Chapter 60 – Traitor (Aria’s POV)
Later that same day,
“I’ve got something to tell you about yesterday”, Letty said, stopping by my laboratory.
“While I was on my way back home, I met a troublesome guy named Ethen or something. He used his skill on me, which allowed him to see others’ status”, she said.
“WHAT? Someone used Appraisal on you? Did you meet the ‘protagonist’ by any chance? LETTY, WHY ARE YOU ONLY TELLING ME NOW?”
I paused, took a deep breath, and continued, “Sorry for yelling, but why didn’t you tell me about this yesterday?”
Seeing my big reaction, she looked down and answered softly in an apologetic tone, “I’m sorry. Actually, he is a huge benefactor to my friend. And she assured me that she’d keep him in check. I would have told you earlier, but then I thought you’d get worried and send your guards after him or something. I didn’t want to cause a commotion because of a misunderstanding… And it’s not like anyone would believe some no-named adventurer’s word over mine, so I let it go… I’m sorry if it was a big deal”.
She continued, “He used his skill on me, but my status is locked. So he came to the conclusion that I’m a slave. So he kept pestering me about helping me or saving me. He even used some kind of lie detector skill. That aside, what ‘protagonist’ are you talking about?”
“Letty, this is a big deal! Your class is your most well guarded secret, and we can’t have someone just run around freely after he invaded your privacy like that. It’s an even bigger deal, as this person is likely the protagonist of the original novel. As far as I remember, Appraisal is his unique skill, and no one else in the world has it. You can say that he’s only able to grow as powerful as he did in the original novel due to his unique skill Appraisal. Argh! Whatever, he didn’t harm you, did he? Are you alright? Did he try anything on you? I’ll be sure to find him and show him his place!”, I said, half panicking and half concerned for my Letty.
“I didn’t know… Is this about the time you told me about the so-called novel, and you being the villainess? It’s been so long that I forgot about it. But you have nothing to worry about Aria, you are anything but a villainess, and he’s anything but a ‘protagonist’. He is just yet another oddball with a savior complex. If he approaches me again, I’ll be sure to bring him to you first”, she said.
“You better, and I’m not worried about myself, I’m worried about you. I barely remember the original novel, but that’s exactly how he approached your character in the original novel. And and…”
“Relax Aria. Stop freaking out over nothing. Forget about the ‘novel’. You are Aria Ernius, the genius of the century and the sole heir of House Ernius. You have done nothing wrong, and you have nothing to worry about. If it means so much to you, I can call my friend and ask her to set up a meeting for all of us”. Saying so, she called someone over Mana-Comm.
“Hello, Miss Bella. I hope I’m not disturbing you”, she said.
“Oh, you Jest! I’m always free for my benefactor. Is there anything I can help you with, Miss Lia?”, the voice from the other side of the call said.
“I had a small favor to ask. That guy named Ethen, can you help me set up a meeting with him? I need to talk to him about some personal matter”, Letty said.
“Oh, you’re talking about Ethan. Sure, for some reason, he was asking a lot of questions about you too. I reprimanded him harshly, just like I said I would. I hope he hasn't caused you any more trouble since then.”, Bella said.
“No, he hasn’t…”, Letty vaguely explained to her about the situation.
“... Thank you, Miss Bella, we’ll meet him at The Enchanted Teapot Inn, three days from now. I’ll see you later”, she said as they hung up the call.
“See, it’s done. Now you have nothing to worry about. We can have a talk with him and clear up any misunderstandings beforehand”, she said.
“Okay, we’ll see what happens later. And I’m really sorry for losing my cool and that I yelled at you”, I said. And Letty just smiled in return.
Maybe it’s not such a big deal after all.
***
A few more days passed, and that brat- Weis came up with a list of people, who he found to be not loyal to my family using his skill.
If he’s really able to discern people’s loyalty, it would be an invaluable asset for House Ernius as a whole. But I’m not looking forward to seeing him spend more time around my Letty. Part of me wants to send him to work under my dad, so that I won’t have to worry about him hogging up my Letty’s time. Hmph, she should only take care of me and no one else…
“Aria, behave!”, Letty sternly said.
“Don’t make up a reason to send him away. He specifically asked to work under us, so he’ll work here itself”, she continued. reminding me that she can sense my desires using her new skill. It’s unfair…
“Pout, he hasn’t even proven his skill yet. Who knows if he’s just lying?” I retorted.
I don’t believe he would even find any disloyal employees in my company. Each and every one of our employees is handpicked by either Sophia, Carolina, Letty, or my dad himself.
