Chapter 3 : You don’t want to lose your job, do you ?

The affinity system was a crucial system in The Rose Sacred Pact.
Of course, affection meters would only appear on main characters.

And there was no telling if it had any side effects.

“At the very least, at least give me a phone that can instantly hypnotize people, or a watch that can stop time!”
Schiller’s eyes welled with tears as he cried out his dissatisfaction to the heavens.

He had paid such a heavy price, and all he got was an affinity system?!

“I want a combat system!” he wailed, tearlessly.

For instance, a divine skill that allowed him to dodge all damage simply by rolling.

In the end, this Schiller guy had way too many enemies. Perhaps he’d be taken care of by another enemy before Sheryl even had the chance to do it herself.

Without the support of a powerful system, he had to be cautious in everything he did.

‘First, how about securing Sheryl’s affection?’

But why did Schiller confront Sheryl at the start of the game?
According to the original owner’s memories, they shouldn’t have met “yet.”

‘This is probably something to pay attention to.’

Schiller began to ponder.

If he continuously raised Sheryl’s affection—Sheryl was a duke’s daughter, after all—he could even become her dog at worst!

‘Guh! A man of honor, born between heaven and earth, how could he…’

‘Wait, being a beautiful girl’s dog… doesn’t seem so bad either.’

For some people, that’s actually a reward.

Schiller began to ponder, searching through his memories.

‘Sheryl…’

In the original game, Sheryl was known as a woman who went from absolute zero to scorching heat due to the stark contrast in her personality before and after she was romanced.

Sheryl was a perfect tsundere.

During interactions with her, players would experience her full transition from “tsun” to “dere” based on the changes in her affection level.

However, there was no upper limit to affection in the original game.

If players didn’t properly control the affection growth, they would experience a literal hell.

Before being romanced, Sheryl was a veritable ice goddess. Her exquisite etiquette, icy gaze, occasional and unconscious insincerity, and resolute attitude towards men attracted countless players.

However, once Sheryl’s affection surpassed a certain threshold, she would become very strange. In some bad endings, her corrupted self would fall into madness and be killed by the protagonist’s own hand.

A woman like that was practically impossible to romance.

Who knew if she wouldn’t accidentally kill him.

‘No way! Not even if I die…’

The thought of being stared at by a beautiful girl with an icy gaze was enough to kill his spirit.

‘Please… that could actually get me killed.’

Approaching that young lady as a member of the opposite s*x was a one-way ticket to death.

Besides, the duke’s family ranked higher than the viscount’s.

“Heh heh… It’s over, it’s all over…”

At this moment, he finally realized that he couldn’t actually do anything.

So much for ‘never mock a poor youth,’ the youth who was supposed to be poor was still poor.

A background character should just obediently act like one.

Perhaps he should just spend the remaining five years enjoying life.

Since he was going to die anyway, how about enjoying the life of a viscount’s son a little?

Beautiful women, champagne, a luxurious mansion?

It seems… it seems pretty good.

Schiller swallowed, patted his knees, and psyched himself up.

“No! How can I be corrupted by such material things! Even if I’m stabbed to death by a yuri couple, I will not indulge in materialism!” His eyes shone with an incredibly firm resolve.

“What I’m pursuing, isn’t it the beautiful future of yuri couples! Isn’t it my own happiness!”

Don’t say it can’t be done!

“Just a mere tsundere! I’ll romance her for you to see, damn it!”

“I’ve decided to take back what I just said.”
Schiller was enjoying dinner at a lavish dining table. The delicious roasted meat melted in his mouth, and the vegetables served as a side dish were unbelievably sweet. The wine in the glass was crystal clear, and one sip was enough to know it was high-grade.

Most importantly, not only was there delicious food, but there were also maids to serve him.

When he needed to wipe his mouth, Celia would clean it with a handkerchief, and when he was thirsty, she would hand him a wine glass.

Celia had everything ready for him before he even had to speak.

‘Hold on, if I live like this every day, why would I even bother trying? Why would I struggle?’

He could no longer remember what the most luxurious restaurant he had been to in his previous life was like.

‘No, this is bad… I’m being spoiled.’

Rather, in this environment, a noble who wasn’t spoiled would be a minority.

Schiller ate the roasted meat in small bites, following the etiquette in his memories.

Nobles were always particular about things like etiquette. Even Schiller, who was known as an “unparalleled lecher,” had nearly perfect mastery of etiquette.

A noble without etiquette couldn’t survive in high society.

However, Schiller’s father, the one who had invited him, was not present. According to Celia, his father had urgent business and couldn’t attend.

‘Wait, could this be a precursor to some event?’

But unfortunately, Schiller only had memories of the game’s main storyline.

“Y-young Master, please have some tea!”
Just as Schiller was lost in his own thoughts, a slender arm entered his vision. The arm trembled clumsily, slowly placing the teacup and saucer in front of him. Just as she was about to succeed, her foot slipped, and the entire tray flew towards Schiller.

