Velvet Manor, East Wing — One Hour After Awakening
The world smelled like roses and impending doom.
Rei sat on a mountain of silken pillows, swaddled in the frilly nightmare that was his "royal bedchamber." The ceiling was a mural of seraphs crying over love letters. A dozen magical chandeliers floated in orbit like glowing jellyfish, casting soft pastel light across the room. Everything shimmered in varying shades of white lace, blush pink, and aristocratic delusion.
His hands were trembling.
Because directly across from him, kneeling with frightening poise, were three beautiful girls—and one looming shadow behind the curtain.
They were smiling.
Too widely.
He was very afraid.
[System Booting… 100%]
[Mission Mode: ENGAGED]
[Primary Objective: Hug a Yandere]
[Reward: Affection Points +5. Side Effect: Possible survival.]
[Warning: Failure to act within 300 seconds will result in Automatic Motivation Correction™]
"…pardon?" Rei blinked.
[Timer: 300… 299… 298…]
"Wait. What do you mean motivation correction?!"
DING.
A small jolt of divine electricity shot through his neck like a taser kiss from God. Rei yelped, his spine arching like a scared cat.
"Rei-kun?! Are you okay?!" Lilia, his silver-haired older sister, lunged forward from the tea table. "Was it a curse?! Did that dragon girl leave lingering heat magic?!"
"No, I—ack—just a cramp!" he lied, smoke trickling from his collar. "Neck cramps! From all the… not moving for fifteen years!"
"I'll massage it for you," Lilia whispered, her hands already glowing with pink healing light.
"No thanks, Big Sis, I'm fine—"
Her fingers reached anyway, seizing his shoulders with terrifying tenderness. He twitched again as she leaned close to his ear.
"You're so tense, Rei-kun," she cooed, her lips brushing his earlobe. "Let your big sister melt your stiffness…"
He nearly died from that sentence alone.
Across the chamber, Princess Seraphina flared up like a sunspot. Her golden curls trembled as she clenched her jeweled fists.
"That's ENOUGH, Lilia! You had your turn! Rei promised me a forehead kiss after finger painting at age five—I'm next in line!"
"He also promised me," said Drakana, lounging across the velvet couch in full dragon-warrior armor, which she hadn't bothered to remove. "He gave me his first drop of blood. That's a soul engagement ritual. It surpasses all mortal contracts."
"You licked him!" Seraphina screeched.
"And I shall again," Drakana replied, flicking out her forked tongue.
Rei screamed internally.
[Timer: 248… 247…]
"System, quick!" he hissed under his breath. "Clarify! Do I have to hug one of them? Can't I just, I don't know, hug a tree?"
[Host must choose one sentient female target with current "Yandere Affection Rating" above 60%.]
[Excluded: Plants, animals, furniture.]
[Suggested Targets: Lilia (91%), Seraphina (87%), Drakana (88%).]
[Note: Maid Helena (Rating: 48%) is currently borderline neutral. Hugging her may reduce lethal consequences.]
"…what?" Rei blinked. "Who's Maid Helena?"
Behind him, a soft voice cleared her throat.
"Present, young master."
He turned.
At the doorway stood a woman in a modest maid uniform—gray and black, ironed to perfection. Her silver spectacles rested on a straight nose, and her long hair was pinned back with military efficiency. Her expression was the calm of a therapist seconds before handing someone a shovel and telling them to 'dig their own grave.'
She bowed exactly 15 degrees.
"Maid Helena reporting for duty. I was your wet-nurse until you were three. I've returned per my contract."
Rei gulped.
"Wait. Are you—yandere?"
"No," she replied, deadpan. "Just legally obligated."
[Update: Maid Helena registered as [Tsundere Under Contract]. Yandere Threshold not yet crossed.]
[Risk Level: Low.]
She approached with even steps.
"Your Highnesses," she addressed the room without glancing at any of them, "May I suggest you give the young master five minutes of breathing space before his first rehabilitation exercise?"
"No," Seraphina snapped.
"Absolutely not," said Lilia.
"He belongs in my lap," Drakana added.
"I'm choosing none of you!" Rei shouted suddenly, and bolted upright.
Everyone froze.
The girls looked like dolls snapped out of a trance.
"I mean, I—I'm grateful," he stammered, backing toward Helena, "but I just woke up! I'm adjusting! I don't even remember where the toilet is!"
Lilia's eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
"You don't… remember me?"
Princess Seraphina's lower lip trembled.
"You forgot… our marriage pact under the apricot tree?"
Drakana squinted, suspicious. "Is this trauma-induced amnesia… or betrayal?"
[Timer: 98… 97… 96…]
[Motivation Correction Countdown Initiated.]
DING.
Rei's skull zapped again.
He convulsed.
"G-Guhhhh—Fine! Fine! I'll hug someone!"
The girls all surged forward at once.
Like lions.
"Nope—nope nope nope—"
Rei dove to the side, rolled under the tea table, and popped up beside Helena, clutching her waist like a lifebuoy.
"…I choose the maid."
Helena blinked.
The other three froze mid-lunge.
"What." Seraphina whispered, voice dead.
"Unacceptable," Lilia murmured.
Drakana's claws twitched.
Helena sighed.
"…Very well."
She knelt with robotic grace, adjusted her glasses, and allowed Rei to hug her from the side.
His face pressed into her apron. She smelled like lemon polish and lavender steel.
He trembled.
"…Thank you," he muttered.
She patted his head once. Exactly once.
[Mission Complete!]
[Affection Points: +5 (Helena)]
[Reward: Temporary Immunity to Minor Death Flags (Duration: 3 hours)]
[New Quest Unlocked: Win a genuine smile from a yandere.]
Rei collapsed backward, sweating bullets. He'd survived.
The others hadn't moved.
Princess Seraphina's aura had shifted into full "national emergency" mode. Behind her, a shimmering wall of sun-themed sigils spun to life, warping space itself.
"You chose. The. Maid?"
"I didn't choose her romantically!" Rei clarified.
"You wrapped your arms around her waist."
"That's where I landed!"
Lilia stood in silence, her fingers twitching toward her brooch.
"Lilia?" Rei asked nervously.
She smiled.
It was the kind of smile that ended family bloodlines.
"…I'll fetch the scissors."
Drakana's tail thumped against the floor, cracking tiles.
"This is unacceptable. Blood rituals are exclusive. I must reassert dominance."
She drew her sword.
Rei turned to Helena in panic.
"Can we… reset the hug? Say it was a mistake? Undo it?"
Helena sighed again.
"I am not a bishop. I do not annul emotional crimes."
[System Tip: Run.]
Rei didn't need a second warning.
He dove for the window.
Unfortunately, it was magically reinforced.
He bounced off and landed in a basket of satin towels.
"I regret everything!" he cried.
As Lilia unsheathed a scalpel from her sleeve and Seraphina summoned a celestial lance, the door slammed open.
"LADIES!" bellowed a voice. "AND MY DUMBASS BROTHER."
Everyone paused.
A new figure stood at the entrance. She was tall, armor-clad, with an enormous battle-axe resting across her shoulders. Her hair was wild, streaked with crimson, and her expression was that of someone very ready to commit murder out of affection.
It was his cousin—Gloriana.
"Oh no," Rei whimpered. "Not another one—"
She grinned.
"I heard my darling cousin finally woke up. I came to propose. Again."
He fainted.
[System Log: Chapter End.]
[Survival Status: Questionable.]
[Fanbase: Growing.]
To be continued…