Chapter 14: My Favorability Rating!

Chapter 14: My Favorability Rating!

The woman’s face flushed a deep, violent purple. She opened her mouth to argue, but after looking at Sierra’s flawless figure and model-like posture, an overwhelming wave of insecurity crushed her. Snorting in embarrassment, she grabbed her partner’s arm and hurried away.

“Sis! That was incredible!” I whispered, giving her a secret thumbs-up.

Sierra handed me the shopping bag, a satisfied smile playing on her lips. “Of course. If someone tries to bully my little brother, did you really think I’d just let it slide?”

I chuckled. She was right—if I had started an argument or pulled a fist, it would have looked terrible, whereas her single sentence completely vaporized the woman's ego.

After browsing a few more shops, we turned a corner near the central fountain—and I froze dead in my tracks.

Standing near a display kiosk was a girl in a chic white coat, holding a small shopping bag.

“Chloe? You... you're shopping here too?” I stuttered, my heart instantly leaping into my throat.

Perhaps it was because of the system parameters, but seeing Chloe Prescott outside of school always made my nerve endings tingle.

“Oh, Zach! What a coincidence,” Chloe replied calmly, offering a polite, radiant smile that seemed to brighten the entire floor.

[System Notification: Chloe Prescott’s Favorability toward Host has increased to 52% (Casual Friend). Host has successfully integrated 52% of Chloe’s active skill set.]

The system interface chimed in my mind.

I was thrilled! Just running into her at the mall had bumped her favorability up by two percent!

However, what happened next spiraled completely out of my control.

“Zach, look at these two!” Sierra called out cheerfully, jogging back from a high-end boutique display with two matching outerwear pieces in her hands—one for me, and one for herself.

The nightmare part? They were blatantly designed matching couple outfits!

My jaw dropped in sheer horror. Sis! What kind of catastrophic misunderstanding are you setting up here?!

Sierra stopped in her tracks, realizing I wasn't alone, and looked across at Chloe. When the two girls met eyes, the surrounding atmosphere seemed to drop ten degrees. Two top-tier beauties staring each other down in the middle of a shopping mall was a scene straight out of a high-stakes drama.

“Who is she?” Sierra asked curiously, looking between us.

“I’m just his classmate,” Chloe said, her smile remaining perfectly serene, though her voice turned noticeably cooler. “I won't interrupt you two.”

[System Notification: Chloe Prescott’s Favorability toward Host has decreased to 30% (Ordinary Classmate). Host has lost 22% of Chloe’s abilities.]

The instant the notification sounded, an overwhelming physical sensation of weakness crashed over my body. The sharp kinetic reflexes of my Aurelian Defensive Kata evaporated, my heightened cognitive processing dulled, and my fingers felt clumsy as my piano mastery vanished!

My favorability rating! I screamed internally. If it drops into negative numbers, my base intelligence is going to get penalized!

I couldn't let this fatal misunderstanding stand!

Think, Zach, think!

A sudden spark lit up in my brain.

Stepping forward, I naturally draped an arm around Sierra’s shoulder and gave Chloe a bright, completely innocent grin.

“Let me introduce you properly! This is my sister! She’s always pampering me like crazy!”

Chloe blinked, her cool posture instantly softening into surprise. “Your... sister?”

Sierra caught on immediately, flashing a warm, sisterly smile. “That's right!!”

I seized the opportunity without missing a single beat. “What great timing! My sister and I were just about to head home to cook lunch. Why don't you join us?”

To be honest, my heart was practically in my throat when I blurted out the invitation to Chloe.

What if she shot me down on the spot? Would her favorability toward me plummet all over again? And what if Sierra decided not to play along?

Sierra shot me a sharp glare from the side, her eyes screaming, Who said I was going cook lunch with you?

Fortunately, she was my cousin in every way that mattered. She wasn't about to expose my desperate bluff in front of Chloe. Instead, a bright, welcoming smile broke across her face as she turned to Chloe. "Yeah, we were just about to head over to the market for some groceries. If you don't mind, why don't you come over to our place for lunch?"

Chloe hesitated for a moment, clearly caught off guard, but before she could formulate an answer, Sierra stepped forward and affectionately linked arms with her.

"Hehe, I've heard so much about you from my little brother," Sierra said casually as they started walking. "You're one of the top scholars at Aurelia Academy, right?"

"Oh, not really..." Chloe replied, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. She glanced at Sierra's uniform. "I noticed you're wearing Bellevue High's emblem. You must be incredibly popular at your school too."

"You're being way too modest! You're gorgeous—honestly, like a model. I bet the guys chasing after you line up around the block!"

"Hehe, you're exaggerating, Sis."

Just like that, Sierra and Chloe hit it off almost instantly. The two of them walked side by side, chatting and laughing like long-lost friends, completely forgetting that I was even following behind them.

By the time we finished at the supermarket, I was the one lugging three heavy bags of groceries while those two strolled ahead, lost in their own world. Still, when I glanced at my system interface, my spirits soared.

[System notification: Chloe's favorability toward Master has recovered to 40%.]

All that heavy lifting was worth every second!

However, getting home with the groceries presented a whole new logistical nightmare. Two breathtaking girls and a massive pile of bags—my beat-up motor scooter was definitely not built for a luxury escort.

Besides, I knew Chloe came from an exceptionally wealthy, influential family. If she saw me rolling up on a rusty, sputtering scooter, would she look down on me? Would her favorability take another dive?

As it turned out, I had worked myself up over nothing.