AMLA 05

Chapter 5

System Message

Troy Bayren’s favorability +15
Troy Bayren’s route has been unlocked. Once a route is opened, it cannot be undone.
Raise his favorability. What kind of ending awaits?
Currently unlocked routes: 2 (Kainis Spencer, Troy Bayren)

“W-why… are you acting like this…?”

Troy was smiling brightly in front of me.
I mumbled blankly as I looked at him.

“Pardon? What did you say, my lady?”

“N-no, it’s nothing. Belle, let’s go if we’re done shopping. How much is all this?”

“Just five silver coins, please.”

I quickly pulled a gold coin out of my money pouch and practically threw it at the vendor.

“Keep the change. Let’s go, Belle.”

The shopkeeper, who received more than twice the actual amount, eagerly stuffed the coin into his pouch.

“My lady, wait a moment.”

As I tried to pull Belle—who was still busy grabbing accessories—away, Troy blocked my path.

“C-could we have some tea together? I’m really grateful…”

‘Seriously, what is with him?’

Not only did giving a simple gift raise his favorability, but now he was asking to have tea together?

Why on earth would the heir to the empire’s wealthiest merchant group be wandering around a commoners’ market without any money?

I just couldn’t understand anything about this.

‘First, I need to get away from Troy.’

I refused him firmly.

“No, it’s fine.”

“Well, I’m not fine.”

“No really, it’s fine. You don’t even have money…”

“If that’s the issue, don’t worry. That teahouse over there is owned by my family.”

Troy pointed toward the tallest building in the center of the shopping district.

It was one of the shops operated by the Bayren Merchant Group, the largest and most prestigious in the empire.

Honestly, it was harder to find a shop here not run by the Bayrens.

‘But that’s not what matters right now.’

I pretended to be in a hurry to escape him.

“Oh, right! I just remembered—I have something urgent to take care of. Right, Belle?”

“Hmm? But my lady, didn’t you say we’d be spending the whole day in the market…”

Belle, utterly distracted by the accessories and unaware of my desperate glances, answered too honestly.

“Really? That’s great. Then let’s go have tea together.”

Troy’s eyes sparkled as he seized the opportunity.

“Beeelle, whaaat are you saaaaying right noooow…”

I gritted my teeth and elbowed Belle in the side, finally snapping her out of her accessory trance.

“Huh? But you said earlier you were going to a teahouse…”

“Belle…”

Now completely cornered with no more escape routes, I met Troy’s smiling face.

“I’m Troy, of the Bayren marquisate.”

“Ah… right.”

Dragged here almost against my will, I now sat across from Troy at the teahouse, deliberately avoiding his sparkling eyes.

“What’s your name?”

“I… don’t usually tell strangers my name.”

“Is that so? That’s alright. We’ll just get to know each other slowly.”

Troy leaned forward casually as he spoke.

I turned my gaze to the window, naturally increasing the distance between us.

‘Why is he acting like this?’

In the game, Troy Bayren was a character deeply scarred by people.

He lost his parents in a tragic accident when he was young, and the nobles blamed him for it, giving him even deeper wounds.

Disillusioned with the nobility, Troy withdrew completely from society despite being the heir to the Bayren house.

Though rumors about him spread, he remained reclusive and closed off.

That’s why opening his heart in the game was considered the hardest route.

And yet, here he was, openly showing curiosity about me.

“I’ve never been to a teahouse with a friend before.”

Troy spoke shyly, as if confessing something precious.

‘What is he saying now?’

Shocked, I looked at him with wide eyes.

“A… a friend?”

“Yes. You called me your rich friend earlier, remember?”

The words I’d carelessly said earlier, before I even knew that the guy in the cloak was Troy, echoed in my ears again:

‘Just think of it as a rich friend buying it for you. No need to feel pressured.’

‘My mouth is the real problem here.’

If I could meet my past self, I’d slap her and tell her to shut it.

“That was just something I said… I’m not really your friend…”

“Not ‘you,’ just call me Troy. Or Roy.”

“What? Roy?”

That was a nickname only his grandparents used!

“Yes. From now on, call me Roy. R-o-y.”

Troy emphasized each syllable like he wanted me to repeat it.

“Ah, it’s alright. I’d rather not be so informal…”

I quickly rejected Troy’s overly friendly attitude.

‘He was never this forward before…’

For the past three months, I thought I knew Troy better than myself, and this unfamiliar side of him gave me goosebumps.

“I don’t mind, though…”

Troy lowered his head and looked at me with big, sad eyes.

“……”

Feeling overwhelmed by his intense gaze, I turned my head away, resigned.

“But you don’t seem to come to this teahouse often, my lady? I visit a lot, but I don’t think I’ve seen you here.”

‘Of course you do.’

The teahouse we were in was the most popular one in the shopping district and also secretly housed Troy’s intelligence agency office.

Troy himself was the head of the Bayren Group’s intelligence network.

“This place doesn’t suit me. I don’t plan to come here again.”

‘Like I’d come here willingly.’

In the game, I practically lived here just to raise Troy’s favorability, but now it was at the top of my “avoid at all costs” list.

“Really? Then should we meet at a different teahouse next time?”

“No, I just don’t like teahouses. And I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other again anyway…”

No matter how many times I rejected him, Troy just smiled as if he wasn’t bothered at all.

“You never know. I’ll try to find a place you’ll like. Oh, by the way, what’s your favorite color? I like green…”

“This tea is really good!”

‘Don’t fall into his rhythm.’

Feeling like I was being subtly swept up in Troy’s pace, I decided to dodge the conversation entirely.

I stared at my teacup and muttered to myself, pretending I wasn’t paying attention.

It was my way of signaling that I wasn’t interested in continuing the chat.

“Isn’t it? It’s rose tea dried with my favorite rose and honey blend. Seems like we share a taste…”

“Ah… on second thought, it’s too sweet…”

Just as he was about to say something weird about how our tastes matched, I hurriedly set my cup down.

“Is that so? Then I’ll have them bring another tea. So what’s your favorite col—?”

As he persistently asked, I turned to look out the window.

“Wow, that carriage looks amazing.”

“That green one? It really does. Do you like green too? Then we have the same favorite color!”

Troy looked thrilled as if we’d discovered some grand connection, and I quickly shook my head.

“No. I like blue. Not green. Not at all.”

“Really? You like blue? My hair has a bluish tint too…”

“That’s… not what I meant…”

Troy, now blushing and pointing at his hair, left me too exhausted to even respond.

‘I’ll just shut up now.’

I vowed to say nothing more and sealed my lips.

Just then, cheerful voices of noble ladies coming up the stairs echoed through the quiet teahouse.

“Oh my, shall we stop by the boutique later? I heard they have new arrivals.”

“Sounds good. I was thinking of buying a new dress for the tea party.”

I turned toward the commotion.

Three noble ladies in elegant dresses were coming up.

‘Those girls…’

I recognized them instantly.

They were the very ones who bullied Felice so terribly in the game.

Karen, Tallin, and Nezwin.

‘They really made my life hell…’

I could still vividly remember all the misery they caused.

“But did you hear? The Duke of Spencer sent a marriage proposal to the Count of Luceronia?”

Even from a distance, their gossiping voices rang clearly through the quiet teahouse.

‘So the rumors have already spread.’

Which meant… the bullying toward Felice would soon begin.