The Reincarnated Villainess Whose Romantic Trauma From Her Past Life Is Too Strong Is Sweetly and Painfully Doted On by the Prince of the Neighboring Country - Chapter 22

(Whaaaat?! Everyone’s affection levels have tanked…!)

Reiss, Geek, Thiel.

The values for these three, which had previously been maxed out at the upper limit, had now dropped to nearly two-thirds of their original capacity.

(Hey! Why?! I haven’t done anything weird!)

While glaring at the screen in frustration, Lily noticed new information at the bottom that hadn’t been there before.

—Salute Trigea. Affection Level: 0.

(Hah?!)

Seeing that number, Lily let out her second mental “Hah?!” of the day.

(Affection Level 0?!?!)

Up until now, no capture target had ever started with such a terrible number. The fact that Salute had appeared on the status screen meant he had been flagged as a capture target, which was cause for celebration in its own right. But given the digits displayed, Lily couldn’t find an ounce of joy.

—This is bad.

Salute’s number was impossible, but the numbers for the other capture targets were equally unthinkable.

(The game’s climax is coming up in two months. At this rate, I won’t even get the True End, let alone the Harem End…!)

Lily realized she was in trouble.

In truth, Lily hadn’t played this game very much in her previous life. Far from being a hardcore player, she had only played slightly past the tutorial and then merely skimmed the outline of Reiss’s route through a Let’s Play video. Therefore, she had a vague idea of how to clear Reiss’s route and knew what kind of plot developments the heroine would face.

The reason Lily chose Reiss’s route as her primary focus was based on that limited knowledge and the fact that his route was the only one that led to a “Gold Digger” ending where she married into wealth. However, before she could reach that, a major hurdle awaited the heroine.

—If she couldn’t overcome that hurdle, it was all over for her.

Panic-stricken, Lily realized she had no choice. She had to use “pay-to-win” cheat items.

The Maiden of the Flower Succession was not a mobile game but a console game. The kind played on handhelds like a P●P or a ●with. So normally, microtransactions didn’t exist.

However, one day, while mindlessly fiddling with her status screen, Lily found it. Hidden in a blank space on the screen was a button that could be pressed discreetly. And when pressed, a pop-up window would appear with a gaudy heart mark and the message: “Welcome! To the Secret Shop!”

Having shopped here before, Lily already knew what kind of place it was.

Without hesitation, Lily tapped the button. She would buy a cheat item to break through this deadlock.

“Welcome—oh, my.”

Inside the dimly lit, suspicious shop, a man who had been idly polishing what looked like merchandise behind the counter spoke up at the sight of his rare guest. The one who appeared was, of course, the Maiden of the Flower Succession, Lily. The moment Lily laid eyes on the man, she skipped the greetings and fired off a complaint.

“Hey! What’s going on?! That Affection Up Potion I bought here before the effect has worn off!”

A gray fedora, pitch-black sunglasses, and a thick beard. The shopkeeper, wearing a deep green apron, looked to be anywhere from his 40s to late 50s, though he might have looked younger without the beard. The man of indeterminate age didn’t seem surprised by Lily’s complaining; he handled her with practiced ease.

“Now, now, customer. It’s impossible for the effect to simply disappear.”

“But the affection levels of the people I used it on have actually decreased!”

“That’s simply because you took actions that lowered their affection, isn’t it?”

The shopkeeper answered her dissatisfied plea bluntly.

“The Affection Up Potion I sold you before only increases the rate at which affection rises; it doesn’t make the effect permanent.”

“Wh… what…?”

Lily furrowed her brows at the shopkeeper’s calm, pleasant tone.

“Th… then you should have told me that when I bought it…!”

“I did tell you. Besides, the instructions are clearly printed on the potion bottle. It’s your fault for not listening properly and not reading the labels.”

“…………”

Lily was left speechless by the shopkeeper, who wasn’t angry or moody, but simply stated the facts.

True! Now that he mentioned it, she felt like he might have said something. He had told her, “It’s most effective if you have them drink it right before a moment where affection increases,” and Lily had followed those instructions at the time.

“Th… then, just sell me that potion again.”

“Ah, about that… I’m terribly sorry, but I can’t sell it to you.”

“HAAAH?!”

As the shopkeeper scratched the back of his head with an apologetic look, Lily delivered her third “Hah?!” of the day.

“We’ve had a shortage of materials lately. The one I sold you the other day was the last one. We are currently, and quite impressively, out of stock.”

“…You’ve got to be kidding…?”

Lily fell into despair at the fact that the item she wanted was unavailable. What was she supposed to do? She had so little time left. Could she really raise their affection to the levels required for the True End by then—?

“…Young lady, are you in trouble because you’re running out of time?”

“…Well, yes…”

At Lily’s words, the shopkeeper smirked and hummed, “Hmm…” Lily felt irritated by his attitude, as if he were enjoying someone else’s misfortune, but that emotion vanished instantly at his next words.

“—By the way, what are your current affection levels?”

(…………Eh?)

“Affection levels?” Lily’s eyes widened as that unmistakable term jumped out from the person in front of her.

“…All three of them are around two-thirds…”

“Then you might still be able to make it if you work hard, right?”

—Make it if she worked hard?

Even without asking, Lily understood he was talking about whether or not she could reach the True End. She understood, and—

“…Who exactly are you?”

Lily asked the shopkeeper.