feelings for him for years.

Meursault’s heart began pounding.

But then memories of the kind of man he had been flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

He hurriedly began making excuses.

“The rumors that I’m insane are false. They were spread by people jealous of me. Out of all the things I have done until now, there are only a few I truly wanted to do. As for Lieutenant General Batom, His Excellency genuinely ordered me to do it, so I had no choice…”

“Meursault.”

Daphne calmed him and continued.

“I told you. I know you well.”

As she said that, her gaze seemed to pierce through every part of him.

Meursault felt as though he might be drawn into those violet eyes.

“I accepted your proposal despite knowing everything. So don’t lie to me. I liked that you were honest.”

“…Then I’ll be honest. I am probably not the kind of man you think I am.”

“What kind of man?”

“Meursault, the honest, innocent, and diligent young man.”

“U-Um…”

For some reason, Daphne looked troubled for a moment.

Then she gave him an awkward smile.

“Well… I have never once thought of you that way, but it’s all right even if you’re different from what I imagined.”

“You don’t mind if I’m different from what you thought?”

“I’m also different from the person you think I am.”

After saying that, Daphne fell silent briefly before cautiously beginning.

“This may sound insane… but what would you do if I wasn’t actually Daphne?”

“If you are not Daphne, then I find myself wondering who the woman I am about to marry truly is.”

“I’ll tell you, but only if you promise to listen and then forget everything I say.”

Meursault sensed that something was strange about Daphne.

Even so, an inexplicable premonition told him that he absolutely had to hear this story at that moment.

He nodded.

“Tell me who you are.”

With his permission, Daphne took several nervous breaths before speaking.

“The truth is, I wasn’t born in this zone.”

“Did you originally live in another zone?”

“My parents weren’t commanders. They were businesspeople. Have you ever heard the word ‘chaebol’?”

“Chaebol?”

“It’s a concept that disappeared from this world a very long time ago.”

Meursault became intrigued that Daphne knew of a concept that had vanished from this world long ago.

As he focused intently on her story, her next words came.

“And I have a younger brother with a weak body.”