TVMF 7

Chapter: 7

Adrian scoffed at the girl’s promise—again, no longer even counting how many times he had done so.

The underground cell with iron bars was dark.

But today, the darkness was different from usual. It wasn’t the kind where opening or closing one’s eyes made no difference.

I’ll definitely come back. Please wait for me.

The voice lingering in his head was as feeble and insignificant as the faint clump of light before his eyes. Anyone who wasn’t hopelessly naïve or a fool wouldn’t believe such words.

He hated the color red.

No—hate wasn’t strong enough to describe it. It was repulsive beyond words.

And yet the girl wore that color boldly in her hair.

Her face, revealed by the soft glow, looked painfully fragile.

As if a single tap might make her crumble to pieces—yet she carried such a vivid, intense color. It was laughable.

The empty promises of someone like that weren’t worth even the slightest attention.

Not at all.

Repeating the words in his mind, the boy stared at the glowing object in his palm as it slowly, very slowly, lost its light.

When we arrived at the mansion, Father was waiting in front of the main gate.

“You’re later than I expected.”

“That’s because it was way more fun than I expected!”

Because dealing with the black-hearted male lead was way harder than I thought. Same for the runt villain.

Coming home and seeing Father’s face made me genuinely happy. I hopped down from the carriage and threw myself at him, and he lifted me up with ease.

“Dinner is ready.”

At the word dinner, my stomach growled reflexively. But instead of satisfying basic biological needs, I was busy laying groundwork for a quest.

“Can I go to Duke Bellas’s house again tomorrow?”

After all, I needed to deliver food under the excuse of a quest.

“No.”

Father’s response was unexpectedly firm. It was completely different from when he’d allowed repeated visits to the Bellas estate before.

“Why not? I want to go!”

As I flailed my legs while climbing the stairs, Father let out a light sigh.

“You’re still young. Staying at home is the safest place for you.”

Staying at home is the safest.

It was something I’d heard countless times growing up in the marquis’s household.

Until now, I hadn’t really minded staying inside. The mansion was huge, and anything I wanted could be obtained.

I thought it was simply because Father cherished me too much.

But now that I had multiple quests to clear, I needed to rein in this overprotection.

“You don’t know this yet, but the outside world is full of danger. The most dangerous thing of all is people—those who harbor thoughts of harming others.”

“……”

“The Bellas family has cultivated overwhelming force under the pretext of protecting the Empire. They are not safe people.”

I blinked my wide eyes.

It seemed Father had been wary of the Bellas family all along. But this wasn’t something a ten-year-old could reasonably understand.

When my carefully crafted innocent expression met the marquis’s heavy gaze, he sighed.

“If anything were to happen to you, Rosha… I wouldn’t be able to face your mother.”

He meant the mother who had died giving birth to me.

Was Marquis Utel so haunted by his late wife that he treasured his look-alike daughter like a precious jewel?

So much so that he couldn’t bring himself to scold her, pampering her endlessly until Rohesia grew into a villainess?

Thinking back, Father had always favored me over Erden.

He trained Erden harshly in alchemy and nagged him whenever his results were lacking. Meanwhile, I received no alchemy education at all—only a comfortable upbringing.

Erden was constantly told, Why can’t you do this? Why can’t you do that?
I, on the other hand, was met only with gentle pats.

As if simply existing was enough.

So Father’s a doting dad… That’s a bit much of a trait for a villainess.

If I wanted to grow up properly, I had to reject this overprotection. Villainesses were destined to meet cruel deaths from all directions.

To survive, it was better to adopt obsessive righteousness like Lexia.

“Then who isn’t dangerous?”

“……”

As expected, Father couldn’t answer. True to a doting parent, it seemed every adult in the world looked dangerous to him.

“Father, don’t worry so much. Lady Bellas doesn’t seem like a particularly bad person.”

Sorry, Father. Your daughter needs to say some blatant flag-setting lines to survive.

“So I can’t go tomorrow? Then can I go the day after?”

“…Fine. All right.”

In the end, he gave permission with a reluctant expression.

What choice did he have? Knowing the future, I’d have to manage Father’s favoritism and overprotection—and fix my brother’s moral education too.

“Rohesia. You’re back?”

“…?”

“You seemed strange this morning, so I thought you’d go out and never come back.”

The moment we entered the dining room, Erden was practically screaming, Please correct me, with his entire being.

“Or since you’re so small and weak, I thought someone might’ve picked you up and taken you away.”

“Erden. You shouldn’t say things like that to your sister. You sound like you’re talking about a stray hamster.”

—Ding!

