*Thud.* Eve took two steps toward me.
“W-Wolfram, right?”
“Yes.”
Oh dear.
Honestly, this wasn’t the development I wanted.
The sight of Eve von Lohengrin’s eyes—filled with hatred, disgust, despair, murderous intent, and countless other emotions—gradually losing those feelings.
Watching that, I let out a deep sigh.
The bluish color that had been swirling around Eve.
According to the affection display function, blue means wariness. And if it lightens, that means the other person is no longer on guard against me.
In other words, the affinity-raising item—Secret Lovely Potion—had activated on Eve. Having Eve’s affection go up doesn’t make me happy at all, but that made it even more difficult to handle.
“Oh, Wolfram. My goodness…”
But it was already too late. The blue turned to light blue, and then, and then—
?
Why isn’t it changing?
The color surrounding Eve remained light blue.
“This is the first time you’ve looked slightly less disgusting. How curious? What kind of item did you use?”
“…”
It seems.
With just a Stage 1 potion, neutralizing disgust is all it can do.
—
After that, Eve started circling around me, observing me.
“It’s really fascinating. Until just now, I felt like piercing your solar plexus with a Starlight Cannon—but now I don’t feel anything at all.”
“Eve. Staring at people too intently is rude.”
“Who are you to teach me about manners? I know, you know?”
“Then fix it.”
“Wait a moment. Let me look a little more. Hmm. Really fascinating.”
Eve and I were just ordinary siblings who couldn’t stand each other whenever we met—but perhaps due to the Secret Lovely Potion’s effect, Eve seemed to be speaking to me more comfortably than I expected.
Almost like…
At a level where she doesn’t hate me—closer to real siblings…?
“I see. This distance feels…”
Thinking about what kind of distance it was, it reminded me of the puberty-aged kids at the orphanage who treated me normally.
**[Young-jin oppa. The director’s calling you.]**
**[Huh? My homework? I already finished it. Ugh, seriously. I’m in middle school now, you know.]**
**[Whatever. You’re graduating and leaving anyway—you can’t rely on oppa forever, right?]**
**[Yeah, yeah. I’ll be independent too, so you think about after you’re independent, oppa.]**
During my orphanage days, when I became the kids’ guardian just before graduation. The middle school kids who grumbled but still listened to me.
Right now, Eve felt exactly like that.
“Eve.”
“What?”
“I have a few things I want to ask.”
“Like what?”
Then, even if it’s annoying, asking now is the right move.
“Right now, how do I appear to you?”
“…Pardon?”
“It’s a serious question. Answer.”
Eve narrowed her eyes. But I absolutely needed an answer to this question.
“Well, fine. You just look like Wolfram to me.”
“Is there no difference in appearance?”
“Hmm, that difference… actually, there is. Your low, vile, and sinister eyes look a bit softer. And that third-rate villain smile from cheap novels is gone too. Hmm. You look a bit more like Imperial family now.”
“…So you’re saying I’ve become someone worthy of acknowledging as your older brother?”
“W-well… if I had to say it? Hmm. Hmph. ………Yes.”
“I see. Thank you for your opinion. Then, Nefty—how do I look to you?”
At my question, Nefty lowered the hand she’d been covering her face with.
She looked at me with a strangely flushed face, her breath slightly ragged.
“I see you a little differently.”
“Please explain precisely.”
“…I-it’s… I sense an extremely cheerful and free-spirited atmosphere. More than before, that, that… c-charisma…”
“Cheerful charisma?”
“……………Ugh. Yes… Someone who would take me anywhere, who seems like they’d show me the entire world… that’s how you appear.”
Nefty’s face turned bright red as she bowed her head deeply.
“Thank you for your opinion.”
“Ah, no. That… not at all, my lord.”
I nodded at Nefty’s reaction.
“But why did you ask that?”
“I’ll be honest. Right now, due to our ancestor’s arrangements, I’m in a state where it’s ‘easier to gain someone’s favor.’”
“I see. So that’s why I—ahem. That makes sense. But?”
“The problem is ‘how it applies.’ If it simply made others favor me indiscriminately, that would be no different from malicious brainwashing or hypnosis.”
“…Ah.”
“If it operated on mana, it wouldn’t be able to penetrate your mana, Eve… so it’s probably a blessing-type. That’s what I’m thinking.”
To Eve, I look slightly less detestable; to Nefty, I appear as a lord. I don’t know how I appear to others, but at least it’s not malicious brainwashing—thank goodness.
If it were deep brainwashing, my Karma would rise and Professor Rudika would come to cut my head off.
“Understood. It seems I’ll have to go around like this for a while.”
“…Well, I think it’s a good look.”
“I agree! My lord!”
Yeah. Whatever works.
Anyway.
“Give me a basic item instead of a specialized one. Is that possible?”
[Of course. Aside from the special item—Secret Lovely Potion—you may choose one additional item. What would you like to select?]
Among the items obtainable here, the most useful for my current stats.
Gear is meaningless, and accessories I can just craft. Then…
“A skill book. I’d like a technique tome.”
[Fixed-type skill books cannot be obtained. You can acquire between 9T and 7T. Is that acceptable?]
“Of course.”
Now.
Time to take another gamble against this garbage game’s garbage gacha.
—
On the way back from the dungeon to the convenience store.
Eve was staring intently at me, and Nefty was glancing at me while pretending not to.
It seems my current appearance looks ‘acceptable’ to them.
Just the fact that I’ll be less likely to get killed for the next two weeks is a huge gain.
