Chapter 2 : Affinity System!

Schiller’s memories flooded into his body.
Unexpectedly, Schiller was actually a viscount’s son; though not as noble as a duke, he was still a high-ranking official in his own right.

And as for Schiller’s personality, it goes without saying how… good it was.

In a word, he was utterly degenerate.

Simply put, he didn’t act like a human being.

These chaotic memories were eroding me.

‘Am I, am I scum?’

Because this guy’s mind was truly too filthy and unbearable, I really didn’t want to dwell on his past.

Yet this guy was uniquely good to his personal maid, Celia.

Though it was “good,” it was still limited to the scope of a servant.

Seen this way, it was no surprise that he was killed by an enemy.

And Schiller, at this moment, was imitating a pilgrim shouting at the sky.

“Do you desire power?”
“…”
“Goddess!”
“…”
“Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A?”
“…”
“System!”
“…”
But no one responded to him at all.

Schiller covered his eyes, unable to bear looking at this tragic life, and slumped his head down.

“There isn’t one? There really isn’t one? A beautiful girl cheat or system.” He muttered incredulously.

Other people transmigrate as protagonists and even get cheats; he transmigrated as a supporting character and got nothing?

It’s one thing to inexplicably transmigrate as a background character, but how can he not even get a single bonus? What about all those promises of gaining a system and then reaching the pinnacle of life?

‘Is this, is this the fate of a supporting character like me?’

‘No, my fate is mine to control, not heaven’s!’

‘…At least I want a cheat.’

In any case, figuring out why Schiller died so inexplicably was the most important thing to focus on now.

Now, let me properly inspect Schiller’s body.

“Let me see…”
There was a fair amount of muscle on his abdomen and arms. It seemed this Schiller guy had been working out properly.

He reached downwards.

“!”
Oh! This is truly… I’m satisfied. With this, I could even cut down a god.

Just as he was fantasizing about wielding such a dragon on the battlefield in the future, a sharp pain suddenly shot through the depths of his eyes.

“!” He cried out, instantly collapsing to the ground with a groan like a squashed frog.

The searing pain felt like it was burning his soul; he even suspected blood was about to drip from his eyes.

In that instant, he seemed to see countless fleeting worlds, only for them to quickly disappear. His eyes convulsed, and he couldn’t even close them.

“What… is this?”
Immediately after, he saw silver roses, scarlet roses, flying clocks, jammed gears, dense thorns.

Countless images appeared and disappeared around him.

A faint voice echoed.
[You’re finally here.]
[I see you.]
[I’ll never let you leave again.]
[Don’t even think about leaving me again.]
He abruptly shut his eyes, and the voice quickly vanished. His forehead was already covered in beads of sweat.

After a long while, the sharp pain gradually subsided.

“What… happened?”
He blinked, but found no difference from before.

The world was as bright as usual, and there was no feeling of anything becoming clearer.

‘I thought a cheat had arrived, but was it just phantom pain?’

He sighed heavily, lowering his hand from his eyes.

“Young Master?”
Celia’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

“Woah!” He was startled and quickly turned around. Celia was tilting her head, looking at his strange actions.

“!!” In that instant, he saw it.

Schiller gazed at Celia—no, to be precise, at the pattern floating above her head.

“Celia, do you have something on your head?”
“Huh? On my head?” The girl patted her head with her hand, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

That thing was undoubtedly the Affection System from The Rose Sacred Pact. Each heroine had her own affection meter, which would appear in various forms in the game.

For example, Sheryl’s affection was represented by a silver rose entangled in chains.

And at this moment, a golden pocket watch floated above Celia’s head.

That was a form of display that didn’t exist in the game. The dial markings on it seemed to represent her affection for him.

Schiller was certain: his cheat was the ability to see affinity levels.

‘This cheat has absolutely no combat power!’ he ranted internally.

Although the girl was like family to him, to avoid unnecessary suspicion, he should be careful to hide his identity from now on.

“Celia? What’s wrong?” He adopted a calm tone.