[QUEST: Give a sharp warning to the male lead ‘Erden,’ whose moral compass is confused. (100/300)]

“Eat,” Father said indifferently from the head of the table.

As expected, he had no intention whatsoever of teaching his children proper values. That’s how one became a villainess and the other a near–mad scientist.

A servant pulled out my chair. I silently blamed Father, then resumed dealing damage to Erden.

“I’m your family. In situations like that, you’re supposed to say, ‘Rohesia, I was worried something might happen to you outside. I’m glad you came back safely.’”

—Ding!

[QUEST: Give a sharp warning to the male lead ‘Erden,’ whose moral compass is confused. (100/300)]

“Why would I worry about you?”

While the quest progress rose smoothly, Erden tilted his head as if genuinely curious. I checked his morality score just in case—still 15. Whew…

“Erden, imagine someone really did take me while I was out. And I never came home. How would you feel?”

“Who knows?”

With an expression so indifferent it bordered on apathy, my brother scooped himself some salad.

“There are no perfect secrets. Eventually, someone would find out who did it. The capital is a rough place—people fall into danger all the time.”

“…So?”

“I’d calmly wait, then push them from behind when they slipped near a cliff.”

“……”

“Once that person died, I’d probably feel at ease again.”

Ha…

My throat went dry, so I downed water first. Where was I even supposed to start correcting this?

“Erden.”

“What?”

“First of all, don’t ever say things like that outside. It’s horrifying.”

—Ding!

[QUEST: Give a sharp warning to the male lead ‘Erden,’ whose moral compass is confused. (101/300)]

Looking at his face—which clearly read I don’t understand what you’re saying—my frustration reached my chin.

System… can I really turn that into a human being?

Then, the administrator’s message popped up abruptly.

[ADMIN: Raindrops falling from a temple roof can bore through a gargoyle’s stone head.]

Don’t quote proverbs at times like this. It’s irritating.

[ADMIN: Do not be discouraged. If you proceed with steady effort from now on, you can definitely do this!]

[To grow into an adult who does not burn out, you must eat a balanced meal.]

As the administrator encouraged me, a bright light burst before my eyes and a quest appeared.

[QUEST: Daily Quest Generated – ‘No Picky Eating.’]

• Taste dishes made with at least 5 kinds of vegetables. (0/5)

• Eat 100g or more of meat or fish. (0/100g)

• Eat at least two slices of bread. (0/2)

……?

What… is this now?

Now eating food is a quest too?

I mean, it’s technically a benefit—just eating completes the quest—but still…

Wasn’t the system supposed to just hand out quests, manage status windows, and collect coins from shop transactions?

This felt… different. Almost like it genuinely cared about me.

Give poison, then medicine…
Give quests, then food…?

—Ding!

[Eat at least two slices of bread. (1/2)]

Come to think of it, I’d briefly wondered about it at the Bellas estate too—just what was that administrator?

Running the system and knowing this world was from The Sacrifice of the Thorned Golden Flower… could it be some god-like being?

But gods don’t usually communicate this continuously, do they?

And it always spoke to me politely—far from divine.

‘Just like you, I’m in a desperate position.’

What was it so desperate about?

I glared at the translucent system window while diligently moving my hands and mouth.

—Ding, ding!

[Eat 100g or more of meat or fish. (24/100g)]
[Taste dishes made with at least 5 kinds of vegetables. (2/5)]

“Rohesia, slow down a bit.”

Oops. Lost in thought, I’d been eating mechanically—and earned Erden’s scolding.

Right. Let’s just eat. Staring won’t give me answers.

I even lectured Erden a few more times when he treated the servants rudely during the meal.

Holding my full belly, I returned to my room and opened my status window.

[Status Window – Rohesia Utel]
Lv. 10 – ‘Youngest Lady of the Utel Family’
Skill Points: 1
Condition: Slightly tired
Charm: C
Reputation: – (Unranked)

[Claim Daily Quest Completion Reward.]

Honestly, I was a little excited. Daily quests usually gave small but extremely useful rewards over time.

But the result was disappointing.

[QUEST Reward: +3000 EXP]
[SYSTEM: One minor status ailment is cured through a balanced meal.]

Then, with a ding, my status ailment Slightly tired disappeared.

[Condition: Warm and full]
[SYSTEM: Through quality sleep, all non-lethal status ailments are cured.]

The more messages appeared, the darker my expression became.

This was just common sense—eat well and sleep well, and you recover!

Sure, I got some experience points, but my level was already fairly high. The EXP bar still had a long way to go before leveling up.

“…That’s it?”

Silence followed.

After a moment, a message from the administrator appeared—somehow seeming a little timid.