Chapter 15: Bloodlines

One week later: the day of the spar

Two youths could be seen standing outside the large ornamental golden door that marked the Zepar's extensive dining room entrance. These two youths were, of course, Charlotte and Arthur, who stared at the ornately decorated entrance with mixed expressions.

'Why did they feel the need to call us out to the dining room today?' Arthur questioned, brushing a strand of his now neck length fringe and back shoulder-length brown hair to the side. 'Hey, system, William and Vienna haven't caught onto the fact that Iris and I are going to be fighting today, right?' He fretted. The fact that Arthur and Iris were going to spar today was a tightly kept secret known only to those that were present at the time of declaration, with even Rono vowing to keep this fact hidden in fear that if it were found out, both he and Arthur would be severely punished for even allowing such a proposition to pass.

{Who knows?}

The system responded, shaking the cowering Arthur, 'You should know, aren't you like an all-knowing creation of the gods or something like that?' Arthur continued, venting his frustration upon the poor system. After all, it was not every day that the Zepars would all gather around the dining room. In fact, such a scenario had not even occurred once since Arthur's first day with the family. Even when it was mealtime, it was rare for more than two family members to be present in the hall at a single time, with the most common pairing being that of Charlotte and Iris actually, that was the only pairing that Arthur had managed to spy upon throughout his entire month of employment with the Zepar family, as most the time both William and Vienna would have their meals delivered to either their personal quarters or their rooms.

{The host is getting me mixed up with the systems from the novels that you read from your time on earth, I am neither all-knowing nor all-powerful, at least not yet}

The system eerily responded its words leaving an ominous sense of intrigue in the frozen Arthur, who couldn't help but drop his anxiety about his fate to pursue what the system had just said.

'What do you mean not yet? Are you saying that you'll eventually be all-powerful sooner or later?' Arthur questioned, yet he received no response from the system. 'Fine, be that way. I'll find out sooner or later.' Arthur huffed, switching his gaze away from the ornately decorated golden door to the girl that stood by his side, Charlotte, whose eyes were fixed upon the shining door, a mixture of expectation and reluctance dwelling deep within them.

'I guess she's just as anxious as me. Even if she's not in any trouble, it's still quite a rare thing for her to be able to see her parents,' Arthur remarked, placing his hand upon the entrance and taking the first step towards whatever lay behind this golden monolith, an action he knew Charlotte wouldn't take for a while with the sense of reluctance he could sense from her.

"Come on, we're going to be late if we just stay out here all day," Arthur stated, a comforting smile forced upon his face as he shoved open the ornate door giving way to the comically large dining room, where the rest of the Zepar family could be seen calmly sprawled out amongst the hundreds of wooden chairs, with Vienna seated at the head of the table peering down the room like a sniper at the two children who had just barged their way inside.

"Thank you, Arthur," Charlotte smiled, a sense of relief making its way through her body.

{+2 Love (Charlotte Zepar)}

{+2000 Affection points}

{Name: Charlotte Zepar

Age:9

Sex: Female

Race: Human

Rank: Mana gathering stage 2

Titles: Prodigy,

Bloodline: ???? (Unawakened)

Charm: 9/10 Near the pinnacle of human beauty

Talent:9/10 Prodigious by any standard

Love: 140% (Obsessed)

Description: I don't think you realise the severity of your situation}

The system chimed, announcing the steady increase in love that Arthur had been building up throughout the month, 'I made some good progress with Charlotte, but that's been about the only progress throughout my month here. Hell, I don't think I've even spoken to Vienna since my first day,' Arthur remarked. Though beneficial to his affection point wallet thanks to Charlotte's bonus affection point multiplier, Arthur's current situation was detrimental to his long-term goal of seducing all the heroines and living freely in this world. As with the system's warning growing more severe, Arthur couldn't help but fret that if he doesn't progress down the Vienna or Iris route soon, he may just end up locked with Charlotte and Charlotte alone, forever forced into earning affection points till the day he died and has his soul eternally tortured.

