chapter 8
As the Grand Duke, he had received countless requests, favors, and bribes over the years.
But never once in his life had he been handed such a small, adorable basket.
What on earth was this?
Without realizing it, Grand Duke Asis Frazier lifted the cloth covering it.
A rare smile of amusement appeared around the eyes of Lec Kelfosher, who wore a monocle.
"It's homemade jam, made personally by Lady Tullia."
Had that Grand Duke Asis Frazier ever received homemade jam as a bribe before?
I shook my head.
"No way."
But I didn't have anything else.
And it wasn't as if I had exceptional cooking skills.
Not at all.
With a glance, I summoned my status window.
After putting on all kinds of ridiculous performances the other day, I had finally discovered the on/off function.
[System: Status Window]
Tullia Frazier (15 years old)
Overall Evaluation: F
"But when you turn a status window off, isn't it supposed to disappear?"
Unlike in games, even after pressing "off," it didn't vanish completely. Instead, it transformed into a translucent star with little wings and followed me around.
"Don't tell me I have to unlock that feature with coins too..."
...Surely not.
After shuddering at the possibility, I looked back into the mirror.
Right.
That wasn't what mattered right now.
What mattered was the five extra coins I'd gained!
"And the reason both my arms hurt like crazy!"
I didn't have to look far to understand why my coin count had increased.
The answer was reflected in the mirror.
Tullia's face.
"..."
Inside the mirror wasn't a hopeless case.
No—it was an abyss.
There stood Tullia with hair so swollen and tangled that it resembled a fluffy sheep's fleece.
To understand how this happened, we'd have to go back five hours.
At first, I had simply wanted to look a little more presentable.
Of course, I failed.
A hatchet-shaped comb I hadn't managed to remove dangled from my swollen hair.
The sight gave me chills.
It reminded me of Corico.
"Corico cuts off Tullia's neck with an axe herself."
Maybe it was because it depicted the corruption of the angelic heroine.
That illustration had been especially vivid.
Blood everywhere.
A severed neck.
Tullia dying with her eyes still open.
The memory made my stomach turn again.
"I have to survive. I have to survive."
Muttering like a chant, I carefully tried to remove the axe-shaped comb.
As expected, it wasn't easy.
"Whew..."
For the record, I hadn't intentionally ruined my hair.
It was all because of that damned penalty.
Grinding my teeth, I muttered,
"Stupid Skill penalty."
When Character was at -10, I couldn't properly say what I wanted.
Now that Skill was -10, every time I brushed my hair, some mysterious magic transformed it into a giant frizzy disaster.
Seriously, how was I supposed to survive and reach an A rank with a difficulty setting like this?
The frustration and despair lasted only a moment.
After tearing out several handfuls of pink-cloud-like hair, I frowned.
"...What am I supposed to do with this hair?"
Should I raise my Skill stat a little?
"I do have a decent amount of coins..."
But coins needed to be conserved no matter what.
After a moment of thought, I decided not to spend any.
"Get a grip. I'm Tullia, not Corico."
I had to save as many coins as possible.
Who knew what might happen later?
So I sat blankly in front of the mirror, waiting for a maid to come rescue my hair.
Still...
"...She's really beautiful."
Life was strange.
She was a villainess who died if you so much as blinked, yet her beauty was breathtaking.
Even her name—Tullia—was derived from a tulip.
Her sweet, shimmering pink hair and pale green eyes matched her name perfectly.
Whether it was because of her upbringing or simply her rotten personality, there was something fox-like and dangerous in her gaze.
Yet even that could be interpreted as the allure of a cold beauty.
But no matter how stunning she was, no one could pull off hair that looked like it belonged to a ghost.
"Come to think of it..."
In the game, Tullia Frazier was such an extravagant noblewoman that even other aristocrats were astonished by her.
There had been dialogue mentioning that she had never brushed her own hair or tied a ribbon herself.
Back then, I'd thought it was simply a detail emphasizing her spoiled personality.
Now I wasn't so sure.
"When brushing your hair turns it into this, how could you possibly do it yourself?"
Meanwhile, the reflection of Tullia and the illustration of her being beheaded by an axe kept overlapping in my mind.
My mood sank lower and lower.
Unable to wait any longer for a maid, I grabbed the comb hanging from my hair and yanked.
Crack!
The comb broke.
I had only been trying to remove it.
As I stared in disbelief, a cheerful coin-clinking sound suddenly rang out.
Then a message appeared before me.
[System] Acquired 2 Coins!
"Huh?"
After half a day of ridiculous experimentation, I discovered something.
The effort I spent brushing and grooming myself was being converted into coins, almost like experience points.
"The game never worked like this."
When Corico entered the Frazier family as a prospective daughter-in-law, she immediately began taking etiquette and culture lessons.
Her stats increased depending on how well she performed on those exams.
"There wasn't even a coin system in Secret Wheat Bread (The Flour-Covered Bread)."
I had no idea why the system here differed from the original game.
What mattered was reality.
Specifically, the enormous pile of hair I'd torn out.
"..."
Getting coins was great, but...
"At this rate, I'm going to go bald."
Was it really okay to turn the world's greatest ice-queen beauty into a bald woman?
"Ah!"
Then an idea struck me.
My personal kitchen.
Tullia's newly assigned room came with a living room, dressing room, bathroom—
and even a private kitchen.
I'd been amazed when I first saw it.
It was basically an entire house disguised as a "bedroom."
Part of me had even enjoyed it.
"So this is how nobles live."
I hurried to the kitchen.
A resident chef?
Servants?
Of course not.
But that was actually better right now.
I quickly searched the counters and found a suitable paring knife.
Swallowing nervously, I got to work.
A little while later—
Clink!
The familiar coin sound echoed again.
My eyes widened.
[System] Acquired 2 Coins!
"Wow, this actually works?"
Before me sat a mountain of finely chopped apples.
"Wow... Uncle Lilius. Aunt Aubrey."
Thank you so freaking much!
Naturally, there wasn't a single premium fruit in my personal kitchen.
Even the apples I'd just diced were covered in bruises.
And not just bruises.
Many of them were already beginning to rot.
The reason several crates of such cheap apples had been dumped into my kitchen was obvious.
It was surely another way for Baron Lilius and his wife Aubrey to vent their hostility toward me.
"But thanks to that, I'm earning coins."
If they'd been expensive apples, I would've hesitated to waste them.
Instead, I had mountains of trash-quality apples to chop all day long.
It was perfect.
I spent some time collecting coins like a madwoman.
But once the jars of chopped apples exceeded ten, I finally came to my senses.
"What am I supposed to do with all of these?"
I'd even stuffed sugar into the jars in an attempt to make jam.
"Normally you're supposed to simmer it and do all kinds of proper steps..."
Skill: -10
"..."
Look at my penalty.
If I tried simmering apples, I'd probably burn down the entire castle and put everyone into an eternal sleep.
I had only intended to add a spoonful of sugar.
Instead, because of the penalty, my hand slipped and poured in a flood of it.
"Let's just say it's extra sweet."
As I pondered, a memory from The Flour-Covered Bread suddenly surfaced.
Come to think of it...
"To win the Grand Duke's favor as Corico..."
You absolutely had to give him a handmade gift at least once.
Doing so caused his affection rating to skyrocket.
Maybe it was because he'd grown tired of fancy jewels and priceless treasures.
Grand Duke Asis tended to appreciate simple, heartfelt handmade items much more.
"Then maybe I..."
...could give him these jars of jam as a gift?