Derek remained silent for a moment before speaking heavily.
"…If it was absolutely necessary, couldn't you have sent one of your subordinates?"
"A rumor that a noble young lady, who hasn't even received a marriage proposal, is looking for a mysterious man would certainly tarnish the family's honor."
I smoothly added, driving the point home. From Derek's perspective, Penelope needed to change.
Not from a parasite who always screams and acts unreasonably, but to a slightly more thoughtful creature.
'Only then would you completely ignore me no matter what I do, right?'
I looked at the [13% Affinity] with a cold eye.
Since I had spoken as humbly and politely as possible, there was no reason for it to drop.
But I didn't particularly want it to rise either.
"…Penelope."
But why? Derek sighed deeply and spoke.
"Since you're almost an adult, I won't stop you from going out without revealing your destination."
"…."
"But if you're going out, don't use the servant's entrance like a common thief. Just use the front gate boldly. I'll inform the butler."
[Affinity 17%]
"Or you could take that ragged man you brought with you."
Derek's affinity increased.
I didn't understand. Not just his affinity, but even his words to me.
'…Why is this guy, who would be delighted if I died without a trace, showing me kindness?'
Thinking about the past Penelope, his questioning of her secret outings was justified.
If she went out and acted like a mad dog, the cleanup would be entirely his responsibility.
But it was unexpected that he would acknowledge such outings in the future.
"…Aren't you going to punish me?"
I asked, bewildered. Derek frowned instead of answering.
"You didn't wander around the mansion wearing that stupid-looking mask, did you?"
"…What?"
He suddenly reached out his hand. Then he grabbed the mask on my face.
"Seizing this as punishment for tarnishing the Ecart's reputation."
"Ah…"
Before I could react, the mask was pulled off. The cool night breeze touched my face, which had been stifled all day.
Looking up with a narrow field of vision, Derek seemed very cold and angry.
But when I saw him clearly holding my lower-class mask, for some reason…
"This is your punishment for today."
Does he look happy, or is it just an illusion?
"Leonard bought it for me…"
I muttered, looking back and forth between his face and the mask he had taken from me.
"Here."
Then he suddenly held something out to me.
"I engraved magic on the jewels. Wearing it will activate a protection spell and a disguise spell."
"…."
"The mage who cast it said that to others, you'll look like a boy your age."
On his large, gloved palm lay a platinum bracelet with small, deep pink jewels.
"The original ones kept breaking, so I had them replaced with the finest garnets."
Derek added, his tone gruff.
I stared at his large hand.
On the first day of the festival, when I secretly went out to save Iclees and chose a mask, this was the bracelet Derek had picked out.
Looking at the ripe plum-colored jewels, I thought they matched my hair color, but I never expected he would give it to me as a gift.
Because it could also be described as pink.
I thought he would keep it and give it to the female protagonist later.
But…
'Now that I think about it, this is the second gift.'
An expensive scarf and a bracelet with magic engraved on it.
Lifting my head to look at Derek's blue eyes again, I felt a strange sensation.
"…Why?"
That's why.
The words slipped out before I could think.
"…What?"
"Why are you giving me something like this?"
I asked, glancing down at the bracelet again.
He said he had replaced them with the finest garnets, and in the dark, the small deep pink jewels shimmered.
Even I, who don't care much about accessories, found the bracelet's appearance captivating.
But my curiosity and suspicion outweighed my gratitude for the gift.
After all, he had a history with the villain and Leonard.
- Cheap thing.
The disdainful look in his eyes, etched in Penelope's memory.
"I thought you disliked my extravagance."
"…Didn't you like accessories?"
For some reason, Derek seemed a bit flustered by my words.
"I do."
I admitted readily. In the game, Penelope couldn't get enough of flashy accessories.
But it was her only means of filling her loneliness and sorrow.
"Your own jewels, not stolen or taken from others."
Why are you giving me something like this, you who despised me so much?
Derek didn't seem to fully grasp what I was saying.
What was clear was that his expression hardened, as if a memory had surfaced.
"If you don't want it,"
"…."
"Throw it away."
He easily flipped the gauntlet where the bracelet lay.
The shining platinum chain fell to the ground and rolled in the dirty mud.