“I forgot to mention it just now, but Father requests your presence in the dining room tonight.” The girl spoke to him.

In his memories, Schiller seemed to sneak out of the viscount’s manor every night to carouse outside, truly a scoundrel.

Presumably, it was to instruct Schiller not to do anything disrespectful to Lady Sheryl, the Duke’s daughter.

He nodded. “I understand.”

Upon hearing this, Celia’s eyes widened, as if she were watching the sun rise in the west.

“Young Master is actually obedient…” Her shocked gaze made his heart skip a beat.

“Are you… are you feeling unwell somewhere today?” She approached him hesitantly, her voice tinged with concern.

‘Oh no, I can’t let her get suspicious.’ Schiller carefully thought about the original owner’s way of speaking, trying his best to show no flaws.

“Me? No, I’m just a little too excited.”

Although Celia had some doubts, she didn’t say much more.

He wiped a bead of cold sweat. If he was discovered on the first day of transmigration, wouldn’t that be the end of him?

After speaking, he carefully recalled the pocket watch from earlier. He had no impression of that pocket watch.

This was probably because Celia was not a main character in the original game.

That golden pocket watch, though he hadn’t looked closely earlier, seemed to point to the number ‘Ⅰ’.

This meant that Celia had a certain level of affection for him.

Schiller leaned against the door, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing his cufflink.

Reflected in the mirror was the pocket watch above Celia’s head—the hour hand was trembling, stuck between the ‘Ⅰ’ and ‘Ⅱ’ marks.

“So it’s not an integer system after all…” He licked his dry lips. “This damn other world even makes affection levels into riddles!”

An experiment gradually formed in his mind. It was a rare opportunity, so he might as well try it.

Schiller dug out commands from his deepest memories that the original owner frequently gave to Celia.

“Celia! Bring me ‘that thing’ I hid in the secret compartment—”
He deliberately drew out the last syllable, mimicking the original owner’s flippant tone.

“Young Master… are you going to use it during the day?” Celia’s brows furrowed, and her voice was as hoarse as if she had swallowed a blade.

That’s right, that thing was an aphrodisiac.

Schiller, as the original owner, would occasionally take aphrodisiacs to the red-light district to vent his desires on young girls.

Scum. He was scum through and through.

He waved his hand, looking at Celia with sharp eyes.

“Celia, didn’t you hear me?” His voice was tinged with irritation.

At this moment, he was strongly suppressing the nausea churning inside him, forcing himself to act like a scoundrel.

“I understand…” Celia bit her lip. She seemed to want to say something but quickly closed her mouth again.

When Celia returned, holding a black velvet gift box, I watched the pocket watch; the hand was trembling counter-clockwise.

So, this was a decrease in affection?

“Young Master, your medicine. Do you need me to prepare a carriage for you?” At this moment, the girl’s expression had vanished completely; she was just calmly carrying out his orders.

He took the box and pulled out the item lying within: Blood of the Succubus. It was said to be a poison that could even make gods fall into heat, beloved by countless nobles.

Looking at it, an unknown anger welled up in Schiller’s heart.

Abusing his wealth and power, trampling on lives, toying with commoners—he truly deserved to die.

Thinking this, he could no longer suppress the rage in his heart. He threw the crimson bottle to the ground, shattering it into pieces, and the bright red liquid splattered everywhere.

“! Young Master!” Celia seemed startled by his action, trembling slightly with a hint of fear, but still looked at him with concern, as if checking if he had been cut by the bottle fragments.

What a kind girl.

He signaled with his eyes that he was fine and spoke to Celia.

“I’m fine. Also, call someone to clean this up.”
He felt very tired and waved his hand, dismissing Celia.

“Yes, Young Master.” Celia bowed slightly, then left the room.

Schiller looked at the clockwise moving hand of the watch and thoughtfully spoke.

“This time, is it an increase in affection?”
This was undoubtedly a gift from heaven.

If he maintained everyone’s affection at above normal levels, he surely wouldn’t face a bad ending, right?