Chapter 9: Hey, Can We Call a Truce?

Her pristine skin was covered in bright red bite marks, yet Dounia, her brow furrowed, gently held Violet in her arms.

She gently stroked Violet’s hair, trying to help her relax.

The room echoed with the girl’s faint sobs.
Her reddened eyes, full of tears, looked up with a weak and pitiful gaze before quickly darting down again.

Dounia, already exhausted and limp from the ordeal, raised the corners of her lips in a helpless smile.
She began to stroke the girl’s back from top to bottom, hoping to soothe her.

“Dounia…” Violet buried her head against the girl’s heart, calling out in a low voice.

Her voice held reliance, trust, and a precious sense of attachment.

[Violet Favorability: 15.9%]

Looking at the favorability notification not far away, Dounia felt quite gratified.

‘At least the torment wasn’t for nothing…’

This way, Violet’s favorability toward her had entered the safe zone, and she had gained another solid and reliable ally.

Her fingers slid down Violet’s back, getting caught for a moment.

‘Eh, what’s this? It’s hard?’

With a soft click, something tight seemed to come undone.

Violet’s eyes widened, and she looked at Dounia in astonishment.

Her large eyes seemed to be filled with surprise and a silent question for Dounia.

‘Why would you do something like that?’

“I… I-I-I! I didn’t do it on purpose! I’m sorry!” Dounia hurriedly raised her hands, her face flushed as she explained anxiously.

‘What have I done!!!!!’

“I… how about I tie it back for you…” Dounia’s mind went blank.
She was at a complete loss, steam practically puffing from her head.

‘It took so much effort, I risked my life to raise Violet’s favorability by ten points, and now who knows how much it’ll drop…’

‘I’m doomed…’

Dounia’s eyes turned into a despairing, cute, fried-egg expression.

“Hey, can we call a truce?”

“Right here, right now? Dounia, you can’t be joking.”

Violet blinked her gentle, ocean-blue eyes, trying hard to keep a straight face, speaking in the most serious tone she could muster.

“NO!!!!!” Dounia clutched her head, crying out in despair.

‘I failed, I failed, I failed, I failed, I failed!’

A cool finger gently poked Dounia’s burning cheek, bringing her back to her senses.

Violet leaned in a little closer, squinting as she watched Dounia’s reaction.
Her tense expression suddenly melted like ice and snow.

Her short pink hair swayed slightly, like cherry blossoms blooming in spring.
Her ocean-blue eyes were as clear as water, revealing the unique gentleness and acceptance of a young lady of high status.

Facing the guilty Dounia, Violet playfully pointed to her own cheek, a faint smile on her lips.
“Since you know you were wrong, then… your punishment is to give me a kiss.”

Dounia couldn’t help but be captivated by the sight, looking somewhat lost in the moment.

“A… a kiss?”

‘How can this be considered a punishment?’

Dounia subconsciously glanced at Violet’s favorability—[18.9%]

‘Hey! How can unhooking someone’s clasp actually increase their favorability!?’

‘Hiss…’

‘Could it be that Miss Violet is actually interested in me…? Or did the “correct choice” from before work exceptionally well, further increasing Violet’s potential favorability toward me?’

Dounia had a moment of clarity.

“Hmph,” Violet wrinkled her nose and turned her head away. “If you keep staring blankly, the punishment won’t be this simple, you know.”

Her feigned anger couldn’t hide the hint of slyness in her eyes.

Even a pampered young lady had her own cute, girlish schemes.

Dounia slowly extended her arms, pulling Violet a little closer.

The patient gown couldn’t conceal her elegant and pure temperament; instead, it made her look like a white lily about to bloom.
A faint fragrance wafted into her nostrils.
Dounia leaned close to the girl’s ear, her warm breath gently brushing against her cheek, making her close her eyes in shyness and nervousness, her long eyelashes fluttering faintly…

Chu.

Dounia gently pecked Violet’s cheek, and those fluttering eyelashes trembled violently.

The girl’s eyes reluctantly opened, looking shyly at Dounia before quickly darting away.

“We’ll leave it at that this time. You’d better be more careful next time~” Violet shyly broke free from Dounia’s embrace, puffing out her cheeks and waving a small fist.

Rustle…

With the sound of fabric sliding, Violet’s face flushed red again.
She glared at Dounia with embarrassed anger, then reached her hands into her clothes, fumbling to fasten the clasp behind her back.

“Heh heh… I really, really didn’t do it on purpose.” Dounia scratched the back of her head, embarrassed.

“…If Dounia weren’t a girl, I would’ve kicked you down there a long time ago!” Violet said, her face red.

Dounia subconsciously covered the front of her skirt with both hands, hunching over slightly.

But then, she remembered.

‘Eh!? Isn’t that just nonsense!’

‘How can something that doesn’t exist hurt… wait, if I really got kicked there, it would probably hurt even more, wouldn’t it…’

Violet watched Dounia get lost in her imagination, a look of fear on her face, and couldn’t help but find it amusing.

“Silly Dounia, I wouldn’t kick you. After all…”

The girl seemed to have thought of something that made her heart pound and her face flush, and it instantly turned crimson again.

Dounia blinked.

Violet extended a small fist and lightly tapped Dounia on the head.

“Ouch! What was that for!?” Dounia was completely bewildered.

“I just felt like it. So endure it,” Violet said, puffing out her cheeks irritably.

It seemed… this well-protected young lady had shed some of her psychological burdens and was a bit more open than before.

In the original game, she was always in a state of impending death from her illness, so she was rather weak and listless.

Although she was still very gentle and friendly to others, as pure as a blank sheet of paper, there was an untouchable sense of unreality about her.

But the young lady before her now…

Dounia’s lips curved into a slight smile.

She was more like a real human being, of flesh and blood.

She could be sad, she could be desperate, she had moments of sorrow, and she had her vulnerabilities.

A sense of destiny rose spontaneously in her heart.

‘Lilith.’

‘Did you choose me because I majored in psychology in college?’

Dounia asked in her mind.

But Lilith didn’t reply.

‘Playing dead whenever there’s a key question… forget it. I see you’re no different from those riddlers. None of you are any good.’

‘Lilith?’

Dounia made a couple of sarcastic remarks, but Lilith didn’t appear.

“Dounia…” Violet said, her face red, tracing circles on Dounia’s collarbone with her index finger.

“Hm? What is it?”

Violet waved the ointment in her hand, embarrassed.

“…I hurt you again just now, so we have to reapply it.”

Dounia shrank back slightly.

‘Don’t tell me I’m about to get stuck in an endless loop!’

“This time… I won’t do anything rough to you… I’ll be… gentle with you,” Violet blinked repeatedly.

Dounia looked at Violet’s guilty expression, and her eyes darted around.

“Miss Violet, do you believe that yourself when you say it?”

A cute tic-tac-toe mark appeared on Violet’s forehead, and she slowly raised her little fist.

“Asking the obvious…! You’re asking for a beating!~”