AMLA 10

Chapter 10

Still, it seemed like a good idea to learn it.

“But would that magic really help me?”

The magic I had only used in the game to raise affection points—I had no idea if it would actually be helpful to me now.

It probably will, for protecting your body. You have enough mana.

‘That’s true.’

Just as Hyunjae (Current) said, Felice’s body did have enough mana stored.

In the game, when I focused on targeting Lian’s route, I had reached a level where I could actually use magic.

“But still… I don’t really want to go meet Lian at the Magic Tower.”

I didn’t want to complicate things unnecessarily.

Taking the risk of unlocking the affection route of another male lead was too dangerous.

You don’t have to go to Lian. There’s also the Count of Luceronía.

“Oh, the Count!”

Because I always went to Lian in the game to learn magic, I hadn’t realized I had an excellent teacher right next to me.

The Count of Luceronía—soon to succeed the Duke of Madonia as the next head of the Magic Tower.

Originally, he was also at the Magic Tower, but right now he was staying at the estate to manage various affairs on behalf of the Duke of Madonia.

‘This is the perfect opportunity to learn by his side.’

“Right. I’ll learn. I should protect my own body.”

Good thinking. But do you see the trait window right now?

“No, I was just about to say. I can’t press anything at the moment.”

Even now, I could see various buttons floating before me—especially the “Exit” button, which I had tried pressing the moment I opened my eyes here.

But no matter how much I reached out, I couldn’t physically press any of them.

I thought so. That’s why I created voice commands.

“So now I’ll be able to see it?”

Yep. Just add ‘activate-bbyong’ to any command.

“Activate-bbyong? Are you kidding?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous-sounding command.

I had no choice. I didn’t want it to get confused with everyday phrases.

“Still, ‘activate-bbyong’? That’s so childish.”

Just as I was grumbling, I saw the ‘Exit’ button at the top right.

“Exit activate-bbyong.”

I said it with a trembling voice—but only silence responded.

“What the heck? It didn’t work.”

Sorry… We’re not sure about that one either.

“What is this, seriously!”

Annoyed, I glared at the sky.

“Whatever. I was thinking… you know those quest reward items? Give me one of those.”

Even just having an item would open up more ways to raise social standing and other opportunities.

Well… Items can be generated… but we can’t gift them. Sorry.

“Is there anything you guys can do?!”

Everything I asked got a “no,” and I furrowed my brow hard.

Knock knock.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it?!”

I flinched and shouted toward the door like someone caught stealing.

But contrary to my panic, a calm voice came from outside—it was Anthony.

“Felice, it’s me.”

“Oh, just a second.”

I let out a sigh of relief knowing it was Anthony.

Sounds like someone’s here. I’ll disconnect for now.

“Okay.”

By the way, we’re tweaking a lot of stuff right now, so chatting might not work well.

“What?”

Also, a quest will start soon.

“Huh?”

Don’t worry too much.

Hyunjae, having sensed the situation, sent off a string of messages before vanishing.

The chat window disappeared with a pop in front of me.

With all the sudden news, I just stood there staring blankly at the sky.

“Felice?”

Anthony knocked again, asking gently.

“Ah, come in.”

The door opened and Anthony entered the room, but my mind was filled with Hyunjae’s last words.

‘Chat might not work well?’

It was the only way I could communicate with the original world…

If I lost that chat function, I already felt anxious.

“What were you doing out here, Felice?”

Anthony looked at me curiously as I stood on the balcony staring at the sky.

“Ah… I was just thinking. What’s up?”

“Father told me to get the invitation Spencer left for you.”

“Oh, this.”

Distracted by chatting with Hyunjae, I had completely forgotten about the two black slips of paper. I handed them to Anthony.

“Thanks. But what’s the invitation for? Is there a banquet?”

Now curious about the invitation, I asked him.

“Hmm. This one’s addressed to you. Why don’t you open it and see?”

Anthony tilted his head in confusion and handed me one of the black envelopes.

“Sure.”

Probably just another party.

In this world, nobles threw parties whenever they had time.

‘But… the Spencer family didn’t hold a banquet around this time in the game… Don’t tell me this is that membership thing again…’

Nervously, I tore open the envelope. As I read the invitation, my eyebrows slowly rose.

“What is this supposed to mean?”

“What’s it say?”

Seeing my strange reaction, Anthony moved closer and looked at the invitation.

“It says you’ve been invited to dinner. The Luceronía family is invited to the Spencer Duchy.”

“Dinner? Why are they inviting us so suddenly? When?”

“Tonight…”

“Tonight?! Why so rushed?”

Anthony snatched the invitation and read it quickly.

“The Duke of Spencer is apparently leaving to inspect his territory starting tomorrow. How rude.”

Anthony, who had disliked the Spencers ever since receiving the marriage proposal, clenched the invitation tightly.

“No way…”

‘Kaiynis and Dustin will be there.’

Just thinking about meeting both of those difficult people at once made my head spin.

“I should go tell Father.”

Anthony sighed and turned to deliver the invitation to the Count of Luceronía.

‘Father won’t be able to get out of it either.’

In that case…

“O-Oppa… I think I have a really bad stomachache.”

‘Time to fake being sick.’

It was the only way I could think to get out of this.

I grabbed my stomach with one hand and clung to Anthony with the other.

“Felice? What’s wrong?”

Anthony looked at me with concern as I hunched over holding my stomach.

“My stomach…”

‘Go tell them I’m too sick to attend dinner.’

As I gritted my teeth and put all my effort into my act—

Beep beep beep beep.

A different notification sound rang out, and a system window popped up before my eyes.

System
Quest Open! Complete the quest and receive rewards.

You’ve been invited to the Duke of Spencer’s mansion.
Gain the Duke of Spencer’s trust.

Success: +5 Trust
Failure: –5 Social Reputation

Time Limit: By midnight tonight
Bonus Reward: One-time use map showing the real-time locations of the male leads.

It was a quest.

One that, in the original game, appeared much later.

As a tester, I had successfully cleared this one several times.

‘A map that shows real-time locations of the male leads?’

I knew that item well—it had been useful in raising affection points in the game.

‘With that, I could even avoid the male leads… And if I fail, I lose 5 social rep?’

Losing reputation would make the bullying even worse.

Even now it was at 0—if it dropped to -5…

That would trigger bullying beyond imagination.

‘What do I do?’

If I went to the dinner, I’d face both Kaiynis and Dustin.
If I didn’t, I’d miss the map and get bullied.

‘Right. I can’t miss such an easy quest.’

It only took a few words to complete—too easy to give up.

And just like with Dustin earlier, maybe… I could avoid raising affection altogether.

“Felice, are you really unwell? I’ll go get some medicine—”

Just as Anthony tried to help me up, I straightened up and stood on my own.

“Oh, I’m fine now. I should start getting ready for dinner.”

“Huh?”

Anthony blinked in confusion as I gave him a bright smile.

“You should get ready too, Oppa. Go on, hurry.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

I nodded firmly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go—to the Duke of Spencer’s estate.”