Chapter 7
“Elysia Sempherion, what on earth do you think you’re doing right now?! Who taught you that you could behave so recklessly?”
After a cold silence, the duke’s belated outburst echoed through the dining hall. Elysia slightly covered her mouth and avoided his eyes. It seemed the effect of the “Truthful Words” had finally worn off, and she couldn’t speak any further, but the duke looked like he was already thoroughly fired up.
‘Why is he this angry? It’s not like I didn’t apologize.’
I said I wouldn’t go, didn’t I? And I even said I was sorry!
Granted, my words came out a little too blunt—less filtered than I expected—but still! I stuck to the point. Isn’t that enough?
‘Were they ever planning to listen to me in the first place?’
If it were anyone else, they would have paid attention the moment she said, “The food tastes strange,” and would’ve sensed something was off when she pointed out, “Only my fork is like this.”
But no matter what she said, they only saw it as Elysia’s overacting or childish tantrum.
To Elysia, there was no need to force ties with the male leads. Given this chance for “self-reflection,” she thought it better to stay in her room and work on a business plan. Plus, she could also wait for a response from customer service.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to clearly express my firm resolve not to go. That’s all.”
Elysia added a delayed explanation, but the duke sharply retorted as if it were too late.
“And you think saying that now will make anyone believe you?”
His tone was razor-sharp. Across the table, Howell also looked down at his plate, his face filled with contemplation.
Whether it was from watching Elysia twist her fork earlier or hearing her outburst under the “truth” effect, he interjected with a pale face.
“…But Father, strangely enough, she seems to be serious this time.”
Howell turned to Elysia in disbelief.
“Are you really going to do that? Stay quietly at home? What’s your angle this time?”
Suspicion +50%
Suspicion 150% → 200%
Howell is now on high alert because of your shocking behavior!
‘Wait, what does “on high alert” even mean?’
LOLLLLLL
Honestly, that’s fair tho 😂
Howell is definitely spooked 😭
“Yes, of course. I truly plan to stay quietly at home.”
Elysia flashed a bright smile. Her expression radiated: I’m completely harmless, everyone! I just want to live quietly and make money until I escape!
But the more she smiled, the weirder Howell’s expression became. Finally, he whipped his head toward the duke.
“F-Father. Who knows what she’s plotting behind that smile? We should increase the security around the mansion.”
“Obviously,” the duke replied coldly, not even looking at Elysia as he continued cutting his meat.
“Elysia, no matter what you say, we’ll have to wait and see what your actions reveal.”
Was he suppressing his anger, giving up, or simply not caring anymore? His attitude was unreadable.
The duke gave her a firm warning after a sideways glance.
“Remember this, Elysia Sempherion. You clearly stated you’d obey the house arrest. If you said it just to get out of this situation, your punishment later will be far worse. I suggest you act wisely from now on.”
“Understood.”
Elysia responded briskly.
‘That much is fine. It’s not like I’m going to seek out the crown prince or send him letters.’
She had plenty to do in her room anyway—gathering information, contacting the game company, asking viewers questions, and researching ways to escape “this world.” She snuck a glance at the duke.
‘Did he let it go?’
He had definitely looked angry earlier… but maybe because she apologized quickly—or maybe because he already knew his daughter had a rotten personality—he didn’t press further.
As soon as the duke heard her reply, he stopped paying attention and resumed eating. Howell, too, after giving Elysia a few suspicious glances, returned to his meal.
Only the soft clinking of utensils echoed in the awkward dining room.
Elysia looked down at the food on her plate.
‘Oh, right. I still have to deal with this.’
Let’s not forget—the food is poisoned.
It’d be foolish to knowingly eat it.
Elysia glanced at Howell and the duke. Were they eating unpoisoned meals? Or were they unaware? Either way, they were eating like nothing was wrong.
‘But I’ve already lost my appetite anyway.’
Are you seriously gonna eat poison??
First-ever poisoned mukbang!
LMAO this is wild 🤣
“Of course, I’m not going to eat it!”
Elysia thought deeply.
‘Do I have any usable options right now?’
The first menu she checked had looked like this:
Help
Menu
Quest List
Start Live Streaming
[Access Denied]
[Access Denied]
‘No skill or status window, huh.’
At the very least, she needed to check if there were any skills to secretly dispose of food, or resistance against poison. She called out through voice chat:
“Skill window!”
Access currently unavailable.
‘Tch. Thought so.’
It seemed she had to complete the tutorial quest first. In other words, she currently had no usable abilities.
‘But still, I’m not about to shovel poison into my mouth for fun.’
The bite she’d already taken was probably fine, but how could she eat more without knowing her health stats?
After a moment of thought, she looked up.
‘Maybe… this will work?’
“…Inventory.”
The soft whisper barely left her lips—but the effect was massive.
Loading available inventory (0/10)
A pop-up window appeared with a dazzling light.
‘I knew it!’
Even in the romance game Lemegold, the inventory feature existed. The main character, Prillian, would store love letters and premium items from male leads there.
“But I’ll store a poisoned potato instead.”
With a mischievous smile, Elysia stealthily tossed the piece of potato she’d been chewing into her inventory.
‘I’ll have to analyze the poison later.’
Best to gather evidence before it vanished. As soon as she placed the potato in, an alert appeared:
Inventory Slot 1: Poisoned Potato stored.
