Chapter 218: Confidence (3)

"... So, my dad vanished?"

"Yes. I was told he left the guild a little while ago."

Alice checked her smartwatch after hearing Sebastian's words.

The clock showed it was already late into the night.

"It's usually his working hours right about now. Why does that matter?"

Unlike others, her father's working hours started from now.

But why was he reporting it so urgently?

"Before he left the guild... he told the Vice Guild Master that he was going to see Lady Alice..."

"... Me?"

Alice furrowed her brows slightly.

"Yes. However, I am worried his intention for visiting might be because of Cadet Lee Ho-yeon."

"Hmm..."

His daughter was getting massages, and from a male masseur at that.

- Just who the hell is massaging my daughter? Let's see his face.

Her dad was more than capable of saying something like that.

Because even though he messed around with various women, he was at the forefront of hypocrisy, blocking his daughter from meeting men by claiming it was too early.

"Did you tell him I'd never see him again if he comes to Korea?"

"Yes. I did deliver the message, but..."

'The Guild Master does his work so carelessly, so whether he actually read the documents properly...'

Sebastian swallowed the rest of his words.

He couldn't exactly insult her father in front of Alice.

"Hmm. Then it's fine. He probably used me as an excuse to go meet a woman."

"Is that so...?"

Knowing how much the Guild Master loved the Vice Guild Master and Alice, Sebastian tilted his head.

"Yeah. If he listened to me, he wouldn't come."

Alice knew her dad cherished her dearly, but she also knew he listened to her just as much.

That was why Alice trusted her father, Isaac.

Completely unaware that Isaac was already preparing to come to Korea.

*

The Nam Sisters went out for a picnic or whatever, and Liriana started her broadcast in the room.

Actually, she didn't really need to do the broadcast anymore.

I had gained quite a bit of leeway myself.

But if she had nothing to do at home, she'd lose her will to live, so I just told her to keep at it.

Besides, she seemed to enjoy chatting with people in her own way.

-Ah, it's been a while, everyone~ Hmm? Don't act nice, you say? Then get the hell out.

"Hmm..."

Just how could a broadcast like that be so popular?

Fascinating.

Using Liriana's voice as background noise, I got ready to meet Moon Su-rin.

Preparing just meant taking a quick shower and sweeping my hair back a bit... but that alone was more than enough.

Whether it was skin or hair, as long as you were born with it, it all turned out pretty.

Ddiring-

I opened the dormitory door and stepped outside.

The meeting spot was, as always, a Korean restaurant called Pungmidang.

As I walked to Pungmidang, I thought about what to talk about with Moon Su-rin.

'I should talk a bit about the Public Relations Department... and bring up the stalking thing too.'

I had talked about the stalking last time, but her reaction was strange.

It was a bit frustrating that the stalking, which was the key to the capture, was blocked off, but I'd figure it out somehow.

"Capture..."

In truth, I had learned the power of favorability while capturing Alice.

Because Alice, who was cold to others, couldn't act that coldly towards me.

My face probably played a part, but favorability couldn't be ignored either.

Because of that, capturing Moon Su-rin, whose favorability went up automatically, might actually turn out to be easy.

Ultimately, in a romantic relationship, the person who likes the other more is the one who loses.

Though the problem was that I didn't just have one lover.

'That was a pretty trashy thought just now.'

My trashiness was steadily increasing. I really needed to be careful about this.

Walking while lost in trivial thoughts, I arrived at Pungmidang.

As I opened the familiar entrance and walked in, the employee I always saw was there.

"Welcome."

"I have a reservation. Under the name Moon Su-rin."

"Please come up this way."

Passing by several private rooms on the second floor, the employee bowed in front of the room at the very end.

"You may go inside."

"Yes, thank you."

Slide-

When I opened the door, I saw Moon Su-rin sitting there, looking at her smartwatch.

"Nuna. I'm here."

"Yeah. You're here."

It had been quite a while since I saw her here, too.

Because the last time was right before my hospitalization.

