Chapter 10

I did it. I actually did it.

Wait, no. If I let him pat her head, a massive event triggers that raises her affection by a staggering 15 points…! How did it go again? Right, definitely…

Hereis’s hand ruffled Mina’s pale pink hair. Even though his touch was rough and careless like a drunkard’s, Mina’s cheeks flushed crimson. At that moment, Hereis loses his balance and collapses.

Thud!

“He-Hereis-nim?”

And he falls right toward Mina. Mina is pushed down by Hereis’s massive frame. Is a knight always a knight, even when they can’t steady themselves? Even as he fell, Hereis softly cradled Mina’s head to ensure she wouldn’t get hurt.

Fifteen! Fifteen is absolutely out of the question! Even just reminiscing about it made my skin crawl. The protagonist stared at me with an utterly bewildered expression. Thanks to that, my mind snapped back to reality in an instant.

-Huh??

-Belita caught it?

-Lmao can this even happen?

“Waugh! I’m so sorry!”

I threw the arm I was holding away with all my might. The protagonist stumbled before barely regaining his balance.

“There was… there was some sauce on your hand, so I did it without thinking…”

It was a plausible excuse. Because of the boisterous Knight Commander Frederick—who didn’t act like a noble at all—the protagonist had actually eaten food like whole pig legs at a run-down tavern.

“Ah, I must have gotten some on me while eating earlier.”

-Ugh, dirty.

-?? That’s weird.

The protagonist and Mina simultaneously looked down at the hand I had just flung away. The hand… was clean.

“There’s nothing there?” Mina asked in a voice full of innocent confusion.

“I wiped it off with my hand.”

“Just now?”

“I… I have very fast hands. Ahaha…”

“Really?”

They looked puzzled, but they let it slide. Since it wasn’t a particularly important matter, it was a natural reaction. As the protagonist moved toward his room, Mina asked:

“Are you going to wash up?”

Before the words could even finish, another choice popped up.

“Ah, what was this one? Option 1?”

-Did you forget again?

-Lol there are too many choices.

-Go for 1.

-This guy is great at baiting donations lol.

Tsk, tsk.

Mina is currently anxious that the protagonist might treat her as useless. Do you think her mind would be at peace if you told her to just rest? If you give her something to do… she’ll be thrilled, thinking,

‘Gasp! Hereis-nim needs me!’

My efforts to keep her at bay would be for naught. Just as I was thinking that, a flood of donations from viewers who shared my sentiment started to burst.

“Is that so?” Mo Je-won, becoming a bit timid after receiving so much pushback, ended up picking the correct choice. Damn it… How much was this one? 5 Affection?

“Sorry… but could you draw a bath for me?”

“Of course! Leave it to me!”

The protagonist’s eyes went wide. It made sense. Because the line that just came out of my mouth was my own, not Mina’s. 5 points isn’t a small number either. If I can block it, I have to block it.

“Belita, you’re doing it?”

“…? These small chores are my responsibility!”

-??

-???

-Again?

I put on a face that said, ‘Why would you even ask that?’ Because I acted so shamelessly, both the protagonist and the viewers accepted it.

-Well, it is a maid’s job.

-She’s working hard lol.

-Event deleted by excessive passion lol.

And so, Mina went back to finish her meal. As I ran the water into the tub, I had a premonition. Ah, things like today are going to keep happening from now on.

Knock, knock, knock—

Someone was knocking on the mansion door. I turned my head from the kitchen and stole a glance at Mina’s and the protagonist’s doors. The protagonist showed no sign of waking up—likely due to a hangover—and Mina, a notorious late sleeper to begin with, was silent. Since I had been up since the crack of dawn preparing breakfast, I went ahead and opened the door. Well, I already knew who was coming…

“Is this the residence of Sir Hereis?”

The second heroine I saw yesterday. Arianne was standing at the door. She looked a bit flustered to see a maid answer.

“Yes, you’ve found the right place. To what do I owe the visit?”

“I have something to say to Sir Hereis. If you tell him it’s Arianne, he’ll know.”

“Understood. Please wait here for a moment.”

I guided Arianne to the small parlor and served the tea I had prepared in advance. Arianne sniffed the aroma and looked a bit surprised.

