Villain's Refund System: The Protagonist's Harem Is Mine

Breakfast had not reached the second floor when three heavy knocks struck Damien’s office door, rattling a silver picture frame beside his elbow.

Another blow followed before he answered, ’ugh, whoever that is sounds way too comfortable hitting my door, which probably means this body used to let them.’

"Lord Damien, open this room before I enter under household authority," a man called through the black wood, his voice carrying down the corridor.

Damien pushed away from the desk and spotted two broad shadows beneath the door, then a thin metal case appeared between their boots.

’That case, wait, I remember something about Cassius testing a suppression cuff on Damien before the gala, damn, was this today?’

The body’s fear answered first, tightening his stomach while one hand moved toward the heavy signet ring.

A red panel opened across his sight before another knock could land.

[Death Flag Detected: The Sterling Restraint]

[Fatality: 87%]

[Survival Window: 06:00]

[Death Refund: Armed]

’Eighty-seven percent already, you absolute moron, stop staring and figure out how this thing kills people.’

Damien crossed the carpet, then opened the door while keeping his shoulder behind its thick frame.

Merrick Vale waited outside wearing a fitted charcoal vest over his soft stomach, with iron-gray hair pressed flat against a narrow skull.

His polished cuffs framed a black restraint case, while two house enforcers stood behind him in reinforced coats.

The bald man carried a shock baton against one thigh, though his copper-braided partner rested both palms near a hooked blade.

"If Cassius worries about my safety, he can crawl upstairs and explain this himself," Damien said, leaving enough space for one visitor.

Merrick stepped through anyway, then both enforcers followed until their shoulders nearly filled the office entrance.

"Your brother requested temporary restraint after Lady Ashe reported unstable behavior," Merrick replied, setting the metal case upon Damien’s desk.

He opened both locks and revealed a thick silver cuff lined with short crystal needles, each point carrying a faint violet pulse.

Damien stared at those needles while borrowed memory scratched behind his eyes, ’unstable behavior? Right, Cassius calls it concern, then this bastard burns out my core before lunch.’

"Hold out your left arm, and the restraint will prevent another embarrassing episode before the gala," Merrick said, lifting the cuff with careful fingers.

"That sounds very kind, so test it on yourself first and calm everyone down," Damien answered, watching the violet light brighten.

Merrick’s mouth tightened as he placed the restraint beside its open case, then glanced toward both enforcers.

"Do not make household staff watch us drag you downstairs again," he warned, smoothing one spotless sleeve.

Damien looked past him and saw a young maid frozen beside the doorway, her breakfast tray tilted against a blue-gray dress.

Two stewards had stopped farther down the corridor, while another servant watched from behind a marble pillar.

’Good, stay there, if they planned a quiet accident, let us ruin that part first.’

He pulled the office door completely open and stepped away from its frame, exposing every person inside.

"Nobody needs dragging, Merrick, though these people should probably see what Cassius sent for my protection," Damien said, pointing toward the cuff.

The copper-braided enforcer moved first, closing the doorway with her back while one hand reached for Damien’s shoulder.

He slipped beyond her fingers and crossed toward the silver crest worked into the carpet’s center.

The office ward lay beneath that crest, an old defense reserved for Sterling blood, which the original Damien had once activated during a drunken tantrum.

’Come on, I know this room protects the family, but trusting a memory from that idiot feels genuinely horrible.’

Merrick lifted the cuff again, losing patience as its inner needles unfolded with tiny metallic clicks.

"Place your arm inside now, or my attendants will restrain every limb before activation," he said, approaching the crest.

"Fine, just keep that shaking hand steady when your cheap toy bites me," Damien replied, extending his left wrist.

Surprise flickered across Merrick’s face before satisfaction replaced it, and that quick change made Damien’s fear turn hot.

The cuff snapped shut around his wrist with enough force to bruise bone, then crystal needles punched through skin.

Violet light flooded beneath his veins, racing upward toward the elbow while the body’s mana collapsed around it.

’Fuck, this cannot be suppression, the damn thing is chewing straight toward my core.’

Damien planted both feet over the woven crest as pain climbed into his shoulder, though Merrick kept one thumb pressed against the activation seal.

"Strange, your restraint appears far stronger than its workshop promised this morning," Merrick murmured, watching Damien’s knees bend.

"Very strange, especially when you keep pressing that little murder button," Damien forced out, grabbing the man’s wrist.

The bald enforcer drove his baton toward Damien’s ribs, but its charged tip crossed above the silver crest first.

White lines erupted through the carpet and climbed every wall, turning the office ward toward three unrecognized hostile signatures.

Merrick’s eyes widened as the floor threw him across the desk, while both attendants slammed against opposite walls.

The cuff stayed active as pain reached Damien’s chest and closed around his heart, ’no, come on, breathe, you idiot, dying during the tutorial would be so damn embarrassing.’

