Conquest Complete, So Why Is the Affection Dropping?

“Haa, haa…”

Unlike me, who was clinging to the armrest like a lifeline and completely drained, Hexion straightened up and fixed his messy hair with his usual composed face. His eyes were rational, making everything that just happened feel like a dream I had alone.

“Are you satisfied with this, Shin Joo?”

“….”

“Or is it not enough?”

Hexion placed his hand on the straps of his armor. At that moment, my mind cleared like I’d been doused with cold water.

“Stop.”

I stopped him from trying to remove his armor. The excitement that had been burning through my body was rapidly cooling.

“Please stop.”

Hexion hadn’t done this because he felt affection or desire for me. He offered himself to me because I was Shin Joo because I was God’s representative.

While I needed to continue existing as the temple’s symbol, leading priests and knights, he did this to keep me from showing favor to an outsider like the Admiral.

“Am I amusing to you?”

“…Shin Joo?”

I know. It’s not Hexion’s fault. If it weren’t for the censorship, he probably would have been willing to offer his body to me from the start if that’s what I wanted.

Because he was a devout servant of God.

‘…I was foolish to think I wanted to do even that.’

It’s quite funny. When he maintained his composure and kept his walls up around me, I thought I wanted to mix bodies with him through any means, whether through hierarchical coercion or seduction.

But now that such a situation has arrived, I don’t understand why my heart suddenly grows cold.

‘They say the human heart is like a reed.’

I should be clapping with joy at the chance to have such a handsome man without any effort, but feeling that his actions were driven by duty made me reluctant.

More precisely, I felt somewhat pathetic.

“I made a mistake. No, I think I lost my mind for a moment.”

“Shin Joo.”

“I’m sorry, Hexion. For making you do this.”

I pushed down my rolled-up skirt. The deep wrinkles wouldn’t smooth out no matter how much I patted them. It felt just like my current state, making me feel unsettled.

If this were just a game character behind a screen, I wouldn’t have felt hurt by a relationship starting from pity or duty. Nobody cares how a character made of 0s and 1s thinks about them.

If you can get immediate pleasure, that’s enough. If you can have s*x even with low affection, that’s actually ideal. What could be better than getting what you want without effort?

I used to think that way.

But now that this game character exists before me, can be touched, and we can look into each other’s eyes while talking, I couldn’t take it lightly like before.

I guess I’m someone who’s heavily influenced by what I can see.

“Let’s stop now.”

When I stood up, Hexion reached out as if to support me. I avoided his hand and grabbed the chair’s backrest instead.

The sensation of wet underwear clinging to me was unpleasant. Though I brought this upon myself, I had nowhere to complain.

“I’ll go back alone. I’m not a child, and it’s not that far from the prayer room to my room.”

“Shin Joo, please wait. Did I do something wrong?”

Noticing my poor mood, Hexion asked urgently. I thought he was insensitive since he always maintained his walls no matter how much I tried to flirt, but apparently not.

“I’ll accept anything. Can you not tell me what needs to be corrected?”

“There’s nothing. Because Hexion didn’t do anything wrong.”

If anyone did something wrong, it was me. And I’m too weak to face my own mistakes.

No matter how shameless I was, I couldn’t just go back to the bedroom and sleep comfortably with Hexion, who offered his body out of duty.

Looking at this, it seems I still have some shame left even after selling my conscience for 10 gold. I’m not sure if that’s fortunate or unfortunate.

“It’s just my whim. You’ll understand, right?”

“Shin Joo, but…”

“You’ll understand, right?”

When I emphasized each word firmly, Hexion seemed to catch my intention and stepped back, bowing his head.

I was Shin Joo and Hexion was a holy knight. A superior’s “Will you understand?” isn’t a question. It’s an order saying “Understand.”

Master-servant relationships are this unfair. This must be why people who become accustomed to this relationship easily lose their morality and go crazy.

“And one more thing. Now that the barrier is up, there won’t be any more demon beast attacks on the Holy City, and since the Admiral won, there’s no chance of enemies invading for a while. The temple was already safe to begin with.”

