I widened my eyes.
‘Warning immunity? I won’t get warnings?’
That meant I could act however I wanted while doing the quest.
Freedom! Just as I was about to cheer inwardly, a maid spoke to me.
“Miss… over there.”
Using a wooden tong, she pointed beyond the bakery’s glass window. When I turned my head and looked outside, my eyes widened.
A familiar servant and a gray-haired boy walking beside him came into view.
It was Izrael.
Servant Jenkins had been assigned an annoying task.
He glanced at the gray-haired boy following behind him. The boy brought by the Marquis, Izrael, looked filthy.
His long hair cast a dull shadow over his face. His clothes were worn and ragged—worse than those of servants.
The Marquis had said he was now taking custody of a distant relative’s child as his ward.
‘And now I have to call that brat “young master”?’
Honestly, it bruised his pride to serve him.
Jenkins had been ordered by the butler to help Izrael buy new clothes.
‘Of all things, why me?’
Come to think of it, he had heard the young lady tried to pour boiling water on the boy.
‘Either way, he’s clearly fallen out of favor with the young lady.’
As he fiddled with the heavy pouch of gold coins the butler had given him, greed crept in.
A thought struck him.
Jenkins led Izrael to the market.
He bought a couple of cheap outfits displayed on a merchant’s stall. They looked decent on the outside, but inside they were already fraying.
“Here. These are your clothes.”
He tossed them roughly. Izrael barely managed to catch them.
The boy looked at him silently.
Even though his messy bangs covered most of his face, Jenkins could feel the gaze pressing into him.
Jenkins cleared his throat and tucked the remaining gold coins into his chest.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
In truth, no one in the Marquis household would take Izrael’s side.
Just as Jenkins turned away, ignoring him—
“…! Miss!”
“Wow. What a coincidence.”
A doll-like girl in a peach-colored dress was standing there, looking at them.
The only daughter of the Felicita family, Shuen Felicita.
I looked back and forth between the servant and Izrael.
He was standing there hugging a pile of clothes. Clearly cheap things bought carelessly at a market stall.
Above my vision, glowing text still lingered.
<<Quest: Dress Izrael in new clothes>>
<<Time remaining: 2 hours 47 minutes 10 seconds>>
“…Ha.”
Now I understood why this sudden quest had appeared.
My eyes met Izrael’s.
His gaze toward me was anything but friendly. And honestly, he had every right.
It hadn’t even been a day since I called him a beggar.
His eyes slowly lowered, then paused.
He was looking at my bandaged finger.
‘Ah. The boiling water incident…’
I quickly hid my injured hand behind my skirt.
Then I smiled gently at the servant.
“What were you doing?”
I was tense, worried another warning sound might ring out.
But nothing happened.
Silence.
So “warning immunity” was real.
The servant rolled his eyes nervously and spoke.
“…I was ordered to buy clothes for him.”
He quickly added, watching my expression.
“It was the butler’s order.”
In other words: don’t blame me.
It was obvious he was scared of upsetting me.
And also clearly uncomfortable treating Izrael like this.
It left a bad taste in my mouth.
I walked past him and stood in front of Izrael.
As I got closer, he flinched and stiffened.
‘Is he scared of me…?’
My chest tightened with guilt.
I suddenly remembered everything Izrael had suffered in the original story.
Boiling water was nothing. He had been slapped just for being looked at, forced to kneel in front of servants, treated worse than livestock.
And yet he had nowhere to go but the Felicita estate.
So he endured it.
Without hesitation, I grabbed the cheap clothes from his arms.
The servant and maid exchanged glances like, “Here we go again…”
They probably thought I would throw them on the ground or stomp on them.
Instead, I handed the clothes to the servant.
“Ah—Miss?”
He looked confused, holding the clothes awkwardly.
I ignored him and grabbed Izrael’s wrist.
His skin was cold and thin.
‘Good grief… he’s all bones.’
I almost sighed out loud.
If the system was going to give me quests, it should’ve included something like “fatten Izrael up” too.
Lost in thoughts of pampering my favorite character, I didn’t notice Izrael’s strange expression.
I pulled him forward.
“Let’s go buy clothes!”
I dragged Izrael to the busiest shopping street and entered the most noticeable clothing shop.
Leaving him standing there, I inspected the racks.
The staff quickly recognized me and began bringing out dresses.
“Miss Shuen, this is our most popular design right now.”
They smiled eagerly, trying to please me.
I shook my head.
“No dresses. I’m here to buy clothes for that boy.”
I pointed at Izrael.
The staff blinked.
“…Pardon?”
I scanned the store. In one corner, I found children’s clothes.
Izrael liked black the most—because blood didn’t show on it easily.
Even in the official illustrations, he wore a black cloak stained with blood.
‘That’s such a waste.’
His original appearance was far too beautiful for only dark colors.
He must have gotten used to dull clothes from childhood.
I decided to choose brighter colors.
I pointed at a pale blue shirt and beige trousers.
“Can I see those?”
No response.
Silence.
I turned around—and froze.
Everyone was staring at me.
The staff, the servant, even the maid.
All of them looked like they had seen a ghost.
‘Ah… I got too carried away with that “warning immunity.”’
It only applied during quests.
After this quest ended, I’d have to behave again.
I might even look like I had a split personality.
Before I could think of a way to recover, Izrael spoke.
“I’m fine.”
“…What?”
“I don’t need such expensive clothes.”
This was unexpected.
I had planned to force clothes onto him using my immunity.
I hadn’t even considered he might refuse.
The difficulty of the quest suddenly spiked.
I quickly thought.
How do I make him wear these clothes?
Finally, I decided.
“No. You need them.”
Izrael frowned.
Before he could respond, I cut in sharply.
“You think I’m doing this for you?”
“…Pardon?”
“If you walk around looking like that, what do you think people will say about the Felicita household?”
I lifted my chin arrogantly.
Then I glared at him with as much disdain as I could muster.
“I will not tolerate anything that disgraces my family.”
I had never acted in my life.
Lying didn’t come naturally to me, and my face usually gave me away.
But this body seemed used to it.
The words came out smoother than expected.
‘Even I think I sound awful.’
The servants were clearly judging me.
Yeah. My first impression was completely ruined.
Just when I thought I might fix my image…
Well, no choice.
I needed to complete the quest first.
I turned back to Izrael.
He was staring at me.
His dark eyes narrowed slightly.
Then, suddenly—
A small laugh escaped him.
“Ha.”
I frowned, wondering if I heard wrong.
Then Izrael smiled faintly and replied politely.
“I understand… Miss.”
