Birthday Party Part-4

'Ugh, it's finally over!'

I sighed as I sat on a chair on the open balcony that the party hall was attached to. Everyone was inside so I could take a breather here.

I looked to the hall and pondered on what had happened so far.

After the cake cutting, we went around and greeted and had a polite chat with pretty much every single person there. It was kind of strange how we, the Marquis had to walk to people rather than them coming to greet us. I would have thought the nobles who had lower ranks than us would have come to us, rather than us going to them. But that wasn't the case apparently.

To be fair, everyone in the party were in fact very important people, either belonging to upper nobility or being rich enough to buy their way here.

And the other major headache was the girls. Jesus Christ, I had turned over 60% of them crazy. They were too eager to meet me and pretty much all of them asked me to attend their private tea parties or gave me their names and contacts to get to know each other better in private.

I even saw some lustful gazes, which was kind of shocking. Socking because they didn't seem to hide it from me or from others.

I did gain a fair amount of Affection Points from them though.

And I unlocked Affection/Obedience/Reputation sheets for over a hundred people. I had to ask Iris to stop the notifications because during and after the speech, I was bombarded with dozens upon dozens of them.

But anyway, leaving behind the unimportant stuff, I met the people of importance. Or more specifically, I met two of the Capture Targets. Hazel Longriver and Ember Crestflow.

Both of them were to a certain extent important and quite difficult 'Capture Targets' in the game, and here too their difficulty was not a joke. Though, I had tricks to lure them into my grasp— I mean, to get in their good graces.

Hazel was a business addict who only cared about profits and losses. I could try and make a connection with her if I could procure some of the valuable loots from the dungeons in the future that I knew about and sell it to her. Her family did have a massive business in the Dungeon-based Artifacts. I could probably give her enough profit to make her want to downright marry me. And she would easily and readily do so, since I would have the "traits" she was looking for, namely, Power, Pedigree, and Resourcefulness. And I could of course talk her into thinking I share her business philosophy. But…

But I didn't want such a business-minded relationship. And turning her relationship from 'business-based' to 'emotion-based' was a real chore. One I wouldn't and couldn't take right now. She was not on my priority list.

Secondly, Ember Crestflow. The Duke's daughter acted unemotional all the time, but in reality, was just bad at communication. In the game, she was the type of girl who appeared proper and cold on the outside, but inside she was someone who struggled to properly express her emotions. She enjoyed sweets and stuffed toys, much like my younger sister. She was essentially just an older Alice, but with a stoic façade. It was amusing to see her act all proper and cool around others, including me when I greeted her, when inside she probably just wanted to go home and relax on her soft bed with tons of stuffed toys and eat ice cream sundae.

'It's kind of weird saying this, but…

I can probably make her like me with sweets she's never eaten before.'

And guess who just happened to have a unique shop that can even sell things that this world had never seen?

Yep, that's me.

'But… sigh, I wish I had a normal shop instead of this 'specialized' one.'

[…]

'What? I'm not being ungrateful here or anything. Stop sulking, Iris.'

[I'm not sulking. I was just looking for something you might like.]

'Oh?'

[Here, check this out.]

My shop window opened and I could see a list of items targeting my needs.

'Of fucking course they sell sweets and candies in this store!'

How was this an Eroge store and not a general store with some extra sexual items, I questioned.

And I immediately got my answer from reading the description.

[Item: Exotic Candy Loved by All Irrespective of their Race (ECLAIR)*

Description: An unbelievably sweet and delicious candy that can lure any kid, that can give even monks a gluttonous desire, and that can make any sweet tooth become your slave just to get another taste of it.

Created by a renowned(and notorious) sweets maker who wanted to lure innocent kids to his basement.

However, the recipe was so good that it worked for not just the kids of the maker's race, but for everyone, young or adult, irrespective of their race. He was later killed for trying to overthrow the world government of his home planet by bribing and enslaving everyone through his candy's divine taste.

He died, but the secret recipe somehow remained in the world, known only by a handful who rarely used it since then in fear of getting captured and killed by the world government.

Note: The sale of this item is banned in 345,000,000 Worlds.

Note: Not banned in your world, yet.

…

…

Cost: 3500/Candy]

"…"

'Okay, what the actual fuck?! This isn't an Eroge shop. This is fucking black market! And that bastard! What the hell was wrong with him?'

[Yeah, that one is among the more… questionable items. But it doesn't matter anymore. He's long since dead.]

'And you want me to buy that?'

[Irrespective of what the maker intended it to be, it's a Candy that is incredibly sweet and can be addictive. If you want to Capture Ember's heart and you know the way to it is through her stomach, this is the fastest and most efficient method I can suggest. You don't have to buy it if it weighs on your conscience.]

