Chapter 48: 48 | I Didn’t Know What She Liked and That Made Me Angrier Than Anything the Protagonist Ever Did
On the other side, Dante woke up two hours later.
He had cultivated until 5 AM after claiming the Mana Zone (Legendary), which had twice the radius and absorption speed of the Epic one Natasha got.
He was so eager to try it out along with the Flowing River Art that he didn’t even bother checking the rest of his notifications after collecting it.
Needless to say, the effect was tremendous. It normally took him close to a full day to absorb one Mythic Stone.
Now he did it in just six hours.
’It’s already 9?’ Dante was a bit shocked when he saw the clock.
By this time, they’d usually be eating breakfast.
So he quickly washed up and got ready before heading down to the dining area, thinking Natasha might be waiting for him.
’Is breakfast still not ready?’ The dining area was empty. He walked over to the kitchen to check if she was cooking, maybe lend her a hand.
But the kitchen was empty too. There was no sign of cooking.
’Where is she? Still sleeping?’
He walked back out and dropped into one of the chairs at the dining table.
Then pulled up the system to check the feed.
’Wait a second. Why are there more notifications?’ He was about to tap the feed, but his eyes caught the red dot with a 7 on it.
There had only been four notifications when he closed the system window last night.
’Are those extra three why Master is nowhere to be seen?’ He had a feeling and clicked the notification tab immediately.
[You used a massage as an excuse to get your filthy hands on Natasha’s body!]
[+1,000 Villain Points!]
[The protagonist’s mother blanked out from just your hands alone!]
[+1,000 Villain Points!]
[Natasha got wet for the second time because of you and realized she’s attracted to you!]
[+3,000 Villain Points!]
[Natasha’s favorability has increased by 4]
[Total Favorability: 49(Crush)]
’Damn, I thought that was the technique’s limit. Turns out it goes even further.’ Dante checked the first four messages and his eyes lit up. He still thought it was all because of Golden Hands.
But the system corrected him.
[It’s not actually because of the technique.]
’You mean...?’ A smile immediately spread across his face. He didn’t need the system to say another word.
’There is nothing more satisfying than a man being able to please his woman. Easily top ten most satisfying things in life.’ Dante was grinning ear to ear. Then he caught himself.
’Well, she’s not technically mine yet...’ He paused, his eyes falling on the favorability tab.
[Total Favorability: 49]
’But I’m halfway there!’
On top of that, he had earned back villain points he spent on Golden Hands in a single mission.
’Now then, shall I see what these three are about?’ Dante scrolled down, curiosity and excitement mixing in his eyes.
He had done nothing to earn these notifications. It was like finding money in the pocket of pants he didn’t even wear once.
[Natasha couldn’t cultivate or sleep because of you! You made the protagonist’s mother suffer!]
[+2,000 Villain Points!]
[Natasha had an erotic dream about you, her own student, and woke up to a drenched bed! She has no excuse left to give herself. She can’t even look you in the face. Even in her sleep, you didn’t leave her alone.]
[You’ve truly reached a new level of villainy!]
[+6,000 Villain Points!]
[Natasha’s favorability has increased by 6]
[Total Favorability: 55 (Crush)]
"HOLY SHIT!" Dante said out loud. He couldn’t even hide his shock.
This was truly massive.
He thought he was just finding money in his pants, but that pocket turned out to be Broraemon’s.
Not only had his villain points hit 20,000, her favorability was just 5 points away from 60 (Affection).
A total of 14 points gained in a single day.
’Those days of waiting were really worth it!’ He quickly closed the notification tab and opened the feed to see how she was handling the situation.
Inside the master bedroom, Natasha was sitting on the bed with her arms wrapped around her knees and the bedsheet pulled over her entire body.
A gloomy aura hung around her like a cloud.
She looked half dead.
She looked like she was questioning her life choices.
And she WAS.
At this moment, she was no better than any young woman.
A hundred years of wisdom didn’t help her one bit when she barely had any experience in this department.
Most of all, she had never once heard of someone falling for their own student in her entire life.
’Damn it! Who hurt my master? If I get my hands on them...!’ Dante clenched his fist in mock fury after seeing her sitting in bed wrapped up like a cocoon, hugging her own knees like a teenager who just got her heart broken for the first time.
Jokes aside, he couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her.
No one would believe this was the same woman who had wiped the mighty Kingsley off the face of the earth.
"Sigh..." He closed the feed and took out his phone to order some food for the both of them.
But his fingers froze on the screen.
He didn’t know what she liked.
He gripped the phone, angry at himself for being such a piece of shit. He didn’t know a single thing she liked to eat.
He dialed Freya’s number reluctantly, a determined light flashing in his eyes.
’I will give her the best date when we go out shopping!’
***
An hour later, Dante stood in front of the master bedroom, looking down at the package in his hands.
On the package, soft, white little pillows were printed. The kind of thing that looked like it belonged in a kid’s lunchbox.
Spicy rice cakes.
’Is this really what she likes?’ Dante stared at them with doubt written all over his face, half wondering if Freya was getting back at him.
’If she actually lied to me, I will make sure everyone in the city knows her codename. Especially the Phantom Force.’ His expression turned ruthless.
Knock! Knock!
Natasha, who was deep in thought, snapped back to her senses after hearing the knock on the door.
"Master, can I come in?"
’He’s here...’ Natasha thought hazily before the realization kicked in. ’HE IS HERE!’
’What should I do? What should I say? Should I let him in?’ She quickly shook her head. ’No way. I can’t face him yet. Not like this...’
Dante was watching her through the feed, and seeing her like this, he could only smile helplessly.
"Master, are you okay? Is everything alright?"
"If you don’t answer me, I’m coming in."
’...Is everything alright?’ She would have been happy if he just left her alone, but she knew none of this was his fault.
"I-I’m training."
"You go order food and eat. I’ll be busy for a while."
Natasha tried to sound as normal as possible, but her voice cracked on the very first word.
"Is that so?" Dante’s voice from the other side of the door sounded disappointed.
"I already ordered food, Master. I’ll just leave it at your table. You can eat whenever you want."
Hearing that he had already bought food for her made her feel warm inside, but she absolutely refused to let him in.
"No, no. Leave it at the door. I’ll grab it."
"Okay, Master." Dante seemed to understand. "I’ll just leave it here. Please eat before it gets cold."
However, before leaving, he dropped a bomb.
"We can go shopping some other day."
After that, silence. Dante had really left.
But those last words kept echoing in her mind, and an anxious look crept onto her face.
’I can’t even face him. Shopping? How am I supposed to do that?’ She held her head with both hands. ’But I already promised. I acted so confident, offering money and a car. If I don’t even go shopping with him after all that, where do I put my face?’
She realized she had already fallen into the abyss, and there didn’t seem to be any way to crawl back out.
As she was starting to lose her mind, she remembered the food. It had already been a few minutes since he left.
At this rate, it was going to go cold.
Even when Dante fought with her that day, he didn’t leave a single thing on the plate.
Thinking of that, Natasha got up from the bed and cracked the door open just enough for her hand to shoot out and snatch the package. Then she shut the door like she was hiding a crime.
Looking at the print on the package, she paused. "How did he know I liked rice cakes?"
As far as she could remember, she never told him.
’Maybe he asked someone...’ She thought, but a tiny smile still found its way onto her face.
She bit into the first one and her cheeks puffed out as she chewed, eyes softening without her even realizing it
By the third piece, she was sitting cross-legged on the bed, cheeks full, not a single thought behind those eyes.
