Chapter: 01
It had been a long time since web novels started becoming popular in Korea.
Among them, āromance fantasyā was the ultimate major genre in the female-oriented web novel scene.
One day, when the popularity of romance fantasy was skyrocketing, the Yellow platform came up with a groundbreaking idea.
“What if we made a game targeting romance fantasy fans?”
The platform decided to include the male leads from 30 so-called āmillion-sellerā romance fantasy works in a single game.
“Raise the male leads who made your heart flutterā¦?”
As the phrase suggested, the game allowed players to raise one of the male lead characters and experience various endings.
Of course, being a female-oriented game, romance and marriage endings were also possible.
I, swayed by the advertisement, impulsively bought the game.
“I have to raise Johan!”
Among the 30 male leads, my ultimate favorite, Johan Veloster, was included.
“I will raise Johanās affection to 100 and see the marriage ending with him.”
Before starting, I set up my profile.
The randomly generated name for me was āSiena Willow.ā
“Since Iāve lived with boring black hair in real life, Iāll make my appearance ash brown with golden eyes.”
After pressing the start button, I remembered nothing.
In other wordsā¦ after starting the game, I had truly become Siena Willow inside the game.
I was supposed to play āMale Lead Maker,ā but instead of raising a male lead, I was raised as a countessās daughter.
I, Siena Willow, was born as the youngest daughter of the Willow Count family and had lived in the Carnon Empire for 19 years.
For several years, I had been helping my second older brother with his business.
Amidst all that, Johan Veloster suddenly appeared, and I realized the truth about my past life and this world.
“What the hellā¦ Iāve had amnesia for 19 yearsā¦?”
Could this even be real?
I was so shocked that I couldnāt say a word.
At that moment, Johan spoke.
“Umā¦ is something wrong?”
Only then did I come back to my senses.
“ā¦Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about other work for a moment. I must have been rude to you, Marquis.”
“No, itās fine.”
“ā¦”
“I would like to request work from the Willow Counseling Center. Would that be possible?”
Before me, Johanās blue eyes sparkled like stars.
“Heās reallyā¦ really handsome.”
Those eyes full of brilliance, his features sculpted as if stitched perfectlyā¦
His soft silver hair looked like dandelion seeds, and his broad shoulders resembled our house doors.
And Johanās trademark ādimple at the corner of his mouthā caught my attention.
“Haā¦ I want to fall into that dimple and die.”
After 19 years, meeting the favorite I wanted to raise left me completely unbalanced.
I tried to calm my racing heart and asked Johan a question.
“Marquis, what exactly is this request you mentioned?”
“Wellā¦”
Johan hesitated for a moment.
I saw his earlobes slowly turning pink.
“ā¦Actually, there is a woman Iāve been in love with for a long time. But I never had the courage to approach her until now.”
“ā¦”
“I came to the Willow Counseling Center because I wanted you to create a natural encounter between me and her.”
At that moment, a huge rock seemed to fall onto my chest.
Thunk.
“A woman he has a crush onā¦?”
Honestlyā¦ I had a rough idea from the moment Johan came to me.
After all, this place where I worked was a āromance counseling center.ā
My second older brother, Chase Willow (Baron Aizet), was extremely famous.
No one in the empire didnāt know him.
He was an incredible Casanova.
Honestly, I guessed heād been with at least 300 women so far.
“Sir Chase, please give me one more chance. I canāt live without you.”
“Baron Aizet, why do you keep shaking my heart? I canāt live my daily life thinking about you.”
Women, despite getting hurt by a brother who hardly ever allowed himself to be caught, still followed him.
“They say you can never forget a man like thatā¦”
Indeed, my older brother was a master of love who had charmed hundreds of women.
Anyway, with such exceptional talent in romance, he suddenly announced in front of the family a few years ago:
“Iām thinking of starting a business.”
Naturally, the reaction from the family, including me, was awful.
No matter how you looked at it, Chaseās personality didnāt seem suitable for business.
“ā¦Business? You, who canāt stick to anything for more than three days?”
“Three days? Brother, letās speak properly. When I start a new relationship, I can stick to it for at least a week.”
