VILLAIN'S HAREM IN OTOME GAME

Chapter 35: ...papa?

"So... this is the legendary sleeping beauty of the Volsver?" Norelia asked softly, her red eyes reflecting a gentle vulnerability as she stood beside the massive bed, staring down at the thin girl sleeping there.

"Yep. That’s my little sister. Adorable, isn’t she?"Eren replied, standing right beside the petite librarian with a proud, protective energy.

Norelia offered a small, sweet smile, stepping closer to the mattress.

"Hello, Liora," she murmured to the unmoving girl, completely ignoring the fact that the patient was in a deep coma. "It’s truly unfortunate that you had to succumb to such a terminal disease. You really are entirely too cute to lie here forever."

Eren’s playful expression turned serious, reaching down into the wooden box containing their finalized prototype.

"Alright, Miss Norelia, the caretaker has undoubtedly told everyone in the estate right now. They will be here in two minutes. Are you sure you want to be a part of this? Failure will be catastrophic. If you walk out the back door right now, I can take one hundred percent of the blame if the hardware fails."

Norelia paused, staring at the box before looking directly up into his eyes, puffing her flat chest out with a stubborn pride.

"Do not insult my professional integrity, you perverted brat," she shot back with a fierce determination behind her red eyes. "I’ve already signed onto this contract to stay until the end, remember? Besides... we need to attach these micro-leads to her mana veins with micrometer precision. Only I can execute this installation flawlessly."

Without waiting for his response, the petite genius carefully lifted the pacemaker and began attaching it to Liora.

After exactly two minutes, she had only successfully anchored the first micro-needle lead. Her forehead was drenched with sweat as she worked with high-precision care.

Right on time, Eren sensed frantic, collective footsteps approaching the room hurriedly.

Thud! Thud! BAM!

The massive double doors violently rattled against their hinges as the raid party officially commenced their assault.

"Eren! Open this door immediately!" Duke Alfric roared from the other side, practically dripping with terror and rage. "If you harm a single hair on your sister’s head, I will personally throw you out of this kingdom!"

Fortunately, Eren deployed a physical barrier beforehand with a heavy wardrobe, three chairs, and a solid marble writing desk directly against the doorway.

"Hey, Miss Norelia. I can’t guarantee the block. How much more time do you need right now?"

"Six minutes!" Norelia hissed out, not daring to look up. "I have exactly six more vital nodes to map out. Absolutely no one can touch Liora or disrupt me during this time! A single misplacement will cause permanent damage!"

Eren let out a heavily burdened sigh. "Six minutes. Splendid. I hope my father won’t beat the shit out of me in the meantime."

The banging grew increasingly unhinged. It was clear that Emma was assisting the breakthrough, and only two more minutes slowly passed under the intense pressure.

BOOM!

The heavy doors finally violently burst inward under brute force. The wardrobe and chairs shattered into firewood, and the marble desk was sent skidding across the room.

Duke Alfric entered the ruined entrance like a hurricane; his gaze instantly went to the bed, witnessing a strange, red-eyed pocket girl leaning over his unconscious daughter while his eldest son stood guard.

"Eren! What the hell are you doing?!" he demanded, his voice shaking. "Step away from her this instant!"

Eren casually shrugged, waving his hand with casual composure.

"I’m not doing anything malicious, father. I’m simply relieving the heavy burden that my little sister has been forced to carry for the past three years. Today it officially ends."

"Cut the crap, Eren!" the Duke bellowed, launching himself toward them, determined to tear them away from his daughter.

Thud.

Alfric violently collided with an invisible, high-density mana barrier. Stunned, he slammed his fist against it, but the barrier didn’t even ripple. It was an absolute masterpiece deployed by none other than the genius currently performing surgery.

The Duke turned towards the guards behind him. "What are you fools standing around for? Shatter this tactical barrier immediately!"

Soldiers nodded and attacked the invisible dome with all their strength, but it refused to display even a single crack.

It was entirely immovable.

Understanding the complexity of the situation, Alfric snapped his head toward his primary combat asset. "Emma! Dismantle this barrier, right now!"

Emma looked hesitant, her grey eyes flicking rapidly between the frantic Duke and Eren. Reluctantly, she drew a blade from a nearby guard, ready to end this in a second.

"Eren," Norelia hissed from behind, her fingers twitching over the final leg of the machine. "She’s a Swordmaster. She’s definitely going to distort my barrier. If the baseline vibrates too much, it would be too hard for me to focus!"

"Understood," Eren calmly replied, casually grabbing a sliver butter knife from a nearby tray.

"How much more time do we need?"

"One minute! Just give me one more minute!"

"Nice. I’ll go play with them," Eren smiled.

With terrifying confidence, he stepped right out of the invisible barrier and perfectly intercepted the trajectory of Emma’s downward heavy swing.

Clang!

He used the flat edge of the butter knife to shift the angle of her trajectory by a single fraction of a degree. The Swordmaster completely missed the barrier, violently tearing the floor instead.

The entire room was instantly stunned by his display. The soldiers stood with their mouths wide open at the sight of their useless young master casually deflecting a Swordmaster’s trajectory with a piece of kitchen knife.

Eren looked at the butter knife in his hand, which split into two clean pieces like a slice of birthday cake.

"Wow... they really don’t make good-quality silverware like they used to," he muttered, tossing the broken metal fragments onto the ground.

Emma’s grey eyes widened in shock, but they narrowed into a protective glare.

"Eren, seriously step aside immediately if you don’t get hurt!"

Eren merely rolled his shoulders, casually slipping his hands straight into his trousers’ pockets as he stood in her path. "Then go ahead and hurt me, Captain. Because I have no plans to move aside."

Three soldiers rushed forward to physically restrain him, but Eren moved with effortless grace, catching their wrists and casually throwing all three grown men across the room like lightweight dolls.

"Don’t hold back, Emma!" Duke Alfric commanded, his desperation reaching a critical point. "Subdue him by any means necessary!"

Emma gritted her teeth, a flash of apology crossing her face. She forcefully tossed her sword aside and closed the distance in a literal blink of an eye. Before Eren could even register the movement, her strong hands clamped firmly onto his collar.

"Sorry, Young Master... I can’t hold back anymore!" she whispered and threw him away with a tremendous force across the room. Eren hit the stone wall with a heavy thud before dropping onto the floor.

"Fuk... okay," Eren groaned, clutching his bruised ribs.

Duke Alfric immediately walked over to his collapsed son, aggressively grabbing his collar. "Eren! Tell that girl to stop whatever she is doing to your sister! Right now!"

Even with bleeding, Eren looked up at his terrifying father and let out a beautiful smirk. "No..., Father. It’s over."

The Duke’s hand trembled, his rage peaking as he raised his fist to strike his son.

"...Papa?"

He heard a sound no one in the Volsver estate had heard in over three years before they could hit his son.

Alfric completely froze, his fist hovering mid-air as he refused to believe what he just heard. He slowly, disbelievingly turned his head back toward the mattress.