“Huh? Well, it’s true that he’s handsome.”

“……”

Anselot pursed his lips tightly.

After thinking hard about something for a while, he soon readily admitted my words.

“Indeed, he’s handsome. He looks just like a knight from a fairy tale.”

“Right, right.”

“…His hair is especially handsome.”

As I was nodding my head in agreement, he took out an appearance-changing potion from his pocket, stared at it, and added in a meaningful voice.

Suddenly, I had an ominous feeling.

“Stop turning other people bald!”

Hamilton Duke might not know. Turning a handsome man like Klaus Winster bald would be a disaster.

Moreover, Klaus’ lustrous platinum hair was more beautiful than that of most noble ladies, yet he was trying to get rid of it.

“Who said anything? I just said his hair is handsome.”

Anselot bluntly retorted and put away the potion.

‘Anyway, it seems we should discard the method of capturing Klaus Winster’s favorability…’

It would be fortunate if his favorability didn’t drop further for no reason.

Then, the next method is…

Choice 2. Receive a knight’s oath from ??

“A knight’s oath…”

I read the words ‘knight’s oath’ while frowning deeply.

A knight’s oath.

It was a common theme in fantasy novels, but it was a rare tradition in the world I was living in.

Because rather than relying on an oath that could change at any time, there was a definite means called a contract.

‘Well, it might be a cooler theme because it’s not common…’

In the Azester Empire, it was considered an outdated, ancient culture that people from a few hundred years ago practiced.

At best, the imperial family, who adhered to tradition, received a knight’s oath from their close aides, or sometimes lovers exchanged a knight’s oath…

“You’re going to get a knight’s oath from that man?”

“I should at least try.”

I confidently told Anselot, who seemed somehow unimpressed.

“I have a method in mind.”

[This is the timeline separator]

A sunny day, Brillanta Square in the imperial capital.

The people’s faces were peaceful as ever.

The capital had been in turmoil for a while due to the incident with Duke Hamilton and brother Orent, but Mother quickly sorted it out.

In the end, their crimes were all revealed, and Duke Hamilton claimed all the sins as his own and was executed.

Thanks to Duke Hamilton’s paternal love, brother Orent was able to keep his life, but he lost everything he had and was even stripped of his status as a member of the imperial family.

Now, brother Orent was scheduled to be transferred to a monastery far from Brillanta soon and spend the rest of his life there.

Some called Mother cold-hearted for her stern treatment of her own blood.

‘But it was a natural course of action considering the imperial subjects who were sacrificed because of them.’

If Mother had forgiven brother Orent, there might have been greater unrest.

No matter how serious a criminal he was, having to punish her own child.

The position of the emperor felt very heavy.

‘Is it because of the weight that comes with being the emperor that Mother doesn’t give us equal affection?’

With these thoughts in mind, I was walking and looking for someone while fiddling with a small piece of metal in my pocket.

The purchased from the Dark Guild Shop was originally a ring commonly used by Azester men when proposing.

‘It said it would increase the probability of a successful confession by 500%.’

I smiled wryly, recalling the item description once more.

‘But it didn’t say that confession had to be a love confession, right?’

Despite countless destroying the original work, the reason it was popular was because of its high degree of freedom.

‘As long as you keep the core keywords, it’s perfectly possible to exploit item effects like this.’

Activating the mini-map to locate Klaus, I quickened my pace.

And as soon as I spotted Klaus coming out from around the corner of the alley, I abruptly held out the in front of him.

“Sir Klaus!”

“Your Highness, Princess Luibel…?”

As if he hadn’t expected to encounter me in such a place, Klaus faltered and showed a perplexed expression.

“Become my knight!”

I confessed to Klaus in a cool manner, as if proposing.

“I need a knight. I’m going to embark on a quest to prove myself a hero. I’d like you to come with me. So, will you swear a knight’s oath to me?”

Then, the proposal ring shone white.

[SYSTEM] Using the item. The probability of a successful confession increases by +500%.

‘It worked…!’

Thinking I had succeeded, I raised my head with a bright smile at that moment.

‘Gasp?’

Klaus’ expression was rotting away. Very, very red.

“S-Sir Klaus…?”

[SYSTEM] ‘s Favorability has decreased by −10. (Favorability: −300)

I hurriedly looked above his head.

Heir of the Winster Marquis Family

§Wary State§

Favorability: −300

‘Even brother Orent, who disliked me, didn’t have his favorability drop below −300…’

I felt a sense of despair.

“A knight’s oath, you said?”