“…Guess that worked?”
The chat exploded instantly:
Poisoned potato in the inventory LMAOOOO
That’s where the crown prince’s ring is supposed to go 😭
This stream is gold 😂
From then on, Elysia continued secretly storing dishes in her inventory when no one was watching.
Most of the staff had fled the dining hall after the duke’s outburst, and both the duke and Howell avoided eye contact with her, which made it easier to hide the food.
“I’ll be heading up now.”
As she stood and excused herself, the duke called for the staff.
“Escort Elysia to her room. Can’t have her getting lost in the house during confinement.”
“Yes, sir.”
‘That’s a bit much.’
Who gets lost inside their own house? It was clearly a way of saying: Don’t try to sneak out—just go quietly to your room.
‘Was the maid outside my room standing guard for that reason too?’
It was becoming obvious—she was being watched, not trusted. Elysia accepted this and followed the servants out of the dining room.
The duke watched her leave with a relieved look, as if solving a headache. As he stood, Howell paused to glance at Elysia’s plate and frowned.
“She didn’t leave any food behind?”
He muttered suspiciously.
“…Even though she said it tasted weird.”
Howell’s suspicion increases by 20%!
Suspicion 200% → 220%!
Howell is really suspicious of you now!
Meanwhile, walking down the hall, Elysia squinted at the alert and muttered in frustration.
“What the—he’s not even looking at me and his suspicion keeps going up?”
LOLLLLL
He’s definitely freaked out
But honestly… you were kinda terrifying earlier 😂
“Come on, what’s scary about me? If anything, Howell seemed to pity me.”
There’s a saying: You avoid poop not because it’s scary, but because it’s dirty. That’s exactly how Howell looked at her.
A weary gaze that said: Ugh. Just stay away.
‘Well, I guess you can be wary of poop too.’
Still, it meant getting close to him—or gaining his help—was going to be difficult.
‘I’ve got a long way to go.’
Elysia sighed and kept walking.
But really, there was nothing to worry about. No matter what happened with Howell, as long as she escaped, everything would be fine.
…Yes. Just focus on escaping for now.
As Elysia let out a thoughtful sigh, a group of maids appeared in front of her.
“Ah, my lady!”
The group stood clustered in front of her room, all looking visibly flustered. One maid at the front bowed deeply.
“Um… I’m terribly sorry about this morning! Dora, who was supposed to keep watch, nodded off… I’ll retrain her right away.”
“…Dora?”
Behind her, the maid named Dora turned pale and bowed with trembling shoulders. She was the one who’d been dozing outside Elysia’s room.
‘Hmm…’
Elysia tilted her head. The situation seemed stranger than she thought.
She’d assumed the maid was stationed outside her door to watch her. So if Dora had dozed off and missed Elysia leaving, shouldn’t she apologize to the duke or Howell?
But instead, they were apologizing to Elysia.
‘Wait… Did I order them to stand guard?’
Did the original Elysia ask them to keep watch over herself?
To confirm, she asked, “Hold on. Who exactly told you to stand watch outside my room?”
“Huh?”
The maids looked at each other, confused. One finally answered calmly.
“My lady… you did.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. You told us to take turns every night, not to sleep, use the bathroom, or even drink water.”
Her voice was calm, but there was a passive-aggressive edge to it—resentment at being treated so harshly and now seeing that the lady didn’t even remember giving the order.
Elysia studied the maids’ faces. Not just the one who spoke, but the others too, all wore subtle looks of resentment.
An air of discomfort surrounded them.
Outwardly, they were polite—but it was clear they wanted to avoid Elysia as much as possible.
The maid in front bowed again and carefully asked:
“Regardless of what’s going on… should we stop the night watch?”
Elysia thought for a moment.
‘Why did the old Elysia ask for a night watch?’
This wasn’t an order from the duke or Howell. Why would she demand such a thing, even knowing it would create tension?
‘And the food was poisoned too…’
Could it be…?
Lost in thought, Elysia answered:
“No, you don’t have to stand guard tonight. I’ll call if I need you.”
“Really?”
“We’re really free?”
The maids replied in surprise, then quickly clammed up—as if afraid she’d change her mind. Clearly, they’d suffered under her before. Elysia nodded cheerfully.
“Yup. I’ll call if anything comes up.”
“Ah… yes, understood.”
The maids nodded reluctantly, exchanging skeptical glances. Their expressions clearly said: She’ll call us again soon anyway.
‘It’s amazing how obvious they are about it.’
Even though Elysia was technically their superior, they didn’t even try to hide their displeasure.
She dismissed the maids and tilted her head in confusion as she entered her room.
And at that moment…
A notification popped up.
You’ve completed the tutorial quest!
You can now access your Skills and Status windows!
Additional features such as Channel Management and Video Editing are now available.
Check back for more details later!
‘…!’
Skill and status access.
Elysia’s face lit up in surprise.
‘Finally—I can open my status window!’
Maybe her twisted fork and survival after eating poison had something to do with her stats or skills.
She quickly checked to ensure no one else was around, then shouted:
“Quest, Skills, Status window!”
Shoosh! Shoosh! Shoosh!
Windows popped up in front of her, lighting up her vision. Elysia squinted at the flood of information.
So did the chat.
…?
Wait a sec
What IS that???
Are you seriously a game dev???
