Chapter 8
Elettra was a princess.
And even setting her bloodline aside and judging her objectively, she was a beauty.
That meant she’d spent her whole life being showered with praise.
Her hair was a waterfall of gold, a golden fleece bestowed by God, so beautiful that even the heavens would covet it and try to shear it off, blah blah blah…
Her eyes were like jewels, they said, with both sky and sea reflected in their blue; even the heavens would covet them and try to pluck them out, blah blah blah…
She couldn’t understand why those blasted heavens would want to rob perfectly good people of their hair and eyeballs, though.
Anyway.
Elettra was used to it.
Praise smothered in layers of ornate, exaggerated flourishes.
That was standard in noble and courtly society, after all.
And Gilliam Everchess, for all his wastrel ways, was still the young master of a ducal house.
He was sure to praise her like that.
“Your Highness.”
Gilliam first met her gaze.
Elettra swallowed unconsciously.
He was serious.
Looking at his face, you’d mistake him for a merchant calculating money or a general planning troop deployments, not a man about to compliment a woman.
“You have beautiful eyes, and—”
Ah, her eyes again.
What flowery language would he use this time? She just hoped he wouldn’t bring up the heavens again.
“—your frank personality is very appealing—”
“Wait! Stop right there for a second!!”
“?”
“Is that all?”
No flowery embellishments?
“No.”
“Oh, right?”
“You have a very pretty face, too.”
“?”
No, that really was all, wasn’t it?
‘What is this man trying to do?’
She had pretty eyes.
Her frank personality was appealing.
And her face was pretty, too.
That was it.
Other men would have written a poem about her eyes, one about her personality, and one about her face.
If they couldn’t do that, they wouldn’t have tried at all.
It seemed half-hearted.
She should have been annoyed.
But she wasn’t.
Because…
‘He means it sincerely, right?’
Gilliam was looking straight into her eyes with a serious expression.
A steady gaze.
A calm look.
It came through.
His sincerity.
Far more powerfully than any amount of flowery language.
The fact that Gilliam genuinely liked her eyes, her personality, and her face.
‘Ugh….’
Their eyes met, and Elettra’s heart began to pound.
How strange.
Why was this happening?
‘This man… He actually looks pretty good up close, doesn’t he?’
She’d seen him once before, from a distance.
Gilliam had been at a party or ball, drinking and making a spectacle of himself.
‘Was he always this handsome? Does he look different because he’s acting differently?’
It was hard to believe he was the same person as before.
“Ahem.”
Elettra hid her bewilderment.
She hid the pounding of her heart, too.
Then, gracefully, as befitted a princess, she decided to accept his compliment.
“I’ll admit that wasn’t unpleasant to hear. Is there something you want?”
She’d originally planned to grant him nothing…
But she’d changed her mind.
“Just let me keep complimenting you.”
“Then I shall grant you that… Hm?”
Elettra blinked.
In the meantime, Gilliam had taken another step toward her.
The distance between them was barely two handspans.
‘He’s quite tall, too…?’
Just tall enough to feel reassuring and dependable when she looked up at him.
“Your Highness Elettra.”
“Hm…?”
“Is there anything you’d like to be complimented on?”
Who asked someone that!?
“Or anything you’d like to brag about? Right, Your Highness is quite knowledgeable about observing spirits.”
“I-I suppose I am.”
“I think that’s wonderful. It’s surprisingly difficult to stick with one hobby over time. And it isn’t easy to hold on to what you love without letting others sway you.”
A lie.
Who praised someone for something so trivial?
She’d been criticized so many times for having such a silly hobby as observing spirits, and told to cultivate her refinement in flower arranging or art instead.
“I mean it.”
There was someone who would praise something like that.
“Your Highness Elettra.”
Gilliam took another step toward her.
The distance between them was barely a handspan.
“You are an exceedingly charming person.”
They were in a park in the academy’s noble district.
Commoner students weren’t allowed in, and all the noble students were at the party right now.
That meant no one would interrupt them.
‘What? What on earth is this man doing??’
People are wary of what they don’t understand.
And when they’re wary, they want to defend themselves.
“W-what makes you say that!? What do you know about me?”
“In truth, it’s almost as though we’ve only just met today.”
Gilliam gazed into empty space.
As if he were remembering someone from his past.
“Me? Beautiful?”
A vicious sneer spread across the Ice Princess’s face.
“You fools can only see the surface.”
A face full of self-loathing.
Hands stained with blood.
“But I do know this much.”
The records of her orphanage sponsorships had been discovered after Elettra’s death.
Since it was so unlike the Ice Princess, famous for hating people, hardly anyone believed she had truly been the one to sponsor them.
Sadly.
“Your Highness, you’re far more charming than you think you are.”
