Chapter 45
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 45
Since that day, I had gone on several walks with Lisian.
Our destination was, of course, the Central Library.
The "Corridor of Wisdom," which exuded the characteristic opulence of the high nobility, made it clear from its architecture alone that an astronomical amount of capital had been poured into it.
‘You can tell just by looking at the courtyard they placed right in the middle of such a massive library.’
The walls of the courtyard weren't plain glass, but stained glass.
The multicolored panes rose toward the ceiling, forming intricate geometric patterns.
Lisian and I were sitting on a sofa closest to that stained-glass wall.
Since it was winter, the sunlight wasn't particularly abundant, but the rainbow-colored light filtering through the glass still possessed a certain magic that put one's mind at ease.
‘I was so pissed off at that librarian the other day.’
Now, however, I felt glad that I was the one who got to resolve the incident.
I hoped that, thanks to that, Lisian had opened his heart to me just a little bit more.
‘If I hadn't, it would have been difficult to even go on walks like this.’
I stole a glance at Lisian.
He was slowly reading a thick book that looked to be at least 800 pages long.
‘The setting of him being rank one at the Academy wasn't for nothing.’
I wondered how he could read such tiny print so easily and quickly.
As the sunlight poured down and his silver-thread hair shone with a holy light, my mouth hung open of its own accord.
Indeed, indeed.
‘They weren't kidding when they said he had the beauty of an angel descended from heaven.’
He wasn't the "true male lead" of The Milk Bread for nothing.
That was why, when most players started The Milk Bread for the first time, a hundred out of a hundred would target Lisian first.
After seeing the ending with the true male lead, Lisian, they would then find other male leads that suited their tastes and see new endings.
You could call it the official route of The Milk Bread.
To put it simply, he was everyone's first love.
Of course, there was another popular ending.
The "Lisian Blackening Ending."
In The Milk Bread, there was an ending where you maxed out Lisian’s favorability and then "purposely" let him catch you falling in love with another male lead, causing that angelic Lisian to literally lose his mind.
‘It makes sense that he’d snap.’
Lisian was a beautiful, pure-hearted man with silver hair, exactly as he looked.
I watched him and asked, "Lisian."
"Y-yes?"
"Why didn't you reply to my letters?"
Suddenly asking this was closer to a bit of pettiness on my part.
Despite having such a good personality and being the only person who didn't hate Tulia from the start...
I wondered why he hadn't replied to the letters I had been sending consistently.
That’s right.
As soon as I possessed Tulia and received that damn Main Quest, I had been busy planning and executing.
Maybe it was because I had played this game for too long since my days as Han Ina.
My body almost reflexively moved first. Even in the midst of days that made my head spin, my body didn't lie.
While winning Grand Duke Frezier’s favor and dodging the Lilius family’s plots while weaving my own, I had constantly sent letters to the Academy.
The recipients were Lisian and Leon.
The twins.
The content of the letters was just simple greetings.
Sentences reeking of awkwardness, where a younger sister who wasn't very close was modestly asking how they were.
But I had no choice but to write them.
Lisian and Leon Frezier.
These twins were among Corico’s male leads.
To achieve the daunting difficulty of an A-Rank, I had to max out the favorability of every male lead appearing in The Milk Bread.
‘Thinking back, it was a truly fraudulent schedule.’
I wasn't in a position to handle things one at a time, so even while busy, I sent letters to the Academy every few days without fail.
I even varied the content slightly, just in case the twins compared the letters they received.
‘It’s not like there’s a photocopier here, and I don't have a secretary to ghostwrite for me.’
I wrote them by hand!
Personally handcrafted!
I wrote two letters and sent them every three days without fail!
The experience that allowed me to dismiss Tedric with just a few letters didn't come from nowhere!
And yet, not a single reply ever came.
It wasn't that I resented him.
To be honest, I just thought, ‘Of course,’ and kept sending letters like a bulldozer whether a reply came or not.
But seeing Lisian looking so peaceful now after ignoring all those letters, a mischievous curiosity suddenly bloomed within me.
"I-I did... r-reply, though?"
"…Huh?"
"I s-sent... s-seventeen... r-replies."
"…I didn't receive a single one?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
Lisian and I stared at each other simultaneously.