I took a seat across from Moon Su-rin as she put away her smartwatch.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Moon Su-rin]

- [ Favorability : 88 ]

- [ Libido : 45 ]

- [ Appetite : 50 ]

- [ Fatigue : 43 ]

Current Status : What should we talk about today...?

'Nothing particularly strange.'

Her favorability was still high, and there were no other unusual details.

She was the same reliable Moon Su-rin as always.

A bright smile bloomed on Moon Su-rin's face.

She was a cute Nuna who appropriately hid just how incredibly glad she was to see me.

"You're hungry, right? Let's talk while eating lunch."

"Sure. Sounds good."

The food started being served as soon as Moon Su-rin pressed the bell, and we began our meal.

Nom, nom, nom.

As I overtly stared at Moon Su-rin while she slowly ate her appetizer, she also noticed my gaze.

"W-What is it? Is there something on my face?"

Her eyes widening, Moon Su-rin brought a napkin to her mouth and dabbed around her lips.

"No. It's just that watching you reminded me of when we first met, Nuna."

"When we first met...?"

"Yeah. You were so shocked back then. I can't believe I made such a mistake without even knowing you were the Student Council President."

Approaching her by spilling coffee on our first meeting was truly funny when I thought about it now.

Of course, since I hadn't properly adapted to this world back then... I probably did well enough improvising. Hmm. Maybe?

"I was really surprised, too. Still, I was under extreme stress from work at the time, so it felt refreshing. I gained a close junior, too."

"And I gained a cute Nuna."

"Uh-oh, is it really appropriate to call your Nuna cute?"

Sipping on her straw with a slight smile, Moon Su-rin leaned her face toward me.

"Hey. It just means I like you that much. Come to think of it, is there no more work for the Public Relations Department? It's been a while since we did any activities."

"... Actually, the budget hasn't been approved yet. We still haven't even used all the photographs taken during your and Alice's first activity..."

"..."

I guess this kind of thing happens when the models are just that good.

"Nuna. By the way, what exactly happened with the Vice Chairman?"

"... You mean Shin Dong-min?"

"Yes."

The gloomy atmosphere and the dead expressions I saw the last time I visited the Student Council were still fresh in my mind.

Moon Su-rin leaned back in her chair, let out a sigh, and opened her mouth.

"Haa, honestly, there's nothing out of the ordinary. He just stopped showing up to the Student Council one day and then completely disappeared."

"I guess the Vice Chairman's Gang also started not showing up at some point."

"Yeah. In the end, we're the ones handling all the work. We do need to recruit more people... but the procedures for expulsion are a bit complicated."

"It is the Victoria Academy Student Council, after all."

Being a former officer of the Victoria Academy Student Council would serve as incredible specs later on.

Because of that, getting in or out was ridiculously strict.

Anyway, where the hell did that bastard Shin Dong-min hide?

He was a ridiculously persistent bastard in the original work too, so he wouldn't just give up like this...

Just then, Moon Su-rin tapped the desk.

"Why don't you try taking his place, Ho-yeon? I'll give you the Vice Chairman seat. If it's someone on your level, the others won't have any complaints either."

"Uh, I'm a bit busy..."

"It'll be an amazing spec when seeking employment later, you know? Or I could just get you a job at the Academy... If not, you could always... work under me?"

"..."

I thought of every possible excuse I could think of.

*

After completely finishing the ice cream served for dessert, I leaned back in my chair.

"The food here is delicious no matter when I eat it."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Moon Su-rin, who was sipping her Claire Rose Latte, beamed brightly at my words.

"Aren't you having a hard time, Nuna?"

"Hmm? Not me. Why do you keep asking me if I'm having a hard time lately?"

"... Just because. Just wondering. It'd be sad if you were having a hard time. Haha..."

Smack.

Interrogating her with leading questions was a bad habit too.

As I pointlessly scraped my empty ice cream bowl, I felt Moon Su-rin's gaze.

Her eyes looked like she had something to say.

"Nuna, do you have something to say?"

