WHTVT C8

Chapter 8

At the unkind guide, Noel’s brow furrowed deep.

Then there was no putting it off until Chase aged; he had no choice but to finish the quest fast. If he dragged it out day after day and Chase got thoroughly influenced by Adrian and Father’s goodness…….

Just thinking about it, he might meet a terrible bad ending.

I’d have to have played some game in my previous life to know. Isn’t there a strategy guide for this kind of thing somewhere.

The only game he’d played was Minesweeper, secretly in the school computer lab as a kid. There, the moment you stepped on a mine and the game ended, you just hit restart. This, your life just flew off and you died, so there was no answer at all.

Noel raked his hair roughly and sighed as if the ground would sink.

But he couldn’t sit with his hands folded like this. When you handled anything, you needed background research first.

Wasn’t there an old saying. Know the enemy and know yourself and you’ll win a hundred battles.

Though the present him didn’t even know himself perfectly, so a hundred losses was more likely, he had no choice but to collide for now.

What would a little kid who didn’t even properly know his own last name know, but first he thought he should grasp what the kid ate in this estate and how he lived.

Only then could he even give that damned “meager food” the system had demanded.

Noel slowly got up from the bed.

Ha……. I don’t want to.

If he didn’t want to, only death waited. Yielding to a reality he had to get through anyway, Noel pulled the bell-cord hanging on the wall.

Before long, knock-knock, a cautious knock, and a servant entered the room.

“Yes. You called, Young Master Noel.”

“Where’s Chase right now?”

“Yes?”

Is asking twice in fashion at the duchy these days. The butler too. Noel clicked his tongue inwardly and asked again.

“The kid Father brought from outside.”

“…Ah, yes! I’ll f-find out at once!”

The servant couldn’t hide his fluster as he left the room. Why would the young master suddenly look for a vagrant child he’d normally have regarded as less than a roadside pebble?

Wondering if he meant to pull another nasty trick, the servant’s insides tangled. But he only had to follow his master’s order.

Before long the servant returned and reported that Chase was staying in his room.

What’s he doing in the room. Should I go there. Ah, no. A bit much for just the two of us.

Of course it would be fine if he just watched his mouth. Still, because of the terrible memory of spilling a bucket of blood earlier, facing him alone in a room felt somehow awkward.

Change the place a bit……? It didn’t seem like it would change anything. Still, there was such a thing as a change of mood.

“Bring that child to the garden. You know the place I often drink tea? Prepare tea things there too.”

“Yes.”

The place Noel meant was a small greenhouse in the most tucked-away, out-of-the-way part of the garden. Noel usually liked drinking tea there quietly.

Strictly speaking, it was more accurate to say he’d ended up liking it naturally after digging into a corner to prevent the misfortune of running into Father while drinking tea.

In fact the Winslow garden was so vast that even wandering anywhere you rarely ran into Father.

But if you happened to meet in the middle of the garden the nagging that flew at every little thing was so disgusting that hiding only in tucked-away places where footsteps were rare had become a habit.

Going to the greenhouse where warm sun poured through the glass, he saw tea things prettily arranged on a three-tier tray. The savory butter scent of scones freshly baked and the sweet smell from colorful macarons brushed his nose.

And Chase, sitting stiff as a stone statue, entered his view together.

Ahem. Every time we meet I’ve started with anger out of nowhere, so this time I should show a somewhat gentle, good side.

Eventually, driven by the system’s nagging, he’d have to bully him viciously, but as a human there was still a minimum of conscience.

Noel put on a deliberately soft smile and waved lightly.

“Hi.”

Then he thought, ah, for a moment. Don’t tell me it’ll throw a warning again because I treated him kindly? Noel’s pupils wandered busily for a short instant.

Fortunately the space in front of him was quiet. Around the time he felt relief that the system showed no reaction, a cautious voice came from across.

“…Hi.”

Chase, returning Noel’s greeting. The expression staring straight this way while standing blank felt somehow odd.

Does this kid originally have no expression?

