How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending - Chapter 8.1

Constantine’s breathing gradually quieted. He must have fallen asleep after suffering from pain for so long. I gently brushed away the tear stains on his cheeks.

My mind was filled with worries.

As the protagonist of the original novel, Constantine was not fated to die. However, the child would still have to endure pain for many years to come.

If it were Tristan in his place, I could have turned a blind eye, but Constantine was only a small, fragile boy. If there were absolutely no way to help him, I might have accepted it, but there was still a sliver of hope. Still…

Was it really worth using such a golden opportunity on this? Neither Tristan nor anyone in the Grand Duke’s household would trust me or thank me for it.

The nail that sticks out always gets hammered down. I should just keep quiet and live unnoticed…

“Sniff… Mama…”

Then, Constantine whimpered weakly, calling for his late mother in his feverish sleep. His small, pitiful voice broke my train of thought.

Once, I too had longed for my mother like that. It had been so long that I could no longer even remember her face.

I recalled that bitter memory for a moment, then shook my head. I couldn’t stand it any longer.

Despite my hesitation, I finally spoke.

“System. Show me the current status of the ‘Instant Death Ending’ event.”

The System projected text into the air.

“Huh? What’s this again?”

The affection level had twitched slightly, rising by a mere speck. Ever since the update, the affection display had been acting strange.

Anyway, that wasn’t the important part right now. I stared at the “Progress” section and spoke abruptly.

“I’ll claim the reward. It’s 500 characters from anywhere in the original, right?”

As expected, the System feigned ignorance. It might have truly not understood, but I blinked innocently.

“You have to give me the event’s ending reward, don’t you?”

“If the event disappeared, doesn’t that count as being over?”

The System seemed slightly hesitant, which meant it felt cornered. Remembering how annoyingly smug it usually was, I became certain of it. I stared at the air and smirked.

“The event progress isn’t even showing right now.”

Indeed, the progress value wasn’t displayed at all. Not even a zero—just a dash symbol.

That meant it wasn’t progressing whatsoever. It was debatable whether it counted as ended, but I decided to insist anyway. If no one else was judging, couldn’t the loudest voice win?

“If there’s no progress shown, you can’t exactly say it’s still ongoing.”

“The line that used to say ‘In Progress’ has changed, hasn’t it?”

The System was clearly avoiding any direct mention of “in progress.” Since the progress value itself had disappeared, it couldn’t determine how to classify the event’s state.

“……”

I locked eyes with the intangible System in a silent staring contest.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long before the System yielded and displayed new text.

“Well, of course, yes. Show me the part where Tristan verifies the antidote ingredients.”

Immediately, a detailed section of the original text appeared before my eyes. I quickly scribbled the information onto a piece of parchment, nodding as I went. Just as I vaguely remembered, it was a simple process—just gather the ingredients and boil them together. Most of the materials seemed easy enough to find.

Except for one final mysterious ingredient, a strange plant called Corpse Flower.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Do I really have to go this far?”

It was cold, I was hungry, and I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept properly for days, so it was only natural to feel this way.

“Ugh, it’s scary out here. Why is it so creepy?”

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