“Oh, Leafage Tea. I overdrank a bit yesterday, and this is perfect.”

I had bought it yesterday thinking it might raise my affection if I helped the protagonist with his hangover. Since I had extra tea leaves, I took care of Arianne as well. Arianne took a sip with expectant eyes. Then, she left a brief review.

“Hmm. You need to learn how to brew this properly.”

In my whole life, I’d only ever had tea from bags; this was my first time brewing with raw leaves, so the taste must have been very amateurish. If I had known this would happen, I should have learned from my roommates back at the Ducal mansion. Where did I go wrong? Was the water temperature off? Did I steep it too long? I didn’t know. When I tasted it, I thought it wasn’t bad, but since I didn’t know what the original was supposed to taste like, there was no way to judge properly.

“Still, the taste isn’t bad. I’ll enjoy it.”

She had the nuance of drinking it out of respect for the effort. It was a bit sad, but it couldn’t be helped. All the people I was dealing with now were high-ranking nobles. They were people who had lived their lives receiving only the absolute best. There was no way my humble skills could satisfy them. Comforting myself with that thought, I headed toward the protagonist’s door.

“Lord Hereis. Are you awake?”

Normally, Mina would wake up to the sound of Arianne knocking. Mina would enter the sleeping protagonist’s room and try to wake him with a gentle shake, only for the protagonist to grab the hand on his shoulder, leading to a strange event.

“Who is it?!”

“Lord Hereis, it’s me. It’s Mina.”

“It was you, Mina. Sorry. I was startled…”

Mina, shocked by the protagonist’s grip strength, was in pain, and the protagonist held her small hand to apologize…

Let’s stop the flashback there. By opening the door before Mina woke up, I was able to naturally skip the morning dating sim event that was about to occur. Honestly, this was why I woke up so early. I had realized something else after the head-patting incident yesterday. Even if I manage to become a heroine, if Mo Je-won thinks he’s on a Hidden Route, he’ll likely try to reach an ending with Belita. However, I can’t be 100% sure he’ll only look at Belita. Would Mo Je-won really try to reach a hidden ending if it meant avoiding endings with all the other heroines scattered around? He might just think, ‘I’ll try for that next playthrough.’ In other words, I have to stick close to the protagonist’s side and carry out a interference operation to prevent the heroines’ affection from rising.

‘It’s not easy.’

It really isn’t. Making the protagonist the Duke is already a monumental task, and now I have to manage the affection levels too. My mind felt like it was going a bit hazy. Still, since I stayed up all night organizing the solutions to the dating sim events as best as I could remember, I should be able to respond to some extent.

‘But even if I ignore Mina, is it okay for me to just barge into the protagonist’s room like this?’

Maybe I should just tell Arianne that the protagonist is unable to wake up and ask her to come back later. I wondered if that would delete her event entirely…

However, the stinging, murderous glare I felt from Arianne behind my back was far too sharp for that.

‘I at least have to act like I’m doing something…’

Terrified that she might shout, “You’re fired for turning away a noble guest!” I opened the bedroom door for now.

‘I really need to learn the etiquette of this world if I’m going to act the part correctly…’

The protagonist was lying straight on the bed, breathing softly in his sleep. His brow was furrowed as if he were having a nightmare; likely because he hadn’t moved past the incident with Robert.

“Lord Hereis.”

I grabbed his shoulder and shook him, just as Mina would have. Since the tea was a disaster, I thought I might as well try to steal this event to build some rapport.

“Lord Hereis.”

As I called his name a second time, the quiet Omniscient Viewer Perspective suddenly activated.

-Oh, it’s the morning wake-up event!

-Heart-fluttering.

“Ugh… who is it…?”

In his unconscious state, the protagonist tried to snatch the hand of the intruder touching his body. However, his hand only swiped through empty air.

-??

-???

-??

The event would have triggered if I had just let him catch me. But I had dodged instinctively. No, my event…!

“Ah. It’s you, Belita.”

The protagonist stared at his own raised arm with confused eyes before sitting up in bed.

-Doesn’t Mina usually come to wake him up here?

-Is Belita a heroine too?

-No, she wasn’t in the public introductions.

-Could be a hidden one.

-Gasp, what if Belita is the hidden heroine?