Stunned by his absurd action, I watched as Derek turned and quickly walked down the hill.
I hesitated, unsure whether to follow.
〈SYSTEM〉 [Derek] and [Watching the Festival] quest successful!
〈SYSTEM〉 Do you want to receive the reward?
[Yes. / No.]
A white square window suddenly appeared before my eyes.
"…Ha."
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
"Is this quest not over yet?"
I had clearly pressed 'Refuse' when asked if I wanted to do it again, so why did it count as a success?
Frowning, I irritably pressed [Yes.]. The text in the square window changed quickly.
〈SYSTEM〉 You have received [Derek's Affinity +3%] and [Magic Bracelet] as rewards.
"Damn, is this the additional reward?"
I remembered the words 'other than affinity' but didn't pay much attention since I didn't need anything else.
I looked down at the bracelet rolling in the mud with a cold eye.
"…What a brat."
I finally squatted down and picked up the fallen bracelet.
"Are you really going to throw it away?"
Blowing on it to remove the dirt, I suddenly felt pathetic and sad at the thought of having to accept such a reward.
"Why can't you just call it a gift?"
[Affinity 20%]
I grumbled unhappily, looking at the gradually fading white text.
* * *
The last day of the month-long festival finally arrived.
Emily was excited, saying that the final day would feature even more spectacular parades, acrobats, and fireworks than before.
She suggested we go together.
But I had no desire to, so I ignored her and slept in.
Waking up late and having a simple breakfast of a sandwich, I sat at my desk for the first time in a while.
It had been quite a while since I arrived here.
Seeing how I had clashed with each of them one by one during the festival, it felt like I had passed a major episode in the game.
"…At least I'm still alive."
When I first arrived, each day felt like a crisis.
Of course, it wasn't as if I had overcome the crisis. The road ahead was long.
'I need to do a mid-term check.'
I opened the drawer and took out a piece of paper I had hidden deep inside.
It was the basic settings of the male leads I had written down to remember when I first arrived.
I took out a new piece of paper and started writing down the initial affinity and recent updates.
「Derek Ecart 0% → 20%
Leonard Ecart -10% → 10%
Calisto Regulus 0% → 2%
Iclees 0% → 25%
Bunter Verdandi 0% → 15%」
Seeing it all written down, the difference from the beginning was clear.
"Surprising."
Looking at Derek and Leonard's affinity, I widened my eyes.
Especially Leonard.
Compared to the other male leads, his affinity was abysmally low, but considering he started in the negative, it had risen by a whopping '20%'.
The same went for Derek.
"Is it because I see them the most often?"
I tilted my head, thinking about their unexpected performance.
Looking at the paper I had written at the beginning, I had marked their names with an X without a second thought.
But it wasn't a good thing that their affinity was leading.
"Since it increased slightly when I didn't see them…"
It was likely that their feelings towards Penelope had softened from 'extreme dislike' to just 'dislike'.
Because I wasn't acting like the fake noble lady I was supposed to be.
"If I keep minimizing the number of times I see them, I can maintain it."
Considering the default affinity in normal mode was '30%', neither of them was in a safe zone.
But since I didn't have a 'reset', I had no intention of taking risks to increase their affinity.
Click, click. I firmly marked an X over Derek and Leonard's names as before.
"Next, the Crown Prince."
This guy isn't even worth a moment's consideration.
I immediately marked several Xs and moved on.
But my hand holding the pen hesitated.
"Iclees…"
As planned, Iclees was currently at the top of the affinity list.
If I could raise it by just 5% more, I would reach the default affinity in normal mode.
Compared to the other male leads, it wasn't a difficult task. Iclees' affinity had a large increase.
If things continued this way, I would soon see the ending.
"Come to think of it, I haven't visited him since last time because I've been busy…"
Squeak, squeak.
The sharp pen tip drew endless circles around Iclees' name.
In truth, I had said I was busy, but except for the day I met Bunter, I hadn't been that busy.
Yet, I hadn't gone to see him.
'…Why does it feel so unsettling?'
It was because, unlike affinity, I couldn't judge how he felt about me.
I still vividly remembered that day.
The wooden sword pointed at me in an instant, the chilling gaze that saw me as an enemy to be killed.