Chapter 1 : She Couldn’t Understand

Hall Faxtius. Male.

Born in the Holy Light Era, Year 1015.

Currently nineteen years old, standing between 175 to 180 centimeters tall, with a moderate build.

Second son of the Duke and Admiral Faxtius.
His father is the supreme commander stationed at the western frontier of the Holy Papal State.
His mother is the daughter of an ancient noble family with a thousand-year heritage within the Papal State.
Even in the capital, Hall is considered a blue-blooded aristocrat among the upper echelon.

Despite being well-groomed and handsome, Hall is presently the subject of much gossip due to his questionable private life.
Nonetheless, he remains one of the captains of the Black Knights Order—an elite unit established by the Papal State over the past two decades.

Rumors abound that he’ll be promoted to vice-commander before twenty-two, and commander by twenty-five.
In the future, it’s said he’ll inherit his father’s admiral title without any difficulty.

But Hall must clarify—these are just rumors.
Because in almost every game route—

By the age of twenty-two, he had already become the commander of the Black Knights Order, honored with the title: The Empire’s Shadow Sword.

And at twenty-five…
At twenty-five, his grave was likely already overgrown with weeds.

That’s right.
He dies in every route, but it’s not because he’s talentless.

In some extreme heroine routes, not only does he lead the Black Knights—the dirty-ops unit of the Papal State—
He even carries that classic villain vibe of a mastermind pulling strings from the shadows.

Of course, some chaotic good players kept using those kind, innocent heroines to “purify” Hall.
They’d constantly lecture him about theology, forcefully altering his personality, making him raise death flags.
Ultimately, he’d sacrifice himself for the heroine like a tragic tool character.

But now, back in his palatial family estate—measured in ten-thousands of square meters—
Hall had no intention of becoming some mastermind.
Nor did he want to nobly sacrifice himself.

On his way home, he kept thinking: how the hell was he supposed to survive?

Staying away from the heroines was a given.
But if he strayed too far from the main storyline, and something happened to one of them,
According to how the plot usually went, he’d still die unexpectedly—before the heroine even had time to react.

After all, many players had reported that, right before reaching a Bad End, the game would always release some kind of information like:
“Hall Faxtius is dead.”

Getting close to the heroines? Even worse.

That just opened up even more documented death routes.

Would it be better to know the exact day he would die?

Or better to not know at all?

‘Forget it. I’ll just keep my distance for now. We should be at the beginning of the storyline. I’ll observe for a few days first.’

Himan Von Braun. Female.

Born in the Holy Light Era, Year 1015.

Currently nineteen years old.
169 centimeters tall.
Weighs ninety-five pounds.

Bust fully developed, long legs, perky bottom.
In both looks and figure—absolutely flawless.

She’s the type who could pull off any outfit.

The only daughter of Duke and General Von Braun.
Her father is the commanding officer stationed at the eastern frontier of the Papal State.
Her mother, too, is the daughter of a thousand-year noble family.

Himan’s and Hall’s mothers were from the same lineage.
Technically, that made them somewhat blood-related.

Based on their mothers’ generational positions, Himan should be Hall’s older cousin.
But going by birthdates, she would be considered his younger cousin.

As a result, when they were little, Himan used to grab Hall’s bowtie at parties and force him to call her “big sis.”

Back then, Hall was just a cute little boy in a snug little tux.
He would protest slightly, then sweetly call the early-developing Himan “big sis” to make her smile.

Himan had always found that adorable.
She doted on Hall and would give him whatever he wanted.

But now…

“This guy… even back then, he was already a little pervert!”

Back at her family’s estate, the young knight was still fuming.

Because after calling her “big sis,” Hall would always make weird requests.
And the worst part was—

Himan was too naive at the time to know better, so she’d just agree in a daze.

She even lifted her skirt once to show that little creep…

She was absolutely furious!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

Back in the day, she might not have taken it so seriously—just blamed it on childhood ignorance.

But over the past few years, Hall’s reputation in Saint Louis had only worsened.
Every time the noble ladies gathered for weekend tea, the topic would inevitably turn to how they’d each been hit on by Hall in some ridiculous way.

That guy was a total womanizer!

Of course, at those tea parties, Himan—being Hall’s cousin—had to publicly disassociate herself from him.

“Is he really that desperate for women?”

At first, Himan often questioned it.
It didn’t seem right.
Hall had been surrounded by beautiful women since childhood—not even counting her.

Just look at Hall’s older sister and younger sister, Lorraine.
They were both social stars among the noble ladies of Saint Louis.

Surely he didn’t need to chase after every girl he saw?

But reality stared her in the face.
She had no choice but to believe it.

And worse—there was a good chance Hall might try to mess with Lorraine after coming home.
She had to protect her cousin and stop that perverted cousin of hers from doing something unforgivable.

That’s why she confronted Hall today.

Yet Hall acted like he didn’t take her warning seriously at all.

If this went on, Lorraine would definitely fall victim to him.

No—maybe she already had, without even realizing it.

The thought only made her angrier.

Five years ago, her mother had asked fourteen-year-old Himan if she wanted Hall to be one of her potential fiancé candidates.

Back then, she had foolishly agreed.
Now, Himan wanted to go back in time and slap herself.

Fiancé, my a*.

After giving up on Hall, she had resolved to dedicate her life to chivalry and swordsmanship.
Her new goal was to become the Holy Papal State’s Throne of Radiance.

But just as she returned to the family estate, she was greeted with a surprise.

“Young Lady, good afternoon. Madam wishes to see you.”

“Mother wants to see me? What for?”

“It seems to be something very important about Baron Hall.”

The guard’s words made the blonde knight furrow her brows.

If her mother wanted to talk about Hall, then it must be…

She wasn’t going to marry that degenerate Hall—no matter what.
If worst came to worst, she’d just go register as a nun and call it a day.

Passing through gardens and lawns, walking the cobblestone paths toward the rear villa—

Himan began to sense something off.

There were several guards in Judgment Bureau uniforms inside the estate.

Even a middle-aged man in an investigator’s coat stood at the villa entrance, holding a pair of silver shackles.

As she walked closer, she realized the man looked familiar.
Wasn’t he her instructor from when she first joined the Order of White Knights?
Yafman, was it?

The golden cross medal on his sleeve signified a rank just below the Throne of Radiance and the Holy Throne—
A member of the Throne of Gold.

She didn’t quite understand why the Judgment Bureau would be here.

Still, she decided to head inside first and ask her mother directly.

Upon entering, she saw the lady in the red gown sitting with a solemn expression.

The noblewoman waved her hand.

“You’re back?”

“Mother, outside… why is the Judgment Bureau here? Didn’t you say this was about Hall?”

“Yes.
They’re here to ask you to be a witness.
To testify against Hall.”

The noblewoman’s face twisted in mild disdain as she continued.
“My nephew is just a bit of a playboy.
How could he possibly be involved in something so serious?”

“Witness? Don’t tell me… he…”

Himan wondered if Hall had gotten some noble girl pregnant and didn’t want to take responsibility.

That was the most serious thing she could imagine Hall doing.

But her mother’s next words froze her solid.

Because she heard her say—

“Hah.
The Judgment Bureau claims Hall is a spy from the Xia Kingdom.
Absolutely ridiculous!”

“What?!”

She couldn’t understand.

Her mind went completely blank.