Chapter 19: Fear
{+30 Love (Charlotte Zepar)}
{+60,000 Affection points}
{The description under (Charlotte Zepar's) Love Meter has changed}
{+33 Love (Iris Zepar)}
{+6600 Affection points}
{The description under (Iris Zepar's) Love Meter has changed}
{+1 Trust (Rono Ardor)}
{The suppression on the host has been lifted}
{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: 182% (RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN)
Description: I don't think you realise the severity of your situation}
Name: Iris Zepar
Age:10
Sex: Female
Race: Human
Rank: Mana gathering stage 7
Titles: Prodigy, Zepar Heiress,
Bloodline: ???? (Unawakened)
Charm: 9/10 Near the pinnacle of human beauty
Talent: 9/10 Prodigious by any standard
Love: 87% (What is this strange feeling?)
Description: Confused
Difficulty: B (you've broken her pride, now all that's left is for you to make her fall madly in love with you)
Name: Arthur
Age: 7
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Rank: Elemental harnessing stage 2
Titles: Husband of the goddesses, (Fake) Prodigy, (Lesser) Point hoarder
Bloodline: ?????? (Unawakened)
Charm: 7 / 10 (Slightly good looking)
Talent: 2/10 (Terrible, without the help of the system, you would have never reached your current level)
Harem: -
Abilities: Water magic Rank F, Scan Rank E, (Pseudo) Mana sense Rank F
Affection points: 120800
{Shop}
{Item Shop}
{Ability Shop}
{Affection point balance: 120800}
Arthur quickly scanned through the torrent of messages left by the system, his eyes turning disbelieving when they fell upon the astronomically high love value Charlotte seemed to hold for him.
'Fuck,' Arthur dumbly mumbled, his mind too stunned by the outrageous figure to focus on the throbbing mind numbing pain that echoed through his body like the ring of a bell. 'This is bad, this is really, really bad, fuck, I don't think I can continue bullshitting myself anymore, holy shit….Charlotte's a yandere…or at least she might be,' Yet even with Arthur's self-imposed goal to stop avoiding the issue at hand, he immediately attempted to talk himself out of the reality the system had presented to him. 'I mean, she hasn't shown any Yandere traits yet, has she? There's still a possibility that she's just dere-dere.'
{That is false, the host knows that Charlotte has been showing these traits for a long time now, stop trying to run away from reality,}
The system sweat dropped, a sudden chill running down Arthur's spine as he recollected upon all the signs he had been purposefully trying to neglect for the better portion of a month. Arthur knew Charlotte was a yandere. Of course, he knew. The pieces and hints had all been lying in plain sight, yet Arthur had always tried to ignore them no matter how obvious they were.
Arthur had seen the murderous glint in her eyes when a maid would scorn him. The twisted love struck smile that would stretch across her face the moment he showed her even the slightest bit of attention. Hell, Arthur was even aware of Charlotte's little hobby, or at least a portion of it. Yet, even after being presented with piece after piece of evidence, Arthur still refused to acknowledge Charlotte's true nature. And why was that? Well, it was simple, Arthur was scared, scared of the devotion and overwhelming selfishness that made up the core of a yandere's character because that selfishness though charming at first, would ultimately end up being his downfall, cursing him to an untimely death, and eternal torture.
'No,' Arthur solemnly muttered. He didn't want this to be true, at least not yet, not this early on into his life, 'Charlotte can turn Yandere later but not now, not at the very start of my quest. How am I meant to tame a horde of other girls at Eden academy when I'm constantly under the eye of this crazed girl, huh! Or even worse, what if she were to kill one of the girls I was trying to get close to? What then? What am I meant to do when she basically kills me all over a little jealousy!' Arthur seethed. He would fight until the last second to deny Charlotte's nature, or at least he would if not for the imminent realisation that fate would force upon him, shaking the boy to his very core not even half an hour from now. In truth, Arthur really liked Yandere's. He liked their almost selfless devotion to their love, but at the moment, he wasn't strong enough to tame one of them, so he had to run, run away from the current reality in hopes of tricking himself into believing that Charlotte was something else.
"Arthur~" A soft voice purred from behind the young boy alerting him to his current reality, and along with the voice came an overwhelming sense of pain. Every bone, no, every fibre of Arthur's body felt as if it was on fire, with only his left arm being freed from this pain as it was currently suffering a greater tribulation. Looking down at Arthur's now mutilated arm, the boy could see small lacerations caking his now crimson coloured flesh with little white protrusions forcing their way through his paper-like skin like the spines of a porcupine. Just one look at his ailment almost drove the boy to the brink of his consciousness while he wrestled with the primitive urge to just fall asleep to avoid living through the hell that tormented him.
'What…what happened to my arm? I thought I just pushed away Iris's attack, so why? Why does it look like this,' Arthur inwardly screamed, sure this may have been his second time witnessing such an injury inflicted upon this very arm, but that didn't mean he was able to cope with such a grotesque scene. In fact, his current predicament weighed much more on Arthur's mind than when he had a blade lodged halfway through his bone. At least then, Arthur could see the full extent of the damage done to him. Still, right now, he had no clue as to what was wrong with him, 'I feel sick… holy fuck, she could have killed me,' Arthur's mind spun as it struggled to focus on one thought at a time. It was as if his consciousness had just been placed upon a merry go round with no short term plan of ever leaving the contraption.
