CH 10

“The emperor in the novel kills everyone he dislikes and keeps causing wars. Later, he imprisons the woman he loves and does terrible things. Even though it’s fiction, it seemed unpleasant, so I hesitated to mention it.”

“I see… that’s quite a coincidence that our names are the same. But Miss Yuri, the name Radkiel is incredibly common! You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Oh, really?”

In the romance novels I’ve read so far, it has only appeared once, but in this man’s world, it must be a common name.

Yes, that could be possible. Although his appearance and dialogue matched those of the ‘Radkiel’ in the novel, and upon careful thought, a Kingdom called ‘Daphne’ also appeared in the novel. It could be an uncanny coincidence!

I decided to believe him out of desperation.

The system window appeared right after that.

[A new quest, ‘I Have No Sensibility’ has been triggered. It is a quest linked to the quest ‘The Stranded Stranger Who Wants to Die.’ You cannot refuse this quest.

Starting the sudden quest ‘I Have No Sensibility’]

◇ ‘Radkiel’ wants to hide his true identity. Let’s pretend not to know for his sake.

Success: Become annoying until favorability reaches 100

Failure: Say something that revealed who he is when the favorability is below 100.

[If the quest is successful, the quest ‘The Stranded Stranger Who Wants to Die’ will be completed.

If the quest fails, the quest will be changed to ‘Vague but Definite Obsession.’]

“Ah…”

Beyond the translucent system window, I saw a bittersweet smile on his handsome face. If the quest fails, it doesn’t mean the man will die; the quest will just be changed to a ‘Vague but Definite Obsession.’ It was inevitable that I paid more attention to the failure than success.

At the same time, a fleeting thought crossed my mind. In the novel ‘The Saviour of the Cursed Tyrant’ there was an 18+ side story that I hadn’t seen, and the title of that side story was ‘Vague but Definite Obsession.’

‘…Sister, brother. I think I’m f*cked.’

I calmly decided to succeed.

“Y-Your subordinates betraying your trust, being hunted down, and having a bounty on your head… It must have been really difficult and painful. Here, please eat. Tell me the details later when you feel more at ease.”

With trembling lips, I struggled to lift them and piled fist-sized rice balls on his plate. It didn’t quite match the context of our previous conversation, but I thought it would do.

“Thank you, Miss Yuri.”

Weirdly, it seemed that Radkiel accepted that, thinking I was considerate of him. However, my confusion grew even more as I saw him smiling kindly.

What on earth was going on? He looks so different from what I know in the novel…? No matter how I look at it, he seemed like a different person, but the quest clearly indicated that he was ‘Radkiel’.

It wasn’t just that, it also bothered me what my strange power was, which was neither magical power nor divine power. The protagonists didn’t possess such a special power either.

And then there was the favorability. It seemed like something I would find in a romance game, and I had seen it a lot during my time on the island… when interacting with animals.

Petting them, talking to them, and feeding them would cause a red heart to appear, indicating an increase in favorability. Conversely, neglecting them, ignoring them, or starving them would cause a black heart to appear, indicating a decrease in favorability.

So, thinking on the same lines, if I frequently engage in physical contact with Radkiel, continue to have conversations, and feed him well, his favorability should increase, right?

Of course, I would never ignore or starve him, so I wasn’t worried about a decrease in favorability.

The problem was that if we became too close, there was a possibility that he might develop feelings for me instead of the female lead. Because, like a typical trashy romance novel protagonist, Radkiel was a fickle person with many affairs.

It was not because I wanted to twist the original story or have a sense of duty to protect the love between the male lead and the female lead. ‘The Savior of the Cursed Tyrant’ was a trashy novel. The female lead was imprisoned for half of the novel. No matter where she escaped to, the male lead continues to chase after her and was totally obsessed…!

If it was a romantic comedy with cheerful male lead without a hint of shadow, I wouldn’t mind if he fell in love with the female lead, but I didn’t like trashy stories.

I felt anxious that something unpleasant might happen if I failed the quest, and I worried about the future if I succeeded. I didn’t like either outcome, so what should I do…?

As I was pondering over such worries, I realized that I had been staring at his face too intently without realizing it.

“Um, Miss Yuri. Do you have something to say to me…?”

Radkiel asked with a slightly awkward expression in response to my blatant gaze.

“Oh, no! It’s just… in a desperate situation, waking up in an unfamiliar place, with such an unsettling name for the island and its environment… I was wondering how anxious I must have been….”

