Gift
A week had passed since Eden's mission towards the North and the Archduke's departure to prove the family's innocence in the Kingdom.
'They must've arrived there by now…'
In his room, Seven stared at the broken hilt of the wooden sword in his hand, before glancing at the faint sunlight filtering through the window.
Morning again.
And within that week, he stopped himself from saying 'fudge' at all.
He stared at his wrist, where a once-white bracelet tattoo had turned a faint brown.
"Hah… progress…"
Rolling his shoulders, Seven winced as the muscles ached.
Step.
He walked towards the desk and placed the broken hilt. For a moment, his hands refused to let go of the hilt. But when it finally did, he opened the drawer and took one Vitalis Pill.
Gulp.
Slowly, he leaned against the edge of the desk and looked up to the ceiling.
"System."
No response.
The system had been silent ever since. It didn't flash any anomalies, nor his own character information.
Well, he thought of nothing but training, so it somehow didn't cross his mind.
"System. What day is it?"
[Date: 47th day of the Seventh Season, Year 775.]
"Protagonist Bar."
[Protagonist Progression: 2%/100%]
"Narrative Points."
[Narrative Points: 31,108 NP]
Seven gripped the edge of the desk. He understood how the protagonist's progression bar works.
The two-percent he has was because of the artifact and influencing Eden's awakening.
But the points, he had no idea where to use them.
"Shop."
With a calm voice, nothing happened.
"Shop?"
This time, Seven tilted his head. It was a mimic of a questioning tone of a command, but nothing.
The system remained silent.
"Narrative Shop."
No response.
"Seventy Shop."
"Seventh Shop."
"Seven Shop."
"Point Shop."
"Story Shop."
As the system continued to stay silent, Seven's voice grew more frustrated.
"The Narrative Emporium!"
He started throwing out combinations.
"Shop of Seven!"
"System Shop!"
"Shopping Shop…"
Sigh.
Slowly, he ran his hands through his messy blackish-brown hair.
"Open a Damp Shop!!"
With still no response, he clenched his fists. But he didn't give up.
"...Shop—"
Creak.
But instead of a system, the door responded as it creaked open. Iria stepped in, carrying a small brown pouch, a sealed letter, and a herbal tea.
Gently, she placed them on the desk right beside the broken hilt.
But aside from the daily herbal tea, Iria brought those two items that made him curious.
"What are those?"
"Lady Eden asked me to give you."
Iria brushed off the non-existent dust in her apron. Slowly, she also picked up the broken hilt and hung it on the wall, where other broken hilts were also at.
A display of Seven's progress.
"Why now?"
"Because you were busy training."
Seven extended his hand to reach for the pouch and the letter, but Iria stepped in front of him and outstretched her arms.
"No. No. No."
Shaking her head, her twin pigtails bounced back and forth as her cheeks ballooned.
"Lady Eden said you can't read it until the ceremony."
"That's ridicul—"
"Rules are rules."
"Fine."
Seven turned around and sat on his bed. Over the past week, he was speaking coldly to Iria, not only because he didn't want to form deep relationships in this world, but because she was the one bringing him a poisoned tea every morning.
Step.
Iria turned to leave.
"Iria."
She paused mid-step, glancing over her shoulder at him.
"Yes, Young Lord?"
"The tea yesterday tasted sweeter than usual. Did you add a sweetener perhaps?"
"Did it? I was the one who made it yesterday."
"Yesterday?"
Iria turned fully to face him before bowing slightly.
"Yes, Young Lord. The head maid usually handles it."
"I see…"
Seven glanced at the herbal tea on the desk.
"Can you make me one tomorrow too? I… liked it."
"Understood."
Iria closed the door, and Seven was now alone in his room.
Lie.
He didn't drink the herbal tea again after that day—where it boiled after a vitalis pill was placed.
'If only I knew that yesterday's tea wasn't poisoned.'
Again, the 'tasted better' comment was a lie to find out who prepared the tea. If yesterday's tea was normal, then he had missed his chance.
After all, he still hadn't tasted one that wasn't poisoned.
Step.
Seven walked towards the desk, opened the drawer, and took out one more pill. Placing it on the tea, he thought, 'Please not poisoned' over and over again.
Boil.
But the reaction says otherwise. The cup shattered, sending a spray of liquid across the sealed letter beside it, along with the necklace tucked inside the pouch.
'Fuck…'
Thankfully, the stain didn't tear the paper. As much as he wanted to read what Eden wrote for him.
But then Iria's words echoed in his mind.
Instead, he just slid the letter into the drawer.
Sigh.
With a sigh, Seven glanced inside the pouch to see if there was something aside from the necklace.
A small jar… full of Vitalis Pills.
[Vitalis Pills - 77x]
[Vitalis Pills - 77x]
[Vitalis Pi—]
A total of seven jars.
"Is this the so-called lifetime bundle?"
But then again, these items would become a rare commodity in the later part of the novel, so he just slid them down into the drawer.
'But receiving this as a gift…'
Now, his attention was focused on the necklace. It had a pendant shaped in number seven (7).
'This is what a gift should look like.'
Picking it up, Seven clasped the necklace around his neck immediately. With a faint smile, he shifted his gaze to the window and stared beyond the horizon.
'I wonder if she met the original protagonist already…'