"Well. Ho-yeon-ah. Um, if by chance... the paparazzi make things too hard for you, let me know. I'll take care of all of them."

"... Pardon?"

"You said so last time. That you were struggling a lot."

I felt a slight sense of doubt at the sudden keyword 'paparazzi', but I soon recalled the memory.

I had definitely complained about having a hard time as an excuse when we met last time.

'What kind of absurd situation is this?'

I should be the one seducing Moon Su-rin like that.

But on the contrary, Moon Su-rin was the one seducing me like that.

First off... I couldn't let her waste her energy on pointless things.

Honestly, maybe it was because I'm a man, but getting attention wasn't a bad feeling anyway.

"Well, it's fine. It was just because I was dealing with a lot of difficult things in many ways back then. I don't care about it now."

"I-Is that so...?"

As I continued speaking, the corners of Moon Su-rin's mouth twitched upwards slightly.

"Yes. Honestly, it's a bit unsettling for strangers to save photographs of me... but I just have to get used to it. Since I'm a celebrity."

Come to think of it, there are plenty of people who set pictures of celebrities as their wallpapers, but it's not like they all got permission to do it.

I should approach it with that kind of mindset too.

"W-What if it's someone you know?"

Moon Su-rin leaned her face slightly closer to me.

"Pardon?"

"Would it still be unsettling if someone you know saved them...?"

"?"

When I furrowed my brows slightly, failing to understand immediately, only then did Moon Su-rin's eyes widen as she shrunk back into her seat and frantically waved her hands.

"N-No. Sorry. That's not the issue. I misspoke. Ahem. Ahem!"

Moon Su-rin suddenly started clearing her throat.

'What is she talking about?'

"Ahem! Khh! Now, since we're done eating, should we get up?"

... Wait a second.

My Beast's Sense was speaking to me.

Telling me I shouldn't just let this slide right now.

I had been caught off guard so many times up until now.

This wouldn't be the first or second time I ended up in deep trouble because I carelessly brushed off what the heroines said.

There was a heroine who wanted me to rape her, I was raped as soon as I returned from a week-long absence, and there was a professor who made milking me out the price for helping with her research.

The twins clung to me, begging to do it together, the rich lady had voyeurism, and the beautiful girl whose sister was taken hostage clung to me, swearing to live only for my sake—all in this kind of situation.

Believing that Moon Su-rin hadn't fallen down some weird path was naive, no, downright stupid.

★ Heroine Status Window

[Moon Su-rin]

- [ Favorability : 88 ]

- [ Libido : 45 ]

- [ Appetite : 50 ]

- [ Fatigue : 43 ]

Current Status : H-How could I say it so stupidly like an idiot. Aack... What if he suspects me?

Seeing her reaction, it seemed I was right.

Surely not? Is Su-rin Nuna collecting pictures of me or something?

"..."

"... Ho-yeon-ah. Are you not getting up?"

'But honestly, if it's just that much, isn't it fine?'

Compared to the other heroines, that was a ridiculously normal preference.

It wasn't like she was collecting photographs of my nude body.

I could just accept her keeping normal photographs like she was in a celebrity fan club.

Pretending to contemplate, I slowly opened my mouth.

"Well. I suppose it might be fine if it's someone I know?"

"... Really?"

"Yes, yes. If it's someone I know, they already know my face anyway. I could even just give them a photograph if they asked."

"... Then, a-ah, never mind."

Moon Su-rin looked like she was about to say something but shook her head.

I had a rough idea of what she was going to say... but I didn't bring it up first.

It was already a bit suspicious now, and if I pushed any further, it would truly seem like I was saying it on purpose.

"Nuna. Should we leave now?"

"S-Should we?!"

Holding back the corners of her mouth that kept twitching upward, Moon Su-rin took the lead and walked out of the room.

It was obvious she was holding back a smile.

"... Well, yeah. At that level, she's an angel."

If it's just collecting photographs, I could indulge her as much as she wanted.

It wasn't even a weird preference, either.