Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Bug in the game

I was slightly taken aback.

"Really?"

"Absolutely." He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. "Lady, it seems you really do have talent."

I shook my head, trying to hide my embarrassed smile.

"I don’t think so. You just let me win."

"I assure you," Richard said a little more quietly, "I never let myself lose on purpose."

His voice sounded calm, but for some reason, I could sense a sincerity in it that made me freeze.

In the end, after the chess game was over, the emperor’s nephew, who was clearly interested in the outcome of the game, suddenly looked at me with an expression of slight interest and unexpectedly asked a question:

"Lady Weinstein, it was truly a pleasure to play with you. Perhaps you would agree to play with me again sometime?

I froze for a moment, not expecting such an invitation.

However, before I could respond, a bright, sparkling window suddenly flashed before my eyes.

"Agree."

"Politely decline."

"Smile and change the subject."

I blinked. Once, twice. Just to try to understand if my eyes were deceiving me.

But no, it was really real.

At that moment, I was more taken aback than ever.

...Damn it, why did this suddenly appear here?!

"What...?" was all I had time to think as I stared in shock at the pop-up window that had suddenly appeared right before my eyes, as if out of nowhere.

No, wait. Is this really happening!?...

I blinked. Once. Twice.

But nothing disappeared.

The flashing text still hovered before my eyes, as if insistently urging me to act.

I involuntarily held my breath, feeling a slight chill run down my spine.

"No... This can’t be. Why did this appear now? Why to me?!"

"...Damn," I muttered under my breath.

I couldn’t understand why this was happening right now. No, why were these answer options appearing in front of me at all?

Wasn’t this supposed to happen only to the main character of this game?

In other words, I was completely baffled, suddenly faced with this. And yet...

The window still flickered stubbornly, demanding that I click on it. And the longer I hesitated, the more I felt as if the space around me was beginning to flicker strangely — as if the world was frozen in anticipation of my decision.

The faint sound of the wind died down.

Even the sun’s glare on the water seemed to freeze, stopped in its movement.

The birds soaring somewhere in the distance no longer moved.

The whole world froze, waiting for my answer.

In the end, in the midst of all this unreal silence, I was left alone, feeling the cold creeping under my skin.

Richard had been watching me calmly all this time, noticing nothing unusual. Of course, he couldn’t see what I saw.

Since, apparently, I had no other alternative anyway, I realized that I would have to choose one of the options. And, after a moment’s hesitation, I settled on the most neutral one — "politely decline."

But... nothing happened.

I blinked, looked at the window again, and, not believing my eyes, pressed it again. Then again.

The result was the same — nothing.

The text stubbornly flickered, as if mocking me.

"Seriously...?" I whispered, barely containing my irritation.

In a panic, I tried everything I could. First, "politely decline," then "smile and change the subject," then I just touched the empty space, hoping that the window would somehow disappear. But, as luck would have it, nothing helped.

No, what the hell is this?!

Each attempt ended the same way — the world around me remained strangely frozen, and this glowing window still hung before my eyes, as if simply mocking me.

"Maybe it’s some kind of bug?" I muttered under my breath, feeling a chill run down my spine.

"Or maybe the game just froze?"

But in that case, how could I get out of this situation?

I frantically scanned my surroundings — the gazebo, the lake, Richard’s face. He was still looking at me calmly, unaware of anything, as if time was flowing as usual for him.

My heart began to beat faster.

In the end, every second of inaction in this frozen reality seemed unbearable to me.

And finally, having lost all hope, I decided to try the third option, just for the sake of interest.

And then, to my great surprise...

"I will gladly agree, Your Highness," I said aloud, without even realizing that I was repeating the words frozen before my eyes. My voice sounded strange—even, calm, without a shadow of doubt.

For a moment, the world froze... and then, as if someone invisible had released the levers, everything suddenly started moving.

The sparkling window disappeared, dissolving into the air as if it had never existed.

A gentle breeze rustled across the water again, the sun’s glare came back to life, and birds in the distance fluttered over the lake once more.

And with that, the subtle but terrifying feeling of pressure disappeared — as if an invisible weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

I exhaled, realizing that I could breathe again.

Only then did I realize how much my fingers were shaking.

Richard de Stone smiled slightly, seemingly quite satisfied with the answer he had heard.

"I’m glad to hear that."

But, contrary to everything, I didn’t feel the slightest relief.

No... the strange tension that had been holding me back all this time hadn’t disappeared, it had only been replaced by another — a vague feeling of anxiety.

I involuntarily lowered my gaze, trying to hide the trembling in my fingers, and cursed myself mentally.

What the hell was that just now...?

Of the three options, only one worked, and it was the one I hadn’t intended to choose in the first place.

Was it really some kind of bug?

In other words, I was completely discouraged by everything that was happening.

So much so that I didn’t even immediately realize that Richard was still talking to me.

I could see his lips moving, but I couldn’t make out a single sound. After all, my thoughts were in complete chaos at that moment.

Even after returning home, the feeling of anxiety and excitement about what had happened still haunted me.

It seemed to follow me around, preventing me from relaxing or gathering my thoughts. Even the familiar silence of my office, which usually had a calming effect, now seemed oppressive to me.

I tried to distract myself, but it was useless. My thoughts kept returning to that strange moment on the island, to the sparkling window of the system hanging before my eyes.

This feeling was so strong that it even replaced my previous anxiety about the incident at the imperial hunt.

No, I really couldn’t understand what had happened then.

After all, this was the first time something like this had happened to me in the seven years I had been in this world. Seven long years during which I had grown accustomed to this new life and learned to control everything that happened to me — or at least thought I did.

But now...

Now, for the first time in a long time, I felt something that was completely beyond my understanding.

I couldn’t explain where this window came from, why it appeared at that particular moment, and most importantly, why my actions were so limited that I could only choose one option.

And since I was faced with something previously unknown to me, I obviously felt uneasy.

This anxiety did not disappear the next day, or the day after, or even a week later. It seemed to have taken root in my thoughts, giving me no peace in the morning or in the evening.

In the end, I continued to think about it for the next few days and couldn’t concentrate on anything else. Even the usual tasks that I used to do almost automatically were now difficult.

This continued until, finally, Edison came to me with unexpected news that forced me to distract myself, at least for a moment.

I was sitting in my office, bent over my papers and trying in vain to concentrate on my reports, when the silence was suddenly broken by a confident knock on the door.

"Come in," I said without looking up from my papers.

The door opened and Edison entered. His appearance immediately alarmed me—he usually had a calm, almost impassive expression on his face, but today there was concern in his eyes.

"Madam," he began, bowing. "Forgive me for intruding, but a matter has arisen that cannot be delayed."

I looked up.

"What’s wrong?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm, even though I was starting to feel a chill of anxiety creeping in.

He came closer, placing a neatly folded document on the table.

At that moment, the butler seemed unusually serious, his usually imperturbable eyes now burning with concern, his lips tightly pressed together as if he were holding back words that might cause alarm.

"This concerns your mine in Estervood," he said quietly but firmly, making it clear that the matter was indeed serious and required immediate attention.