It was the second time I faced him. He was handsome as I remembered, and he inspired fear.

I averted my gaze without even having time to check the Duke’s profile window.

“What is this commotion?”

Duke Cromwell said coldly.

Even though he’s just saying one sentence, I feel overwhelmed.

Is this what being a noble means?

♡SYSTEM♡

You have been overwhelmed by Duke Cromwell’s dignity!

Ding!

The system window chimed as if reading my emotions.

But the notifications didn’t end there.

♡SYSTEM♡

Your mental strength decreases by 5 due to being overwhelmed!

[Mental Strength: 25/100]

♡SYSTEM♡

Status ailment! [Overwhelmed] has been activated and you cannot move for 5 minutes!

[Time remaining: 4 minutes 59 seconds]

‘What the h*ll……’

This kind of feature exists?

My mental strength gets reduced and I get a status ailment just because I’m overwhelmed?

‘There were no status ailments in the game!’

So that’s why the difficulty is extreme?

‘D*mn this terrible game……’

I want to complain to someone, anyone.

But as if the status ailment is real, I can’t even move a finger.

“……”

My entire body has stiffened completely.

‘I should be defending myself, but instead I get a penalty that freezes my body.’

I need to explain my position right now, or I’ll end up looking like a lunatic accusing an innocent person of embezzlement.

I should be reporting the embezzlement, but instead…..

“I was just cautioning the lady’s nanny for causing a commotion in the hallway.”

‘What is she saying?’

The embezzler told a lie without even batting an eye.

She seems to be planning to get rid of the Duke first.

I should admire how quickly her mind works.

I thought he would accept that and leave.

“Is that true?”

This dialogue wasn’t in the game.

As if to prove my prediction wrong, Duke Cromwell asked me for confirmation even though he didn’t need to.

“……”

His voice sounded so warm that I almost forgot Duke Cromwell was a person to be wary of.

I wanted to answer. I really did.

But I couldn’t even part my lips or move my neck.

“The head maid said embezzlement……”

Just then, a maid who failed to read the atmosphere muttered.

It was fortunate for me.

My face brightens. It seems I can at least change my expressions.

When her lie was exposed, the head maid covered it up with an explanation no one had asked for.

“I told her the child support payment would be late because there were documents to process…… We agreed that instead of a check for the first month, I would slightly increase her weekly pay…… But she’s accusing this old woman of embezzlement.”

“……”

“There seems to be a misunderstanding, so I suggested we talk somewhere private……”

Sob sob.

The embezzler pretended to cry, gaining sympathy.

The air stirred uneasily.

Time remaining: 3 minutes 22 seconds

‘Please, mouth, move……’

But not even half the time had passed.

“If it wasn’t enough, she could have just said so……! Hic, why be so stingy with money meant for the young lady…… If she had asked, I would have given it.”

The embezzler took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes.

As she said, I hadn’t asked.

Why?

♡Miriam Lynch: Did you just say the money wasn’t enough? Hmm…, that amount should be sufficient.

Because I had already heard her position in the game.

I knew she wouldn’t increase it by even 1 gold.

I didn’t want to waste time on her.

“I wonder why she specifically called it embezzlement…… Surely the nanny herself isn’t doing it?”

‘What nonsense is this now?’

Every word out of her mouth is automatically a lie.

Time remaining: 2 minutes 5 seconds

Just 2 minutes until the status ailment is lifted.

Lorelai’s silence, regardless of how flimsy the head maid’s claims were, was enough to make me look suspicious.

In less than 5 minutes, she had successfully made me look like a person without conscience.

“Is what the head maid said true?”

Duke Cromwell tilted his head and asked.

“……”

Surprisingly, he wasn’t scolding me.

‘Lorelai, why can’t you answer when the Duke is asking?’

Because of this crazy game!

‘It’s all lies……’

But couldn’t you wait just 1 minute and 30 seconds?

I ended up resenting Duke Cromwell’s unnecessarily overwhelming presence.

Tears welled up in my eyes from the injustice.

I looked at Duke Cromwell with drooping eyes.

Please read my innocence.

Time remaining: 1 minute

“……”

Duke Cromwell looked at me once, receiving no answer, and sighed.

If he could stay here just one more minute, I could tell him everything……

“……We’ll talk later.”

Duke Cromwell said with a furrowed brow.

Between a head maid who had worked in the mansion for decades and a nanny he’d only seen once in his life.

The person the Duke would believe was predetermined from the start.

With those final words, he left the hallway.

♡SYSTEM♡

Status ailment lifted!

By the time I could move again—

“Lorelai Keith, you’re fired.”

The head maid said as she took away the young lady.

✧ʚ .·:¨༺♡༻¨:·. ɞ✧

The outing was noisy as expected.

Not the kind of commotion Jeremiah Cromwell had in mind, but a commotion nonetheless.

‘……First time since last week.’

Large, puppy-like brown eyes had looked at him.

Rather than fear……

‘Was it indignation.’

It was different from the familiar dread he was sick of seeing.

Unlike others who hurried to hide negative emotions in his presence, the young lady’s nanny displayed hers openly.

As if begging him to understand.

“I should talk to her separately.”