'I need to take this opportunity to burrow my way into Vienna's heart or at least set up some sort of meeting with her,' Arthur affirmed as the two children marched towards the long table Charlotte in the lead with her long frilly golden dress that complimented her silk-like golden hair and Arthur in the rear a freshly tailored emerald blazer courtesy of Rono adorning his frail childish body. 'Maybe I can bring up the fact that I still haven't been paid yet as an opportunity for a meeting…hmm, yeah, I guess that could work, but then again, it could also backfire if Vienna was only half serious about it, after all, she only brought up the idea to win an argument with William,' Arthur brainstormed before his march came to an instinctual halt as Charlotte pulled out one of the intricately carved seats and took her place upon it begrudgingly leaving Arthur to stand behind her, as any personal attendant would.

'One day, one day, you'll be sitting right beside me, but that day can only happen once father's out of the picture,' Charlotte inwardly growled, her eyes turning predatory as she sent a glare at her father. Since her appearance in the room, the latter hadn't given her so much as a welcome, as his eyes had been fixed upon something else or rather someone else…Arthur, an ingrained superior smirk blossomed on his face as he contemplated the events to come. Would Arthur hit him? Bellow at him? Release all his pent up rage from the month of torment William had subjected him to? Whatever it was, William was looking forward to it, or rather William was looking forward to the moment Arthur made that momentary lapse of judgement and gave into his childishness resulting in a burst of rage as that would finally be the moment William would have gained the right to have him executed. After all, one couldn't have a potentially traitorous servant. What if he was to harm the great Zepar family? Yes, in his twisted, almost childish mind, William was doing something chivalrous by eliminating the potential threat of Arthur early before he could potentially grow stronger.

William no longer cared about the superiority and bragging rights he could gain by showing off the prodigious youth to the rest of the Abraham empire as he began to see Arthur for what he really was…a monster that went against the very nature of their world. Yet no matter how much he stressed this point to his wife, Vienna refused to have Arthur harmed at least until a good reason presented itself, and even then, she inwardly vowed to protect him.

Yet such an event never occurred. Since entering the room, Arthur had not even spared the suspected William a glance, let alone a word of hostility. He was calm…too calm as if he had rehearsed such a scenario hundreds of times before, creating and playing the role of a perfectly composed servant who already knew his place in the world at such a young age.

"Good morning, master and mistress Zepar," Arthur bowed, his eyes turned towards the beautiful Vienna, whose emerald dress perfectly wrapped around her curvaceous body that, in tandem with her cherry red lips, perfectly styled hair and large F cup breasts, oozed an aura of temptation.

"Good morning, Arthur. It's been a while since I've last seen you. I like what you've done with your hair" Vienna smiled as an unnatural blush sprouted on her face, 'It seems like nothing's changed,' Vienna inwardly sighed as she attempted to calm her rapidly beating heart. She didn't know why but whenever she was around Arthur, she started to feel… different as if her monochrome world suddenly gained colour. Her body seemed to call out to the boy as her blood became heated as it attempted to rush towards him and embrace him. 'Why do I only feel like this around him, though? This feeling isn't love, is it?...of course it isn't; he's younger than my daughter, for the god's sake,' Vienna questioned, her eyes fixed upon the coyly smiling Arthur, who ran his petite hands through his scruffy hair in a bashful manner that pulled at Vienna's heartstrings.

'.... what's going on?' Vienna inwardly cried, her face heating up for the second time that day, all thanks to the same man, no boy. 'I don't know what this feeling is, but it feels like my entire being is calling out for him, wanting to become…one with him…ahhhh,' Vienna bashfully screamed. Yet, her face showed no such change in emotion, remaining frozen in its usual teasing yet seductive expression.

{+5 Love (Vienna Zepar)}

{+500 Affection points}

"Thank you, mistress Vienna," Arthur smiled, dropping the coy act and giving a tidy bow to the room while inwardly he was starstruck. 'Huh, why did her affection increase so suddenly? I didn't do anything cool or heroic, right? All I said was good morning?'

Arthur inwardly questioned, seeking help from the system. Yet again, no written response came. Instead, it simply brought up Vienna's status, much to Arthur's shock.

Name: Vienna Zepar

Age:38

Sex: Female

Race: Human

Rank: Advanced Mage Stage 2 (Average life expectancy 750 years)

Titles: Martyr, Prodigy, Beauty of the battlefield, The teasing Marquis, … (View More)

Bloodline: ???? (Unawakened, Requirements not fulfilled )

Charm: 10/10 The pinnacle of human beauty (Are you charmed yet?)

Talent: 9/10 Prodigious by any standard

Love: 65% (Unknown/ Turbulent emotions)

Description: Why do I feel so attached to him?

