First Meeting With Kaya

As Rain left the dining hall, he felt a mix of emotions swirling inside him. Guilt weighed heavily on his chest, knowing that he was shutting out his parents, who only wanted to help. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to open up to them, not about Kaya, not about anything.

He walked through the halls of the mansion, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridors. The silence only served to amplify his thoughts, and he found himself replaying his recent conversation with his parents in his mind.

Lost in his thoughts, Rain almost didn't see the woman approaching him until she was right in front of him. Startled, he looked up, his eyes meeting hers.

It was Kaya.

Kaya had an air of grace and elegance around her.

Her tall and slender figure exuded confidence and poise, and her "dark blue-colored hair" was long enough to reach her waist.

Her "almond-shaped eyes were a bright shade of hazel" and held a mischievous glint that hinted at a playful nature.

Despite her striking appearance, Kaya often kept to herself and came across as reserved and aloof. But those who knew her well understood that beneath her cool exterior lay a "kind" and "compassionate" heart.

She was the second heroine of the game, who was known for management and politics.

She helped the protagonist quite a bit in the novel. She is very beautiful. Any man would be mesmerized after seeing her. However, Rain was different.

'The girl who is my sister and I cared for in my life, but she just deceived and backstabbed me.'

It was quite painful for Rain.

'She is one of my death flags. I should just stay away from her.' 

As Kaya approached him, Rain felt a mixture of emotions bubbling inside him. Her presence was a reminder of the betrayal he had experienced, the pain of being deceived by someone he had cared for deeply.

"Good morning, Rain," Kaya said, her voice gentle, but there was a coldness in her eyes that didn't escape Rain's notice.

"Good morning, Sister," Rain replied, forcing a smile. Inside, he was seething with pain and helplessness. He couldn't understand how she could betray him so callously, how she could turn against him without a second thought.

In the game, Rain had cared for Kaya just as much as he cared for Emma. He had hoped that they could all live peacefully together, but Kaya's betrayal shattered those dreams. Even at the last breath, he thought they will have some regrets.

However, they just made their love story with the Protagonist.

As Kaya spoke, Rain's mind raced with conflicting thoughts. He wanted to confront her, to demand an explanation for her actions. But he also knew that doing so would only cause more pain and turmoil.

Despite the turmoil inside him, Rain knew he had to maintain his facade. He didn't want to make anyone suspicious by changing his attitude, so he continued to pretend, masking his true feelings behind a mask of indifference. 

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Kaya excused herself and left. Rain watched her go, his heart heavy with unresolved emotions.

'She didn't even apologize,' Rain thought bitterly. 'Does she really hate me that much?'

As he pondered his next move, Rain felt a sense of resignation wash over him. He knew that confronting Kaya would only reopen old wounds. Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that he needed closure, that he needed to understand why she had done what she did.

'However, it doesn't look like there is any room for talk.'

Rain's mood was already getting worse just from thinking about this. 

But he had something he wanted to check.

'Kaya is dumbass, she is the greatest idiot.' After thinking this, Rain turned his face to look at Kaya's face.

"Let's see her reaction," Rain muttered to himself. He wanted to test whether Kaya could hear his inner thoughts, a concept he had read about in novels but dismissed as fiction.

Rain watched Kaya walking, her steps slow and measured. He observed her closely, noting the lack of any change in her body language or expression. Her face was calm and serene, and there was no indication that she had heard him.

As he continued to watch, Rain concluded that Kaya was entirely unaware of his presence. He noted the way her gaze remained fixed ahead, not once flickering in his direction. It was as if he was invisible to her, a mere ghost in her world.

In his previous life, as a game designer and programmer, Rain had read quite a number of novels. In some, there was a setting of eavesdropping, where heroines could hear the villain's inner voice. He did not like this idea one bit, as it would complicate matters unnecessarily.

When they learn about the plot, they may start siding with the villain instead of the protagonist. 

Rain did not like this one bit. He just wanted to check if such a scenario existed here. 

'I thought if some heroines could hear my inner voice, it would become troublesome. But it seems like that only happens in those ridiculous novels. There's no way these foolish women can hear me,' Rain muttered to himself.

He wanted to avoid that setting. After all, it would be quite annoying if heroines can hear his voice and start pestering him. It would be truly troublesome.

'I can finally make my plan, without any worry.' After checking his doubts, he sighed in relief.

Without wasting any more time on trivial matters, Rain strode towards his room.

Mark also followed behind him, but Rain dismissed him as soon as he entered the room.

As Rain decided, he started to make some quick checks in his room.

He wanted to reorganize his room and find some things that may be useful for him in his current situation.

═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═

After some time, Rain finished inspecting every nook and corner of the room.

Upon checking his room - he found some artifacts, potions, skill books, manuals, gifts given by Emma & Kaya, and some other belongings.

Rain gathered some useful things aside and started counting them.

From counting, he came to know that he was able to gather "4 advanced low-tier" and "1 advanced mid-tier artifact". He also got around [500 gold coins] and some manuals about Swordsmanship & Marksmanship.

These things were from Rain's past training.

However, now his rank has dropped, it will be quite useful for him to restore his rank.

'About 500 gold coins, this is quite a lot of money, huh.' Looking at the pouch of gold coins, Rain remembered something.

In the game, Rain was saving this money to give Emma an engagement ring. It may sound childish, but he wanted to give her something with his own money.

These 500 gold coins were all - Rain's earnings from hunting and other things.

'But now who cares about it? I am not going to give her a ring or something like that now.' Rain scoffed.

He felt it would be a waste of money to do something like that.

'I would rather buy some artifacts and skills with that money.' Although Rain's mood become worse, he still tried to think positively.

While organizing things in his room, Rain remembered he can also ask for family support funds.

In the past, out of pride, he didn't ask for any money from his family.

Each child in the family received a monthly allowance of approximately 50 gold coins for training funds, but he didn't collect his funds for five years.

Rain felt the urge to beat his past self.

He realized that he had been too proud to ask for help, even in his previous life. How much easier it would have been if he had friends and family to rely on.

A soft chuckle escaped from his mouth as he remembered his past life.

Although Rain could have received funds from his family, he never used them because he thought it would be disadvantageous for Kaya.

However, things were different now. Kaya could still become the family head, whether he wanted to or not.

Rain shrugged his shoulders and sighed, realizing that it was none of his business.

He guessed he had accumulated more than a thousand gold coins.

'I always wanted to do some pay-to-win,' Rain thought with a small smirk.

"Looks like the plan is going to be quite smooth." The thought of finally being able to achieve his goals was exhilarating.