FGFM 21

Chapter 21

“Ugh!”

Fleur, caught off guard, was grabbed by Colin’s hand and pulled toward him.

“Ugh…!”

She barely managed to steady herself, placing her hand on his shoulder so she didn’t completely fall.

But she was so close that her face reflected in Colin’s cheddar-yellow eyes.

At that moment, startled by the sudden event, she froze, unable to blink.

“…….”
“…….”

He was staring at Fleur with half-lidded eyes.

*Congratulations. Colin’s affection has increased without a quest.
Current affection: -17%
Affection double event applied.

Huh? Why did his affection increase even though I didn’t do anything?

Ah, right. I’m the most beautiful woman in this world, aren’t I? I had forgotten about her appearance because I wasn’t trying to live as the main character.

But even with the double event, it only went up 1%. As expected, money is more important than love for him.

She tried to get up without much excitement, but Colin didn’t let go of her arm.

“Colin, let go of….”

He even lifted his other hand and cupped her cheek.

“Fleur….”

For the first time, he whispered her name, tilting his head as if he might kiss her at any moment.

His breath brushed against Fleur’s lips.

“Eeeeeek!”

Startled by the unfamiliar sensation, she screamed, forcefully pushed Colin’s hand away, slapped her chest with both hands, and hurriedly got up.

Then she pressed herself against a wall as far as possible, crossing her arms over her chest to shield herself.

“Ugh….”

He groaned in pain, clutching his chest from the unexpected blow.

At least his eyes were more open now, as if the alcohol had worn off slightly.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

Hearing Fleur’s voice, flushed in another way, he slowly turned toward her.

His jacket slipped off completely in the process.

“You were the one who came closer first….”

Mumbling through slurred speech, he rubbed the spot she had hit.

“I never did that. Colin, you were just too hot, so I was trying to help take off your jacket.”

“That’s the same thing…”

“No, it isn’t!”

“Quiet. My head’s spinning….”

This time he held his forehead and sighed.

“Why did you drink if you can’t even handle alcohol?”

“…I can handle it.”

“After taking just a sip, you collapse and still say that?”

“I’m not incapable, just a little weak.”

“That’s the same thing.”

Fleur was openly incredulous at his twisted logic.

Feeling her gaze, Colin raised his arm to cover his eyes.

“If you’d said you couldn’t handle beer from the start, none of this would have happened.”

“I said I can handle it.”

“Fine, you can handle it. Still, if you’d said you were weak, I wouldn’t have ordered it either.”

“…You did.”

Suddenly, his voice dropped so low it was hard to hear.

“Huh?”

“Y…Your….”

“What did you say?”

Fleur, still pressed against the wall, stepped closer out of frustration.

“You said it smells… bad?”

“…Pride….”

“You’re telling me to restrain myself?”

“…It hurts my pride.”

Fleur took another step closer, then abruptly stopped.

Silence filled the room until she spoke first.

“Just because you’re weak to alcohol?”

“If my shortcomings are revealed, they become my weaknesses.”

“…….”

“A small weakness can snowball and block my path. So I have to act like I’m good at everything, like I can do anything. That’s the only way….”

He muttered in a small voice.

Hearing this, Fleur began to understand why Colin hid that about himself.

His goal was to become the official heir of the Martin family. But with two older brothers above him, everyone said it was a futile dream.

Determined to prove himself, he threw himself into investment ventures. Early failures brought even harsher criticism.

“You should have kept quiet. You’re just tarnishing the family’s honor.”
“This is your limit. Stop now and accept reality.”

Despite his father’s and brothers’ scorn, Colin never gave up. He corrected his mistakes and eventually succeeded.

Now, everyone lined up to receive his investments, but Fleur didn’t know how harshly he had pushed himself along the way.

Past stories were condensed into a few lines, and since it was an adult game, she had only wanted to increase affection and see steamy illustrations.