"Ron-Rono, potion, please!" Yet even in this inebriated state, Arthur knew better than to call upon the system's services to heal himself, instead opting to ask the overseer of the battle and the de facto medic for assistance.
"Oh…um, here," Rono dazedly responded, chucking a small red vial towards the boy as he attempted to process the upset of a century that had just occurred between his star pupil and the peasant boy that had just joined the family, not even a month prior. 'I didn't know Arthur could dodge like that. Why didn't he do that when we sparred? Perhaps he felt no need to try then..' Rono pondered, his body subconsciously moving to the downed body of Iris as he quickly poured the contents of another red vial down the girl's opened lips. However, her eyes did not flutter, remaining steadfast in their closed position despite the girl being more than conscious enough to go about her whole day.
'I, I, what's happening to me?! Why is my heart beating so fast? And more importantly…Wh-why is he all I can think of!' Iris inwardly screamed, her mind filled with the bloody figure of the "Charming" Arthur 'Ehhhh…' Iris bashfully screamed. Just seeing the boy even in her mind made her feel embarrassed, so much so that she feared what may happen to her if she were to get up right now and meet his gaze face on. Would her heart skip a beat, just stop entirely and flatline? She had no clue, and that made her scared. Iris didn't know how she would go about her day, spending time in her lessons with Arthur, if this weird feeling were to be permanent. 'Maybe this is a short term thing…yeah, that has to be it, there's no way anyone would be able to live with such a fast beating heart…but then why…why do I want this feeling to last forever,' She monologued unaware of the growing blush that was slowly spreading across her pale cheeks.
And on the other side of the spectrum was Arthur, who not only failed to grab the vial tossed by Rono due in part to the searing pain that racked his body with even the slightest of movements, his left arm squelched as fragments of bone and torn muscle intermingled in a synchronised swim across the ocean of empty space courtesy of Iris's attack, but was also currently getting babied like a drunken husband by the very girl he had been fretting over not even a second ago as Charlotte lay the pain ridden boy across her soft lap, one hand stroking his blood and sweat plastered hair scraping any loose strands that may have plastered themselves across his skin. In contrast, the other held the vial firm as she made sure that Arthur digested the rather sweet liquid of the potion, its taste comparable to the mythical ambrosia to the young boy who could feel the pain in his body slowly lesson being replaced with a heavenly numbing sensation.
Though the scene may appear harmonious, almost picturesque to an outsider's perspective, through the eyes of Arthur, it was nothing but horrifying. Charlotte's kind and gentle eyes were currently nowhere to be found, with his gaze meeting nothing but the love obsessed twin voids of swirling devotion that stared at him as if he were the most precious object in the world that seemed to beg him to say that Charlotte was anything but a Yandere.
'Well, m-maybe she's just mad that I got hurt,' Arthur attempted to deny with a half hearted excuse. Sure she may be mad that he got hurt, but nobody but a yandere would ever experience such second-hand rage at their lover's peril. Even the elusive dere-dere that Arthur wished Charlotte was would simply help the boy recover with no ill will to the other side, which, in contrast to Charlotte, who simply oozed malice, made the connection an impossible one to form.
{Host just face reality, Charlotte's a Yandere.}
The system chimed in, adding salt to Arthur's already exposed and almost rotting wound.
'Well, maybe she isn't', Arthur attempted to complain, only for the system to shut down his half hearted denial mid thought.
{If the host wishes for it, I can update (Charlotte Zepars) Status and change it to Yandere}
Arthur's heart sank at these words. The system confirmed his greatest fear once again. It was now hopeless to struggle to even attempt to protest against the system's statement leaving him to only accept the girl's nature as fact, Charlotte was a Yandere, and Arthur had to deal with this. From now on, he would have to plan around the girl's nature, at least until he leaves the Zepar household. 'No, it's fine, I understand,' Arthur melancholically responded, taking one final sip of the red liquid that had been running down his throat with seemingly no end in sight and attempting to push himself up off the obsessive girl, who quickly grabbed hold of the younger boys exposed wrists and pulled him down forcing him to fall upon the girl's exposed lap.
"Where were you trying to go, Arthur~" Charlotte softly hummed in Arthur's ears, a small shiver running down his spine as all his senses went on high alert. He could feel Charlotte's heated breath press against the back of Arthur's exposed nape, condensing like mildew on a fine blade of grass, her subtle touches as her soft hands clutched at his back, grouping his flesh while she pressed her body against his seemingly attempting to merge with the boy, her nostrils expanded in an attempt to inhale all of Arthur's blood soaked sent and he could have sworn to the goddess's that he felt an oddly wet sensation trace across his neck.
