Recruiting (1)

I sat up and rubbed my eyes as if I had just woken from a lengthy slumber. I looked down and noticed that I had been placed in my bed. I proceeded to look around and noticed a blue-haired maid in the corner sitting on a chair. She looked like she was reading a book. Taking a closer glance, it was the romance-fantasy novel, "Crystal Rainbow".

The maid looked up from her book. She was wearing reading glasses, but I could see the stress in her eyes. She had dark rings around her eyes, which made it appear as if she didn't sleep. She had excellent bodily proportions aside from her small chest. Her maid outfit flawlessly highlighted her curvaceous figure.

"You know, I have loved this book since I was a child. The protagonist; tired of her life giving to others, finally decides to live for herself."

"She experiences new tastes and discovers feelings that she never even thought of. I was always envious."

The maid shut the book and stood up elegantly. She brushed her maid uniform and walked over to my bedside.

"It seems you have finally awoken, sir."

"Yes." I nodded.

A sudden rush of pain ran to my head which put my palm to my forehead. It felt as if I had been completely drained of energy.

"Are you alright?"

The maid put her hand on my back and began to chant something. When she was finished, I felt as if a cool wave of refreshment had washed over my body. Within seconds, my headache had completely disappeared. I felt relieved that the pain in my head had left, so I turned to the maid and thanked her.

"It's not a problem, sir." She continued speaking, "You suddenly collapsed during your training with Ev-Lord Maxon."

She had a pained look on her face as if she recalled something unpleasant.

Ahh, that's right. As my senses finally return to me, I notice although she had aged quite a bit from the vision. The gorgeous sky-blue hair, the slim yet curvy figure, the cold eyes that pierced straight through my heart, this is the same Liara from Everett's past.

"We tried to tell that guy to tone down your training. The king and queen have made a decision to change your schedule," She said, "From now on, you'll be training after your classes."

Liara had a concerned expression, something that I couldn't imagine her having after the vision. But I suppose this problem is my fault.

Eye of the Reader (level 1)- The ability to see half the backstory of a character once you know sufficient information about them.

What an interesting new ability of mine.

Utilizing my Eye of the Reader ability has a few drawbacks. One is that I am unable to stay conscious during my usage. This may change if I level it up more, so I'm hopeful for that. My second drawback, possibly worse than the first, is that I require sufficient information on the target.

It would be difficult to use this power on a random person. However, if it was a prominent character in the novel, I could use it.

With my newfound knowledge of Everett and Liara, I could finally work toward protecting Stella. I'll complete this task by recruiting both of them.

Everett is a powerful first-class magician and Liara is one of the strongest A-rank swordswomen in the kingdom. Those two together could probably take out a group of 20 second-class magicians easily. I doubt the enemy would have a team that large, so the two of them wouldn't be necessary. However, I don't believe in overkill.

The only question left is how to get them both together on the night of the attack. But this can be solved with some simple planning and preparation.

"You had everyone quite worried, you've been unconscious for about eight hours. Lady Stella personally came to check up on you."

"I see", I nodded, "I do apologize, it seems that my actions have caused quite a commotion."

"No, sir. You have no need to apologize, this would be the fault of the instructor."

Liara had a distasteful expression when she spoke about Everett. Although I haven't seen their full backstory, I could tell something terrible must have happened between them. I wanted to ask so badly. I'm so damned curious.

Peeking into Everett's backstory has shown me that my favorite novel might not have been that good. It left out far too much and didn't develop characters nearly enough. The Liara shown in front of me is a clear example of unseen character development. The fact of the matter is that the novel that I spent so much time on- the one that I stuck with since the beginning- never truly finished.

"Umm, Miss Liara."

"Hmm? Yes sir?"

"If you don't mind me asking, but you speak as if you've known Sir Everett for a long time."

Liara looked up at me. She had a wistful look in her eyes for a brief moment. That moment was almost instantly overtaken by sadness. I saw her gorgeous, sky-blue eyes begin to water up. It seems that I made her remember something awful. While I felt horrible, I needed this information to help everyone. Unfortunately, Liara would have to bear with my manipulation for a bit.unbeknownst

I made sure to utilize my unbearably adorable face to the fullest extent. I put on a surprised expression and forced out a couple tears. My giant red eyes glistening both normally and with tears would be impossible for any human or demon to resist.

