Chapter 2
Inside the rattling carriage.
[3% until the destruction of the world]
I stared at the system window.
To say the result first, I failed to fix whatever that “narrative consistency” thing was.
The duke had been carried away by servants, and Beatrice had continued fuming until she was dragged away by her father.
Since the host—the duke—had left, the banquet naturally came to an end.
The guests exited the banquet hall under the servants’ guidance, and I had no choice but to leave as well, mixed in among the nobles.
In short, I didn’t even have time to “fix the narrative” or whatever that meant.
No, at least give me some hint about how I’m supposed to fix it.
It just suddenly told me to restore the narrative, so from my perspective all I could do was think, What the hell? and then the moment was gone.
And the penalty was world destruction.
I had no idea what that meant, but it definitely didn’t sound good.
“Why are you staring?”
While I was thinking seriously about the situation, a sharp voice came from across from me.
The man glaring at me through the system window was the heir of the Sauver Count’s family—simply put, Rene Sauver’s older brother.
His name was Louis Sauver.
Age: 23.
Defining trait: a complete jerk.
I almost reflexively replied, I was looking at the system window, but quickly shut my mouth.
Other people couldn’t see this window.
As much as I hated to admit it, it was natural for Louis Sauver to misunderstand.
From his perspective, it must have looked like I was glaring at him.
Of course, I had only been looking at the system window, so it felt unfair.
But I didn’t want to be treated like a lunatic by saying, “There’s a floating window in the air,” so I quietly lowered my gaze and answered,
“No, it’s nothing.”
I must not forget that although this guy looked gentlemanly on the outside, he was actually a psychopath who abused his younger sister.
I stared down at the floor and waited for the carriage to reach the mansion.
Once we arrived, I planned to lock myself in my room and not come out.
How much time passed like that?
Soon I felt the carriage come to a stop.
I waited until Louis got out first, and only after he entered the mansion did I carefully step down from the carriage.
Seriously… what a suffocating family.
I passed the servants who had come to greet us and climbed the stairs.
Then the moment I entered my room, I shut the door and pressed the window that read [3% until the destruction of the world].
I thought nothing would happen.
But—
[3% until the destruction of the world
Every time narrative consistency collapses, the destruction of this world draws closer!
You must stop the destruction of the world by restoring the broken narrative.
※How do I restore narrative consistency?
The method is simple.
Find the differences between reality and the original work “The Flower of the Glass Greenhouse” and correct them.]**
“…What?”
Something actually appeared.
I quickly scanned the window in front of me.
Contrary to all my worries, fixing the broken narrative seemed surprisingly simple.
In short, I just had to find what was different from the original story and correct it.
Thinking back to the incident at the banquet—
The only thing different from the original was the heroine, Beatrice.
She was a little different from the original.
No—actually, very different.
Wait.
Follow the original story?
But if that happens, both Beatrice and I will die.
The moment that thought crossed my mind—
[Incorrect.]
—a system window popped up.
What the heck. If you’re going to tell me it’s wrong, at least tell me the right answer too.
While staring at the window and thinking carefully, I suddenly remembered something from the IF side stories, and clapped my hands.
Right!
There were IF side stories that ended with a somewhat happy ending instead of the tragic one!
In those IF stories, the three male leads who had been obsessively attached to Beatrice suddenly came to their senses, regretted everything, and basically became her devoted followers.
There were three volumes of IF stories.
Each one had a different route where Beatrice ended up with either:
the Duke,
the Crown Prince,
or the Mage.
It was great because you could choose the route that suited your taste.
And best of all—
In all three IF stories, neither Beatrice nor I died.
Anyway, since the IF stories were still technically part of the original work, maybe I just had to follow those instead.
The moment that thought crossed my mind—
[Correct.]
The system window appeared again.
After getting the right answer, I looked at the window with a much lighter heart and flopped onto the bed.
If it had told me to follow the main story, I would eventually have to die.
But since it was the IF side story, that was a relief.
This might actually be doable.
If I wanted to correct Beatrice back to her original character, I first needed to figure out why she had changed.
I thought about it for a while, but soon realized there was no answer.
So I decided to use my status as her childhood friend—though calling it that felt a bit ridiculous—and visit her directly.
“First, I should send a letter saying I’ll visit.”
I jumped up and ran to the desk, pulling out a sheet of letter paper.
Then I wrote neatly:
“I plan to visit around 1 PM tomorrow, so please be aware of it.”
After sealing the letter and firmly stamping it with my family’s seal, I rang the bell.
A maid who had been waiting outside quietly entered.
“Send this to the Lockwood family.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Since I had sent the letter announcing my visit, now all that was left was to wait until tomorrow.
Despite it being spring, my room was freezing cold.
The fire in the fireplace had nearly gone out.
Instead of calling a maid, I stood in front of the fireplace to revive the fire myself.
But there wasn’t a single piece of firewood to throw in.
In my room—more precisely, Rene Sauver’s room—firewood was rarely supplied on time.
The reason was simple.
The people in this house hated me.
Or rather, they hated Rene.
Louis Sauver had deliberately prevented firewood from being delivered to my room.
Thinking I might freeze to death at this rate, I had once tried bribing the maids with my jewelry.
But the maids only listened to Louis, the real authority of the count’s household.
I flopped onto the bed and wrapped myself in the blanket like a caterpillar, staring up at the ceiling.
The window reading [3% until the destruction of the world] still floated before my eyes.
It didn’t disappear.
Was it telling me to keep looking at it so I’d stay alert?
[Correct.]
What a ridiculous system.
I roughly pulled the jewelry out of my hair and placed it on the bedside table before burying my face in the blanket.
I still needed to take off my dress and remove my makeup.
But I was too tired right now.
I’ll rest for just a bit and then get up.
Even though I promised myself that—
I fell into a deep sleep in less than five minutes.
Maidservants who must have been waiting outside, sorry.
Actually… I’m not sorry.
Now that I think about it, you all ignore Rene too.
Not sorry at all.
* * *
Normally, a noble lady would inform her parents before going out, saying something like “I’ll be leaving now.”
But unfortunately, Rene Sauver and her father did not have a good relationship.
So there was no need to go out of my way to tell him where I was going.
I boarded the carriage accompanied by my guard knight, Sir Ulver.
Honestly, I would have preferred to go out alone and comfortably.
But since I was a noble lady, I couldn’t exactly wander around by myself.
Sir Ulver, the very embodiment of laziness, definitely wouldn’t report my movements to the count no matter where I went.
In that sense, he was the perfect bodyguard for me.
After riding the carriage for a while, the Lockwood Marquis’s estate came into view.
After Beatrice caused chaos at the spring banquet that day, the marquis had officially announced that his daughter was ill.
The nobles who witnessed Beatrice’s madness all whispered that something seemed wrong with her.
Soon the rumor spread as if it were fact.
That Beatrice had gone insane.
Before long, the carriage arrived at the marquis’s estate.
Feeling slightly nervous, I took Sir Ulver’s hand and stepped down from the carriage.
Officially, I was a guest visiting a sick friend.
But in reality, I had come to investigate why the heroine had become strange.
A servant waiting outside opened the door for us as we were about to go inside.
Then suddenly—
Rumble.
A sound like thunder crashing through the sky echoed.
Was it about to rain?
Since I hadn’t brought an umbrella, I thought, This is troublesome, and looked up at the sky.
Then I froze.
The sky was red.
More precisely—
It looked as if someone had slashed the sky open with a blade, leaving a dark crimson tear across it.
