"Hey, let's go for a walk. We don't have anything to do this afternoon anyway."
"Okay, okay~"
After a long session of intimacy, they both felt restless cooped up in the hotel room, so they headed to a nearby shopping street.
Compared to Riverside Plaza where they'd had lunch, this area wasn't as bustling, but it had several unique shops.
Arden was interested in a newly opened artisan bakery. Their sign advertised specialty products: moderate sweetness, not greasy, infused with digestive enzymes.
They'd eaten a lot of meat at lunch, so something to aid digestion sounded perfect.
Scarlet held his hand, her face glowing with happiness tinged with a hint of shyness.
These emotions, appearing on the stunning face of a literal bombshell, made passersby incredibly envious.
"If I had a girlfriend that hot, I'd trade ten years of my life for her!"
"Dude, please don't. Dating a succubus like that already shortens your lifespan. Shorten it more and you'll just drop dead on the spot."
"True. Sigh, better to stay single. Single means long life!"
"..."
Listening to the passersby's neurotic chatter, Scarlet felt wronged. What's this about shortening lifespans? Am I really that scary?
Clearly, Arden was scarier. Just now in the hotel, simply hugging and kissing him had left Scarlet so breathless and hazy she could barely think straight.
The whole time, it was purely Arden teasing her.
But... she liked being teased by Arden. Hehe!
And being teased in a JW Marriott felt especially amazing.
Arden's hands were large and slightly rough. Being held by his big hand gave her a complete sense of security.
Experiencing the girlfriend perspective for the first time, Scarlet's eyes would light up with surprise every time she glanced at Arden.
"What's wrong? Do I have something on my face?"
"I just realized how tall you are! You're like 6'1", right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"I feel like when I see 6'1" celebrities on TV or Instagram, it's whatever, but standing next to you, you feel like a tower."
"That's normal. There's actually scientific research backing this up. Studies say women's visual systems have a narrower field of view. When looking at distant objects, they tend to underestimate the target's size and overestimate their own height. In other words, girls perceive themselves as taller than they are but see others as shorter."
"There's research like that? Arden, you know so much."
Scarlet listened intently, her face full of admiration.
Arden felt like laughing a little.
Huh. Maybe this was the magic of money. Back in high school, when he'd told this to his female classmates...
They'd gotten furious, accusing Arden of being sexist.
A flurry of punches left him dazed.
Yep—the gap between a loser and a high-value man could be completely compensated by dollar signs.
Oh yeah, thank you, system!
While eating pastries in the shop, Arden reviewed what Imogen had sent him that morning and gave thoughtful feedback.
Scarlet, meanwhile, took the opportunity to text her manager at the dealership asking for time off.
Derek expressed understanding and said if she had future car-buying plans, he hoped Scarlet would sweet-talk Arden and encourage him to keep considering Mercedes-Benz.
[Scarlet]: What sweet-talk? Seriously, we're not even official yet!
[Derek]: Hey, it's only a matter of time. Our Scarlet's got endless charm—your boy's definitely gonna fall for you.
Scarlet put down her phone and asked Arden, "So, are you satisfied with me?"
"Of course. Why else would I bring you to check out the hotel with me?"
"Hehe! I called off work for the afternoon to spend the whole time with you."
"Same here. My afternoon classes don't take attendance, so I can skip freely."
Scarlet grinned mischievously. "You're being bad. It's only been a few days since school started and you're already so good at skipping class. Can you even graduate?"
"It's fine. If I fall behind, I'll just have you tutor me."
Saying that, Arden reached his hand under the table.
Scarlet's body trembled, but she was way more used to it than before.
She whispered flirtatiously, "You really like stockings, huh?"
"I really do."
"No wonder you're always getting handsy."
"Actually, I prefer getting handsy with another spot, but it's not very convenient in public."
"...You're terrible~"
Following Arden's gaze, Scarlet immediately understood what he meant and lowered her head, her cheeks burning.
She felt pretty proud inside, though.
After all, that was her best asset.
She'd developed better than her peers since she was young, and as she grew up, she'd maintained excellent shape and firmness.
[Ding! Detected S-class goddess Scarlet Hayes's favorability toward Arden West has surpassed 80 points. Intimate relationship binding successful!
Reward: One lottery draw!
From now on, spending on Scarlet Hayes and fulfilling her extravagant desires will earn the host 2–10x cashback!]
Oh?
Arden summoned the system interface.
According to the system's favorability scale: 20 points = normal friend, 40 points = important friend, 60 points = dateable, and over 80 points = passionate, memorable love.
As for 90 points? That reached the level of undying devotion.
Arden scanned Scarlet's stats and found her favorability had soared to 85.
Not far from undying devotion, actually.
But they'd only known each other for a few hours.
You could only call it love at first sight. They just clicked.
So Scarlet wasn't the loose woman people assumed she was.
Behind her lively, flirty personality was a willingness to love and hate fiercely.
Once she recognized the person she liked, she'd commit without a second thought.
To be fair, Scarlet's judgment was solid—she'd immediately fallen for Arden, who had the system backing him.
And Arden definitely wouldn't disappoint her.
The artisan pastries were really good. Arden bought extras and told Scarlet to take them back for her roommates.
At this point, Arden didn't know that Scarlet's dorm was the infamous "Goddess Dorm."
Of the four members, he only knew Chloe and Imogen.
After all, Chloe was Tyler's girlfriend, and Evan constantly talked about Imogen.
Scarlet didn't mention it either. She knew her roommates were just as attractive as she was—so forget discussing it, she'd do her best to keep Arden away from them.
Even though they'd just started dating, Scarlet already had a fierce protective instinct!