'Am I…being molested?' Arthur questioned in disbelief at Charlotte's actions. Arthur knew he could point out what she was doing. Still, he doubted Charlotte would even think twice before continuing her act, 'Ouch,' A sudden pain rushed through Arthur's body, a stinging sensation lingering upon its point of impact, his ass. 'Did she just…did she just pinch my ass? What the fuck is going on! Don't do that shit,' Arthur inwardly raged, making another attempt to disembark from the girl's embrace only to once again find himself grabbed by her two immovable arms that wrapped around his waist and placed him back upon his rightful throne, her lap.
"Umm, Charlotte, can you please let me go," Arthur sweetly asked, managing to conceal the venom he wished to let loose upon the girl. He was fine with being groped but having his ass pinched. That was where he drew the line.
"No~" Charlotte moaned, blowing a gust of hot air against Arthur's ear. 'Help,' Arthur gulped. He didn't like what Charlotte was doing to him right now, nor the fact that his body was attempting to react to her advances in a not so subtle way. "Please let me go, Charlotte. I have to go to mistress Vienna now!" Arthur blurted, jumping to his feet once again only to find himself pulled into Charlotte's grasp not even a second later.
"Not…Hmmm…Until you give me a good reason," 'Did-did she just moan!' Arthur inwardly screamed, the situation quickly turning dire. 'Besides, didn't I just give her a good reason? Charlotte was there when she agreed to let Vienna train me, so why is she being so reluctant to let me go now, or did she forget her agreement,' Arthur questioned.
"I have to go for my training with mistress Vienna, isn't that reason enough for you to let me go,"
Charlotte was momentarily stumped by Arthur's words. 'Did I agree to such a thing? I don't remember giving away my precious Arthur time to my mother,' Charlotte thought, attempting to recall the morning's events only to stumble upon a sizeable blank gap in her memory where the only thing that remained was an odd dream of Arthur massaging her.
"Change of plans. For the rest of the day, you and I are going to be spending some quality time together," Charlotte muttered as the pressure she applied to the poor child caught in her selfish embrace grew to the point where Arthur found his breath to be laboured. At the same time, his bones seemed to creak as though they were made out of old wood.
'Shit, and this is why I didn't want Charlotte to become a Yandere so early on into this life. They're just too selfish,' Arthur commented, unaware of the lingering hypocrisy his statement held. Sure, yandere's may be selfish, but Arthur's selfishness for both life and the heroines of this world was on a whole other level.
"But how am I meant to do my duty to the best of my abilities when I don't even know how to give my master a massage? What would I do if I ever had to take care of you and I didn't know how to cook, clean, or do anything of the sort? You've already saved my life by giving me a home," Arthur explained, playing into his life as a peasant once again. His eyes were red and puffy, the dew of possible tears sprouting on their bloodshot leaves, invoking a primal, almost compulsory instinct that all Yandere's possessed, the instinct to protect their loved ones, the cause for their craze but also their reason for living. "Please, Charlotte, let me go. This-this is the only way that I can repay you for your family's kindness. If it wasn't for all of you letting me stay here as an attendant, I'd still be out on the street fighting for my life just to get my next meal, so please, let me do my job," at this point, the dew finally spilt from Arthur's bloodshot eyes, trickling down his crimson cheeks leaving a trail of rehydrated blood in its wake. 'Bullshit, the only reason I was brought into your family was that William saw me as an asset, and with how much he seems to hate me now, I doubt that sentiment still stands. Hell, the only reason I'm still here is because I still haven't fully seduced Vienna nor Iris,' Arthur grumbled in stark contrast to the words he whispered to Iris, praising her family while acting as the perfect subservient member of staff.
'Silly Arthur~ do you really think that's the only way you can pay back my family's kindness,' Charlotte inwardly purred, her eyes drifting to her left-hand ring finger, a slight blush forcing its way onto her pale cheeks. She'd have to remember this humble part of Arthur's personality for when the right time came so that she could fully take advantage of it to join the two in holy union under the goddess of love, the only known or at least theorised goddess, yet alas, now was not the time. Charlotte knew it was foolish to propose the prospect of marriage when that fool was still around, so, with all her will, she forced herself to relent to the boy's plea.
"Fine, you can go," Charlotte relented, her hold of the boy momentarily loosening to the point where Arthur managed to easily escape from the girl's lax grasp, pushing himself up onto his feet where although wobbly, he managed to take a step away from the demon girl that was until he felt the lone hand that still grasped his dainty wrist increase it's pressure to the point where Arthur found it feasible that Charlotte may break a mana harnessing stage boy's bone. 'How? And what does she want now? Didn't she just give me permission to leave,'
"Be-before you go, could you please give me a massage after you come back," Charlotte begged with up turned eyes. If not for Arthur knowing the girl's true nature, he would have sworn that this beauty wouldn't hurt a fly.
"Sure!" Arthur beamed in childish ignorance, momentarily taming the girl who skittishly looked away, a prominent blush on her cheeks that extended to her ears, her breath laboured.
And with that, Arthur left the arena leaving behind the stunned Rono, confused Iris, and eagerly awaiting Charlotte as he began his journey to Vienna's personal quarters, unaware of the fact that before he would even arrive at the marquis's quarters, Arthur would find his life permanently changed.