It takes time but after a day of not being in a virtual world, talking to your siblings, and getting to know that little rat better, you found out that she wasn't that bad, but it would be a lie if there's not even a little bit of hatred and envy in your heart whenever you see herーwith that healthy body and adorable smile of hersーstart to mingle with the only people you are closed to; your brothers.

While she was sitting there, telling the men what kind of decoration and food her mother would prefer for the banquet, you went back to your room, feeling sleepy as soon as you took your medicines. The next day you ended up logging back in without even stepping outside of your room.

You know it was a cowardly move. Truthfully, you are scared of meeting her with your brothers. You fear that once you go out, you would see your brothers talking merrily with that girl, totally forgetting about you, but at the same time, you also thought that it would be nice if they were to get close to her. You hope that since they have another vulnerable little sister to take care of, they would then start to lose their control over your freedom a little bit more, but still, human hearts are fickle so you're now in a bit of a dilemma.

You sigh, opening the door of your virtual room to go outside only to see Essen sitting down on the floor, back lying against the wall and knees to his chest. It seems that he was waiting for you to log in. You look at him in confusion before recalling back what Hayun had asked you to do yesterday.

"I want you to make Essen and Helios your love interest."

You sigh once again, relenting to your fate. After all, it's not like this is your first time having to be shared by people as if you were a cheap woman that can be passed around like a toy. If you can endure it once, why can't you endure it twice? There's not much difference anyway.

"Essen."

The said NPC raises his head upon hearing his name being called. His brown eyes are red, as if he had just cried, but you know that those are the eyes of a person who just woke up after falling asleep. You frown, squatting down.

"Were you kicked out of your room or something?"

In the blink of an eye, the man had tackled you, causing you to fall on your butts as he circled his arms around your waist. He buries his face on your chest and you see his love meter steadily increases.

『29% ー> 31%』

『31% ー> 33%』

『33% ー> 35%』

You sigh at how easy it is to please this man, having no heart to push him away when he's behaving like an abandoned puppy finally meeting its owner again after a long period of waiting.

"(Y/n)..."

You hum.

"Big brother," he pulls away, eyes looking up at you tearily. "Please go and comfort him. He really, really, really loves you."

"Helios?" You frown. "But shouldn't he already forget about me right now?"

"He, like me, couldn't bear to reset your existence in his memory, so he would often go to take a glance at you. You know how much Helios supports your relationship with Hayun, so when he saw you being so affectionate with him, his love meter probably keeps rising and rising, and now," Essen tries to find the right word to say it. "Heー He's lovesick."

A lovesick Helios, you are quite intrigued.

"Where is he?" You ask.

"Helios has been skipping classes lately. He's probably in his room."

You fish out your phone to open the said NPC's profile and no doubt what Essen said wasn't a lie. Helios's love meter, which once was 55%, is now 63%. You stare at the teleportation link before glancing at Essen.

"You don't mind if I leave you here?"

"Iー" he looks reluctant. "You should prioritize big brother first, as for me, itー it doesn't matter."

At the way he's acting right now, you are reminded of the Essen in the previous game. There's not much memory you have between that Essen, mainly because your attention is only on Hayun, but if there's one thing that you remember about him, it's probably how he had died in the bad ending you got of the previous game.

"Iー I will be fine. You should go to Hayun."

Didn't he die from blood loss after being stabbed by that jealous man in the previous game? And the heartless you at the time had the nerve to abandon him just so you could make it in time to rescue Hayun.

You exhale, eyes dim. That's why you are so adamant in wanting only Hayun, after all, you only have one heart to love, two hands to protect, and those are reserved only for him, it is simply not enough for anyone else.

"Once I'm done, you will be the first one I come back to," you promise.

Not Hayun? Essen wants to ask, but in the end, he just nods in agreement. His heart burst with hope.

You click on the teleportation link.

By the time you arrive at Helios's room, you are greeted by the sight of the said NPC lying on the bed like a seductress. He was probably having a nightmare judging by how he keeps turning and tossing around on the bed, but that didn't matter, what matters is why is his shirt unbuttoned? You try to keep your eyes away from his well-built abdominal muscles, but that proves to be impossible when he starts to moan and groan.

Your face heats up, glancing at Adam's apple that is well-visible whenever he raises his chin up.

You inhale, wanting to cry but can't.

Eventually, you go to Helios's side, deciding to wake the man up, only when your hand was a few inches away from him, he suddenly pulls you, causing you to fall on top of him, and in the blink of eyes, he has turned you over, causing him to be the one towering you this time.

Your eyes naturally go to his abdominal muscles.

