49. From now on, I’ll always save you
The Administrator spoke at length.
“Roselia is special. Cute, lovely, sometimes funny…”
“Stop flattering me.”
“Tch.”
Ian cut him off sharply.
The Administrator, staring blankly at the tablet again, suddenly snapped back to attention as he checked the time.
He pulled a smartphone from his pocket and, as if out of habit, opened the Possession Live app.
“What? Weren’t you banned from watching it?”
Ian glanced at the screen from the corner of his eye.
“The ban is about to lift… now! …Got it!”
[SYSTEM: ‘Possession Live’ viewing ban has been lifted after 3 days.]
“Finally…!”
As soon as the system message appeared, the Administrator logged into the chat.
[Administrator: Finally, the Administrator appears!]
[Administrator: (ㅜ_ㅜ)]
After finishing tea with Eckart, I was enjoying a rare leisurely afternoon.
Ding!
A familiar chat window popped up in my view.
[Administrator: Finally, the Administrator appears!]
[Administrator: (ㅜ_ㅜ)]
“What? It’s been a while.”
He hadn’t appeared since the pre-festival, so it had been roughly three days.
While I calculated the days in my head, the Administrator wailed miserably.
[Administrator: Waaaaaaah.]
[Administrator: o(╥﹏╥)o]
[Administrator: So much happened while I was gone…]
What could have possibly happened?
He sent around thirty crying emojis in a row.
“Stop spamming. It’s dizzying.”
Was he the only one in the chat? Only after I scolded him did he stop the emoji barrage.
[Administrator: Sniff sniff sniff sniff.]
[Administrator: This temperature, humidity, lighting…]
[Administrator: Haah, finally feels like I’m back home.]
[Administrator: ( ´△｀)]
He was already dramatic, but now it seemed even more exaggerated.
Maybe it was because I hadn’t seen him in so long—I found myself smiling faintly.
“So, why did you disappear this time? Busy?”
[Administrator: Well…]
[Administrator: I got my account suspended.]
[Administrator: Those higher-ups are so strict.]
[Administrator: (´-﹏-`；)]
“Account suspended?”
Last time it was a 30-second chat ban, and now a full account suspension?
“Was it because I failed a mission, and you got penalized instead?”
On the day of the infamous birthday banquet, I had completed the villainess debut mission, yet suddenly a mission failure was recorded.
While the regression timer activated due to the mission failure penalty, the Administrator had appeared.
[Administrator: ٩(˘◡˘)۶]
[Administrator: As expected, our possessed one is sharp.]
[Administrator: When the Story Execution Department tried to dispute the mission completion conditions,]
[Administrator: I immediately stepped in to block them.]
“What?”
[Administrator: No, from my perspective there’s no problem—]
[Administrator: But they tried to interfere.]
[Administrator: Apparently, they weren’t happy that you didn’t follow the villainess route.]
So no matter how cleverly I tried to navigate the situation, I couldn’t escape the villainess path?
Sensing my unease, the Administrator brightened his tone deliberately.
[Administrator: Don’t worry!]
[Administrator: From now on, I’ll always throw myself in to save you.]
[Administrator: You trust me, right?]
[Administrator: ( ´ 3 `)ﾉ]
He spoke playfully, but I felt uneasy.
‘If the Administrator keeps interfering in the story because of me, and bears all the penalties…’
In this world, there’s no luck without reason, no reward without cost.
If my good fortune relies on the Administrator’s sacrifice, I’d rather refuse it.
“No… don’t do that from now on.”
I said firmly.
[Administrator: Roselia…]
I meant that I didn’t want him to risk himself for my sake, but his expression visibly fell.
‘Did I just step on a landmine?’
Seeing that, I realized my mistake too late.
It was one of those typical romance scenarios: both sides care, but awkward communication leads to misunderstandings and petty conflicts.
The guy works hard for the heroine, the heroine snaps at him for no reason, and resentment builds from simple miscommunication…
I didn’t want any part of that.
“Just to be clear, don’t misunderstand what I meant. I’m grateful for your help, but I don’t want you to suffer because of me.”
As soon as I explained rapidly, the Administrator brightened.
[Administrator: Oh my! Oh my! Oh my!]
[Administrator: Our possessed one is so kind.]
