1. The Meeting

[ BAD ENDING ]

[ Cecilia failed to achieve true love.

The Olders Empire was destroyed by the demonic beast raised by the Grand Duke. The choice of Cecilia, who survived alone…… ]

“This difficulty setting is insane?!”

The player’s scream echoed after seeing the tenth bad ending. He clutched his head with both hands and spat out a string of profanities.

And there was someone watching him like a ghost.

‘What is this……?’

Her name was Tantania Magellan.

She was a person living in the game, thirteen years before the time of the protagonist of the reverse harem game displayed on the monitor in front of the wailing player.

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Countess Magellan was a lucky woman.

Tantania Magellan. Originally a Miss from the Sove marquisate family, she married Count Magellan at an appropriate time. It was an unremarkable marriage where both families’ powers and needs aligned moderately well.

Tantania had no major complaints about her ordinary life as a noblewoman. She even thought she should be grateful for this peace that bordered on tedium, but……

‘Oh, my lady. I regret to bring you such news.’

‘Count Magellan, that is, your husband Lord Hanger Magellan… has died in the recent Battle of Genes.’

When she received news of her husband’s death, it hadn’t even been a year since their marriage.

Tantania didn’t know how she should react. The war had broken out just three months after their wedding.

Her extremely wealthy husband rarely came home to the mansion even during their honeymoon period, busy managing his businesses. Tantania sent him off to the battlefield without having had the chance to develop any affection.

It was a marriage that had been emotionless from the start. Faced with the news of someone whose voice she could barely remember, all Tantania could manage was a brief response.

‘I see……’

After that single remark, she became Countess Magellan instead of the countess. This was thanks to her late husband, the former Count Magellan, who died before having an heir, causing his military honors to pass to her, his wife.

Although it was only a single promotion in rank, it was fine. After all, his vast inheritance also became entirely hers.

Tantania could easily laugh off the jealousy of those who insisted on calling her countess rather than count.

Young, beautiful, and wealthy Count Magellan. That’s what the world called her.

To be precise, she was still young, extremely beautiful, and very, very wealthy.

“Hey, Hattleton. Is it proper for a marquis like you to still visit your sister who has married into another family?”

“You’re as carefree as ever, sister. But this time, Mother and Father have truly gone far away. They went to see the Ganatio Waterfall, of all places!”

And the Count, who had nothing but time on her hands, occasionally received such visits.

It was a visit from her younger brother, Marquis Hattleton Sove, who had now become the head of the Sove marquisate family.

“Our parents wandering the world isn’t exactly a new development, is it?”

“Sister, did you hear what I said? Ganatio! That place called the end of the world, at the edge of the continent!”

“Yes, yes, it’s famous for being distant and treacherous. But they sent a message saying they arrived safely, didn’t they? That’s all that matters.”

Tantania calmly lifted her teacup and took a sip. Seeing her attitude, Hattleton looked at his sister with an exasperated expression.

She remained unchanged. Just as before she left the family through marriage, she was still peaceful and relaxed. She had always been of a leisurely disposition, but somehow she seemed even more at ease than before.

He hadn’t expected her to remain so calm even about the news of their parents, who had departed on a world tour immediately after passing the title to him.

“Fine, I suppose I was wrong to come to you, sister……”

Finally, Hattleton sighed deeply, picked up his teacup, and swirled it gently.

Under the white gazebo in the spring garden filled with the subtle fragrance of honey, only a tranquil silence lingered.

The only things there that resembled passion were the siblings’ hair colors. Tantania’s flowing red hair that looked like dancing flames and Hattleton’s short, red-pepper colored hair were identical, marking them clearly as siblings.

Their pairs of eyes, meeting with slight smiles, were green like the summer foliage.

“I still have numerous friends who can’t forget you. I wonder if they would feel the same if they knew your personality.”

“Marquis Sove, what disrespectful words to say to a lady.”

Though she scolded him, Tantania laughed, “Hoho.” As she smiled, her cheeks lifted slightly, accentuating the small brown beauty mark in the middle of her cheek.

Ah, that mark. His friends said they couldn’t forget that mark of his hers.

As a brother, it was something he couldn’t understand. Hattleton shook his head.

“Yes, I’ve been disrespectful, Count Magellan. Well, this busy man should be on his way now.”

“Oh my, are you leaving already?”

“Sister, please drop the formalities. It really makes me feel distant from you.”

Exchanging playful banter until the end, Hattleton rose, and Tantania also stood to see him off.

“Hoho, alright. You seem very busy these days. Mother and Father really were just waiting to pass the title to you, weren’t they?”

Since it had been a while since she’d seen her younger brother, Tantania accompanied him to the front of his carriage.

With each step she took, the satin dress enveloping her body rippled with a lustrous sheen. If anyone other than her bl＊＊d relative had been standing before her, they would have been captivated by her soft appearance.

“Take care, then.”

“May you be well, sister.”

Tantania waved her hand gently at the departing carriage. Though her brother inside the carriage couldn’t see it, it was a small gesture of sisterly affection.

She watched until Hattleton’s carriage passed through the main gate.

And just as the carriage disappeared from sight and she was about to return to the mansion—

“Hmm? What’s that?”

Tantania narrowed her eyes. Something dark was flickering in front of the mansion’s main gate in the distance.

It couldn’t be a guard with such a small shadow. Tilting her head in confusion, Tantania beckoned to a nearby servant.

“Hey, what is that?”

“I’ll go check and report back!”

At his mistress’s command, the servant hurriedly ran toward the main gate.

My goodness… it must be quite a distance to run.

Tantania appreciated the servant’s effort and decided to wait in place until he returned after identifying whatever was at the gate.

A gentle warmth tickled her nose as it passed by.

The scent of fresh greenery wafted through her hair as it rose and fell lightly.

Ah, it was truly spring.

“My lady! No, Count! It’s, it’s……”

“What is it that has you so flustered? It’s alright, tell me.”

“It’s, it’s a child! Seems to be an orphan, but when we tried to send them away, they had fainted……”

“A child?”

The servant who returned while she was enjoying the spring sunshine appeared quite flustered. After she gently calmed his rambling, his answer was unexpected.

“Bring them into the mansion. Once they wake up, make sure they’re washed and fed before sending them on their way.”

After tilting her head in confusion, Tantania gave the servant one more instruction and turned around. Her steps were light as she headed back to the mansion after dispensing this small act of charity.

Tantania wasn’t someone who pitied all the poor in the world, but neither was she heartless enough to ignore a life right in front of her that she could save.

Just the compassion of an ordinary person. Tantania was quite satisfied with her own ordinariness.

But perhaps she shouldn’t have picked up that child on that spring day.

That night, a small crack appeared in that ordinariness.

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