By the time the night sky had fully draped itself over the Astria estate the carriage had rolled back into the courtyard.
Sylus collapsed face-first onto his bed and sank into the plush mattress with a groan that came from somewhere deep and ancient.
’Alright. Let’s see what this cheat system actually cooked up while I was busy running an estate, exposing a traitor, negotiating with a black-market priestess and apparently adopting a child in the manor.’
He summoned the interface and the dark obsidian panel flared to life in front of his eyes with sleek crimson accents pulsing with energy.
[SYSTEM BONDING LOG ARCHIVES]
[Ding!] Bonding Event — Valessia Von Astria
◆ Cleared false accusation / Neutralized internal corruption.
Affection Shift: Distrust → Warm Trust
[Ding!] Bonding Event — Valessia Von Astria
◆ Sworn butler’s oath of absolute loyalty performed in public.
Affection Shift: Warm Trust → Reliance
[Ding!] Bonding Event — Rina
◆ Caught infiltrating master bedchamber. Chose physical dominance over punishment.
Affection Shift: Hostile Wariness → Sensual Submission
[Ding!] Bonding Event — Rina
◆ Cured brother’s fatal disease / Offered permanent estate sanctuary.
Affection Shift: Sensual Submission → Absolute Unwavering Devotion
[Ding!] Bonding Event — High Priestess Luna
◆ Coerced compliance via leverage / Intimate thigh-hold transaction inside sacred grounds.
Affection Shift: Defensive Hostility → Reluctant Addiction & Erotic Intrigue
[MILESTONE REWARDS CALCULATED]
◆ Mana Affinity: Fire [D → C] | Lightning [C → C+]
◆ Passive Skill Acquired: Enhanced Vision (A) — Real-time spatial awareness, sub-second reaction speed, full night vision.
◆ Active Skill Acquired: Fireball (B) — Compresses high-density pyre magic into rapid-fire explosive projectiles.
◆ Bonus: +25 Unassigned Stat Points
Sylus stared at the glowing rewards list for a long moment and then a slow absolutely villainous grin spread across his face.
’Holy shit.’ He let out a disbelieving chuckle and ran a hand through his white hair. ’I didn’t swing a single sword. I didn’t grind one dungeon. I didn’t eat a mysterious pill or break through any cultivation realms. I just collected a few beautiful women, played my cards right, and the system literally showered me in high-tier skills and stat points. This is the cleanest most efficient cheat mechanic ever conceived by anyone anywhere.’
Before he could start dumping the twenty-five stat points the interface flipped to a second tab on its own.
[BONDING & Reward OVERVIEW]
Rina (Maid) — Bond Rate: 0.5x |
Reward Multiplier: 1x
Luna (High Priestess) — Bond Rate: 0.3x |
Reward Multiplier: 1x
Valessia Von Astria (Baroness) — Bond Rate: 0.1x |
Reward Multiplier: 1x’I get it now,’ Sylus thought as his vision started going heavy at the edges. ’The deeper the emotional and physical intimacy the higher the Bond Rate climbs and higher Bond Rates mean permanent stat multipliers stacking on top of each other every single day. Valessia is only at 0.2x because we haven’t actually gotten close yet. Once that number moves...’
A heavy wave of exhaustion crashed over him before he could finish the thought and his eyelids just stopped cooperating entirely and he barely managed to dismiss the glowing screen before his head sank into the pillow and he was out completely.
"Time to wake up, Sir Butler~"
A soft musical voice came from directly beside his ear.
Sylus rubbed his face slowly and his vision cleared and he looked over and immediately went completely rigid.
Rina was sitting right on the edge of his bed holding a steaming porcelain cup with an expression of pure innocent sweetness that had absolutely no business existing on someone who had spent the previous night robbing the estate vault.
"What the fuck?!" He sat bolt upright. "What are you doing in my room?!"
"Me?" She set the saucer on his nightstand with an impossibly gentle smile. "I brought you fresh coffee! I overheard the head maid mention yesterday that you like a strong brew first thing in the morning."
Sylus let out a long breath and pressed his hand to his chest. "Jeez. You almost gave me a heart attack." He reached toward the nightstand. "Thanks, now give me—" Find the original chapter at g.com.
SWOOSH.
Rina snatched the cup away with lightning speed and hugged it to her chest and pouted dramatically.
Sylus’s eyebrow twitched. "What is that supposed to mean. Hand it over."
Rina purred softly and leaned forward over the bed and very deliberately lowered her upper body until her massive pillow-soft cleavage was in full shameless display directly in his line of sight. "Well Sir Butler... don’t you think a hard-working maid deserves a proper reward for bringing her beloved his morning drink right after he wakes up?"
Sylus stared at her. "What the hell are you babbling about."
"You know exactly what I mean~" She grinned and crawled onto the mattress like a sleek chaotic cat and leaned in close with her floral scent overwhelming his senses and her soft hand reaching down to stroke the front of his trousers.
"Hey!" Sylus swatted her hand away instantly. "What do you think you’re doing?!"
Rina didn’t even flinch and crawled closer and pinned him against the headboard with a wicked seductive smirk. "Aww don’t go playing the shy innocent virgin now! Not after we spent the whole night completely tangled together~ right, my handsome husband?"
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Sylus stared at her with genuine horror. "Since when did I become your husband?!"
Rina gasped loudly and slapped his chest and tossed her head back in a full dramatic pout. "WHAAAT?! Are you serious right now?! After ravishing my poor body and enjoying every single inch of me you’re just backing out like that?! Was I not good enough?! Did my soft curves not satisfy my darling?!"
’Just what kind of shameless creature is this woman,’ Sylus pressed both hands to his temples as his head started pounding. "The only thing I did was give you a harsh punishment for breaking into the vault! That was the entire situation! Beginning middle and end!"
"NYAAAAA~!"
Rina burst into loud theatrical wails and covered her face with her hands as suspiciously perfect tears trickled down her cheeks. "How can a man be so heartless and cruel?! You stole my heart and showered me with love and now you’re discarding me like yesterday’s trash?!"
’LOVE?! WHEN DID I SAY ANYTHING ABOUT LOVE?!’ Sylus screamed internally while maintaining the strained expression of a man losing a war he didn’t sign up for.
"That’s it!" Rina announced with extreme dramatic flair and sniffled loudly and wiped away her completely fake tears and stomped toward the door. "I’m going straight to Lady Valessia! I’ll tell her absolutely everything!"
The name hit Sylus like a bucket of ice dropped from a second-floor window.
’Wait.’
His eyes snapped wide and his brain rapidly calculated the timeline with sudden sharp clarity.
’It’s been two days. Valessia returns from the Academy today.’
And right in front of him a wildly unhinged maid was about to sprint into the hallway and broadcast her broken heart to the entire estate at maximum volume approximately five minutes before his employer walked through the front door.
"HEY! STOP RIGHT THERE!"