HTPTMOTMM Chapter 10

Dian, unlike someone who would valiantly crush beans on a spoon, was trembling like a pitiful rabbit, unable to swallow what was in his mouth. Moreover, his unfocused eyes directed at me were slightly moist.

I was momentarily confused about what reaction I should show, so I complimented him for now.

"Wow... You're really amazing for eating beans so well."

But somehow it seemed like Dian was forcing himself, so I immediately added:

"But if you don't want to eat them, you can just leave them."

Dian still had the unswallowed beans in his mouth and shook his head back and forth.

"No, I can eat everything just fine. I don't do things like... being picky with food."

It seemed like he thought I had frowned when I saw him picking out the beans earlier. But that was obviously a misunderstanding.

'He keeps watching my reactions while pretending he's not.'

It was as if he was afraid I might dislike him for being picky with food. I'd felt it from the first day—Dian seemed to be secretly anxious about wanting to look good to me.

I watched Dian, who barely managed to swallow the beans and then hurriedly gulped down water, before opening my lips.

"Oh, I see. Well then, since I have my beans here too, perhaps the young master who doesn't do picky eating could be so kind as to eat them for me?"

"What...?!"

At my words, Dian looked at me with a shocked expression as if the sky had split in two. Pretending not to notice, I brazenly continued speaking.

"I'm an adult but I still really hate beans. When I was little, I tried to force myself to eat them and ended up hating them even more."

"Lynn is... an adult but still picky with food?"

"Of course! Adults often have more dislikes than children, you know?"

"Really...?"

Dian hesitated and glanced at me.

As if trying to confirm whether what I said was true, I hazily unfocused my eyes as if recalling old memories.

"You know, when I was little, I suffered so terribly that I'd shed exactly one tear for every single bean—drip, drip—forcing myself to eat them, and I suppose you could call it the unfortunate side effect of all that. If only I hadn't pushed myself so ruthlessly back then, maybe now I'd think they were at least... well, tolerable enough to eat..."

As I muttered regretfully, Dian's eyes wavered. I swept aside both Dian's bowl with only the picked-out beans remaining and my own bowl as I continued speaking.

"So I think if you hate something enough to cry, it's better to just not eat it. It wouldn't be good if you ended up hating mealtime itself, which should be enjoyable."

My plate had not only beans left but also blanched spinach. So what I'd just said wasn't empty words—my picky eating was actually worse than Dian's.

I could feel Dian fidgeting with his fingers in front of me. As if he wanted to say something but couldn't quite, Dian's mouth twitched, and then he asked me in a voice that seemed to shrink inward:

"Lynn, even if I'm... not perfect, you won't hate me, right?"

Why on earth did this 44th patched playthrough add such a setting? Originally, our baby wasn't a perfectionist who got depressed about not being able to eat beans.

But anyway, today too, our baby's cheeks that received sunlight look so white and soft like rice cakes.

Unable to resist the impulse, I poked Dian's plump, chubby cheek with my finger as I answered:

"Of course. I didn't like you because you were a perfect person in the first place."

I liked you because you were cute!

"Besides, there's no such thing as a perfect person in this world anyway."

For some reason, Dian was well-behaved even as I kept poking his cheek. He was looking up at me with cat-like eyes as if asking if it was really true.

Ack, he's so cute today too! This heart assault criminal.

I grabbed Dian's shoulders and spoke more enthusiastically:

"I guarantee you, I'd like you even if you just breathed! So you can rest assured."

Don't underestimate a fan's heart. Even now I want to spam the image save button!

'Damn, cursed system error.'

But because of the system that still wouldn't listen, I had no choice but to let these precious scenes slip away with tears in my eyes.

"Lynn is... the kind of caregiver who gets really attached?"

Then Dian quietly asked me.

Before I could ask what he meant since I couldn't grasp the meaning right away, Dian stood up from his chair.

What happened next nearly made me ascend to heaven.

"Thank you, Lynn."

Suddenly becoming like a puppy-cat, Dian hugged me tightly and lifted his head to smile at me as prettily as an angel.

"I'm really happy that Lynn is my caregiver."

At that moment, I truly wanted to shout "Long live the cursed system error!" from the bottom of my heart.

'It was a good life...!'

Lynn, who had left Dian's room, walked down the corridor humming while looking happy and joyful to anyone who saw her.

Her round face was full of smiles today. With each light step that seemed like she was dancing, her long hair and skirt hem fluttered like flower petals.

"Good morning, Celine! It's a lovely morning!"

"Ah, yes. Good morning, Miss..."

"Good morning to you too, Dorea! It's such a radiant morning today!"

"Yes, Lady Lynn. It's a radiant morning."

As Lynn, who was obviously in a good mood, walked down the corridor with a bright smile, gazes flew from here and there. Everyone was surprised and widened their eyes when Lynn, who had only been in the mansion for three days, greeted them familiarly as if she had already memorized all their names.

