"Director, you just said there were hidden circumstances behind this, right?"
The girl named Ana looked at the young man who had relayed the message to her earlier, a hopeful light shining in her pink eyes.
How could a person as righteous as the Director casually accept a girl's confession?
There must be a reason for this.
The girl, who had once confessed and been rejected, believed this with all her heart.
"Can you... tell me... what those hidden circumstances are?"
"Seele is a candidate for the Herrscher of Death."
The young man Ana called Director began to speak, but his words seemed completely unrelated to the question Miss Ana had asked.
"A candidate for the Herrscher of Death?"
Ana, herself a candidate for the Herrscher of Ice, was stunned.
That girl from just now... she's a Herrscher-adaptability holder, just like me?
But what does that have to do with you accepting her display of affection and kissing her?
Miss Ana, her attention clearly not focused on the fact that Seele was the same type of person as her, was utterly bewildered.
"In the 'Artificial Herrscher' Project, the weapons that will inevitably be used are the Key of Erosion, Jizo Mitama, and the Key of Consciousness, Fenghuang Down. You haven't forgotten this, have you?"
The Artificial Herrscher Project: a plan based on the unique properties of the Twelfth Divine Key, designed to control the power of a Herrscher.
This plan, which sounded so grand and noble, had a rather... improper side effect.
As one of the test subjects of this very project, a blush instantly crept up the girl's pretty cheeks the moment she heard it mentioned.
With the assistance of Fenghuang Down, a fully unleashed Jizo Mitama would, while destroying the Herrscher personality, also affect the human personality, amplifying their emotions.
Therefore, anyone who underwent the experiment would either be drawn to the Director or would come to see him as their mortal enemy.
A person regarded as a mortal enemy by a Herrscher would find it very difficult to survive.
The Director was one of the most important people in the world.
If he were to die because his own test subjects held a grudge against him, it would be the biggest joke in human history.
Therefore, all the test subjects, including Ana, had tacitly consented to the Director setting the influence to "admiration."
This was also the biggest reason for Ana's baigei decision. Her favorability toward Li Zihan was already very high to begin with; adding a favorability buff on top of that would make her fall in love with him for certain. Under the influence of this seemingly fated and foregone conclusion, she already saw Li Zihan as something akin to her future husband.
Thus, even before Jizo Mitama was unsheathed, she had already given herself away.
"Just like you, she is someone who, in the future, will very likely fall in love with me."
The young man's expression was very calm.
Someone who, like me, will fall in love with the Director in the future?!
Ana, who never expected the Director to bring this up, was stunned. Her expression became somewhat strained.
The very thing she had been trying not to think about had just happened.
She was far from the only test subject participating in the Artificial Herrscher Project.
Other girls who participated in this experiment, whose fates would almost certainly be tied to Li Zihan's, had finally appeared.
And...
Some of them seemed to have known the Director even longer than she had.
The girl—a "heaven-sent" type who lacked a "main heroine" buff, who had almost had her health bar completely depleted by Dark Seele the Heroine—looked crestfallen.
Director, did you reject me before because you were waiting for an answer from that girl named Seele?
"I think it's a very despicable thing to use the power of a Divine Key to make a girl fall in love with me," the young man sighed. If Kiana hadn't scolded him for recklessly using Fenghuang Down before, he'd probably still be using it as his basic attack.
"Honestly, sometimes I wonder if things would be better if I used it to amplify hatred instead of admiration."
"But, the 'Artificial Herrscher' Project is only the first part of the plan to defeat the Honkai. If I were to die in an accident, many other plans would become very difficult to implement."
"I must live on. But I also don't want to just accept a girl's baseless affection."
"So, Director, you—"
The girl, vaguely sensing where this was going, widened her pink eyes.
"I want to try and see if I can make those girls genuinely fall in love with me before the experiment."
The young man who had previously rejected Ana gave a small smile. It was the same faint smile as always, but it now carried an indefinable, indescribable flavor.
"And then, conduct the experiment. And then, try to take responsibility for them."
"Director, you—"
Ana, who never imagined the Director would suddenly say such a thing, was at a loss for words.
Ana seemed to understand now what the Director had meant before, with that slightly self-deprecating comment.
"Of course, I'm not a complete and utter scumbag, but I am despicable in many ways."
So, was this what he meant by "despicable"?
The girl, herself a member of the "Artificial Herrscher" Project, looked down at her own hands, her expression somewhat dazed.
"It seems your good opinion of me has completely vanished."
The young man, noticing Ana's hesitation, kept his expression completely placid.
"That's understandable."
"After all, discovering that the idol in your heart, your perfect lover, is actually a scumbag is a very hard thing to accept, isn't it?"
"If you want to slap me, feel free to do so."
"It's only reasonable for a girl whose feelings have been deceived to slap the one who deceived them."
"Of course, even if you do that, I won't stop my very scummy-looking plan of taking responsibility."
Having said all this, the young man fell silent, as if waiting for the girl's slap.
"Even if you hate me, I will still try to make you fall in love with me before the third experiment."
Should I go up and slap this guy who seems to be trying to two-time... no, many-time?
But, is it really his fault for doing something so utterly scummy?
Is a life where he's forced to be entangled with so many girls because of the "Artificial Herrscher" experiment really what the Director wanted?
The Director's self-deprecating words echoed in Ana's ears, making her heart ache.
A man who should be high above, like a chess master commanding humanity's assault against the Honkai, had been dragged down to earth...
...forced to concern himself with matters of romance, all for the sake of two words: "take responsibility."
Ana's expression grew more and more hesitant, like a country animal lost on a city street, unable to comprehend the scene before it.
She placed a hand over her heart, clutching her left breast, desperate for an answer.
Soon, the answer came.
"Director, you are a scumbag."
A rare, sharp remark came from the soft and cute girl's mouth.
And then—
She walked to the young man's side, stood slightly on her tiptoes, and pressed her lips to his cheek.
"But, I still like you, you scumbag Director."
P.S. Am I writing him as too much of a scumbag?