The tea drenched Schiller’s clothes. The surroundings fell into a dead silence, with only the faint sizzling sound of hot tea on the expensive fabric.

The girl’s hand froze in place, maintaining the posture of reaching out, motionless.

When Schiller raised his hand to shake off the tea leaves from his clothes, the maid reflexively shielded her face with her hand, then fell to his feet with a thud.

“Young Master! I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me! I-I’m new to this kind of work. I’ll do anything, please don’t use me as a human ball or whip me in the basement…”
Her words were stuttered due to nervousness. As the girl spoke, she began to whimper.

Looking at the girl who was already a teary mess, Schiller fell into deep thought.

‘Schiller… you bastard, you really are an out-and-out scoundrel…’

‘But, the Schiller of now has changed… probably.’

“Well then, are you ready to accept your punishment?”
He reached out and helped the maid up, letting her sit in his previous seat.

“Pun…ishment.” The girl repeated these two words, then began to tremble as if she had thought of something terrifying.

Ignoring the girl’s trembling, Schiller turned to Celia and instructed,
“Celia.”
“Yes.”
“Bring a tea set and some tea leaves.”
“Yes, Young Master.” Celia looked at Schiller’s clothes, wanting to say something but still quickly carried out the order.

“Tea… set.” The trembling girl sat anxiously, imagining what kind of inhuman treatment she was about to receive.

Just having scalding tea splashed on her face would be considered Young Master Schiller’s gentleness.

“So, what’s your name?”
The girl opened her eyes. Schiller was looking at her gently.

“A-Aileen.”
The girl blinked.

“Aileen, that’s a good name. You said this was your first time making tea?” Schiller spoke softly, afraid of startling the girl in front of him.

“Y-yes, because, the head maid isn’t here today… I volunteered, but I didn’t expect… I-I didn’t mean to…” The girl’s voice grew smaller and smaller.

Schiller rested his chin in his hand. He indeed hadn’t seen the head maid. He looked at Celia with a questioning gaze.

‘Is this some kind of event?’

“Young Master, the head maid went out with Father today,” Celia answered respectfully from the side.

“It’s alright, Aileen.” Schiller gently patted the girl. “I’ll teach you. This is how you make tea.”
After speaking, Schiller stood behind the girl and taught her how to make tea, hand over hand.

Aileen was stunned for a moment. She had never imagined that Young Master Schiller would be teaching her how to make tea in front of her, hand over hand, and in such a gentle tone.

For a moment, she couldn’t tell if she was in heaven or hell.

“Aileen? Are you listening?”
“Yes! I-I’m listening!” Aileen’s body twitched like a startled rabbit.

Her face instantly turned red.

“From now on, Aileen must make tea for me every day. This is your punishment.” Schiller gently placed his hand on Aileen’s head, stroking her hair as if she were a doll.

And Aileen herself was just repeating the action of breathing in and out like a frog.

She still couldn’t believe that this was the lecherous Schiller who would resort to violence against the maids at the slightest disagreement.

“But, Young Master, Aileen’s daily work is already… adding more work for her like this, I’m afraid she will fall ill soon.” Celia lowered her head, admonishing her master.

“Halve her workload, and say that I ordered it. If there aren’t enough hands, then hire more.” Schiller’s young master-like demeanor made it impossible for Celia to retort.

“Yes, Young Master. I will convey it to the head maid when she returns.” Celia showed a thoughtful expression.

In fact, Schiller had his own considerations. To survive in an unfamiliar world with no relatives, the best way was to be kind to others.

If these maids rioted one day, he had no doubt he would be the first to die.

“Celia.”
“Yes, Young Master?”
“Never mind, go about your business. Ah, and take this child with you.” Schiller pointed to the girl who still hadn’t come back to her senses.

Celia nodded slightly, helped the dazed Aileen up, and after meeting Schiller’s gaze, she quietly left the room.

“Phew, Operation Win Over the Maids, a great success!” Schiller made a V-sign over his chest and then slumped into the chair.

“So tiring.” He sighed deeply. “Just trying to avoid being stabbed to death takes all my effort. Where would I find the time to carouse?”
Thinking of this, he smiled helplessly. He hadn’t expected that being a background character would be this busy.

Oh well, tomorrow morning he’d have the chef make a cream parfait in advance. It was Sheryl’s favorite food in the game.

Affection! Long live things that can increase affection!

“Alright! Let’s go all out and romance Sheryl!”
Since ancient times, catering to someone’s tastes has always been a superb technique for winning their heart.

Grabbing hold of Sheryl’s stomach is equivalent to grabbing her heart!

By then, she’ll become a woman who can’t live without his feeding, Schiller fantasized.

“Taste my, Schiller’s, insidious secret technique!” he chuckled.

Suddenly, a gentle breeze from the window brushed past his face.