“First, um… sit down.
Is the drink you had last time all right?”
“Yeah!
I felt bad coming empty-handed, so I brought some tea food that might pair well with what we drank back then.”
Attempting to shake off the awkwardness, I tried to change the subject under the pretext of serving a drink.
At that, Reysir pulled a box of cookies from his Inventory as if he had been waiting for the chance.
It was wrapped very luxuriously.
“For your information, should I say I received this at the Cafeteria?
Well, something like that.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“When I tried to pay, they told me to just take it because it’s free for students in the Awakened Special Class…?
Oh!
But I did wait in line properly.
I was going to go outside and come back if the line was long, but fortunately, the popular items were sold out, so there weren’t many students.”
For some reason, the protagonist of another novel added a bunch of supplementary explanations I hadn’t even asked for.
He sounded almost as if he were making an excuse.
It seemed he thought I would find it disagreeable and nag him if he brought expensive snacks as a gift or didn’t wait in line properly to buy things.
‘But if he only heard it was free when he went to pay, does that mean he was planning to buy it even if it was expensive…?’
If I asked that, Reysir would mistakenly think I had a profound interest in his financial situation.
So, I just gave a half-hearted reply of, “I see,” and placed an empty plate on the table.
Even though I hadn’t given him any instructions, Reysir tactfully unwrapped the individually packaged cookies one by one and placed them on the plate—all so they would be easy to pick up and eat immediately.
Meanwhile, I took the Sujeonggwa out of the Aether Mini Fridge and filled the glasses.
I considered serving dried persimmons like last time, but since Reysir had brought cookies today, I decided to skip them.
However, I felt that serving nothing at all would make for poor hospitality.
So, I garnished the drinks with jujubes—pitted, rolled, and sliced into thin rounds—and pine nuts, letting them float on top.
“It’s the same drink as last time, but the ingredients inside are different?”
“Since we have separate snacks to go with the drink today, I just added some light garnishes.”
“This is light?
You made flower shapes out of the jujubes!
As expected of a young master from a prestigious family, you even pay attention to details like this when drinking…?”
The fact that I floated jujubes and pine nuts in the Sujeonggwa had nothing to do with the status of this Possession Body.
But since I couldn’t reveal that fact, I sat down in my chair without offering a response.
Perhaps Reysir hadn’t really expected an answer either, as he brought up a new topic.
“By the way, Karbaldr.
This table, is it perhaps…”
“If you’re under the delusion that I changed the table to a larger one in preparation for you visiting again, you’re mistaken.
I replaced the table strictly for Yor.
Yor does various things on the table, and the old one looked too small and flimsy.
That’s why I bought a new one.”
In case there are any readers wondering when exactly I changed the table, let me provide a brief bit of TMI.
I sent a letter to the Ducal House last Tuesday with the desired table dimensions, and the delivery was completed the evening of the day before yesterday, which was Thursday.
“Right, right.
I see.”
After hearing my explanation, the protagonist of another novel tilted his head and nodded repeatedly, his lips curling up in a spiteful smirk.
No matter how one looked at it, he didn’t seem to believe a single word I said.
Since I had absolutely no plans of ever letting him into my room again, I found the situation more than a little unfair.
‘Even if I argue, he’ll just tease me!’
Thus, instead of saying anything, I cooled myself down by sipping the cold Sujeonggwa.
The protagonist of another novel laughed heartily, as if he found my reaction amusing.
Only after I glared at him did he begin to mind his manners, his eyes darting around.
Then, looking at what he had just transferred to the plate, he spoke with an ‘Oh right, I have this!’ expression.
“Hurry up and try this!
I asked Helly what kind of tea food goes well with a drink that’s sweet yet has a strong spice flavor, and she recommended this ‘biscotti.’
She said it’s nutty and has dried fruit inside, so it’ll pair perfectly if you dip it in the drink.”
As Reysir said this, he dunked a cookie deep into his Sujeonggwa and held it out toward me.
Surely he wasn’t telling me to take a bite of that?
I stared at him with an incredulous look, wondering what on earth he was doing.
Reysir then put the piece he was holding into his own mouth and exclaimed, “This is really delicious!”
It looked like an effort to smooth over the awkward atmosphere, so his claim of it being delicious didn’t seem very credible.
I couldn’t even imagine what kind of flavor dipping a Western cookie into Sujeonggwa would produce.
However, seeing Yor take a bite of biscotti dipped in Sujeonggwa and meow with sparkling eyes, it seemed it really was tasty.
‘Come to think of it, Sujeonggwa is usually drunk with nutty pine nuts, walnuts, or sweet dried persimmons.
It would make sense for it to have good chemistry with a cookie containing nuts and dried fruit!’
When I picked up a piece of biscotti, I felt its hard texture at my fingertips.
Thinking I now understood why he told me to dip it in the drink, I soaked the biscotti in the Sujeonggwa and took a bite.
The taste was truly worthy of admiration.
As the hard cookie softened from absorbing the moisture, its nutty flavor came to life.
The unique aroma of the Sujeonggwa seeped into every crevice, creating an exotic sensation.
Whenever I crunched down on a hard nut or chewed a chewy piece of dried fruit, the nuttiness and sweetness became even more pronounced, making both the texture and the taste delightful.
