Chapter 17

As Louise poured the stew, a cube of meat slid into his bowl.

Steam rose from the stew, still warm.

He was about to decline, thinking he didn’t need more food, but he never finished his sentence.

“It’s alri-.”

Ding.

A familiar sound rang out.

Opaque letters appeared before his eyes.

[Congratulations!]

“……”

[You have completed a Hidden Quest.]

[The system is now unlocked due to the completion of your first Hidden Quest.]

[Hidden Quest: ~Receive more than three pieces of lamb secretly hidden by Louise~]

[Quest Rewards]

[Affection has increased by 3.]

[Experience has increased by 10.]

[Trust has increased by 1.]

“……”

He blinked in confusion.

“Alec?”

Louise waved her hand in front of his face.

Snapping out of it, he looked at her.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“What were you thinking about so deeply?”

“It’s nothing, just for a moment-.”

He thought he needed to leave this place immediately.

Just as he turned to exit the dining room.

[Warning!]

[If you do not consume Louise’s offering, the quest reward will be canceled.]

[Please enjoy your meal!]

“……”

What the…?

He was dumbfounded.

This was undoubtedly his status window, which he thought had vanished.

The letters, once blue, had turned pink and reappeared.

He thought he’d never see it again.

It felt like a game he believed had ended was starting anew.

He ignored the pink letters floating in the air and continued walking.

He didn’t want to eat more, nor did he want to follow the sudden system instructions.

But as he reached the hall after completely leaving the dining room, the system grew increasingly frantic.

[Warning!]

[Warning!]

With each step he took, warning sounds blared.

He kept ignoring them and reached the stairs.

[Please consume your wife’s offering. The quest reward will be canceled!]

He glanced sideways at the status window and then continued up the stairs without hesitation.

‘What’s going on?’

The contents of the reward notification he saw earlier came to mind.

‘Affection has increased by 3.’

Affection?

This isn’t a dating simulation game, why is there affection…?

He had no intention of eating the lamb stew just to increase something like affection.

He didn’t see the point in it and didn’t want to do it.

‘This was supposed to be the final reward, but it feels like I’m back at the beginning.’

He sighed lightly and rubbed his face.

As he arrived in front of his room.

[It’s not too late. Receive the Hidden Quest reward to improve your relationship with your wife!]

“……”

[You must pass the Hidden Quest to unlock the next quest.]

…I see.

He simply opened the door.

It was a quest he couldn’t understand.

Louise wasn’t his real wife, and he didn’t have any special feelings for her, so why should he improve his relationship with her?

It felt deceitful to Louise.

Even if she were an NPC, he wouldn’t like it.

[Warning!!!]

[You must accumulate affection to level up.]

[Level up to defeat the tyrant Axen and eradicate the forces of evil!]

“……”

Thud.

He closed the door.

He stared at the system window.

This time, leveling up required not experience, but affection.

Soon, another ding sounded.

[Hidden Quest End: Failed]

[Louise has eaten all the remaining stew.]

[Quest Penalty]

[Affection has decreased by 3.]

[Experience has decreased by 10.]

[Trust has decreased by 3.]

Wasn’t trust supposed to have increased by 1 earlier? So why did it drop by 3 now?

[Trust -2]

[Your title has changed.]

[Savior Who Killed the Gods → Cold-hearted Novice Husband]

“……”

* * *

Alec collapsed onto the bed.

Even though the quest rewards were nullified and trust had gone into the negatives, the status window that reappeared once wasn’t going away.

He checked several things in the newly reappeared system.

Level.

Amazingly, it was 1.

Considering that his level had surpassed 600 in his previous life, it felt like he had become an infant again.

Since he was at a beginner’s level, the state of his skills and stats went without saying.

‘Is my profession still the same?’

He also checked the professional skills he had switched to in his previous life.

If he could revive his professional skills, he could easily subdue the tyrant of this world by the day after tomorrow.

[Professional Skills: Not yet unlocked]

[Cannot be accessed at this time. To unlock, you must either complete the undisclosed ‘Challenge! Reemployment Profession Quest’ or achieve the affection level of an intermediate husband.]

“……”

Are even professional skills useless?

If so, what about the weapons he stored in his inventory from his previous life?

[Inventory: Locked]

[Cannot be accessed at this time. It will gradually expand based on your level.]

‘……Nothing works.’

Neither professional skills nor the items in his inventory could be accessed.

He felt a bit deflated.

Like his freshly bleached skin, it felt as if all his abilities had been bleached away.

What he wanted was a reset, not a reward, but this wasn’t a reward or even a rest.

Just as he was about to close the system window, a new menu caught his eye.

[Character List]

Characters?

Is it possible to view such things because this world is based on a novel?

Curious, he opened the character list.

However, aside from his three family members and himself, everything else was filled with question marks.

First, he decided to check the information on Alec, the character he had possessed.

[Alec Myers]

[Male, Age: 23]

[Duke of Brent. A peerless handsome man unmatched in appearance. Committed suicide by consuming poison.]

[Special Note: After death, his soul has been wandering in another world.]

[??????????]

[??????????]

“……?”

His mind was as filled with questions as the decorated question marks in the special notes section.

Alec’s soul is wandering in another world?

Does that mean he went somewhere after his death?

Where could he have gone?

Could he possibly return?

‘Then what happens to my soul that has entered Alec’s body?’

His thoughts grew complicated.

Perhaps he might return to the world he originally lived in.

Could he return?

He wished he could read the parts marked with question marks, he thought, as he next checked the information on Louise.

[Louise Shannon/Louise Myers]

[Female, Age: 24]

[Duchess of Brent. Originally the daughter of the Duke of Shannon from a neighboring country. Has the highest standards for men in this world.]

[Married her husband through an arranged marriage but has never consummated their relationship. Desperately wants a happy married life and children with her husband.]

[??????????]

[??????????]

“…….”

After reading the full description, Alec paused.

He reopened Alec’s information.

Was there any explanation as to why he hadn’t had a proper marital relationship with Louise?

From what he checked this morning, the s*xual function of this body was perfectly normal.

Rather, the overflowing mana within him, brimming to his core, made him more vigorous and hot than the average man.

……Mana?

‘Yes, there is still mana in this body…….’