Marius' Sweet Chapter 03-01
Overview
- Stage Cost: None
- First Clear Rewards: None
Guide
- Hover to view spoiler content.
Script
As the night falls, the series of incidents enters an intermission.
A few hours ago, you and Marius were in the midst of an attack.
You only suffered minor injuries thanks to Marius' protection. However, his head was injured and he fell unconscious.
After giving your statement at the police station, you quickly rush to the hospital without sparing a moment to tidy yourself up.
You: (Marius, please be all right...)
You: Marius!? How is he-
You: ...Ahh!
The second you open the door to the hospital room, a tall figure jumps out of the hospital bed, and wraps you into his embrace.
The familiar smell, lightly tinted with antiseptics, rushes up your nose. You feel your heart tremble before a feeling of relief sets in.
You: Are you... Are you okay?
Other than the bandages on the back of his head and the pale look on his face, Marius seems to be as he always is - although the grip from his hug is quite tight.
You: Marius, let go... let go of me first. This is really uncomfortable.
After seemingly noticing that you're being smothered, he presses the back of your waist toward him even harder.
Marius: No, Miss, you can't break up with me. I won't allow it!
You: But I'm really... Wait... Break up?
You are bewildered by his unexpected words. Just as you're about to question it more, the doctor outside the room seems to have heard the ruckus and quickly makes his way over.
Doctor: Mr. von Hagen, please, you need to lie down and rest. You need to control your emotions right now.
You: Marius, I'm not breaking up with you. You need to listen to the doctor and return to bed. Lie down on the bed and we'll talk, okay?
Marius: You have to stay by my side...
After tending to him for a while longer, Marius finally lies back down in bed with a hurt look on his face.
You let out a sigh of relief. Just as you're about to turn around to speak to the doctor, something grabs your fingertips.
You: ...
Marius: ...
Doctor: Ahem... You're a family member of Mr. von Hagen?
You: I...
Marius' father and brother aren't able to be here this instant. It seems that you're the only one by his side if anything needs to be taken care of.
You: Yes, I am...
Doctor: Okay, I'm going to have to fill you in on the situation. Mr. von Hagen's current status...
With a complicated look, the doctor glances at the sad-looking Marius who is staring at you. The doctor is having a hard time trying to find the appropriate words.
Seeing his behavior, the worries that just went away suddenly return with even more intensity.
You: Go ahead, I-I can handle it.
Doctor: You're misunderstanding. Ahem... Mr. von Hagen only suffered minor bruises and injuries. His wounds have already been cleaned and dressed.
Doctor: However, the problem is that due to the trauma he suffered when the injuries happened, Mr. von Hagen's mind is running wild...
Doctor: In other words, he seems to be hallucinating.
You: Hallucinating...?
Your mind turns blank as this unexpected word is mentioned.
Marius speaks suddenly with an irritated tone as he lies on the hospital bed.
Marius: I told you so many times - it's not a hallucination!
Marius: Just as I left the office, I received a text message from you saying that you wanted to break up. You said that... being in a relationship is affecting your work.
Marius: I was so worried and sad... I called and you didn't pick up... I didn't know what to do except make my way to the law firm as quickly as possible. And that's how I got into the car accident.
You: Wait... you mean in your memory, your injuries are from... a car accident?
Marius: Yeah. I even remember seeing the jackpot number on a lottery shop on the side of the road before I fell down. The first three digits were 956. Why don't you check them out?
He has a look of confidence on his face as you become more and more confused.
You: What jackpot...? I never sent you a break-up text message.
You open the text message app on your phone and show it to Marius. You then take his phone out as well.
Without a doubt, there are no break-up text messages on either of your phones.
Marius: There really isn't one... So does that mean you really aren't planning on breaking up with me?
You: We've always been in a great relationship, haven't we? Why would I want to break up with you for such a strange reason... Huh!?
Marius jolts up excitedly and jumps off the bed to hug you, nearly knocking you off your feet.
Hahaha, this is amazing! I knew it! There's no way we could break up!
You: ...
Looking over Marius' shoulder, you and the doctor make eye contact with complicated looks on both of your faces.
Doctor: Anyways... We need to hurry up and arrange for a cranial CT scan for Mr. von Hagen to find out what's causing this.
Doctor: Rest up the next couple of days. Make sure he doesn't do anything that requires too much energy. And make sure he doesn't think too deeply about anything.
You: Okay, I understand...
After watching the doctor as he leaves, you use all your strength to unlock Marius' grip and stuff him back under the covers. You then sit to the side and look at him.
The events from just half a day ago replay in your head. However, even after putting your mind to it, you still can't figure out how things turned out this way...
Marius' Bedroom
Half a day ago in Marius' room...
You: Xbone II...? Are they holding a press release already? That's a little quick, isn't it?
Marius: Yep, this is firsthand information that I personally confirmed. It's definitely true. Hey, watch your feet - I'm gonna let go.
You: Oh, okay.
As the fifth container is placed on the ground, the shipping task that took up the entire morning finally come to an end.
Marius: Whew... The "treasure chests" from the warehouse are all here.
You: Then... is it time to open them!? What's in these boxes anyway? Could you give me a hint?
Due to a mysterious "Treasure Hunt Invitation" text message you received from Marius yesterday, you took a day off today to join him at his house.
What you didn't expect was that the first step of the treasure hunt was to move boxes from his own warehouse.
Marius: Opening treasure chests is supposed to be exciting. I'd spoil it if I told you.
Marius affectionately caresses your tousled hair and smooths it out. He then grabs one of the boxes and begins to open it.
Marius: The first generation Xbone. There were some bumps in the road and drama during its development, but the results are still spectacular.