“Did you come to wake me? Thanks. But why go this far…?”

He shot me a look that said, ‘I would have woken up on my own even if you hadn’t specifically come in.’

“Ah, a guest has arrived. I had to come in out of necessity.”

“A guest?”

“Yes. A lady named Arianne.”

“Arianne?”

The protagonist was surprised but dutifully climbed out of bed. He pulled back the curtains where faint sunlight was seeping through, then frowned at the high sun.

“The sun is already in the middle of the sky. I’ve grown soft.”

“It—it’s not that late in the morning.”

I panicked for a moment. In the morning event with Mina, his Mental Strength didn’t drop like this. At my words, the protagonist let out a small chuckle.

“It’s later than usual, though.”

-They’re surprisingly cute together.

-But +3 is so stingy.

Tell me about it. Still, let’s focus on the fact that it recovered at all.

“Lady Mina is still sleeping. I will prepare your clothes. Oh, I’ve already prepared the wash water in the bathroom.”

“Thank you.”

While the protagonist washed up, I placed some simple casual wear on the bed and left the room. Arianne was still sitting on the sofa, waiting elegantly with her legs crossed.

“Lord Hereis has just woken up. If you could wait just a moment longer…”

“Of course. It’s my fault for visiting so early in the morning.”

“Thank you.”

I gave a light bow, and the empty teacup on the table caught my eye. Just as I was about to head to the kitchen to prepare another, Arianne spoke to me.

“Have you worked with Sir Hereis for long?”

Belita had been a maid at the Rubel Ducal House, not at Robert’s estate after he moved out.

“I only came recently on a recommendation. I haven’t been working here long.”

“I see. And are you the only one working here?”

“No. There is one more person.”

“Don’t tell me… it’s another woman?”

Arianne bit her lower lip as she spoke. The reason she had visited this morning was out of concern that the protagonist might be living a lonely, miserable life. But instead of being alone, he was practically living with two women; it was understandable for her to be a little annoyed. Well, I suppose this is the destiny of a dating sim heroine…

“Hah. Never mind.”

Arianne waved her hand, gesturing for me to leave. It seemed she had no intention of using me as a venting target for her anger.

“Ah, no. You’re going to brew more tea, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Lord Hereis also drank quite a bit last night…”

“You lack skill, but at least you care for your master. That heart of yours is commendable, so I shall help you.”

…? Help me?

“If you cannot serve a proper tea when another guest arrives, Sir Hereis’s reputation will be damaged.”

Is this also part of high-society etiquette?

“It seems Sir Hereis took in a low-ranking maid from somewhere. I will teach you, so watch closely and learn.”

Belita might be a high-ranking maid, but I wasn’t, so I quickly thanked her. Arianne taught me everything in detail, from selecting the tea leaves to the steeping time and the water temperature.

“Now, try it.”

Mm. Even the aroma was different. My tea had been sweet, but this had a more bittersweet fragrance. The taste felt far more sophisticated as well. I suppose brewing tea really isn’t a field one can master overnight.

“What are you two doing there?”

“Ah, Sir Hereis.”

The protagonist appeared, shaking out his hair which was still damp with water.

“Please have a seat, I will bring the tea.”

“A guest shouldn’t have to do that. I’ll serve it.”

“No, I will…”

Why are these two bickering over who gets to serve, leaving me, the maid hired to do exactly that, standing there? To an outsider, it looked like they were having a full-blown argument.

“I will do it.”

The two fell silent for a moment.

“Ah, right. That would be best.”

The protagonist conceded and led Arianne to the parlor. Don’t tell me they had completely forgotten I was there. Is this the true presence of an extra?

“I wanted to speak with you regarding the expedition.”

“Has a problem arisen?”

“There is no problem with the expedition itself. The problem lies with you, Sir Hereis.”

“What?”

“Seeing you spar yesterday, you aren’t what you used to be.”

“…….”

“Wh-what are you saying?!”

Mina, awakened by the noise in the living room, had emerged in her pajamas. Despite barely being able to open her eyes, she protested fiercely.

“He’s been resting for a while, so of course he is! Can’t you even understand that? You… you bloodless, tearless ice queen!”

“I-Ice queen?”

-Fight! Fight!

I let out a deep sigh at the choice that appeared yet again.