Clara started opening up a bit more about the man, and the way she spoke about him made it pretty clear that this wasn't just some small inconvenience for her.
"He's here on official business, but he was planning to stay for a while before heading back to where he came from," she said. "To be honest… I would have preferred it if he were someone closer to my age. For years, I already gave up on the idea of choosing for myself and just accepted that I would eventually become someone's bride. But when he was introduced to me, he turned out to be a man twice my age… and he's already been married three times."
She let out a small breath after saying that, like she had been holding it in for a while.
Finding something like that about your supposed fiancé would mess with anyone. It wasn't even about being picky at that point. That was just straight-up unfair.
"I want out of that situation, but unfortunately… I don't really have any say in the matter."
That part didn't surprise me.
That was pretty much how things worked for people in her position.
If I remembered correctly, Clara belonged to the Cadranda Family. Not just any noble family either. They were one of the most prestigious and powerful families in the country.
Their influence wasn't limited to one industry or one region. They were everywhere.
They owned massive enterprises, including Cadranda Clothings and Cadranda Foods and Refreshments, both of which were already huge on their own.
And that wasn't even everything.
They had their hands in all kinds of businesses.
Clothing, food, logistics, and probably things I didn't even know existed.
Recently, they had also been investing heavily in entertainment. From what I'd heard, they were even planning to launch a full studio to produce movies.
Basically, her family was stacked. With wealth, influence, as well as connections. It was the whole package.
Which made it even stranger that she was working at a convenience store like it was nothing.
That part still didn't make sense to me.
But at the same time, I didn't feel like it was my place to question her about it. Not right now, anyway. I wasn't exactly in a position where I could casually dig into her personal life like that.
For now, the only thing that mattered was helping her get away from that bastard.
Eventually… yes, I wanted to do more than just help her hide. I wanted to get her out of that situation completely. Maybe if I built myself up enough, I could actually stand against her family.
With the system, making money wasn't impossible. In fact, it was kind of ridiculous how fast things were progressing. If I kept this up, I could start a business, grow it, and maybe, just maybe, reach a point where I could face her family on equal footing.
It would take time, of course. It would take a lot of effort, and probably a lot of farming of ♥︎.
But honestly, I didn't mind.
Not if it meant I could have her.
"I'm really thankful for what you're doing, for helping me like this," she said, her voice softer now. "If not for you, I might have ended up in a situation I would regret for the rest of my life."
Yeah… I could see that happening.
Getting tied down to someone like that? That didn't sound like a life. That sounded like a long, slow regret.
"But… fufufu, I still can't believe we're hiding in a love motel. It's… kind of exciting when you think about it, don't you think?"
There was a small shift in her tone there. It was not serious anymore. It was... a little playful.
"Exciting how?" I asked.
"I mean, don't you think it's kind of strange? We came to a place that's meant for affairs and sex, but we're not doing any of those things."
"Well, places like this are sometimes used for recreation too, so I don't think it really matters that much," I told her.
"Really? Because this room specifically doesn't look very… recreation-friendly," she said, glancing around again.
"Yeah… okay, fair point."
I couldn't even argue with that.
The room itself was practically screaming its purpose. It wasn't subtle about it either. It was like walking into a place that had already made assumptions about what you were here to do.
"Oh, look. There are condoms here."
She reached over and picked something up, then held it out in front of me.
"Well, this is a love motel. It's only natural they'd have condoms."
I said it casually, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Which, to me, it kind of was.
But for some reason, she tilted her head slightly, looking at me like she was trying to figure something out.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"Nothing, it's just… I thought you'd react differently. Like, maybe you'd get a bit embarrassed or blush or something. Ah, wait… are you already used to bringing girls here, so this doesn't faze you anymore? I really thought you were a virgin. I can't believe you're actually a wolf in sheep's clothing."
Why did she jump to that conclusion?
"Well, it's not like I'd get fazed by something like that when I literally see them every day at the convenience store we work at, right?"
"Well… I guess that makes sense," she said after a moment.
And just like that, she accepted it.
Honestly, even if I were a virgin, I didn't think I'd react the way she expected just from seeing a condom.
