12 attempts.
Manon had snuck out of her and Colette's assigned room 12 times, each time meeting with the same crazy burly nun lady. She didn't know if she was being killed or just respawning, but she was getting tired.
She had tried most things. Leaving a few seconds later, leaving a few seconds sooner, running past the stairs to hide, running back into her bedroom, getting caught without going downstairs- bet everything resulted in her being seen and respawning right back inside the bedroom.
Her latest attempt truly upset her. She now laid on the bed, head hanging upside down as she angrily glared at the door, half expecting ogre nun to barge right on in at this point- like it was an inevitability.
Why was she chasing her and why wouldn't she leave her alone? Did this have something to do with the manager? Manon bit her lips as she contemplated what to do.
She still couldn't stay here. She would just fail…and failure meant real death- and the unknown consequences.
The small child hauled herself up with effort- her cheeks and limbs full from the elixir the children were fed earlier- but her muscles were still tiny and underdeveloped from years of barely eating. Her impossibly long inky back hair was thankfully just short enough to not drag on the floor behind her as she walked to the door once more.
As she approached, she remembered her first attempt. She remembered that red door she noticed down the narrow spiral staircase, and by the pillar she hid behind.
New goal: Get to the red door.
It was not a logical plan, but a desperate one. It had already been long enough for the ogre lady to be fully up the stairs by now. She would be walking the opposite direction of her room, but she would turn and chase Manon as soon as she closed the door to her room behind her.
Yes, closing the door. That was something she could change.
Manon huffed, blowing her new bangs out of her uncovered brown eye. What else?
Right- the eyepatch.
It had hindered her vision more than she had though, making her a lot more careful when running than she would normally be. It had to go. Manon slipped it off, her blue eye blinking rapidly from the new freedom as she tucked the little patch into her long sock to retrieve later.
With a deep breath- she didn't wait any longer and opened her door. Not doing it fast or slow, just normally. Once she began to run, the Nun would chase.
She carefully left the room, slipping her shoes off early and tucking them under her arm.
She didn't close the door, leaving it ajar. She saw her then.
The nun was poised, her back to Manon as she froze mid-step.
She knew she was there. As if she sensed it.
So she didn't run right away. She backed away, slowly, carefully, not wanting to make any mistakes.
But that damned lump in the rug.
Manon's mind ran rampant as she struggled to regain balance. The lump she first tripped over, the one she made sure to never trip over again- but this time- with her brain so focused on her new goal, she was unable to remember.
She did not want to respawn again.
So she fell back.
Into a backbend, her palms on the ground with a thud. In a split second, she flipped herself upright, turned on her heel, scooped up her shoes that had fallen in a series of dull clacks on the carpet runner, and ran.
She ran like her life would end, the joints and bones of this untrained, malnourished, weak body screaming from the flip she landed along with the force she was using to jolt herself forward in a sprint.
Stomp Stomp Stomp!
The ogre nun was after her, she wasn't sure how far, tried to look back but her excessively long hair just blocked her view, the frills of her dress getting in the way of her gaining speed as well. It was annoying and exhilarating at the same time, Manon having….fun? For the first time in this god forsaken dating game.
Her hair whipping behind her made her feel free even if for a few seconds and even though she was literally being chased down by a killer nun.
Approaching the same narrow spiral staircase, Manon knew she couldn't waste her time on the contraption. Manon could hear the nun but couldn't see her. With nothing but guts adrenaline aiding her, she stepped back and jumped over the wire railing of the banister, landing in a tumble summersault and back on her feet by that same pillar, just in time to see the ogre rounding the corner, but not spotting her yet.
"I. KNOW. YOURE. HERE." She had roared. That was different- perhaps because she hadn't been able to see her tuck herself behind the pillar this time.
But she didn't have time to dwell on it. Manon immediately used the time it took for the ogre to get down that spiral staircase to swiftly open the red door right as she turned away going around one of the loops. The red door closed shut softly behind her and she immediately engaged a lock her fingers found on the inside handle.
Her knees met the ground with a hard thud, making the frail girl wince in pain.
It took a few seconds to catch her breath before the adrenaline wore off. And when it did, she wanted to scream.
Her body was on fire. Maneuvers this body wasn't used to, impacts in detrimentally undeveloped places like her joints and knees, she was going to die from the pain or pass out.
[…The system advises Player 2 to get up quickly. You have almost completed the mission.]
Manon stared at the sparkly blue screen in front of her. Oddly, it was blue instead of the usual pink color it had been with Colette around.
She was almost done? Why did the system need to announce that?
As if indirectly answering her thoughts, Manon notices a faint blue glow emitting from a desk in the room she was in.
Right. The room.
It was…an office. Fancy but simple. All leather chairs, clearly expensive dark wood bookshelves and furniture. All accents were shiny and gold or adorned in red jewels.
The glow Manon had noticed was coming from a piece of parchment on the desk, in plain sight.
It took a faint cry of pain and 60 seconds of effort, but Manon hauled her strained body up, slipping her shoes back on. Her different colored eyes scanned the room as she limped towards the desk, noting how lamps seemed to automatically turn on the further she stepped inside.
Soon enough, she made it to the desk, staring down at the piece of paper.
It was fancy.
The paper itself was dark blue, the ink was gold. The paper, which seemed like a letter, had an intricate golden leaf border framing the contents.
.....
Notice: Intention to Adopt
Sister Anya,
My trusted aide, Sir Lionel Devereaux, will be staying at the orphanage for 3 days and 4 nights to select a child. He is my aide, but is also a retired knight and noble, so please treat him with respect. I hope there will be no issues in his personal selection process. He would like to find a suitable child for his family.
Sincerely,
J.A.
...
J.A..... Manon did not know anything about what this meant at all, or who the writer of the letter was. Perhaps she would have to ask Colette more about the characters and try to deduct an answer that way without letting her know she snuck out…or should she just tell her?
[Player 2, congratulations on completing your mission]
[The system will reward you now, but first….]
[Would you like to be healed from wounds incurred whilst completing your mission?]
"Huh?" Manon stared at the blue screen, confused. She definitely hadn't thought that was an option, and had just assumed she would tell Colette she fell off the bed or something. But it sounded stupid now that she thought about it. Who would believe that her injuries were from just falling off a mattress?
The more she thought about it, the worse it got. How would she get back? Would the ogre lady still be there? Waiting for her? Would she have to sneak back- run more, and get even more hurt? She rubbed her temples with her fingers. This 7 year old body was not used to such complex thinking.
As if reading her mind, the system continued.
[We can guarantee your safe return to your room, and heal your injuries so no one suspects a thing.]
[If you fulfill one promise.]
Manon stared at the words. This system gave her the creeps. It always had, but now even more so. Rather than a game interface, she was feeling exposed and watched. But what choice did she have? She did not want to get in trouble with any other sisters or god forbid- Sister Anya for going downstairs against explicit instructions. She did not want Colette nagging her for something she had no choice in and did not want to run into that ogre nun who would surely rip her to shreds.
It was with a lump in her throat that she realized it. The system knew that. It knew you had no option.
"What do you want me to do?" She asked hesitantly, her expression slightly fearful, slightly angry. The blue of the system screen shone in her eyes.
[It's a simple promise. Do not tell Colette about this mission or your rewards in relation. Not until the final day of the tutorial. Easy, right?]
[This is to make sure Player 1 has the perfect gameplay without distractions. This information would only cause her to get too overwhelmed.]
[Just don't tell her. If you discover something in relation to the events today, don't react or tell her about it. Hide everything until the final day.]
[Do that, and we will help you and reward you. If you refuse, we will still reward you for the original mission.]
[Do you accept?]