44. Administrator’s Secondary Account, The Arrival of the Rotten Romance!
“See? I told you to stop getting so obsessed!”
The girl patted the administrator’s shoulder while scolding him.
“How many times have you broken the rules already? You only have one possessed character to manage, yet you’ve already accumulated so many penalty points. You know how your predecessor got fired, right?”
But the administrator, lost in gloom, didn’t hear her nagging.
With a sulky tone, he said,
“Come on, just lend me your ID. I have to keep an eye on our possessed character.”
“Forget it. You know sharing accounts is against the rules, right? If you want to die, die alone — don’t drag others down with you.”
“Hey, we’re colleagues who joined together, don’t be like that.”
The administrator whimpered, but the girl was unyielding.
“Besides, I’m just tired of possession stories now. I want to see something new, not the same old clichés.”
“Don’t you know clichés are steady sellers?”
He shot back.
“And my possessed character is different. She’s way more lovable, fun, and cute than other protagonists in possession stories. It’s not your usual possession tale.”
“Don’t say that anywhere else. She’s only pretty to you. Other admins would call you a doting fool.”
“But… she really is precious to me.”
The administrator slumped his shoulders gloomily.
“Ugh…”
Seeing that, the girl’s heart softened a bit. Reluctantly, she took out her tablet.
“I won’t share the account, but we can watch together while I’m here. I’ll set up a dual screen so you can see your possessed character’s status too.”
“Really? Ian, you’re the best!”
“I can’t live without you.”
Grumbling, the girl logged into the possession live stream.
【SYSTEM: Please enter the nickname to use when connecting to the possession live stream.】
“Ah, picking a nickname is the worst.”
The girl complained, and the administrator’s eyes gleamed.
“How about ‘Administrator Secondary Account’?”
“No, I’ll use my usual nickname.”
Ian pounded the keys.
【Nickname: RottenRomance】
“…Are you seriously going with that?”
“Why not? It fits, doesn’t it?”
Without hesitation, Ian pressed confirm and logged into the possession live stream.
The stormy birthday banquet was over, and spring had fully arrived in the world.
Bees and butterflies transferred pollen, and everywhere was colored with spring flowers…
“Achoo!”
The season of pollen allergies.
As I sniffled, the maids fussed over me carefully.
“Oh my, miss, you’ve been sneezing a lot lately.”
“Maybe it’s a cold, you should see the healer!”
“Yes, yes, thank you.”
Ignoring their worries, I focused on the documents before me.
‘So much has happened these days, really.’
The big storm had passed, but the aftermath remained.
Since the pre-banquet and birthday feast, I had been exchanging letters with the royal court here and there.
To get updates on Aunt Petunia’s case.
‘They’ve secured evidence and are interrogating the culprit, but there’s no progress.’
It wasn’t surprising.
I didn’t expect Aunt Petunia to cooperate easily.
Though she stole the royal invitation and greatly offended the emperor, the actual damage wasn’t severe.
Moreover, as a high-ranking noble, she was sure to receive a light punishment.
She probably thought it would end quietly, so she wasn’t cooperating with the investigation.
‘Well, I’m not going to let it slide.’
Anyway, I had to learn to act as the lady of the house in Aunt Petunia’s absence.
Starting with accounting principles and moving to annual budget planning, I was focusing on money matters but still wasn’t very skilled.
Thanks to that, my days felt like 24 hours were never enough, and the work was endless.
“Miss… I have something to tell you.”
At that moment, the maid Anne timidly pushed between Lia and Kelly and approached.
“Do you think you can do this to me and get away with it?!”
Meanwhile, in the underground prison of the royal palace.
Petunia’s desperate screams echoed inside the iron bars.
The cold prison had no sunlight.
The walls were crumbling here and there, and the sturdy iron bars were rusted, bearing the marks of time.
Right after the pre-banquet, Petunia and Baron Milo were immediately brought to noble court and reduced to defendants.
They were moved to the underground prison, but Petunia fully denied the charges.
“Do you think you can cover the truth by hiding it with your palm?! The royal family, the duke’s house — these damn people are framing me! These damn bastards…!”
She pleaded to the prison guard standing in front of the bars.
She had been yelling loudly for hours. Her voice was long cracked.
It was so loud it hurt the ears of anyone listening, but she did not stop.
No matter what threats and insults Petunia hurled, the guard stood like a statue.
“Hey, quiet down!”
Baron Milo, imprisoned in the neighboring cell, shouted, unable to bear her yelling.
When he reprimanded her, Petunia glared daggers.
“Shut up! I’m humiliated because of you, you damn fool, and you’ve got an open mouth to talk back?”
Petunia spat out bitter words.
“Geez, what a temper… tsk.”
Milo, who had spent time in gambling dens and taverns, was used to these quarrels.
Whether drunk or gambler, he got into fights with just about anyone. Sometimes he grabbed someone’s collar while too drunk to stand.
Normally, he would have argued back with equally coarse words, but Milo was just sobering up now.
Instead of causing a ruckus, he slumped down hard onto the freezing floor.
“Hey young man, got anything to wet your throat here?”
Trying to be friendly, he spoke, but the guard remained silent.
“Something like alcohol. I’m freezing and one drink would be perfect.”
“…”
“My hands are shaking so bad I can’t do anything. I have to give a statement soon, but my mind is totally blank.”
My throat was dry, my whole body ached.
Besides, being trapped in an underground prison with that ferocious woman was unbearable sober.
I desperately wanted a drink.
“Just one drink… just one…”
“Alcohol is prohibited.”
The guard cut him off coldly with a mechanical tone.
The guard’s firm voice briefly silenced Petunia, who suddenly snapped to attention.
“Hey, guard, did you properly notify the duke’s house? I’m suffering here, how can no one come?”
“…”
“Bring the steward immediately, now!”
Petunia barked orders at the guard, but the guard ignored her with a contemptuous look.
“Are you deaf? Go fetch steward William right now!”
Petunia screamed without backing down.
Then footsteps echoed down into the underground prison.
Royal investigators and guards appeared.
“Guard, we have the emperor’s order to take the criminals away.”
“…!”
The emperor’s order?
Petunia’s face brightened.
She had built a long private friendship with the emperor.
Though the royal court couldn’t ignore legal procedures, she expected he wouldn’t be harsh.
Forgetting dignity, Petunia lunged at the bars.
“Has His Majesty finally recognized my innocence? It was nonsense to accuse me without evidence from the start. Open this door!”
She demanded, but the investigator gave her a cold stare.
“Seems you still don’t understand your situation.”
He crushed Petunia’s hopes mercilessly.
“Baron Milo’s house search uncovered decisive evidence — the stolen pre-banquet invitation and the Artine brooch.”
“…Brooch?”
Petunia’s blood seemed to drain from her body.
There was only one brooch that could appear in this situation — the Roselia brooch given by the royal family.
Petunia struggled desperately.
“Brooch? I never had that! I don’t know anything about it!”
She wanted to deny it. She did steal the Roselia brooch, but never handed it over to Baron Milo.
“Shut up! How long do you plan to keep denying it? His Majesty is enraged.”
The investigator shouted.
Completely treating her like a violent criminal, his fierce attitude made Petunia falter.
Click. The last hope she clung to finally died.
Like someone fitting together puzzle pieces, all the evidence fit perfectly.
The crimes Petunia committed followed her like a vengeful spirit. They were going to choke her to death.
The investigator barked at Petunia.
“Forging the pre-banquet invitation to disgrace His Majesty and insult the royal family, plus stealing and hiding the empress’s gift — you will not avoid a heavy sentence!”
Death.
Whether physical or social death, the only option before her was death.