“I’ve completed my task, just like I said I would. Here is the list of people who were found to be loyal to other houses in your company. There aren’t that many, but I did my job as I said I would”, Weis said, proudly smiling towards Letty as if waiting to be praised.
That’s it, I’ll have to look into this carefully. “Letty, go and get any employee records and profiles for these people on the list”.
As she did so, I let out a sigh of relief. The people who are on the list were picked by or brought in by Sophia and Carolina. For further assurance, I sent him to re-use his skill on the selected people with Sophia’s or Carolina’s house in mind, and voila - they were all false alarms. The fact that there hadn’t been any major leaks out of the company was enough of a testimony to conclude that we weren’t raising any traitors.
Feeling proud of our company, I was about to skip through the remaining names when we found one name that wasn’t loyal to any of our allies.
“It’s just a hunch, but Weis…”, Letty whispered something in his ears.
“Sure, I’ll be right back”, he said before leaving my lab.
Letty looked at me as if saying, “Just wait until he returns”.
While waiting, I decided to have a long overdue conversation with Letty’s system. I called it up and asked, “What is up with these skills? These are way too convenient… Do you have any hand in this?”
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Of course I do. And don’t talk in such a tone with me, I’m not trying to hide anything. You guys just never ask.
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“I see, then enlighten us”.
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For Letica’s class specific skills, I can choose any suitable skills from a wide range of options that don’t rouse any suspicion from the angels and fit her current strength. I can’t go into the details due to some restrictions, but needless to say, I’m acting in your best interests.
And about that boy, Weis, he’s just being rewarded for repeatedly using his skills on her despite there being a huge gap in their Talent’s grade.
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“So wait, if you are choosing Letty’s skills, why did you give her such an obscene skill as Shared Senses? And you dare say that you are acting in our best interests!”.
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Excuse me, I think you’ve forgotten what Letica’s class is called. It’s Pleasure Slave. What other kinds of skills do you think she’ll gain?
Furthermore, you guys are like the most inefficient master-slave pair ever. To think an S-grade Talent would still be stuck at level 5 after such a long time…
Do you even know that she’s supposed to earn EXP by simply following your orders?
Well, what do I care… Just don’t point fingers at me again. I’m simply doing my job.
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“What!? How come you didn’t tell us before? And it’s not like I’ve never ordered her around. She never gained any EXP when we experimented or I ordered her casually”.
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Not all orders have the same weight. It has to cross a certain amount of hard work on the slave’s part. Just staying away or finishing a pastry doesn’t really cross that line.
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“I see…”, I looked over at Letty, expecting her to look a little sad to know that the only way to gain more EXP is by following my orders. But unexpectedly, she seems all for it.
“Wow, if I can earn EXP that way, I’ll level up in no time! Aria, order me to run until I’m exhausted. I wanna see how much EXP I can earn by doing so. That should work, right, Mr. System?”
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Yes, that will work.
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“NO! Letty, we’ve already established during our experimentation that orders are really scary. As the newer orders override the older ones, there is no telling what might happen in cases of accidents. I’m not taking any risks with this!”
Plus, I hate ordering her around. All the orders in the past years have either been some mundane tasks or jokes. I’ve never ordered her seriously, and I want to keep it that way.
Not to mention, Mom would be really unhappy if I did so.
“Come on! It would be fine, just order anything. I will do it happily”, she insisted.
“This is serious, Letty. I don’t want any objections. I won’t be treating you as a slave”, I firmly said.
*Pouting* “fine…”
“Lady Letica, you were correct! Turns out that guy’s loyalty lies with the Third Prince”, Weis rushed in and said.
“What! A spy? No way! How did he get past our inspection?” I asked.
“We would have to capture him to find that out. I’ll launch a detailed investigation into him to collect any proof of his affiliation with the Third Prince and then confront him. Leave this to me, Aria”, Letty said as she stormed off.
The brat looked at me with a cheeky grin and said, “The words you are looking for are ‘Thank you, you did a great job. Please join our ranks’”.
“Shut up. I’ll deal with you after this mess clears up”.
“Sure sure. I’ll take my leave”, he said, leaving the lab again.
All the company affairs, the meeting with the protagonist and the spy… Letty is dealing with everything. I can’t help but feel a little useless… Is this okay? To dump all the responsibilities on her?
How is she not exhausted?
I think it’s time for that talk. No matter how much she objects, I’ve decided to see this through.
I might be useless, but I’m still her girlfriend. So if she doesn’t look after herself, I’ll have to step in.