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Chapter: 35
This time, my arm lifted straight up.
[When shooting a gun, you must clearly see your target.]
Following the administrator’s whispering voice, I opened my eyes wide, and a round target appeared right on the man’s body.
Another target appeared slightly off, shaking a little in a different place.
[When the two targets align, firing is ready.]
My hand moved on its own, and the shaking target snapped perfectly to the center of the man’s body.
The two aligned targets glowed a soft golden light.
Beep─
At the same time, a system message appeared.
[Target, Lock on.]
It felt as if my body had become one with the gun, perfectly locked onto the target.
My finger didn’t hesitate and pulled the trigger.
─Pew!
It hit!
“Ugh! What…?”
The man shouted as he saw the bullet embedded in his body.
But before he could even close his mouth, he fell backward with a thud.
“Stop right there!”
“How dare you do such a thing to a powerless girl, you villain!”
Only then did the people chasing him rush over.
I also stepped down from the carriage.
People surrounded the fallen man and argued for a while, leaving the area around me, who had actually defeated him, empty.
“Hey there.”
I turned at the voice and saw the girl from before.
Her black hair was tangled like a scrub brush, growing wildly so her features were hard to see.
She also seemed unwashed, giving off a faint bad smell.
I kept my expression neutral and asked,
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, thank you.”
When the girl spoke, I felt something strange.
It was a subtle sense of distance, something I could feel but couldn’t explain.
“What’s the name of my savior?”
The question was simple. She didn’t ask about my status or the weapon I used, even though my carriage looked expensive.
“Rosha.”
Since she hadn’t revealed her name, I had no reason to introduce myself properly.
That seemed enough for the disheveled girl, who lightly nodded.
Then, before the crowd that had gathered like clouds could speak to her, she disappeared into the mass.
‘Huh? Shouldn’t I go to the police station and give a statement?’
In Balalaika, the city’s security force, similar to a police station, handled public safety.
Thinking about it, I really didn’t want the hassle of being called there to write a report.
After quickly getting back into the carriage and leaving the area, I realized what had caused that strange feeling about the girl.
‘Her posture… it was so straight.’
And she didn’t show any sign of nervousness, even in front of a clearly noble person like me.
Her confident attitude suggested someone accustomed to being served.
After arriving home, just like during the Adrian quest, I took out paper and pen and sat at my desk.
[Quest: Raise Nathaniel’s confidence.]
Like before, the quest only gave a general direction. How to achieve it was up to me.
The easiest way to raise confidence is to make someone clearly recognize their own strengths.
“Strengths, strengths…”
Nathaniel had two natural strengths: kindness and intelligence.
As long as he didn’t sabotage himself by turning dark, these alone made him almost unbeatable.
“Hm…”
Alright. I would maximize these two strengths and give Nathaniel an experience to feel them.
I spent a while thinking carefully about how to do it.
Once I came up with a method, I organized the plan well.
As I organized my thoughts, the girl I met on the way also came to mind.
‘Who could she be?’
Someone with such a confident posture…
I tried to recall if she existed in the original story, but I couldn’t remember any black-haired female character.
The next day, I prepared to go out and visited Nathaniel.
Luckily, that annoying guy wasn’t around, and Mrs. Stuart and Nathaniel greeted me warmly.
“Th-thank you for coming… Miss Rosha.”
Nathaniel hesitated when he saw me, then turned his head.
[SYSTEM: The other person is embarrassed because they acted tearfully in front of you yesterday.]
No need to go that far.
I smiled first and spoke to Nathaniel.
“How are you, Stuart Young Master? How’s your hand?”
“Ah, oh…!”
Finally, Nathaniel made eye contact with me.
“It’s almost fully healed… thanks to your treatment yesterday!”
He removed the bandage and showed his clean, healed palm. The quality seemed good—it was clearly a system item.
Then Nathaniel started rewrapping the bandage.
