Chapter 27
As I turned to leave, muttering about not knowing what ‘payback’ meant, I abruptly stopped, my words cutting off when I locked eyes with a familiar pair of eyes.
It felt as if my tongue had been cut off.
I belatedly noticed that my detection skill had activated, tinting one side of my vision red.
“What’s the matter, Hilda?”
“Uh… Ahhh!”
Seeing his brightly twisted eyes, I screamed and stepped back a few paces.
A suffocating noise escaped through my parted lips, sounding like a gasp of terror.
My face turned ghostly pale with fear as I desperately backed away, causing Adrian’s smile to fade.
His face, now devoid of its genuine smile, resembled a wax sculpture.
Handsome, yet rigid.
“Did I scare you?”
“How… How did you get here…?”
“You seem quite startled. I didn’t mean to.”
“Y-you, appearing so suddenly…”
It’s like he’s some kind of devil popping up out of nowhere…
“I’m sorry for scaring you.”
“No? I mean, you don’t need to apologize.”
I stuttered, taken aback.
I felt guilty for cursing him in my mind.
Moreover, in this world, Adrian’s status meant he wouldn’t even need to apologize for tripping me.
「Meeting Adrian in the village has earned you 2000 experience points.」
The experience bar, which I had pushed to the upper levels of level 9 with critical achievements throughout the day, rose sharply and paused towards the end.
Level 10 wasn’t far off now.
I felt a sense of pride in my progress, recalling how hard I had struggled to reach level 4 with mundane tasks like weeding.
Leveling up is so hard in this game, and there are no rewards for leveling up – a terrible, doomed game…
“Hilda?”
Adrian tilted his head slightly, aligning his gaze with mine.
The bright sunlight seemed to gather around him like jewels.
If I didn’t know about him, maybe my heart would have skipped a beat at that moment.
Even knowing the truth, I was momentarily taken aback by his flowery scent.
But that was just Adrian’s facade.
A venomous skin.
Inside was a snake.
A serpent flicking its forked tongue, waiting for an opportunity.
“Why are you looking at me like that again?”
“I told you before. Because you’re handsome. You’re unchanged today as well.”
“Handsome?”
“Yes. You have a face that shouldn’t just smile at anyone. A face unseen in any kingdom. When you look at me, it feels like all the light in the world is piercing my eyes.”
As I mechanically spat out another compliment, white letters fluttered as if waiting for this moment.
「Adrian’s favorability has increased by 1.」
「Current Adrian favorability level: 1 (4/400)」
“Is that so? I thought the same. But thank you.”
He is well aware of his good looks.
It’s ironic how effective such obvious flattery is.
Maybe a hundred compliments a day would increase his favorability without needing to buy anything?
“Hilda, you wear your thoughts on your face.”
“Yes… Eh? What do you mean…?”
“Nothing, just that you seem very innocent.”
He said this with a pure smile, but it didn’t seem innocent.
What, does he know what I’m thinking just by looking at my face?
I can’t tell if he’s being serious or not.
Even knowing the game’s settings, it’s confusing.
If I’m this bewildered, deceiving the game characters must be a piece of cake for him.
Truth can be harsh only to those who know it.
“What brings you to the village? You usually don’t come here often.”
“I came to run an errand for the kitchen. I didn’t need this much, though.”
“That’s a lot. It looks heavy.”
“After visiting a few shops, it quickly piled up like this. They gave me all this when they heard I work for the Pfalzgraf family. It seems the villagers would give up their shops for the Pfalzgraf family.”
“My father does take good care of the villages near the mansion. The Pfalzgraf family is renowned for its charity work.”
“The villagers praise the Count and you, Young Master. They say you’re an angel fallen to earth…”
“An angel.”
I said this while observing his reaction, but his expression remained unchanged.
It was like telling a dog owner, “Your cat looks cute.”
But of course, he wouldn’t react.
Regardless of what he thinks of me, he’ll kill me in the end anyway.
Uh, uh-oh.
Thinking about it again makes me scared.
As I took a few steps back, part of a shadow I hadn’t noticed before came into view.
What’s he holding behind his back?
It looks sharp…
“Are you looking at this?”
“Aah!”
As I leaned forward to see what he was hiding, Adrian suddenly thrust what he held towards me.
I stumbled back, pale with fright.
“What, what, why do you have such a dangerous thing?”
“This? It’s just ordinary gardening shears.”
“That’s why it’s dangerous. They’re so big, you could easily cut yourself or bleed out from a deep cut, not to mention the risk of infection or tetanus…”
“You’re worried about me?”
No, not you. Me.
“Of course. If you’re not familiar with such a thing, you might hurt yourself… What are you going to use it for? Give it to me, it’s dangerous. I’ll hold it for you.”
I thought of disarming him before he could use it to stab me, but he swiftly dodged my attempt to take it.
“No need. It’s quite heavy, Hilda. I can’t give you something that heavy.”
He declined, keeping the shears away from me.
This guy, he definitely knows I’m trying to disarm him.
How can he lie so disgustingly with such an innocent face?
“It’s not heavy at all. Do you see this basket I’m holding? It’s filled with a lot. Very heavy. But I’m managing fine. My body is stronger than you think… Just hand it over!”
“No, Hilda. It’s cumbersome…”
“Just give it to me. Quickly.”
“It’s heavy, I’m telling you…”
“Then you carry the basket and give me that!”
“Wait, you might get hurt…”
I can’t die in this game!
Driven by this single thought, I almost threw the basket at him and snatched the gardening shears he was trying to hide again.
The moment the shears left his hand, I was filled with a sense of triumph.
I took it!
I disarmed the murderer!
“Hilda… Are you that happy to hold gardening shears?”
“Yes…! Oh, Young Master, I’m sorry. Are you alright?”
It hit me a beat later what I had done.
I almost choked. Crazy. Not only had I yelled at him, but I had also thrown the basket at his chest!
In my frenzy, I had shortened my lifespan.
Look at his displeased face!
Did I make him angry enough to attack?
“I’m sorry. I was just so worried you might get hurt…”
“It seems only Hilda cares about me.”
Adrian’s expression as he said this didn’t look good.
I shrank instantly.
I can’t tell how often my confidence has inflated and deflated today.
Is he going to kill me now?
Even if he does, he’d probably take me back to the mansion first, right?
It’s good that I took the shears.
They looked sharp enough to break ribs if thrust into a person’s chest.
If he tries to kill me, I could use them to threaten him and escape.
“I’m really sorry. Please give me the basket back. I’ll carry everything.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s really heavy, so I’ll carry it.”
“Just give it to me, especially since you’re not well…”
Despite everything, this concern was genuine.
No matter how cruel the core might be, the shell was still the frail Adrian.
If a heavy load is challenging for my strong and sturdy body, it would be even more so for him.