DRMB Chapter 10

‘He wasn’t in a position to, nor was he the kind of person to do so.’

Still, he found solace in the fact that Phelix was absent, but as if to shatter her peace, she sensed a presence behind her.

Turning around, she saw Phelix, fully dressed in contrast to her naked form, scanning through the documents by the light of a single lamp.

His appearance felt strangely familiar. And so, she watched him for a while, but he seemed to sense her gaze and looked up, their eyes meeting.

“…….”

At that moment, Ipersha saw his eyes darken to a deep crimson.

Without a word, Phelix placed the documents he was holding on a nearby table. In the quiet room, the sound seemed unusually loud.

He walked towards the bed.

‘Why, why is he suddenly coming closer?’

Ipersha heard a warning bell ringing in her head, urging her to escape. But naked and already within his grasp, there was no way she could run away. She squeezed her eyes shut helplessly, and suddenly, a clear ringing sound echoed.

Cautiously opening her eyes slightly, she saw him looking down at her with his arms crossed. He held a small bell in one hand, taken from the nightstand.

“If you’re awake, get up. You must be hungry.”

If he had stopped at the first sentence, she could have interpreted it easily, but the words he added made it confusing.

Wasn’t he telling her to leave the room now that she was awake?

As she blinked, lost in thought, a knock came on the door, and servants carrying trays bustled in and out, placing dishes on the table.

When she came to her senses, a feast was laid out before her eyes.

‘…Did Phelix Obern actually prepare my meal himself?’

Staring blankly at the unbelievable sight, Ipersha turned heard head toward Phelix, and he tilted his chin slightly.

As if he was giving permission to a pet waiting for its owner’s approval with food placed before it.

‘That’s more like it.’

The outrageous thought she had momentarily entertained vanished like dust.

His attitude, which didn’t even acknowledge her as an equal, clearly showed that this meal wasn’t for her sake.

The funny thing was that it was precisely this attitude that made her think the food wasn’t poisoned or drugged. He was not the type to bother with such a roundabout method; he would have forced poison down her throat or injected her arm directly.

Of course, a lingering sense of unease still remained.

-Growl.

But the timely rumbling of her stomach prompted her to pick up her utensils.

Refusing the meal here would only be to her detriment. He wasn’t merciful enough to generously consider her circumstances.

‘…Delicious.’

Fortunately, her starving stomach readily accepted the food, regardless of the situation.

Come to think of it, this was the first meal she had eaten since arriving in this world. Even in the game, the food tasted no different.

Ipersha diligently ate, knowing she needed to fill her stomach to have the energy to do anything.

It’s a relief he didn’t cut off my meals from the start, she thought emptily, filling her belly. A sense of relief washed over her, along with the satisfaction of a full stomach.

She thought this was the end of it.

“Are you done eating?”

But the question that followed sent a chill down her spine.

Ipersha wanted to shout “no” at that instant, but sadly, her stomach was already full to the brim, unable to take another bite.

In the end, she had no choice but to nod weakly and turn to him. It was at that moment she realized that this was the moment of warning that had been ringing in her head.

He had approached her so closely without her noticing and proceeded to strip her clothes off right then and there.

‘After that, it just kept repeating.’

She would collapse from exhaustion after sleeping with him, wake up again, fill her stomach served like a feast, and then sleep with him again…

‘No, later on, I didn’t even fill my stomach with food.’

Because it happened so frequently, with no time to digest, she constantly felt nauseous and bloated, so she barely ate later on.

Even so, Phelix would patiently wait beside her and, as soon as she put down her utensils, he would take her.

Once, she pushed him away roughly, insisting he had promised her freedom, and got out of bed, but she couldn’t even take a single step. Her legs gave way.

He annoyingly smirked, saying he had given her freedom, and it wasn’t his fault she couldn’t walk and leave, then followed her down to the floor and grabbed her hips.

And then it repeated all over again.

‘I’m going to get sick trying to cure him.’

If something hadn’t come up for Phelix today, she imagined the situation would be no different. Of course, even so, with her aching back, sore core, and her entire body throbbing, she wasn’t exactly free to move around.

A deep sigh escaped Ipersha’s lips. Somehow, she felt like she had been completely at the mercy of the first capture target.

At this rate, how long would it take for me to reform all of the capture targets…?

‘No. This is just the beginning. I shouldn’t rush it. I’ll focus on what I can do now.’

Shaking her head at her habitually pessimistic thoughts, Ipersha steeled her resolve.

She had already achieved 18% reformation with Phelix. Like a typical capture game, his affection level had also risen to 10.

‘It feels a little low considering this ordeal…’

But tricking him was a significant achievement in itself, so she decided not to be greedy.

‘At least I can escape for a while now, thankfully.’

In the game, whenever Phelix left for work, he wouldn’t return to the ducal estate for several days. His work mainly involved illegal activities, and if it required his personal involvement, it must be a significant undertaking.

Therefore, Ipersha had at least a few days to herself.

‘It usually took two weeks at most, sometimes even half a month, so it should be enough time to recover and make my move.’

Ipersha decided to choose her next capture target during this time.

‘There are five capture targets in the game. Now I’ve met Phelix, so there are four left.’

The Paladin, Ian Kemel.
The Crown Prince, Leonid Lu Celt.
The Grand Duke, Kaern Loxid.
And the Marquis, Dion Luhinus.

‘I’ve seen the route selection screen dozens of times because I kept going back to the beginning, so I even remember all their names.’

Who knew that would be even helpful?

Letting out a laugh at the simultaneously amusing and depressing situation, Ipersha suddenly curled up, clutching her waist. Even laughing hurt.

‘Damn that Phelix Obern.’

Ipersha cursed Phelix inwardly one more time, then shifted her position in bed.

And then she fell into thought again.

‘Unlike Phelix, the other capture targets’ routes started after being held captive by Phelix for about a year and then escaping.’

When she played the game, her choice of Phelix as the first capture target wasn’t entirely her own. It was because the game forced her to start with Phelix’s route.

She learned the reason after selecting the ‘escape’ option, which appeared for the first time after countless restarts, only to fail and reach a dead end, which then unlocked the other capture targets’ routes.

‘The ‘escape’ option was the key to unlocking the other routes.’

When entering another capture target’s route, a short narration would appear, which could be summarized as follows:

Ipersha attempted countless escapes from Phelix, but she was caught every time, each attempt leaving her more and more broken.

Then, after a year, she finally succeeded in escaping one afternoon while Phelix was away from the mansion.

‘That’s where the common episode for all capture targets except Phelix began.’

During her escape, Ipersha ran into Ian Kemel, who was leading the Paladin Order in a city parade.

By then, Ian’s condition was at its worst due to the madness, and Ipersha was being relentlessly pursued even on the brightest day by Shed, Phelix’s subordinate.

In that situation, Ian was on the verge of an outburst, and amidst the chaotic crowd, Ipersha approached him.

‘The game’s explanation was that Shed’s pursuit slowed down as she got closer to Ian. There was no separate explanation as to why it happened, though.’

In any case, Ipersha saw that moment as an opportunity.

The existence of Transcendent Ones was famous not only within the Empire but throughout the entire continent, so even Ipersha, who came from the slums, knew very well who they were.

Moreover, she had learned a lot through Phelix over the past year.

About the madness they experienced, the state they were in just before an outburst, and the fact that she was the only one who could soothe them.

In other words, she knew how desperately they needed her and how attractive she was to them.

‘So, she decided to reveal herself to the world. To escape from Phelix.’

And that plan was successful.