♡ Chapter 9 ♡
The first breakfast didn’t produce any meaningful results.
‘It’s ruined.’
Yes, “ruined” was the right word.
I wanted to give it a higher score since it was the first breakfast—
but what just happened, along with the dark future ahead, made it impossible to think positively.
I even forced tomorrow’s schedule…
But what if he tells me to leave the moment he sees me tomorrow?
What if, for years, we end up having suffocating meals with no conversation at all?
‘What do you mean what if.’
If it’s the first, I’ll cling to him.
If it’s the second, then he’ll just become a middle-aged man who only spends time at breakfast.
Even though he’s only in his twenties.
With Anastasia’s natural cuteness and charm, I might be able to melt his heart somehow—
but the two of them are still strangers to each other.
‘Family love should exist naturally.’
More than that—
‘Family love and care aren’t something you fight for. They should be given.’
Even if the princess didn’t smile at their first meeting, Duke Cromwell chose to bring her.
So he should take responsibility.
I just want Anastasia to receive love before she forms her sense of self.
“And I still have so many things to ask that guy…”
I grabbed my hair.
If today’s atmosphere improved, I planned to mention things naturally.
From small requests like unlocking the library or adding guards—
to emotional things like spending time with the princess.
The more I listed them, the more unreasonable they sounded.
But if he didn’t want that—
‘He shouldn’t have brought the princess here.’
‘How long will it take to say all this?’
If things keep going like this, it will become very difficult.
“At least it’s still the tutorial period.”
Because the money problem was solved, I suddenly had a lot of free time.
Normally, players work like crazy from the baby stage—
because of the princess’s future.
Education costs are extremely expensive.
If you don’t earn early, it becomes very hard later.
Childcare was still tiring, but at least I didn’t have to worry about money anymore.
‘Working while holding a newborn was just game logic anyway.’
Holding a baby while farming, knitting, or picking fruit—
That only worked because it was a game.
If it were real life, I would have quit long ago.
By the way, what would Anastasia want to learn?
I always just taught what I wanted before.
I never cared about her interests.
“If you like something, tell me.”
I gently touched Anastasia’s soft cheek.
I wanted to enjoy this peaceful life for now—
but peace would end once the tutorial finished.
Thinking about the future made me feel uneasy.
‘Why does happiness disappear so quickly?’
In Bling Bling ♡ Lady Raising, strange events happen every season.
Among them, the busiest season is the first spring.
The player has to prepare for the spring ball—
while also stopping the Princess Assassination Event.
‘Just thinking about it is stressful…’
The assassination attempt is one of the hardest parts of the game.
It happens in mid-spring, when players just start enjoying the game.
At dawn—
a time players normally cannot move.
The day ends at midnight, and a new day begins at 7 AM.
But the assassination happens in that unknown time.
♡SYSTEM♡
The baby doesn’t wake up often anymore… but maybe out of habit… you wake up in the deep night.
♡: I-intruder…!
That’s how the event begins.
An intruder with a knife tries to assassinate the princess.
The player grabs her and runs away just in time.
The nanny runs while screaming, and as more servants wake up from the noise, the assassin retreats.
The intruder is killed by a knight.
Usually the knight commander.
Sometimes just a random extra.
That’s only if you succeed.
But escaping the intruder is very difficult.
Players die often.
For many reasons—
wrong path, bad control, low stamina.
‘And there’s no save feature…’
One mistake, and you die.
Even in the first spring, something like this happens.
Even if money isn’t a problem, I still need to prepare.
‘Why doesn’t the princess even have one guard?’
No matter what, before spring comes—
I will get her a guard knight.
“Should I go to the library?”
The library was an important place in the game.
Reading books to the young princess builds affection—
and later becomes a source of knowledge.
‘I also want the Duke to read to her.’
Isn’t that what parents do?
I had many things I wanted to ask.
The plan was good.
The plan.
‘But there’s something more important.’
I wasn’t going to the library for knowledge.
I was going because of one person.
Caligo Gaudium.
The mage of the Cromwell estate.
I plan to ask him to cast a protection spell.
✧ʚ .·:¨༺♡༻¨:·. ɞ✧
♡SYSTEM♡
Affinity with librarian ‘Roy Veros’ is insufficient!
Ding!
As soon as I stepped into the library, this message appeared.
♡SYSTEM♡
Entry denied due to low affinity with ‘Roy Veros’!
This wasn’t surprising.
It was the same in the game.
Even when I explored the mansion, this place was always locked.
But I had to go in.
Ignoring the system, I stood firmly at the entrance—
and the door suddenly opened.
“Who—?!”
I saw dark green hair.
The man jumped in shock the moment he saw me.
“…L-Lorelei Kiss…!”
He looked like he had seen a ghost.
He pointed at me and walked closer.
♡PROFILE♡
Name: Roy Veros
View Level: 3
Occupation: Librarian of the Cromwell Estate
Relationship: –
Affinity: Locked
Notes: Locked
I didn’t care about the hidden details.
Right now, Roy Veros looked terrified of me.
He was one of the nanny’s romance targets.
But honestly, her romance route was boring.
Even though the game talked about “human potential,” it didn’t apply to her.
In different endings, the princess said different lines—
but the nanny’s story was always the same.
‘Seeing it once was enough.’
‘And I can’t even raise a child properly—what romance?’
Among the three targets, Roy Veros was the most difficult.
He adjusted his glasses and said,
“You promised never to come here again.”
“….”
I never made that promise.
This was my first time seeing him.
But he treated me like he already knew me.
More like he was wary of me.
‘Does he know the original Lorelei?’
In the game, I only met him after reaching Level 3.
This kind of conversation was new.
“Books are already hard to maintain with reduced budget…”
But he seemed too busy worrying about that.
“Haha… long time no see, Mr. Veros.”
“Yes, nice to see you. Please leave.”
“……”
Unlike the game, time here felt real.
‘In the game, I would just level up, get the book <Black Sea>, and give it to him.’
The library would unlock in just one day.
But now—
‘Leveling up is too slow…’
This was frustrating.
“Can I just look around? I won’t do anything.”
I asked desperately.
Maybe, like the Duke’s office, I could enter with permission.
“I told you the same thing before. Do you remember?”
“……”
“What did you do last time?”
“W-well…”
What did Lorelei do here?
“‘Well’? You caused chaos.”
He smiled lightly.
I must have touched a sensitive topic.
“The library must always remain quiet and clean.”
So Lorelei caused trouble and damaged books.
That’s why she was blacklisted.
That actually matches what was said in the game.
“Lorelei… what did you even do?”
