"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
Early the next morning, Wise's alarm went off right on time. But Belle, still asleep on top of him, clearly wanted a few more minutes.
"Ugh, turn off the alarm… it's so noisy…" Belle mumbled, half-asleep, burying her face back into his chest.
"I've already turned off the alarm, but could you let go of me first? I have things to do today, and I still need to make breakfast for you," Wise said, gently nudging her.
Still, her hands clung tightly to him, refusing to let go.
Every time Wise tried to move her hands, she immediately found another spot to grab onto him again.
However, this time was a little different. When her hand reached out, she felt something hard pressing against it.
She grabbed it and gave a slight squeeze, making Wise let out a small sound.
Belle, realizing what had just happened, was instantly startled awake. Her face flushed, but she kept her eyes tightly shut, as if trying to pretend she was still asleep.
Wise wasn't doing much better. Honestly, he had wanted to stop the moment he noticed something was wrong, but Belle's hand had been too quick.
In the end, she was still just an eighteen-year-old, plus a few months, girl.
It was normal for her to feel shy, Wise thought, taking a deep breath to calm himself. In this situation, it was better to pretend not to notice and let it pass.
Otherwise, their interactions would probably be awkward for a while. Similar things had happened before, but that had been when they were children[1].
"Cough... I'm going to make breakfast first, Belle. Come downstairs early when you wake up."
Belle, still pretending to be asleep, didn't respond. She simply rolled over and turned her back to Wise. Seeing this, he said nothing more and went downstairs.
After hearing the door close, Belle opened her eyes. Her flushed face still showed a hint of embarrassment as she stared at the spot where Wise had already gone, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Wise, now on the first floor, opened the shop's main door and immediately saw Anby standing outside.
"Anby? Why are you here so early? Didn't we agree on nine o'clock?" As Wise spoke, he glanced at the time and saw it was indeed 6:30am.
"Hmm, I know, but Nicole said that if there's a commission, it's better to come early," she said in her usual deadpan tone.
"I see. By the way, have you had breakfast?"
"Yes, I already—"
Before she could finish, Anby's stomach rumbled, betraying her words.
The situation spoke for itself. Feeling a little embarrassed, she touched her stomach and lowered her head, her cheeks turning slightly red.
"In that case, would you like to come in and eat with us? We haven't had breakfast yet either," Wise said gently.
"Thank you, but Nicole said not to easily accept kindness from others, so no, thank—"
Anby was about to refuse, but at that moment, Wise gently took her hand.
"Nicole is certainly right, but I'm not the 'others' you're talking about, Anby. Tell me, what do you want to eat?"
Looking at Wise holding her hand, Anby felt a strange flutter in her chest. Even without the extra 100 charm points, this moment alone would give her favorability a significant boost.
"A hamburger. Oh, but if that's not possible, anything else is fine," she said.
"Hamburgers for breakfast? Well, I guess that's not impossible." He reasoned that hamburgers were similar to sandwiches in how they could be eaten at any time.
If sandwiches could work for breakfast, there was no reason why hamburgers couldn't.
Coincidentally, hadn't the Emotion Value Shop just added a hamburger recipe because of Anby earlier? He might as well buy it and give it a try.
Although it cost 500 Emotional Value, Wise had just gained 500 more from Anby's favorability increase, so it balanced out perfectly.
After the purchase, his Emotional Value stood at 996, and Anby's favorability had risen to 91.
The system explained that the previous increase had only added one point because any favorability above 90 was treated as special. While it was harder to increase, it was also difficult to decrease.
Once favorability reached 100, it was almost guaranteed that no matter what you asked the other person to do, they would agree.
Seeing this, Wise paused, his thoughts briefly returning to Belle, whose favorability had already reached 100.
'Forget it,' he decided.
It's better to focus on making breakfast first.
He rolled up his sleeves and began preparing the morning meal. Along with Belle's usual favorites, he made four hamburgers with extra care. The system had mentioned that it was Anby's favorite flavor, so of course he had to give it a try.
And the extra one? That was just in case because he knew Anby appetite was quite impressive. Two probably wouldn't be enough.
Meanwhile, Anby, now seated comfortably in the first-floor room, entertained herself by teasing the Bangboo wandering around the shop. Her playful tone and strange sense of humor somehow fit perfectly with the atmosphere.
Little 06 and Little 18 were clearly having the time of their lives with her.
After a while, Belle, pretending she had just woken up, got dressed and came downstairs. When she entered the room on the first floor, she found Anby playing with a Bangboo.
"Anby?"
When she spotted Anby, Belle immediately took out her phone and checked the time. Only after confirming that it was just past seven did she let out a small sigh of relief. She almost thought she had overslept.
Anby noticed her reaction and sighed softly.
"As expected of you two. Even the way you check your phones is the same. Nicole said to leave early if there's a commission, so I came ahead of time."
"I see. In that case, did you already have breakfast?" Belle asked.
Anby shook her head slightly and said, "No. Everyone else was still asleep, so no one made breakfast. Nicole gave me some money and told me to eat out. But the hamburger shop wasn't open yet, so I decided to come here and wait."
Belle nodded at her words. To be honest, she had first thought that Nicole had told Anby to come early just so she could freeload breakfast here and save some money.
Just then, Wise came over with a plate, having finished preparing breakfast.
[1] AYOO!