Chapter 84: Brains Before Brawns
Vivienne nodded shakily, her hand clutching at the front of her dress over her large, heavy breasts as she tried to force her hammering heart to slow down. "I-I understand it was a mistake... It... It’s okay."
She took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to regain her composure amidst the lingering terror.
Watching her struggle, Fredrinn maintained a calm, handsome smile on the surface, but internally, his mind was already moving toward a permanent solution.
’Lust, create a quest for Rose,’ Fredrinn ordered silently in his mind. ’Something easy, and make sure the reward significantly boosts her intelligence. We can’t afford to let her make stupid, violent mistakes like this again.’
A familiar, translucent prompt materialized in his private vision.
[ requires 100 LP to generate the specified quest. ]
’Do it,’ Fredrinn agreed instantly. A hundred LP was a small price to pay when weighed against the absolute necessity of giving his demon partner basic common sense.
Besides, he could easily recoup that investment after a couple of nights together anyway.
[ congratulates the host. The quest has been successfully generated. ]
At that exact moment, a shimmering holographic screen popped up directly before Rose’s eyes—the familiar interface of the "Best Wife System," as she recalled it.
It was the same mystical tool that had completely restored her depleted stamina after she successfully got her hubby to confess his love to her.
And now, it had returned.
[ Greetings, Rosaline. ]
[ You have received a new quest: Brains Before Brawns. ]
[ Requirement: The host is committing foolish, unrefined mistakes, unlike human society. Host must prove she is vastly superior to ordinary human women.
Feed your husband something that he claims to taste better than Vivienne’s cooking. ]
[ Reward: Significant increase in Intelligence. Drastic enhancement of emotional comprehension, logical reasoning, and social awareness. ]
’Feed... better?’ Rose lowered her eyes, looking down at the pristine plate of food sitting untouched before her.
She hadn’t eaten a single bite yet. She had intentionally waited for him to eat first, as a good wife should, only to watch him shed tears after taking a bite.
That single observation had immediately triggered her fierce protectiveness, driving her to eliminate the woman responsible for the dish.
Reading the quest details, Rose felt a slight twinge of confusion. From what she gathered from their earlier conversation, the food was apparently so incredible that Fredrinn had cried out of sheer happiness.
’Emotional humans... so weak and foolish. When will hubby’s other side awaken...’ Rose sighed internally, though she quickly brushed the thought aside. It didn’t matter how emotional he was; whatever he did, she loved him unconditionally.
Refocusing on the glowing text, her crimson eyes narrowed at the specific wording: ’claims to taste better.’
A subtle light flickered in her mind. It didn’t actually need to be culinary perfection—it just needed Fredrinn to say it was better!
If that was the only hurdle, wasn’t this quest an absolute walk in the park?
She didn’t like to brag, but from the fragmented memories of the woman she had devoured first, Rose already knew a universal truth about human males: most of them were spineless, docile, and easily manipulated by a pretty face.
They would readily agree to almost anything a woman said just to keep the peace and avoid a fight.
Rose had no intention of abusing that pathetic human trait to bully her husband, but she figured a harmless little exception was perfectly acceptable here.
A bright, joyful expression washed over her face. She clapped her pale hands together, producing a sharp crack that made half the room jump, before looking down at the thoroughly traumatized teacher.
"Rose is sorry!" she announced cheerfully. "Let’s get back to eating, okay? Rose promises to protect you from now on as an apology for almost killing you!!"
Ash, still standing protectively in front of Vivienne with a scowl, snapped his head around toward Rose.
"Who the hell even wants your pro—"
The words died instantly in his throat. The moment his eyes met hers, he found himself staring directly into a pair of cold, murderous crimson pupils, framed by dark, curling demonic horns glinting wickedly under the fluorescent lights.
Despite his new Awakening powers and his loud bravado, Ash was still just an eighteen-year-old high school kid who had never faced true, unbridled malice.
The sheer pressure radiating off her made his breath hitch.
"Yes?" Rose tilted her head innocently, blinking her large eyes as she stared at the bleached-haired kid.
She could feel the faint threads of mana humming through his veins, but instead of intimidating her, it only made her mouth water slightly with the urge to devour him.
Naturally, she suppressed the impulse—she was on her best behavior right now.
"N-Nothing," Ash managed to choke out, swallowing hard. Decisively abandoning his protest, he pulled out a chair for Vivienne and quickly sat down right beside her, refusing to leave her side.
The teenage girl who had originally been sitting next to Vivienne didn’t complain about losing her seat at all. In fact, she scrambled away eagerly; the further she was from the terrifying demon woman, the safer she felt.
Vivienne looked around the room, taking in the heavy, suffocating atmosphere that hung over the entire cafeteria. She let out a long, weary sigh, looking back across the table at Fredrinn, who was standing with one arm wrapped securely around Rose’s waist to keep her grounded.
"Uhm... Thank you for the offer, Rose. I’ll... take you up on that," Vivienne forced a polite, strained smile, doing her best to play along before quietly settling into her seat directly across from Fredrinn.
Fredrinn smiled back reassuringly, sitting back into his chair. He had no idea what specific quest Lust had generated for Rose, but he could only hope she would complete it quickly so she could finally gain the intelligence boost she so desperately needed.
The rest of the group slowly sat back down or remained standing nearby, but the mood in the room had taken a severe nosedive. Every survivor was stiff, sitting on edge, watching Rose’s every movement out of the corner of their eyes.
Everyone was terrified—except for Rose, of course.
She felt as calm, happy, and unbothered as ever.
With a radiant smile blooming on her face, she picked up a warm, cheesy slice of pizza from her plate, held it up with both hands, and leaned across the table, hovering it right in front of Fredrinn’s lips.
"Hubby~ open your mouth~" she cooed softly.