I paused and considered.

Should I go down the short but somewhat immoral route and entice her by feeding her candy, or should I go the long route where I find another way to win her heart, which will probably be an incredibly long and arduous undertaking?

I pondered.

The short and easy but questionable route, or the long and arduous but moral route.

I pondered some more.

Then I took a deep breath.

'Is it harmful or can brainwash her?'

If it did, this was a no-go. I didn't want that, or I would have bought an aphrodisiac instead. I just didn't want to go that path, unless absolutely necessary. What's the point of doing that? You don't get lovers that way, only slaves.

[No. What it does is give a person an unbelievable feeling of euphoria from its sweet taste. It doesn't brainwash them per se. That's more of hyperbole to show how effective and great the candy is. It's marketing tactics, if you will.]

'So, it's more like drugging them? Making them addicted to candy.'

[Depends on your perspective. Answer me this: If someone offered you a delicious exotic fruit and then tried to ask for a favor, would you call it immoral and illegal? Even though they didn't procure the said fruit illegally?]

'I… guess not.'

[Then answer me this: Is it immoral to use expensive jewelry, delicious food, or other items of value to seduce a girl?]

'I mean, people do it. It's pretty common.'

[Then, is it immoral to use a tasty candy to make a girl interested in you?]

'When you put it like that, it doesn't seem immoral. But that's just twisting words to make it sound less severe than it is, don't you think?'

[Fair point. So, let me say this instead: You can't always get the girl while following morals and ethics. Love is a war and in both cases, anything and everything goes. So, choose yourself, how much you want to fall. Do you want to stick to your conscience and moral high grounds and struggle, or even fail, to seduce some of the girls you have your eyes on, or would you do what it takes to get the girls, of course within reasons and just using mind control or brainwashing? It's your choice, you decide. You want to make a harem, but if you don't want to do whatever it takes, maybe you shouldn't aim for some of those women. Because some of them don't seem like the girls who'll just fall for your looks alone or good personalities. I mean, sure, some girls would like that, but many won't care as much. Furthermore, making a Harem is in itself immoral if we take the morals of your previous world. So, choose. Morals & Ethics or Harem?]

'Of course, Harem. I'm not gonna compromise on that one. Especially when I proclaimed that as one of my life goals.'

[Attaboy. Oh, but that doesn't mean you have to walk the path of pure evil, brainwashing, and mind-controlling all women to become your sex slaves and nothing more. It'll be good if you didn't cross some lines unless absolutely necessary. It's better to have women who love you of their own volition. Though, you can always induce those "feelings" of adoration with various means. That's what everyone does, using various means, some "ethical" and some questionable.]

'Duh. I'm not 'that' degenerate. I'll walk on the grey line, leaning towards the light. I'm a wholesome pervert. Maybe a bit scummy for wanting to have multiple lovers and using these means to make it happen, but I'm not downright disgusting at least.'

[Yes, indeed. That's the right path.]

So I had decided.

'Alright, buy that Candy. I'm gonna earn a girl's heart through her stomach and sweet tooth.'

And so 5 candies of questionable origins were bought and sent to my inventory.

'Though, you certainly were quite persuasive just now.'

[I was. I wanted to make sure you're not stuck in some unnecessary moral dilemma while on your path to finding happiness.]

I stayed silent for a while, thinking about what she said. Iris really did seem to care for my happiness a lot.

'Thank you, Iris. You're the best System I could have ever asked for.'(A/N: A certain channel's intro comes to my mind. Anyone else?)

[You're welcome. I'll do anything to make sure you're happy. Even if it means killing the entire planet.]

'Alright, alright. Hold on, you're going on the dark and scary tangent here.'

Was it just me or did she sound like a Yandere just then?

[Pfft. I'm just kidding. But I do wish you make you happy. I mean it. :) ]

I smiled.

Maybe not a Yandere, but she was more of a Goudere, with reasoning.

'I know. You're my best friend… with some benefits.'

[Of course, bestie!]

As we were confirming our love for each other—more than just some 'System' and its 'User'—a maid came from the gate and informed me.

"Young master, the princess is about to make her appearance."

'Oh, about time.'

"Alright, I'll come right back."

"And your eldest sister, lady Olivia, is coming along with her."

'Oh… cool, I guess?'

It seemed I was finally going to meet my air-headed, overly loving eldest sister, Olivia.

"Hmm. Thank you, you can leave."

I stretched a bit to rid of any weariness and went inside to greet the princess and reunite with the last sibling for the first time for me and after over 2 years for me as Alexander.

'Alright, let's go.'

***