Ch.363363. The Intent Behind Early Graduation (8)

“Oppa, I’m here!”

The next day too.

“Oppa~ Hehe.”

And the day after that.

“Oppa!”

And the day after that as well.

Renias, who visited the academy incessantly, always came with a powerful weapon in hand.

A very special and strong weapon called a lunchbox.

Thanks to that, no one dared to interrupt their intimate meal times. But why? Strangely, it wasn’t having much effect on her competitors!

‘Why? How come?!’

Though she was forced to exercise daily for the sake of health, she never gave up on cooking. Every time a meal came around, she would go outside, spread a mat, open the lunchbox, and proudly display a lavish spread.

Moreover, she even demonstrated feeding him by hand, something couples often do, firmly maintaining her position as his girlfriend.

However, there were still many female students flocking to Junon. Especially the freshmen who all rushed to him after lectures claiming they didn’t understand something, making her feel like she was running in place almost every day.

Though she was forced to exercise daily for the sake of health, she hadn’t given up on emphasizing the special nature of their intimate meal times… but why?! How come?!

Seeing that it had no effect whatsoever on her competitors, she began to feel anxious.

‘Could it be that this wasn’t a special time for Oppa?!’

She immediately opened her “Heartbeat Encyclopedia.”

[Warning! If an action has already become too familiar, your partner may not feel it as a special time. In such cases, it might only result in boredom, so carefully observe their reactions.]

Too familiar? So he doesn’t feel it’s special anymore?

“That can’t be, that can’t be…”

Though she verbally denied it, her mind reacted differently.

Thinking carefully about Junon’s reactions, they weren’t exactly positive. He would mumble while eating and somehow break into a cold sweat, or seem somewhat uncomfortable during what should be a happy time dining with his girlfriend.

And when she saw the additional warning note in the Heartbeat Encyclopedia, the silver rabbit’s eyes grew moist.

[If they’re forcing a smile or trying their best to hide their dislike while continuing to accept it at face value, there’s a high possibility they’re just ‘pretending to like it.’ In this worst-case scenario, your actions become poisonous.]

“No way… Could it be that all this time, Oppa was just pretending to like it even though he hated it…?”

She tried to deny this too, but Junon had never once refused, saying it was fine.

When asked how the lunchbox tasted, he always replied it was delicious or that he was hungry so it was perfect timing, and he would eat hurriedly, cleaning the box without leaving anything.

It wasn’t just meals either. When it wasn’t mealtime, she thought snacks would be appropriate, and after meals, she switched to desserts or drinks.

The problem was that Junon showed the same reaction after eating snacks, desserts, or drinks.

To think she hadn’t noticed at all. To think that providing meals, snacks, and desserts had actually become poisonous behavior…!

[If the other person is responding halfheartedly, you must never let your guard down. This could be considered the most dangerous situation.]

“Oh, nooo…! What should I do? Another method, another method…!”

She had to find another approach. She needed to find an opportunity to make up for this mistake by referring to the responses written under the “worst-case scenario” phrase.

After flipping through dozens of pages, the Heartbeat Encyclopedia suggested appealing with a new charm to provide both freshness and specialness simultaneously.

“A new charm…?”

How am I supposed to show that!

While people have dozens of different charms, this problem felt far too difficult for the silver rabbit.

***

“Lady Danju. Urgent news.”

“Lady Charlotte. Perhaps…”

“My lord, in the territory—.”

Since Levrant had been devastated once before, the Eshrelt Trading Company, which could supply them with necessary goods, was in the most accessible position.

With the trading company alone being quite busy, plus contacts with nobles and affairs in the territory, the workload increased several times over.

Nevertheless, Charlotte was handling all tasks efficiently without any excess.

Then one day, in the midst of a busy day, a visitor came for a completely different reason.

‘Huh…? Is that a… rabbit… no, it’s Senior Renias!’

Seeing what looked like a silver rabbit, she rubbed her eyes and looked again. At first glance it seemed like a rabbit, but up close it was a person! And a very pretty one at that!

Though not someone who would typically visit her trading company, who knows? She might have come for something important. There had been times before when she asked to purchase minerals in bulk.

It happened to be break time too. With such tasks pouring in every day, she wasn’t particularly tired, and since this was someone most precious to Junon, she needed to reach out and help first.

“Um… Senior Renias?”