Whether Lynn was used to the attention directed at her or was just oblivious to such things, she continued scattering her happy aurora and went down the stairs with light steps as if she had wings, spinning around the spiral staircase.

"Oh my, Tisha! This ribbon is slightly crooked."

"Th-thank you."

"Don't mention it. Today's ribbon color really matches your wonderful evergreen eyes."

"Oh my..."

In that state of peak happiness, Lynn was unknowingly accumulating the staff's favorable impressions bit by bit.

'The caregiver job is the best!'

Lynn praised the 44th playthrough's game system that had been hit by a bug for the first time.

Until now, she had mainly chosen the maid profession thinking it was perfect for close-up fan activities, watching every move of her *ikusei character from the closest position. But now she realized that even being a maid was nothing compared to being a caregiver.

My goodness, our baby kitten hugged me first and smiled brightly! And saying "I'm really happy that Lynn is my caregiver"? I'd never heard anything even similar during the past 43 playthroughs!

'Sob, if this is a new updated version, I absolutely welcome it!'

The logout bug was a serious error, but even that was somewhat tolerable.

Lynn turned the corner of the corridor, fluttering with emotion.

"I-I was wrong. Please forgive me...!"

It was right then that someone's desperate voice, unsuitable for this clear and bright morning, pierced her eardrums.

'Oh.'

Lynn quickly stepped back into the blind spot behind the corner. Even if someone ahead had spotted her, it was such a quick movement that they would have only perceived a slight purple afterimage.

"M-Marianne, ma'am. It absolutely wasn't intentional! Really!"

A familiar name reached her ears. The face Lynn had caught sight of just as she turned the corner wasn't unfamiliar either.

Lynn's eyes sparkled with curiosity. She peeked her head out again and glanced at the corridor that bent to the left.

Sure enough, there was a maid kneeling on the floor, repeatedly reciting words of apology. And standing in front of her, emanating a chilly aura, was a red-haired woman dressed in black as usual.

It was definitely Marianne, the caregiver of Room 1's Lusca.

"I will never make another mistake, so please..."

Smack!

The moment pleading words came out of the kneeling maid's mouth once more, Marianne raised her hand and struck her cheek.

'Ouch, that must hurt.'

The touch was quite harsh, so Lynn unconsciously clicked her tongue. Of course, since it was all just game data anyway, there wouldn't be real pain.

"A mistake?"

As I'd known from the moment I first met her, Room 1's caregiver Marianne seemed to be a bitter-flavored character indeed. Even now, the way she was dealing with the maid was chillingly sharp.

"Because of something like you, my precious child nearly died, and you dare speak of mistakes and ask for forgiveness? Your courage is admirable."

"It wasn't nearly dying..."

"Did I give you the right to make that judgment?"

The maid tried to make some excuse, but Marianne didn't give her the chance.

Since Lynn hadn't seen the situation from the beginning, she couldn't know what had caused them to create such an ominous scene from early morning. She could only guess from the conversation she'd heard that the maid had done something bad to Room 1's Lusca, whom Marianne particularly cherished.

"You deliberately switched the medicine that Lusca must take daily, and where do you get off disgustingly talking about mistakes?"

"Deliberately switched? Absolutely not! As I said, it's true that I mistakenly brought the wrong medicine belonging to the precious young master, but that was entirely a mistake, not intentional! Please believe me!"

Then the maid, who had received sharp criticism from Marianne, hurriedly explained.

'Ah. So Lusca's medicine was the cause.'

Lynn finally grasped the whole story.

She suddenly remembered the medicine bottle belonging to Lusca that she had picked up in the corridor before. Room 1's Lusca had the keyword 'sickly' in his game character setting. So it seemed his caregiver Marianne was also sensitive about that aspect.

'Maybe that's why she immediately threw away the medicine bottle I had touched before?'

She thought that maybe Marianne wasn't just being prickly toward her alone.

"Well then, if you're really innocent and blameless."

As if thinking of giving the maid a chance, Marianne lifted her chin with her hand. Even through the black veil, one could tell that Marianne's blue eyes were glowing coldly like a frozen lake.

The words Marianne whispered to the maid after bending down were equally cold.

"Go into the Devil's Garden right now and endure until tomorrow morning. If you come back alive and in your right mind, I'll forgive you."

As soon as those words fell, the maid gasped. With a terrified face, she hurriedly grabbed onto Marianne's legs.

"N-no! Lady Marianne, that's... anything but that...!"

Translator Note: The term "ikusei" (育成) refers to character-raising/nurturing simulation games where players develop and care for virtual characters, which fits perfectly with Lynn's situation of being in a game where she's literally raising and caring for Dian through multiple playthroughs.