His vision darkened at the edges while violet cracks spread beneath his shirt, each pulse pushing deeper than the last.

[Lethal Core Rupture Confirmed]

[Survival Threshold Reached]

Something tore beneath his ribs, then the office vanished behind a sheet of red.

[Death Flag Survived]

[Base Rewards Multiplied ×10]

[EXP Gained: 121,000]

[System Points Gained: 420]

Heat burst through Damien’s chest and shoved the violet current backward, forcing his heartbeat into one brutal rhythm.

[Level Up]

[Level: 39]

[Level Up]

[Level: 40]

[Level Up]

[Level: 41]

[Exp: 4,000 / 41,000]

Strength filled his arms before the bald enforcer regained balance, ’three levels, for real? Damn, let him stand up, I want to try these properly.’

The baton came again, sweeping toward Damien’s head while Merrick shouted something useless from behind the desk.

Damien stepped inside the swing and drove his free elbow into the bald man’s mouth, feeling teeth shift beneath the impact.

His right hand caught the attacker’s collar, then pulled that heavy body down across one raised knee.

Air left the enforcer in a wet grunt before Damien shoved him face-first onto the carpet.

The copper-braided woman drew her hooked blade and lunged past Merrick, aiming beneath Damien’s lifted arm.

’Too wide, this body knows that opening, so quit admiring yourself and move.’

He turned sideways, trapped her wrist beneath the active cuff, then twisted until the blade struck the floor.

Violet current jumped from Damien’s restraint into her weapon, racing along its metal edge before bursting across both sleeves.

She screamed and dropped to one knee, which let him drive a heel against her shoulder until she hit the wall.

Merrick crawled toward the doorway, leaving his polished folio beneath the overturned chair.

"Stop this immediately, or your father will hear how you attacked household officers," he shouted, reaching toward the watching maid.

Damien caught the back of his vest and dragged him away from her, then slammed the man’s chest against the desk.

"Your restraint nearly ruptured my core in front of six witnesses, so mention that part clearly," Damien said, forcing Merrick’s right hand open.

The collector clawed at the wood while Damien pressed the restraint’s release seal against his signet.

Its lock opened with a sharp click, pulling crystal needles from torn skin as blood ran across Damien’s palm.

Merrick tried to rise, though Damien closed the silver cuff around his wrist before either attendant could warn him.

"Wait, Lord Damien, that device was calibrated for your mana signature," Merrick gasped, staring at the violet seal.

"Now you remember calibration, sheesh, your timing is absolute garbage," Damien replied, tapping the activation mark once.

The cuff flashed without releasing its killing pulse, yet Merrick collapsed anyway and covered his head beneath both arms.

Silence held the office until the maid’s tray gave a small rattle beside the doorway.

Damien looked from the trembling collector toward both fallen enforcers, ’huh, no pulse, which means he knew exactly what setting would kill me, lovely.’

He crouched beside Merrick and tightened the harmless restraint until metal pressed deep into soft flesh.

"Tell Cassius his defective toy failed, then ask whether he wants the next one returned personally," Damien said, releasing the man’s sleeve.

Merrick stumbled upright with his restrained hand against his stomach, while neither attendant looked willing to continue.

The hallway staff moved aside slowly, giving all three visitors a clear path toward the staircase.

Damien watched them leave before his left wrist began shaking, then pain returned around every needle wound.

’Damn, that hurt so much worse than the novel made it sound, but three levels from one murder attempt is completely broken.’

A new panel unfolded across his vision while blood continued dripping beside the silver crest.

[System Shop Unlocked]

[System Points Available: 420]

[Stat Allocation: +5 Agility]

[Cost: 500 SP]

[Skill Grimoire: Flicker]

[Cost: 3,000 SP]

[Skill Grimoire: Iron Veil]

[Cost: 4,800 SP]

[Script Page: Foundation Gala]

[Cost: 2,500 SP]

Damien stared at the catalogue while his smile slowly disappeared, ’seriously, I survived getting my core cooked and still cannot afford five agility?’

The maid stepped into the office with her tray held against both palms, though her round brown eyes remained fixed on the blood.

"Sir, should I call a healer before those wounds damage your mana channels permanently?" she asked, setting breakfast beside the broken picture frame.

"Call someone who hates Cassius more than they fear him, then bring the damaged cuff back here," Damien answered, pressing a napkin around his wrist.

She nodded quickly and hurried after the retreating officers, leaving cold tea beside his bleeding hand.

Damien closed the Shop and looked toward the rain-dark window, where his reflection seemed much less confused than yesterday.

’Cassius tried to kill me before breakfast, good, now I know exactly where the first real problem lives.’

He picked up his phone and searched the residence map for the gala’s underground service corridor.