Gilliam smiled.
Elettra…
For some reason…
Couldn’t take her eyes off that smile.
She felt as though she might drown in his sweet, honey-colored eyes.
‘…What is with this man?’
It was unfair.
Looking straight at her with those eyes and smiling like that was unfair.
Saying things like that while smiling like that was unfair, too.
There’d never been anyone like that until now.
You’re the first.
A man like you.
Her heart felt like it was about to turn strange.
‘What on earth is he thinking, saying things like that?’
Elettra was genuinely curious.
But if she could have looked into Gilliam’s mind, she would have been terribly disappointed.
【The target feels euphoria】
<Praise Points: +100(200→300)>
‘Oh yeah.’
The princess had potential, too.
Potential as a Praise Point vending machine.
‘I need to farm points whenever I can.’
If today was the day after the entrance ceremony, then the first dungeon exercise would be next week.
‘I should get ready in advance for the ambush event that happens there, too.’
If I were a veteran who’d actually played <Astra Radius>, I could prepare perfectly.
I might even be able to prevent the ambush from happening altogether.
But unfortunately, I wasn’t.
I’d only been possessed into a romance fantasy set in <Astra Radius>.
I’d read all the setting compilation notices, but there were limits.
That was all the more reason I had no choice but to grow stronger in every way.
“Your Highness Elettra.”
“H-hm?”
“Now that I mention it, that dress suits you very well, too.”
“R-really?”
【The target feels joy】
<Praise Points: +20(300→320)>
“I only mentioned it in passing earlier, but I truly do think you have a pretty face.”
【The target feels great joy】
<Praise Points: +50(320→370)>
“And it’s true that I like your personality. I happen to dislike people who are devious.”
“Don’t you think I’m prickly?”
“You are prickly, but tenderhearted, and you even root for people weaker than you, don’t you?”
“U-uh-huh…”
【The target feels even happier】
<Praise Points: +80(370→450)>
“To sum it up, Your Highness Elettra, you’re a very charming—”
“I-I-I-I’m leaving noooowwwwwww!!!!”
Elettra hurriedly ran off.
‘Did she break?’
I’d only been using her for a day.
It’d be a problem if she broke already.
‘Can’t be helped.’
It was getting late, so maybe I should head back to my room for the night.
But then I realized there was a problem.
‘Where on earth is my dorm room?’
Being a transmigrator made things like this a pain. The original never said which building or room Gilliam lived in.
As I looked around, a man’s voice came from behind me.
“…Hey.”
Mag… Mog… Magnum, who’d been utterly humiliated by the princess at the party earlier, was glaring at me.
Lucky me.
“Do you happen to know where the men’s dormitory is—”
“You wastrel of the Everchess house!!!!!”
Magnum charged at me with his fist clenched.
Guess I wasn’t that lucky after all.
‘Well, does it really matter?’
I’d been planning to put points into my stats anyway.
I summoned the status screen in my mind.
〈Stats〉
Strength: F
Stamina: F
Agility: F
Mana: F
Accuracy: F
Resistance: F
Just as I’d expected, they were abysmal.
Even some random seven-year-old passing by was probably a lot better than this.
‘Upgrade Agility by one rank.’
- Agility: F→E
【100 points consumed (remaining: 650)】
I could feel my body becoming a little more nimble.
At the last moment, I twisted aside and dodged Magnum’s fist by a hair’s breadth.
“!!!”
Magnum was astonished.
It wasn’t the kind of movement you’d expect from a wastrel who did nothing but get drunk and whine all day.
‘Though it’s still only E rank.’
Then I upgraded Strength, too.
- Strength: F→E
【100 points consumed (remaining: 550)】
I hooked Magnum’s ankle and used my enhanced strength to slam him onto his back.
“Urgh…!”
And if I used a skill on top of that…
【Skill Activated: <Lesser Shockwave>】
Magnum, having completely lost his balance, rolled miserably across the grass.
“Aaaagh!!”
I sighed as I watched him howl.
“Good grief….”
Pathetic.
But…
‘…He’s pretty sturdy, though?’
I walked over to the fallen Magnum.
His fighting spirit already seemed broken, anyway.
“Hey, Magnum.”
“Grr…!”
Magnum glared at me, his face a mixture of shame and humiliation.
“Go ahead and mock me!! Say I’m an idiot who ambushed you and still couldn’t beat you!!!”
“…So you were aware? Honestly, it did look pretty stupid.”
“Aaaagh!!! Who actually does it just because I said to!!!”
“Good grief, you’re noisy….”
But I hadn’t come over to mock him.
“Hey.”
“?”
“You might have a talent for being a tank.”
I think it’d suit you.
I think you'd be a good fit.