Chapter 13: Status – (2)

The moment I finished speaking, a pleasant ding echoed in my ears.

Blah, blah, blah.

It was the same notification I’d seen hundreds of times while playing. I lazily waved my hand to skip it, and finally, a long, gray stat sheet rose before me.

“Ohhh.”

I let out a small sound of admiration.

At last, I had brought up the status window of Raising the Empress.

Its system was similar to that of any standard RPG. Six distinct stats existed, and you could raise them as you progressed through the game.

The options available to you in various situations would expand or shrink depending on these stat values. Honestly, it operated more like a dating sim than a traditional RPG.

The Achievement Level shown beneath the name would increase with story progress. Since Raising the Empress was structured in eight acts, reaching level 8 meant you’d hit the ending.

The title next to it would also change accordingly, though that was mostly cosmetic.

Right now, having just entered Act 1, all of Lincia’s stats were at 5. These were the base values—essentially a blank slate.

That’s when I noticed something strange and frowned.

“Why is her stress like this?”

The Stress stat, which should’ve started at the default, had increased by one.

Sure, considering Lincia’s circumstances, her stress might’ve reasonably gone up. But at this specific point in time, there shouldn’t be anything stressful happening. It was the same in the original game.

Which meant—

Yeah. Hard to believe this had nothing to do with me, the unexpected variable.

“…This is gonna be tricky.”

It was frustrating precisely because I didn’t know the cause. It meant stress could increase at any time, without warning.

I followed behind Lincia as she headed toward the carriage, my eyes still fixed on that increased number.

Stress was Raising the Empress’s defining feature.

Whenever Lincia was shocked or faced hardship, her Stress value would rise. Once the ten-bar stress gauge filled up, it would reset back to the default value of 5—but at the cost of gaining a negative trait.

These traits would negatively affect Lincia’s personality and behavior. And the number of negative traits directly influenced the type of ending you could reach.

Even if Lincia survived all the way to the end, failing to manage her traits and stress properly could still lead you to the worst ending—the Tyrant Ending.

So basically, from my supporting role, I had to resolve every crisis Lincia encountered and manage her mental health on top of that.

I nearly cursed out loud, but swallowed it back.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a game this hardcore.

After taking a moment to compose myself, my eyes drifted to a line of text at the bottom—something not visible in the original game.

These were survival points, earned by avoiding dead ends or successfully advancing the story. I’d need to learn how to use them too.

That was the system’s explanation.

I casually moved my finger toward the survival points.

The moment I did, the six gray stat numbers lit up with color.

I tapped one of the glowing stats, and with a satisfying “ping,” its value increased by one—up to 6.

My eyes widened.

“No way… Is this a trainer?”

It was. A stat trainer.

Right. Maybe I won’t die so easily after all.

****

When I boarded the carriage with Lincia, the coachman waved his arm, and the horses began to trot slowly toward the Grand Assembly Hall.

Lincia sat across from me, gazing blankly out the window, her expression unreadable. Beside her, the head maid watched my every movement like a hawk.

Even so, I kept my focus on the status window.

From the quick test earlier, I knew I could use these points to enhance the Empress’s base six stats.

The cost to increase one stat was 2 points.

Being able to manipulate stats that normally couldn’t be changed was basically a cheat.

Of course, spending those points wasn’t without risk. To earn more, I’d have to actively avoid dead ends, and that meant diving into some seriously dangerous scenarios.

I debated for a moment whether I should save them or use them now.

The answer came quickly.

‘I’m using them.’

I had no idea when a game over might hit. If there were tools to help, I’d be a fool not to use them.

I already knew which stat to boost.

If there was one thing I’d learned after pouring over 500 hours into Raising the Empress, it was this: out of all six stats, Willpower was the most critical.

Leadership? Combat? Intellect? Charm? Luck? They were nice, sure—but not essential.

At least not in Act 1. Most choices or events early on didn’t require those.

But Willpower? It was the MVP from the prologue to the finale.

It was extremely effective at managing stress.

Without hesitation, I increased Lincia’s Willpower by 1.

I glanced at her. She was still staring indifferently out the window, unaware of the change that had just occurred.

Well… makes sense. One point wouldn’t be noticeable.

But if I pushed it a little more, maybe the results would be different.

I opened the status window again, aiming to raise Willpower a second time.

Not enough Survival Points.

Achievement Level too low.

“Bastards.”

Of course. They wouldn’t let you cheat that easily.

So each time you upgrade, the cost goes up. And now there’s an achievement level requirement too.

Meaning: in Act 1, the most you could increase a stat was once.

Well, I suppose it’d be ridiculous if I dumped all my points into Intellect and suddenly turned her into a genius who could rival Rowan, the top court mage. That’d break the game.