Klaus, who had been courteous to me despite his low favorability, openly frowned and asked in a voice that sounded like he was holding back.

“Heheh! I made a mistake. I’m sorry, Sir! Let’s forget about it!”

I shouted like that and quickly left the place.

Even in the midst of that, system notification windows kept popping up saying Klaus’ favorability had dropped, but fortunately, it stopped just before reaching −500.

‘At this rate, I might really get hit by Klaus.’

Recalling Pia’s explanation that when favorability drops below −500, one feels hatred accompanied by violence, I felt a chill down my spine.

‘Is there really no other way than to beat Klaus into submission?’

Once I made sure I was completely away from Klaus, I let out a deep sigh.

‘But Klaus has a higher level than me. He doesn’t seem like he would accept a duel with me either…’

As I was pondering if there was a good method.

‘Huh?’

I saw a familiar name on the mini-map.

‘Why is this person here?’

[This is the timeline separator]

Meanwhile, Klaus, who was left alone, became very disturbed.

‘Become her knight…’

Recalling Luibel’s sudden confession that came without warning, he walked in a daze.

Princess Luibel was certainly suspicious.

She knew this and that about him even before meeting him.

It was a street without many passersby, but to confess in such a public place like this.

And the knight’s oath was also odd.

Now, it was something only exchanged between some members of the imperial family or lovers…

He paused.

‘Wait. Lovers?’

Could it be that Princess Luibel…

‘Likes me?’

Thump!

As he thought that, his heart sank, and the favorability on his status window above his head dropped once more.

‘But… there’s Prince Anselot too…’

Klaus still remembered the image of Luibel holding Anselot’s hand and walking away that day.

Luibel looked very affectionate and comfortable when dealing with Anselot, unlike when she dealt with him.

‘So she’s dating the prince, and me… she wants to keep by her side?’

The moment he thought of that impure assumption, Klaus’ face slightly contorted.

‘That’s too… bad.’

An unpleasant feeling surged within him.

Klaus attributed this unfounded unpleasantness entirely to Luibel’s improper behavior.

Because otherwise, it was an emotion he couldn’t understand.

[This is the timeline separator]

I returned to the carriage I had prepared.

Pia immediately transformed into a bird with a poof and flew to me.

Anselot, who had been waiting inside the carriage, glanced at me.

“Looks like it didn’t go well.”

“The ring I bought at a high price must have been defective.”

I asked Pia, who was sitting obediently on my shoulder.

“It said it would increase the probability of a successful confession, but the confession failed and the favorability dropped. Is there a problem with the system?”

Cheep cheep!

—A problem, you say! The system is perfect!

Pia cried out, flaring up.

“Then why did this happen?”

—T-That’s…!

After hesitating for a moment, Pia suddenly raised her voice and shouted.

—Because the success probability was originally 0.03%!

“What? That low?”

I opened my mouth wide in surprise.

Five times 0.03% is 0.15%… So it would have been a miracle to succeed.

“You should have told me that in advance!”

—Pia wants to, but it’s against the rules to directly intervene in the main quest.

It seemed there were some restrictions, like not being able to tell me that Klaus was the target of the quest.

—But Pia can give you some advice at least!

“Oh, really?”

—That guy is acting this way because Lulu is too pretty! Wouldn’t it be easier to raise favorability if Lulu became ugly?

“What?”

—So if you drink that baldness potion you lent to that man…!

“No! Absolutely not!”

I shook my head vehemently in horror.

“How can you give such bird-brained advice!”

—Bird-brained, you say! Pia was just thinking of Lulu and giving advice!

“If you make such a suggestion one more time, I’ll make you drink that potion first!”

Cheep, cheep…?

Pia clicked her beak while covering her lovely green feathers with her two wings.

Anselot, who had been watching Pia and I bicker, casually stroked his chin.

“There is a simple way to win over Klaus Winster.”

“The simplest way?”

“I’m thinking about it. I know we need to win over Klaus Winster, but I don’t like that jerk being next to Your Highness.”

“Why do you dislike Klaus so much?”

He didn’t receive a minus favorability bomb like me, so I don’t understand why he dislikes Klaus so much.

“Do I need a reason to dislike someone?”

I asked, tilting my head, but Anselot replied indifferently.

“If you have a good method, let me know. At this rate, forget the Dragon of Light, I won’t even be able to start the scenario.”

“Well, if Your Highness is asking…”

After a pause, Anselot finally opened his mouth to answer.

“Power.”

Anselot curled the corners of his mouth into a smirk.

“Since ancient times, power has always been the ultimate force.”