Difficulty: A (She was forced into her marriage by her parents, play your cards right, and she's yours)

'What?' Arthur dumbly mumbled, his brain failing to process the simple fact that Vienna's affection for him had increased to the point of turbulent emotions without him performing little to any actions in the way of seduction. 'System, what's happening? Why is it so high? What's going on with Vienna?' Arthur questioned as he attempted to draw a logical conclusion to his problems.

'She's not a… shotacon, is she?' And that was the only answer his feeble brain could drum up. 'I suppose that could explain why she wasn't a heroine in the game, but then again…this just doesn't feel right. System, please tell me what the fuck is going on here?' Arthur cried out, and this time the elusive system decided to pity its host.

{It seems Vienna Zepar's dormant bloodline is reacting with the host}

The system responded, leaving Arthur starstruck for the second time in the short time span of a couple of seconds. 'Her bloodline, of course!' Arthur inwardly yelled as if he had just been enlightened. 'Wait, what does her bloodline have to do with any of this? What even is her bloodline?' And as quick as the enlightenment came, it left, leaving Arthur alone, even more, confused than he originally was. 'I know bloodline attractions are a thing. After all, some heroine's routes were only accessible thanks to the MC having a bloodline that they couldn't help but be attracted to, but that's only because his bloodline's op as fuck,' Arthur gushed, unaware of the weird mood that had become palpable in the extensive dining hall.

'Does this mean I have an Op bloodline as well?' Arthur demanded stars visible in his dirty brown eyes. 'Hey, system, can you tell me what my bloodline is? Hell, you can even tell me what Vienna's is, and I'll piece it together from there,' Arthur begged. The allure of secretly being op was a temptation that Arthur just couldn't resist. 'If the gods really create this clone, alternate body type thing of me with an Op bloodline, I suppose I could lessen my hatred towards them,' Arthur blushed as William's face became sour.

'Why is he acting so…weirdly? What's going on? Has he gone insane?' William observed as Arthur went back to being a starry-eyed youth once again before growing a cloud of visible depression, which quickly shifted into an illusory sun of joy. 'Is no one seeing this? What the hell's going on!' William shakily wondered, his eyes moving between each member of his "Family", Hoping to see them wearing a similarly confused face to his at the young boy's actions, yet they possessed no such expression. 'Do they not see this…what the fucks going on!' William momentarily raged as his eyes swapped back over to the now neutral Arthur, who met the man's eyes before giving him a curious tilt of the head as if to say, 'Are you ok?'

'Am…. I…going insane?' William rubbed his eyes in disbelief. The situation was just too unnatural for him. 'No, this isn't my problem. It's clearly his for making me doubt my own sanity,'

And what was the cause for these weird expressions that Arthur portrayed? Well, it was, of course, the answer the system gave him that flipped his whole world on its head.

{I think the host has the wrong idea about how bloodlines work, or rather the way the host's bloodline works is different compared to the rest of the world}

'Huh, what do you mean I have the wrong idea of how bloodlines work? There are only a few ways they do work, and I know all of them like the back of my hand, like how you have to inherit them through you're predecessors or mutate one becoming the first in your lineage to gain a bloodline, or by proving you're worth and stealing them away from a more mystical creature like how when you kill a phoenix, there's a chance you can gain their bloodline right? How else would they work? Or rather, how would mine work? Wouldn't it have to fall under one of these categories? Or will you tell me I'm some unique being who broke through all of these known ways and discovered my own method?' Arthur, both sassily and self-deprecating, replied, Arthur knew he wasn't special, both on earth and in this world. He was just lucky, lucky to have his poor choice to sink his entire life into an eroge pay off with this nerd's dream of living an isekai life. Arthur was fortunate to have received the awakening potion from his free gift just in time to save Charlotte, so why should the way his bloodline works be something unique and cool?

To himself, Arthur was just a coward and a loser who was fighting for his life in his own unique way, struggling to achieve the happiness he so desired. He would put himself down, imagining just how some op transmigrator would be able to fully take advantage of Arthur's already advantageous situation better than he could himself despite being perhaps the most qualified person for such a task.

Yet even though Arthur told himself all of this secretly, he hoped otherwise. He wanted to be strong both naturally thanks to his unknown bloodline and through his own hard work or rather the labour that he put in to gain a very limited amount of knowledge of his current world to pay off. Arthur didn't want his time wasted into an eroge searching for the love he never received from his family to go to waste. In this way, one could say his subconscious thoughts and conscious ones were contrary…almost paradoxical.