No. Resisting what people would call "lust," your eyes go to his face to see that he is dangerously glaring at you, as if he were a wolf that's ready to kill you by ripping your neck off. Fortunately, his fierce gaze gradually melts to recognition and you see him smiling warmly at you, yet his brown eyes remain cloudy.

"(N/n)," he calls out.

You freeze at that name, face heats up at the cringe-worthy username created by your younger self in the previous game before you jokingly changed it to Wife. God, you wish you could kill the you at that time and bury your dark history.

"(N/n)," he repeats. "(N/n)?"

"Stop." You close his mouth with your palms.

Surprisingly, you didn't think that Helios would lick your palm. You jerk your hands away instinctively due to the ticklish sensation, your face confused as you are pretty sure that you turned off the senses setting long ago.

It didn't take you long to know why as a message board pops up in the air.

『congratulations! you have unlocked helios's lovemaking event. to ensure an enjoyable process for the player, we have turned on our newly updated senses setting. have fun!』

I didn't ask! You want to smack the unreliable system of this game. This game is lucky that it belongs to your brother's company lest you would have filed a complaint long ago.

As you are in a rage over this irresponsible behavior, you somehow have a prediction that one of your brothers must have been the one to assign you this troll of a system, but you didn't get to curse much because the next thing you know, Helios's hands are already inside your shirt.

"Waitー!"

Like a fish flailing for water, you have tried to escape from his grip to no avail. His palms are warm on your skin, creating the illusion that Helios is real. You can even smell something slightly fruity, peppery, and vanilla-like coming from him when he buries his face in the crook of your neck, creating his mark on you.

No good. Your strength is too weak to push him off and at this point, lust is clouding your mind, taunting you to indulge in this pleasure for once after a long time of abstinence.

Eventually, Helios pulls away, putting his weight on your thighs so you won't be able to run away. He grabs your hand and places it on the bulge showing on his pants, his slight smile looks quite cheeky in your eyes.

"You can use me, (N/n)," he offers. " Train me then discard me. It doesn't matter. I want you to make a toy out of me."

Perhaps, your heart is beating too fast, because it seems that you have been forcefully logged out.

You jolt up on the bed as you take off your VR headset, cold sweat trickling down your chin. You try to stabilize your breathing before eventually, you realize the wetness between your legs and your cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Oh lord, you bury your face in your palms shamefully. To think that you would lust after a character, how pathetic can you be?

You know that you aren't that innocent since you have slept with Malyshki, but this and that are different. With Malyshki, there's not even a trace of affection, you couldn't even feel anything so what you did with him could hardly be called sex.

You sigh, rolling your eyes at the thought of that hateful man. You head to the bathroom, cleaning what should be cleaned before heading outside to change clothes. You walk out of your room, not surprised to see the servants are busying themselves with the upcoming banquet but what surprise you is the little rat that is talking to them happily as she also did the same thing as them.

You frown, stopping in front of the girl and a few maids around her. "What are you doing?"

The little rat's hands clench around the broom nervously. "I'm, uh, helping."

Why would she help them when they are paid to do this while the girl gains nothing in the end?

You furrow your eyes, glancing at the maids who are averting their eyes. "Are you bullying her or something?"

The maids are in shock at your accusation, more so the little rat. She shakes her head furiously, trying to protect them.

"No. I beg them to. I," she tries to find the right word. "I wanted to help. Since this banquet is for me and my mother, Iー"

"You told me that you will leave once your mother's back," you cut her off.

That girl seems to freeze at your words. She opens her mouth to say something only to close it back.

You sigh. What were you expecting from this girl? A mouth that only talks the truth? She's as fickle as your father it's a surprise they aren't related.

You grab her by her hand, pulling her away from the housework and the maids. You don't know if your brothers would know about this matter but you hope they don't. Alas, with how all these people work for them, you don't think your hope would last that long.

"Where... are you taking me?" She looks scared.

"Didn't you want to stay here?" You glance at her, smiling pretentiously. "Welcome to the family. Let's have some bonding time together, shall we?"

HIS SIDE:

the delirious man snaps out of his state upon seeing no one under him. he looks left and right dumbly, as if searching for that person. the raging fire inside him is gone now that his source of comfort is nowhere to be found. he blankly stares in the air.

"gone," he mutters to himself, "...back to hayun?"

at the thought, tears roll down his cheek yet despite the immense sadness in his heart, the numbers floating on his head rises. he smiles with a trace of melancholy.

as expected, he could never overthrown hayun in your heart. but that's okay, he assures himself, because that's what his role is. he's just your illicit lover, and the only thing he can do is offer you his body.

but even that one thing he has, you didn't want it.

he curls up on bed, hands gripping on the bedsheet which has your scent on it. he inhales deeply, looking intoxicated.

"come back soon."