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89. Beggar Siblings – Conditions for the Ending

The endings seen so far appeared when Lena got married, when Lena had a job, when the relationship with Lena broke down, and when either Lena or Leo died.

Leo first recalled the moment their relationship broke down. It was the very condition that had first emerged in the last engagement scenario.

The ending arrived the moment Lena couldn’t contain her anger and swung her fist. Perhaps it was the moment she was determined to sever their bond completely.

The noteworthy point here was that the relationship with Lena affected the ending. Since the scenario itself was named ‘engagement relationship,’ breaking that relationship meant the scenario would end too.

This meant that in the childhood friend scenario, if the friendship were to break, the same result would follow, and Leo sighed as he easily inferred this.

Lena, his childhood friend, was perceptive. She carefully observed Leo, the object of her affection, and quickly noticed the changes in her friend. “Leo, is that really you?” she asked.

It wasn’t that something was wrong or that her keen perception was unwelcome. Rather, it made him think, ‘How great would it have been if I’d known this earlier? Or if our friendship had broken back then…?’

Had that been the case, he wouldn’t have attempted a breakup in the last engagement scenario. He wouldn’t have tormented Lena Ainar like that.

In that final moment, he vividly recalled her eyes blazing with rage and the tears welling up, ready to overflow.

Reflecting on his regrets and self-blame, he steadied his heart and turned his thoughts in a positive direction.

‘At least I don’t have to worry about this beggar siblings scenario. There’s no chance for our relationship to break…’

Back when his sister shouted, “I hate you, brother!” and ran to the inn, their relationship was still intact. Blood relations don’t fall under the category of severed ties like fiancé or friend.

As long as Lena was born as his sister and he as her brother, that wouldn’t change under any circumstances.

Though he was slightly worried about his childhood friend Lena, he promised himself he wouldn’t face this ending again. – With that thought, Leo moved on to the next, ‘When Lena or Leo dies.’

In this case, there was nothing to contemplate.

If dead, then the ending would come. It was natural for Leo or Lena to die.

If Leo died, it meant the player had perished, and it was only expected that an ending would follow. True to the name of this game, [Raising Lena], it made sense that if Lena died, the game would end.

It was also an ending that needed to be avoided due to a death limit.

2/3. Just two more deaths and it’s game over.

Next came the wedding ending.

Leo had married Lena multiple times. However, looking back, there were many strange points about this ending.

– Why does the ending come when Lena gets married?

It was a painful process, but thanks to the last scenario, he learned that he must not break his relationship with Lena.

And if it ended that way, he wouldn’t even receive scenario rewards, thus it could be considered the worst type of ending, one even the system wouldn’t allow.

That meant the only way to make Lena a princess in the engagement scenario would be for Leo to seize power in a kingdom and crown her, but the requirement of not being married seemed unnecessary.

Couldn’t she be crowned princess after getting married? A princess doesn’t have to be an unmarried woman…

Such a fairy-tale condition might be acceptable if one said, ‘Because it’s a game,’ but brushing it off like that felt a bit unrealistic.

And there’s one more minor detail.

It’s understood that upon marriage, the ending follows. So far, that’s fine. But even after proposing to Lena and promising to marry each other, the ending didn’t come immediately.

The ending only arrived after holding the ‘wedding ceremony.’

It was a condition that could seem simple at first glance, but a careful examination revealed an underlying meaning that some societal ‘procedure’ influenced the ending.

‘Is it because the moment the wedding ceremony is completed, Lena thinks she’s married? Is a procedure necessary to make her believe that? Or…’

Was it because the priest officiating the wedding informed the gods of their union?

Leo’s head began to throb with questions, and he rubbed his heated temples as he recalled the job endings.

The job ending came when Lena’s final profession was determined, but he had only experienced it twice.

Once when his childhood friend Lena was sold to the trash princes of the Orun Kingdom and became a concubine, and once when Lena bolted to the inn.

It could be easy to think nothing of it, but upon reflection, there were many points worth examining.

In the first round, where he achieved the marriage ending, Lena from the childhood friend scenario ended up with the profession of ‘village girl.’

The question arose, ‘Wasn’t Lena originally a village girl?’

Even after Lena Ainar went hunting and earned recognition as a warrior of her tribe, the ending didn’t come. Even after she went to the battlefield and became a soldier, the ending still didn’t come. The same was true when she got promoted to lieutenant.

