TMGH 16

Chapter 16

I thought that if I made a flower crown while even bringing up legends and shared it with him, we would become a

 little closer. But every time I thought we were getting closer, things would return to how they were before. It kept

 happening, and I was starting to get annoyed.

‘This is seriously irritating.’

I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration.

‘I’ve gone this far, and he still won’t fall for me?’

There had been many men who hadn’t fallen for me before. However, since I hadn’t failed recently, my pride was hurt, and I felt terrible.

‘This won’t do. I’m going to run away from home.’

So I decided to boldly carry out a runaway plan.

Right now, I was so angry that just seeing either the original Evan or Jason made my blood boil. I needed to disappear for a while and make him painfully realize how much he needed me.

‘I’ll spend the entire day in my beast-child form.’

I planned to run away while I was a beastkin child all day. Jason needed to experience a situation where I wasn’t around so that he would understand my importance even more. After all, people tend to become more interested when they start feeling an emptiness.

‘I’m not even going to leave a letter. He can figure it out himself.’

It would be nice if he stayed up all night worrying and crying.

Grumbling to myself, I packed a small bag and secretly left the Valentine Duchy on horseback while avoiding all the servants. Thanks to using an item, escaping was surprisingly easy.

“I should go to the neighboring village so they won’t find me quickly.”

Since I had come out alone, I decided to spend some time in the nearby village while also trying to obtain some items. I was incredibly happy to have gained freedom after such a long time, and I rode toward the neighboring village.

Perhaps I had chosen the right timing, because the neighboring village was crowded and noisy due to a festival.

‘Wow, I’ve always wanted to enjoy a festival alone!’

Until now, I had always come with the male leads or my friends, so I had never been able to enjoy a festival by myself. Being able to do so in my final life made me feel like coming here was the best decision. And since I could obtain items too, it was twice as good. Usually, festival events were where I obtained items.

‘I want to get the items needed to seduce Jason and remove the curse.’

**<Become the Goddess of the Festival.
The items for first, second, and third place will be different.
However, finishing last will result in a penalty.

Last-place penalty: Jason’s favorability decreases.>**

Now this was a quest that really ignited my competitive spirit.

With a quest like this, there was no way I could settle for third place. I had no choice but to aim for first.

Since I was the heroine, there was almost no one who could beat my appearance, so winning should have been practically guaranteed. However, there was one problem.

Today, I was a beastkin child all day.

My body had become weak, and if it weren’t for the stamina-enhancing item, I would have already collapsed in bed from exhaustion, suffering from muscle pain and all sorts of problems.

‘If I hide my beastkin features well, can a child really become the festival goddess and win first place?’

Everyone would probably choose an adult goddess, wouldn’t they? Was this even possible?

At first, I was confident, but as I realized the seriousness of the problem, my confidence gradually decreased.

‘But I can’t just give up. There’s a penalty.’

Once you became aware of a quest with a penalty, you couldn’t ignore it. You had to proceed immediately.

The preferences for the festival goddess differed from village to village. Some villages preferred cute goddesses, while others preferred sexy or beautiful ones. To win first place, you had to figure out what kind of goddess that village liked. Otherwise, you could end up last and receive the penalty, making it worse than not participating at all.

Sighing, I walked around the festival grounds.

Hmm, overall, the participants were wearing clothes with a lovely and adorable atmosphere. In that case, my child form might actually work. At least I wouldn’t come in last.

Determined to make that happen, I went to a nearby inn. From the bag I brought with me, I took out the most splendid yet adorable dress and put it on.

‘A pretty face really does make any outfit look good.’

I looked at myself in the mirror inside the bathroom and felt satisfied.

‘Hmm, what should I put on my head?’

Anything would probably suit Leticia’s face, but a flower crown was definitely the best choice. Earrings or necklaces might make people uncomfortable since I looked like a child, so it would be better not to wear them.

I bought some beautiful flowers from a nearby flower shop and personally made a flower crown. Thanks to my excellent handiwork, it looked like something that could have been sold in a store.

Once I placed the flower crown on my head, I became an absolutely adorable little girl. There was no way I would come in last.

I hurried back to the festival grounds and registered for the festival goddess contest. I barely made it in time and became contestant number 135, the final participant.

Because of that, I had to wait a long time for my turn, so I watched the other participants.

There were many truly adorable contestants, but there were also some sexy contestants whose styles completely clashed with the atmosphere.

In other words, I definitely wouldn’t come in last.

Unless the judges were strange or this world was deliberately trying to interfere with my life.

“This contestant is an adorable little girl!”

Finally, the host called my number.

I confidently stepped onto the stage. Then, in front of the crowd, I politely bowed.

“Hello, I’m contestant number 135!”

“Cute little contestant number 135, please spend five minutes introducing yourself!”

“Yes. I will sing a song!”

Among all the possible ways to introduce myself, I chose singing.

If my only goal was avoiding the penalty, simply singing would have been enough. Since I even used an item that made me sparkle, I would definitely stand out.

Besides, if a child tried to do something that wasn’t childlike, it could easily create a negative impression.

I sang energetically while performing a cute dance.

The audience gradually began clapping along. Their reactions gave me confidence, so I sang even more brightly and cheerfully. After five minutes, my turn finally ended.

After the voting time passed, the host returned to the stage.

The results began being announced one by one, excluding first place, second place, third place, and last place.

The host said he would announce last place first. He paused for a moment, then let out a regretful sigh before slowly opening his mouth.

“I’m truly sorry, but the contestant who placed last is the adorable contestant number 135.”

Shocked, I blinked.

‘W-wait, seriously?’

The host was looking at me with pity.

I had been so confident that I absolutely wouldn’t come in last, but I had proudly taken the last place.

I couldn’t believe it. A hollow laugh escaped me.

‘Hey, host, are you kidding me? You said I was cute, so why did you give me last place?! There’s no contradiction bigger than this!’

**<Failed to rank within the top three in the festival goddess contest.
Received last place and was given a penalty.

Penalty: Jason’s favorability decreases.>**

Even at a time like this, the system was working hard.

Ha… I was completely ruined.

Jason’s favorability, which I had worked so hard to raise, had decreased. Capturing the male protagonist’s heart was practically like starting over from the beginning.

‘So this is why it’s hard mode. The favorability I painstakingly raised keeps dropping, which is why it was called hard mode.’

Overwhelmed by despair, I collapsed onto the ground.

People nearby whispered things like, “The child must be upset because she came in last,” but I didn’t care at all.

‘No. I’ve died many times until now. Compared to that, this is nothing. I can recover from this.’

Just as I had done whenever things became difficult, I comforted myself and slowly stood back up.

‘Still, can I see how much the favorability dropped?’

<Jason Valentine’s favorability: 300 → 100>

Seeing the massive decrease, I grabbed my hair and pulled at it in frustration.