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Chapter 08
**[Item: ‘5ml of Memory-Stirring Perfume’]**
: Scent is one of the means by which memories are recorded!
For 10 minutes after use, it will remind the one who smells it of the warmest and most nostalgic scent from their own memories.
*May have no effect depending on the target.*
—
“Huh……?”
The quest and reward were the same—but why were the affection scores like this?
It seemed clear that everyone had regressed, but why had the Duke’s affection jumped up to 10, and why was Felix’s affection—which I was certain had dropped—already restored?
As I stared at the system window with a sense of unease, alarms went off in succession, announcing new quests.
I felt like I was going to get tinnitus from the noise, so I covered my ears and checked the quests with my eyes only.
—
**[Raise your family’s affection to 30]**
If affection drops to 0, it will be automatically considered a failure.
Kallion Barderia: 80/30
Gwyneth Barderia: 10/30
Felix Barderia: 73/30
Kairos Barderia: 55/30
Goal Success: Reward – ‘Special Seed’
Goal Failure: Death
—
**[Raise the affection of the household servants]**
The amount that can be raised per person is limited.
0/25
Goal Success: Reward – ‘Compass that Shows the Direction and Distance of Those Around You’
—
**[Make a friend]**
0/1
Goal Success: Reward – ‘Friendship Ring that Alerts You When the Other is in Danger’
—
**[Amass 10 million Rupes 0/10,000,000]**
Only assets judged to be Nadiana Barderia’s personal property will be counted.
Goal Success: Reward – ‘Pouch That Holds Anything’
—
**[Raise the affection of Marquess and Marchioness Chascade]**
Leo Chascade: -3/25
Obria Chascade: 15/25
Goal Success: Reward – ‘The Duchess’s Pendant’
—
*’It doesn’t seem like anything new has been added or changed just because it’s a hidden route.’*
But every time, I wonder—why are all the quests like this? Is this some kind of princess maker or what?
For reference, I’ve never once succeeded at that friend-making quest. The standard seems to be quite high. Do I have to be willing to give them a kidney or something?
I’d also tried the Chascade couple affection quest a few times, but no matter what I did, it wouldn’t go up—except for Leo Chascade, that is; the one with the higher initial score, Obria Chascade, wouldn’t budge.
The silver lining is that sub-quests don’t seem to have penalties for failure.
Still, now that it’s come to this, I have to do them.
“Hah……. This is so complicated.”
I stared blankly at the quests, then clutched my head and collapsed onto the bed.
The friend-making quest and the Chascade couple affection quest were both headache-inducing, but in this situation, the biggest problem was the family affection quest.
Especially—I was worried about how to face Gwyneth.
Would I be able to smooth over what I’d said and done before dying?
*’……Probably not.’*
Since the hidden route didn’t appear for no reason, I’d keep going—but who the hell is this hidden route even for?
I’d finally more or less completed my strategy guide, and now it had all become useless.
“It’s all ruined, really. Should I just go to Gwyneth, drop a diss track, and start over?”
“Ugh……”
“Ah!”
Right. She was still here too……!
Remembering Rain’s presence, I quickly clamped my mouth shut.
Things had gotten so unexpectedly complicated that I’d completely forgotten about Rain, who had been sent flying by Felix earlier.
I hurried over to where Rain was sprawled on the floor and crouched down to meet her eye level.
She didn’t hear what I said, right? Given how dazed she looked, she probably didn’t.
“Rain! Is your head okay?”
Putting as much concern as I could into my voice, I helped her sit up.
Rain let out a small groan, clutching her head and staying still for a moment.
Then she looked at me and said,
“Daisy……? You’ve gotten so big while I wasn’t looking. What are you doing in your pajamas, you shameless thing?”
For reference, Daisy is Rain’s youngest sibling, seven years younger than me.
Which means, at this point in time, she’s two years old.
……Ah. I don’t even know anymore.
—
* * *
Rain received treatment immediately, but the diagnosis was that no one knew when she’d come to her senses.
