Chapter 7: Becoming a Marquis’s personal attendee

'Are they just going to stare at me, or am I meant to make the first move?' Arthur snidely commented on the passiveness of the newly arrived family. "Er…Charlotte, who are these people…" Arthur pensively questioned, playing into his freshly formed childish persona.

"They're my family. That's my dad, mum and sister," Charlotte jovially replied, leaping away from Arthur's bedside to join the rest of the Zepar household.

"Then are they the ones who saved me?" Arthur continued sending a wary glare at William, who replied with a superior smirk.

"Ye–" "Yes, we were the ones who used a precious potion to heal you", Charlotte spoke, only to be cut off mid-sentence by her father's booming voice. Who instantly attempted to guilt trip Arthur.

'Precious potion, my ass, a healing potion can be bought from any half-decent alchemist,' Arthur internally grumbled. However, he allowed none of his dissatisfaction to show on his face as he pressed onwards with the conversation.

"Eh, really, I'm sorry that you had to use such a precious thing on someone like me," Arthur sighed, playing into his status as a peasant who knew his place in the world to hopefully up his view in the eyes of his "Potential host family,"

"What do you mean someone like you, Arthur? You saved me. This is the least we could mrmgh mrmgh," Charlotte all but screamed, yet once again, her words were cut off mid-sentence by the actions of her father, who had firmly placed his dainty hands against his daughter's mouth, sealing her lips shut.

"As you should be. Without our help, you would be dead right now." William snidely remarked, "Do you know how little value your life holds in comparison to a potion, you street rat," The marquis continued belittling the "Frightened" Arthur, who could only bow his head down in "fear" to the man's tyrant like behaviour.

'Damn, just how much of an asshole is this guy? He was nothing like this to the protagonist of the game….' Arthur exasperatedly thought, 'You'd think you could overlook the class of your daughter's saviour and just give me some thanks, but NOO~ he has to go and make a song and dance about this shit~, but I suppose I'm just going to have to deal with this shit if I want my plan to work.'

"I'm sorry," Arthur apologised, his eyes glistening with false tears that stirred the hearts of at least two present as Charlotte began to struggle against her father's suppression. At the same time, Vienna sent her husband a rueful glare. "William, can't you be a bit kinder to the boy? He did save your daughter, Afterall," Vienna chided to no avail as William's grin became more and more present on his usually stern face.

"I am being kind Vienna!. That's why he isn't dead yet," William remarked, all the while a tingling sensation began to descend onto Arthur's body as if some mana was forcefully trying to peer into his body. 'Is he trying to evaluate my strength? I should probably memorise what this feels like….' Arthur inwardly commented while William's face morphed into one of temporary horror.

Sure he had been told by both his daughter and the guards that the boy was strong, but he refused to believe that he could have possibly been at the elemental harnessing stage at such a young age. I mean, FFS, it took William more than 60 years just to reach the boy's current level. This was a never before seen accomplishment for a human, so the marquis was, of course, going to capitalise on the boy's misfortune to somehow indoctrinate him into the Zepar family.

"Hmm, well, it's good that you know your place…If you had thought that your actions would have no repercussions, you would have been mistaken." William continued, finally breaking out of his stunned silence and returning to his previously pompous attitude. 'I have to tie this boy to our family somehow…. I think it's safe to assume that he doesn't possess any connections to some hidden family. Otherwise, he wouldn't be living as a peasant. I can't let such a talent escape….'

Nevertheless, Williams scheming would ultimately be unsuccessful as Arthur was already planning to attach himself to the Zepar family at least for a while. 'I suppose I should at least put up an act for a while even if we both want the same result,' Arthur shrewdly commented. "I I I'm sorry that you had to waste such precious resources on someone like me. If there's anything I can do to pay you back, I surely will," Arthur sobbed, tears streaming down his face like a waterfall. "Just please don't kill me, mister. I don't want to die!" Arthur screamed with bloodshot eyes that could evoke sympathy from even the most coldhearted of people.

{Ding +10 Love (Vienna)}

{Ding + 1000 Affection points}

{Ding + 1 Love (Charlotte)}

{DIng + 1000 Affection points}

Immediately a flurry of transparent blue panels descended upon Arthur's retina. All the while, the boy marvelled at the scene he had created. Charlotte was a ball of tears who furiously pounded against her father's chest in an attempt to free herself from his capture. At the same time, even Vienna struggled to suppress her overwhelming sympathy for the poor peasant child.