Simply having a ‘profession’ didn’t seem to be a condition for the ending. Changing jobs also didn’t seem to qualify as a condition for the ending.

[ Final Profession: … ]

After pondering over this mysterious phenomenon, his conclusion was… Lena didn’t perceive those as her ‘final’ professions.

Lena, the childhood friend, wanted to become a priest, and Lena in the engagement scenario aspired to be a knight, so she likely didn’t think of being a village girl or soldier as her last job.

Upon reaching this conclusion, Leo and Minseo fell into a period of self-loathing.

In other words, the Lenas who achieved the job ending despaired the moment they became concubines or high-class courtesans, realizing… their lives were over. It’s safe to assume they thought there was no better future ahead.

That’s why the job ending popped up. If it hadn’t been the case, Leo could have rescued the Lena who became a concubine or persuaded his sister to escape from the inn, and things could have changed.

Considering the circumstances at the time and Lena’s feelings of despair, the chances were slim…

In other words, Lena must not completely despair. She needed hope.

He didn’t know why he had to worry about such an obvious necessity for survival, but it was what it was.

Leo thought, ‘This game is truly wretched,’ and finally recalled the last, problematic princess ending.

Different from the various types of endings that come, this was an ending that could actually allow one to clear the scenario or game. An ending Minseo longed for.

‘But is making Lena a princess truly the clear condition?’

More than a year into the scenario that had entwined like a fairy tale, Leo tilted his head in confusion.

He struggled to comprehend what ‘game’ and ‘clear’ meant. The vague memories left by Minseo regarding that ‘Seoteam’ lacked sufficient information. The only coherent phrase was ‘#Multi Ending.’

Yet Minseo had judged the game ‘Princess Maker’ to be similar to [Raising Lena], then executed it, got trapped in this world, and tried to create Lena as a princess to escape.

Claiming that was the ‘True Ending’…

‘I don’t know what that true ending is, but it’s safe to say Minseo knows better than I do.’

Leo put aside the questions and continued thinking. Regardless, he had to restore the {bloodline} he had lost, meaning his goals did not conflict with Minseo’s.

If there was a chance his sister could become unhappy, he would give up at any moment, but for now, everything was smoothly unfolding.

However, the princess ending felt peculiar compared to the endings he had experienced until now.

– Is a princess a job?

It was rather ambiguous to label it as such.

A princess is, strictly speaking, a ‘status,’ not a profession.

Thus, if one were to define the princess ending, it was likely that it was a ‘status ending,’ one he had never witnessed before. Or maybe it was a type of marriage ending, like marrying a prince.

There was another question to ponder.

His sister had been a princess since birth. She was born of a noble status, and now she was beginning to become self-aware of being a princess.

Yet, the ending didn’t arrive. Some condition must have gone unfulfilled.

This was why Leo didn’t initiate a rebellion at Noyar harbor.

Even if he declared, “I’m the prince, and Lena is the princess!” the chances of an ending following were slim.

It was much like a bandit leader claiming, “I am king!” while occupying a mountain.

Status is relative. If there are no low-status individuals, there are no high-status individuals.

In other words, for Lena to be recognized as a princess, there needed to be beneath her peers to support her. A minimum population of at least a kingdom-level, along with a political and administrative system that acknowledges Lena as a princess.

Laying the groundwork from scratch was impossible. That would take a great hero years of toil, and it had to be in the right era to achieve.

Realistically, taking over an existing kingdom’s system was more plausible.

Also, just like the marriage ending, there may have been a need for some societal ‘procedure.’

Perhaps something akin to the ‘heir bestowal ceremony’ that Prince Eric de Yeriel had self-conducted when ousting them. Or perhaps something like a coming-of-age ceremony for a princess, involving a public declaration of something significant.

“Prince?”

Bart drew Leo’s attention. He had gathered the knights in the lobby and was carefully trying to break the king’s thoughts.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Apologizing, Leo issued commands. The knights, including Bart, scattered at the prince’s commands.

Once the five knights departed, leaving Leo alone in the empty building, he went upstairs to Lena’s room. He kept his sister company as she read a book.

Let’s take it slow. Slowly.

He planned to eliminate Eric de Yeriel through methods other than a power struggle.

