Chapter 2 : I’m a Xia Spy From the Start?!

Himan never imagined Hall would commit something this serious.

The Xia Kingdom was the most powerful dynasty on the Eastern Continent, spanning tens of thousands of miles.
For the past millennium—ever since the first Hero joined forces with the Holy Church to slay the Demon God and end the Demonic Era—it had remained the Western Continent’s greatest hypothetical enemy.

And now, the son of a Papal State admiral, Hall Faxtius, was a spy from the Xia Kingdom?

That couldn’t be right. Hall, a Xia spy?

At most, he might’ve been duped by some Xia femme fatale.

“Right, Himan? Even you think the Judgment Bureau is being ridiculous, don’t you?”

“…Yeah.
Mother, I’ll go with Investigator Yafman to the Faxtius estate later.
You don’t have to worry too much.”

Himan didn’t entirely disbelieve it.

But if Hall really had betrayed the nation just because of a Xia beauty,
She would personally toss him into a Papal prison for a few days—
Let him learn his damn lesson.

See if he still had the mood to chase after women after that.

Meanwhile, Hall was at the Faxtius estate, enjoying the finest red wine and a perfectly grilled steak.

As an admiral’s son, he never had to worry about food, shelter, or any basic comforts.

When the servant asked what he wanted for dinner,
Hall paused as he flipped through several pages of his custom-tailored menu.

He’d been craving the bluefin sashimi imported from the Northern Kingdom—
But was told he hadn’t eaten it recently, so the fish wasn’t fresh anymore.

In the end, he casually picked a few current options.

Life was… quite comfortable.

“Young Master, are you satisfied with the ingredients today?”

A young girl in a pink-and-white maid uniform bowed with a silver platter in her hands.

Because of the low neckline on the custom outfit,
Hall was caught off guard by a generous display of snowy white skin.

“…Mm. It’s good.”

The young master in a relaxed white shirt smiled.

The maid blushed, surprised, and quietly stepped aside.

Why is the young master smiling today?
And… why does his smile seem a little gentle?

Lov, the maid, was puzzled.

Not that she’d ever disliked him, no matter how he treated her.

After all, she had been purchased from an auction by Hall himself.
Serving in the Faxtius household was far better than being bought by some greasy, middle-aged nobleman.

“Oh, right, Young Master.
About the ultra-thin black stockings that have been trending in Saint Louis—
I bought a few pairs.
But… they don’t quite match this outfit.
The new maid uniform is still being made by the tailor, so…”

The girl murmured softly, her voice barely louder than a mosquito.

Hall heard every word clearly.
He glanced at Lov’s flushed face, which reminded him—

Oh. Right.

He did have a personal maid.
And when he first saw Lov in this sleeveless, low-cut outfit, he had thought it was a bit much.
Now she’d even gone out of her way to buy black stockings. Multiple pairs.

Why the hell would anyone need that many black stockings?

Was it for…?

Sigh…

No. Wait.

Something felt off.

Hall realized something was wrong.

This game had extremely high freedom settings—
And this male character, filled to the brim with the developers’ twisted sense of humor, came with absurd customization options.

In non-default modes, players could design Hall’s appearance and set various opening traits.

Lov wasn’t a main character.
In fact, she was entirely optional.

Now that he thought about it, during one playthrough, he did set up a personal maid.

And that time… he’d gone all out.

He’d customized Hall to be the ultimate scumbag womanizer—
Flirting with Himan since childhood, entangling with every noblewoman in the capital…

He even selected every single possible fetish trait:
Uniform obsession, leg fetish, stocking fetish—everything.

Even a pervert would bow to his setup and call him master.

“No way…
Don’t tell me I transmigrated into that playthrough?!”

Hall’s expression tensed.

That had been his final run.
It was thrilling, yes—
But he’d figured he’d die early.
He hadn’t even gotten to enjoy it before he was likely going to drop dead.
Plus, it might’ve messed up the later game plots.

So he shelved it.

Then, what happened next…
He either reincarnated or transmigrated into this world.

“Young Master, your face…
Is something wrong?
Was it something I did?
If you’d like to see them now, I can go fetch them right away—”

Lov assumed her pink-and-white maid outfit looked odd with black stockings.

Wouldn’t white ones have been better?

Maybe I should just sit beside the Young Master and let him… touch my legs?

“No, no—no need for that. Don’t rush.”

Hall thought to himself:
If this world really followed the setup from that playthrough…

Then he was in serious trouble.

His death probability was maxed out.

He didn’t have time to care about black or white stockings.

“Then…”

“It’s nothing.
Lov, you’ve done well.”

“No, I understand, Young Master.
Please excuse me for now.”

Lov was good at reading moods.
She knew when her master was happy, and when he wasn’t.

And in her mind, pleasing the Young Master was simple—
Just wear what he liked.

Aside from that, and her ability to serve,
She didn’t have much else to offer.

Hall wanted to explain, but didn’t know how.
What he needed more was to review the game’s plot, how it might unfold—
And what sort of opening traits he might’ve accidentally carried over.

And just like that, Lov disappeared from his line of sight.

“Okay.
Even though I’ve got the ‘playboy’ trait, nothing irreversible has happened yet.
Himan still looks like she hates me.
No matter the setting, she always hates me.
After all, the game had yuri mechanics—
The developers intentionally gave the heroines low affinity with men or flat-out made them misandrist…”

“This was to make it easier for the heroine-to-heroine romance to feel organic—
And to heighten the contrast when a girl was forced to interact with me for ‘experience points.’”

“But still…
As long as I keep a low profile, I should be okay—”

Just as he reached this point in his thoughts,
The little maid who’d just left suddenly rushed back in a panic.

“Young Master, Young Master—something bad’s happened!”

“What—?”

Hall barely got the words out before his gaze landed on the two people rounding the corner of the estate corridor behind Lov.

It was Himan—
And next to her stood a middle-aged man dressed in dark golden robes, with a blood-red cross printed over his right chest.

Hall, well-versed in the game’s mechanics, instantly recognized it.

That was the official uniform of an Investigator from the Judgment Bureau.

Normally, security in Saint Louis—the capital of the Papal State—was handled by local police.

The Judgment Bureau only got involved when it concerned secret or Class A-level crimes.

This guy’s face looked vaguely familiar.
Wasn’t he that named NPC, Yafman?

A sinking feeling bloomed in Hall’s chest.

Still, he didn’t panic.
He asked calmly, “Himan.
What brings you and the Investigator to my home today?”

“Hall.
Have you gotten involved with a black-haired woman from Xia recently?
You’re in deep trouble.”

Himan glared at him.

His expression was so nonchalant.
Was his brain only filled with thoughts of women?

So hopeless.

“Could you speak like a normal person?”

Hall scoured his memory.
The last time he interacted with a Xia woman…
That had to be years ago.

“You’re still denying it?
You’ve been used and don’t even realize it!”

Himan clenched her silver teeth in frustration.

If the Faxtius family was implicated in espionage,
It would be a devastating blow to her uncle—Hall’s father.

“So what the hell is going on?”

“Hall Faxtius.
The Judgment Bureau suspects you of selling national secrets to Xia.
You are hereby under arrest for endangering the security of the Western Continental Alliance.
Please come with me.”

Yafman presented a black-and-gold arrest warrant.

Hall felt a chill run through him.

Wait, what?!
I started this game as a Xia spy?!