Chapter 157


    It was entirely an ident.


    Silvia, who had always lived a strict life, had never properly held someone’s hand.


    But to think that she would end up cing her own body against someone else’s.


    She was already flustered, but Ian’s reaction was even more unexpected.


    ‘He… he said it feels good? How am I supposed to react to that…’


    This was obviously a situation where she should be angry.


    Complimenting a sensitive part of her body?


    She had been raised with strict discipline.


    Considering her background, this was something she could never ept.She should be angry, but…


    Despite everything…


    Even Silvia was no different from other girls.


    It was apliment from someone of the opposite sex her age.


    Moreover, it was the first time she had ever received such apliment, and without realizing it, Silvia blushed and lowered her head.


    ‘Is there something wrong with her?’


    Seeing her reaction, Ian, somewhat misunderstanding, asked her.


    “Are you okay, Silvia?”


    Silvia’s ears turned red at Ian’s concerned question.


    She mumbled while keeping her head down.


    “Did… did you really like it that much?”


    “Huh?”


    “My b-br*asts.”


    “?”


    “I always thought they weren’t that big. I thought… men liked bigger ones.”


    Silvia’s sudden question hit Ian out of nowhere.


    Although Ian had asionally experienced her bluntness, he was still momentarily taken aback when Silvia asked such a question.


    ‘Well, I guess there’s nothing to worry about.’


    He decided to just be honest about what he felt.


    “For your size, I don’t think they’re small.”


    “R-really?”


    Silvia quietly supported her lower chest with her hands.


    Her chest, which fit softly in one hand.


    ‘… At least they’re okay for Ian.’


    Silvia let out a small sigh of relief.


    Silvia, who had been conscious of people like Lina and the Princess, couldn’t help but be concerned about their impressive sizes.


    She wondered if Ian preferred women withrger chests.


    ‘… But then again, considering that cat, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case.’


    <em>Ahem!</em>


    Clearing her throat, Silvia lifted her head, regaining her confidence.


    “But.”


    <em>Click. </em>


    Regaining her confident gaze, she took a step closer to Ian.


    “…Yes?”


    “Are you saying that even while I was hugging you out of happiness, you were focused on the feeling of my chest, Ian?”


    Silvia’s eyes curved coldly.


    Ian averted his gaze from her.


    Silvia, like a hunting fox closing in on her prey, slowly and elegantly moved closer, one step at a time.


    “…Ah.”


    A small sigh escaped Ian’s lips.


    “Wait a minute.”


    Silvia’s eyes narrowed as she approached Ian’s chest and picked off a pink strand of fur.


    “What is this?”


    Her voice grew colder. Ian shivered as if he felt a chill in the air.


    Seeing his reaction, Silvia’s gaze sharpened even more.


    <em>— Sniff, sniff.</em>


    Silvia, like a search dog, sniffed Ian.


    “Peach scent.”


    <em>Thump.</em>


    Ian was flustered.


    Had he been spending too much time with Danya?


    Come to think of it, they had spent almost two nights together, so it wasn’t surprising that her scent had rubbed off on him.


    Especially since Danya was in heat, her scent was particrly strong.


    “…I must have spilled some fruit.”


    “And the fur?”


    “Danya’s fur is shedding a lot these days, I guess. It’s flying everywhere.”


    “Hmm.”


    Did she find that excuse usible?


    Silvia, who had been ring at him with a sharp expression, finally softened her face.


    “More importantly, why did youe?”


    But each word she spoke felt like a cold breeze blowing through.


    She was still angry, clearly. Or rather, it felt more like the calm before a storm.


    Why?


    Because despite her cold words, her hands were trembling slightly.


    Ian scratched the back of his head.


    For some reason, whatever had happened with Danya weighed on his mind, especially when it came to Silvia.


    But he couldn’t juste out and confess everything himself.


    There was no choice but to proceed with the reason he hade to see Silvia in the first ce.


    Ian pulled out the ring he had brought with him from inside his coat.


    There was no special case or anything; the ring simply appeared in Ian’s hand.


    “R…R-Ring?”


    Silvia, who had been nning to express her anger, froze in ce.


    She was utterly bewildered.


    The suspicion that had almost burst from her mouth, questioning how Danya’s fur had ended up all over Ian’s pants, was swallowed back down as she stared nkly.


    “Uh, well, um…”


    Silvia waved her hand slightly, as if to tell him to wait a moment.


    But to Ian, who was solely focused on whether the ring would fit Silvia’s finger, it was just a perfect opportunity to try it on.


    <em>— Slide.</em>


    The ring, imbued with the light attribute of luck (+7% growth rate), fit perfectly on Silvia’s long, slender finger.


    Ian stepped back and crossed his arms, admiring how the ring looked on her hand.


    ‘… It doesn’t really suit Silvia, does it?’


