Episode 4 –
‘What?’
I turned my head toward the beautiful voice and immediately spotted a playful-looking white fox mask.
It was that same man I had first laid eyes on.
My insides churned with rage, but I forced myself to act composed, though my lips trembled slightly.
“Eighty tickets.”
I only had a hundred total. No way was I going to go all-in so hastily.
But then, unexpectedly, the man—who I thought would give up—called out a shocking amount.
“Two hundred.”
“……”
‘Is he insane?’
Judging by his attire, he seemed to be from some kind of organization.
Was he pulling some stunt to fix a ruined shop’s image?
My brow furrowed sharply at the absurd amount.
The host’s voice began to tremble, struggling to keep up with the geometrically escalating bids from the very first round.
“……We have two hundred. If there are no further bids, we’ll finalize it now.”
As if.
Not going to let that happen.
“Wait. I’ll add this to my one hundred.”
I held up a large garnet ring on my finger.
Intricately engraved with eucalyptus.
I’d heard it was worth more than 1,000 gold on the market.
It had supposedly been my late grandfather’s keepsake.
‘Sorry, but to me, compensation is more important than a grandfather I never even met.’
That’s how desperate I was.
It was a matter of survival, after all.
“……”
From far away, I could feel an intense gaze boring into me.
But in times like this, you had to stand tall.
Just like in the animal kingdom, the first one to show weakness loses. The human world wasn’t much different.
I lifted my chin and met his eyes.
What, think I’ll get scared just because you keep staring?
“Hmph.”
That cute little animal mask isn’t intimidating at all.
Just to annoy him, I stuck out my tongue.
But his expression remained completely unmoved.
‘Do they not have the concept of “meh-rahng” here?’
Then how about this?
This time, I extended my middle finger and gave him a bright smile.
That one seemed to hit the mark.
His shoulder flinched hard, clearly startled by the unexpected gesture.
‘Doesn’t even understand what it means, but still offended?’
As we were busy in this meaningless battle of wills, the host came rushing out, face flushed.
“Apologies. This is our first time in such a situation, so we were delayed.”
Was this really something to get so nervous about?
My heart felt like it had been seared dry.
“Upon internal review, the final guardian is…”
Even swallowing my saliva felt cautious.
I didn’t even know where the main male lead, Kyler, was.
Shuaden was way too hard to win over, and Hans was too grown to train.
Noah was my only hope.
‘My all-in investment!’
I clenched my fist tightly.
“…The guardian is…”
‘The guardian is.’
The host glanced at both of us before finally speaking.
“…The lady.”
{System: Congratulations! Surprise Event: ‘Become the Patron of Noah Ioseph’ has been cleared!}
{You’ve received 3,000 cash as a random reward. Check your mailbox to collect your prize.}
It was a clear win.
“Yes!”
Relieved, my body melted into the chair.
I glanced over to where he had been sitting just moments ago.
“……?”
Huh.
Where’d he go?
“You have a good eye.”
“…!”
Good grief.
He was right next to me now.
…Wait, when did he get here?!
Startled, I ran my hand over my thudding heart and flashed a smile.
“I needed him.”
Even though he couldn’t see it behind the veil.
“You needed him, huh…”
He muttered softly, seemingly displeased with my phrasing.
Maybe it wasn’t the right way to say it to a person.
“More like… he’s someone important to me.”
“…A man you’ve only seen once?”
He lifted the corners of his lips in a lazy smile.
“Just so happens I needed someone who speaks beastkin language at home.”
“Just so happens?”
“I want to travel the world, you see.”
“……”
“Well, having someone who knows it can’t hurt.”
Of course, it was all a lie.
Why the hell would I need beastkin language?
“A noble lady like you wouldn’t have any reason to learn such a vulgar tongue.”
“…Excuse me?”
“A single noblewoman, hiding her identity and sponsoring a strong man… So it’s that kind of thing, huh…”
He muttered again to himself.
‘That kind of thing?’
As I puzzled over it, my face flushed red.
“Is there something wrong with that?”
I flung my hair back with a dramatic sweep of my hand.
My hair whipped across his cheek.
“Everyone here is an adult. Nothing’s off limits.”
He chuckled, seemingly amused by my unexpected reaction.
“Besides, things are more open-minded these days.”
Yeah, exactly.
This whole “chastity” thing for women is so outdated.
Seriously.
“Still, I’m surprised.”
Huh?
“A noble daughter of the ‘Green House,’ unmarried no less, with such an indecent hobby.”
Dry air escaped through his lips.
A withering laugh.
“And boldly breaking the sponsor agreement rules.”
“……”
“Rule one: The guardian and sponsor relationship is to be defined as ‘parent’ or ‘agent.’”
“That’s—!”
His eyes narrowed as he slowly leaned toward my lips.
“I didn’t think you’d be that kind of person.”
I had no choice but to shut my mouth.
Everything he said was true.
“Green House” was, after all, a euphemism for my family.
He knows me?
‘Why?’
“Aren’t I right, Lady Leah?”
Time to deflect.
I turned away, trying to feign a natural expression.
A face screaming “I’m lying.”
“Leah? Who’s that?”
A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead.
Damn it, too obvious.
He leaned in close, close enough to touch noses, and whispered.
“I can’t call your real name out loud. Hope you’ll understand, Lady Yuria.”
Then, between the mask, a stunning pair of emerald eyes shone through.
I gasped.
The emerald gleam in his eyes was chillingly vivid.
I knew exactly who had those eyes.
Even in a world with every imaginable hair and eye color, only one person had such dazzling emerald eyes.
‘Why is he here?!’
While I stood frozen in shock, a system alert flashed before me.
