In the tea room of the Ascarts’ manor, Roel Ascart was staring at the two girls before him with eyes filled with doubt. He could tell that they were definitely up to something.

  What’s going on here? Did something happen?

  Roel was still a little groggy from having woken up not too long ago, but he still tried his best to recall everything that had happened.

  Last night, Alicia had requested to sleep together with him, but she didn’t arrive on time. Initially, he thought that she might have already fallen asleep in her room, but just earlier in the morning, he learned that Alicia had been to his room.

  Perhaps it was because he stayed up late to read, but his sleep was exceptionally deep last night. He hadn’t even sensed Alicia’s presence at all. On top of that, he had a dream too. He couldn’t recall what it was anymore, but it seemed to have something to do with Alicia, and it left him feeling good when he woke up earlier.

  In any case, Roel slept all the way till the afternoon, only to wake up with a jolt. He found Nora standing in front of him, and a huge surge of mana was fluctuating around her. It was immediately clear to him that she had used the ability, Crown’s Bestowment.

  Not only so, but she utilized not the usual first skill but the third skill, the one that could only be used once every two years. Considering how Nora had resorted to such a precious skill, it could only mean that something huge had happened.

  The first thing that came to his mind was his own father. Nora had been working near the eastern border of the human territory recently too, so if she was in such a rush to appear before him, could it mean that……

  “Nora, what brings you here? C-could it be that something has happened to my father?”


  “Ah? No, that’s not it. Uncle Carter is doing perfectly fine. I…… I just missed you all of a sudden.”


  Faced with the suddenly panicking Roel, Nora quickly reassured him in a fluster. Fortunately, Roel accepted her explanation and swiftly calmed down again.

  But soon, doubt filled Roel’s mind once more. Nora wouldn’t opt to use the third skill of the Crown’s Bestowment over the first skill for no reason. It was inconceivable to him that she had triggered the two year countdown on the third skill just to pay him a visit.

  Had it been before, Roel might have still accepted her explanation, but one must know that they had just met one another a month ago at the Holy Capital for Nora’s birthday. No matter how he looked at it, she shouldn’t have been in such a rush. It was clear that there was something wrong here.

  Under Roel’s skeptical stare, Nora’s usual domineering air faltered a little. She appeared to be rather troubled. There was a brooding look on her face, and she opened her mouth a couple of times, only to close them hesitantly after.

  Please, do you need to scare me like that? Just what in the world happened?

  Roel couldn’t help but think that Nora was acting like a child fidgeting before her parents after doing something wrong. He tried to recall if Nora had done anything wrong to him recently, but nothing came to mind. In the end, he could only try to sound her out.

  “Nora, is there anything you need me for? Well, I do have some free time on hand recently, so……”


  “No, that’s not it…… That’s right! I recently started learning the art of tea brewing. Would you like to try my tea?”


  “Hm? Sure……”


  Staring at the young girl who was abruptly offering to brew him a cup of tea, Roel decided to accept her offer for now. He continued trying to rack his brain for a reason behind her unnatural behavior, but to his surprise, it wasn’t just Nora who was acting unnaturally……

  “Lord Brother, I’ve personally prepared some desserts for you today. Come, have a taste.”


  Alicia was as adorable as ever, but while she was feeding him her handmade desserts, Roel could sharply sense that there was something different about her. There was something different about her expression, something different than the usual blissful and satisfied look she would display before him.

  It had been three years since Roel and Alicia started living with one another.

  Alicia was confident that she knew everything about Roel’s habits and quirks, and she could capture every subtle change in his emotions. In fact, to some extent, she could guide his train of thought as well. This was probably the highest level that any brocon could reach.

  However, the converse was true as well.

  She must have done something wrong, and this is her way of making up to me.

  Despite having figured out the situation, Roel didn’t pursue the matter. A mistake made by Alicia could hardly be considered as a mistake.

  My little sister is right no matter what she does!

  Roel was a braindead siscon patient too.

  However, he soon realized that the ones who were treating him exceptionally well weren’t just limited to Nora and Alicia. No, everyone in the manor was suddenly treating him with extreme kindness!

  The maids smiled at him, the butler was much more affable than usual, and his personal maid, Anna, was taking care of him more than usual. It was as if he had turned into the protagonist of the world overnight, as if the world revolved all around him!

  It was one thing if Alicia had done something wrong and tried to make it up to him by treating him better, but if everyone else was doing the same too, there had to be a deeper reason for it.

  Could it be that everyone has done something wrong to me? Hah, that’s clearly impossible.

  They must have realized how great of a person I am!

  After eliminating all of the right answers, Roel finally arrived at his own conclusion. He nodded his head in satisfaction at his brilliant detective work.

  But soon, he noticed the second anomaly—Nora and Alicia weren’t fighting with one another.

  Roel picked up a cup of tea from the table as his gaze alternated between the two brooding girls before him.

  Really, what is going on today?

  Every time Nora and Alicia met, it would be like a spark hitting gunpowder—a great fight was almost guaranteed to ensue. And whenever they reached an impasse in their fight, they would suddenly turn to Roel in unison and demand that he choose between them.

  But, today?

