5 Volume 1.4 Mad Prince

"Yvette, what in the world is happening?" Veronica asked. Fear and worry were visible in her eyes.

We were currently running through the halls finding a place to hide.

"I will tell you later after we find a safe place to hide."

"Ah, please spare me!"

All of us stopped just before we turned to a corner. "Wait," I gestured for Veronica and Melissa to stop on their tracks.

I slowly inched my way to take a peek at the other side of the corner.

Ah, damn.

My heart could almost snap out of my chest at any time. Out of all the people I wanted to avoid, there he was. In the corner of the hallway.

Messy silver hair, and golden eyes, that glinted like that of a wild predator hunting his prey. And the worst of it all, our eyes locked.

If this was some sort of fantasy romantic manhua, I think this would be a perfect cliche accidental scene. A chance encounter for the female lead and the male lead to meet.

I glanced at the dead man lying beneath him.

However, to me, this chance encounter was just a curse. To me who was not even the main character and just some random princess in a kingdom that was not even mentioned in the game?

The Second Imperial Prince of the Raven Empire, Prince Ephraim Arthur.

My eyes subconsciously went to the bloodied four of heart card in his hands. Seeing that I would make a move now. He was now dashing at full speed in our direction.

"Veronica, let's exchange cards!" I said as I hurriedly exchanged my card with Veronica. "Go to the palace kitchen and hide in the cellar there. I will meet you there. No matter what happens, don't let anyone have your cards."

"Look out!"

I immediately pushed Melissa towards Veronica. And the second prince's sword pierced through the wall separating me and my sister who caught Melissa in her embrace.

"Go!" I screamed as I waved the six of hearts for the prince to see. "You wanted this? Come and get it to me!"

I screamed and ran in the opposite direction without looking at him. When I glanced back, he was following after me. He was really after this card.

There was a hidden side story that could only be unlocked if the player met certain requirements by playing the game repeatedly.

The Second Imperial Prince, Ephraim Arthur.

It was revealed that when the players reset the game or had been killed and needed to repeat the scene. This character was the only character that remembered everything from what happened before the reset. It was like he was regressing back at the game events.

I already had the feeling that he would be the key character in that fourth and last ending that was not released yet. It was based on all the data I have gathered playing the game. An ending that would revolve around time and space.

I didn't know at first if he regressed at this time. However, I saw that he was collecting cards of hearts instead of random cards.

It was mentioned by that game master before, that the more cards you collect, you would gain absolute authority. That was true. The more cards you had the greater the skills you would receive as a reward. It could be advantageous to anyone as this game had Twelve Events in total.

However, the cards of hearts, if you completed the set of that, would unlock a special card that would help a player to be able to pass the next two events swiftly.

It was a card called the White Joker. A special card that could only be obtained after you met that criteria in the event.

Though there was another special card, the Black Joker which was the one I intended to obtain in this event.

Seeing that Ephraim was collecting the card of hearts. This confirmed my suspicions and fear that he already regressed during this time to have this knowledge.

Right now, I don't know how many times he has regressed already. However, this made him a more deadly and dangerous character for someone like me. He was the type who would do everything for what mattered to him. That was to protect his sister, the female lead in the end as he watched her from the shadows.

And anyone outside of that was just an obstacle that needed to be eliminated. Since as the game events continued, anyone could become a possible threat to him and the female lead.

I immediately docked when I felt something heading to me at a fast speed. Some strands of my hair were cut off with his sword.

'He's fast!'

'And damn, with this dress, it will not be easy to fight him.'

'No, can I even have enough strength to fight him? Let's try talking to him first.'

I grabbed the candle holder on my side and used it to block his sword. "Your highness, you can have the card! And I promise that I will not tell anyone about those two you kill..."

However, without saying anything, he brought out another dagger that was on his hilt.

'Crap.' I immediately blocked the dagger with my heels that I was holding back then. Though I took it off earlier, my heels was still too precious for me to let go.

'Tch. So talking was not an option.'

'But father and brother, I'm grateful that I asked you to teach me to fight and hunt all this time.'

Though I was not powerful enough to go against the Mad Prince of the empire right now. I gritted my teeth as I yanked the dagger downwards. Then I picked up my other heels that were on the floor and threw it toward him.

He retracted his sword and used it to slash the heels in two.

'Ah. If mom found out that the heels she chose for me personally, got destroyed. I'm doomed.'

While he was still distracted, I used this chance to escape.

"Ahhh!" I screamed as I immediately stood up. I tore the thick layers of my gown so that I would be able to move more freely. And speed up my running. I only have a candleholder as my weapon.

I even suggested that I would give the card to him peacefully. He was really dead set on killing everyone aside from the female lead and those characters.

'Ah! That was right, the female lead!'

I saw stairs heading toward the second floor. With no other choice, I headed towards it. As I made it to the top, I spotted a room where the door was open. When I turned around, he already made it to the second floor as well.

"Hey prince!" I screamed. "Estella is in danger! She was stabbed and in critical condition!"

The second prince seemed startled and paused. We are just a meter away from each other. "If you want to save her, she is in the main hall right now!" If he was a regressor he would know that even if he was not there or not, Estella would be safe and might consider that I was bluffing. However, no matter how much he regressed, he deeply cared for her. He would certainly choose to be with her as soon as possible with that dreadful news. And check her condition.

"What are you sayi..."

"You can have this card!" I threw the card on the first floor. While his eyes were fixated on the card, I immediately entered the room and locked it. Then I pushed a table to block it just in case he try to forcefully open it.

"Please ignore me and just go to Estella," I silently prayed as I held the candle holder in both of my hands. it was pointed towards the door.

"Please."

"Please."

However a few more minutes had already passed, and no one tried to break the door.

'Did he leave already?' I slumped on the ground, as I felt a slight relief.

He might be suspicious of me now, on how I know the cards of hearts were what he was after. And interrogate me in the future. Or even worst, I might be already number one on his list of people who needs to be eliminated. But I'll just worry about that later.

I glanced at my left hand which was bleeding. That dagger earlier, though I was able to block it, some part of my hand still caught on it. I tore another hem of my gown and used it to bandage my hand.

"Hah!" I felt relaxed a bit now. As I observed the room, it might be a guest room for some nobleman. It smelled of strong perfume that only noblemen would wear.

Somehow, I regretted having to wish to be reincarnated here. I was so stupid since I failed to realize that a game world could become cruel if it was a reality. It was not like if I died here, I would just go back to my save point and repeat everything. And I really thought of that as a silly wish that should have not been granted.

'Sigh. If I die, I am not certain whether I will regress or not. And I don't want to consider such a dangerous idea either.'

And besides, there were people that I needed to protect now, no matter what. That cellar would be safe since one of the good main characters was hiding there. He helped some of the guests to survive the first event in that cellar.

However, for no-name characters like us, there was knowing how long we would be safe even if we survived the first event.

Well, I just wished it out of my whims. It was certainly true that you should have been careful about what you wished for.

Sigh. Nothing could be done by that now other than living this life and surviving.

My clothes were all tattered now. 'I can't move like this properly.'

I stood up to check the closet if there were some clothes I could change into. However when I opened the closet...

The frail-looking man that was made fun of by some nobles earlier was inside. Both of his arms were hugging his knees and he was certainly trembling. His ashen eyes looked at me with fear.

"Ple-please. Don't kill me." He said with a trembling voice.

***

〔Event Time: 23hrs: 12mins: 34 secs.〕