Chapter 27
I hurried to deny Kainis’s words, an uneasy feeling creeping in.
“It’s just personal taste. It’s not weird at all. There are plenty of people who share the same preference as me.”
“Yes. Personal taste. But an average person wouldn’t be happy over such a worthless fruit.”
‘What the heck. This is a legendary fruit.’
Calling it worthless without even knowing what it is.
I wanted to reveal what this fruit really was and clear up the misunderstanding right away.
But it was Kainis. He’d just twist my words however he pleased again, so I gave up and let out a sigh.
And seeing me like that, the corners of Kainis’s eyes curved more than before.
‘Is he… smiling?’
He’s actually smiling?
It wasn’t a wide, cheerful grin like most people, but a subtle eye smile with only the corners of his eyes curving.
That meant Kainis was in a really good mood right now.
But… why?
‘No way…’
Ding!
System
Favorability with Kainis Spencer +10
Current favorability: 20
Kainis thinks you’re special.
There’s a saying—“No way” gets people killed.
That was exactly what was happening.
As soon as I thought “No way,” the notification sound rang, and the favorability screen popped up.
‘At this rate, I could probably hit 100 favorability by tomorrow if I really tried.’
It was absurd that a few random words raised the favorability like this…
I suddenly thought back on how I used to play games meticulously, making strategies and all. It felt so pathetic.
‘Well, at least I got the Malak fruit.’
In the game, there were occasional scenarios where Felice would end up being poisoned.
Sometimes it was Troy, becoming overly obsessed and trying to die together, or Dustin, accusing her of cheating and forcing her to take poison.
In such cases, if you had this fruit, you could survive. In a way, I’d just extended my life.
“Well then, I’ll get going.”
I practically fled the garden, leaving Kainis behind.
I knew it was rude to leave without listening to the other person, but…
‘Like I care.’
Courtesy was nothing more than a stepping stone to increase Kainis’s favorability now.
I ran away quickly, not giving him the chance to stop me. When I glanced back, Kainis was still standing there, smiling faintly as he watched me leave.
* * *
“Ugh… I’m seriously tired.”
Originally, we were supposed to stay the night at Duke Snaiko’s estate. But insisting that I absolutely couldn’t, the Luchellonia family returned home late at night by carriage.
Exhausted, I collapsed on the sofa without even changing clothes. The maids came over and started removing the accessories from my hair one by one.
“You must be tired, miss. I’ll prepare your bath.”
“Are you hungry? Please have some cookies first.”
‘Wow, this is why being a noble is great.’
Without lifting a finger, I was being hand-fed cookies. Then Susan approached me.
“Miss, young master Lian left you a letter.”
“What, Lian?”
Just as my shoulders were starting to relax, the name ‘Lian’ came crashing down on me.
“Let me see.”
Opening the letter Susan handed over, I recognized Lian’s neat handwriting.
Felice, you skipped your lesson without permission. We’ll resume class tomorrow morning and include a make-up session.
“Sigh… Can I please get a break?”
Already drained from the encounter with Kainis, I felt all my energy leave my body the moment I read Lian’s letter.
“Are you alright?”
Susan approached with a worried expression, and seeing her reminded me of the conversation I had with them the night before.
‘Ah, if I act dumb tomorrow…’
His favorability will drop.
At the very least, it won’t go up.
Clinging to that hopeful thought, I fell asleep, completely worn out.
* * *
“Felice, did you practice a lot?”
Once again, face-to-face for class, Lian greeted me with a gentle smile.
“No, I couldn’t. I had something important to do yesterday.”
“Duke Snaiko’s funeral was important?”
“Yeah.”
Even though my tone was curt, Lian still smiled kindly, unbothered.
“I see. It’s fine. You can skip in the future if something important comes up.”
‘What’s going on…?’
The Lian I knew never bent the rules. Why was he suddenly being so lenient?
I looked at him, utterly baffled.
“Alright. Let’s pick up from where we left off last time.”
Lian calmly began the lesson.
As the class started, I hypnotized myself.
‘From now on, I’m officially the dumbest person in the world.’
Lian hates dumb people, so if I pretend I can’t understand the lesson, he’ll get annoyed and won’t gain any favorability.
I emptied my mind, slightly parted my lips, and put on my best dumb expression.
“Now, hold out your hand and try gathering mana from the air.”
I extended my hand, pretending to focus on drawing mana to my fingertips.
After the last lesson, I had secretly practiced in my room and learned how to gather ambient mana.
‘But I have to be dumb enough to frustrate him.’
I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of feeling proud as a teacher.
I furrowed my brows and continued my full-on performance.
“Hmmm…”
Lian tilted his head slightly, one eyebrow rising.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. So… you really can’t gather any mana?”
“Nope… It’s not easy.”
“Alright. Then let’s move to the next step.”
“The next step?”
“Yeah.”
“But I haven’t mastered this yet.”
“It’s fine.”
‘Fine? What do you mean fine? Get mad already that I can’t do even this!’
Lian kept saying “It’s fine” today, and it was really starting to get under my skin.
Unbothered by my inner frustration, Lian calmly continued.
“Felice, you have a similar water attribute to Duke Madonia.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Have you ever seen Duke Madonia use magic?”
“No.”
“Hmm… then you’ve seen the large fountain in the plaza, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That fountain shoots a huge stream of water on the national foundation day.”
‘Oh, that one…’
I remembered seeing that in the game.
‘That’s the time I got stood up by Dustin and cried in front of it…’
The water shot up so powerfully that if Felice had been standing a little too close, she would’ve been blasted away.
“Do you know where that water comes from?”
“No.”
“It’s not from a water supply.”
“Then how does it work?”
‘That makes no sense.’
If there’s no plumbing, then where does the water come from?
My face showed clear disbelief.
“That stream comes from a mana stone imbued with Duke Madonia’s power.”
“From a mana stone?”
“Yes. It stores highly pure water under intense pressure.”
“Huh?”
I vaguely understood, but Felice dumbly repeated the question with her mouth hanging open.
“In short, Duke Madonia can manipulate water freely.”
“So?”
“If you reach his level, you’ll be able to do the same—control water pressure, flow, temperature, everything.”
“Oh…”
“Here.”
Lian handed me a glass of water, having prepared it in advance.
“What’s this?”
“Water. It has more pure water-attributed mana than the air, so it’ll be easier to practice with.”
“Practice what?”
“Now it’s time for actual magic. Try moving the water before the next class.”
“Me? I couldn’t even gather mana from the air.”
“Really?”
Lian’s lips curled into a sly smirk again.
“You saw it earlier. The last few classes have been too hard for me to follow.”
“Is that so?”
‘Why does he keep asking like that?’
Something felt off in the way Lian kept double-checking.
“Felice, a mage at my level can sense whether someone nearby is using mana.”
“Huh?”
“You were faking it. You didn’t use a single bit of mana earlier.”
At his words, my heart dropped with a thud.
‘How… did he…?’
I stared at Lian, completely frozen, unable to speak or breathe.
“So, you can gather ambient mana. And your excuse about last time’s lesson being too hard was a lie too.”
Lian’s blue eyes sparkled.
“That’s why I assumed you understood today’s lesson as well.”
“……”
I couldn’t say anything. It was like he was reading my mind, like he already knew everything.
“Felice, why did you lie?”
“……”
Lian chuckled softly as I blinked at him in silence, unable to say a word.
“Felice, if the lessons are hard, you’re allowed not to understand them.”
XD
Busted