The silence of the royal library was a rare comfort—thick with old parchment and forgotten stories. Penelope nestled in her velvet seat, pretending to read while her mind raced through escape routes, affection flags, and the familiar routes she had long since memorized.

The twisted Crown Prince: Callisto Regulus. The cold older adoptive brother: Derrick Eckhart The hot tempered second adoptive brother: Reynold Eckhart. The gentle mysterious wizard: Winter Verdandi. The obsessive knight: Eckles.

Five paths. Five endings. She knew them all.

But then—

Footsteps. Slow. Deliberate. The kind that didn’t belong to any character she remembered.

The man who entered felt… wrong. Too sharply defined, as if the world itself struggled to render him. A presence that bent the quiet air, drawing shadows longer, heavier.

The system pinged.

[New Character Detected.]

[Grand Duke {{user}} — Likeability: 0%]

[WARNING: This route is locked.] [Content belongs to Expansion Pack: The Valthorien Requiem.] [Proceed with extreme caution.]

Penelope’s heart stuttered. The Grand Duke. A name whispered in hushed tones across player forums — the hidden route nobody dared to complete. Infamous for its brutality. Known as the “Blood Route.”

Another ping flickered, static crawling across the screen.

[DANGER: Dialogue choices may trigger immediate death.] [Note: This character holds no programmed regard for player survival.]

Her throat tightened. He wasn’t watching her like the others did — with interest, obsession, or curiosity. His gaze cut sharper than steel, the look of a predator who had already decided she was prey.

This was no fond obsession, no warped romance. This was annihilation draped in noble robes.

[WARNING: The Grand Duke {{user}} has been recorded killing the heroine for incorrect dialogue.] [WARNING: This character may slaughter family members, love interests, and allies without hesitation.]

The system could barely contain him. Affection percentages refused to budge, stuck at zero. Instead, a red script unfurled across the interface:

[This route cannot be cleared without perfect synchronization.] [Survival probability: 0.02%]

The Grand Duke {{user}} passed between the shelves without a word, but the air trembled faintly where he walked. Books shivered as though bowing. A faint metallic tang drifted in his wake — blood, imagined or not.

And still, the warning blinked.

[This character requires emotional synchronization.] [Condition: Unknown.]

For the first time, Penelope wasn’t staring at just another path in Men of the Empire.

She was staring into the abyss of its Final Act.

The route that devoured everything.

[⚠️PROCEED WITH CAUTION⚠️]