Chapter 30 - 29: Anything Is Fine

Chapter 30: Chapter 29: Anything Is Fine

Dead. Victor was dead?

As one of the game’s romanceable characters and the male lead of a standalone route, Lilia didn’t think he would die so easily.

Could this be a bad ending node deliberately set up by the game? Was it because she had failed to trigger a certain prerequisite event? Or had the system determined that her plot participation was too low?

Just as she was deep in thought, Lilia suddenly felt a chill on her face. Caius had just returned from outside, his fingertips still carrying the coldness of the rainy night.

He gently touched Lilia’s cheek. "What are you thinking about?"

This guy was at it again.

For some unknown reason, Caius always loved getting handsy with her. When Lilia was in a good mood, she usually couldn’t be bothered to reject him, but the problem was that she was in a terrible mood right now. She shoved him away without a second thought.

Caught off guard, Caius was pushed back a step and nearly lost his balance. His eyelashes lowered, then lifted again.

He crouched beside Lilia, gently grasping her calf beneath the hem of her skirt. His thumb stroked her delicate skin in a soothing manner.

"I’m sorry." He spoke in a low voice. "It’s my fault. If I had found him sooner, I might have been able to save him."

Lilia said nothing. She knew very well that Caius couldn’t be blamed for this. If it was truly because her plot participation was lacking, then no matter how early or late Caius had arrived tonight, it wouldn’t have changed Victor’s fate.

But even knowing this, Lilia still felt immensely annoyed.

*Holy Sanctuary* didn’t explicitly state how much affection a romanceable target needed to unlock their respective main route, but Lilia guessed that sixty was likely a critical threshold. After all, based on a hundred-point scale, that was the universally recognized passing grade.

Recently, Victor’s affection had been rising rapidly. Judging by his attitude toward her, even if his affection hadn’t quite reached the sixty-point mark, it probably wasn’t far off. As long as she entered the main route, she was guaranteed to reach at least one ending.

But now, the ending she had practically secured was gone. The fact that Lilia could still maintain her rationality was already a testament to her emotional stability.

Caius looked up at her. Under the orange-red lamplight, the girl’s cherry lips were pressed tightly together, and her pitch-black eyes seemed to burn with a dark fire, making her already exquisite face appear even more vivid.

Caius turned his palms upward, cupping the girl’s knees. "Are you angry?"

Lilia remained silent.

"I’m sorry. I disappointed you..."

Lilia still said nothing.

Caius’s Adam’s apple bobbed. "...What kind of compensation do you want?"

Lilia finally turned to look at him. "Can it be anything?"

"Anything," Caius said, gazing at her intently. "As long as it’s within my power."

"I don’t want to see Griffin ever again," Lilia said evenly.

No matter what, Victor’s accident was undeniably connected to Griffin. Lilia was by no means a saint, nor did she have any intention of seeking justice for Victor. She simply wanted revenge.

Caius naturally understood her intentions.

"Alright." He nodded in agreement without the slightest hesitation. "Since you don’t want to see him," Caius said softly, "then he will never appear before you again."

...

The next day.

Two things happened at Lien Academy.

The first was naturally Victor’s disappearance. Not many people cared about the whereabouts of a commoner. The students of Class A hadn’t even noticed that a person was missing from the classroom. If Lilia hadn’t been intentionally paying attention, she probably would have been infected by the overly tranquil atmosphere as well, assuming that this new day was no different from any other.

Compared to that, the second event was far more sensational.

Griffin was attacked on his way to school. A group of masked Mages blew up his carriage right in the middle of the street.

Griffin had never dreamed that he would be attacked in the core district of Taronia. Caught completely off guard, he suffered severe injuries. Upon hearing the news, Count Freg immediately sought out a High-level Mage proficient in Healing Magic, but they were only able to barely preserve Griffin’s life. A full recovery was still nowhere in sight.

Brazenly attacking Griffin in the core district was undoubtedly a challenge to the authority of the Freg family. Not to mention, those men had only worn masks as a token gesture; anyone who had witnessed the scene could recognize that they were Mages acting under the orders of the Beaumont family.

Count Freg was furious, but hampered by the current political climate, it was difficult for him to retaliate against the Beaumont family. He had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill in silence.

When she heard the news from her classmates, even Lilia couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised. Caius had promised that Griffin would never appear before her again, and she had no doubt that he could keep his word.

But Lilia hadn’t expected him to resort to such an... excessively high-profile method. It was as if he wanted to prove something to someone.

Listening to her classmates’ chatter, everyone could actually guess that Caius was the one behind the attack, but they didn’t seem to connect it to Lilia. Instead, they speculated whether some irreconcilable conflict had arisen between Beaumont and Freg. Since they couldn’t openly tear each other apart, they had resorted to this kind of covert confrontation.

As such speculations multiplied, the students looked at Caius with a newfound sense of dread. Most of them belonged to families with a lower status than Griffin’s. If Caius could leave Griffin clinging to life, crushing them would be as easy as stepping on an ant.

After all, even Count Freg could only swallow his pride and suffer in silence. They weren’t even the only sons in their own households—expecting their families to stand up for them? That was pure wishful thinking.

The things the students could deduce, their parents and elders obviously understood as well. Over the past few days, many people had overtly or covertly probed Count Beaumont for information, annoying him to no end.

He didn’t think Caius attacking Griffin was some heinous crime. To a profit-driven opportunist like Freg, Griffin wasn’t important enough to make him change his political stance. He had more than one son, anyway.

But the problem was that Caius had been far too conspicuous. No matter what hidden schemes they had, they were at least supposed to maintain amicable relationships with all the Nobles on the surface. That was what a qualified leader ought to do.

"...For the next three days, you are not allowed to leave your room."

The moment the Earl returned home, he immediately summoned Caius and announced his punishment.

A three-day confinement was neither long nor short. The crux of the matter was that the Earl had strictly forbidden anyone from bringing Caius food.

The Countess hesitated upon hearing this. She was just about to plead on his behalf when a sharp look from the Earl stopped her in her tracks. Regardless, the Beaumont family had to give Freg an explanation by severely punishing Caius. Even if this explanation was, in essence, just a superficial and painless formality.

After listening to his father’s lecture, Caius returned to his room in silence.

With a CLICK, the heavy door locked behind him.

Exactly as Count Beaumont had ordered, not a single person even approached his room for the entire day. It wasn’t until night fell and the entire Earl Mansion sank into slumber that a sudden rustling sound came from the doorway.

Someone was unlocking the door with a key.

With a soft CREAK, the door was pushed open. Immediately after, a slender figure slipped inside like a thief in the night.