[Administrator: You’re worried about me, aren’t you?]
[Administrator: ♡(´ε｀*)]
…Maybe I should have just let him misunderstand.
His attitude shifted absurdly quickly.
[Administrator: Don’t worry. Unlike the fragile possessed one, I won’t collapse from a few penalties.]
[Administrator: ꉂꉂ(^ᗜ^*) Oh-ho!]
He was right.
‘Here I am in a mess, worrying about someone else’s safety.’
No wonder people say worrying about celebrities, billionaires, or administrators is pointless.
[Administrator: And,]
[Administrator: Saying that just makes me want to throw myself in even more.]
[Administrator: (๑^⩊^๑)]
[Administrator: Though for now, I think you’ll manage fine without me.]
“?”
At sunset.
After dinner, I went to the servant quarters to check on the Black Curtain.
“Miss Roselia.”
The attending doctor greeted me with a bow.
As soon as we brought the Black Curtain to the Duke’s residence, I had a doctor assigned to monitor his condition.
“How is his condition?”
“To be honest, I can’t say he’s in good health. He’s severely malnourished, with broken ribs and various injuries across his body.”
The doctor glanced at his medical records.
“Possibly due to medication side effects, he occasionally vomits and has seizures. We’ll need to monitor him continuously.”
Even to the naked eye, his condition was grave.
His skin was corpse-pale, lips cracked and dry with scabs.
Bandages wrapped his entire body; every breath seemed to require effort.
‘And he even injured himself earlier… that can’t have helped.’
I nodded silently.
“The good news is that his recovery is incredibly fast. Faster than a healthy adult male.”
“That’s a relief.”
Even in the original story, the Black Curtain displayed monstrous recovery abilities.
People revered him like he was blessed by God.
‘But is that really a blessing?’
[Better off dead.]
[After being treated like livestock all his life and sold again… do you think I’d believe those words?]
For someone who endured a life worse than death, monstrous healing was more of a curse than a gift.
I dismissed the doctor.
I approached the bed and gazed quietly at his sleeping face.
“Sleep well.”
Through his messy hair, his facial features were revealed.
‘If only I could fix this messy hair, he’d look even better.’
I studied him carefully.
His eyes slightly upturned, long lashes, straight nose, and lips that curved gently at the edges.
His deeply sunken cheeks were pitiful, but now cleaned and dressed in silk pajamas instead of rags, he looked much better.
‘Like an angel.’
Completely different from the terrified, animal-like figure he had been before.
“…….”
I watched him in silence for a few minutes.
He remained in deep, undisturbed sleep, almost eerily still.
I placed a finger under his nose.
‘Yep, definitely asleep.’
After confirming he was in deep sleep, I took out a choker from my bag.
A so-called collar of obedience.
It matched a bracelet I wore.
It carried a powerful protective spell: anyone wearing the pair cannot harm each other.
Nobles had used it to ensure the loyalty of their subordinates against assassination threats.
I had purchased it when a merchant guild visited recently.
Like putting a bell on a cat, I gently placed the choker around his neck.
Once fastened, the red gem on the choker glowed.
Proof that the magical stone was active.
“Sorry for this. I’m not saying I don’t trust you…”
But I couldn’t ignore what had happened in the underworld.
[During my care, he really resisted. He seems calm during the day, but at night, he resists violently. It’s not easy to subdue him without a collar with electric shock.]
[He’s been treated harshly by the slave market. Signs of conditioning with drugs exist. It’ll take time to regain full awareness.]
Even though we were taking care of him, he wasn’t fully well.
I had to prepare for potential threats, but I didn’t want to use cruel methods.
I decided to compromise as best I could.
‘I don’t know how he’ll take it, though.’
The Black Curtain remained asleep, unaware of the world.
Outside, the sun was setting.
His hair, as dark as the night, caught the glow of the fiery sunset.
“…….”
As darkness fully descended, with neither doctor nor Roselia in the room, a quiet, subtle change occurred.
Near midnight, the sleeping man’s hair slowly lost its darkness.
His jet-black hair faded to an ash-gray.
Soon, like dawn chasing away night, it became a radiant platinum.
At the same time, his eyes opened with a sparkle.
“Hmm. Where am I?”
