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Chapter 22
Last night, after putting the drunken Collin to bed, Fleur was just about to lie down on the floor when a surprise quest suddenly appeared.
[Surprise Quest]
A golden opportunity to raise Collin’s favorability!
Spend the night in physical contact with him.
Special Reward: Favorability +10%
Since the “double favorability event” was still active, she could raise it by as much as 20% if she succeeded.
She couldn’t afford to miss this chance to increase his negative favorability all at once. She absolutely had to succeed.
But the quest’s main requirement was “physical contact.”
She leaned over to the man fast asleep, completely oblivious, and quietly sat on the bed, reaching out a hand toward his smooth cheek.
“I can’t stoop so low as to touch a drunk guy just to raise favorability.”
Muttering to herself, she poked his cheek with her finger.
Her plan was to spend the night with just that much contact.
This counts as skinship. My fingertip and his soft cheek are touching, aren’t they?
She stifled a laugh at her own cleverness—until the system window popped up.
Quest Progress
The time required to succeed varies depending on the area and extent of physical contact.
Current contact requirement: 38 hours 28 minutes.
She gaped silently at the numbers.
What? As long as I’m touching him, it should count! This is skinship too!
But no matter how fiercely she glared at the status window, the system didn’t care. It only showed the merciless ticking clock.
The reward was huge, so the risk of failure must be just as great. She had no choice but to succeed.
After calming down, she thought hard about how to reduce the required time.
Collin was completely drunk, so he’d probably sleep soundly for five or six hours. She had to finish the quest before he woke, without him realizing anything.
“How much more contact do I need for the time to go down?”
She spread her fingers wide and gently cupped his whole cheek instead of just poking with one finger.
Current contact requirement: 22 hours 17 minutes.
As expected, the more contact, the less time it required.
She reached with her other hand and carefully placed it on his other cheek.
Current contact requirement: 18 hours 52 minutes.
“What the heck? With both hands, it should’ve gone down even more!”
Just as she grumbled in confusion, the status window blinked and updated.
Current contact requirement: 19 hours 08 minutes.
Wait, why did it go UP?!
Flustered, she lost her balance and tipped forward.
“Ah—!”
Since her hands weren’t free, she almost fell face-first into him—stopping just in time by bracing against his shoulders.
Their lips were only three centimeters apart. She nearly kissed him.
She froze, barely daring to breathe, afraid he’d wake.
“……”
“……”
Thankfully, Collin didn’t stir. She let out a deep sigh of relief and quickly pulled away.
This time, she knelt down on the floor to avoid another accident, studying him carefully.
Where do I have to touch him to reduce the time…?
Her golden eyes scanned him from head to toe.
But guilt weighed heavily on her—touching a drunk, sleeping man felt wrong.
“…He really is ridiculously handsome.”
Before she knew it, her gaze had fixed on his face.
She was so used to seeing his frowning, argumentative expression that his peaceful, sleeping face looked unfamiliar—and strangely captivating.
“Definitely looks better with his mouth shut.”
Despite being one of the hardest characters to build favorability with, players couldn’t abandon him thanks to his stunning looks.
Even with just a neat shirt on, his broad square shoulders and wide chest stood out, inviting her to lean against them.
I really wanted to see this arrogant guy regret things… In the end, though, money was always his priority.
Fleur, almost entranced, reached out and lightly gripped the edge of his shoulder.
It should’ve been just another skinship action, but now that she was aware of his face, the feeling became strangely different.
Here she was, alone in a small room with a gorgeous man—one who was defenselessly letting her touch him without knowing.
Current contact requirement: 11 hours 36 minutes.
Even better than when she had cupped his cheeks.
Confused, her mind filled with question marks—until another message popped up.
Contact time decreases the more intense the skinship is, and the greater your desire toward Collin becomes.
Her face flamed red.
Wait—my desire?! Does this mean the more I want to fool around with sleeping Collin, the faster the time goes down?!
“N-no way! I’m only doing this because of the quest!”
Her guilty voice rose louder than she intended.
“Mmm…”
He stirred beside her, scrunching his nose.
Panicked, Fleur pulled her hand away and squeezed herself under the bed, holding her breath until he relaxed back into slumber.
Relieved but not reassured, she reminded herself—she still had 11 hours and 34 minutes left.
“…So basically, I need to focus on him to cut the time?”
The status window vanished, as if to say correct answer.
Rather than keep touching him and drowning in guilt, she decided to channel her inner… well, perviness, purely for the quest’s sake.
This wasn’t lust, she told herself. It was strategy.
Taking a deep breath, Fleur released his shoulder, then ran her fingertips slowly down his arm. With only a thin shirt covering him, she could feel the hard muscles underneath.
Having seen all the illustrations of the romanceable characters, she already knew their bodies were perfect—but having Collin right in front of her like this made her blush furiously.
“All you hold all day is a fountain pen, so why’s your body so good…”
Her hand finally stopped at his long, straight fingers.
His palm, slightly larger than hers, was curled loosely. Fleur gently slid her fingers between his and laced them together.
“…Your hand’s warm.”
Unlike his usual cold, logical words, his hand was soft and comforting. Embarrassed by her own thoughts, she rubbed the back of her heated neck with her free hand.
“…Hmmm.”
Collin turned in his sleep toward her, dragging their entwined hands closer to his face.
His breath tickled her hand, freezing her in place.
With her mind primed with illicit thoughts for the quest, the sensation made her heart hammer uncontrollably.
She blinked rapidly and checked the status.
Current contact requirement: 6 hours 32 minutes.
That was about the time Collin would naturally wake up tomorrow. Good.
Still nervous that the timer might suddenly increase, she stroked the back of his hand and gazed softly at his face.
Then another problem arose.
“…Crap. I’m sleepy.”
After farm work that morning, a hearty dinner, and drinks, exhaustion hit her hard.
If she fell asleep and lost her grip, it would all be wasted. She pinched her thighs to fight the drowsiness, but her eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
At one point, without realizing it, she dozed off and their hands slipped halfway apart. Luckily, the timer had paused instead of resetting.
Determined, she tore strips from her apron and bound their hands tightly together.
She did everything she could to stay awake, but at some point she must have fallen asleep anyway…
And the plan to finish the quest without Collin knowing failed—because he woke first. Worse, there were still 10 minutes left on the timer.
“Why are our hands tied like this?”
Thinking quickly, Fleur made up an excuse.
“After my parents died, I couldn’t sleep alone at night.”
“Ah, in that carriage accident?”
“Yes… Losing them both at once, I kept having nightmares.”
“But it’s not night right now, so you can untie it.”
As Collin reached to untie the cloth, she hastily stopped him.
“W-wait! Could we… hold on a little longer?”
“Why?”
“Because… my hand’s numb.”
“What?”
“It’s been tied all night. My whole arm’s tingling—if I move it, it hurts.”
She drooped her brows, widened her eyes, and blinked rapidly, trying to look as pitiful as possible. She gazed up at him like Puss in Boots.
But his face didn’t change a bit.
Of course. Unless it’s about money, nothing shakes this guy’s heart.
Embarrassed, she comforted herself with the thought that at least the favorability hadn’t dropped.
Then—
Current contact requirement: 2 minutes
Time decreased due to Collin’s desire.
She jerked her head up at the alert.
What the—? So he was enjoying it inside, even though his face didn’t show anything?! She marveled at his flawless poker face.
Then Collin lifted their bound hands and pulled her closer.
“Huh—wha—?!”
She stumbled between his knees as he sat on the bed, their faces suddenly only inches apart.
“So… I was your goal all along?”
