༺ Competition ༻
“Hmm…”
Isolet was sitting in front of and sipping her tea.
“”……..””
Right beside , Lulu and Irina shot cold glances to Isolet, clearly displeased.
“Um… Sister.”
“Why?”
“How long do you plan on staying here?”
Upon being subtly questioned, Isolet raised her eyebrows.
She then turned to , a puzzled expression on her face, as if she did not understand what I ant.
“The aroma of the tea is really nice.”
“When are you leaving?”
“What’s the na of this tea?”
“……”
This situation has been going on for a while.
Ever since the investigation team left, for so reason, she began to closely follow around and has been staying in my house for hours.
“Um, Fr… Frey, I’d like to take a look at your room.”
“Okay? Well, it’s fine, I guess. Then…”
– Bang!
“…Huh?”
She had subtly averted her gaze and asked to see my room. As soon as I granted permission, she entered and closed the door behind her.
“…What are you doing?”
“Ah… Ah! No, I an… You have a comfortable bed. For soone as delicate as you, nothing’s as important as a comfortable bed, so I just tested it.”
“…..?”
She remained inside for quite so ti, making wonder about what was happening. Eventually, I used my ergency key to unlock the door and found her lying on my bed, tucked under the blanket, curled up.
“Why is the closet drawer… No, forget it.”
“I, I didn’t do it. The investigation team… They were the ones who did it.”
There were clear signs that the closet drawer in my room had been opened.
“So this is the famous Starlight Mansion’s… basent.”
“So, how long do you plan to stay here?”
“…Uh.”
“Hey?”
Next, she said she wanted to see the basent. We went down together, and for a few l minutes, she gazed at in silence with a dark look before finally making a move.
“……..”
“Do you like it that much? Want one?”
“No, no… I don’t particularly need it…”
She stared, mouth agape, at the pictures in the hallway – one of a young smiling, another of sweating during sword training, and another in my academy uniform.
“Co to think of it, you said it back then.”
“Huh?”
“I love Sister! I’ll marry her when I grow up!”
“……..”
Isolet murmured with a distant look on her face in the training yard of the mansion.
Anyway, after entertaining her, as she road around the place without a care about the ti, she was now leisurely drinking tea in front of .
It did stir up so awkward feelings, but…
‘Well, she did help today.’
It was undeniable that she helped today.
In the first place, Isolet was a remarkably skilled knight. She had been offered the role of Deputy Commander in the Imperial Family’s Knight Order, and she had even been offered the position of Commander by the Church.
Furthermore, with many Knight Orders recently reshuffled due to the ergence of the Demon King, most of the knights in the investigation team were either her juniors or subordinates.
Additionally, she was the only daughter of a prestigious Marquis family, and not too long ago, she was even nominated as the Commanding Officer of the Hero’s Party.
Given all this, the Deputy Commanders leading this investigation team had little chance to match her in terms of strength or authority.
So, after their failed attempt to scare , they had no choice but to sulkily endure her reprimands for a while.
Naturally, this wouldn’t be the end of it.
Many dark magic tools and records of corruption had already been submitted. While Isolet intended to leverage today’s ‘incident’ for negotiation, it remained uncertain whether it would work.
“Phew.”
For , it didn’t really matter either way. If Isolet succeeded in her negotiations, it would provide with so respite to prepare for the next potential attack. And even if the negotiations failed, I wouldn’t lose any points, so there shouldn’t have been a problem…
…But was there really none?
– Thump…!
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, a sharp pain hit my heart.
“Frey?”
“Master!”
When I held onto my chest and turned pale, Lulu and Irina rushed over in shock.
“Ah…”
At the sa ti, Isolet, who had been sipping her tea in front of , froze in place.
‘…This is annoying.’
Lately, it felt like I had been experiencing these heart pains far more frequently.
Given that painkillers weren’t helping, was it a psychological issue?
“Ma, Master…”
While I was lost in thought, Lulu approached with a terrified look on her face.
“Lick.”
Suddenly, she lightly licked my lips with her tongue.
“Lick, lick.”
