♡ Chapter 5 ♡
Seeing him again, he was just as handsome as I remembered—
and just as terrifying.
Before I could even check his profile window, I lowered my gaze.
“What is all this noise?”
Duke Cromwell spoke coldly.
Even a single sentence from him felt overwhelming.
So this is what true nobility feels like.
♡SYSTEM♡
You are overwhelmed by Duke Cromwell’s presence!
Ding!
As if it could read my emotions, the system window appeared.
But that wasn’t the end.
♡SYSTEM♡
Mental -5 due to [Overwhelm]!
[ Mental: 25/100 ]
♡SYSTEM♡
Status Effect! [Overwhelm] activated!
You cannot move for 5 minutes!
[ Remaining Time: 4:59 ]
“What kind of ridiculous… system is this?!”
Just from being overwhelmed, my mental dropped—
and I got a status effect?
“There was nothing like this in the game!”
So this is why the difficulty is insane?
“You trash game…”
I wanted to complain to someone.
But as expected of a status effect—
I couldn’t move a single finger.
“….”
My whole body froze.
“At a time like this, I should be defending myself… not frozen!”
I had to speak—
but like this, I would just look like a crazy person falsely accusing someone.
I needed to expose the embezzlement—
but I couldn’t even move.
“Lorelei, I was telling her that the princess’s nanny caused a disturbance in the hallway, so I was warning her.”
‘What nonsense is she saying?!’
The embezzler lied without hesitation.
She was trying to get rid of the Duke first.
I thought he would just accept it and leave—
but—
“Is that true?”
That line didn’t exist in the game.
As if proving my expectations wrong, Duke Cromwell asked me directly.
“….”
His voice almost sounded gentle—
enough to make me forget how dangerous he was.
I wanted to answer.
I really did.
But I couldn’t even open my mouth.
“The head maid… embezzlement…”
One maid muttered at the wrong time.
That actually helped me.
My face brightened—so I could still change expressions.
When her lie was exposed, the head maid quickly covered it with another lie.
“I informed her in advance that the childcare funds would be delayed due to paperwork… So for the first month, we agreed to increase her weekly pay instead of giving a check… But now she’s accusing this old woman of embezzlement…”
“……”
“I suggested we speak somewhere quiet to clear up the misunderstanding, but…”
Sob, sob.
She pretended to cry, trying to gain sympathy.
The atmosphere became uneasy.
Remaining Time: 3:22
“Please… move… just move…”
But not even half the time had passed.
“If it wasn’t enough, she could have said so…! Why would I be stingy about money for the princess… If she asked, I would have given it.”
The embezzler wiped her tears.
She was right about one thing—
I didn’t ask.
Why?
Because I already knew what she would say.
“That amount should be enough.”
I had heard it in the game before.
There was no point asking someone who wouldn’t even raise it by 1 gold.
“Why would she specifically accuse me of embezzlement…? She’s not the one doing it herself, is she?”
‘What kind of nonsense is that now?!’
She just kept lying without stopping.
Remaining Time: 2:05
I had 2 minutes left.
But my silence only made me look suspicious—
no matter how weak her claims were.
In less than 5 minutes, she turned me into a shameless villain.
“Is what the head maid said true?”
Duke Cromwell asked again.
“….”
Surprisingly, he wasn’t scolding me.
‘Lorelei, he asked you something—why can’t you answer?!’
“Because of this stupid game!”
‘It’s all lies…!’
“Just wait 1 minute and 30 seconds… please…”
I even started resenting his overwhelming presence.
Tears filled my eyes.
I looked up at him with weak eyes.
“Please… believe me…”
Remaining Time: 1:00
“….”
Duke Cromwell looked at me for a moment—
then sighed.
“If you stay just one more minute… I can explain everything…”
“…We’ll talk later.”
He frowned slightly.
A head maid who had worked for decades—
and a maid he had only seen once.
“The person he would believe was already decided.”
With that, he left the hallway.
♡SYSTEM♡
Status effect removed!
The moment I could move again—
“Lorelei Kiss, you are dismissed.”
The head maid took the princess from my arms and spoke.
✧ʚ .·:¨༺♡༻¨:·. ɞ✧
As expected, the outing had become noisy.