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.
"You're not lying, are you?"
"I-I’m not lying...!"
Lisian denied it, his face turning bright red.
"L-Lisian... Brother. H-hello. I h-hope you are... w-well... Ha."
He stopped talking, seemingly frustrated with himself, and began scribbling on a piece of paper with a pen.
Looking at the content written in his characteristically neat handwriting, my eyes widened.
‘Crazy. Isn't this the content of the letters I wrote?’
He memorized all of this?
"You really are a genius, Brother..."
"…It’s n-not... that m-much."
Then it seemed true that he had sent replies.
"They must have gone missing because I moved my quarters."
Since so much had happened, it seemed the letters were lost.
"I really didn't get a single one."
Lisian looked at me blankly for a moment and then pulled out a fresh sheet of paper.
His pen moved across the page without hesitation.
"…What are you doing, Lisian?"
I peered over and gasped.
To my dear Tulia.
I hope you are doing well.
I am sending a reply to the letter you sent.
I hope you haven't caught a cold...
Phrases like those were being written down in orderly rows.
"Lisian, are you seriously rewriting all the replies I said I didn't get?"
"Yes."
"Right now? All of them?"
Is he crazy?
Why go through such a struggle all of a sudden...?
"Tu-Tulia. You."
Lisian continued speaking while maintaining his neat posture as he wrote.
"You’re... u-upset."
"…."
"S-so..."
"…."
"P-please wait... j-just three hours."
"…."
"I r-remember... a-all the content."
"…."
Why did my heart feel like a ball of cotton?
What was this heavy, damp feeling, as if it were soaked in water?
It was all because Lisian had silver hair as white as snow.
His kindness, falling like the first snow, had surely touched my heart and melted.
That was why I felt this strange, heavy emotion.
I slowly broke into a smile.
"It's okay, Brother."
I gently took Lisian’s hand as it moved the pen restlessly. His hand was warm.
"It’s really okay. I’m just grateful."
Lisian stared at me. Soon, he gave a soft smile.
"I-I’m grateful, too."
"…Yeah."
A ticklish sensation.
As I smiled, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘Could it be that the person who loves me is Lisian?’
* * *
There was a star that had always followed me around, to the point where I barely noticed it anymore, like a shadow.
Dainty, fairy-like wings.
A body sparkling in gold.
My Status Window icon, which looked a bit like a magical girl icon?
I clicked the Status Window with a glance and looked for the Main section.
Immediately, words floated in the air.
[Main Content: Settling Karma]
You are trash!
You have no money, bad luck, and everyone hates you!
(Except for one person) No one loves you!
Goal: Reach A-Rank before the 'Real One' appears!
Failure Penalty: Death
Compared to how often I opened the Stat Window, I didn't check the Main Mission window that frequently.
The word "Death" was just too vivid.
The sentence that caught my eye was that one.
(Except for one person) No one loves you!
‘Except for one person...’
Grandfather cherished me now.
Very much.
But that was thanks to my hard work.
It meant there was someone in this world who had loved Tulia even before I made any effort—back when Tulia was a literal idiot and a spoiled brat who only enjoyed luxury.
‘Isn't it Lisian?’
I suddenly became curious.
A sibling this kind and gentle was—well, of course, he was Tulia’s sibling, but he was a first in my life.
I wanted to check Lisian’s favorability gauge.
‘But how do I check it?’
Grandfather’s favorability gauge bar had never appeared when I wanted it to.
It just appeared and disappeared whenever it felt like it.
There seemed to be a specific criterion, but I still hadn't a clue what it was.
It was then.
[System] Would you like to check the favorability of 'Lisian Frezier'?
[System] Character Importance of Lisian Frezier: ☆☆☆☆☆
‘What?’
As if reading my thoughts, words floated in the air.
In the meantime, unlike Grandfather, Lisian’s character importance was five stars.
‘That makes sense. He is the true male lead of The Milk Bread, after all.’
[YES]
I quickly clicked [YES] with my eyes.
At the same time a small sound effect rang out...
A gauge appeared above Lisian’s head.
‘Wait?’
Upon checking the color of the favorability gauge, I couldn't help but furrow my brows.