“Enough, what kind of business are you starting?”
“I can do it well, you canāt.”
And so, he recklessly opened a romance counseling center.
Our first older brother, Soren Willow, was displeased with Chase.
“A romance counseling center? Just look at youā¦”
However, even he soon had to stay silent.
The business became a huge hit.
“If you go to the Willow Counseling Center, you will marry the person you like for sure!”
The hopelessly romantic citizens of this world blindly trusted the Casanova.
After running the business for a while, Chase soon got bored of work, as expected.
And soā¦ he started sending me to work in his place.
“Brother, why am I the one going to the center? Itās already the third day.”
“Youāre busy, but our Siena has nothing to do, right?”
He must have been busy.
“She has at least four appointments with women a dayā¦”
And it was true that I had free time.
With nothing to argue, I became the head of the counseling center in his stead.
“Honestly, I couldnāt refuse because he gave me too much allowance.”
The work at the Willow Counseling Center was simple:
- Romance counseling.
- Writing love letters on behalf of clients.
Surprisingly, I was talented at this work.
The employees Chase had recruited were also competent.
Butā¦ because of Johan, who suddenly visited today, a problem arose that we had never faced before.
His ārequestā was something we had never done.
“ā¦So, Marquis Velosterās request isā¦”
“ā¦”
“You want us to āmanipulateā your romance with the woman you have a crush on?”
Johanās lips curved into a faint line, and the small dimple appeared again.
“Yes.”
Another rock hit my chest.
“One rock from my favorite visiting the center, second rock from asking to connect with the woman he likesā¦”
I had heard of āone hit, two kills,ā but never ātwo hits, one kill.ā
“Johanā¦ when did you even start liking someone?”
I had just met my ultimate favorite today, and already it felt like a thunderbolt.
Rationally, I should have refused Johanās request.
I was already busy with letter writing and backlog counseling, so I shouldnāt take on more work.
Butā¦ who was standing in front of me?
“None other than Johan Veloster.”
How could I ever reject himā¦?
I couldnāt bear to see him leave with a sulky expression.
Finally, I let out a small sigh.
“ā¦First, please fill this out.”
When I handed over the forms, Johanās eyes folded beautifully in a smile.
“Thank you, Director.”
His dimples bloomed again.
I felt frustrated.
“Manipulate romanceā¦ How am I supposed to explain this to the staff?”
6 PM.
I called the four employees who were about to leave for the day.
“Sorry to call you at quitting time, but I have an urgent announcement.”
When I explained Johanās request, a cold silence fell over them.
It was a natural reaction.
“Even I canāt believe it yet. Imagine how you feel.”
The first to break the silence was Heaven Delgado.
“ā¦Marquis Johan Veloster asked us to manipulate his romance?”
“Not love letters, but meetingsā¦ you mean, the situation?”
Isadora Mendoza, sitting beside him, adjusted her glasses and repeated the question.
I silently nodded.
Then Finn Harper frowned.
“How can we do that? It doesnāt make sense.”
Honestly, I thought the same.
We werenāt magicians; how could we manipulate human encounters?
If I could control this game system, maybe it would be possible.
“But unfortunately, Iām just an ordinary citizen in this empire.”
Of course, our center was famous for a 99.9% romance success rate.
Johan must have come here after hearing about it.
But we only helped people who had prior acquaintance, guiding them to marriage.
Also, none of the employees had ever succeeded in real-life romance without words or letters.
I quietly clicked my tongue.
“ā¦But how do I tell them weāve already received the advance payment?”
It was all my fault for losing rationality because my favorite appeared.
Then, suddenly, a voice was heard.
“Manipulate romanceā¦ sounds fun?”
My team and I turned our eyes to the source.
A large shadow leaning against the doorway.
Black hair naturally falling, red eyes with a composed aura, and a flashy face wearing a confident expression.
As soon as our eyes met, my eyes narrowed.
“ā¦Why didnāt you say anything until now?”
His name was Rian de Vitchel.
He spoke bluntly, but ironically, he was the youngest in our center and also the oldest in age.