“Huh? It looks fully healed to me.”
“Ah.”
His cheeks flushed as he explained.
“It’s from you, Miss Rosha, and I didn’t want to unwrap it too soon…”
Seeing him shy and hesitant, my heart fluttered.
‘Adorable!’
Shy Nathaniel was overwhelmingly cute, more than I could imagine.
“Ro-Rosha…?”
“Ah, s-sorry!”
I realized my hands were brushing Nathaniel’s soft brown hair.
How could this happen? I was committing such a rude act…
Even knowing it was inappropriate, I couldn’t stop—his hair felt magical, soft like the fur of a small animal.
“I-I shouldn’t be doing this…”
Despite my embarrassment, my hands moved skillfully. Nathaniel’s round cheeks turned even redder.
‘I’ve messed up.’
Could I ruin his favor toward me? I cursed myself for giving in to a moment of desire.
Then—
─Ding!
[QUEST: Comfort the dejected main character, Nathaniel. (1/30)]
What kind of quest was this?
Looking closely, Nathaniel, with his flushed cheeks, didn’t seem upset at all.
[SYSTEM: The other person hasn’t been shown affection like this for a long time and is happy you are comforting them.]
With the system’s guidance, I had no reason to hesitate.
“Hehe, cute.”
I stroked his fluffy hair, and it almost felt like a little dog’s tail wagged behind him.
“Can I call you Nel?”
“Yes, Nel?”
“Short for Nathaniel.”
“T-That’s…”
Nathaniel’s young, plump cheeks flushed even more.
‘Shy?’
Adorable.
“No one’s ever called me that before…”
“So… can I?”
Nathaniel shook his head, still blushing.
“Then Nel it is.”
[SYSTEM: Nathaniel’s favorability increased by 5.]
Hearing the pleasant sound of favor rising, I smiled.
“Since I’m a year older, we can speak casually, okay?”
“Of course!”
I nodded and spoke.
“Nathaniel thinks he’s not good enough, but that’s not true.”
“But…”
“The first proof is this.”
I led Nathaniel to a mirror and sat him down.
“…?”
I placed my hands gently on his shoulders from behind.
“Look.”
“?”
“You’re handsome.”
“W-What do you mean!”
Nathaniel’s face turned bright red again.
“Miss Rosha, are you teasing me?”
“Not at all.”
I was serious. I felt sorry he didn’t understand the advantage of being born handsome.
“But… Carly said I look weak, like a girl.”
“…How great are you then?”
“Ladies like you prefer strong, reliable men like Carly anyway.”
I didn’t even know where to begin.
Carly’s looks were average. Nathaniel wasn’t even fully grown yet, and he wouldn’t be outmatched physically later.
‘How much gaslighting has he suffered…’
While feeling both frustrated and pity, Nathaniel took out a magazine from under the mirror.
“Look.”
“…”
The magazine showed men with bulky muscles, thick hair, square jaws, beads of sweat, rugged features… like artificially enhanced testosterone.
“Carly said these are typical handsome men.”
“Nel, listen carefully.”
“Yes.”
“No. You’re not like them.”
“….”
His violet eyes blinked, staring at me.
“No. Think about it. Do you think Carly understands what women like? I do, not him.”
“! …Rosha.”
True to the Stuart lineage, Nathaniel understood quickly.
“Sure, some muscles are good, but you can develop those naturally, Nel.”
“Yes.”
“The most important thing is your face.”
I cupped his face in my hands. Heat rose to his cheeks again.
“Nathaniel is among the top five most handsome men I’ve ever seen.”
“R-Really?”
“Of course.”
This was true—no one in this world could be more handsome than the main male lead.
Nathaniel’s curious eyes asked who the other three were.
I smiled mysteriously.
“Carly isn’t one of the other three.”
The others were Adrian, Erden, and my father, Duke Uthel.
I then suggested the next step to Nathaniel, who couldn’t hide his curiosity.