“*Sniff*”

She didn’t ask what business brought her here.

With the silver rabbit on the verge of tears after failing to fend off competitors, all Charlotte could say was:

“Um… Senior, would you like to come in?”

That was all she could manage to say.

Though she hadn’t heard what request would be made, it seemed like tears would pour from Renias’s eyes at any moment.

And so, a little while later.

Holding back tears that seemed ready to fall at any moment, Renias asked straightforwardly.

“Does the trading company sell information too, Charlotte?”

“Well… yes. The trading company does tend to hold important information.”

At that, Renias’s eyes widened.

“How can I get people to say I’m cute…?”

Pfft-!

Charlotte, who hadn’t been able to ask why she had come, choked on her tea at the unexpected question.

“W-what? What do you mean…?”

“Charlotte, you’re super cute. People tell you you’re cute all the time, don’t they?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

While she often heard she was cute based on her appearance, the hit point was that she couldn’t grasp the intention behind this question at all.

“That’s important! I came here because I want to know how to appear cute.”

“S-so you’re making a formal request… to the Eshrelt Trading Company for an answer to this question?”

“Yes. I’ll pay as much as needed! Just tell me!”

While it’s common for trading companies to secretly hold information and sell it to individuals at a high price, asking how to be called cute? What an absurd question.

But it wasn’t a joke either—Renias’s eyes, which had been teary just moments ago, were now deadly serious. She even offered to pay outright, which put Charlotte in a very awkward position.

Plus, she only had one answer to give!

“I’m sorry. I don’t really know about such things either… no matter how much you pay, I can’t answer…”

As she tried to draw the line, saying she couldn’t answer the question, heavy dew immediately formed in the silver rabbit’s eyes.

This is the wrong answer, I shouldn’t finish saying it…!

Charlotte hastily changed course and asked:

“S-Senior! Could you perhaps tell me the circumstances?”

“Circum…stances?”

*Sniff*

She barely managed to prevent the dew in her eyes from pouring out like a waterfall.

“Yes… like why you want to appear cute, even just a simple reason would help!”

And so Charlotte ended up hearing the whole story of why Renias had come to the trading company.

‘Facing numerous competitors and needing to capture the charm point of cuteness with her own hands…’

Why did she want to be called cute?

Why was she willing to pay money to get an answer to this question?

After hearing the circumstances, she roughly understood why.

But… this was truly a difficult problem that even the trading company would be hard-pressed to answer.

Yet an answer had to be provided. Who knows what aftermath would follow if she failed to give one!

After sweating and pondering for a long time, Charlotte finally spoke.

“Um, Senior Renias. I don’t know why you chose cuteness as a charm point, but I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Huh? Why…?”

“It said to show a special charm, but that doesn’t have to be cuteness specifically. Just like how a single spell can produce multiple answers.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

“In that regard, I can recommend someone who can give you a much better answer than I can!”

Renias’s silver antennae perked up.

“Who is it?”

Charlotte, inwardly apologizing, spoke someone’s name.

***

“Ugh…”

Her wallet was empty. After spending all her saved allowance on barbecue, outdoor cooking equipment, campfire and accommodation expenses, she had incurred considerable expenses.

“I’ll have to work hard again for a while…”

Aris sighed deeply. If she didn’t refill this wallet, Senia would surely lecture her about not being prepared in advance.

Just imagining it made her head throb, but seeing the photos being neatly printed from the stack of lenses on one side didn’t make her feel bad.

She felt satisfaction rising within her for having provided another pleasant memory to the children she had personally taught.

“Wow… was I really looking like this at that time…?”

Seeing herself in the photo, clearly flustered, Aris blushed.

“N-next time, I should be less awkward and say I’ll take the photos more confidently.”

Promising herself for next time, Aris was about to leave her home before getting lectured.

-Knock knock.

‘A knock?’

But it seemed there was a visitor? Outside her house waited a silver-haired girl known throughout society as a perfect person.

“Senior Aris!”

“U-um?”

At Renias’s bold advance of grabbing her hand without warning, Aris startled and responded without thinking.

Regardless, the silver rabbit was only interested in her destination, not noticing such reactions.

“Please tell me the secret to showing a confident and dignified appearance in front of people!”

Dignified…? Confident appearance…?

What are you talking about all of a sudden, Renias?