For a moment, silence settled over the infirmary.
If he had only been moderately insane, she might have been flustered. But seeing him go completely off the rails actually cleared Elysia's head.
She stared at the man in front of her. Despite having done something outrageous, his face was strangely flushed, like a child watching to see how someone would react.
There was no stopping a madman from doing mad things. So what should she do?
'Tristan is at 8, and Valentin was at 17 earlier. So it should be fine even if Tristan's Affection rises by about 9.'
Elysia's mind began working rapidly.
'Actually, this might be the perfect opportunity to balance the scales.'
It would probably be best to handle this as naturally as possible. After thinking for a moment, Elysia slowly spoke.
“Tristan. Are you a child? What were you going to do if it left a scar?”
“Sorry.”
Elysia deliberately lowered her lashes as she scolded him, and Tristan gave an awkward smile.
[System]
Strategy Target 'Tristan Loch' feels warmth in your nagging.
[Tristan Loch Affection: +10]
[System]
BALANCE MODE : Measuring the weight of affection.
[Valentin de Arcane 17 < Tristan Loch 18 (+1)]
The result was just as she'd expected. There was a slight discrepancy, but in terms of the balance of the scales, the numbers finally seemed roughly even.
“You nag just as much as you used to.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You were like that when we were kids too. I liked hearing you fuss over me whenever I got hurt.”
[System]
'Tristan Loch's Inner Thoughts' have been collected.
[It seems that ever since childhood, he has often resorted to dangerous methods to get your attention.]
So he'd been out of his mind since childhood. His attention-seeking tendencies were seriously severe.
[System]
'Tristan Loch' is immersed in childhood nostalgia.
Memories romanticize everything.
Effect : Affection receives a buff and rises significantly.
[Additional Affection: +25]
[System]
BALANCE MODE : Measuring the weight of affection.
Valentin de Arcane 17 < Tristan Loch 43 (+26)
When she saw the additional Affection, Elysia nearly screamed internally. He had gone and gotten lost in nostalgia all by himself, and now an enormous gap of 26 points had opened up.
[!] Warning
Be careful!
If the difference in Affection reaches 30 or more,
Forced Ending Mode will begin.
The system's chilling warning sent Elysia into a panic.
[System]
'Tristan Loch' is waiting for your response.
How will you respond?
1. “…What's that supposed to mean? That's so stupid.” Blush shyly.
2. “Why would you go this far? Are you out of your mind?” Demand an explanation.
If she wanted to lower his Affection, confronting him was probably the better choice. Elysia immediately chose option 2.
“Why would you go this far? Are you out of your mind?”
“Yeah, I'm definitely out of my mind.”
Without so much as blinking, Tristan added,
“You kept avoiding me.”
“When did I ever….”
“I saw you running away in the corridor. You took off like you'd seen something you never wanted to see.”
So he had seen her after all. Her face instantly heated up.
“Eli, stop avoiding me and look at me.”
“…….”
“I followed you to the academy, and because of you, I even joined a knitting club I didn't give a damn about. And now I've gone so far as to chase you all the way to a convent. If I have to, I can do things even worse than this.”
[System]
Strategy Target 'Tristan Loch' recalls his long history of obsession
and reaffirms his devotion to you.
[Tristan Loch Affection: +2]
Why the hell was his Affection going up? Was that really something to be so proud of? She couldn't understand his thought process at all.
He was insane. But even more insane was the system, which was apparently classifying his madness as 'pure love.'
[System]
Valentin de Arcane 17 < Tristan Loch 45 (+28)
You're almost there.
It's time to decide.
In the end, the situation had spiraled completely out of control.
When the system foreshadowed an ending, the blood drained from Elysia's face. She couldn't just sit there and let herself reach an ending like this. She had to do something.
What was something that people universally hated hearing?
…Right, insults about their parents!
Flustered and scrambling for an answer, Elysia squeezed her eyes shut and started blurting out whatever came to mind.
“You have serious attachment issues! The reason you're like this is all your parents' fault…!”
“Right. I think so too.”
She had naturally expected an angry reaction.
But despite his established hot temper, Tristan showed no particular change in expression.