{You’ve discovered one of the male leads: Shuaden Bavilov.}
Shuaden Bavilov.
One of the male leads from the reverse harem game I had possessed.
A genius who’d mastered everything from business, philosophy, and chemistry, to even ancient disciplines that stumped top scholars.
He would later graduate top of his class from the royal academy.
Afterward, he opened a small store.
A perfume shop.
In an era when perfumes weren’t yet widespread, Bavilov sparked a revolution with his affordable perfume craze.
Perfume had been a luxury for the upper class, but Shuaden slashed costs by reducing oil content and using alcohol as the base.
Thanks to that, even commoners could afford it, and Shuaden amassed immense wealth and influence.
His brand was so iconic, even leftover dog bones became luxury goods if stamped with his name.
‘So why is someone like that here?!’
“Lady Leah, I didn’t know this was your taste.”
“N-no…”
“That’s why you didn’t reply to my letter either.”
“…Excuse me?”
{System: Shuaden Bavilov’s favorability has decreased by -5. Current favorability: 25.}
‘When did you even send one?!’
My face went pale.
“Of course. A flower can’t be satisfied with just one butterfly.”
His languid gaze settled on my lips.
“You must’ve been looking for someone to soothe your loneliness.”
He scanned me with a lazy glance and let out a faint sigh.
“Even if it meant selling off a keepsake.”
It was pure mockery.
Even I, slow as I am, could tell.
“…Ha.”
My fleeting hope, tempted by his surprisingly high favorability, vanished in an instant.
‘A lost investment anyway.’
There were four male leads in total. Losing one wasn’t a big deal.
Besides, I wasn’t the type to be kind to a guy who insulted me the moment we met and implied I was buying a sex slave.
“Are you done talking?”
“……”
“Then I’ll be going.”
Feeling annoyed, I glared at him once before turning to leave.
Thunk.
With the sound of the door closing, I slumped into the sofa.
The reception room was plain.
A deep green couch, a few paintings on the wall.
I absentmindedly rubbed the area near my now-bare finger.
I did the right thing.
Of course.
But one thing still bothered me…
I did it for the quest—but why did Shuaden want to take Noah?
Hard to believe it was just pure sympathy, given how sinister his eyes were.
Not bias.
Definitely not because I felt insulted.
Come on. Someone that sly and calculating? No way he was acting out of the goodness of his heart.
‘He must know Noah’s secret.’
Unless he was just… you know, into men?
But that wasn’t in the game’s script…
“…Ugh.”
I was still mulling it over when someone knocked on the door.
Knock knock knock.
After three knocks, the door swung open.
Four or five well-dressed men entered.
Among them stood Noah, now cleaned up and dressed immaculately.
He wore an ivory shirt that matched his hair perfectly.
The transformation made me involuntarily let out a quiet gasp.
His blank eyes brushed past me—then drifted away just as easily.
His gaze was devoid of hostility or kindness. Just empty.
It made my skin crawl.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here’s the contract and this.”
The man handed me some papers and an item.
“A sedative.”
“A sedative?”
“Yes, he only just left that place…”
His voice trailed off.
That place, meaning the slave market.
The man quickly tried to change the subject.
“Anyway, he’s a pitiful child. I hope you’ll take good care of him.”
His voice was warm.
I blinked at our unexpected hand contact.
I wasn’t sure if he was sincere or just being polite.
But what I could do was get Noah to my estate as soon as possible.
That was all.
“Of course.”
With a light reply, I picked up my handbag.
Seeing my hands were full, some staff stepped in to help.
I was about to ask for a separate carriage for Noah when—
Ding!
A choice menu popped up before my eyes.
I raised my brow, glaring at the translucent box.
Perfect timing.
{1. “When did I say you could touch my property?”
2. “I have hands too, you know.”}
I flinched, but calmly swept back my hair.
‘We had a good thing going, didn’t we?’
Crap.
Why now of all times?!
“……”
I bit my lip.
Well, it’s not like I’ll see him again.
Why bother being nice?
“When did I say you could touch my property?”
I chose the less rude option of the two.
Noah’s deep blue eyes began to tremble.
And then, something I never expected happened.
{System: Noah Ioseph’s favorability has decreased by -10. Current favorability: -100.}
‘…Excuse me?’
I didn’t even think going lower was an option.
What the hell did I do?!
{System Error! error.204}
When I looked up, there were so many error windows I couldn’t even count them all.
‘How do I get rid of these?!’
Panicked, I started clicking frantically.
But man can’t defeat machine.
‘…This is insane.’
And to make things worse, the room was total chaos.
Noah had collapsed, foam bubbling from his mouth.
“Why is he suddenly like this?!”
“We’re not sure! Maybe it’s a side effect from the sedative…”
“I told you to administer a small dose!”
They seemed completely lost too.
My ears rang. Everything felt muffled.
He had been fine just moments ago.
And now, lying there foaming at the mouth.
No one could think straight.
My fingers trembled.
“We’ll prepare a different sedative—”
I harshly slapped away the hand on my shoulder and looked up, eyes red.
“Do you think that’s the issue right now?”
“W-what? But…”
I couldn’t hide the tremor in my voice.
“What kind of treatment do you normally give him that he ends up like this?!”
They looked panicked, probably thinking I would cancel the contract.
“He’s not usually like this…”
“Don’t worry. He’s a half-elf. He’ll recover quickly.”
Even in this emergency, all they cared about was getting rid of him.
‘So this is the true nature of this sponsorship center.’
That slimy face sparked a bitter scoff from my lips.
“Transport him.”
My voice, colder than a blade, slipped through clenched teeth.
“Immediately.”
For the first time since coming here—I was furious.
