136. Spring Outing (6)
The bustling duke’s estate.
The sisters gathered one by one in front of the carriage, which was fully prepared for the outing, led by Isabella.
The only one left was Carsein, whom Herond had gone to pick up.
“Will he be late again today? I told him to prepare early… Tsk.”
“Ariana.”
“…I’m sorry, Mother.”
Ariana looked at her pocket watch and clicked her tongue, but Isabella stopped her.
It wasn’t late yet, anyway.
“I’m sorry for being late.”
Then, as if summoned, Carsein appeared.
The family’s expressions suddenly brightened.
“He’s here!”
Flora, who had been anxious, thinking that Carsein might not come, was relieved.
But when he fully emerged from the corridor, everyone’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘Was Carsein always like this?’
It had been a while since he dressed up, and because of that, a strange feeling settled in, different from before.
It was Isabella who broke the silence.
“How did you grow up so well… Your dressed-up appearance really suits you, Carsein.”
Isabella’s smile was full of warmth as she gently patted her son’s shoulder, looking up at him with pride.
The body that had been skinny was nowhere to be found.
The face, which had been well-nourished, had clearly changed from the past, and the well-balanced muscles made his appearance different, making him seem like a different person.
Because of this, the three sisters were speechless, their mouths agape.
“Hmm, since there are five of us, should we divide into two carriages? What do you think?”
Flora, who had been staring blankly at Carsein, came back to her senses at the mention of carriages.
‘If we divide the carriages…’
It would be like the Snow Flower Festival.
Then, there might be a chance for Carsein and her to be alone together.
She raised her hand excitedly.
“Me, me! I’ll ride with Carsein today!”
“Really? Then should Carsein ride with Flora?”
Just as the youngest was about to get permission, Clara, who had been quiet since arriving at the carriage, spoke up.
“Wait a minute.”
“Flora, today… can I ride with Carsein instead?”
“Little sister…?”
“That’s… ah…”
Clara hesitated, her words stuck in her throat, before biting her lip.
“I have something to tell Carsein about the Rusmayear territory, so…”
In reality, there was no such thing.
Rusmayear was already in Carsein’s hands, so there was nothing to report.
So, this was just an excuse.
“Flora, I’m sorry, but this is important, so I won’t give in today.”
“…Okay.”
Flora nodded reluctantly, her head hung low.
Clara gently patted the youngest’s head.
“There have been a lot of kids who want to ride with Carsein lately. You’ve become quite close, haven’t you?”
“It’s nothing special, though.”
Isabella left, saying they should settle it among themselves, and Flora followed her mother.
The first carriage had Isabella, Arina, and Flora.
The second carriage had Carsein and Clara.
Arina suggested they ride separately like this.
Carsein smiled wryly and responded.
“No way.”
“What?”
“Just go with your friends, then? I don’t particularly want to ride a carriage.”
The atmosphere that had been soaring high suddenly turned cold, like being doused with cold water.
He, who had created this chilly atmosphere, immediately pulled out a horse from the stable.
“Sorry, but I want to ride the wind. I don’t really want to ride a carriage.”
“Hmm, are you going to be stubborn again, Karcein?”
“What’s wrong with this? Isn’t it normal? Instead of using two carriages just for me, I’d rather ride a horse and we can all go together. This way, everything gets resolved, doesn’t it?”
Ariana immediately furrowed her brow.
“Are you calling that a horse?”
“What’s wrong with my words? You might think I’m being stubborn, but I just want to ride a horse on this nice day. And we can solve other problems too, so what’s the issue?”
“You…”
Karcein replied confidently, as if he had done nothing wrong, and Ariana let out a forced laugh, as if she was fed up.
The atmosphere rapidly deteriorated.
Sparks seemed to fly between the two people’s eyes, as if they were about to clash at any moment.
Clere hastily intervened, calming one person down.
The one being calmed was Ariana.
“Hey, sis! Sometimes we need a change of mood, too. Just let’s ride horses.”
“…”
Since Ariana didn’t seem to want to back down, Clere whispered to Ariana in a voice only she could hear, persuading her.
“What’s the point of fighting on a good day like this? Mom is watching too.”
Ariana glanced at Isabella, who had walked towards the carriage, sensing that something was amiss.
Her mother was sending her an anxious glance from the other side.
In the end, Ariana took a step back.
“…Fine. Clere’s right. There’s no point in fighting on a good day like this.”
But she had to say one thing.
“I’ll let it go since Mom is worried, but Mom had high expectations for our family. If you try to ruin it, I won’t stay silent.”
Ariana left a warning to Karcein in a sharp tone and walked towards Isabella without looking back.
“…”
As Clere watched her sister walk away, she let out a sigh of relief, but another thought occurred to her.
Why was her sister like that?
Why was she so harsh towards Karcein?
As she thought this…
Heehee!
Karcein had already mounted his horse and taken off.
Dag-dag, dag-dag.
The sound of horse hooves faded away as Karcein disappeared.
“Oh, seriously! Why is he in such a hurry!”
Clere complained, venting her frustration on the air.
Why was he in such a rush?
Did he have a fire on his feet or something?
I let out a sigh of frustration.
But my footsteps, which had been slowing down, came to a halt.
“…I was going to apologize,”
I thought, but I didn’t have the chance during our outing.
I vowed to make it up to them next time and trudged on, my feet heavy.
***
The carriage arrived at the eastern part of the capital on a bright spring morning.
“Wow, it’s beautiful!”
Following Flora’s exclamation, the mothers’ gazes fell upon the blooming cherry blossoms.
The cherry blossom trees, more vibrant than usual, were scattering their petals in the wind.
Suddenly, Claire let out a faint cough.
“Weren’t there only a few trees blooming two days ago? And there were many trees that hadn’t bloomed yet?”
