Click.
The door shut and I sighed, then walked down the stairs with the tray in my hands. "What was that stuff you made, master?" I heard upon reaching the hallway that led to the kitchen. I tilted my head and found a maid who looked damn curvy. Life truly is unfair—while Lenora struggled with her B to barely C cup bosom, this young girl was holding up an E cup. And she didn't disappoint in the curve of her hips either.
Anyway, she had blonde hair and green eyes. She was the sneaky maid who had been bringing me food mysteriously ever since I'd arrived at this godforsaken place. Since the moment I caught her red-handed sneaking around my quarters, she had remained within the premises of the mansion, though she moved about like she owned the place rather than served in it. I could find her if I wanted to, but she was slippery as an eel when it suited her purposes.
She didn't obey any direct orders from me, stating her only job here was to clean the mansion and provide my daily food. I didn't complain since that was enough for now, and frankly, I had bigger problems to worry about than a rebellious servant.
"Soup," I said matter-of-factly. I had asked her to make it earlier, but she had refused, stating I didn't have the right to order her around. So I just made it myself, much to her apparent horror.
"What?! That was just some rubbish concoction of random ingredients! You literally destroyed my kitchen in the process!" I tilted my head to find an annoyed-looking girl glaring at me with her hands on her hips.
Well, isn't she brazen?
"Here, hold this for a second," I said, extending the tray toward her. She looked at me with a deep frown, suspicion flickering in those green eyes, but eventually took it from my hands with obvious reluctance.
"Now be a doll and do your damn job," I said, stroking her hair for a second before turning around and walking toward the staircase. Her hair was surprisingly soft.
"Wait! Young master!" I ignored the annoying maid's protests and made my way toward another room where I would be sleeping until Lenora got better. Her voice echoed behind me, but I was already mentally moving on to more pressing matters.
Sigh.
According to my inherited memories, the entrance examination at the academy starts three months from now. And according to my memories of the game concerning the character called Anderson—the fat dude whose body I now inhabited—he would die in the first year at the academy, killed by his very own fiancée. Not an end I want for myself, since I had no intention of following that particular script.
As much as I wanted to escape the whole plot entirely, I couldn't. I would only be shooting myself in the foot, since I could only get as strong as I needed to be within the academy's walls. There was also the invasion from the outside world looming on the horizon—if I didn't get strong enough, I wouldn't survive that either. Plus there was that revenge I had to exact on the royal family for what they'd done to the original Anderson, and there was also the mysterious Keeper. I still didn't know what exactly he wanted from me, and the system had stubbornly refused to respond to my commands. All I could do now in preparation was get stronger, much stronger.
Given that reality, I currently had just three months to burn down all this excess fat and get to a considerable level of strength. I had some ideas about how to get started on that grueling process, and I planned to begin tomorrow at dawn. No more delays, no more excuses.
With Lenora at full strength supporting me, I would be able to accomplish things much faster.
Sigh.
I twisted the knob that led to my temporary room and it opened into an expansive space that felt far too grand for someone in my precarious position. I walked step by step toward the massive four-poster bed, and just as I reached it—
"Haa~" I collapsed in sheer relief, my body sinking into the soft mattress.
I felt like I had been carrying a tremendous weight on my shoulders all this while. I really needed to do something about this pathetic excuse for a body, and soon.
Come to think of it, what should I do about this fiancée of mine? If things proceeded according to the game's storyline, then she would definitely fall for the main character and dispose of me without a second thought. I couldn't try to break the engagement—Anderson had already attempted that route, and it had resulted in his exile to this remote mansion with severely limited options and resources.
Well, I supposed I would just have to avoid her until I became strong enough to handle whatever she might throw at me.
...Or
"Lenora." In that instant, a wild idea blazed to life in my head.
Come to think of it, I still had no clear idea what exactly Lenora's abilities were, and I couldn't remember her from the game at all, which meant she probably hadn't been involved with the main plot. Maybe—just maybe—I could make her even stronger than she already was, then get her into the academy alongside me. That way, for the crucial first year, she could protect me long enough for me to get stronger.