Chapter 74 - 1: This Time, I Will Be a Noble

Chapter 74: Chapter 1: This Time, I Will Be a Noble

[Permanent Label: Sun.]

[He will never forget that autumn night; he will never forget the little sun that belonged solely to him.]

...

[Permanent Label: Lover.]

[I once thought it was a lie. I once thought I would always remain clear-headed in this relationship of mutual exploitation. That is, until you truly walked with me to the very end.]

...

[Permanent Label: Mine.]

[Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.]

[You can only belong to me... Please, look at me.]

...

Lilia closed the interface expressionlessly. "What is the use of a Permanent Label?"

The system did not answer. Just like always, it only offered proactive prompts when necessary and never answered any of her questions. It felt like an AI bot—and a rather unintelligent one at that.

Unable to get an answer from the system, Lilia could only make a few guesses herself. Since it was a "Permanent Label," did that mean even after entering a new playthrough, they would still have a vague impression of her?

Or perhaps... initial Favorability?

Having experienced the first playthrough, Lilia already knew how difficult it was to grind Favorability. If the capture targets truly possessed initial Favorability, it would absolutely be a great thing for her. That way, entering the main storyline would be much easier.

Although the ending of the first playthrough had completely derailed, she had still reaped a Bad Ending, which technically counted as barely completing the mission. Moreover, her experiences with Lucian in Ovis had made Lilia realize something: as long as she could complete the usurpation route, help Lucian succeed in his revenge, and grind his Favorability to 100, she could achieve the Happy Ending of the "Avenger" main storyline.

For someone who already knew all the secrets, this wasn’t too difficult a task.

...Assuming, of course, that no more uncontrollable plotlines spawned.

However, even if the system acted inhumanely, Lilia was no longer as helpless as she had been in the first playthrough. As a reward for unlocking an ending for the first time, the system had opened up a save point.

Although there was only one, it was still better than nothing. At the very least, she wouldn’t have to worry about starting over from scratch every time she died. The pain of grinding through the opening stages was something even Lilia didn’t want to experience a second time.

Lilia opened the system panel again. Now, as she was about to enter her second playthrough, her goals were extremely clear.

First, achieve the Happy Ending of the "Avenger" route.

Second, if possible, utilize the save point to collect a few more special endings.

The former was a mandatory mission; the latter was something she’d just do her best to achieve. Having thought things through, Lilia said softly, "Start game."

[Game starting!]

[Please select your initial identity.]

Huh. A new step had been added that wasn’t there before.

The initial identity selection interface was very simple, featuring only two options.

[1. Commoner.]

[2. Noble.]

Lilia pondered for a moment. "If I choose the commoner start, will I still be born in Ernst and become the daughter of the Sifris couple?" she asked.

Logically speaking, that should be the case, but this was, after all, the official second playthrough after reaching an ending. No one could be certain what would happen once they entered the game.

The system, as usual, gave no response.

"Stingy." There wasn’t a single hint.

Since both options could potentially lead to entirely new plotlines, it didn’t matter which one she chose. With that in mind, Lilia leaned toward choosing a more relaxed start.

This time, she wanted to be a Noble. She had had enough of the days where she had to live at the mercy of others, trembling with fear as she clawed her way up. Furthermore, she didn’t want to encounter Caius too early. She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to resist stabbing him again.

"I choose 2," Lilia said. "Noble start."

[Initial identity selected!]

[Current starting identity: Noble.]

[Loading player information...]

...

[Loading complete.]

[Name: Lilia]

[Level: Level 0]

[Constitution: 45/100]

[Intelligence: 90/100]

[Charm: 75/100]

[Luck: 50/100]

[Morality: 0/100]

[Elemental Affinity: Fire Element - Extremely High; Water Element - Low; Wind Element - High; Earth Element - Low.]

[Magic Talent: A]

[Congratulations! You are a born Mage. Your extremely high affinity allows you to comprehend and master Fire Element-related Magic at the fastest speed, possibly even delving into the realm of forbidden Magic. It can be said that you have already touched the threshold of a Holy Mage; the only things hindering your progress are laziness and time.]

[Talent for this round: Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence.]

[Talent Effect: The more you practice, the deeper your understanding of various skills will become.]

Lilia widened her eyes. An A-level Magic Talent. Although it was still inferior to those super geniuses, her rating had only been dragged down by two low affinities. From a practical combat perspective, just a single "extremely high" affinity was enough to place her at the very peak of Mages.

Not to mention, she also had a top-tier talent like "Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence." Sure enough, choosing to be a top student in the previous playthrough was the right move. This was the world’s reward for those who worked hard.

Lilia glanced over her basic attributes; they were generally average, with only Intelligence standing out. The difficulty of obtaining Free Attribute Points in "Holy Sanctuary" was simply too high. To max out the basic attributes, a conservative estimate required grinding her character Level to at least ten.

In the last playthrough, Lilia had only managed to max out Charm and Intelligence, but facts had proven that these two were indeed the most useful attributes. Considering that resetting the start might not yield such a good affinity and talent, Lilia decided to proceed with the plot and assess the situation.

"Continue," she said softly.

[You have been born. You were born in the Capital of the Light Kingdom, Hillflan.]

[As a Princess, your birth is a complete and utter mistake.]

[While on a royal tour, the current King of the Light Kingdom had an affair with a commoner woman and fathered you.]

[Your mother died in childbirth. Before the age of six, you lived in an orphanage.]

[That was until a Noble noticed you because of your appearance. After investigating everything, you were brought before the King.]

[The King had absolutely no recollection of having a daughter living among the commoners, but he was a womanizer and had a very high tolerance for illegitimate children.]

[Raising one more child was nothing to him—like casually tossing a stray cat into the Royal Court and leaving it to roam on its own. It had zero impact on him.]

[You did not live well in the palace. You held the empty title of a Princess without any of the treatment a Princess deserved. The result was being trampled on and bullied by everyone.]

[The court has always been the cruelest arena of vanity. Kissing up to the powerful while trampling the weak, along with malicious targeting, were everyday occurrences.]

[There wasn’t even a single person around you who cared about you.]

[Just like that, you spent ten years in the Royal Court...]