It's not exactly some rare, mysterious object.
You see it, you acknowledge it, and you move on.
Unless you're trying really hard to act innocent, I guess.
"How about this, Leon? Have you seen this before?"
She suddenly brought something up right in front of my face, close enough that I had to shift my focus a bit just to properly take it in.
It was some kind of device.
Not just any device either. It didn't take long for me to realize what it was meant for.
More specifically, it was something used for masturbation. A device designed for women.
A massager.
Or, to be more precise… a wand massager.
It looked like a long stick, pretty sleek in design, almost too clean-looking for what it was actually used for. At the end of it was a rounded head, like a smooth ball.
If you didn't know any better, you might actually think it was just some normal electric massager.
But yeah, no.
Despite the harmless name, there was nothing innocent about it.
It was a vibrator.
A full-on sex toy.
And she was casually asking me if I had seen it before.
In porn? Yeah, I've definitely seen things like that more times than I could count.
In real life?
This was literally the first time.
So I just shook my head.
"Oh, really? Hhmmm~"
She leaned in slightly, her expression shifting into something a bit more curious, like my answer made her more interested instead of less.
"Well, why don't you use it on me?"
"Huh?"
"Use it on me, I said."
I heard her clearly the first time.
There was no misunderstanding there.
But the way she said it, so casually, like she was asking me to hand her a drink or something, completely threw me off.
It didn't match the situation at all.
What exactly did she mean by that?
Before I could even think of a proper response, she stepped closer and placed the device into my hand.
"Come here, Leon," she said.
Then, without hesitation, she moved over to the bed and laid down on it like she had already decided everything.
"Hurry!" she added.
That shift was way too fast.
A second ago, we were talking normally, and now she was lying on a bed in a love motel, handing me a vibrator like this was all part of the plan.
Something about this felt… off.
Not necessarily in a bad way, but enough to make me pause for a second.
Like there was something more going on here that I wasn't fully catching yet.
Before I could act, though, the system popped up again.
Right on cue.
__________________________
NEW QUEST!
Clara wants you to use the electric wand massager.
Use it as it meant to be used.
Reward: 5♥︎ +20♥︎ Mood, +20 INTELLIGENCE
Use it as it 'meant to be used'.
Reward: +10♥︎ Mood, -5♥︎ Affection, +MAX♥︎ Lust
__________________________
Of course.
A quest, right when things start getting complicated.
And the choices… they were clearly trying to mess with me a little.
At first glance, it looked confusing since both options were worded almost the same way. Like it was some kind of trick question.
But thinking about it for a moment, it became pretty obvious.
The first option meant using it the way it was originally marketed. As a regular massager.
The second option, though…
That one was different.
That was using it the way it was actually meant to be used.
On a very specific part of her body.
Her pussy.
The rewards made it even more tempting to think about.
The first option gave +20 INTELLIGENCE, which was honestly huge. I needed that stat badly right now, and getting that much in one go wasn't something I could easily ignore.
But the second option had its own kind of appeal.
Sure, it would lower her affection by 5♥︎, which wasn't ideal after building it up this far.
But +MAX♥︎ Lust?
That was… something else.
If I thought about it carefully, there were probably a lot of advantages I could get from that later on.
Still, I wasn't about to decide blindly.
So I checked her status first.
__________________________
Clara
Affection: 65♥︎
Mood: 50♥︎
Lust: 30♥︎
Status: Interested
__________________________
Her affection was already at 65♥︎.
Higher than I expected, honestly.
That probably went up during our time at the mall earlier.
And right now, her status was "Interested."
That alone made this decision a lot easier.
If I went with the second option, her affection would drop to 60♥︎.
It was not great, of course, but still solid.
It was still within a range that wouldn't ruin anything.
So maybe… just maybe, this wasn't that risky after all.
I stared at the options for a moment longer, weighing it in my head.
Then I let out a small breath.
Well, fuck it.
I made my choice.
I turned the device on, feeling the vibration buzz lightly through my hand.
Then, instead of placing it somewhere safe or neutral…
I pressed it down against her crotch.