“That’s right? Then we came at a really good time?”
“Exactly, Flora. I heard people were swarming in, and it was causing a lot of trouble.”
It wasn’t just that people were gathering; they were pouring in, causing congestion in certain areas, and some inns were even fully booked.
“Really, if we had waited a bit longer, like Karsein said, it would have been much better.”
Isabella, who had picked up a fallen cherry blossom petal, gazed at me with a faint smile.
Ariana didn’t seem too pleased about what had happened earlier, but whatever.
That wasn’t important right now.
▶ Episode IV: Spring Outing in Progress ◀
▶ Arrived at the outing location with family ◀
▶ Your actions will affect the achievement rate, and choices will appear! ◀
The spring outing episode has begun, and I’m about to face the choices.
And it’s not going to be easy.
▶ This location is a danger zone! ◀
[ If you stay too long, a choice that responds to this will appear. ]
A perilous choice that arises in this danger zone.
This place may seem like just an outing location at first glance, but if you change your perspective, it’s an outing where other nobles are also present.
There are a lot of people.
And among them are nobles.
Just this fact alone was enough to pose a threat to Karsein.
“But the real issue is this side, anyway.”
From noble mtl dot com
▶ The choices in this episode do not take into account previous intimacy levels. ◀
▶ Only the intimacy accumulated within the episode will affect the choices. ◀
There’s always a choice that puts the player in a predicament.
The player can neutralize or weaken the power of that choice by raising their intimacy level.
But.
In this episode, one of those means is blocked.
The previously established intimacy level has been sealed off.
The surrounding threats always come in the form of choices with high risk levels.
Here, new choices and actions emerge, and intimacy is recalculated accordingly.
There’s no such episode that’s not dangerous.
So, this episode has a significant impact on intimacy, and it’s almost forced to follow the noble family’s lead.
It’s easy to think that way.
Sticking with them is the safest option, and listening to their words is the easiest way to clear this episode.
“But I don’t want to do that.”
I saw that situation in the memorial.
I saw the same thing happening to me again.
Am I supposed to cling to that family and beg for help like a fool?
That’s not going to happen.
Never.
Just because intimacy is blocked doesn’t mean clearing the episode is impossible.
Moreover, it’s not like we have to accept all choices just because it’s a high-risk field.
And it’s not like the episode won’t progress at all if we just stay still, nor is the only way to clear it by sticking with the family.
I’ve been waiting for the right moment.
“Sorry, but can we put off the cherry blossom viewing for now?”
“What’s going on?”
“It seems that the 2nd Prince has also arrived at this place.”
– Tingling!
▶ Isabella wants to meet the 2nd Prince. How will you react?
[ 1. Go with Isabella to meet the 2nd Prince. ]
[ 2. Say you’ll go cherry blossom viewing first. ]
[ 3. Take a seat and wait. ]
[ 4. Suggest taking one family member, excluding Isabella, to the market. ]
As the choices appeared, I chose the 2nd option without hesitation.
[ 2. Say you’ll go cherry blossom viewing first. ]☑
“Then I’ll go explore other places first.”
“Karstein, why do we have to go separately? Can’t we all go together?”
Ariana said, looking dissatisfied.
“Ariana, the 2nd Prince’s audience is limited to a maximum of four people.”
“…What?”
“Isn’t that right?”
I asked Isabella confidently.
Isabella looked surprised but didn’t deny it.
“You know that exactly. But… how do you know that?”
Of course, I remembered the game data, but here, I’ll try to come up with a plausible lie.
“The Princess mentioned it before she left.”
It may seem suspicious, but it’s not an unbelievable statement.
It doesn’t actually matter, so it doesn’t affect intimacy.
“I don’t know how long it’ll take… will it be okay?”
“Yes. I’ll take a stroll and come back.”
If I were to cling to someone like iron and then suddenly lower their intimacy, that would be a total failure. But this situation is actually a great opportunity.
“I understand. I’ll come back soon, so don’t wander off too far.”
As Isabella headed towards the 2nd Prince with her three sisters, the status window appeared.
– Tingling!
▶Episode IV. The Spring Outing is in progress.◀
▶The route has been decided.◀
▶You must purchase items from a nearby street vendor and return.◀
▶If you don’t bring anything, a Dead Flag will be raised.◀
“Huh?”
As soon as I saw the system message, I felt a chill.
Although this game has unpredictable scenes, I’ve got a good sense of it.
“Is this going to repeat what happened during Memorial?”
The situation is exactly the same.
The 2nd Prince and I are meeting, and time is passing in the Bagrand Duchy.
For some reason, Carsain is isolated from the others.
The nobles are gathered in a location that’s perfect for causing trouble.
It wouldn’t be strange if the development from Memorial were to unfold exactly as it did.
“If we base it on that…”
It’s inevitable that I’ll meet the nobles.
Of course, with my current stats, I won’t be able to overpower them, but it’s not too difficult to manipulate the situation either.
If it progresses like this…
“The episode will be resolved too. In the end, I won’t be able to take a commemorative photo, anyway.”
This episode will conclude in the duchy’s favorite way.
Still, it’s better to take some insurance. I want to prepare a countermeasure against the choices that will come up, so I followed the path I saw in Memorial.
▶You have entered the store!◀
After taking a few steps, a familiar place came into view.
It was the temporary market that Carsain had visited during Memorial.
“I hope there’s something useful here.”
As I browsed around, reading the item descriptions, I pointed to an item with my finger and asked.
“How much is this hairpin?”
[ Turmus Flower Hairpin ]
[ A hairpin made from a real Turmus flower, so it’s fragile and prone to breaking, with fragments easily getting stuck everywhere. ]
Who cares about intimacy levels anyways. I want chaos
I want judgement!!