Chapter 17 - Lake
[EXTRA CHAPTERS 400PS = 1 Extra Chapter | 600PS = 2 | 8000PS = 4!]
*
Asia Argento fell asleep peacefully after a few minutes, but our kiss kept me awake long enough to think.
Stardew Valley's relationship system had a similar function. When I interacted with someone, I earned relationship points with them. Different actions gave different amounts of points — spending time together, giving gifts, and even defending the person from danger would raise the progress bar.
When the points reached milestones, which in this case were hearts, minor events were unlocked.
In Stardew Valley, these events were just cutscenes, moments that showed the development of the player's relationship with the NPC. In my case, they were real and much more intimate.
That's why I had seen that notification pop up while I was dancing with Asia:
[You have reached the 15 Relationship Points mark with Asia Argento and unlocked the First Heart.]
If that was the case, the heart system would go from 0 to 10.
For a romantic relationship, the first heart meant the other person felt genuine affection for you. By the third heart, it was infatuation. By the sixth heart, there was clear love, and by the eighth heart, it was strong enough to propose marriage.
The last two hearts — nine and ten — were reserved for extremely deep bonds, the kind of relationship that would last a lifetime.
And, of course, since the system I had was a more realistic version of the game's system, there were bound to be some differences. Some people were easier to win over, others were more difficult. Some relationships would evolve naturally, while others would require constant effort to maintain or avoid losing points.
Most importantly, I didn't have to follow a single path. In Stardew Valley, you could have multiple love interests until you decided who you wanted to be with. In my case, since I was in a harem world, the system seemed to encourage the same.
Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was yet do decided. In any case, it was good to have a more complex system than I had expected, because this system didn't just track my personal relationships — it also reflected my relationships with larger groups.
This was the case at Kuoh Academy, where the boys already hated me and several girls admired me.
'Maybe in the future, I'll be able to use this to my advantage.'
My mind was racing with all this information, so I left the room for a while and went for a walk to try to clear my head.
Walking through the corridors would be risky — my mother hated it when I did this as a child, saying I might wake the others. So the best option was to go out onto the balcony.
With light steps so as not to wake Asia, I moved through the room until I reached the large double glass doors. I opened them slowly, and a quiet breeze ruffled my red hair. The moon shone brightly in the sky, and the silence was absolute.
I approached the balcony railing and leaned my arms on it.
'The tranquillity of this early morning is almost comforting after the chaos of the ball.'
Looking out over the landscape, something caught my eye. Below, I noticed movement.
I frowned and focused my vision. My eyes caught sight of someone with long black hair walking along a path between the trees, a path I knew led to the lake behind the mansion. She was wearing a thin purple kimono, and her bare feet touched the earth with grace.
'Akeno? What is she doing out here at this hour?'
Curious, I followed her. I grabbed the edge of the balcony and jumped silently to the second floor, landing without any problems or pain.
The path leading to the lake was narrow, but I knew it well. Ever since I was little, I had explored this forest, so I knew exactly where not to step on the dry leaves or trust the stone steps, which were very slippery.
When I finally got close enough to see the lake, I stopped behind a tree and watched. It wasn't a gigantic lake like Loch Ness, but a small lake with a smooth gravel beach.
I saw Akeno walk over to a large stone at the water's edge and sit down, hugging her knees. There was something melancholy about her.
She looked at the reflection of the moon in the water, but her gaze seemed distant.
For a moment, I wondered if I should just forget what I'd seen and stay out of it. But I knew that wasn't what I, Milicas, would normally do.
I had tried to suppress a certain feeling for many years, in fact, since the day I first saw Akeno. I remember it as if it were yesterday, the first time Akeno visited Gremory Manor.
Her black hair was messy, as if she had been running through the forest for a long time. She had never been to the underworld before, nor did she seem to fit in or want to be there.
"This is Akeno," Grayfia introduced her to me after Akeno had taken a shower. "She'll be staying with us from now on."
For the first few weeks, Akeno was distant. She spoke little about her past, but everyone knew that before arriving at the Gremory house, she had a completely different and much warmer life.
Despite our differences, as the months went by, Akeno and I interacted. It wasn't forced, but natural — like asking if she'd had dinner or if I was going to the shower when I had a towel over my shoulders.
As time went by, we grew closer without needing to say much. It was as if we knew exactly what each other was thinking without needing words most of the time.