For a hasty excuse, it was surprisingly okay. Well, it was not like it was a lie.

Radkiel’s past, even when reading it in the novel, was so pitiful and heartbreaking that tears welled up in my eyes. I had thought of him as a despicable person for what he did to the female lead. But as soon as I learned about his past, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. To the point of being happy when seeing him alive and breathing right in front of me.

My brother said that such narratives were devices to justify the actions of the leads. But still, what can I do? He was so pitiful.

That was why I didn’t recoil or dislike him outright, and I found myself sympathizing with him repeatedly. However, I was cautious not to let such feelings show, just as I had thought a few days ago.

“Miss Yuri, you’re really kind. More so than anyone I’ve ever met.”

It seemed that Radkiel was deeply moved by my understanding and comforting words.

I gazed at Radkiel with a hopeful gaze, hoping to see a red heart appear above his head. If it appeared, it meant that his favorability had increased.

“…?”

Wait, hold on. Wasn’t that something that only appeared for animals? Treating him as a fish wasn’t enough, now they’re treating him like livestock too? Isn’t that going a bit too far?!

Unbeknownst to me, I found myself fixating on the hearts with my eyes, but Radkiel, who had looked up with me, suddenly made a puzzled sound.

“Miss Yuri, what is this?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Here, this red thing flying up into the sky.”

Radkiel’s finger was pointing directly at the heart.

Why, why can he see it? Wasn’t it supposed to only appear to me? Wait, come to think of it, didn’t the chicks chirp when they saw the heart too?

Radkiel pressed the heart with his finger, just like the chicks when they crushed the hearts with its beak earlier.

The heart, which was bouncing like a water balloon, disappeared abruptly as it reached a certain height. He widened his eyes and looked at me.

“Miss Yuri, what on earth was that? Ah, did you not see it?”

“…No, I saw it. That thing, um, that…”

I couldn’t bring myself to say, ‘It’s a sign that favorability is increasing!’

Why on earth did Radkiel have to be born as a trashy romance novel male lead and become a fickle person? Of course, considering the environment he grew up in, it’s only natural. But still…!

Up until now, the immature and kind image I had of him kept overlapping with the cruel tyrant image from the novel. As I hesitated, his eyebrows furrowed.

“I seem to have asked an inappropriate question. I apologize. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, please forget about it.”

And then, he looked at me as if he was a guilty puppy, making me feel bad.

…Yes. No matter how fickle he was, there was no guarantee that he would start to like me. Just because favorability increases doesn’t mean it automatically turns into romantic feelings. It could simply be friendship.

My brother said he doesn’t have friends of the opposite sex, but my sister said it might be possible depending on the circumstances. So, what I should be aiming for is just friendship. Like a girl friend, not a girlfriend.

I decided to build a solid friendship with Radkiel step by step, completing quests along the way.

“It’s not an inappropriate question. I was just thinking about how to explain it, so my answer was delayed. The heart you saw earlier… you can think of it as a measure of intimacy.”

“Intimacy…?”

“Yes! It’s a sign that you felt a sense of closeness towards me. And seeing it means we can become good friends.”

Yes, friends. The system window only mentioned raising the favorability to over 100, it didn’t say anything about falling in love.

As I pondered over it, he shyly smiled, looking up at the sky where the heart had disappeared.

“I’m really glad. But, Miss Yuri.”

“Yes, yes?”

“There’s a black heart above your head. What does that mean?”

“….”

Reflexively, I raised my hand to my head and gulped as I tilted my head. Just as Radkiel said, there was a black hearts floating above my head. And not just one, but several.

W-Why is this happening…? Why can I see them too?

This was the first time something like this happened during my time on the island. I was taken aback, my lips trembling, when Radkiel said, “If the red heart represents a sense of intimacy, then the black heart would be the opposite.”

“….”

I had a bad feeling about this. If I make a wrong move here, something big might happen. Cold sweat broke out on my forehead.

Although the current Radkiel was weak enough to be knocked down with one punch, the Radkiel in the novel was described as incredibly strong. I didn’t know what kind of strength it was, but it was definitely mentioned.

If it were my sister, she would probably tell me to handle it before any trouble arises, but I had no intention of causing harm to Radkiel. If I fail the quest, Radkiel dies. If he disappears, I will be alone again. I didn’t want that.

When his lips parted again, I reflexively blurted out, “T-The black heart represents sadness!”

“…Sadness?”

“Um, empathy or something…!”

I added hesitantly, and he paused.