[Why…… why would he, of all people……!] (C)
Chloe asks in agony, knowing full well that no one will answer. There’s no answer anywhere. There’s only one thing she can be certain of: unless she does something, the future where she is murdered and the daughter she leaves behind is made to suffer is coming for her.
[……Get a hold of yourself, Chloe. That’s right, Mother always said so, didn’t she…… “Never mix fact with speculation. Learning to tell them apart is what matters.”……] (C)
Chloe wraps her arms tightly around herself, lets out a long, slow breath as if to pin down her shaking heart, and calls her late mother’s words to mind. As a princess of the Empire, her mother had been a woman of keen intellect, always calm and composed. Whenever Chloe was about to be swept up in some rumour, those were the words that settled her.
‘Right. Falling apart here changes nothing. This future hasn’t been proven true yet. And honestly—plot twists that only fly because it’s a game, actually happening in real life? That’s far too unrealistic.’
[……Maybe this is all just some delusion of mine.] (C)
Her eyes happen to meet her own in the mirror, and there, unmistakably, is the face of the game character: the villainess’s mother, ‘Chloe.’ But even so, she can’t yet be sure whether the memories she saw are real.
[First…… I need to verify. Whether the events in these memories will really come to pass, or whether it all ends as needless worry. But what am I even supposed to verify……?] (C)
‘The thing I’m afraid of happens years from now, to a twenty-five-year-old Chloe. There’s no way to know at this point whether it’ll really happen, and no way to check. Still, should I just let go of my worries about a future that hasn’t come yet and think positively? That would be the worst thing I could do. If I sit back and que sera sera the whole thing… aren’t I just waiting around to die?’
‘There has to be something…… anything I could use as proof, right now……’
[Ah…… that’s it. The heroine’s mother! I’m sure…… her name was ‘Sherry,’ and she worked at a bakery in town…… Whether that woman actually exists, and whether she’s already involved with Leonardo-sama at this point—that much, I can find out.] (C)
Chloe drops the hands clutching her head and springs to her feet. She straightens her back as if forcing her trembling knees into line, and takes a deep breath.
[First, I need information…… And as I gather it, things should slowly come clear. Whether this world really is that otome game……] (C)
She wipes the tears from her eyes, and strength floods back into her body. If that future really is going to come true, then she’ll change her fate, whatever it takes. She prays that all of it is nothing but needless worry. But if it’s real, waiting quietly for death is out of the question. Absolutely out of the question.
Her mind made up, Chloe draws the heavy curtains and locks the door to her room, carefully and quietly, so that no one will notice. Then she lifts one of the candlesticks along the wall—and with a faint click, a section of the wall eases open, ever so slightly. What lies beyond it is the shadow that props up House Calendula from behind, and the way to reach the family’s homegrown spies.
[Erich. Come out.] (C)
At her whispered summons, the air seems to ripple for an instant, and a man in black emerges from the gap in the wall without a sound. Garb dark as sunken shadow, a mask covering half his face. Chloe’s personal spy, Erich.
[Your orders, Mistress.] (Erich)
[……I want you to investigate the son of the Duke of Linden, Leonardo-sama. In absolute secrecy. How he behaves at his estate, who he associates with…… everything, in detail. Report it all to me, no matter how trivial.] (C)
A moment’s silence. Erich’s eyes narrow, and he asks:
[Your betrothed, Mistress? ……May I ask the reason for your caution?] (E)
[Don’t ask the reason. I have no “certainty” yet.] (C)
‘If his kindness has been a lie. If the future where he poisons his wife and abuses his daughter is really going to come true. Then I have to make my move before things become inevitable.’
[All I want from you is “facts.” Ah, and one more thing…… if he appears to be meeting a woman in secret, look into that woman as well. Every detail. Report it to me.] (C)
[Your orders are received, Mistress. I shall spare no effort in carrying out my liege’s will.] (E)
The words are barely finished before Erich has melted into the dark, as if he’d never been there at all.
Chloe lets out a soft breath and sinks into her chair. The strength holding her spine straight drains away, and her body grows heavy.
[Please…… let it all…… just be needless worry……] (C)
But there’s no more hesitation left in her heart. Until she knows the truth, nothing will stop her. Nothing at all. Even if that truth is a cruel one, hidden behind her fiancé’s gentle smile—
—
Several days pass. Chloe stands at the window of her room, watching raindrops through a gap in the curtains. Grey clouds blanket the sky, and the mansion’s gardens have sunk into darkness. As the hands of the clock creep toward midnight—
[……Mistress.] (E)
The voice arrives quietly, as if slicing through the air.
[I have returned. I humbly report that the task you entrusted to me has been carried out without incident.] (E)
She turns, and there he is—the man in black, the spy Erich, kneeling silently with his head bowed. There isn’t a single raindrop on him. He might as well be a shadow itself.
Chloe dips her chin and gives a small nod.
[……Your report.] (C)
Erich opens a leather notebook and begins, flatly and evenly.
[I kept watch on the Linden estate for several days. During the day, your betrothed receives instruction in preparation for marrying into your house. After that, he has gone into the city nearly every single day.] (E)
Chloe’s brow twitches.
[Into the city, every day……?] (C)
[Yes…… To a certain bakery in the city. Nearly every day.] (E)
[……!!] (C)
Her breath catches in her throat. Seeing her like that, Erich hesitates to go on.
[It’s all right. Continue……] (C)
[Mistress…… Yes, as you command. The girl who works at that bakery goes by the name ‘Sherry’…… Your betrothed, ah…… leaves the shop with this girl close at his side, and goes with her straight to her home……] (E)
Chloe closes her eyes, presses her lips into a thin line, and grits her teeth.
[……I see. So Leonardo-sama and this girl are lovers?] (C)
[……Yes. So it would seem.] (E)
She’d braced herself for it. But the moment those words reach her ears, something deep in her chest gives a terrible creak.
‘I thought as much, in my head. But I didn’t want to admit it. I wanted it to be nothing but needless worry.’
Strangely, no tears come. There’s only an emptiness, as if a hole has been punched clean through the cold core of her body.
Erich looks at Chloe’s stricken face, his own chest aching, and wrings out the rest of his report.
[……There is one more point of concern. Your betrothed’s attendant has been in frequent contact with an herb merchant. There is no record of it, but it is possible that medicines were brought into the estate without the head of the household’s permission.] (E)
[Medicines without permission…… you don’t mean…… poison?] (C)
One shocking report after another robs Chloe of her words. A lover named ‘Sherry,’ and now ‘poison.’ It’s all following the game’s script so exactly that her mind goes blank.
[I cannot say for certain. But it is not a transaction one would normally need to make. At the very least, it is not something for everyday use.] (E)
Chloe clenches her fists so hard her nails bite into her palms. Behind that gentle smile, “preparations” are quietly being made—
It isn’t conclusive yet. But the spark is there, and that much is real. And at that, a helpless, boiling anger rises in her.
[……You’ve done well, Erich. Continue the surveillance. If you learn anything more about the poison, report to me at once. And look further into that girl from the city.] (C)
[As you wish.] (E)
[Erich…… There is no one I can rely on as I rely on you. ……For your service, you have my deepest gratitude.] (C)
[Words I am unworthy of…… That I may repay your trust, I shall continue to serve you with my very life.] (E)
The man of shadows vanishes once more, and all that remains in the room is the sound of Chloe’s breathing.
[The game’s scenario…… it’s really started to move.] (C)
What she’d thought impossible is suddenly taking on the weight of reality, and the colour drains quietly from Chloe’s face.
Simplyrical 
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