Gee, thanks for the late notice.

I let out a heavy sigh.

Grudgingly, I used my remaining 2 points to increase Luck by 1.

It wasn’t a particularly important stat, but hey—better than nothing.

With that done, I leaned back against the seat.

We were scheduled to arrive at the Assembly Hall within the hour. Though I was technically here to escort Lincia, I didn’t have to pay much attention.

No attacks or surprises would happen on the way there. If the game was accurate, the path would remain peaceful.

The real problem started inside the Assembly Hall.

And more than anything else…

I cast a sidelong glance at the head maid seated beside Lincia.

She noticed my gaze and quickly turned her head away.

Cold attitude—but I didn’t catch any hidden malice.

Still, for now, she was my number one suspect.

Dead End: Head Maid Melina.

I even remembered the exact ending. Was it number 12? Something like that.

It was unforgettable.

Midway through Act 1. The maid, who had been sweet and caring since the beginning, offered Lincia a cup of tea, just like always. Without a second thought, Lincia accepted.

And then she collapsed, coughing up blood—dead.

The cause? Poison.

And not just from anyone, but from the head maid who had cared for her like a mother.

It was one of the earliest and most brutal Raising the Empress endings—shocking players left and right.

There wasn’t even an explanation. That made it worse.

“Why do you keep staring at me?”

“It’s nothing.”

I looked away from Melina.

Nothing seemed off right now.

But someday, Melina would try to kill Lincia. That much was certain.

And that was just one of countless Dead Ends waiting for us.

I needed to stay sharp.

Clenching my jaw, I braced myself inwardly.

****

Lincia Airen was currently in quite the sour mood.

She was being dragged to the Assembly Hall like a chess piece—no, more like an object being carted around. Naturally, she was displeased at being treated this way.

Not that she couldn’t understand it. Lincia could very well be the last Empress. From the Empire’s perspective, she was someone they’d want to protect at all costs.

But that wasn’t what truly bothered her.

At a more fundamental level, she felt an overwhelming sense of betrayal toward the knight before her—Freud.

‘He looked so upright… and turned out to be a total scoundrel?’

Whether or not Freud realized what she was thinking, he just stared blankly ahead, eyes fixed on a single spot.

Frustrated, Lincia shook her head and turned her gaze to the golden palace scenery passing by outside the carriage window.

’…They say Sir Freed’s nickname is ‘Mad Dog’?’

Ever since that day when Melina told her about Freud’s reputation, Lincia had been shuddering in disbelief. From that point on, she began receiving constant reports—well, gossip—from Melina about him.

‘Apparently, he took some soldiers under the pretense of training and just beat the crap out of them.’

It was more rumor than intelligence.

But for Lincia, stuck high in the tower, it wasn’t like she had any way to verify the truth. So all she could do was accept it at face value.

And yet, even with those rumors, she had chosen Freud to be her personal guard. Reputation aside, he was the only one she felt she could truly trust.

No matter what people said, hadn’t Freud risked his life to save her during the Foundation Day attack?

She was genuinely grateful for that. She’d even planned to thank him properly.

’Rumor has it he seduced Sir Milia, one of the other royal guards, and spent the night with her. You know what ‘spending the night’ means, right?’

…She was going to thank him.

‘A-Ah… I-I know! It’s… it’s that thing, right?’

‘Yes, that. That~ thing.’

She could still picture Melina’s sly grin as she teased her, leaving her flustered beyond belief.

Now Lincia sat trembling, her fists clenched tightly.

Spending the night—that thing.

She remembered sneaking into her father’s study when she was younger…

She hadn’t seen the act itself with her own eyes.

But the illustrations had explained everything in graphic detail.

So explicit, so indecent… she wanted to cover her eyes just thinking about it.

And Sir Freud…

He had done that…

“You shameless brute!!”

Unable to bear imagining it any further, Lincia cried out loud.

And immediately regretted it.

“Ah…”

Everyone—Melina, the coachman, the guards marching beside the carriage, and even Freud—turned toward her with confused expressions.

Lincia wished she could crawl into a hole and disappear.

“Is something the matter, Your Highness?”

And in the middle of all that, Freud—this scoundrel—had the audacity to ask her with genuine concern, completely unfazed.

“N-No, it’s nothing…”

He was clearly a bad person, and yet…

There was something undeniably knightly about him—especially in that shining armor, standing tall.

More than that, the gentle tone in his voice when asking how she was…

Lincia couldn’t bring herself to answer. Instead, she lowered her head, cheeks flushed red, trying desperately to hide her face.

“……”

Watching her, Melina wore a face like she had just lost everything in the world.

-- The End OF The Chapter --

 

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