True to his character setting of being polite to everyone regardless of status, Nox showed courteous manners even to the young maid. Maria, who had been staring entranced at Nox crossing the guest room, bowed her head with a startled expression.

“Of course. In that case, I’ll go to the kitchen and bring back some crème brûlée that the Saint enjoys!”

Maria, at an age particularly susceptible to beautiful people, left the guest room with flushed cheeks. Evelyn, who had subtly adjusted her posture, looked up blankly at Nox, who had come right up to her. Instead of his usual white uniform, Nox was wearing a black one.

‘Ah.’

A belated memory flashed through her mind. Today’s service officiated by the High Priest wasn’t just a regular service. It was also a memorial service for the Holy Knights who had fallen victim to the monster in the forest a few days ago.

Just as Evelyn was adopting a more solemn posture, Nox beat her to speaking.

“I saw earlier that you’re quite skilled at lying. The more I experience it, the harder it is to believe you’re truly a Saint verified by the High Priest himself.”

“Well, I could hardly tell Maria honestly that I spent all night underneath the Commander crying… oop.”

Nox quickly reached out to cover Evelyn’s mischievous lips, his pupils trembling.

“Please watch what you say. How can you speak such blasphemy in this sacred temple?”

His exposed skin was so red that one might mistake him for being painted by the sunset.

“We’ve done worse things, you know.”

“That was all because you- no, because Evelyn fed me some strange potion!”

“I didn’t know the potion would be that powerful either.”

Thanks to that, she had paid the price properly, pinned under Nox all night. Unlike dawn when he had acted with voracious hunger for her from head to toe, Nox, now unable to even meet Evelyn’s eyes properly, cleared his throat. With a rustling sound, a round ointment container emerged from inside Nox’s uniform jacket.

“It’s medicine to apply to a woman’s… private area.”

“…To apply where?”

“You seemed quite swollen this morning.”

Evelyn’s expression became peculiar, not having expected Nox to be so considerate of such things.

‘I wonder if he’d be shocked if I asked him to apply it himself.’

Suppressing the sudden urge to tease him, Evelyn looked up at the embarrassed Nox. His nape, visible through his loosely tied hair, was particularly red.

“Thank you. I’ll apply it well. How are you? Has your thigh completely healed?”

“Thanks to you, it’s healed without a trace. To the point where I no longer need treatment.”

After emphasizing ‘No longer need treatment,’ Nox immediately turned around. His steps toward the guest room entrance were as hurried as someone being chased. Thinking that anyone would assume she was going to eat him alive, Evelyn escorted him to the entrance of the guest room.

“Though I cannot attend the memorial service due to circumstances with the Imperial family…”

Evelyn, who had been hesitating all along, spoke in a voice completely devoid of playfulness.

“I truly feel sorry about what happened in the forest that day. It was an accident that no one could have predicted.”

“……”

“I hope the Commander doesn’t blame himself too much. I will pray for the souls of the deceased.”

Nox, who had remained silently standing in place for a while, left the guest room. Maria, who was returning from the kitchen at that moment, spotted Nox and opened her eyes wide.

“Saint, did you make the Commander cry?”

“Cry?”

“Well, not actually crying. But I’ve worked here for five years, and I’ve never seen the Commander make such an expression.”

While it was unfortunate that she hadn’t seen Nox’s expression herself. Still, considering he even prepared such ointment for her, it was a relief that his affection level wasn’t in the negative.

While eagerly munching on the crème brûlée Maria had brought, she opened the lid of the ointment. A refreshing scent, reminiscent of its owner, tickled her nose.

‘Thank goodness. I was worried his affection might drop to negative after forcing him into f*llatio in the forest and then feeding him an aphrodisiac yesterday.’

Come to think of it, even if it was for healing purposes, this was enough that Nox would have grounds to sue her if he wanted to.

More importantly, how can I check the male leads’ affection levels?

As if reading her inner thoughts, once again, a system window flickered into view before her eyes.

[Male protagonists’ affection levels can be checked through a separate window displayed at the bottom of the skill window. Would you like to check the affection levels?]

“Yes.”

[Calculating affection levels…. Calculation complete. Current male protagonist affection levels are as follows:]

Nox Leias: 45%

Luinel El Granteum: 0%

Hezel: 0%

Ian Ludante: -10%

Huh? Ian Ludante is the Tower Master, isn’t he?

Why is the Tower Master’s affection level already in the negative when she hasn’t even met him yet? Just thinking about him, who was famous for being the most difficult male lead to pursue in the original game, made the back of her neck tense up.