With an anxious expression and a firm grip on my arm, she ticulously licked every nook of my lips before tremblingly whispering into my ear.
“Do, don’t worry…”
“Huh?”
“I’ll find a way sohow…”
Her lips were faintly tinged with fresh blood.
‘…I thought it was just an anxiety attack.’
Lately, whenever I felt worried, my heart began to ache sharply. I thought this pain was due to escalated symptoms of anxiety.
However, anxiety wasn’t the only cause of the pain in my heart.
The main reason seed to be the gradual deterioration of my own body.
The bleeding, which used to only occur when I physically overexerted myself, now occurred even when I was just slightly anxious.
Considering the three penalties I was enduring, along with an additional special penalty, it made sense… but if this continued, it would be problematic.
Was there really no way to restore my dwindling lifespan and vitality?
“Hmm…”
As I pondered and felt my heart heating up.
I quietly opened the system window into the air.
Hidden Quest
Quest Content: Remove Serena’s Curse of Familial Subordination
Reward: ???, ???, ???, ???, Serena’s 19 Event Unlocked, Top Priority Designation
‘Perhaps, there might be a way.’
My ancestor had clearly said that the ‘Curse of Serena’s Familial Subordination’ only had a release code, but the ga had no way to execute that code.
And there was one more thing set up like that.
That was the code to increase my life force and lifespan.
‘If I clear this quest, the Curse of Familial Subordination will be lifted. That ans…’
A way to execute the ‘code’ to break the curse, that was believed to be unbreakable, had sohow appeared before .
This suggested there might also be a thod sowhere to expand my lifespan and life force.
Sure, the system had previously stated there was no way within its confines to increase my lifespan or life force. However, perhaps that was rely a limitation of the system.
Moreover, back then, the system had not been ‘updated’.
[System Updating……..]
Only the Affection System has just finished updating. Looking at the system, hurriedly working with all other functions paused…
As expected, it was worth looking forward to.
– Thump…!
“…Sigh.”
Certainly, I needed to find a way to address this sudden ‘anxiety symptom.’
If bleeding occurred whenever I get a little anxious, it would be quite problematic.
“”……..””
After contemplating for a while, when I finally looked up, everyone around was staring at blankly.
“Sniffle…”
Lulu sniffed and nuzzled her head against my side.
“Even now, it’s not too late… If I feed him good food and elixirs… I also need to make sure his line continues…”
Isolet muttered in a state of panic.
“…….”
Irina stood silently, her arms crossed.
“Hmm.”
Looking at them, a thought suddenly ca to my mind.
‘So… what exactly is this age-restricted event…?’
First of all, Isolet, who was giving a dreary look, certainly had a related event.
It was labeled as a ‘Low-Priority Event’, but there were as many as three of them.
I don’t know exactly what these events are.
‘And, what is this Top-Priority event…?’
Currently, Lulu, who was rubbing her cheek against my side while sniffing, had an active event.
So, perhaps, she was top-priority, but sothing intriguing was happening in the system window.
Affection System
Irina, Kania, Clana [Top-Priority Candidates]
Lulu, Isolet [Potential Candidates]
※ Events for potential candidates occur completely at random.
.
.
.
Currently, the phrase next to the nas of the three girls was flashing in different colors.
Kania in black, Irina in red, and Clana in yellow.
Affection System
[Candidate Selection Period: Until the last day of vacation.]
It felt like a competition of sorts.
So, among the three of them…, no, five of them, would one of them have an event with during this vacation?
Co to think of it, hadn’t the event to unlock Serena’s just appeared? However, for now, only the quest na and rewards were shown…
There was no way to proceed, no solution, and even the Y/N button was missing, so there was nothing I could do about it.
Anyway, looking at the system window text, it seed like the event would happen during this vacation.
I wonder, who will be the one to have the event with ?
‘…I have no idea.’
It was quite interesting, but this wasn’t the most pressing matter right now.
Well, in a sense, it was rather important… but what held more importance was the ‘latent abilities’ of each heroine.
From what I’ve observed, once their routes were completed, their latent abilities seed to be unlocked.
Did this an…
I had to seduce them all…?
– Beep, beep!
