Little Tyrant Doesn’t Want to Meet with a Bad End
chapter-180

The following morning, Roel woke up to the gentle touch of Charlotte’s breath on his neck.

It was warm, and it carried a light fragrance. It felt a bit ticklish but also a bit arousing. It was like a foxtail that kept tickling his sleepy mind, rousing him from his rest.

The moment he opened his eyes, he found himself face-to-face with a beautiful little princess.

Charlotte was currently lying right beside him, on the same bed. Her silky auburn hair was scattered over the pillows. Even under the faint light, her fair skin still looked impeccable. Her noble aura paired with her white sleepwear left Roel with an illusion that he was staring right at the real Sleeping Beauty.

W-what is she doing here?

Startled fully awake, Roel’s mind jammed up for a few seconds at the sight of his bed companion. Of course, this wasn’t the first time Roel was sleeping with a girl, but the other person had always been Alicia, his younger sister. Rather than saying that they were ‘sleeping together’, it was more accurate to say that he was accompanying a child to bed. However, that was clearly not the case with Charlotte.

Ah, right. It must be due to what Isabella told her about accompanying me in bed or something. I didn’t think that Charlotte would actually take her words for real.

Roel shook his head with a helpless sigh as he wondered why Charlotte would pay such credence to her ancestor’s words. She was usually so sharp-witted when they were together, so it was an interesting contrast to see her being so obedient. But still…

She looks good.

Staring at the face just a few centimeters away, Roel thought about how the saying that ‘a person’s charm disappears when examined close-up’ didn’t apply to Charlotte at all. She still looked equally perfect close-up, luring him in deeper and deeper…

“Cough cough.”

Feeling a little embarrassed, Roel turned his head away with a reddened face.

While it was at the instruction of her ancestor, Charlotte still abandoned her reticence as a woman to share a bed with him. It would be disrespectful of him to harbor deviant thoughts about her after the sacrifice she had made.

His light cough, however, awakened Charlotte. She was still a little dazed at the start, but as soon as she saw Roel before her eyes, her mind cleared up right away. With their gazes on one another, Charlotte blinked her eyes mischievously as a teasing smile curled on her lips.

“Is Mister Roel peeping on me in my sleep?”

“O-of course not. I just woke up not too long ago too…”

Caught red-handed, Roel hurriedly tried to explain himself awkwardly. Fortunately, Charlotte didn’t continue pursuing the matter. While Roel’s voice was still trailing away out of embarrassment, she levered herself gracefully upward before pecking his forehead lightly.

“Good morning, darling.”

The gentle greeting caught Roel off guard, leaving his mind blank briefly. Charlotte lightly wrapped her arms around his neck, closing the distance between them. All that stood between them was just the thin layer of sleepwear they were wearing. This amorous situation had Roel’s heart beating so fast that he thought that it was going to leap out of his chest.

W-what’s going on?

Roel’s body stiffened, and he felt his mind overwhelmed with heat. He turned to look at the System, only to be shocked by one of the notification logs.

(Affection Points +80,000)

…

So, rich women aren’t just loaded with money, they are also filled with affection too?

Roel stared at the starry ceiling above him as he, for the first time, realized that things might have spiraled out of control.

80,000 Affection Points, that was an amount Roel had never seen before. Different from the usual farming of Affection Points, he knew that this huge amount signaled a qualitative change in their relationship. He had experienced something similar with Alicia and Nora too.

But still, 80,000… Isn’t that a little too much? I know that I’ve been saying that I want to farm Charlotte’s Affection Points, but this is really…

Looking at the young auburn beauty, who was poking his cheeks curiously, he suddenly felt that he might have gone overboard trying to earn Affection Points this time around.

Suspension Bridge Effect, this was a term where psychological conditions resulting from fear were mistaken for romantic arousal. They had been through many precarious situations in the Witness State that made adrenaline rush through their bodies and their hearts beat fast. Charlotte mistook those natural physical reactions as an affirmation of her feelings toward Roel, leaving her thinking that she was romantically interested in him.

On top of that, their engagement and Isabella’s advice probably played a vital part in furthering the impression as well.

