The rough thrusting started again. The sound of flesh hitting flesh was raw. The briefly extinguished flame reignited. Mercilessly pounding from below, intense intercourse began again.

“I’ll withdraw for today.”

After driving me to the brink of unconsciousness, he brought a wet towel and wiped every corner of my body. It seemed like he was handling a precious jewel.

What good did that do? The reality of being imprisoned hadn’t changed.

Still, his delicate touch felt good rather than unpleasant. Hoping I might persuade his heart somehow, the moment Count Lindsey’s face came close as he diligently wiped my body, I gently pressed my lips to his cheek.

“Thank you for wiping me down.”

I deliberately smiled brightly. Perhaps very surprised, the Count dropped the towel he was holding. His face reddened as he squeezed his eyes shut—he looked cute.

He forcibly violated me, yet why did he tremble so much when my touch reached him?

Seeing him like that, I thought he might release me soon, but that was my mistake. Count Lindsey’s stubbornness couldn’t be easily broken.

The next day, he tormented me again and forced me to accept his proposal. The pattern was similar. After heating up my body completely, he threatened me.

“Do you hate marrying me that much?”

How could I marry someone who imprisoned me? No matter how much he saved my life, I didn’t want to follow the words of a man who confined me against my will.

Count Lindsey, who made me desperate, also seemed anxious. He kept making sad eyes and expressions like he would cry, but he absolutely never cried.

When I continued being stubborn, his eyes grew coldly sunken instead.

“I’ll make you into a body that can’t live without me. So you can’t accept any other man’s c*ck.”

I too was now spiteful and absolutely didn’t want to say what he wanted. I had no intention of letting things flow according to his will.

After that, Count Lindsey continued to hold me. He truly seemed to wish for my pregnancy, not even allowing room for contraception. Every time, I had to mix bodies with him while my arms were bound.

He never ended intercourse before I fainted. And only when I lost consciousness did he undo the shackles and wash my body.

I wasn’t just passively taking it from him. To resist somehow, I kicked Count Lindsey’s body or bit his shoulder hard enough to draw blood.

I even bit inside my mouth to prevent him from kissing me, but even so, Count Lindsey didn’t stop kissing. His kisses tasted of blood.

However, resisting like that only lasted the first week. After a week passed, I gradually changed into a state of despair.

Since even the System wouldn’t help me, I had long abandoned any hope of escaping from this place.

I simply enjoyed the pleasure Count Lindsey gave me. I seemed to be tamed by him down to my bones.

“Unless you accept me, you can’t go anywhere.”

Count Lindsey still forced me to follow his words, but those words didn’t resonate deeply in my heart.

He didn’t grant what I wanted and even imprisoned me—Count Lindsey’s actions weren’t true love. They merely stemmed from possessiveness.

And thinking that his love was directed toward the woman named Angela he met six months ago, not me, made my heart ache.

I was pathetic and foolish for feeling such emotions. So I tried to suppress my heart somehow and show Count Lindsey that what he imprisoned was only my empty shell.

When I continued avoiding answering, at some point Count Lindsey also stopped asking my opinion. He just mixed bodies with me and poured s*men inside my body. It felt like being forced into pregnancy.

I only hoped I wouldn’t get pregnant.

* * *

About two weeks later, when I opened my eyes, I was alone in the room. It was the first time since being imprisoned.

Today was the day Count Lindsey went to the Imperial Palace, wasn’t it? Even though it’s just a setting, he apparently can’t go against the Imperial family.

Since this wasn’t an opportunity that came every day, I couldn’t miss today. To escape from here, I needed to ask for help, but from whom?

The most trustworthy person right now was probably Knight Commander Sir Chalmonte. He seemed like he could help me plenty. The problem was how to summon him here…

That’s when it happened.

[System: Emergency Mission! You are currently trapped in Count Lindsey’s villa. To escape from here, find Count Lindsey’s diary hidden in the room.]

[Reward: Escape from the villa.]

The moment I saw the Status Window, I felt glad. Since the screen broke last time and didn’t appear, I thought something went wrong—was it being restored?

Moreover, what a surprise that the Status Window was taking my side! If I just find the diary, I can somehow get out of here?

I was grateful for the help, but since my hands were bound, it was also troublesome.

How was I supposed to find the diary? If I could move freely, wouldn’t I have already stolen the ring on the nightstand and gone to the temple?

Finding the diary seemed impossible in my current situation, but I had nothing to argue about.

Getting out of here right now was the priority. So I decided to follow the Status Window without thinking deeply.

First, I got up and checked my range of movement. Since my arms were bound to the bedhead, I could only move left and right.

“How am I supposed to find a diary in this state?”

To find it in my current situation, it had to be somewhere my feet could reach. I put my foot under the bed to see if there might be a diary.

I wasn’t expecting anything, but I felt something heavy touching my foot. Could it be the diary?

“Ugh. Why is this so heavy?”

