Chapter 29
Honey.
Honey, she said.
Even though the quest had cleared, I couldn't help pausing for a moment.
I wasn't young enough for Lucy to call me a boy.
But it was probably true that Lucy was older than me.
Maybe by two or three years.
Just the right age to call her noona.
A beautiful, busty noona was calling me honey.
That hit hard.
But when I fell silent, at a loss for words, Lucy looked up at me anxiously.
“W-was that not what you wanted?”
“Well, that wasn't what I had in mind.”
It seemed better to apologize.
“Sorry.”
“?”
“For making you use a term like honey for a man you don't even like.”
“………….”
Lucy stared at me.
“Boy.”
The form of address had reverted. Were you a web novel, too?
“What do you think it means when a woman comes over to cook for you, boy?”
“…That she feels sorry for me?”
Honestly, I wasn't very good at taking care of myself.
Since I couldn't cook, I made do with whatever I bought from the campus shop.
Lucy had probably watched me from next door and thought, ‘Good grief, if I leave this kid alone, he'll starve to death,’ before coming over to take care of me.
“Ah, it really is delicious. Thanks.”
To show her I wasn't just being polite, I eagerly ate the soup Lucy had just served me.
Lucy whispered.
“…Boy, you're really a bad man.”
I felt like I'd been hearing that a lot lately.
“Sigh… Still, you did save me, boy.”
Knowing Lucy's future from the original story, I couldn't easily deny that now.
“By the way, what happened with your supervising professor?”
“We need to find a new professor of Mana Physics, so our whole lab is on hiatus.”
“Did I act too quickly and end up derailing anyone's career?”
I could've handled it more slowly. Given it more time.
“One of my seniors was planning to hang herself that very evening.”
Retract that thought.
Thank goodness I acted as quickly as I could.
“Oh, right. That senior said she was grateful to you and wanted to meet you sometime.”
“Sure. Tell her we should meet sometime.”
“She's a woman.”
“Why are you telling me that?”
“Well, I thought you'd jump at the chance if she were a woman.”
What on earth did Lucy think I was?
‘Oh.’
Right.
That had just been a lead-in question. There was a separate question I actually wanted to ask.
“Lucy.”
“?”
“Sorry, but can I touch your star mark?”
“Boy, you really know how to surprise me today. You know where it is, right?”
“I do. It's the most embarrassing part of each person's body.”
“…You're asking even though you know that?”
This was a serious matter.
I looked her straight in the eyes.
“Yeah. I know, but I'm asking anyway.”
“….”
Lucy organized her thoughts.
‘The signal he's sending is….’
The blatant signal of a woman coming over to cook for him, ignored; her calling him honey, met with an apology; but he still enjoyed the meal she'd prepared.
‘Putting all of that together, I have to interpret it like this, right?’
He wants to develop a relationship with me as a man and a woman.
But he doesn't want anything serious.
‘…Does he want me to be the woman next door he can keep around and play with?’
Then again.
Lucy had heard the rumors about Everchess's delinquent, who went around with a princess on his arm.
If I marry, I'll marry the princess. So don't call me honey or anything like that.
But if you want to enjoy each other as a man and woman without that, I'll indulge you.
He'd gladly have his fill of her.
‘So he wants me to settle for being an easy-to-handle concubine.’
She sighed.
‘Boy, you really are a bad man.’
That face of his was the problem.
No.
Actually, more than his face, it was his eyes.
The way he looked at her so seriously.
When she received that gaze, the bolts on her heart as a woman came undone.
She wanted to do anything for him.
‘Settle for being a concubine….’
Honestly, it was humiliating.
But could she fight and beat the princess?
No.
That was impossible.
The Merhantias were a great house, too.
But they couldn't rival the imperial family.
‘Then I should make the wise choice.’
Lucy spoke again.
“All right. If that's the best you can offer me, boy, I'll be satisfied with that.”
“…I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Fine, keep pretending you don't know.”
You can be the bad man.
I'll be your concubine.
She'd gracefully bow out of the competition to become his primary wife.
Instead, she would claim first place among the concubines and hold on to it.
That was Lucy's wise decision.
A voice in her head asked whether true wisdom wouldn't mean getting away from this delinquent playboy, womanizer, seduction genius, and kept man in the first place… but, hush.
She couldn't do that, which was why she was doing this, right?
“But among them, I'll be number one.”
She had to make that declaration before moving on.
Even concubines had ranks.
There was an order.
Later, any women who lost the competition to become his primary wife would have to come in after Lucy.
“I don't know what you mean, but okay.”
Good, she'd gotten his word.
Based on everything she'd observed about Gilliam Everchess so far, the boy was a very bad man, but he never lied. It must be some sort of personal creed.
“So when do you want to do it?”
“…Do what?”
“Touch my star mark.”
“Y-you're really going to touch it?”
“Please.”
Honestly, it was terribly embarrassing.
Lucy’s star mark was on the part of her body she was most ashamed of, too.