“Th-then… I’ll see you tomorrow, my lord.”
“Do you plan to come again tomorrow?”
“…I-is that not allowed?”
Nefty started looking up at me like an abandoned puppy.
“No, I was just wondering if you’d be tired.”
“Not at all! I want to go on another adventure with you tomorrow, my lord!”
“…Alright. Get home safely. See you tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
“Then I’ll be going too, Wolfram. Take care of your health.”
“…Hm. I will.”
“Take care of your health”—that’s uncharacteristic of Eve.
But… the fact that such casual conversation could happen with Eve von Lohengrin, whom I once mutually loathed—it felt surprisingly not bad.
“I’m crazy.”
Me, feeling happy about having a normal conversation with Eve? Am I insane?
This is… y-yeah. It’s the mini-game dungeon’s fault.
It’s because I’m thinking too much as Lee Young-jin. Eve is a heroine whose ending I’ve seen hundreds of times.
Anyway, I returned to the convenience store, wrapped up today’s schedule, and finished preparing to rest.
From tomorrow, I need to properly think about how to use the Secret Lovely Potion’s effect.
As I was thinking about future plans, the convenience store door opened and a voice came in.
“Wolfram…?”
“…”
Ayla.
It was Ayla Triasta.
—
Ayla, who had entered the convenience store, just stared blankly at my face.
“…”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to react.
What kind of face is Ayla’s ideal face?
Would she raise her voice at me, calling it a rebellious face?
Countless thoughts swirled in my head, and then Ayla’s mouth opened.
“Wolfram. Why are you just standing there?”
“Hm?”
“Phew. It’s getting hot these days. I’ve been making black crystal shades to block out the sunlight, but that consumes mana constantly and tires me out. It’s a bother, really.”
“…Hmm?”
Ayla was the usual Ayla.
“Ayla.”
“Yes, Wolfram. Ah, can I order something cold?”
“Hm. Of course.”
Taking Ayla’s order, I immediately stood at the counter. I started blending beans and ice to make a smoothie, while simultaneously glancing at Ayla’s face.
I observed her until the smoothie was finished, but Ayla showed absolutely no sign of change.
Even the pinkish current surrounding Ayla remained unchanged.
Does affinity increase differ from person to person? Or is it another bug? Various hypotheses rose and fell.
I placed the smoothie in front of Ayla and sat down across from her.
“Oh my, are you joining me for tea time?”
“Hm.”
Actually, it wasn’t that—I was just curious about how to interpret the variable of “Ayla’s lack of reaction.”
In the D/Z SAGA main story, this system simply activates and makes affinity easier to raise—but becoming reality brings so many variables.
And finding out those variables is the true duty of a veteran, isn’t it? I was curious why Ayla showed no reaction at all.
“Ayla, there’s something I want to ask.”
“Ask away.”
“Is the ideal person in Ayla’s mind the one most suited to rebellion?”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
An immediate answer.
“Then what does a face suited to rebellion look like?”
“Pardon?”
“Even among rebels, there are lord types, hero types, things like that, aren’t there?”
“Ah… yes, there are. Yes. There are many kinds of rebels. After all, the power struggles among nobles are battles of whether rebellion succeeds or fails.”
“Then what does the most ideal rebel look like in your mind?”
At my question, Ayla’s eyes went wide—and then she gave an answer mixed with disbelief, as if saying “You’re asking me that?”
“Oh my. What a strange question. Well, obviously—”
“Hm?”
“You, Wolfram.”
“What?”
“If there’s one person in this world most suited to rebellion, there’s only one, isn’t there?”
Her eyes, meeting mine without flinching, as if taking my breath away.
Lips that know no lies.
Ayla expressed her true feelings with her eyes, with her words.
That the face most suited to rebellion is Wolfram’s own face.
In other words—
She was saying that her ideal type—one that no one in the world could compare to—is Wolfram von Lohengrin’s face.
…
This is why.
It’s only natural the potion has no effect.
“Is that so.”
“Yes. Why are you asking that?”
“…No. It was a pointless question.”
Truly.
I asked a pointless question.
—
The next day, since there was a lecture, I headed to Zefflin with Ayla.
“Wolfram-nim. Hello.”
“Hm.”
“Wolfram-nim. Good morning.”
“…I see. Good morning.”
Certainly, everyone’s gazes around me had changed.
Those who feared me had decreased noticeably, and people were even greeting me differently than usual.
Even the current second-years and third-years who used to curse Wolfram.
The Secret Lovely Potion’s effect is real.
“Wolfram! Let’s make today’s class revolutionary too—and get the best grades!”
“…Hm.”
In other words—even Ayla Triasta, smiling casually beside me, is fully under the effect. Yet she shows not a single change from her usual self.
“I’ll do that. Ayla.”
“Yes, Wolfram.”
This girl… is truly trustworthy.
That sense of trust welled up within me.
With that, I parted ways with Ayla.
Because our classrooms were different.
And the moment I entered my classroom, a slender elf with golden long hair and slightly dead eyes was standing before me.
“Quite diligent. Regina Ciela.”
“Of course. A regular attendance attitude determines one’s future… I’d… say…”
Our eyes met briefly—and she flinched. She froze.
Ah.
Wait.
…You’re affected too?
Really?
“W-Wolfram—H-His Highness.”
“…”
“That cold gaze. The look you give trash. Ah, aah—with those long fingers, my, my neck… with those two hands… Aah…”
Don’t.
Don’t do it.