"I'm sorry Miss. if you don't want to answer, you don't have to."

The combination of my appearance and remorse for the question is such a devastating attack that she will be forced to appease my sadness by answering it.

"No, it's not like that. If you really want to know, I don't mind telling you."

I nodded vigorously when she said that. As expected, I'm just too irresistible.

"Fine", she sighed, "A while ago, we were in the same adventurer party for 13 years."

Bro, wtf. How old is Liara again? If she started adventuring at around seventeen, that would put her in her mid-thirties. Considering that, she looks fantastic for her age. Everett is the only one who has aged poorly among the two.

"We were in a party together with another person, Mason Turner. We were all good friends, no, we were like a family…"

She began speaking in a softer tone while reminiscing. She stared at the ground as she was talking. Her short blue bangs somehow managed to cover her eyes, "Within time, as we spent more time together, Everett and I became more than friends."

"We loved each other and we're planning on finishing adventuring to marry after one last quest to retrieve a stolen geas."

I began to hear the faint sound of water hitting skin. Liara had begun gripping her dress as she looked down. It was becoming more and more apparent that Liara was having a hard time opening up about the subject.

My heart hurt while hearing her story. It gave me great anguish to open a wound of hers like this. I wished there was another way to go about this, but, unfortunately, there was no other way.

"Mason", she finally managed to gather her thoughts and continue speaking, "He loved the idea, and was excited for our happiness."

"Coincidentally, he had been given an opportunity to join the Royal Military as a sergeant. After this final quest, we would all be able to go and start new lives."

"However, there was information left out of the quest details. We ended up walking straight into the den of an Elder Dragon."

Liara had been gripping her dress even harder at this point. Tears continued to stream off of her cheeks and onto the floor. Her voice had become more of a whimper as she struggled to voice the rest of the story.

"At first, he had the dragon outmatched. That was until it used its final attack to escape. It shot a powerful fire blast that vaporized the entire cave. Everett couldn't put up a barrier strong enough to stop the dragon's attack and Mason stepped in to block."

"The dragon escaped and Mason was dead. Everett blamed himself and turned to alcohol." At this point in the story, Liara's face was streaked with tears. Her hands, once gripping her skirt, were now trying their hardest to wipe away the waterfall flowing from her lakey eyes.

"I did my best to support him! I tried to cheer him up with all my heart!" She whined, thankfully, my room was soundproof, otherwise this would look awkward. This was an unusual look for the always-composed Liara.

She had finally managed to calm herself down enough to finish speaking, "I gave it my all for him, but in the end, he turned to another woman… so I left."

Liara finally managed to finish her sob story. She completely emptied her heart to me and I now had enough of a picture of the situation to begin putting the pieces in place. Unfortunately, this meant manipulating Liara's feelings a bit more.

I hope you can forgive me for this in the future. I apologized to her in my mind and stretched out my arms for a hug. I wrapped my arms around the head of the weeping Liara and placed my cheek on her hair.

"It's okay, Miss Liara, don't cry." I started caressing her silky blue hair, "I know Mr. Everett didn't mean to hurt you. He definitely still loves you."

"Young master?" She halfheartedly reacted to my hug, "With all due respect, I don't think yo-"

I grabbed both of her cheeks with my tiny toddler hands and came face to face with her. I started deep into the gloomy lakes that are Liara's eyes. I made the most serious expression a four-year-old could make and began to speak.

"Believe me, Miss Liara! I just know he still wuvs you, you just have to give him another chance."

Liara gazed back at me, eyes wide with shock. She let out a soft chuckle before relaxing once more, "Seriously, are you really even a toddler?"

I have decided my role in the plan to save Stella. I will play cupid between Liara and Everett in hopes of rekindling an old flame. Once I get their flame to reignite, I will get the two of them in the same garden as Stella that night. Together, they will somehow find a way to save her. I played matchmaker a lot back in my previous life, so it should be fine.

For my first big project, within the next two weeks, get two former party members to fall for each other. Then have them save my godmother, and finally, work on the physical capabilities of this young body. The combination of these three activities will all help towards the happy ending I desire for everyone.