He's admitting it that easily? She could hardly believe it even as she heard him say it.
“No, what I mean is….”
“The people who call themselves my parents were always indifferent to me. We're worse than strangers. So, yeah. I probably do have serious attachment issues. I admit it.”
Had she screwed up? She only knew what was relevant to the game, not the details of his circumstances. She felt bad, as though she'd carelessly prodded an old wound. Hearing him say it so plainly left Elysia the one at a loss for words.
She knew she shouldn't sympathize with him, but she wavered.
“You're the only one I've ever had. It's been that way since we were kids, and it's still that way now.”
As if personally proving his words, Tristan's gaze remained fixed solely on Elysia. Elysia Gray was reflected entirely within those unfathomably deep black eyes. It wasn't merely obsession. Beneath that obsession was an attachment far older than it. Elysia stared into his eyes.
Once a day. She had defied and resisted fate for five whole years. She had thought that if she kept avoiding it, someday it would end, and that was all she'd wanted. After possessing Elysia Gray, survival had taken priority over everything else.
Even though she'd hidden herself in a convent, a place forbidden to men, they had still managed to find Elysia Gray. One had become a priest and the other a Holy Knight. Neither was a future she could ever have imagined. Just as convent life hadn't been easy, their paths to being ordained as clergymen couldn't have been smooth either. Of course, that was their problem, but there was no denying the tremendous effort it must have taken.
And even after they arrived at the convent, Elysia had diligently avoided them so she wouldn't get involved with either of them.
In response, Tristan had injured himself and barged in, while Valentin had used money and people to have her brought before him. Their methods were different, but they were exactly alike in their willingness to use any means necessary to see Elysia.
She had no idea what Elysia Gray meant to them that they would go this far, but….
“Running away won't do you any good anyway.”
Tristan was right.
Running away only bought her a little time. If she avoided them, they would inevitably do whatever it took to find her.
No matter how well she avoided them, what was the point when a single encounter could send their Affection soaring this uncontrollably? In the end, this was a seesaw game where, whenever one side tipped too far, she had to tip the other side in response. Once it had begun, there would be no stopping it. And that was true even now.
“So stop avoiding me.”
He pleaded with her once more.
“Please.”
That single short word made it strangely difficult to breathe.
The person he desperately wanted was Elysia Gray. But I'm not Elysia Gray. So why…. It was strange.
The desperation in his black eyes almost seemed to brush against her skin.
And something other than her mind began to move.
Her heart was beating slowly, but unmistakably.
At that moment, as though it had been waiting for precisely this, the system chimed.
[System]
Main Quest : 'Keeper of the Scales'
Keep the golden scales balanced
by maintaining the Affection of both Strategy Targets simultaneously.
There was no avoiding them anyway.
In that case.
She needed a real solution, not another temporary measure. And she would have to find that answer herself.
[System]
Would you like to accept the quest?
[ Yes / No ]
Elysia squeezed her eyes shut.
And.
[Yes]
She pressed start.
“Fine. I won't avoid you anymore.”
Elysia looked Tristan straight in the eyes and answered as though making a vow.
“But I have one condition. This is a convent. If you cross the line again like you did today, then it really is over.”
[System]
Your choice has been made.
[!] Once a decision has been made, it cannot be reversed.
Today, Elysia willingly sank her own teeth into the strange trap formed by a triangle.
There was only one rule.
Simple and cruel.
[!] Game Rule
If you want to survive, you have to two-time them.
The system had barely finished its announcement when she heard someone approaching from the entrance.
Who's coming at this hour now?
“…Wait here. I think someone's here. I'll go check, so stay put.”
After whispering to Tristan, whose treatment she had finished, Elysia made him lie down on the infirmary bed and drew the curtain around him.
Then, the moment she spotted the uninvited guest at the entrance, she couldn't help but stare in shock.
“It's been a while again.”
Valentin de Arcane was standing right in front of her.
[System]
Surprise Quest: 'Two Patients Behind the Curtain'
Treat Strategy Targets 'Valentin de Arcane' and 'Tristan Loch' simultaneously.