  It had been a while since they had gathered together around this table, but there was actually no conflict at all! Did the sun rise from the west today? Perhaps, he was unknowingly transported into another parallel world?

  Roel was oblivious to the inner turmoil of the two young girls. There were two main reasons behind the guilt they were feeling.

  First, they had compromised Roel’s reputation and honor. While they had made sure to plan the operation carefully, so as to not leave any incriminating evidence—all they did was act in a way that would mislead Grace—the fact was that the Sorofyas had still formed a negative impression of Roel. No matter how one looked at it, this matter was to Roel’s detriment.

  To be fair, though, the damage dealt was limited. For one, the Sorofyas wouldn’t leak the matter and risk sullying its relationship with the Ascarts. Also, considering the mutual benefits that both sides stood to gain from a partnership, it was unlikely that this personal gripe would affect their working relationship either. That being said, they still felt guilty that Roel had been defamed like that.

  Nora and Alicia had discussed this matter, and they had decided to compensate Roel through other means. It went without saying that the most direct manner was to improve their attitude toward him, though given how doting Alicia and Nora were toward him, there was not much to improve over here. But at the very least, Roel finally had the luxury of enjoying being served upon.

  That was also why he was keeping silent despite knowing that there was something seriously wrong with these two.

  Why bother complaining when he was satisfied with how things were right now? This was the first time that he really felt that he was in control when the three of them were together. In fact, he would go as far as to claim that this was the highest point of his life!

  Back on Nora and Alicia’s side, the second reason for their guilt was because they felt deeply apologetic for the other victim of this matter, Charlotte Sorofya.

  Nora had personally met Charlotte when she passed by Rosa on her way toward the eastern border. The latter was a beautiful and knowledgeable individual, and it had been a pleasant meeting. That was not to say that they were friends, but at the very least, they had expressed goodwill toward one another in light of their countries’ stances.

  What Nora had just done was effectively screwing Charlotte over for her own happiness, and she felt conscience-stricken about it.

  At least from the standpoint of a noblewoman, Nora felt that marrying Roel was actually a good thing. She was not saying this just because she fancied Roel, but she earnestly believed that it was true from an objective viewpoint.

  For one, the Ascart House was powerful and Roel was its sole successor, but what she thought was more important was Roel’s character. To be honest, Roel was quite an odd one within the circle of nobility.

  There was no denying that Roel was extremely good-looking; it caused no end of worry for Nora everytime the two of them were at a banquet. It was not uncommon for men born with good looks to philander around after realizing their own popularity, but it was swiftly made apparent that Roel was not a scumbag.

  On the contrary, he was an introvert who wasn’t really interested in the pursuit of physical pleasure. Well, other than enjoying good food.

  While other nobles were busy indulging themselves with all sorts of debauchery, Roel was constantly immersed in his books, seeking to improve himself. Even during his free time, he would think of ways to develop the fiefdom and improve the standard of living for the people. Many of the policies that he came up with and implemented were unusual but amazingly effective.

  Plus, despite being a bookworm, Roel was not socially awkward. He was good at communicating, making him a fairly interesting conversational partner. Aside from this, he was also responsible, kind, mild-tempered, principled, and intelligent.

  It was true that there were times that he appeared dense, such as how he naively believed that Alicia was weak even to this day. However, he had also displayed amazing wits in moments of crisis as well.

  Nora felt that he was just too trusting of those close to him, allowing them to get away with things he should have seen through. Admittedly, she thought that it was yet another charm of Roel’s—being calculative toward his enemies but not his own people. But make no mistake, one should think thrice before making an enemy out of him.

  For a noblewoman, there was a high chance of achieving happiness by marrying Roel. Even at the very worst, his spouse was guaranteed to be treated with respect and kindness. From such a perspective, one could say that Charlotte had really lucked out with this engagement.

  Contrary to how Charlotte felt, fate was actually on her side this time around.

  However, out of their own selfishness, Nora and Alicia crushed her hopes. They didn’t think that it was that bad of a thing when they were still planning things out, but right after they executed it, they felt immense guilt weighing down on their hearts. In fact, they even regretted it.

  It was often said that all’s fair in love and war, but it was not Nora and Alicia’s intention to bring harm onto another person. Due to that, they felt extremely conflicted over what they had done.

  With so many things burdening their minds, the atmosphere of the tea party was a little strange. Roel did try to ask about it several times, only to have Nora skillfully steer the conversation elsewhere and Alicia playing along with her. In the end, he decided to just relish in the present.

  He enjoyed a good sleep, a wonderful meal, and a treatment fit for a king. There was no doubt that this was one of the most blissful days for him. It gave him the energy to start planning for the next problem that awaited him.

  Tomorrow was the date the Ascarts and Sorofyas had agreed on. He would be meeting the third female capture target of the game, Charlotte Sorofya. Considering how Charlotte had barely any impression of him at the moment, this was actually a good opportunity for him to win some Affection Points from her.

  I shall make her head glow green like the lushest meadow in the Ascart Fiefdom!

  Roel set a small goal for himself before joyfully turning his attention back to the present, where two ravishing beauties were still diligently waiting upon him.