Chapter 16: Urgent message: Run

"N-no, I'm fine," William stuttered, taken aback by Arthur's sudden observation.

Hearing this, a teasing glint passed in Arthur's eyes. Though William had shrugged off his observation, he didn't manage to close the conversation at all, quite the opposite, in fact, as William had given Arthur even more room to pressure the aged man and fill the room with even more tension than what was already present.

"Are you sure you're ok, master William? You've been looking at me for quite a while. Is there something wrong with me? Did I dress incorrectly or do something to offend you? Please tell me so that I can correct my issue as soon as possible," Arthur continued, his voice shaky as though he took great offence in William's rebuttal, misconstruing the words as the old man playing with him, refusing to point out the flaw with his appearance.

'What's going on? How did I end up in this conversation?' William hurriedly commented, his gaze drawn to the now fuming figure of his wife, who currently looked more volatile than an erupting volcano. Her eyes were fiery as they stared into William's soul as they seemed to carry the sentiment of 'What is wrong with him then? I see nothing wrong with Arthur,'.

'Ah shit,' William shivered as his gaze moved away from the fuming figure of his wife to the almost tearful visage of the former peasant Arthur whose body shook in suppressed sadness and anxiety. 'God, I hate this brat. Why is he reacting like this to a simple dismissal? Is he trying to ruin my relationship with Vienna?!' William speculated his view of Arthur morphing from that of a hateful brat to that of a spiteful little demon out to ruin both his relationship and his life. 'Nah, there's no way that could be what he's after. He's still a kid, a frightening kid….but a kid nonetheless. I doubt he's even aware of the sway he seems to have over Vienna, ' William concluded.

"There's nothing wrong with your appearance or mannerisms", William hastily blurted, attempting to rush through his words at a rate incomprehensible to the human ear. Unfortunately for him, though, his lips couldn't quite match the pace he envisioned as Arthur quickly caught on to his pseudo apology, his ears hanging onto every syllable that exited the pompous marquis's mouth.

'Good,' Arthur smugly commented, a sense of superiority filling his heart as he returned a fraction of the embarrassment and anguish that William had subjected him to over the month. 'To be honest, I want to push him a little more and get an actual apology out of him, but I doubt his stubbornness will let him do such a thing, so I'll just have to settle with this for now, at least until I manage to seduce Vienna…that's when the true recompense will begin,'

"Can we start the meeting already then?" William quickly questioned. His desperate eyes turned to his wife as he pleaded to start the discussion in hopes of removing the almost mocking atmosphere that his apology had generated.

"Fine," Vienna sighed. In truth, she wanted to let William wallow in his embarrassment for a bit longer. She didn't know why she wanted to disgrace her husband. Was it because of the strange feeling in her heart that only stirred when she thought of or was in the presence of the still mysterious Arthur? Or was it simply the accumulation of spite for the years of embarrassment she's had to withstand from her peers amongst the higher ups of the Abraham as William dragged the name of the once feared Zepar family through the dirt, as he boasted about how he, as a mere baron's child managed to arrange a marriage into the failing household claiming it to be one of if not the proudest moment in his life.

Immediately after Vienna's declaration, the room went cold as Arthur slunk back to his position behind Charlotte. 'Please don't mention the spar, please don't mention the spar,' Arthur inwardly prayed, his fingers crossed. 'Please, Lady luck, if you still love me, do me a favour here,' He continued, unaware that his (Ex) wife's (?) presence wasn't needed here.

Minutes passed with Vienna just having a casual conversation with the both of her children, a scarce sight amongst most royal households, though William made no attempts at conversation with his children. In his arrogant mind, he had already imparted the best lessons they would need for adult life long ago, with the biggest one being that of not associating with the lower class…a lesson that the rest of his family seemed to pay no warrant to.

An hour passed like this with a spectacular breakfast being served midway through the discussion before Vienna suddenly turned her gaze to the stone still boy. Her heart gave a momentary flutter of excitement that she quickly suppressed.

{+1 Love (Vienna Zepar)}

{+100 Affection points}

"Arthur," Vienna called, stunning the young boy 'Fuck, fuck, fuck, what does she want? Why don't you speak to your kids or something and just ignore me like the piece of air that I'm trying to be,' He inwardly cried? However, his outer face wore a mask of mixed inquisitiveness and attentiveness as though he hadn't just been in his own thoughts only seconds ago.

"Yes, mistress Vienna?" Arthur replied, his already tightly crossed fingers now gaining an added layer of pressure as he attempted to crush his own bones against one another in a fit of desperateness.

"How have you been enjoying your time as an employee of the Zepar family?" Vienna attentively questioned.

'Small talk?' Arthur pondered, though his lips began to move before he could process his thoughts, forming their own response. "It's fun!" Arthur beamed in childlike glee.

