TIRS 33

CHAPTER 33:

 Because She’s Pretty. Too Pretty.Ever since I decided to proceed with the scenario, Piya became much more proactive in explaining the in-game systems to me.

One of those was the Affection Meter.

As I had guessed, the values are centered around 0, where positive numbers (+) indicate affection, and negative numbers (–) indicate hostility.

“So that means Gloria unnie, whose affection was at 0, really had no particular feelings about me either way—neither affection nor dislike.”

[Affection isn’t just about romantic feelings! But if you’re interested in that, Lulu-nim, we can switch to Romance Mode to see only the affection levels of potential love interests~ (ʃƪ ˘ ³˘)♥(˘ ε˘ʃƪ)]

“Romance Mode?”

[Yup! In Romance Mode, you get special skills and choices to help you capture their hearts! Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→]

“No thanks…”

Piya seemed excited, but I had no intention of building a harem like Hezen.

Just like other stats in the game, affection only becomes significant once it goes over 100.

In other words, Klaus, who had an affection score of -100 when I first met him, actively disliked me from the start!

“But why? It’s not like we were acquainted before, like with Orent oppa…”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst of it.

[Once the affection score drops below -500, the character begins to feel violent hatred, and below -900, they’ll actually develop intent to kill! Please be careful~ ♡◟(⑅’ㅅ’⑅)◞♡]

In short: they’ll want to kill me.

Just like I did with Hezen once…

“That can’t happen…”

Klaus Winster is one of the original heroes of light from the source material and someone who’s supposed to join me on the journey to defeat the Light Dragon.

If someone like that starts having murderous intent toward me, things will get very bad.

Even hatred with violent tendencies is out of the question.

Successor of House Winster, Klaus
Affection: -280

I swallowed hard at Klaus’s affection score, which had stopped at -280.

Thankfully, there was still some buffer before it got worse.

But could I really call that a “buffer”…?

“Greetings, Princess Louisvel Azester, Third Princess of the Empire.”

Klaus greeted me in a perfectly polite tone.

He looked like the very picture of a gentleman—no trace of ill will.

His composed and respectful demeanor almost made it seem like he liked me.

If not for the terrifying affection score floating above his head, I would have believed it too.

“Oh my, Klaus oppa. Looks like you’re back from training. I’m heading to have tea with Her Highness. Would you mind stepping asi—”

“Enjoy your time.”

Before Silvia could finish her graceful request, Klaus briskly walked past us with a brief farewell.

“…Wait, did he just ignore me?”

Silvia fumed as she watched Klaus walk away.

I couldn’t concentrate at all during tea time, too preoccupied with Klaus’s dangerously low affection.

“What is even the problem?”

I wanted to check his detailed info window, but Klaus had vanished like he wanted nothing to do with me.

Just as I was struggling to figure out how to increase Klaus’s affection…

“Huh? What’s that…”

The candleholder on the tea table was glowing faintly.

“That must be the ‘Guide’s Lantern’ Piya talked about.”

I turned the minimap back on, which I had disabled earlier. My location was blinking in red next to the glowing candleholder on the dim map.

I tapped the candleholder lightly.

As the gentle glow vanished, the map brightened.

[SYSTEM] You’ve found the Guide’s Lantern!
[SYSTEM] Mini-map for has been activated!

The mini-map didn’t show everyone’s location—only those I had previously interacted with.

“With this, I can track Klaus.”

I asked Silvia for permission and slipped away under the pretense of looking for the powder room.

Inside his room, Klaus—now washed and neatly dressed—was reading a book.

As I passed his room on the second floor, I spotted him through a slightly open door.

Successor of House Winster, Klaus
Affection: -280

I silently sighed at that dangerously low number floating over his head.

Then I opened his detailed info window.

[Successor of the Winster Family. Defeated a bear barehanded at age six. Studied abroad in the Holy Kingdom. (Support Level: 20)]

▶ Trait: Celibacy
▶ Ideal Type: Louisvel Azester
▶ View on Romance: Sees romantic emotions as impure and unnecessary. Possesses a strong aversion to them.

“His support level is higher than mine?”

Orent oppa—once praised as the greatest swordsman before Hezen’s appearance—had a support level of 8, so Klaus’s level was seriously high.

“So beating him into submission isn’t even an option…”

Then I noticed something unexpected.

“Celibacy? And… wait, what?”

My name was listed as his ideal type!

In my panic, I accidentally made a noise.

Klaus snapped his head toward me and stormed over.

Before I could run, he yanked the door open.

There I was—caught spying on him.

“Princess Louisvel Azester…?”