While I was freaking out by the conclusion I had arrived at during my deep contemplation, a chanical sound echoed.
“…Hello?”
Shortly after, Isolet took out a communication device from her belongings and started to talk.
“That was a legitimate exercise of my authority. So… Yes?”
Judging by her expression, there seed to be so kind of problem.
“…Alright, I understand.”
She continued her conversation for a while before hanging up and looking at somberly.
“It seems like I have to leave now.”
Then, Isolet rose from her seat, looking regretful.
“…In a week, co to my house. We can continue our training and pick up our unfinished conversation then.”
Even though I took great pains to explain to her once again that my ti wasn’t limited, for so reason, she didn’t seem convinced.
“Well then, I’ll be going…”
“Wait, Sister.”
Watching her head toward the entrance with a gloomy expression, I finally vocalized the question that had been bothering for a while.
“…What’s that thing you’ve been holding onto since earlier?”
“…..!”
At that, she stopped in her tracks, looking startled.
“This, this thing…?”
Then, she carefully took sothing out.
“You, you didn’t give this to ?”
“……”
What Isolet revealed were my photo albums, the sa ones she had been staring blankly at earlier.
“I… see…?”
“Yes, yes. There’s no issue with that.”
Nevertheless, her belly was still noticeably bulging.
She was soone who had undergone intense training her whole life and had never once had her belly protruding like that.
“By the way, why did you open my closet earlier…”
“I, I must go now.”
As I tilted my head and took a step closer to her, she hurriedly rushed off to the entrance.
– Slam.
Just like that, she swiftly left the mansion.
“…Phew.”
I felt a sense of relief as Isolet vanished from the premises, but simultaneously, a peculiar sense of longing washed over .
“…What?”
Feeling conflicted, I sat down on the sofa. Then, Irina, looking puzzled, stood up with furrowed brows.
“Clana… already arrived? Why? How?”
“…..?”
She seed to be talking without a communication crystal. Could it be… she was using telepathy right now?
“…Hmm.”
While I blankly stared at her, who casually perford a groundbreaking magical feat, she began to nibble on her lip.
“Frey, I believe I need to leave for a while.”
“Uh, okay…”
“If you feel like you’re in danger, send a ssage imdiately. Or tear this scroll. I’ll co to help you right away.”
With that, she handed an armful of scrolls.
“You broke our promise… Clana!”
She shouted angrily as she left the mansion.
“What on earth…”
Feeling an inexplicable chill, I blankly watched her retreating figure.
“…That’s right, Serena was supposed to co.”
Today, I was expecting Serena to co over with the results of the task I had entrusted to her.
“Master…”
“Yeah?”
Lulu, who had been quietly sitting next to , glanced around briefly and then gently wrapped her arms around mine, causing to tilt my head in curiosity.
“Now, it’s just the two of us left, right?”
Lulu had been staring at intently.
“I have sothing to tell you, Master.”
She said in a soft voice…
“Please listen.”
.
.
.
.
.
anwhile, at that very mont…
“Hehehe~ Heh~”
“…Sigh.”
Wondering what had made her so happy, Serena entered the Starlight Mansion with a giddy smile accompanied by Miho, who wore a thoroughly dissatisfied expression.
“I’ll see Frey~♪ We’ll have a date~♪ Hehe…”
“Human, are you a genius? Or are you a lunatic?”
“Hehehe, hehe…”
Despite Miho’s question, Serena kept laughing as she crossed the mansion’s yard.
“…?”
Soon after, she tilted her head in confusion.
“What’s that?”
She spotted so unknown movent in the bushes near the mansion’s window, prompting her sharp gaze to beco focused.
“…Hmm?”
Serena’s usually innocent-looking eyes sharpened.
“Bl, blood… he’s bleeding… Ugh, ugh…”
Aishi, who had co to check on Frey’s condition that day under the pretense of wanting to hang out, had witnessed Frey’s bleeding and was now sobbing alone.
“Frey has limited ti… It must be a fake illness. Yes, yes.”
anwhile, Roswyn, with an anxious expression, kept glancing around while hiding in the mansion’s bushes.
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