Marius: Thanks to that, the board members didn't voice too much rejection for the development of the second generation.
Marius: It's rare for a project to go so smoothly... So, just take today as our small early celebration.
You: I see.
You: ("Bumps in the road" and "drama," huh?)
Although Marius spoke with a light tone, the experiences the two of you shared are still as clear as day.
Due to corporate in-fighting during the development period of the first generation Xbone, many of the core members and senior members of Pax left the company.
Only Marius alone understands how heavy of a price that was.
You: (Good thing Marius' perseverance paid off. If the second generation does well, they'll definitely be proud of Marius.)
With that in mind, you feel a sudden energy rush up your chest and begin to encourage both Marius and yourself.
You: The second generation will definitely break sales records!
Marius: ...
You: Wha... what's wrong?
Seeing Marius pause while halfway through opening the box, you quickly feel embarrassed for your sudden jolt of passion.
Marius: It's nothing. I just never thought you'd be so excited about it.
Marius: When I spoke to the researchers yesterday, they didn't seem to be as confident and passionate about the product as you are. Or could it be that...
Marius: You're actually confident and passionate about something other than the product itself?
A sly thought forms in your mind as you see the mischievous smile on Marius' face when he presses down on the box and moves closer to you. You plan on playing a little prank on him.
You: ...Of course.
You stand your ground as you feel the warmth of his breath. Instead of backing away, you lean over the box in the same position and move so close to Marius that your foreheads are nearly touching.
You: What makes me passionate and confident... is obviously the hard work, devotion, and passion of all the Pax employees.
Marius: Huh? Seriously?
Marius looks at you with a blank gaze. He seems to have known that you wouldn't fall for his trap that easily, but didn't expect to hear the words that just came from your mouth.
You: Of course. All of the employees' hard work is incredibly moving.
Marius: ...
Seeing that things before him are not unfolding according to his expectations, an aggrieved look begins to creep onto Marius' face.
Marius: You've really changed... You don't coddle me at all anymore.
Marius: How did it come to this...? Has our passion run dry? Or could it be that...
Before he can finish, you quickly lower your head and gently kiss him on the lips.
Marius: Well...
You: Obviously, it's because... I never needed to coddle you. When I'm with you, I've always been... genuine and true with my feelings.
Although you tried your hardest to imitate Marius' tone, you still can't help but be slightly vague with your final words.
Marius: "Genuine and true"... will require more than that.
He gently tilts your face upward. Your mind turns blank as you are enveloped in a surge of gentle passion.
Just as the overwhelming atmosphere is about to drown out your last remaining senses, your elbow hits the box and the chill on your skin awakens you.
You: Wait... That's enough, Marius! We uhh... We still need to open the treasure chests!
Marius: Pfft... Fine. We'll leave everything else for later.
After letting go of you with a smile on his face, he moves the box beneath the two of you and opens it up.
You: Wow!
The box contains "artifacts" that are clearly from ages ago.
Marius: This is a first generation mini drone. Shame that it's only been flown once. I flew it with my brother when I first got it.
Marius: Oh, and this is an official replica of the Major League Baseball trophy. It's a limited edition.
Marius: My father and I went to watch the finals in person. We even got autographs from the entire championship team.
Marius gradually takes out the "treasures" and shows them to you. One by one, he's putting his past on display for you.
Marius: Vincent told me yesterday that he's looking for a birthday present for his nephew.
Marius: We were talking, and I suddenly thought of the toys and other stuff that I got when I was little.
You: This really is treasure preserved by time.
You: Huh? This is...
You take out a guitar case from the pile of artifacts that looks to be a bit newer.
You: Isn't this... the guitar you gave me before!? What is it doing here...?
Marius smiles and takes the guitar from you. He masterfully places it on his leg, and begins the air-strumming motion that you haven't seen in a long time.
Marius: When I first gave you this guitar, I told myself that we had to share the moment commemorating the memory together.
Marius: Unfortunately, we weren't really together at the time. So, all I could do was prepare an identical one for myself.
Marius runs his fingers across the guitar with love and obsession. Memories of the past begin to reappear in your mind.
You: Yeah, I never forgot about the roadside performance.
You: But did you practice after that?
The hand that's caressing the guitar comes to a stop. Marius seems to be flooded by memories of the past.
Marius: I mean... I can definitely play it. If you're interested, I can put on a performance just for you right now.
You: Oh? In that case, I can't wait. Where will the performance be held? Right here?
Marius: Don't worry about the venue just yet... Miss. We shouldn't forget about another important aspect of a concert.
You: Which aspect?
Marius: Ticketing, of course! Marius' "amateur" performance of "Love That Never Breaks Up" is about to begin. Your ticket, please?
He chuckles and opens his palm in front of you. You hold in your laughter and gently smack his open hand.
You: Your last performance was far from being good enough to sell tickets. I'm not going to fall for it this time.
Marius: You need to have faith in how motivated I am. I've definitely put in the work after being so embarrassed last time.
You: Really?
Marius: It'll definitely be good.
You: Okay... Why don't we start with a song then?
Marius: All right!
Just as Marius rolls up his sleeves excitedly and gets ready to play, his cell phone begins to vibrate.
Marius: ...
You: It's Vincent... It's probably about work.
Marius: Ehh, what's so important that it can't wait until after my performance...?
Although Marius says that, he still takes the phone without hesitation.
Marius: Hello? It's me... Wait, what?
You suddenly see a fierce look in Marius' gaze.
Marius: Okay... I'll be right down.
You: What is it? Did something happen?
Marius: The Xbone II technicians all just submitted letters of resignation. Vincent will be here shortly.
You: What!?
Summary
Character(s)