The Suspension Bridge Effect was a commonly known theory in Roel’s previous world, but the people in this world were probably ignorant and thus more fallible to it. Fortunately, its effects would usually wear off with time, so there was probably nothing to worry about… right?

“Darling, what do you wish to eat for breakfast?”

“Ah? Anything will do.”

In the room, Charlotte was lying next to Roel, her head propped up with one hand while the other mischievously teased Roel’s face. Her fair legs thumped merrily against the bed, alluding to her good mood. There was a doting smile on her face, reminiscent of a young wife staring at her beloved newlywed husband.

All of these made Roel’s heart thump uncontrollably.

W-what’s going on? Does your country owe me a wife or something?

Oh, it seems like it really does…

The sudden outburst of charm had knocked Roel silly, but it didn’t take him long to recover. He turned to look at the mirror on the dressing table, and he couldn’t help but notice the goofy enchanted look on his face. All of a sudden, he felt like he had been unwittingly placed under the Suspension Bridge Effect too.

Just recalling the moment when Charlotte shot the seven-colored gemstone bullet at him was more than enough to make his heart pound. No matter what her reason for doing so was, the fact that she did it was more than enough to move Roel’s heart.

The difficulty of choosing between life and death in the face of despair was definitely not something ordinary humans could imagine. Charlotte had chosen to entrust the future to him, and that was why he was able to make his decision unhesitatingly before Peytra afterward.

It would be apt to describe the two of them as life-and-death companions, but as for the engagement… Based on their previous agreement, it should have been time to annul it, especially since the initial agreement had been fulfilled. But given the current situation…

“I do remember that you aren’t picky about your food. For breakfast, it’s customary for us, Rosaians, to go for something sweet. Is that fine with you?”

“Hm? Ah yes, sure. I’m fine with anything.”

“Alright then. I know that you aren’t picky, but you must have some preferences when it comes to food. You must make sure to let me know in the future.”

Charlotte tucked her hair neatly behind her ears as she spoke. Roel couldn’t help but notice how her white sleeping gown made her look very different from usual. It was shorter than the standard sleepwear worn in the Theocracy, giving her the look of a mischievous girl who had secretly worn her boyfriend’s shirt.

“Hm? Do you like these clothes?”

“Ahhh, i-it’s still alright. It looks… different.”

“Yes, I was the one who designed it. Don’t you think a touch of exposure brings about a unique charm as well? These are quite loose and comfortable too.”

As Charlotte started bragging about her design, she straightened her upper body slightly, causing her gown to shift upward as well, revealing more and more of her fair legs, only to suddenly stop short of exposing her innerwear.

Roel found his eyes reflexively drifting along with her clothes. It felt like a kitten was clawing at his heart, leaving it feeling a little ticklish. His gaze lingered at the hem of the gown before slowly moving upward, as if to conceal his action. His eyes traced the pleasing contours of her slender waist on their way up to her face, and the aesthetics only got more and more pleasing.

“How is it? You like it?”

Sensing Roel’s gaze on her, a gleeful smile surfaced on Charlotte’s lips as she expectantly sought affirmation.

“Grace advised me against it when I designed this sleepwear, but I thought that it felt odd and uncomfortable to wear long pants to bed. In the end, this sleepwear failed to make it to the Spring Collection, just like the gown from before.”

“… I-it’s not bad. I think that it’s quite good.”

Hearing Charlotte’s indignant complaints, Roel tried his best to console her. It worked as Charlotte heaved a sigh of relief hearing Roel’s affirmation, but right after that, she suddenly leaned forward to whisper right into Roel’s ear.

“Darling, if you like it, I don’t mind wearing it just for you.”

“Ah?”

The sudden soft whisper exceeded Roel’s tolerance. He quickly raised his hand to cover his right ear. No way could he continue allowing Charlotte to do as she pleased anymore.

“Say, didn’t we agree previously to annul the engagement once your request is fulfilled?”

“Darling, what are you saying?”

“Ah?”

Faced with Roel’s question, Charlotte tilted her head sideward with eyes filled with incomprehension.

“Didn’t we agree to marry once the request is fulfilled?”