'Poor boy, what type of horrific trauma must he have gone through to have such a will to live,' Vienna inwardly wept her thoughts in stark contrast to the "Poor peasant boy," who was inwardly praising his surprisingly good acting abilities.

'God damn, am I good at this shit? Maybe I should have applied for an acting scholarship or something instead of playing The gate to Avalon,' Arthur narcissistically commented. 'Also system, what's up with Charlotte's sudden boost in affection rate multiplier? Is this a perk of breaking through the 110% barrier?'

{The host is correct. It seems that once the host breaks through 110%, it becomes harder to earn love; thus, the payout increases}

'Neat!' Arthur enthusiastically commented, ignorant to the mischievous smirk that had plastered itself onto William's face or to the ever frustrated scowl that the heiress to the Zepar family had permanently locked on him. 'Perfect, this boy's just given me all the information I need to bring him into the Zepar household!'

"Do you mean what you just said? Will you really do anything?" William retorted in an authoritative tone to sound out Arthur's determination.

"Ye- *Sniff* Yes, I'll do anything, just please don't kill me!" Arthur whined his actions a polar opposite to his previously cool demeanour when he fought Charlotte's kidnappers.

"Then, from this moment on, your fate will be tied to the Zepar household!" William announced, "Stunning" Arthur out from his fit of tears.

"What do you mean?" Arthur curiously questioned with puffy eyes that hid his inner glee. 'Got em, and from this moment on, I will begin my conquest of both your wife and daughters, you pretentious asshole,'

"What I mean is that I have decided to spare your life and instead offer you a job here as Charlotte's personal attendant," William continued. Much to the delight of the girl in question, whose body momentarily went limp before exploding with joy.

"Mrmph, mrpm", Charlotte yelled in delight, much to the humour of everyone present, although Iris continued to indignantly glare at Arthur in suppressed rage. 'What does he mean spare my life? You never mentioned anything about killing me in the first place? Is he seriously going to play into the words that I spouted to make myself seem more pitiful?'

"You'll be in charge of supervising her throughout the day, while you'll also receive lessons to educate your lacklustre brain and unpolished skills," 'Though this is more of a cover for the fact that you'll be my secret weapon. If you're this strong at age 7, I wonder how much of a threat you'll be when it's time for you to enrol at Eden academy,' William mused with delusions of grandeur, utterly unaware of just how lacklustre Arthur's genuine talent is.

"Does that mean you'll feed me and stuff like that!" Arthur beamed once again, playing into his role as a peasant child and focusing on the more materialistic things in life. "Will you give me money!" Arthur yelled in "Expectant glee", Though he already knew the answers to the questions he proposed.

"Yes, we'll feed you and provide you with a place to stay though asking for money is a bit of a stretch!" William furiously yelled, lashing out at the now "Shaking Arthur," "Know your place," 'Knew it,' Arthur inwardly sighed

"William!" Vienna hurriedly cut in, attempting to defend the newly "Hired" Arthur. "Stop being so stingy. If Arthur wishes to be paid for his efforts, then that's what we should do!" 'EH, I didn't expect her to defend me. To be honest, I don't even care about getting paid…Though It's not like I'm going to refuse free money,'

{Ding +5 Love (Vienna)}

{Ding +500 Affection points}

{Ding The host has earned a new comment under (Vienna Zepar} Love metre}

{I need to protect him,}

{Ding -10 Love (Iris)}

{Ding the host has earned a new comment under (Iris Zepar) Love metre}

{Ungrateful Brat}

{Ding -10 Trust (William Zepar)}

{Ding the host has earned a new comment under (William Zepar) Trust metre}

{Ungrateful rodent}

'Seeing Iris's love meter drop kinda hurts, but at least it's still at a recoverable level, and for William…. He can go fuck himself,' "I mean, it's fine. I don't really need to be paid," Arthur coyly whispered, stepping into the couple's argument that was only reignited via his input.

"See what you've done William! You've scared him so much that he's saying he doesn't even want to be paid now!" Vienna howled at the now shaken William, who could only meekly bow his head to his wife's words.

"Fine! I'll pay him if it will get you off my back, you B-" William snapped, sending a hateful glare at the petrified Arthur. The latter could only meekly crawl under the bedsheet covers to escape from the seemingly immeasurable weight it carried.

"You start tomorrow," William remarked, turning his back to Arthur and leaving the room with the rest of the Zepar family.

'That went better than expected,' Arthur sighed, falling back onto the heavenly softness of the mattress below. 'Hey, system, can you bring up the shop?'