This Novel is not my Novel

"First, uh... sit down. Is the drink we had last time okay?"

"Yeah! I felt bad coming empty-handed, so I brought some tea snacks that should go well with that drink."

To shake off my embarrassment, I tried to change the subject by offering him a beverage.

As if he had been waiting, Reisir pulled a cookie box from his Inventory.

A very elegantly packaged one, at that.

"For your information, I got this from the cafeteria... I guess? Something like that."

"What do you mean by that?"

"When I went to pay, they said it was free for students in the Special Class for Awakened Ones and told me to just take it...? Ah! But I did wait in line properly. I was going to leave and come back if the line was long, but thankfully, the popular items were sold out, so there weren't many students."

For some reason, the protagonist of someone else's novel added a whole lot of extra explanation to something I hadn't even asked about.

His tone was almost as though he were making an excuse.

He seemed to think that if he brought an expensive snack as a gift or didn't line up properly when buying something, I would disapprove and start nagging him.

But if he heard it was free when he was about to pay, doesn't that mean he was planning to buy it even if it was expensive...?

If I were to ask him that, Reisir would surely misunderstand and think I had a profound interest in his financial situation.

So I just said, "I see," with a half-hearted reply and placed an empty plate on the table.

I hadn't given him any instructions, but Reisir tactfully unwrapped the individually packaged cookies and placed them on the plate, making them easy to grab and eat.

Meanwhile, I took the Sujeonggwa out of the Aether Mini Refrigerator and filled the glasses.

I thought about adding dried persimmons like last time, but decided to skip them since Reisir had brought cookies today.

But serving it with nothing at all felt like poor hospitality.

So I served it with pitted, rolled, and thinly sliced jujube shaped like flowers, along with some pine nuts floating on top.

"This is the same drink as last time, but what's in it is different, huh?"

"Since we have a separate snack to go with the drink today, I just added a light garnish."

"This is light? You made flowers out of jujube?! As expected of a young master from a noble family, you even pay attention to these kinds of details when having a drink...?"

The fact that I added jujube and pine nuts to the Sujeonggwa had nothing to do with this body's social status.

But I couldn't reveal that fact, so I simply sat down in my chair without another word.

It seemed Reisir hadn't expected an answer either, as he brought up a new topic.

"By the way, Karvaldr. This table, could it be..."

"If you thought I changed the table to a larger one in preparation for you visiting again, you are mistaken. The table was replaced purely for Yor's sake. Yor does all sorts of things on the table, and the old one looked too small and flimsy. So I bought a new one."

For any readers who might be wondering when I changed the table, let me offer a little intermission TMI.

I sent a letter to this body's family on Tuesday with the desired table dimensions, and it was delivered on Thursday evening, the day before yesterday.

"Uh-huh, I see."

The protagonist of someone else's novel nodded repeatedly, a smug smirk tugging at his lips.

It was obvious he didn't believe a single word I said.

As someone who had no plans whatsoever to let him into my room again, I found this extraordinarily unjust.

Arguing will just get me teased.

So, instead of saying anything more, I cooled my head by sipping the cold Sujeonggwa.

The protagonist of someone else's novel found my reaction amusing and burst out laughing.

Only when I glared at him did he start looking around sheepishly, his eyes darting back and forth, until he saw what he'd just placed on the plate and spoke as if suddenly remembering, "Ah, right, there's this!"

"Hurry up and try this! I asked Heli what tea snack would go well with a drink that's sweet but has a strong spice flavor, and she recommended this 'biscotti.' She said it's nutty and has dried fruit in it, so it would be a perfect match if you dipped it in the drink."

As he said this, Reisir dunked a cookie into his Sujeonggwa and held it out to me.

Surely he wasn't expecting me to take that and eat it?

I was so flabbergasted that I just stared at him with a What do you want me to do with that? look.

Reisir then popped what he was holding into his own mouth and exclaimed, "This is really good!"

It seemed like an effort to diffuse the awkwardness, so I didn't quite trust his claim that it was delicious.

Dipping a Western cookie into Sujeonggwa... I couldn't even begin to imagine what that would taste like.

But when Yor also dipped a biscotti into her Sujeonggwa and tried it, her eyes twinkled and she started meowing, so it seemed it was actually quite good.

Come to think of it, people drink Sujeonggwa with nutty pine nuts or walnuts and sweet dried persimmons. A cookie with nuts and dried fruit might actually be a good combination.

I picked up a piece of biscotti, feeling its hard texture at my fingertips.

Thinking I understood why he said to dip it in the drink, I soaked the biscotti in the Sujeonggwa and took a bite.

It was a taste truly worthy of admiration.

As the hard cookie absorbed the moisture and softened, its nutty flavor came alive.

The unique aroma of the Sujeonggwa seeped into it, creating an exotic sensation.

When I occasionally crunched on a hard nut or chewed a piece of chewy dried fruit, the nuttiness and sweetness were further enhanced, making both the texture and taste interesting.

