Chapter 10

“How beautiful!”

Perhaps it was because Rhine’s actions took everyone by surprise.

So when Lynn followed the masked woman out, not a single person around bothered to look at him.

It was just too crazy.

The guards currently watching over the underground prison were mostly from the Augusta family.

They knew very well that the usually expressionless young master was secretly brimming with pride and always had a disdainful look on his face when looking at others.

Such a person would absolutely hate any performance that undermined the noble dignity.

Yet that high-and-mighty young master was now shouting, completely naked, “I’m gay!” This was simply unbelievable.

Could it be that he had been repressing himself for too long and finally revealed his true nature? Many armored guards shivered instinctively.

Feeling the various gazes around him, Rhine was utterly humiliated.

I’m *not* gay!

He wanted to scream like this, but he had to follow the princess’s orders.

Even after everything was over, and he cleared up this misunderstanding, forbidding anyone in the estate from discussing it, it would still be futile.

For the nobles of high society, gossip was an eternal source of joy.

He had no doubt that after tonight, the rumor that he was gay would quickly spread throughout the upper circles of Orlen City.

For someone as proud as him, this was more unbearable than death.

Thinking of this, Rhine subtly signaled to one of his guards, hoping to remind him to get everyone around to scram.

But after making eye contact, the guard surprisingly flinched.

He even took a step back instinctively.

Seeing this, Rhine’s heart dropped.

In that moment, he felt immense frustration rise within him, opened his mouth, and spat out a mouthful of blood, then everything went dark as he collapsed to the ground.

Leaving the underground prison was infuriatingly smooth.

Smooth to the point where even Lynn found it hard to believe.

He thought he would be discovered and have to negotiate with the masked woman for a while, but nothing happened at all.

As he stepped over the last step leading to the outside, a gentle breeze brushed against his face.

Lynn sighed in relief.

Next, he just needed to find a carriage, take her to the train station, and board the earliest train to the Imperial Capital tomorrow.

“Madam, please have a carriage prepared,” Lynn whispered, “Don’t worry, you’ll be back after it’s all over.”

The masked woman glanced at him but remained silent, walking straight ahead.

In no time, an elderly female steward approached them.

“Do you need a carriage?”

Her aged voice felt familiar to Lynn; she seemed to be the one who helped him get off the carriage earlier.

Knowing she had seen his face, Lynn wanted to look down, but then he suddenly noticed that the elderly steward never even glanced his way.

“Yes.”

“It’s ready and parked just ahead,” the steward said, bending slightly.

Upon hearing this, the masked woman stopped speaking and walked forward calmly.

Lynn’s body tensed; he didn’t want to be discovered at the last moment.

But strangely, the old woman never cast a single glance in his direction, as if she couldn’t care less.

Holding onto a thread of confusion, Lynn followed the woman to the carriage.

The carriage was opulent, covered in exquisite thorn engravings.

The woman stepped in first, her elegant boots clicking on the surface, then leaned her chin on her hand, staring silently out the window.

Just as Lynn prepared to follow her into the carriage, the voice of the elderly steward suddenly came from behind.

“Your Highness, the kitchen has prepared red velvet cake for dessert, along with freshly brewed hot black tea. You can enjoy it whenever you return.”

She bowed with great seriousness before turning to leave.

But upon hearing this, Lynn’s previously lifted foot froze mid-air.

Your Highness?! That title struck him like a thunderclap, leaving him fried.

“You—”

He lifted his head like a puppet, staring stiffly at the graceful woman by the window.

He had thought he was ready for anything.

Yet, he still underestimated her.

Who would have thought that the mastermind behind his kidnapping tonight, the puppet master, would be among the most noble and pure-blooded individuals in the Empire?!

Why, why in a remote city like Orlen would he run into such a powerful figure?

Lynn’s shirt was drenched in cold sweat, and his heart raced.

At this moment, the gun in his hand felt extremely hot.

Although he had no idea who the masked woman was, the original plot surrounded the royal selection ceremony, mainly focusing on the fierce competition between several princes and princesses.

It’s no exaggeration to say that any one of them was a ruthless character.

There was even a princess that eventually took a dark path, becoming the ultimate antagonist of the entire story! One that tore apart gods and nearly destroyed the world!

Facing such a person, where was his chance to survive? Lynn could only pray his luck wouldn’t be that bad.

He had been in this world for half a month.