It was a time of natural adaptation, but, in the end, we never went beyond that. We were acquaintances living under the same roof who sometimes exchanged a word or two, so we couldn't even consider each other friends. That is what I thought.
However, it was undeniable that this was my fault.
From the first moment I saw her, I knew that there was something about her that attracted me. It wasn't just the undeniable beauty of her long black hair and purple eyes. How did I feel about Akeno? Well, it was complicated — something I had told no one, not even myself. I'd always seen her as someone out of my reach, so as much as I wanted to talk to her about it, I never knew how. Every word I said seemed to come out wrong, and my lack of experience easily disrupted all my attempts to get closer.
Akeno was only cold to me for the first few months, but that changed quickly, and in the end it was my fault that our relationship never evolved.
But seeing Akeno there, alone by the lake, made me realize that I finally had the chance to say something with no one getting in our way.
[Optional Scene Started!]
[13 Patrons are now watching this scene.]
[The entity 'Protector of the Forgotten Veil' is curious to see what you will do about the character, Akeno Himejima.]
I walked down the small slope toward the lake, and Akeno soon turned slightly and smiled as if she had been waiting for me.
"Have you finally decided to stop watching?" Akeno asked, standing on the rock.
"You sensed my magic power, didn't you?"
"Exactly." She spun on her heels and faced me.
"Are you all right?" I got straight to the point.
"I'm just... thinking. And you—Macaw~ Don't tell me you were worried about me and that's why you followed me here."
"Worried about you? Never." I replied in a relaxed manner, scratching the back of my neck.
Akeno laughed slightly, but it wasn't a full laugh.
[Patrons laugh at your lack of tact with women.]
"You got a lot of attention today, you know?" Akeno said, breaking the silence with a direct comment. "During the dance, everyone was talking about you."
"Honestly, I wasn't trying to attract attention."
Akeno looked out over the lake. "Don't worry, Milicas-kun. We're on the same side. You know exactly how to play this game."
'So, did she know I had been watching Diodora the whole time?' I asked myself, but quickly dismissed the idea—she would have needed to be watching me the entire time.
"I know what you're thinking. You're afraid of what others expect of you, aren't you? Afraid of failing."
She was more right than I could have imagined.
"Sometimes I don't know how to deal with people because I don't know what they expect from me. Do my parents want me to be the heir to the Gremory Clan? Rias is first in line, but if she gets married, that could change."
"The President getting married?" Akeno laughed, which surprised me. "Only if it's a political marriage."
[Most of the Patrons are paying attention to this issue.]
[The Patrons believe that Rias Gremory's future relationship is of utmost importance.]
I knew that if Rias Gremory married a member of another devil clan, she could lose the possibility of becoming the heir to the Gremory Clan — something she had been working toward since childhood. However, if her suitor wasn't from a clan, she wouldn't have a problem. For this reason, I stirred up the Patrons and looked into the matter.
"What about Kiba? She saved him, and I know feelings can arise from that kind of situation."
"No, that's impossible. Kiba has a lot of respect for Rias, and she for him. It's like a knight falling in love with their king... That only happens in human stories."
"What about Issei?"
"The reincarnation of the Red Dragon… Hm... I don't know what kind of man the President prefers, but I'm pretty sure Issei's level of perversion bothers her a lot. If I had to estimate a probability, I'd say it's less than 20%."
[The Patrons are excited by this low percentage and the new information.]
[100 credits have been sponsored.]
"Honestly, that's a relief for me," I said.
"Why? Arara~ Don't tell me you..."
"NO! My aunt? Well, I didn't..." I lied.
Akeno laughed wickedly, clearly amused by my flushed face and flustered expression.
I took a deep breath and looked at her. "I just feel that girls of your level can't settle for so little. Issei is strong and seems to have a good heart, but remember — there are bigger fish in the sea."
"Girls of our level?" Akeno muttered, turning to me.
"I'm sorry for getting in your way," I said, turning back and waving. "See you tomorrow!"
"See you..."
I didn't have the heart to turn around and see what kind of expression she was making after what I said, but one notification made my heart race.
[Akeno felt a brief flutter from your compliment.]
[You received +3 Relationship Points with Akeno Himejima.]
*
*
*
Support me to write more and read chapters ahead of all regular readers!
P-atreon.com/palmer1998
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
In chapters R-18, there are original and exclusive images for the patreons!
Discord: https://discord.gg/2pn9Twxrng