Duke Cromwell, unaware that Lorelai Keith had been fired, muttered.

There was no point in questioning her on the spot when she was so stiff she couldn’t even answer.

He had no intention of extracting information through intimidation.

“Hasson.”

“You called, my lord.”

A little while later, Duke Cromwell called for the chief butler, Hasson.

“Summon the young lady’s nanny.”

It would be better for her too if this was resolved quickly.

But instead of moving immediately, Hasson replied with a troubled voice.

“……Lorelai Keith has been dismissed.”

“Dismissed, you say.”

Duke Cromwell frowned slightly upon hearing the answer.

Managing the staff was indeed the responsibility of the head maid and chief butler.

If the Duke took charge of every little thing like hiring and firing, the household wouldn’t function properly.

So it wasn’t unusual, but……

“That’s strange.”

It gave the impression that the head maid had hastily driven out the young lady’s nanny.

“Lynch will be taking care of the young lady for the time being.”

“The young lady’s nanny…… Has Keith left?”

Duke Cromwell asked.

“She’s still in the mansion. I’ll call for her.”

The butler said, quick to read the situation.

“No, I’ll go to her myself. You bring me the recent financial transaction records of the head maid and the nanny’s salary payment statements.”

✧ʚ .·:¨༺♡༻¨:·. ɞ✧

The embezzler, Miriam Lynch, held the real power in the mansion, which is why I was about to be kicked out without severance pay.

—Please leave within an hour.

One hour.

I have to leave the ducal residence within an hour.

“……”

It doesn’t feel real.

I had just come to terms with being inside a game.

Now my role in this world has disappeared.

‘Is there any reason for me to stay here?’

If I’ve been kicked out of the mansion, shouldn’t I be sent back to reality?

I checked the profile window with the desperation of a drowning person clutching at straws.

♡PROFILE♡

Name: Lorelai Keith

Health: 40/100 Mental Strength: 25/100

Fame: 0

Level: 2

~ Ongoing Quests (1) ~

Quest: (Hidden) Achieve the Imperial Princess Ending!

Time Remaining: 3 years

Difficulty: Extreme

Quest Reward: Return to the real world, 6 billion

Quest Failure Penalty: ???

※ [Extreme] difficulty means playing without saves.

※ [Hidden Mode] does not provide mid-term evaluations.

The profile window was exactly the same as this morning.

The quest was still ongoing.

Not suspended, not abandoned, but ‘ongoing’.

Does that mean it’s not over yet?

‘I should probably stay near the mansion if I want to be reinstated as a nanny.’

I rubbed my face with dry hands.

“……”

The bedroom was quiet.

Unnaturally so.

I thought I would feel relieved without a whining baby, that my thoughts would unfold without interruption.

But the absence of that tiny being left a bigger void than I expected.

‘……It’s not even my child.’

For a week, and even before coming here, I had watched the young lady grow.

I looked with lingering attachment at the notebook open on the desk, or more precisely, at the young lady in its pages.

“They say humans are creatures of forgetfulness.”

Not even a day had passed, but the young lady’s absence felt greater than the comfort of silence.

‘Can I go back?’

What if I waste three years and end up receiving the penalty?

What if I’m trapped here?

To divert my troubled mind, I turned my attention to the small bag at my feet.

It contained Lorelai’s personal belongings, brought from the dormitory by her roommate.

‘……What kind of person was Lorelai?’

Looking at her belongings made me wonder.

I had never once been curious about what kind of person the nanny was.

I didn’t think she would have any distinctive characteristics, being just a character in a game.

But seeing her personal items changed my mind.

Either she had spent all her modest wages on luxury items, or ‘Lorelai Keith’ had been wealthy.

The worn leather bag showed signs of age but was clearly high-quality, and one of the dresses inside was made of silk that a maid’s salary could never afford.

♡SYSTEM♡ You have acquired diamond earrings!

These earrings looked expensive enough to make me forget my current situation.

‘Are these stolen?’

Such concerns even crossed my mind.

I searched the bag thoroughly but found no meaningful clues.

I had secretly hoped for milestones of her life, like a diary or letters, that would help me understand who ‘Lorelai Keith’ was……

She doesn’t seem to have been the type to keep records.

‘Does she have family to contact?’

I wondered as I changed into outdoor clothes from the bag.

The clothes were modest but fit perfectly, being custom-made.

‘But what would I do if I met Lorelai’s family?’

I don’t know if they exist, and even if they do, I’m not sure I could convincingly play the ‘Lorelai’ they know.

Whether they have a good relationship or a bad one, it’s problematic.

The former would be deception, and the latter would be repeating a life similar to before.

I have nowhere to go.

“……”

It hits me that there’s not a single person in this world who knows me.

‘What am I going to do for a living?’

Should I learn a skill?

“First…… I should sell this.”

I muttered as I put the earrings deep into the bag.

I’m sorry to Lorelai who probably saved money to buy these, but I needed to secure funds for immediate survival.

“First I’ll go to Pons village and—”

While I was reciting my plan and closing the bag—

“Planning to leave?”

A third person’s voice was heard.

I turned toward the source of the sound.

“……It is an honor to see you, Your Grace.”

It was Duke Cromwell.