As long as he could somehow kill the one recognized as the sole heir, restoring Leo de Yeriel as the rightful heir would be easy. Besides, with my {Tracking Skill}, Eric couldn’t possibly escape.

So, it was fine to take his time and prepare thoroughly.

The other scenarios required marrying Lena or rushing due to the possible outcome of her job being determined, but the beggar siblings scenario was leisurely.

Lena, who was a bit lazy and didn’t have any particular dreams, would turn 18 next year. She enjoyed sleeping in, unaware that she had been born a princess.

“Brother, is there anything I can help you with?”

At that moment, Lena, about to reach adulthood, asked. She was looking at her brother, who seemed lost in thought.

“Huh? No. I’m fine. Everything is going well.”

“I’m so bored… and Kasia isn’t around either.”

Leo patted his sister’s head. Why was it so cute when she puffed her cheeks?

He unconsciously pinched Lena’s slightly protruding upper lip, causing her to squeal.

“Ugh! What are you doing? Let go!”

So adorable.

Amid the brother’s mischievous antics and the sister’s slight complaints, the sun gradually set.

Then the royal knights, who had bolted out, started returning one by one.

Each brought someone along, and when Leo went down to the lobby to see who it was—

“Whoa! It’s an honor to meet you, my prince!”

One of the knights’ companions was startled and knelt upon seeing Leo de Yeriel, who was purportedly dead.

That knight had been someone Leo had known for a long time, a friend who had been exiled from the kingdom and had approached with the intention of sharing a drink, but was now shocked at the sight of Leo de Yeriel, who was believed to have perished.

Leo questioned in a solemn voice.

“Will you pledge your loyalty to me, or will you follow the immoral Prince Eric?”

Some knights shook their heads in disbelief, but Leo’s appearance bore a striking resemblance to that of a king, making it hard to refute. In the end, they believed the words of their friend coaxing them.

“Everyone knows that you, Prince Leo de Yeriel, is the true bloodline. If you accept this disloyal subject, I shall follow you, Your Highness.”

The knight who was summoned pledged his loyalty to Leo.

“I gladly accept your loyalty. In return, I shall grant you honor as your lord.”

Leo took the sword the knight presented, aimed it at him for a moment, and then returned the hilt.

This was a plan devised by Leo, Bart, and the royal knights. Dealing with crafty nobles was tricky, and they were caught in the grasp of Duke Tertan, but knights were different.

For the knights, who valued honor above all else, they hadn’t opposed Prince Eric merely out of lack of choice; deep down, they regarded him unfavorably.

And generally, they were straightforward, but Leo had a means to see into their hearts even if they weren’t entirely honest.

[ Achievement: Master-Slave Relationship – ‘9’, As long as their loyalty does not waver, those who pledge allegiance will believe in and follow Leo. ]

Seeing the master-slave relationship count increase, Leo smiled broadly. Had their allegiance been false, this achievement would not have reacted.

He sent the royal knight and the new companion upstairs to converse, remaining alone in the lobby to laugh aloud.

It was a laugh filled with joy and relief.

If he gathered one ally after another, he could slowly, secretly take hold of the kingdom’s knight order and the royal guard. After killing Duke Tertan and scattering the nobles’ focus, he would take down Prince Eric.

Leo lit the fire in the lobby’s hearth.

Feeling the warm heat embrace him, he slumped down and recalled the memories of the past.

All that he had built up until now wasn’t wasted. Neither his childhood friend nor the engagement scenario.

Every tragedy along the way had granted him abilities and information, and its fruits were right before him.

“Everyone… thank you.”

The flames crackled and flickered, casting a bright light across his face, and Leo softly whispered his gratitude to Minseo and other Leos.

Leo Dexter, that guy seemed displeased that his life was being controlled by Minseo, but Leo de Yeriel felt nothing of the sort. Having been a beggar in Oberg, I was destined to die hopelessly on the streets.

Despite enduring harsh endings multiple times, without Minseo’s bizarre, repetitive life, he would have never made it this far. His sister likely wouldn’t have survived either.

Lost in sentiment, Leo poked at the hearth with a stick.

The smoke that rose from the fire twisted chaotically before exiting through the chimney, and the sturdy wood used as fuel turned to ash and settled on the ground.