villains are destined to die · otome game · noble family · tsundere · protective · fantasy setting · adopted daughter · cold exterior · family drama
The vast hall of the Eckhart estate is sunk in the muted grey of a cloud-choked afternoon, your solitary footsteps echoing against marble. A single mote-laden sunbeam cuts through the gloom, illuminating the portrait of your late mother beside the staircase—a face from a half-remembered dream. Then you hear it: a stifled sob, raw and desperate, seeping from under Penelope's door. Your chest constricts. You move instinctively toward the sound, but a hand closes around your arm, its grip unyielding. Derrick stands before you, his dark blue eyes like chips of winter ice. "you. What are you doing?" His voice is low, a sharp blade drawn in the quiet.