To this day, he hadn’t encountered any characters from the original story.

Yet today, he happened to run into one. With a nervous heart, he opened the system.

Since this thing was utterly useless and had failed him terribly, even Lynn did not develop the habit of checking the characters at all times.

Besides, he was so focused on outsmarting them a moment ago that he completely forgot about it.

Now he was finally tasting the bitterness of it.

The masked woman had watched his changing expressions all along, and a light smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth.

“So you can pull such adorable expressions too,” she said.

“Let me introduce myself.” She crossed her legs, sat up straight, and her curvaceous figure radiated the authority of a dominant individual, “My name is Ivyst Roland Alexini, the third princess of the Saint Roland Empire.”

“Lynn, oh Lynn, should I say you’re incredibly bold or just blind?”

【Character Name: Ivyst Roland Alexini】

【Plot Level: S】

【Plot Deviation: 0.00%】

Lynn’s heart sank completely.

The system’s silence wasn’t because it was kind.

It was simply because Lynn was on the correct path.

It turned out the way to complete the preliminary task was so simple; he needed to do absolutely nothing.

He had overcomplicated everything.

But why did it have to be this woman?

Why did it have to be the villainous princess who would end up in pieces at the conclusion? Because of her heinous crimes that almost brought doom to the world, in the end, everyone connected to her faced the protagonists’ reckoning—no matter how far they fled.

Lynn gritted his teeth, cursing the system’s immorality in silence.

And when he finally came to his senses again, he found himself entangled in eerie crimson thorns.

Those thorns moved like venomous snakes, binding his legs and arms in place with blood-glittering vines and spikes at such an exquisite angle that merely moving slightly felt both numb and painful.

“Alright, the kidnapping game ends here,” the woman named Ivyst returned to her usual cold demeanor, “Take a nap.”

“When you wake up, everything will be back on track.”

Under the influence of the thorn’s toxins, Lynn started feeling drowsy.

Looking at her indifferent demeanor, a surge of indescribable emotion welled up inside him.

It resembled the feeling he had when Morris had taken him away before—despite putting all his effort into resisting, betting on courage and wits.

Yet in the end, it all came to naught.

He felt like a pawn on a chessboard, every move being restricted and forced to accept the player’s scrutiny, forever unable to escape.

Lynn sank into profound despair.

Not only because he had to undergo hypnosis experimentation but also because he had boarded a doomed ship with no glimmer of hope ahead.

He wanted to resist.

But being the antagonist princess from the original story, she was not someone he could stand against right now.

Even at this very moment, if she unleashed her full power, it would be enough to easily obliterate a city.

For her, crushing him would be like squishing an ant.

But the more so, the more unwilling Lynn felt.

He gritted his teeth, resisting the wave of dizziness that washed over him.

Gazing at the almost touchable distance between them and her bright, frigid eyes, a sudden impulse surged through Lynn.

At the very least, he needed to complete the system’s preliminary task.

He had no idea what actions could increase the plot deviation value.

So, he chose to follow the instincts deep within him.

In the next second, Lynn raised his hand.

He opened his fingers and, in a flash, slapped it against her face.

Then, in the stunned gaze of the other party, he forcefully ripped off her black mask! Even Ivyst hadn’t expected he would dare to pull such an outrageous move.

“You’re asking for death!!”

The princess’s voice was cold and merciless, filled with endless resentment.

In an instant, a fury that felt like it would tear him to shreds washed over him!

Lynn had planned to retaliate cheekily.

But as the mask came off, his heartbeat skipped a beat in protest, and the mockery that was on the tip of his tongue was swallowed back down.

At this moment, an extraordinarily cold yet breathtakingly beautiful face appeared in Lynn’s vision.

This was probably the most beautiful face he had seen in two lifetimes.

It’s a pity, though, there was a strange dark mark marring the overall perfection, about the size of a palm, growing like a curse mark on her flawless side profile.

To the people of this world, such markings were sin, a bad omen, and a symbol of divine disfavor.

But to Lynn, that mark did not diminish her charm; instead, it added a touch of bewitching allure, making his heart race uncontrollably.

“Truly beautiful.”

In the fading moments before consciousness slipped away, Lynn murmured.

For some reason, the bloodthirsty thorns that should have shredded him halted suddenly.

【The plot deviation of S-level character “Ivyst Roland Alexini” has increased to 0.01%.】

【Preliminary task completed, the system has been unlocked.】