Confined Together with the Horror Game’s Male Lead - Chapter 48
Chapter 48
Translator: Yonnee
—
* * *
Sometimes I think, the medicine in this mansion is more miraculous than modern medical technology.
Considering how fatal wounds could heal in just a few days.
‘But it’s strange.’
The diary should be appearing soon.
[ ‘Dietrich’ has acquired a portion of S’s diary. ]
[ The contents of the diary shall be shared with Charlotte. ]
Sure enough, a system window popped up in front of me.
I quickly turned on the map and located Dietrich. He was in a room closer than I expected, so I moved toward it.
As I entered the slightly open room, green leaves fluttered around.
I glanced at the system window occupying a corner of my view.
There.
It was the shared excerpt from S’s diary.
────────────
◈
Today, artists were invited to draw a portrait of the young lady. It was to commemorate her fourteenth birthday.
It seems like just yesterday she was playing with dolls, but now she’s of age for her debutante ball.
The artists, one after the other, asked her to smile. However, the young lady remained stoic throughout.
The painters struggled with her uncooperative attitude.
They couldn’t go against the master’s wish to capture the fresh and lovely image of the young girl.
“Your Ladyship, please smile.”
“I don’t want to.”
The master repeatedly encouraged her to smile, but the young lady turned her head away.
“Why should I smile when there’s nothing amusing?”
The young lady was resolute.
It’s common for kids her age to act rebelliously, but she was a particularly difficult teen.
The artists didn’t know what to do and just looked back and forth between the master and the young lady.
“Then, Your Ladyship needs only for something amusing to happen?”
That’s when someone among the artists spoke up.
The artists, who had been sitting quietly observing, were taken aback by the man’s sudden action.
Even the master frowned in displeasure.
At that moment.
“Who are you?”
The young lady, intrigued, spoke up.
“I am…”
—Excerpt from S’s Diary
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I lightly touched the green leaves of the plant while surveying the interior of the room.
The room, given a verdant ambiance by the plants, contained an old desk and an easel.
Dietrich stood in front of the desk, gazing down at something.
His brow was furrowed as if he was having trouble with it.
“Struggling with a classic, I see.”
I spoke as I dropped my hand from the leaves.
Unaware of my entrance, Dietrich looked up in surprise, then turned his head back.
What was he stuck on?
Dietrich had ignored me again today. But as I was now accustomed to it, I nonchalantly approached him.
There were five sheets of parchment on the desk.
On the parchment were detailed sketches, and on one side, numbers one through five were sequentially marked.
I slowly bent my head down to look closely at the drawings. Thin lines divided certain areas of the sketches.
As if marking something.
What was this again?
I definitely solved this puzzle in the game, but it’s been so long that I couldn’t recall the solution immediately.
“Is this the area for light and shadow?”
“……!”
Dietrich, who hadn’t given me a glance until now, briefly looked at me.
The sketch had areas where shadows fell, marked by lines. Not all areas were marked, though.
Dietrich, as if something occurred to him, took the inkwell nearby and dipped his finger in it.
Then, he started applying ink to the marked areas and muttered.
“If I connect these dots…”
It formed a word.
v, a, l, e, k.
Valek.
…The name of the artist.
“Have you figured it out?”
“……”
“There’s a locked box over there.”
He immediately turned around, but hesitated—skeptical since I was the one who mentioned it.
That look again.
That look of suspicion.
But he couldn’t just stand still forever, so he eventually made a move.
Click.
As Dietrich turned the lock to match the painter’s name, the box opened.
[ Dietrich has obtained a ‘Crushed Shard’. ]
At that moment, I suddenly felt dizzy.
[ Charlotte shall henceforth be assimilated with a part of the mansion. ]
Huh…?
At that moment, I fell unconscious.
* * *
“I am Valek.”
To the question I had directed at him, the arrogant artist calmly responded with an introduction.
Arrogant thing. How dare this mere artist stand before me?
I challenged him defiantly.
“How do you plan to make me smile?”
If he can’t make me smile, I will punish him.
* * *
Shhk, shhk.
Someone was urgently shaking me awake.
“…Come to your senses.”
“……”
“Please, wake up…”
…My head hurts.
Gripping my throbbing head, I opened my eyes to see a distressed man’s face.
“You’re awake now? You suddenly collapsed…”
The man looked worriedly at me, holding my cheek.
How dare this insignificant scoundrel so much as touch me.
Irritation surged suddenly, and I spoke without thinking.
“Can’t you get that annoying face out of my sight?”
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