{I'm sorry I may have confused you with my wording. What I meant was not that the host has gone through some unique way to gain his bloodline. In fact, if I were to classify your bloodline, it would be under the mutation category. You were just born with it without any precedent of something like that within your family. No, what I meant was that unlike the rest of the inhabitants of this world, the host's bloodline isn't explicitly tied to your blood; instead, it is bound to your soul. It wasn't something the gods gifted you like what the rest of the transmigrators will receive. It was something you earned simply by being born, like the majority of this world's occupants}

The system announced, dropping a bombshell on the previously depressed Arthur, who couldn't help but do a double-take as he re-read through the block of text the system had monologued to him. 'So my bloodlines part of my soul…and that means that I had it in my old world…right?' Arthur sceptically questioned as a welling sense of… joy began to bloom forth from within him. Just once in his life, he had wanted to feel special, to feel genuinely needed, to receive the affection he lacked throughout his time on earth, and if what the system was telling him was true, then Arthur would surely drop his act and melt into a puddle of happiness. And despite being told sweet nothings by Charlotte every so often in her undisguised endeavours to try and ensnare the young Arthur into what could only be called a shotgun wedding, Arthur never recognised her love as that genuine want that he so desired…at least not yet, he still had to play the role of a dense protagonist until the time he could safely accept her love. Ultimately his life was still Arthur's number one value.

Although Arthur wouldn't recognise his thoughts, he wanted love, not only from that of the heroines…but from every notable girl in this entire goddamn world….After all, someone who spent his time seducing over 120 girls couldn't necessarily be classed as sane.

{That is correct. The host had his bloodline throughout his time on earth,}

The system announced, and as though a dam of joy had burst, Arthur's suppressed smile blossomed into the most radiant grin he had ever shown in his life that instantly entranced all the girls present who felt their hearts skip a beat.

{+5 Love (Vienna Zepar)}

{+500 Affection points}

{+5 Love (Iris Zepar)}

{+500 Affection points}

{+2 Love (Charlotte Zepar)}

{+2000 Affection points}

'Woah…Does that mean that magic and stuff existed on earth as well, was earth actually some sort of den for like secret wizards? Come on, tell me, tell me! Were there other bloodline possers on earth as well?' Arthur questioned, yet no response came from the system once again, leaving him alone with his now euphoric thoughts. However, if the system had responded, it would have been a definite no. Arthur was alone with his bloodline on earth. There was no magic, nor any other form of special powers, but it wasn't going to tell him this now. It needed to keep Arthur grounded in realism, at least for the moment…at least until he became strong enough to bear the weight of his own bloodline and just who or what he really was.

'Argh, now I'm even more curious to find out what mine or Vienna's bloodline really is if mine's so cool! God damn you, system, how dare you just drop a bomb on me like that and leave,' Arthur inwardly yelled, yet no malice could be found in his thoughts, only pure happiness and glee. Glee so strong that it had clouded Arthur's vision enough to stop him from questioning whether this bloodline attraction was a two-way thing because, as far as he was concerned, Arthur felt no more than a usual sense of attraction he would feel towards any of the targets. It's not like his protective instincts had been heightened either. Arthur was just neutral…at least for now.

It was only when Arthur was cooling down from this sudden explosion in joy that he noticed the four stares all fixed upon him with differing levels of interest.

'Oh shit,' Arthur gasped. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck, did they see that? Oh god, oh shit, how do I play this off without making them think I'm some sort of weird schizo,' Arthur continued his mind a whirl of thoughts as he attempted to come up with a reasonable excuse for the situation yet upon seeing the darting eyes of William he instantly felt one prominent idea rush into his mind. 'He seems confused? Wait, did William see all of that…because judging from the reactions of Charlotte and the rest, it seems so…I can work with this,' Arthur snidely commented. Right now, Arthur could clearly see that William was shaken and in clear self-doubt of his own mental state, otherwise known as a situation Arthur wouldn't miss for the world. After all, although William was petty, his pettiness held no candle to the man who would go on to earn the title of crowner of cucks.

So with a tilted head and worrisome eyes, Arthur extended his "Empathy" to the clearly unstable William. "Are you ok, master William? You've been staring at me for a while now, is something wrong? "