Hearing Colin’s inner thoughts for the first time, she felt a bit embarrassed for having treated him as money-obsessed.

Fleur scratched her cheek and added,

“I made the appointment at the bar. I should have asked first. I only thought about myself. I’m sorry.”

It was the first time she had apologized after always arguing, making her heart flutter.

Colin slowly lowered his arm, which had been covering his eyes, and quietly looked at her.

“…You really don’t hide anything.”

“Do I? Well, I’m not good at lying… even if I try, it shows, so I just tell the truth.”

Blinking slowly, Colin lowered his eyelids again and whispered faintly,

“I envy you….”

Then he fell back asleep, breathing evenly.

He just said he envied me? Him, who has everything—money, power, and fame?

Fleur stood there dazed, hearing his words clearly.

Surprise quest
A perfect opportunity to increase Colin’s affection.
Spend the night in physical contact with him.
Special reward: Affection +10%.

Wait, what am I supposed to do with a drunk person?! Don’t you have any morals?!

She almost screamed in anger.

“But 10% is a big gain, so it’s hard to give up….”

She glanced at the blanket spread on the floor and Colin’s empty side, biting her lower lip.

The next day

“Ugh…”

Colin opened his eyes, clutching his throbbing head from the hangover.

But the high, dark blue ceiling he was used to seeing wasn’t there.

The ceiling was low, made of wooden planks, leaving barely a hand’s width of space if he stood straight.

‘Where is this? Yesterday I definitely made plans with Fleur and went to that noisy bar…!’

Worried he might have been kidnapped, he slowly sat up and quickly scanned the room. Something caught his left hand, and his gaze automatically shifted.

“…Huh?”

A small, thin, white hand came into view. It was holding Colin’s left hand tightly.

Following the hand with his eyes, he saw Fleur sleeping soundly, face pressed into the bed.

It was hard to immediately understand how they ended up sleeping like this together.

Their wrists were even tied together with cloth, as if they shouldn’t separate.

Colin looked on curiously. As he reached to untie the knot with his other hand,

“Mm…? Ah, no…!”

Fleur, sensing his movement, squeezed the tied hand, tangling her fingers deeper with his.

Groggy and heavy-eyed from sleep, she looked at their intertwined hands.

“Ha… I thought you’d let go. Scared me.”

“Valen?”

Hearing the low voice from above, Colin looked up, still half-asleep.

His eyes, now fully awake, stared down at her.

“You’re… awake?”

“Where is this?”

“This is the second floor of the bar from last night. Colin fell asleep suddenly, so I moved you here.”

Her explanation jogged his memory. She had started talking about early business ventures, which made him nervous, so he had taken a sip of beer.

Although he usually couldn’t handle alcohol, he hadn’t passed out like that before. Perhaps his poor condition had made him collapse immediately.

Realizing the situation, he tried to wash his face to relieve his shame and hangover, but his tied hand got in the way.

“Why did you tie this hand like this?”

He didn’t remember and asked cautiously.

“Did I run around like this?”

“Seems like you did.”

“…Answer my question first.”

“This is because of me.”

“Because of you?”

“Well….”

She couldn’t say it was for a quest, so she fumbled for an explanation, widening her eyes.

“I can’t sleep alone at night since my parents passed away.”

“Ah, they died in a carriage accident?”

“Yes. Losing both of them at once gives me nightmares at night….”

She looked up at him, frowning pitifully, eyebrows drooping, trying to appear as helpless as possible.

“Hmm, then it’s not night now, so I guess I can untie it.”

She looked at him, silently asking if she could release it.

Seriously, what the hell? She almost gestured in disbelief.

As Colin reached to untie the knot, she hurriedly stopped him.

“Wa-wait. Can’t I hold it just a little longer?”

Above her, only she could see a status window hovering above Colin’s head. A timer ticked down steadily.

There were still about 10 minutes left to complete the quest and receive the reward.