Transmigrated As The Villainess' Boyfriend With A... SSS Harem System?

The forest stretched in all directions.

Trembling had already started in my legs. My shoulders felt heavy. Every muscle begged me to let it drop.

But I couldn't.

If Professor Vauxol was never here, that meant he wasn't in his study.

But when had I left his study?

Remembering the first round, the cage had manifested around me, but I had remained in the study. The cage vanished once the countdown ended.

This time was different.

What was happening eluded me, but the puzzle demanded a quick solution.

Could you lend me a hand here? I asked the System.

[And ruin my fun watching you suffer over such a simple puzzle? 🤭]

Its answer was predictable, but nothing was lost by trying.

Fine. This had to be solved on my own.

Sitting on the ground, I focused.

Think, Dariel. Damn it, think.

Vauxol brought me here. But Vauxol wasn't here. His voice was something akin to a recording, but made with his Empero.

Burying my good hand in the ground as deep as possible, I hoped to touch the marble of Vauxol's study floor.

Nothing.

Why was there no floor? That could only mean Professor Vauxol's drawing was so massive it created its own space, a sort of pocket dimension.

But... creating something of such magnitude using only a bit of that rainbow ink was simply impossible.

The power of an ability had to be proportional to the Empero used. Lianza transformed her Empero into ice, and the quantity, density, and shape varied in proportion to the Empero she spent.

This was called 'Equivalent Exchange'.

A fundamental law of alchemy, which also applied to Empero.

And that law was being broken.

I knew I lacked much knowledge about Empero, but the basics, what was established in The Throne of Ashes and Thorns, had held true... until today.

The Harem System had said it was a simple puzzle. Perhaps I was overthinking it.

One of the greatest virtues of a magic like Empero is that its power truly depends on the intelligence and cunning of its user, which is why an individual's ability is usually a mix of their genetics, personality, and Empero type.

In the case of an elemental one, if you are a noble with high Empero levels from birth, and you must hide your feelings behind a mask to bear the weight of imposed duty, becoming a distant, cold person is the natural outcome. Developing an ice Empero was the natural course, just as Lianza D'Tariel had done.

And that is all I know about Empero... Apparently, the original novel's author had kept too many secrets. Explaining very little about the world's magic in The Throne of Ashes and Thorns left readers to imagine the rest.

Collapsing onto my back on the ground, I stared up.

Damn it.

A solution eluded me.

Why couldn't this be like cliché novels where protagonists escape impossible situations through plot convenience? Why couldn't I be one of those Gary Stus?

Why does it have to be so hard? I asked the System. Complaining was only possible with him.

[Where's the satisfaction —and my fun— if it's not hard? 😊]

I think I hate you more than Ardwyn.

[Stop, you flatter me. 🤭]

I'm not... whatever.

Refocusing on solving the puzzle, I racked my brain.

Remembering the moment Vauxol touched the canvas the second time. His fingers drawing spirals. Broad strokes. And then the room darkened.

Why had I suddenly appeared here?

Wait... Darkness... Appearing in another place...

That was it!

Getting to my feet, my legs still trembled, but I held steady.

Returning to the starting point. Or what I believed it to be. Without visual references, certainty was impossible.

The fog was gaining ground again; it was reaching my waist. If it rose high enough, breathing would become difficult and finding the starting point impossible.

After searching in circles for a few minutes, with vision already blurred and the fog reaching my chest, I saw it.

At my feet. Where I had first sat. The earth was disturbed. Beneath the soft layer, a circle glowed faintly.

Kneeling down, I dug with my good hand. The earth here crumbled easily.

At three centimeters deep, my fingers touched something smooth. Stone or tree roots, it was neither.

Hard as metal.

Digging further, I made out the circle: it had engravings with fine lines. Curves. Spirals. Letters —or perhaps glyphs— I didn't recognize.

A seal.

Professor Vauxol had sent me to this place using this circle, so it had to be a teleportation seal.

Touching it, I felt it inert.

Activation was needed. But I had no Empero.

Sitting back on my heels, the fog reached my neck.

Think, think. You almost have it.

The seal belonged to the Garialys. The engravings did specific things only members of that house knew. They guarded everything related to their Emperos very jealously.

Impossible to decipher, one would say.

That's what one would say if they weren't a literature student. If they hadn't read dozens of languages. Analyzed ancient manuscripts. Deciphered near-impossible calligraphies at three in the morning with burning eyes and a cup of cold coffee.

These were uncommon letters. But they had structures. Patterns. Repetitions.

Three central symbols. One circular. One linear. One spiral.

The circular one appeared six times around the edge. The linear one connected each instance of the circular. The spiral moved toward the center.

A circuit. Input. Connection. Output.

The exit seal was on the edge, while the center was the entrance. To leave, one of the six circular points on the edge had to be activated.

But which one?

Six options. Without Empero to try them all.

The fog reached my chin.

Then I remembered Vauxol had said his Empero was conceptual, related to art...

But I never saw him manifest his Empero.

Not once.

All the Empero he used came from the jar of rainbow ink. From his fingers painting on the canvas.

To use an ability, manifesting Empero is required.

That could only mean the rainbow Empero belonged to someone else.

Someone else's entirely.

Cursing, I realized that bastard had tricked me. I had fallen into the trap of believing I understood his power when I knew nothing.

The fog was already covering my mouth.

Looking back at the seal, I counted six points. Six possible exits.

Vauxol brought me here using the rainbow Empero of some Garialys member, which meant the seal was naturally designed by one of them too.

My fingers touched the circle.

"Activate!" I said.

A few seconds passed.

Nothing. The circle remained inert.

Why did I keep thinking I just needed to shout a word to do magic? This was the third time. If only using Empero were that simple.

The fog now threatened to cover my eyes.

With no other way out, luck was my last resort.

My last option. Failure meant death.

Failure was out of the question. Leaving Lianza to her fate in this unfair world was not an option.