[SYSTEM] ’s affection has dropped by -10. (Affection: -290)
[SYSTEM] is now in a state of alert.

§ALERT STATE§
Affection: -290

Looking at the updated status, I thought to myself:

“Yeah, I’m totally screwed.”

“So, you’re saying his affection drops every time we meet because…”

“Because you’re too pretty,” Ancelot said, curling one corner of his mouth into a smirk.

“Because Her Highness is just too pretty.”

Thump.

My face flushed at his blunt statement.

After returning to the imperial palace, I had been explaining to Ancelot what had happened at the Winster estate—especially Klaus’s traits and views on romance.

Ancelot responded as if he had known all along.

“Our princess discovered it a bit late, huh?”

“Wait—so you knew?”

“Of course. I could tell the guy was a freak from the start.”

Apparently, he had seen Klaus’s info window during their previous encounter at the palace.

When I told him that Klaus’s ideal type was listed as me, even Ancelot’s expression twitched.

“Your name was literally written there?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“It wasn’t that specific when I saw it.”

“So…?”

“Guess the bastard’s been entertaining all kinds of delusions since then.”

Ancelot muttered sharply, glaring in Klaus’s direction—though he wasn’t there.

Well, I wasn’t the only one who could see status windows, after all.

“Still… Isn’t it kind of embarrassing to tell someone they’re pretty to their face like that?”

I cleared my throat a few times to shake off the awkwardness and shifted the topic.

“But it’s weird, right? I’m his ideal type, so why does his affection keep going down every time he sees me?”

I worried I’d said too much trying to change the subject.

Thankfully, Ancelot continued explaining without making a fuss.

“Remember, his trait is celibacy. So it’s not just you—he probably starts with a negative score for all women.”

“Yeah. His affection was already negative before we ever talked.”

“But then he meets someone who fits his ideal type perfectly. That clashes with his trait, and his affection drops while he becomes more guarded.”

“Wait, so the low affection is because…”

“Because he’s scared he might fall for you. His instincts are lowering it preemptively.”

“That doesn’t even make sense!”

“It’s the trap of affection scores.”

Ancelot replied flatly.

“Human emotions aren’t simple enough to be summed up in numbers. They’re way more complex.”

“Ugh… so complicated.”

My head ached just trying to make sense of it all.

I absentmindedly stroked Piya’s belly, who was fast asleep on my lap.

Her wing injuries still hadn’t healed. She hadn’t been getting enough rest.

Since I found out that Piya could only rest in her true form, I’d been forcing her to stay that way and rest, despite her insistence that a top-tier messenger should be on duty 24/7.

But once she lay down, she’d fallen asleep in no time.

Anyway, based on my conversation with Ancelot, the conclusion was clear: I can’t win over Klaus with affection like I did with Hezen.

Why? Because I’m a woman.

And Klaus’s ideal type just so happens to be Louisvel Azester—me.

If it had been Hezen instead of me, this quest would’ve been cleared in a flash.

“Why is it only hard mode when it comes to me?”

I sighed and shot a glare at Ancelot.

“You knew about Klaus’s trait. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Just didn’t feel like it,” he replied with a mischievous smile.

“Ugh! If you had told me, I wouldn’t have wasted time trying to increase Klaus’s affection!”

“It pissed me off. The nerve of him—having you as his ideal type.”

Ancelot muttered, still wearing that crooked smile.

“…Huh?”

I blinked in confusion.

“Why would that bother you?”

“….”

Ancelot didn’t answer.

“Seriously, you’ve got the weirdest personality.”

I muttered just loud enough for him to hear.

But I had bigger problems.

Klaus’s affection wasn’t just low—he was now on guard against me.

“Can’t you help me somehow?”

I looked at Ancelot pleadingly.

“You said you’d help me defeat the Light Dragon. At this rate, I won’t even be able to leave the empire, let alone fight the dragon.”

Ancelot answered after a moment of serious thought.

“I’m good at killing people… Maybe if he nearly dies, his trait might reset?”

“…No. Absolutely not.”

I quickly shook my head, face dead serious.

I forgot for a moment that this guy was a reaper.

“If Klaus dies, the quest fails.”

This was all thanks to that weird celibacy trait or whatever.

He hates me—because I’m his ideal type.

“Klaus Winster… He looks so perfectly handsome on the outside, but he’s a total mess on the inside.”

I muttered with a deep sigh—when a sharp voice piped up beside me.

“Handsome?”

Ancelot’s smile twisted just a bit more sharply.

He was smiling… but somehow, it felt like he wasn’t amused at all.