As I struggled to pull out that something, clanking sounds of metal hitting metal rang out. My hands got scratched by the shackles.

Still, I tried hard to drag the object caught by my foot out from under the bed.

My foot felt like it would cramp, but I squeezed out every ounce of strength and pulled out the book. The moment I finally confirmed the object that entered my view, I was disappointed.

“What? This isn’t a diary.”

What I laboriously pulled onto the bed was an introductory magic book. Why was something like this under the bed? Only then did I recall how many times the System had toyed with me.

Are you messing with me again?

Curses naturally came out, but I held back. Right now, I had nothing else to do but trust the System, so I had to move as instructed.

I dropped the book on the floor and checked under the bed again.

This time too, there was something my foot hit. It felt lighter than the dull feeling from before, so I thought this must be the diary.

Nngh. This time it was farther than before. It barely touched my big toe, so if I made a mistake, it would go further inside the bed.

I carefully pulled out the object under the bed, making sure it didn’t go further inside. This time my foot really cramped, so I struggled quite a bit to pull it out.

When I finally checked the object I pulled out from under the bed, fortunately it was the diary I was looking for.

[System: You have acquired the diary. Read the diary and find the escape method.]

“What? I thought I could leave this place just by finding the diary?”

I wondered what would change by finding the diary—what kind of situation was this? I was flustered, but I had no choice but to read the diary as the System instructed and think of a way to escape from here.

I carefully opened the first page using my toes.

[I love you, Angela.]

From the very beginning, a love confession directed at Angela was written. I immediately closed it without realizing.

Goosebumps rose on both my arms, and I absolutely didn’t want to read the diary. But I had no choice but to keep reading the diary to get the escape method, right?

Maintaining as much composure as possible, I opened the diary again.

[Her rippling golden blonde hair shines brilliantly. Just having her clear, mysterious blue eyes gaze at me deeply makes my heart pound.]

[My love, Angela was beautiful today too. Every time I see you like that, I want to whisper: I love you. Please stay by my side forever.]

The beginning was mild. Love confessions directed at Angela continued endlessly. If only that were all?

[To see Angela watering flowers in the garden so early in the morning. What an honor for me to have such a thing happen.]

[Angela shopping in the square radiated elegance and grace. I wanted to immediately approach her and hug her, but I held back. She might think I’m strange, so I had to wait for the next opportunity.]

The more I read the diary, the wider my eyes grew in shock, and I eventually closed it again. This wasn’t a diary. It was just full of observations of Angela and desperate love confessions.

What was absurd was that it was full of things I hadn’t experienced. I guessed it was about Angela from eight months ago. Probably things that happened when he was with her.

Even though I already knew this fact, seeing it confirmed with my own eyes made me feel betrayed and dirty. Various emotions mixed together, and I couldn’t define what I was feeling right now.

What kind of feelings did I have for Count Lindsey anyway? Just as I was thinking that, suddenly the door burst open and a familiar voice came from there.

“Lady Richmond, as expected, you were trapped here.”

It was Sir Chalmonte. He entered the room where I was imprisoned to rescue me.

“How did you get in? The security should be tight.”

“Everyone was asleep.”

Ah… Only then did I realize the System had helped me. The moment I acquired the diary, it must have put everyone in the mansion to sleep.

Sir Chalmonte approached me and cut the shackles binding my hands with his sword in one strike. They split in two and my hands were freed.

Perhaps because I’d been lying down for two weeks, when I tried to get up, my legs had no strength. Sir Chalmonte approached and supported my swaying body.

With his help, I approached the nightstand.

Finally!

I grasped the ring placed on top of it. Thinking about what I went through to get this ring made me feel like crying.

“Now I just need to take this ring to the temple.”

“Yes, that’s right. Let’s hurry.”

[System: You’ve acquired the ring. Now all that remains is going to the temple. Many temptations will await you on the way there. Please resist those temptations and arrive at the temple.]

[If the mission succeeds: The logout button will be activated. If the mission fails: You will continue to remain in the game.]

Now the game was racing toward its end. Three months trapped in the game world. Time seemed to flow much faster than in real life, but still, how suffocating that time had been for me.

I had many things to do when I returned to my daily life. I had to handle backed-up work, clean the house…

Huh? Now that I was about to return, I couldn’t specifically think of what I needed to do. What should I do?

As I stood dazed, Sir Chalmonte urged me on.

“My lady, what are you doing? We must hurry to the temple. We must rush before that b*stard comes.”

“Alright.”

I thought the System would automatically take me to the temple if I walked with Sir Chalmonte. But it didn’t. Until we moved to where the carriage was, the System remained silent.

Moreover, it was suspicious that Count Lindsey was staying quiet. Wasn’t he a mage? Even though I hadn’t seen him use powerful magic, he should be able to notice me escaping.

However, he didn’t show himself anywhere. Even with the System’s help, wasn’t I escaping too easily?

Thinking such thoughts, I boarded the carriage with Sir Chalmonte.