Rising Affection and Hidden Rewards

The heart was twice as large as before and sparkled twice as brightly, like someone had replaced the batteries. Chloe called out the affection rating inside her mind and waited with a fluttering heart for the screen to float up before her eyes.

It had risen by a full forty points.

Chloe, who had expected no more than double the previous amount—around twenty points at most—nearly shouted “Jackpot!” at how much higher the number had climbed than anticipated.

She didn’t think she had ever felt this thrilled even when she guessed a test answer correctly by pure luck.

Chloe checked the affection rating that had risen forty points from the start several times over, a satisfied smile spreading across her face.

“So you can earn points from the same person more than once?”

It hadn’t been long since Thelma left the room, cradling the five pieces of bread as if they were treasures.

Ding. Ding. Ding!

Sudden alarm sounds rang out from every direction, and after a brief pause the same message repeated again and again.

The glowing hearts from earlier did not appear. Of course they wouldn’t—there was no one else in the room. Still, Chloe spun in place, trying to figure out what on earth was happening.

“What is going on?”

While she blinked in confusion, Thelma burst back into the room, her face flushed bright red and a wide smile on her lips. Unlike when she had left, her hands were empty.

“My lady, you should have seen how delighted the servants were when they received the bread!”

Only after hearing Thelma’s voice—half an octave higher than usual and spilling out rapidly—did Chloe understand. Her nanny had done the job in her place.

Thelma looked as thrilled as if she herself had been the one praised. Her excitement was so intense that the warm heat radiating from her seemed to reach Chloe instantly.

Feeling the depth of Thelma’s affection for the young lord, a wave of guilt surged through Chloe. Even though she hadn’t chosen this, she still felt like a thief who had stolen someone else’s body and was deceiving everyone.

Thelma, who had entered with an excited expression, grew worried when she saw her lady’s gloomy face. Had she made a mistake?

“If you don’t want me to hand them out, I won’t do it next time.”

At Thelma’s cautious words, Chloe snapped back to herself and smiled brightly.

“No, I should have been the one to give them out. Thank you. Did they really like them?”

When Chloe’s expression cleared in an instant, Thelma looked relieved and nodded vigorously, smiling along with her.

“Yes! They said they had never tasted bread this delicious in their entire lives. They loved it.”

Thelma had never heard the servants speak well of their lord before, so today’s event felt especially meaningful to her.

‘Please take good care of our Chloe. There is no one else I can trust.’

The late Marquis had been unable to close his eyes in peace because his young daughter had to inherit the lordship. With his hand growing cold, he had taken Thelma’s hand and made that final request.

Her heart had been heavy, feeling she had failed to keep that promise, but today Thelma finally felt a little lighter.

This was the first time the self-centered Chloe had ever looked after those beneath her.

Thelma pressed back the tears that threatened to spill with the back of her hand, then broke into a bright smile.

On a happy day like today, she refused to ruin it with tears.

Meanwhile, Chloe’s entire body burned with excitement as she checked the affection rating that had shot up in the blink of an eye. The score had risen even though she hadn’t handed out the bread herself.

At this rate, turning that enormous negative number into a positive one might be easier than she thought.

Once she decided it was doable, her body itched with the urge to clear the score as quickly as possible.

It was a bit of a hassle, but if she went in and out of the convenience store a few times, she could probably raise it to one without too much trouble.

She was vaguely calculating how many loaves of bread she might need when the Status Window, which she hadn’t even called for, suddenly appeared.

“My lady, we can’t have your dress getting wrinkled. Let me smooth it out nicely for you.”

While Thelma carefully patted out the slight wrinkles in the hem of Chloe’s dress with her palm, the Status Window began spitting out more messages.

Yes.

Chloe answered, her heart pounding with excitement.

“Hey! That’s not fair!”

At the unexpected deduction, Chloe unconsciously raised her voice.

“Pardon?”

Thelma, who had been happily smoothing the dress, blinked with a slightly wronged expression and asked slowly.

“No, not you, Thelma.”

Embarrassed by the curse that had slipped out, Chloe gave an awkward smile and winked.

Damn it, this Status Window is such a scammer.

Even though the points had appeared out of nowhere, Chloe couldn’t shake the feeling that she had just been robbed by something that wasn’t even human.

The Status Window she hadn’t even summoned floated up in front of her. Chloe frowned for a moment at the sudden blue that filled her vision, then widened her eyes at the new entry she had never seen before.

mp?

“What is that?”

“The back of your dress was wrinkled. It’s all smoothed out now.”

Thelma, thinking the question had been directed at her, kindly answered while patting the back of the dress.

“Th-thank you.”

You’re welcome.

Chloe had been thanking Thelma, but this time the Status Window answered as if it were no big deal.

It was enough to drive her crazy, but she decided to let it slide for now.

The appearance of a new item felt suspicious, and she was extremely annoyed at the feeling of having been overcharged. Then, with a sound like paper unrolling—chrrrrrrrk—a screen she had never seen before unfolded inside the Status Window.

Dozens of elongated rectangles lined up one after another, their edges fluttering like dragonfly wings before neatly arranging themselves from the bottom up, revealing clean text.

“My lady, it’s time to head out. Today you must get off the carriage and look around where the residents live. Understood?”

With the Status Window and Thelma speaking at the same time, Chloe’s mind went completely blank.

“Not right now.”

At Chloe’s words the Status Window vanished with a pop, but Thelma’s eyes rounded like marbles as she let out a deep sigh. The person who had looked at her with eyes full of proud affection only moments ago was gone; now her gaze seemed to say, Here we go again.

“If not now, then when exactly do you plan to tour the territory?”

Thelma had misunderstood the words meant for the Status Window as being directed at her and began to scold her. Yet her tone wasn’t sharp; it was the gentle, coaxing voice of someone trying to persuade her.

“I wasn’t talking to you, Thelma.”

Feeling the sincerity in the way Thelma cared for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her, Chloe felt a pang of guilt.

She could open the Hidden Shop whenever she wanted later.

Thelma’s eyes were still full of suspicion as she looked at Chloe, but thanks to the bread from earlier, the doubt didn’t last long.

“Then who were you⋯⋯.”

Thelma trailed off, glancing around the empty room. Her expression showed she was worried her lady might be playing another incomprehensible prank.

“I was just thinking to myself.”

“Really?”

Only then did Thelma’s face clear. She opened the door with a refreshed expression and gave Chloe a bright smile.

“My lady, it is time to depart.”

No matter how she thought about it, Thelma seemed less like a nanny and more like a secretary.

Chloe left the room where she had been restless all morning and quickly organized her thoughts.

First, I need to focus on raising the residents’ affection rating.

If she could raise a lot of points in a short time like before, she might earn more Hidden Points. She still didn’t know what she could do with them, but since the system said she could buy things, the situation would surely improve far beyond what it was now.

Crackle.

Crackle-crackle. Sssssss⋯⋯.

A faint noise echoed through the empty room that Chloe and Thelma had left after bustling about all morning. It was so quiet that anyone not listening carefully would have missed it.

A few sparrows that had been perched by the window fluttered away after peering inside the open frame.

Above the neatly made bed, dozens of square fragments of light rose and disappeared irregularly.

The white blanket shimmered with blue because of the sudden azure glow.

The few light shards became five or six, then the five or six split into dozens before merging back into one, pulsing softly.

Finally the gathered mass of light transformed into the shape of a large Status Window. It was bigger than the blanket covering the bed, yet it contained only a single line of text.

The Status Window, which had only displayed a simple number, warped and bent, stretching vertically. It continued to elongate like dough until it shone so brightly the entire room filled with light, then spat out a single person.