"How is it? It's good, right? They go well together, right??"

"Well... it's not bad."

"I'm sure it's better than 'not bad,' right?"

"You didn't even pick it yourself. You just got a recommendation, so why are you so arrogant?"

"Because I was the one who asked Heli for the recommendation!"

He looked incredibly proud.

I gave him a look of disbelief before finishing the biscotti in my hand and taking another sip of Sujeonggwa.

The protagonist of someone else's novel couldn't have come to my room just to enjoy a tea party with me.

It seemed about time to get to the main point.

"Enough with the pointless talk. Go on and say what you were about to say during the morning training."

"Now? Hmm... okay."

The other party seemed to hesitate for a moment, as though he wanted to make more small talk.

But he soon nodded and brushed the biscotti crumbs from his fingertips.

Then, he straightened his posture and met my gaze with a serious expression.

Just as I was wondering what kind of incredible thing he was about to say to warrant all this...

"Karvaldr. Do you, by any chance, have a time-deceleration buff skill?"

"......!!"

A truly incredible statement flew from the mouth of the protagonist of someone else's novel.

The surprise was as great as it was unexpected.

For that reason, I couldn't control my physical reaction as my shoulders twitched and my eyes widened.

Reisir interpreted this as an affirmation and moved on to the next question.

"Is that skill the reason you keep getting fevers and nosebleeds?"

"......"

This time, I tried my best to maintain an expressionless face and show no reaction.

And yet, whether he read something on my face or was already convinced and my reaction didn't matter...

The other party nodded as if he understood.

"So that was it."

Seeing him mutter something like that, it seemed that denying it would be completely useless.

Besides, Reisir had the 【Truth-Reading Eye】 skill.

If I lied, not only would it create distrust between us, but it might also make him decide to use that skill to look into my Skill Window.

I know I can't stop the original protagonist from using that skill on me forever... But I want to be the one who decides when that happens, you know?

The one fortunate thing in this situation...

Was that the original protagonist didn't seem to have used the 【Truth-Reading Eye】 on me yet.

If he had, he would have asked if I had a skill that "accelerates thought speed," not one that "slows down the perception of time."

And most importantly...

Pretending you figured it out naturally after secretly prying into my personal information is a breach of faith, isn't it?

Reisir had said he was happy that I trusted him over trivial things.

I had "faith" that he would never do anything that would make me feel betrayed.

And Reisir probably trusts me, too...

After letting out a deep sigh, I readily admitted it.

"Yes, you're right. I have a skill with a 'Thought Acceleration' effect, and if I maintain it for too long, my brain gets overloaded... As for the result, you already know, so I don't need to spell it out, do I?"

"Somehow, I thought it was strange. You're normally fine, but your condition worsens drastically whenever you focus on combat-related things... If it was because of a chronic illness, your great Ducal Family wouldn't have left you alone, but it didn't seem like you were receiving any treatment either."

I was about to ask how he had noticed, but there was no need.

The original protagonist began listing his reasons one by one, as if all his questions had finally been answered.

So I just listened quietly, when—

"It was also a bit strange that your reaction speed surpasses human levels, even though you don't have superhuman physical abilities. But I just assumed it was natural since a cat's reaction speed is far superior to a human's, and moved on. So that's the skill you had, huh?"

—that kind of nonsense was subtly slipped in.

"W-Wait. What did you just...?"

"To summarize, I was saying, 'So your fast reaction speed was thanks to a skill?'"

"......"

I hadn't asked him to summarize because the sentence was too long.

But the previous comment was so absurd that the question had slipped out of my mouth, and I most certainly did not want to hear that remark treating me like a cat again.

So I just kept my mouth shut and glared at the other party...

"You're surely aware that your reaction speed is beyond merely 'amazing.' But the reason you were indifferent to compliments about it is probably because you simply thought it was thanks to the skill, right?"

The original protagonist continued, acting as if he'd never uttered such nonsense, his serious expression back in place.

"That skill is also part of your ability, so I don't know why you act like it's something you just got for free through luck. Besides, utilizing that skill is your pure talent, isn't it?"

This had to be a line meant to trigger an Influence/Inspiration Event.

"You never get tired of this, do you? Always so subtly...!"

"Hmm? What have I been doing so subtly?"

"......"

"Why did you stop? Subtly, what?"

The moment I said the words "trying to influence people," a smug grin would surely spread across Reisir's face.

No, it would be worse than that.

He would probably throw his head back and laugh for a good while, his uvula showing.

Just imagining that reaction made my face flush hot with shame.

"What is it? What? Why are you suddenly embarrassed? Can't you tell me the reason?"

The protagonist of someone else's novel, who kept tossing out question marks, had a face full of amusement rather than confusion.

By then, his eyes had curved into a mischievous grin.

I couldn't help but notice that even if he hadn't perfectly discerned my thoughts, he had succeeded in guessing the general idea.

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