This meant that Hexion essentially didn’t need to guard me anymore. From the start, he was more like a secretary or attendant rather than my guard.

“…”

Hexion kept his lips pressed in a straight line. His eyes showed he had much to say but couldn’t in this situation. If only I had been able to read this man’s expressions sooner.

“Well, I’m going back to my bedroom. Hexion, you should rest too.”

The bedroom wasn’t far from the prayer room. After passing through a short corridor and climbing the stairs to my bedroom, I saw my room which somehow looked desolate.

I sighed involuntarily. I’d never thought my room was particularly large, but for some reason today it felt barren.

It’s a romance game but I couldn’t romance, so I went crazy from hunger, but the price for giving in to a moment’s impulse was too high.

‘If that’s how it was going to be, they should have included various events for different affection levels.’

This is why games should stay true to their genre above all else. Looking at this poorly executed basic structure, it was obvious the sales would plummet. This must be what they call a failed game.

‘And my situation, stuck in this failed game, is pretty pitiful too.’

I shook my head and lay down on the bed.

[Hexion]’s current affection: 39

Even after rejecting him so harshly, Hexion’s affection didn’t decrease. Feeling strange about this, I closed the affection window and pulled the blanket over my head.

I regretted kicking away my own fortune, but self-loathing washed over me at the thought that I didn’t even have the courage to try to pick it back up.

***

The morning after falling asleep while self-deprecating is never pleasant.

Without the tall and beautiful guardian knight who usually provided eye candy when I woke up, my dampened mood showed no signs of improving.

Of course, if he were here, that would have been its own problem!

“Are you awake, Divine Master?”

“Ah! You startled me!”

I jumped and looked toward the door to see an unfamiliar man standing there. Well, not exactly unfamiliar – I’d seen him around like background scenery, but we’d never actually spoken.

Name: Baal

A priest of the temple who is actively involved in external affairs. Though he occasionally conflicts with the High Priest, it never escalates to serious discord.

Even someone like me who isn’t particularly religious knows that Baal is a demon’s name. Even in a fantasy setting, is it really okay for a priest to be named Baal?

While lamenting the supporting character’s name that seemed hastily chosen by a developer too lazy to do proper research, I gave Priest Baal a slight nod in greeting.

He approached with a bright smile, stopping three steps away from me and bowing respectfully.

He looked older than me, so maybe just nodding was a bit rude. But since I was the highest authority in the temple, a deep bow would have looked strange too. I could understand why those Korean girls who transmigrate into noble ladies in romance fantasy novels struggle to speak informally with older servants and housekeepers.

“What brings you here, Priest Baal?”

“I heard you dismissed Hexion from his position as guardian knight.”

I had just sent him away because I was feeling down, but I hadn’t actually dismissed him from his position. Plus, this happened just last evening – I’m surprised it reached Priest Baal’s ears overnight.

Seems like the Divine Master’s privacy isn’t protected at all in this temple.

“No, I didn’t exactly dismiss him…”

“So I came to recommend a new guardian knight.”

“A new guardian knight?”

“Yes. I recommend a holy knight named Venom.”

Though his name sounded villainous from the start, it was difficult to refuse when an elderly priest personally came to recommend him. While I didn’t really need a guard, it wouldn’t look good for the Divine Master to have no guardian knight at all.

“Well… alright.”

I didn’t have the confidence to face Hexion right away anyway. Nor was I in the mood.

While my affection for him hadn’t disappeared, we’d been together constantly until now, so spending some time apart might help us gauge an appropriate distance between us.

When I agreed, Priest Baal showed great joy.

“I knew you would like it, Divine Master.”

“I don’t even know who they are yet, so saying I like it is a bit…”

“When I heard how you rushed out to establish the barrier as soon as you heard the city walls had fallen, I knew. Indeed, Divine Master, you are someone with exceptional decisiveness.”

“That was just because a quest appeared…”

“I’ll call Venom right away. He will be more than adequate as your new guardian knight.”

“I’d like to have breakfast first…”

“Actually, he’s already waiting outside. He’s quite thorough in his preparation, you see?”

It seems the barrier has been erected between Priest Baal and me instead.