I’m Looking for the Male Lead for the Ending - Chapter 13

Chapter 7.2

This game occasionally presented missions to improve your understanding of the characters. Of course, the understanding of the characters wasn’t quantifiable, and there were no penalties for rejecting these missions, so there was no need to do them if one didn’t want to. Nevertheless, based on my experience playing the game so far, it was usually best to accept these missions whenever possible.

Having a better understanding of the character was a significant help in achieving the ending with him.

When I pressed the accept button without hesitation, as if it were waiting for my actions, Heron’s footsteps appeared on the path.

“Young, Young Lady! Let’s go together!”

“Hurry up, Marie! We might lose him!”

I raised my voice toward Marie, who was out of breath.

The first time I undertook a mission to follow someone, I was too complacent, trusting only the footprints on the path. I had thought I could easily catch up without any difficulty, but the footprints vanished in an instant, almost mocking me, and naturally, the mission failed.

‘I’m definitely going to succeed this time.’

Determined not to repeat the same situation again, I quickly followed the footprints. Soon enough, I spotted Heron heading towards a familiar building.

“Ha, huk… Young, Young Lady, did you find the Young Master?”

“Yeah, I found him, but…”

Marie took a deep breath as if she were catching her breath.

I left her behind as she caught her breath with a huffing sound while I examined the building Heron had entered. While it seemed like an ordinary building at first glance, when I noticed that the windows were completely covered with wooden boards, blocking any view inside and that a green-eyed bear head was hanging on the doorknob, I realized that this was definitely a place I knew.

‘Is there any chance the reason why I saw that man a little while ago…’

I couldn’t help but entertain ominous speculation as I felt like the hair on my neck was standing up. Along with it came a vivid sensation, which startled me, I hurriedly turned around.

[〈SYSTEM〉

Conditions met for unlocking the route of the Duke of the Duchy of Efren and the leader of the Bonn Bairmun merchant community, Allen Basilic! You can now pursue the merchant leader, Allen Basilic.

Would you like to enter his route and experience an ending with him?

[ YES / NO ]

* Allen Basilic’s route will be unlocked upon acceptance, while declining will decrease Allen Basilic’s favorability. (A penalty will be incurred if affection reaches 0.) ]

The second male protagonist of Flower of Arbonis, a reverse harem romance simulation game.

…Allen Basilic.
[ T/N: Allen Basilic’s title is quite strange because the author used the title’ 왕,’ which meant ‘king of the duchy/ducal domain or principality’ for him, so it’s quite vague to pinpoint it accurately, but I’ll be making another translator note if it’s mentioned more in the future!. (；・∀・) ]

“Young, Young Lady Ardi. It’s, it’s been a while.”

The handsome man with flushed red cheeks stammered as he greeted. It seemed I wasn’t the only one taken aback by his sudden appearance, as Marie also gasped in surprise.

Allen’s gaze turned towards Marie.

“It’s been a long time, Your Excellency the Duke Basilic.”

As I discreetly shielded Marie from his gaze and exchanged greetings, I rolled up my dress to hide my unconsciously shaking hands.

“You, you remembered me.”

“Of course. I’ve always enjoyed the fruits that Efren supplies.”

“If, if the Young Lady wants, something as simple as fruits, I can give you as much as you wish.”

I was momentarily speechless by Allen’s words as his cheeks were flushing. While pretending not to notice his unwavering gaze glued to my face, I quickly pressed the reject button on the system window. It wasn’t because I disliked the man in front of me, but because I just wanted to stick to and focus on the choice I made a little while ago.

As I silently muttered an excuse that no one had asked for, I met his gaze, which was filled with anticipation, and naturally smiled. Soon after, a system window appeared as if it had been waiting.

[ 〈SYSTEM〉

Penalty for rejecting the route!
Allen Basilic’s favorability decreases by 2%.

Allen Basilic’s current favorability: 10% -〉 8% ]

‘Alright, it seems like Allen started at 10%. It’s not too bad even if it’s dropped to 8%.’

I felt relieved as I looked at the system window that had appeared.

Anyway, thanks to the fact that he had some favor towards me, I had avoided a health penalty, and there was no heartache either. At the same time, I felt my shoulders relax a little from the tension that had been building. All I had to do now was to end this conversation as quickly as possible and avoid any potential additional penalties that might arise.

Carefully choosing my words, I answered him.

“I appreciate your words, but my father always insists on fair compensation for labor. Just because it’s a fruit doesn’t mean it’s any different.”

“….”

“I’ll accept your goodwill with my heart, Your Excellency the Duke Basilic.”

I thought I had gracefully accepted the refusal without hurting his feelings, or to put it more bluntly, unlike Vien, I figured it would be okay even if his feelings were hurt. I had already incurred the penalty, and even if Allen’s favorability had fallen further here, I still had 8% remaining.

“Are, are you ignoring my sincerity, Young Lady Ardi?”

“…Yes?”

My voice rose in embarrassment at his unexpected remark, and at the same time, an ominous ringing sound was heard in my ears.

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