Over the following weeks, Ethan carefully inserted himself into the lives of the five heroines.
Not romantically—not yet. He wasn't trying to steal them from the protagonist. He was trying to become someone they noticed, someone they remembered.
Someone who could survive.
ARIA EVERGREEN - The Saintess
The encounter came naturally.
Ethan had been practicing mana manipulation in the gardens when he noticed a girl crying.
Aria sat alone on a bench, her green hair disheveled, her eyes red. She was clutching a letter.
In the original novel, this scene existed—but the protagonist found her. It was the moment that first connected them.
Today, Lucien was in a strategy meeting with professors. He wouldn't come.
Ethan approached cautiously.
"Are you alright?"
Aria looked up, startled. She quickly wiped her eyes.
"I-I'm fine. Thank you."
She was clearly not fine.
Ethan sat on the bench, leaving respectful distance between them.
"You don't have to tell me," he said. "But sometimes it helps to not be alone."
For a long moment, Aria was silent.
Then: "My village was attacked. Demons. They're saying there were casualties."
Ethan knew this. In the novel, Aria's village was raided by demons—a plot orchestrated by Professor Damien to test new demon beasts. Several villagers died, including Aria's childhood friend.
"I'm sorry," Ethan said, and he meant it.
"The church says I should 'accept the goddess's will,'" Aria continued, her voice bitter. "But how can I accept it when I have the power to heal and I wasn't there? I could have saved them."
"You couldn't have known."
"But I should have sensed it. The goddess speaks to me—why didn't she warn me?"
Ethan considered his words carefully.
"Maybe the goddess doesn't control everything," he said. "Maybe she's limited too. And maybe blaming yourself for something you couldn't prevent is just another way of hurting yourself."
Aria looked at him—really looked at him.
"Who are you?"
"Ethan Blackwood. F-Rank. Nobody important."
"Nobody important," she repeated. "And yet you're the first person who didn't immediately quote scripture at me."
She smiled—a small, fragile thing.
"Thank you, Ethan."
[AFFECTION TRACKER UPDATED]
Aria Evergreen
Previous Status: Unknown (Default: 0)
Current Status: Grateful (20/100)
Note: She values sincerity and struggles with the expectations of her position. Recommend continued genuine interaction.
ELENA STARWEAVER - The Scholar
This one required a different approach.
Elena spent eighteen hours a day in the library. She barely ate, rarely slept, and had no social life to speak of.
Ethan approached her with information.
"The Sage's theorem on mana resonance is incomplete," he said, sitting across from her in the library.
Elena looked up, annoyed at the interruption. "Excuse me?"
"Chapter seven of Advanced Magical Theory. You've been trying to solve the equation for three days. The original theorem had a transcription error when it was copied four hundred years ago. The variable should be inverse."
Elena stared at him.
Then she looked down at her notes.
Then she began calculating furiously.
Ten minutes later, she slammed her hands on the table.
"You're right," she breathed. "You're right. How did you know?"
Ethan shrugged. In truth, Elena herself had discovered this error in the novel—but not until her second year.
"I read a lot," he said.
Elena's eyes sparkled with something approaching hunger.
"What else do you know?"
[AFFECTION TRACKER UPDATED]
Elena Starweaver
Previous Status: Unknown (Default: 0)
Current Status: Intellectually Interested (25/100)
Note: She values knowledge above all else. Sharing information is the fastest way to her heart.
VICTORIA BLACKTHORN - The Fire
Victoria was harder.
She only respected strength, and Ethan didn't have enough.
But he had information about something she cared about.
"Your aunt is dying," he said bluntly when he found her alone in the training grounds.
Victoria's flames exploded around her. "How do you know that?"
"It doesn't matter how. What matters is that I know the cure."
The flames intensified. "If you're lying—"
"Frostfire Lily," Ethan said calmly, even as sweat beaded on his forehead from the heat. "It grows only in the northern reaches of the Demon Realm. Mixed with moonwater and crystallized phoenix tears, it can purge the curse. It's expensive and dangerous to obtain, but it works."
Victoria's flames died slowly.
"Why are you telling me this?" she demanded.
"Because I need allies," Ethan said honestly. "And because no one should have to watch their family die when there's a cure."
[AFFECTION TRACKER UPDATED]
Victoria Blackthorn
Previous Status: Unknown (Default: 0)
Current Status: Wary Trust (18/100)
Note: She is suspicious but desperate for her aunt's sake. Recommend proving information accuracy before requesting anything in return.
LUNA NIGHTSHADE - The Shadow
Luna was the hardest.
She was an assassin. She trusted no one. And she was actively spying on the academy for her father's guild.
Ethan couldn't approach her directly. Instead, he left information where she would find it.
A note in her hidden dead-drop spot: "The professor who teaches alchemy is not what he seems. He reports to demons. Proof will come in forty-three days."
He didn't sign it.
He knew she would investigate.
And when the demon beast attack came—orchestrated by Professor Damien—she would remember who warned her.
[AFFECTION TRACKER UPDATED]
Luna Nightshade
Previous Status: Unknown (Default: 0)
Current Status: Suspicious Curiosity (10/100)
Note: She does not trust easily. Anonymous assistance is the safest approach until she can verify your intentions.
SERAPHINA VON CRYSTALLIS - The Ice
Seraphina continued to watch him.
She didn't approach—that would be beneath her dignity. But Ethan caught her observing him during classes, during meals, during training.
He provided her with small gifts of information.
"The diplomatic envoy from the Eastern Alliance will be assassinated in three weeks," he told her during a chance encounter in the corridors. "Not killed—just injured enough to damage relations between our nations. You might want to warn your father."
She stared at him. "How could you possibly know that?"
"I pay attention."
The assassination attempt happened exactly as Ethan predicted. The princess's warning saved the envoy's life and earned the Crystallis family enormous political capital.
Seraphina found him in the library that night.
"I don't understand you," she said.
"Is that a problem?"
"Yes." She sat across from him, those ice-blue eyes intense. "You're an F-Rank nobody with knowledge that should be impossible. You find hidden rooms. You predict assassination attempts. You speak to me as an equal when others tremble."
"And?"
"And I want to know why."
Ethan met her gaze. "Because I know things, Your Highness. Things that could change the future. And because I refuse to die as a footnote in someone else's story."
[AFFECTION TRACKER UPDATED]
Seraphina von Crystallis
Current Status: Invested Interest (35/100)
Note: She is beginning to see you as a valuable asset and potential ally. Be careful—her interest could become obsession if not handled properly.