Even if it started in the worst possible way, it was fortunate that Nox’s affection level was progressing much more smoothly than expected.

‘Now I have about 3 weeks left to stay in the temple.’

Within that time, she needs to raise Nox’s affection to 100% by any means necessary and move on to the Imperial Palace. Using the reward she received for clearing the first main quest, she had chosen the temple as her residence.

She planned to target Nox first, as he was the most mentally stable among the male leads, then move residences to engage with the other male leads one by one. Since she started with physical healing, now it was time to build emotional connections.

‘I know Nox’s preferences well.’

Nox was her favorite character even among all the hellishly difficult games, and she had collected all the information posted by users who attempted to pursue him. As a result, she could list not only Nox’s small habits but also his preferences in detail.

Moreover, two days ago, while going in and out of Nox’s bedroom under the pretext of nursing him, she happened to overhear a conversation between the servants responsible for cleaning his room.

“Sophie says she’s dying trying to take care of the Commander’s horse.”

“Well, Greg, the Commander’s horse, only listens to him anyway.”

“They say that’s its lifelong wish for the Commander to wake up soon.”

Nox’s daily routine included visiting the stable at dawn to walk with his horse, Greg. Now that she no longer had the excuse of treating his wounds, she planned to create opportunities to interact with Nox and begin her emotional approach.

According to the data she collected while playing the game, Nox seemed to prefer platonic relationships over physical ones. As long as the system didn’t interfere again, if she approached him normally…

…or so she thought.

“Commander? What brings you here at this hour?”

Before she could even begin her planned advances, Nox knocked on her bedroom door. And at such a late hour when even the servants were asleep. Moreover, Nox wasn’t in his usual neat uniform but in a robe that revealed his chest.

Water droplets from his damp silver hair gathered at the corner of his eye like tears before falling. Nox, looking like he might cry at any moment, looked down at Evelyn, who had just woken up with disheveled hair.

“My body feels strange.”

“…What? How exactly does it feel strange?”

At Nox’s next trembling words, Evelyn’s eyes widened in surprise.

***

Nox Leias knew well that something had been off about his condition recently. More precisely, it started after Evelyn made him drink that strange potion. He first noticed his abnormal state right after returning to his bedroom following the memorial service.

The shadow of the deaths of his subordinates whom he couldn’t protect had barely begun weighing on his mind when his member began to harden at an alarming rate just from catching the faint scent of Evelyn lingering in the bedroom. Startled by his uncontrollable lower half, Nox grabbed the sword hanging on the wall.

‘The potion’s effects must not have worn off completely.’

Thinking this, Nox fled from the bedroom where Evelyn’s scent remained. He headed straight for his private training ground near his separate quarters. He thought that frantically swinging his sword would help suppress both the thoughts weighing on him and the heat in his lower body.

But once er*ect, his p*nis showed no signs of subsiding. With each swing of his sword, the throbbing below disrupted his swordsmanship, which had never once been compromised in his life. The night he spent with Evelyn clung to his mind, forcefully implanted memories constantly testing him.

Her supple waist and soft br*asts fitting perfectly in his arms, her thoroughly wet and loosened inner walls. Her ticklish moans that escaped every time he thrust upward. Nox stopped in his tracks, nearly releasing his seed right there while swinging his sword.

‘That potion.’

There must have been something wrong with the potion Evelyn made him drink. Otherwise, there was no way his member, which had maintained celibacy his entire life, would suddenly develop such issues. With his p*nis straining against his uniform pants, Nox finally abandoned his training and returned to his bedroom.

After practically throwing down his sword, he sat on the bed that carried Evelyn’s scent, pulled down his pants, and began stroking his p*nis. Naturally, his mind was consumed by memories of the previous night, when he had thoroughly coupled with Evelyn on this very bed.

He could vividly see his p*nis entering and leaving Evelyn’s tight inner walls, and their mixed fluids flowing together. With her legs in his grip, her br*asts bouncing as she shed physiological tears, she had unknowingly uttered words like “I love your c*ck, ahng, more, harder.”

The moment he recalled Evelyn wrapping her legs around his waist with her face contorted in pleasure as she cried…

“Ngh…!”

Nox’s hands became wet with warm, sticky white fluid. He barely had time to feel strong self-loathing and guilt for m*sturbating while thinking of the Saint inside a separate building within the Holy Temple.

“……?”

His member, which had just released an enormous amount of seed, became er*ect again regardless of his will. And when he came to his senses, he found himself rutting against the blanket that carried Evelyn’s scent like a dog. Even though he had spent all night releasing his seed over and over until he passed out from exhaustion.