Conquest Complete, So Why Is the Affection Dropping? - Chapter 41
He was moving too fast. While showering someone with confessions when you’ve just met and barely interacted would be considered tactless and rude enough, a marriage proposal was destructive on a whole different level.
A proposal when he hadn’t even confessed yet? It would be fortunate if she didn’t think he was insane. It might even inspire fear.
“Your Grace. There’s an order to courtship. First, you show interest, then confirm that the other person doesn’t dislike it, and after that, you confess and begin dating.”
“Dating? Isn’t that something to do after marriage?”
Nix bit his tongue. After biting it twice, his eyes welled up with tears and he tasted blood in his mouth. Could he file for worker’s compensation for this?
They say when you encounter a madman, you should avoid engaging and quickly retreat, pretending not to notice. It means there’s nothing good that can come from getting involved, so it’s best to brush it off and quickly leave the scene.
However, things are a bit different when that person is your superior.
When a madman is sitting above you, unless you plan to pull him down, you need to help him return to his senses, right?
Nix rolled his eyes to look at the clock. 7:30 PM. Usually, he would have left work early to enjoy evening life with his family, but suddenly disaster had struck.
Since natural disasters are beyond individual control, his wife would surely understand.
“Your Grace. You should listen to someone with experience.”
“Is that so?”
Fortunately, he wasn’t charging ahead shouting “Marriage first, love later!” like in some novels.
Relieved that his superior hadn’t gone that far off the deep end yet, Nix shared the most effective approach based on his own experience.
“I see. Thank you for explaining, Nix. I have a capable adjutant.”
“Your Grace. From now on, please don’t think and act alone. You must seek opinions from others first.”
“Understood. I’ll ask my siblings too.”
“Please ask adults, I beg you.”
Nix finally managed to leave work with an anxious heart, thinking he should probably seek advice from his wife when he got home.
***
Something rustling woke me from my sleep. A sweet fragrance was wafting from somewhere. When I opened my eyes, I saw a flower basket on the bedside table.
Pink roses and white baby’s breath.
Aren’t flowers usually placed in vases? Why a basket?
“The fragrance is nice.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Eek!”
Startled by the sudden male voice, I quickly pulled the blanket up to my neck and looked around. Kaint was standing a short distance from the bed. He was still tall and handsome today.
However, this wasn’t the time to admire his good looks.
“Admiral. When did you come in?”
“Just now.”
“But I was sleeping?”
“They say gifts are best delivered secretly.”
“What?”
I asked back, wondering what nonsense this was, when Kaint’s composed expression clouded slightly. His golden eyes rolled to the side and his lips pressed together. After clearing his throat with a ‘hem,’ he spoke again.
“I thought you might feel good waking up to flowers in the morning.”
“That basket, did you bring it, Admiral?”
“Yes. I thought you might be startled if I gave it to you directly, so I planned to leave it quietly, but it seems my presence woke you.”
If we’re talking about being startled, secretly entering a woman’s bedroom while she’s sleeping to deliver flowers is the most startling thing of all.
Of course, since this was Kaint’s castle, saying he ‘secretly entered’ might not be quite right.
“Um, Admiral.”
“Not knowing your preferences, I chose something conventional. What kind of flowers do you like?”
I was going to tell him that he shouldn’t enter a woman’s room without permission, but Kaint arbitrarily changed the subject.
If I got serious here, his affection would drop. Should I continue the conversation then? I pondered for a moment.
‘Right. This isn’t reality but a game, and with his affection still quite low, he probably didn’t come in here to do anything suspicious. If I get angry, we’ll both just end up feeling bad.’
I decided to deal with him with an open mind.
“I like yellow flowers.”
“Yellow, you say?”
“Yes. It’s the same color as your eyes.”
Kaint’s eyes widened. Judging by the slight redness around his eyes, it wasn’t a bad response.
‘Actually, I don’t particularly like yellow.’
It was an efficient strategy since complimenting someone’s features rarely fails. Besides, yellow was also a color that brought financial luck.
[Kaint]’s current affection: 41
I’ve recovered the affection points lost from my previous slip-up. I’m not sure whether to be happy that Kaint is such a simple man, or sad that after all that, we’re back where we started.
“I understand. Next time, I’ll bring you yellow flowers.”
A smile appeared on Kaint’s lips. It wasn’t his usual enchanting eye-smile, nor the gentle, affectionate smile I’d seen before.
It was the satisfied expression of someone who had finally found the answer to a problem they’d been pondering.
It seems Kaint’s goal today wasn’t just to deliver flowers, but to find out what kind of flowers I liked.
Which means he must have deliberately made noise while placing the flower basket to wake me up.
‘Kaint is quite the calculating man.’
Though the situation wasn’t exactly appropriate, my nightgown was age-appropriate, neither see-through nor loose enough to reveal anything inside.
So this wouldn’t turn into an awkward situation. The affection level wasn’t high enough for that anyway.
“Kaint.”
“What is it, Shin Joo?”
For Kaint, who was awkward around women, it might be natural that he had no thoughts about seeing a woman in her nightgown. After all, you need to know something to be excited about it.
“Thank you for the flowers.”
“Not at all. Then I’ll return to my post.”
Unlike someone who had sneaked in and deliberately woke me up, Kaint gave a simple greeting and turned around.
His broad, straight shoulders. The back of his uniform had no decorations, creating a clean silhouette that was more pleasing to look at than the flowers.
Indeed, a man’s back speaks volumes.
***
The next day, I woke up to the sound of knocking.
Before I could say “come in,” Kaint opened the door – perhaps he had heard me getting up from bed.
“Good morning, Shin Joo.”
“……”
He was holding an armful of yellow freesias.
While I appreciated him delivering flowers first thing in the morning, I wished he would acknowledge that I was in my nightgown.
Though my nightgown was a loose-fitting white dress that could pass for indoor wear, I had still just woken up in bed looking like this.
‘Thank goodness my hair doesn’t need brushing.’
One good thing about being in a game is that your face doesn’t get puffy even after eating soup for dinner, and you don’t need to brush your hair in the morning even after tossing and turning in bed.
Like a proper game protagonist, I maintained fresh beauty even right after waking up. If only it were like this in real life.
“Shin Joo, would you accept these flowers?”
“Thank you, Admiral.”
As I took the bouquet from Kaint, a fresh and sweet fragrance like spring breeze wafted over. The soft, round petals, bathed in yellow sunlight, tickled my nose.
“They resemble you, Admiral.”
“Do they?”
Actually, his eyes were rather sharp, so aside from the color, there weren’t many similarities. But there’s no harm in saying nice things.
[Kaint]’s current affection: 45
Perhaps because he was originally so guarded, the increase was slow, but it was nice to see visible progress. While I had planned to take the initiative in pursuing him, it was convenient that Kaint approached first.
“Then, Shin Joo, I’ll take my leave. Please rest well.”
“Kaint, wait.”
When I called out to him, Kaint, who was about to turn around, quickly straightened his posture and looked at me.
“What is it, Shin Joo?”
“There’s something I want to ask.”
“Please speak.”
“Why do you give me flowers?”
“……”
Kaint’s mouth snapped shut. The area around his eyes turned slightly red. His neat and tidy face took on a faint peach-like hue.
“Because I want to win your favor.”