But.
That gaze fixed straight on her.
Just receiving that gaze made her want to do anything for him.
Even an absurd request like becoming his concubine.
“…Honestly, you're such a bad man.”
Lucy stood up, came in front of Gilliam, and knelt on the floor.
“…Lucy?”
“Stay still. This way, we'll be at the right height.”
“Height? What do you mean?”
“Just wait a moment.”
Lucy grabbed her top.
“My star mark is….”
The part of her body she was most embarrassed about.
“R-right… here… between them….”
It was her breasts, which were unusually large even compared to other girls her age.
In adolescence, when being different from others was itself embarrassing, her breasts had been her biggest insecurity.
Back then, she'd worn only loose clothes to hide her breasts as they grew larger by the day, and often concealed them under her coat.
Once she became an adult, those feelings faded. Now, she even wore outfits that showed them off.
But.
Having to let the person she liked touch the area around them brought back the embarrassment she felt back then.
“…Uh.”
Gilliam was flustered too.
‘Wow.’
So the most embarrassing part really hadn't been an exaggeration.
〈Next Compliment Suggestion (LV.2)〉
【Target: Lucy Merhantia】
Recommendation - Praise her for her large breasts
Not recommended - Don't look away from her breasts
‘Come to think of it, Lucy liked having her breasts complimented from the first time we met.’
Maybe she had complicated feelings about her breasts?
“You have beautiful breasts.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. They're the prettiest I've ever seen.”
“…Heh, hehe.”
She smiled shyly.
The noona who was always calling me boy was kneeling in front of me.
【The target feels relieved】
<Praise Points: +150(1250→1400)>
“M-my star mark is here.”
Lucy slid her finger between her breasts.
It went in deep.
Deeper and deeper.
Wait, how deep was that cleavage? Well, if the mountain was high, the valley would be just as deep. I knew that in my head, but seeing it with my own eyes—wow, seriously—
“You can put your finger in like this too, boy….”
No, that wouldn't do.
The Bond Quest only begins once I can see the star mark with my own eyes.
“Lucy.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Show me your star mark so I can see it.”
“…….”
Lucy’s face turned red all the way to her ears.
Then, without a word, she grabbed each breast with one hand and lifted them up.
‘Oh, so that's where it was?’
A silvery-gray symbol was shining above her solar plexus. It looked like a snowflake.
If she didn't have breasts, it'd be plainly visible.
But Lucy's breasts were so large that it was hidden unless she lifted them with her hands.
【Bond Quest - Frostbound Star】
〈Encounter with the Witch of the Frozen Realm〉
Objective: Touch the sigil of the Frostbound Star
Reward: Connection with the Frostbound Star (LV.1)
“…Hurry up.”
Lucy whispered, holding up both of her breasts with her hands.
“…Yeah.”
I reached out.
When my hand touched her abdomen, Lucy let out a shaky, excited breath.
“Haa.”
【Bond Quest:〈Encounter with the Witch of the Frozen Realm〉Complete!】
【Connection with the Frostbound Star (LV.1) awarded as a reward!】
〈Connection with the Frostbound Star (LV.1)〉
Effect: Praise Points earned from the holder of the Frostbound Star are multiplied by ×2.
‘Phew.’
That completed the first stage of Lucy's Bond Quest, too.
“Lucy.”
“Yeah?”
“Your breasts really are beautiful.”
“…I don't know.”
【The target feels satisfied】
<Praise Points: +200(1400→1600)>
*Value with ×2 applied
As expected, multipliers were nice.
The base value had gone down from 150 to 100, but thanks to the multiplier, the final amount was 200.
【Bond Quest - Frostbound Star】
〈So She Doesn't Meet a Lonely End〉
Objective: Bind her to prevent her from freezing to death
Reward: Connection with the Frostbound Star (LV.2)
As expected, aside from the first one, Bond Quests seemed to be about helping each girl's fate escape tragedy.
And they were abstract.
Maron had to be educated, Elettra's pride had to be broken.
And Lucy had to be bound.
‘What exactly does it mean to bind her?’
Surely it didn't mean tying her up with rope.
In the original, Lucy's fate was to be driven to despair, drawn into the Abyssal Cult, and become a suicide bomber for them.
‘Does it mean I should comfort her so she doesn't feel lonely?’
In that case.
“Lucy.”
“…Yeah?”
“Can we keep having dinner together like this from now on?”
If Lucy's loneliness was the problem, I could stay with her so she wouldn't have to feel lonely.
“…I'd be happy if you did.”
Lucy giggled again.
‘So I'll be having lunch with Maron and dinner with Lucy from now on.’
Of course, I was happy about that too.
After all, I'd rather eat with a friend than alone.
It'd be even better if I could ease my friends' loneliness along the way.
Since lunch and dinner were separate, there shouldn't be any problems with this arrangement.
.
.
.
“L-Liam, would you like to go to a nice restaurant with me for dinner tonight?”
“….”
Huh?