Not in the way Jeremiah Cromwell had imagined—but still noisy.
‘…First time seeing her since last week.’
Those large brown eyes, like a puppy’s, had looked at him.
Not fear—
‘Was it… resentment?’
It felt different from the usual fear he was used to.
Unlike others who hid their emotions in front of him,
the princess’s nanny showed them openly.
“As if she was begging me to understand.”
“I should speak with her separately.”
Unaware that Lorelei Kiss had already been fired, Duke Cromwell muttered.
There was no point questioning her earlier—
she couldn’t even respond properly.
He had no intention of forcing information out of her either.
“Hason.”
“You called for me, Your Grace.”
After some time, Duke Cromwell called the butler.
“Bring me the princess’s nanny.”
It would be easier to resolve things quickly.
But Hason hesitated.
“…Lorelei Kiss has been dismissed.”
“Dismissed?”
Duke Cromwell frowned slightly.
Managing servants was the responsibility of the head maid and butler.
It wasn’t strange—
but—
“That’s odd.”
It felt like the head maid had rushed to get rid of her.
“For now, Miss Lynch will take charge of the princess.”
“The nanny… Kiss. Has she left?”
“No, she is still in the mansion. I will call her.”
“No. I’ll go myself.”
He paused, then added—
“Bring me the head maid’s recent financial records… and the nanny’s wage records.”
✧ʚ .·:¨༺♡༻¨:·. ɞ✧
Because the embezzler—Miriam Lynch—held real power in the mansion,
I was about to be thrown out without even severance pay.
—“Leave within one hour.”
One hour.
I had to leave the Duke’s estate in one hour.
“….”
It didn’t feel real.
I had just accepted that I was inside the game—
and now my role here was gone.
“Do I even have a reason to stay here?”
If I was kicked out—
shouldn’t I be sent back to reality?
I checked my profile window desperately.
♡PROFILE♡
Name: Lorelei Kiss
Stamina: 40/100 Mental: 25/100
Reputation: 0
Level: 2
~ Active Quest (1) ~
Quest: (Hidden) Achieve the Imperial Princess Ending!
Time Remaining: 3 years
Difficulty: Hell
Reward: Return to real world, 6 billion
Failure Penalty: ???
※ No save feature
※ No mid-term evaluations
Nothing had changed.
The quest was still active.
“Not canceled… not failed… still ongoing.”
So it wasn’t over yet.
“But I need to stay in the mansion to become a nanny again…”
I rubbed my face.
“….”
The bedroom was quiet.
Too quiet.
I thought without the crying baby, I would finally relax—
but the emptiness felt bigger than expected.
“She’s not even my real child…”
Still—
I had watched her grow for a week.
Even before coming here.
I looked at the drawing of the princess in my notebook.
“They say humans forget quickly…”
But not even a day had passed—
and I missed her already.
“Can I go back…?”
What if I fail and get the penalty?
What if I’m trapped here forever?
To distract myself, I looked at the small bag at my feet.
It contained Lorelei’s personal belongings.
“What kind of person was Lorelei?”
I had never wondered before.
She was just a game character.
But now—
her belongings told a different story.
Despite her low wages, her items were luxurious.
An old leather bag—but clearly expensive.
One of her dresses was made of silk far beyond a maid’s salary.
♡SYSTEM♡
You obtained Diamond Earrings!
The earrings looked expensive enough to make me forget my situation.
“Did she steal these…?”
I even started thinking that.
I searched everything—
but found nothing useful.
No diary. No letters.
No traces of who Lorelei really was.
“Does she even have a family?”
I changed into outdoor clothes.
They were simple—but perfectly tailored.
“Even if she does… what would I do?”
I didn’t know her family.
And I couldn’t act like the real Lorelei.
Whether the family was good or bad—
both were problems.
“I have nowhere to go.”
“….”
The reality hit me—
there was no one in this world who knew me.
“How am I going to survive…?”
“First… I should sell this.”
I put the earrings deep into the bag.
I felt sorry for Lorelei—
but I needed money to survive.
“I’ll go to Pons Village and—”
Just as I finished packing—
“Are you planning to leave?”
A voice interrupted.
I turned around.
“…Greetings, Your Grace.”
It was Jeremiah Cromwell.