'What?' William couldn't believe his ears, 'How can he say that he's having fun working here?! Does he not care about me destroying his room!… Never mind, of course, he doesn't. He's a peasant. He's probably used to having his temporary place of residence messed with,' William questioned as his mind began to scheme of a new and improved way to break the jovial Arthur's spirit. 'Should I stop the maids from giving him food? Separate him from Charlotte and force him to work in the outhouse while completely revoking his right to a room…or maybe I should just hurry and leak his identity to the rest of the higher ups in hopes of having him assassinated.'

However, as if in stark contrast to her father's homicidal thoughts, Charlotte was on the brink of tears. How? How could Arthur suffer through so much mental torment yet say that he was genuinely having fun living here? How harsh was the life he had to live through until he was brought into the Zepar family for him to say that having his room desecrated almost daily was a fun experience? How could he say that he took enjoyment in the snide looks of the other servants who all scorned him for not earring his right into the family through bloodshed and tears, bashing him for only being accepted into the family for saving the young mistress Charlotte. Without Charlotte, Arthur would be alone in the manor, isolated from the servants, with the only one willing to even speak to him being the elderly Rono, whose expiration date on life was quickly expiring. Yet even with all these burdens, Arthur wore such a bright smile that carried not a trace of the anguish he was experiencing daily.

And the only conclusion Charlotte could even theorise as to how Arthur could even take pleasure living in this insufferable habitat was because…she was there. 'Arthur♥' Charlotte blushed, her heart rate turning rapid. Charlotte's delusions have finally grown to the point where she genuinely believed that Arthur lived for her, and she, in turn, only lived for him. 'Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love you I Love I Love you♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥' Charlotte inwardly screamed her pupils momentarily morphing from their normal shape into that of a heart before swiftly returning to their usual appearance.

{+10 Love (Charlotte Zepar)}

{+10000 Affection points}

{The system has an urgent message for the host}

{+1 Love (Vienna Zepar)}

{+100 Affection points}

{-4 Trust (William Zepar)}

'What?' Arthur dazedly mumbled upon reading through the torrent of notifications the system had provided him. 'I didn't really do anything, though….' He continued, unaware of the effect a mere smile could provoke from his greatest observer. 'Hey, system, bring up the message,' Arthur hurriedly demanded as his eyes honed in on the girl that sat not even a metre away from him, a strange sense of danger exuding from her body that unconsciously made Arthur's body shiver, he didn't need the system to give him advice in this situation only to affirm his beliefs.

{Run,}

The system confirmed as Arthur felt a wave of fear rush over him. This wasn't his plan. Hardly any of this was his plan, sure, he wanted Charlotte to fall for him, but this was too much…way too much.

'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, oh fuck,' Arthur panicked. If not for the risk of losing out on romancing two heroines right here and right now, he would have surely bolted out of the Zepar estate the moment he received the system's confirmation.

Yet, no matter how much Arthur wanted to run, he just couldn't. Arthur couldn't give the opportunity he currently has to any of the future transmigrators for two reasons, the main one being that he would instantly die, something that Arthur really~ didn't want to happen and two, Arthur hated the mere thought of someone who wasn't him embracing any of the heroines of the game.

'Well…If I look on the bright side, at least Charlotte's not a yandere…she's just really, really attached to me, yeah that's right, she's just dere dere,' Arthur delusionally muttered, sure he had no grounds to accuse the girl of being a yandere. Still, there was just this strong gut feeling that Arthur had that something must be going on that he wasn't aware of, a suspicion that would be confirmed in the most gruesome way possible mere hours from now. But with the system's advice, that suspicion might as well have already been a guaranteed confirmation.

"Really? That's good to know." Vienna smiled, dragging Arthur out from the depths of his panicked riddled mind and returning him to a skewed sense of normalcy. "And how have you been enjoying your time with Charlotte? There have been no issues, right?" Vienna questioned, posing a question this time not just to Arthur but instead to the pair that was him and Charlotte.

'I need to answer this quickly,' Arthur inwardly commented, his gaze temporarily drawn away from the beautiful temptress that was Vienna and to the love-struck Charlotte, who seemed like she was about to announce their one-sided engagement right there and then. 'I can't let her speak,'

"Nope, none at all. Everything's been great!" Arthur beamed, attempting to distract both girls with his brilliant smile, but no such reaction occurred. After all, no matter how much Vienna wanted to, she couldn't just take Arthur's answer to a question she asked both him and her daughter.

Immediately Arthur's eyes locked upon the still squirming Charlotte, 'she wouldn't, right?' Arthur furiously questioned his mind, seeking only to pray to lady luck once again. 'Please don't say some random bullshit, just say that I'm doing my job well,' Arthur sighed, his eyes lifeless as if he had already turned his back on the world.

Although Arthur may have been a master manipulator in the game, it seemed like that skill didn't necessarily mesh well when dealing with real people or emotions. A factor he would either have to adapt to or opt to drop that approach altogether.