Chapter 27.2

‘Oh, no…!’

I screamed silently at the messages the system window showed. Did he accumulate karma on his own? Why?!

What the hell did this bastard do to himself?!

I hurriedly turned to the front door with a bad premonition.

All of a sudden…

As soon as I opened the door in a hurry, I saw Valérez standing at an angle on the central staircase.

“Lord Ares!”

He looked a bit worn down, but his face was the same as usual as I called him.

“Yes, my lady, did you finish talking to the Grand Duke?”

I tried to disregard my heart that’s pounding loudly at Ares’ warm voice. Fortunately, Jian didn’t seem to have done anything yet.

‘Yes, no matter who Jian was, she can’t harm me that quickly.’

“Yes! We finished already,” I nodded vigorously as I approached Valais.

He grinned as if I was cut and patted my hair affectionately.

“Did you have any trouble?”

“No.”

“That’s a relief.”

My fingers itched to trace Valérez’s sweet smile. Tomorrow was the weekend of our promised date, but I was already excited and in a hurry.

“Well, we were supposed to go on a date tomorrow. Could it be possible now-”

“Oh, sorry.”

He opened his mouth with an embarrassed smile after cutting me off uncharacteristically.

“Dating the lady has become a bit difficult.”

“What? Why?”

Valérez stared into my eyes which were wide open with concern, and replied, “I have a new business venture that needs more attention to learn, so credit is very important.”

“…”

“Edith Abina.”

“Ah, Lord Ares…”

“The ankle injury seems to have healed in an instant.”

Only then did I realize that I had stopped pretending to be injured. I closed my eyes tightly and as if by cue…

<SYSTEM> Quest failed.

Fuck.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

I cursed nonstop at the new message in the system window. If I had been alone and Valérez wasn’t in front of me, I would’ve thrown my fist in the air.

‘Kim Jian, you damn girl!’

She’s not even a player that was trying to attack Valérez and she still managed to interrupt me!

I immediately looked around wanting to grab Jian’s brown hair, but only Valérez’s strangely stiff face came into sight.

“Liar.”

A new notification occupied the system window as Valérez muttered softly.

<QUEST> Have a successful first date with Valérez Toledo. (FAIL)

Valérez Toledo has refused to go out with you.

Valais Toledo hates liars.

Penalty: Valérez’s likeability drops by 2, attractiveness drops by 10

Without even properly checking the penalty for failure, I grabbed for Valérez as he was trying to distance himself from me.

“Ah, Lord Ares! Wait, wait!”

Turning around, he smacked my hands hard enough it cracked in the air.

“The Marquis’ young lady wouldn’t be courteous with me. Speak comfortably.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to deceive you from the beginning,” I blurted with haste, his face blank. “No! I was actually trying to deceive you from the beginning, but…”

“But?”

“But I didn’t mean anything bad to Ares!”

“You didn’t?”

Damn it, there was!

I wanted to bring the virgin man into bed. It was even okay if we did it on the grass and not a bed.

“I-I did, but…”

Ares’ smooth mouth drew a line at my unconfident stammers. Briefly sneering, he tilted his head with one hand firmly in his pocket.

“My lady, am I funny?”

“…”

“Was it fun playing with me?”

“…it’s not funny. I never thought it was funny.”

There was something that I did think was a little – no – was very funny, but I decided to lie this time.

“No, how funny it must have been for me to say I was a moron for liking the lady.”

But Valérez didn’t believe me. He just continued with his rigid face.

“My life must’ve been entertaining for the lady because she grew up beautifully. Were you bored that your life was too easy?”

“…”

“So, let’s say that the young lady was a maid, damn it, put on an apron and set it up. The noble Marquis’ daughter did everything she could to flirt with someone like me.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“But I told you. I don’t sleep with anyone, even if I am called a slut.”

“I’m sorry I deceived you. I’m so sorry for hurting you. I mean…”

I didn’t even dare to look at him and looked at the floor as he wheezed in anger.

“I mean… don’t look at me like that. I was really wrong.”

I think he was hurt worse than I thought. I felt like he was about to cry soon. I’ve never really wanted Valérez to talk to me like this.