TPTM 08

Chapter 8

Even as a Grand Duke, I’d grown numb to bribes and favors of all kinds.

But never in my life had I received something as small and adorable as this little basket.

What on earth was it? Without even realizing it, Asis Frezier, the Grand Duke, lifted the cloth covering it.

Rarely, a genuine smile appeared at the corner of Lec Kelposher’s eyes behind his monocle.

“This is homemade jam,” he said.

Could it be that Asis Frezier had ever received homemade jam as a bribe?

I shook my head, unsure.

“Probably not.”

But I had nothing else to give. And I wasn’t exactly a culinary prodigy.

Definitely not.

I summoned the status window with a glance. I had barely figured out the on/off function after all the chaos a few days ago.

[System: Status Window]
Tuliah Frezier (15 years old)

• Coins: 1,005

• Personality: 1

• Beauty: 8

• Skill: -10

• Wealth: 0

• Luck: -10

Overall Rating: F

“Wait… doesn’t the status window disappear when I turn it off?”

Unlike in the game, it didn’t vanish completely. Instead, it transformed into a winged, translucent star that floated and followed me.

“Please tell me this doesn’t require coins to activate or something.”

…Please, let it not.

I shivered at the thought, then refocused on the mirror before me.

Yes. That’s not important right now.

What was important was the five new coins in my possession.

“And why my arms feel like they’re about to fall off!”

I didn’t have to look far to understand why the coins had increased. The reason stared back at me in the mirror.

“…”

The reflection showed utter hopelessness—or rather, an abyss.

Tuliah’s hair had swollen into a tangled, fluffy mess resembling wool.

And how did it get like this? Five hours ago.

At first, I had only wanted to make her look slightly more presentable.

Of course, I failed.

The axe-shaped comb, still stuck halfway in her swollen hair, dangled grotesquely. It gave me goosebumps—it reminded me of Koriko.

‘Koriko actually chops Tuliah’s neck with an axe,’ I thought.

That illustration, where the angelic heroine turns dark, had always sent shivers down my spine. Blood spattering. Neck splitting. Tuliah dying with her eyes wide open.

Ugh, it was chilling.

“I have to survive… I have to survive,” I muttered like a mantra, carefully trying to remove the axe-shaped comb. But it wasn’t easy.

“Phew.”

For the record, I hadn’t ruined her hair on purpose. It was that cursed skill penalty.

I gritted my teeth.

“Damn skill penalty.”

When my personality stat was -10, I couldn’t express myself properly. Now with skill at -10, every time I combed her hair, it exploded into a mess of fluffy catastrophe at my fingertips.

How was I supposed to achieve an A rank and survive with difficulty like this?

After a short struggle, I grabbed a handful of pink cloud-like hair, my face twisted in frustration.

“…What do I even do with this hair?”

Should I try to raise my skill stat a bit?

“I have coins… but I should save them.”

I decided to conserve coins.

‘Focus. I’m Tuliah, not Koriko.’

Better to save coins; who knew what else could happen?

I stared blankly at the mirror, waiting for a maid to come and fix my hair.

Still…

“…She is really pretty.”

The world was absurd. A villain who could die at the drop of a hat, yet her beauty could make anyone’s head spin.

Tuliah, named after a tulip, had hair that shone sweetly pink, eyes soft like young leaves.

Whether it was her upbringing or her wicked nature, her gaze carried a faint fox-like sharpness—but it somehow blended into a cold beauty.

Even so, no matter how stunning she looked, it didn’t mean she could pull off hair that looked like a disaster zone.

‘Oh, that reminds me of the game…’

Tuliah Frezier had been portrayed as a lavish noble—so rich that even minor aristocrats would be envious. She had never combed or tied her own hair.

At the time, I thought it was just a character quirk adding to her luxurious nature. But now… it all made sense.

“If you comb your hair, it looks like this. How could she possibly do it herself?”

Meanwhile, the memory of Tuliah’s illustration being executed with an axe kept flashing in my mind, putting me in a sour mood.

I couldn’t wait for the maid any longer. I yanked the comb dangling in her hair.

Snap!

The comb broke.

I had only tried to remove it… and it broke.

I froze, but then a cheerful coin-chime rang out. A message appeared:

[System] 2 Coins Acquired!

• Current Coins: 1,002

“Eh?”

After half a day of chaos, I realized something.

My efforts to comb and groom her hair had converted into experience, which returned as coins.

‘This wasn’t like that in the game.’

In the game, Koriko, as the prospective Frezier bride, would take etiquette lessons, and passing the tests raised stats. Coins didn’t exist in that version.

Why the system here was different, I didn’t know.

What mattered was the reality before me: piles of hair I had pulled out.

“…Nice to get coins, but…”

‘I’m gonna go bald at this rate.’

Could I really turn the game’s ultimate cold beauty into a bald villain?

“Ah…!”

Then a sudden idea hit me: the private kitchen.

Tuliah’s new room came with a personal kitchen, alongside a living room, dressing room, and bathroom.

I ran straight to the kitchen.

No chef, no servants. Perfect.

A quick search through the counters yielded a paring knife just the right size.

Swallowing nervously, I set to work.

After a while…

Cling!

The coin chime rang again. My eyes went wide.

[System] 2 Coins Acquired!

• Current Coins: 1,004

“Wow, this actually works?”

Before me lay a mountain of chopped apples.

“Thanks, Uncle Lilius! Thanks, Aunt Aubrey!”

My private kitchen had never seen a decent fruit, and these apples were battered and bruised. Some were even rotting.

No matter. Every chopped apple earned me coins.

After a while, I snapped out of my frenzy. Ten jars of chopped apples later, I started worrying:

‘What am I gonna do with all these?’

I added sugar to the jars, thinking I was making jam. Normally, proper jam-making requires long simmering and all that—but my skill was -10.

“…Look at this penalty.”

I’d probably end up burning down the kitchen. My hand slipped, pouring in sugar recklessly.

‘Let’s just call it “extra sweet.”’

Then it hit me: in the game, Koriko had to present a homemade gift to win the Grand Duke’s favor.

Powerful nobles were bored with flashy jewels. Asis Frezier appreciated simple, heartfelt handmade items more.

“Then… maybe I can give him this jam?”

Yes. That might actually work.