    It looked like one of those candy rings he used to buy from the school store.


    ◆


    “…!”


    Silvia stared nkly at the ring now on her finger.


    It was not a ring that could be called refined or tasteful, and it was far from her usual aesthetic preferences.


    “I-it’s … beautiful.”


    Yet, without realizing it, Silvia murmured those words.


    Her voice had sprung from her pure, unfiltered emotions, bypassing any rational thought.


    The world Silvia had lived in was always strict.


    As the heir to the Laurent Trading Company and the daughter of a noble family, her life had been unimaginably rigorous, filled with nothing but education and work, leaving no room for genuine friends.


    She had lived that way for so long that she no longer even felt lonely about not having friends.


    Her world had always been so barren.


    There was no ying with friends, no exchangingpliments, and no joy in giving or receiving something sincerely without expecting anything in return.


    Because of the life she had led, the ring Ian had given her felt all the more special.


    “A… a ring.”


    Silvia looked down at the ring on her ring finger.


    Even someone as uninterested in anything other than managing thepany as she was understood what a ring on the left ring finger symbolized.


    ‘… Starting our newlywed life in Lichten wouldn’t be too bad, I suppose?’


    If they were to have children, one boy and one girl would be ideal.


    ‘But I doubt my parents would approve…’


    Suddenly, the strict faces of her parents came to mind.


    They wouldn’t approve of a spouse unless they were a duke or at least a count, or had a great deal of money.


    As these thoughts spun around in her head, Silvia, who had fully embraced her misunderstanding, asked Ian.


    “Do… do you have any savings?”


    “Savings?”


    Silvia reached out her palm in response to Ian’s confused question.


    “No, I can secure as much money as we need. The problem is the title. I heard your family has already fallen…”


    Silvia, pacing around the office as if deep in thought, suddenly grabbed both of Ian’s hands.


    “There will be many hardships ahead, but I’ll do my best to ovee them.”


    ◆


    t took quite a while for Silvia to clear up her misunderstanding.


    In the end, everything was somehow sorted out with Silvia’s reaction: “It’s not like I wanted to get married or thought about how many kids we should have or anything! Obviously, I just thought of it as a simple gift for a friend!” After some back and forth, things were finally settled.


    After handing the ring to Silvia, Ian made his way back to the Academy.


    There wasn’t any particr reason for going there; it was just that he had made the clubroom his unofficial home.


    Thus, the equation had be lodging = school = clubroom.


    “<em>Haaah</em>. That was exhausting.”


    Feeling as limp as a half-melted marshmallow, Ian opened the door to the clubroom.


    As soon as he returned, the familiar atmosphere made him feel like he wasing back home.


    It was a somewhat strange feeling.


    Shaking his head to clear away unnecessary thoughts, Ian flopped onto the bed.


    He wanted to fall asleep just like that, but there was still something he needed to do.


    Of course, the feeling ofziness was also lingering.


    Caught in the bnce betweenziness and duty, Ian reached out from the bed to rummage through the shelf beside him.


    <em>— Rustle, Rustle.</em>


    “I’m sure I put it somewhere around here…”


    A thick hardcover notebook was in his hands.


    Soon, his hand grasped a thick, hardcover notebook. The title on the cover read:


    『Love Journal』


    The elegant script made it look grand, but in reality, it was just Pongpong’s record of stalking activities.


    The reason he pulled it out now was simple.


    “Aria definitely acted suspiciously in that crimson bear’sir.”


    Aria Lumines Bell, crouched in Urugios’sir, performing some kind of ritual.


    Her behavior couldn’t just be dismissed as merely suspicious.


    And for good reason:<ol><li>She knew the exact location of the special reward called “yer Perk”, which is given by the field boss Urugios.</li></ol><ol start="2"><li>She even knew the method to im the reward, which required writing “yer Perk” in Korean.</li></ol>


    At this point, it was beyond suspicion. He felt an intense urge to interrogate her until she confessed everything, perhaps even using truth serum.


    “…But if I did that, I’d probably get disassembled on a molecr level by the Inquisition.”


    Turning the entire Holy Land against him was not an option.


    What made Aria dangerous wasn’t her personalbat power.


    ‘At my current level, Aria’sbat power isn’t a concern.’


    What’s terrifying is the force backing her.


    Therefore, Ian decided to take a different approach.


    <em>— Flip!</em>


    Holding the notebook by its spine, he quickly flipped through the pages until he found the entry he was looking for.


    [Gloomy]


    Gloomy.


    This was the name Aria Lumines Bell used during her time as amoner.


    Gloomy was also the girl who had developed a severe dependency on Ian ckangers, filled with an overwhelming sense of mncholy.


    Therefore, the method to deal with Aria was simple.


    Gaslighting.


    He would make every single one of her brain cells belong to him.