“How is it?
It’s good, right?
They go well together, don’t they?”
“Well, it’s not bad.”
“It’s definitely better than ‘not bad,’ isn’t it?”
“You didn’t even pick it out yourself; you just took a recommendation.
Why are you acting so arrogant?”
“That’s because I’m the one who asked Helly for the recommendation!”
He really seemed quite proud of himself.
I watched him with an exasperated gaze before finishing the rest of the biscotti in my hand and taking a sip of the Sujeonggwa.
The protagonist of another novel couldn’t have come to my room just to enjoy a tea party with me.
It felt like it was about time to get to the main point.
“Stop with the trivialities and tell me what you were going to say during morning training.”
“Now?
Um… all right.”
My guest showed a hint of hesitation, as if he wanted to chat a bit more.
However, he soon nodded and brushed off the biscotti crumbs clinging to his fingertips.
Then, correcting his posture, he met my eyes with a serious expression.
Just as the question of what kind of incredible story he was about to tell crossed my mind—
“Karbaldr.
Do you happen to have a Buff Skill that slows down your perceived time?”
“……!!”
A truly incredible story had burst forth from the mouth of the protagonist of another novel.
The shock was as great as it was unexpected.
Because of that, my shoulders flinched and my eyes widened; I couldn’t control my physical reaction.
Reysir interpreted this as a confirmation and moved on to the next question.
“Is the reason your head keeps heating up and you have nosebleeds because of that skill?”
“……”
This time, I tried my best to maintain a poker face and show no reaction.
Nevertheless, whether he had read something from my face or whether my reaction didn’t matter because he was already certain, he nodded as if he understood.
“I knew it was something like that.”
Judging by how he let those words slip, it seemed that playing dumb would be useless.
Moreover, since Reysir had the [Truth-Reading Eye] skill, lying would not only create distrust between us, but might also lead him to resolve to look into my skill window using that very skill.
‘I know I can’t stop the original protagonist from using that skill on me forever… but I want to be the one to decide the timing.’
The one saving grace in this situation was that the original protagonist didn’t seem to have used the [Truth-Reading Eye] on me yet.
If he had, he would have asked if I had a skill that ‘speeds up thought processes’ rather than one that ‘slows down perceived time.’
Furthermore, above all else—
‘Isn’t it a betrayal of trust to pretend you realized something naturally when you actually found out by peeking at my private information?’
Reysir had been going on about how happy he was that I trusted him even over small things.
I had a… ‘belief’ that he would never do anything to make me feel betrayed.
‘And Reysir probably trusts me, too…’
I let out a deep sigh and confessed honestly.
“Fine, it’s as you say.
I have a skill with a ‘Mental Acceleration’ effect, and if I maintain it for a long time, my brain overloads…
You already know the result of that, so I don’t need to say it, right?”
“I thought it was strange.
You’re usually fine, but your condition takes a sharp turn for the worse whenever you display focus related to combat…
If it were because of a chronic illness, there’s no way the prestigious Ducal House would leave you alone, yet it didn’t seem like you were going around for treatments either.”
I was going to ask how he noticed, but the need to do so vanished.
Like a man who had finally solved a puzzle, the original protagonist began to list his reasons one after another.
While I sat there listening quietly—
“Even though you don’t have superhuman physical abilities, the fact that your reaction speed exceeded human levels was a bit mysterious.
I just brushed it off, thinking it was natural since a cat’s reaction speed is much faster than a human’s, but so you had a skill like that?”
…Nonsense like that was slipped in surreptitiously.
“W-wait.
What did you just say…?”
“To summarize, I said, ‘So your fast reaction speed was thanks to a skill?'”
“……”
I hadn’t asked because his words were too long and needed summarizing.
But that previous comment was so absurd that it had slipped out of me involuntarily, and I certainly didn’t want to hear a remark treating me like a cat for a second time.
So I just stared at him with my mouth shut tight.
“I’m sure you’re well aware that calling your reaction speed ‘surprising’ is an understatement.
Yet, the reason you were indifferent to praises about it must be because you thought it was just thanks to a skill, right?”
The original protagonist feigned ignorance as if he had never uttered any nonsense and continued speaking with a serious face.
“That skill is also a part of your ability.
I don’t know why you consider it as something you just got for free by luck.
Besides, utilizing that skill is purely your talent, isn’t it?”
This was undoubtedly a line meant for an Influence Event.
“You really never get tired of this, do you?
Every single time, you slyly…!”
“Huh?
What did I do slyly?”
“……”
“Why did you stop?
Slyly what?”
It was obvious that the moment I said ‘trying to influence someone,’ a spiteful smile would spread across Reysir’s face.
No, it wouldn’t stop there; he would throw his head back and laugh for a long time, opening his mouth so wide I could see his tonsils.
Just imagining that reaction made my face flush with shame.
“What is it?
What?
Why are you suddenly embarrassed?
Can’t you tell me why?”
Instead of confusion, the face of the protagonist of another novel, who was pelting me with questions, was full of enjoyment.
His eyes were already crinkled playfully.
Even if he hadn’t perfectly seen through my thoughts, I couldn’t help but notice that he had succeeded in guessing the gist of them.