The faces he’d met over two days were all similar. Noel looked at Chase’s face once more and took the seat opposite. Then he slowly lifted the teacup.

What should I ask how……. Did I come too much without preparing, just on impulse.

And Chase didn’t look like he particularly meant to speak to him either. As Noel went on worrying alone, only a suffocating stillness flowed between them naturally. Only occasional birdsong cut in; inside the greenhouse it was strangely quiet.

Still, it wasn’t bad. Even in awkward silence the macaron was tasty. Sweet going into his mouth felt like it dissolved the throbbing stress.

Noel lifted the cup, wet his throat, and casually raised his eyes. Chase still didn’t move an inch even with the tea things on the table in front of him.

He’s not eating. I had them brought so he’d eat.

Even in front of a sweetness that should make saliva pool any second, Chase was strangely well-behaved. Noel quietly set the cup down and propped his chin.

“Ea—”

The kind line Eat it, this is pretty good was just about to pass his throat. Noel flinched and hurriedly clapped his lips shut.

Wait, if I take care of him warmly here again, isn’t it a system warning and coughing blood?

A greeting’s one thing. Even to him this looked too kind.

A vivid déjà vu as if a metallic taste circled his mouth made his spine go cold. Noel hastily turned the line.

The eyes that had been gently loosened he suddenly lifted sharp, furrowed his brow hard, and laid his voice down ice-cold.

“I had it set out for you to eat, so why are you just staring blankly? Well. At your level, rolling in from the street, would something like this even suit your mouth? Don’t tell me you mean to throw it away?”

“…Huh?”

At the sudden abuse Chase’s thin shoulders flinched visibly. At the startled child’s look Noel’s heart dropped.

The words—were the words too much.

Still, I can’t cough blood again! Noel held his head even stiffer for no reason and poured words at Chase.

“Father picked you up, so what can we do? Even if you don’t like it you have to eat. It’s just a flashy-colored, thoroughly unimpressive macaron. Be grateful for even a macaron like this when it’s given, or don’t.”

Anyone looking would call it a miracle of stretch and shabby venom—insisting a masterpiece macaron baked by a top pâtissier, gold dust even sprinkled on delicate, was “unimpressive.”

If I spoke this coldly the system will let it pass, right?

Self-reproach rolled in as if he’d said something bad to a kid for no reason, but that sentiment lasted only an instant.

More than that, whether the system would throw a fit nagged more.

Anxious, Noel glanced around empty air for no reason. Fortunately the system that had dyed his vision red and sent warnings didn’t tackle him particularly.

But something unexpected appeared in the air.

Ding—!

[Meager food provided 1 time complete!]

[Sub-mission: One Step Toward Awakening the Main Villain!]

Goal: Provide Chase %^@# with meager food.

Progress: 1/2 times (50%) complete

“Huh?”

Noel stared blankly at the window in front of him.

Am I seeing things because I wanted it so badly……? Not content with squeezing his eyes shut and opening them, he lifted a hand and rubbed around his eyes at random.

S-so that means I succeeded once just now?

[Yes, that’s right. You succeeded 1 of 2 times.]

The system that had appeared reading his inner thoughts answered his question.

H-how……?

[Because you provided meager food.]

No, so what did I do……? How is this meager food?

He opened his eyes wide and asked the system inwardly in a stream, but no clear answer came back. He only blinked blankly at the system that had vanished from in front of him in the meantime.

“Crazy……”

How did I do this? It was clearly a success, but his head got more complicated instead. Why success? Anyone looking would say this isn’t meager food at all…… why?

Faced with this absurd result he’d lucked into, Noel clutched his head. Being glad he’d succeeded was one thing; he couldn’t understand the bizarre system’s judgment standard at all.

At Noel suddenly taking his gaze off him and tearing at his hair, Chase’s black eyes sharply watched his color.

The interest that had been aimed only at him until a moment ago seemed to have dropped away in an instant. He wanted him to keep talking to him…….

Had he not been supposed to touch the macaron. Had he done something that grated. Toward Noel still staring hard at empty air, Chase carefully opened his mouth.

“Did I…… do something wrong?”