The silver lining was that she still remembered basic knowledge and her own family……
In the end, the head maid judged that Rain could no longer work, so she was sent home with a generous severance package and a hefty compensation fee.
For reference, the head maid informed me (while I was pretending to be lost in grief) that until a replacement was hired, the maids who handled my dressing would share Rain’s duties.
*’Things have changed this much from the very beginning.’*
Thinking about how much more the future I vaguely knew would change made me feel lost.
*’Of course, it’s not like there are no good points……’*
For one, I was genuinely glad I didn’t have to go through the toughest and most tedious early period.
And the Duke’s affection—which had always been the slowest to rise—was now at 80. I had no idea why, but it was welcome news.
*’Well, maybe he got sentimental thinking about family before dying.’*
The Duke hadn’t heard what I said before dying, so to him, I was still the good, docile daughter in his memories.
He was probably either in denial about the ancient monster summoning, or had erased it from his memory. There’s that saying, isn’t there? That when humans experience too much shock, they delete memories as a defense mechanism.
*’Or maybe he really does think I was controlled by a dark mage.’*
Even so, the fact that he’d rebelled against the imperial family to protect me was still incomprehensible—but whatever the reason, it benefits me, so I’ll let it slide.
If he’s actually lost his mind…… that’d be a bigger problem.
I’ll have to subtly check on that later.
“Alright, so how do I strategize for the first one and the youngest one now……”
Honestly, I don’t think Kairos will be that difficult. Unlike the three sword-like father and brothers, he tends to be soft toward those he considers his people. I didn’t realize it at first, but after enough repetitions, it became clear.
He’s the prickliest person in the world before you open his heart, but once you do, he doesn’t know how to close it again.
*’Not sure if that applies to someone who killed him, though.’*
At least his affection only dropped to around 55.
Come to think of it, in the last round, the worst Kairos ever did was push me away slightly while telling me not to talk to him—maybe I was too harsh on him.
Anyway, even if it takes time, I should be able to recover his affection.
“The real problem…… is that bastard Gwyneth.”
Starting at an unparalleled -23 affection, the biggest contributor to my infinite regressions, the psycho who always lovingly spread thorns on my path.
I can say with certainty—if you personified the word “finicky,” it would be this guy.
Gwyneth was sharp at reading people. Especially any slightly fabricated words or actions—he’d catch them with uncanny precision and practically loathe them.
Not only that—he hated people who lie often, people who can’t read the room or the situation, noisy people, people with too much pride—every type of person you can imagine. At this point, you’d think he just hates humanity in general.
Because of that, to lower Gwyneth’s guard, I had to approach him without any ulterior motives, hit the mark perfectly without being offensive, and get out quickly. The perfume item was essential when affection was in the negative.
Still, sometimes just running into him when he was in a bad mood would lower his affection.
And on top of that, as if he had a lie detector installed, the moment he sensed even the slightest crack in my acting, his eyes would light up like a drug-sniffing dog finding contraband, and he’d say:
*〈You’re acting right now, aren’t you?〉*
The first time, it was terrifying.
He seemed insane.
*’Actually, he still seems insane.’*
Anyway, his affection would hit rock bottom, and I’d die again in some bizarre way. It was an endless cycle. I never imagined it would be this hard to escape the negative affection range.
Thanks to Gwyneth’s insane perceptiveness, I developed a fairly high level of acting skill. So much so that sometimes I’d forget I was acting and almost develop a split personality. I’d often delude myself into thinking I could take up acting when I returned to my original world.
And yet—after all that effort to raise his affection with my acting, I went and admitted with my own mouth that everything I did was acting and lies.
“……That’s legendary-level deception, isn’t it?”
It was almost strange that his affection hadn’t dropped into the negatives. Thinking of it that way, the current numbers actually started to look hopeful.
Still, no clear solution came to mind for how to recover the affection. Rather than trying to raise it, for now I should focus on not letting it drop—and avoid running into him as much as possible.
