Groaning, Molly rubbed at her bulging stomach after having spent the last two hours gorging on food. The result of her effort was well worth it though.
[Skill- Bottomless Stomach LV: 4 → 10]
Max found himself smiling as he took in Molly's satisfied expression, though he did briefly wonder where all the food she ate even went—the girl wasn't even one hundred pounds!
"The first ten levels in a skill can usually be gained rather easily. We should be able to get the ones not involving your curse up in a relatively quick manner."
"Sounds good," Molly replied, eager to get some levels in her skills so she could select her class.
"Molly, there is something I need to talk to you about before we run around trying to level your skills up," he said, his tone serious as he gazed at her warmly with his bright blue eyes.
A bit bewildered by his serious tone, Molly sat up straighter. "What's going on?"
"I have been putting off telling you this, but I am getting married to Agatha Glendale."
Shock and awe filled Molly as she took in Max's words. "You're getting married?"
He gave a light nod to confirm. "Yes, I will be marrying into the family and helping to run the farm with Agatha. I waited to tell you because I wanted to get a few things together."
"What kind of things?"
A wide smile made its way onto Max's face. "I talked with Agatha, and she is onboard with us legally adopting you into the family. On paper, we will be your mother and father, but of course, you will still just be my little sister."
Tears pricked the corners of Molly's eyes as her heart swelled with love. Unable to contain her joy, Molly flung out of the chair and tackled Max in a tight hug.
Max smiled as he returned the hug. "Having a last name will give you more options, and I want people to formally recognize us as family."
Through sobs, Molly bit out, "Thank you, Max, and congratulations on your engagement."
"She is currently out of town on business, but she is excited to meet you," he said, grabbing Molly and placing her on her feet.
Excited at the prospect of having a sister-in-law, Molly's mind began racing with ideas on things she could do with her new sister-in-law in order to get to know her better.
Chuckling as he watched Molly's excitement, Max found himself also excited at the thought of becoming family in a more formal sense. "After our wedding, we will sign the documents which will change your name to Molly Glendale."
The warm feeling in Molly's chest continued to grow as she looked at Max. She had already thought of him as family before, but now it would soon be official, making her happy that every adoption interview she had ever had ended up failing so spectacularly.
"Well, let's get those skills leveled up. Start by appraising me, then you can go looking around the estate."
Nodding, Molly activated identify, which only took a simple thought, causing a system prompt to appear over Max's head:
[Farmer Max: LV. ????]
[Skill- Identify LV: 1 → 2]
"How come there are question marks for your level?" Molly asked, confused.
"I'm at level 134, so a level 1 identify won't be able to see much of my information."
'That makes sense,' Molly thought, wishing she had been more interested in video games in her old life.
Wandering around the house with Max, Molly used identify on several of the workers, only getting back question marks in return, but eventually she managed to get the skill up to level 10.
Next, they decided to work on bargaining, so Max escorted her around and had her sell some apples she conjured to some of the farmers tending the fields.
"Sir, I have tasty apples for sale! Would you like one for four bronze pieces?" she exclaimed to one farmer.
The kind-looking man seemed to think it over for a second. "I don't know, four bronze pieces seems a bit steep. Would you take two?"
The workers, of course, knew what was going on but were happy to help out.
"These apples are well grown in the finest conditions, and I guarantee they are better than any other apple you have ever eaten!" Molly bargained. "The lowest I can go is three bronze pieces," she stated, holding up three fingers.
Smiling, the farmer reached into his pocket and handed her the coins, grabbing the apple from Molly's outstretched hand. He proceeded to take a bite. "Wow, you are right, kid! This is the best apple I have ever had! Where did you get it?"
Smirking as she observed the farmer's amazed expression, she replied, "That would be a trade secret."
[Skill- Bargaining LV: 1 → 10]
Taking a step away from the farmer, Molly stepped on the metal end of a rake, cursing as the wooden part flew up hitting her in the face, causing her poor abused nose to throb in pain.
[Skill- Destruction Magnet LV: 1 → 3]
"Oww," she complained as she gripped her nose, causing both the farmer and Max to burst into laughter.
"I have never seen someone actually do that before," the farmer choked out between laughs.
Also amused, Max teased, "I guess we just need to take a stroll around the house to get that skill of yours leveled."
Giving Max a fierce glare, Molly wanted to retort, but unfortunately, he was right and was proven right after about thirty minutes of walking around.
[Skill- Destruction Magnet LV: 3 → 12]
'Life can be so unfair sometimes,' Molly complained in her mind, unhappy about all the accidents that happened everywhere she went.
"I don't think we are going to be able to get that curse expert skill leveled, so we will just need to focus on getting that appearance-related one up," Max stated as they walked back inside the farm manor.
Molly wasn't surprised that Max figured out that she took the angelic beauty skill. As someone who raised her from the time she was a baby, how was it possible to not know what she was thinking?
They made it back to Max's room where Molly sat in front of Max as he brushed her hair.
[Skill- Angelic Beauty LV: 1 → 3]
"What's your future wife like?" Molly asked as Max brushed her hair.
"Hmmm, she's very responsible and a bit upright, but her heart is usually in the right place," he said while placing the brush down and instead began styling Molly's curly blonde hair into braids.
Molly's nose wiggled a bit at the upright description. "I'm not sure I can handle having an upright mom at this point," she joked, chuckling a bit at the ridiculous fact that her adoptive parents will only be a handful of years older than herself.
Max burst out into laughter as he continued styling her hair. "Well, she's not going to be your mom, more like an overbearing older sister."
The two continued to joke around and tease each other until Max finished Molly's hair. "Turn around, I borrowed some makeup from my mother-in-law."
Complying, Molly turned and allowed Max to apply strange cosmetics to her face. "How are you so good at this?"
As orphans, the two obviously did not have access to basic needs, let alone luxuries like cosmetics, so Molly was beyond curious how Max had managed to get so skilled.
Glancing at his face, Molly was able to see that there was a guilty look over Max's face as if he really did not want to explain how he had become so skilled. "Come on, spill it!" Molly bit out, eager to discover what had Max so embarrassed.
His handsome face seemed to flush a bit before he finally explained, "When I first came to live here, Gertrude, my new mother-in-law, liked to have me come up and brush her hair and help with makeup. It's actually how I met Agatha in the first place."
Molly beamed. "Are you planning to make it a secondary class?"
Max's face seemed to turn even brighter at the question, which was an answer all on its own.
"Ohhhh, you already have it as a class!"
Not responding to her, Max continued his work until he placed the last item down, stood up to retrieve something, before coming back with a mirror.
Glancing at her reflection in the mirror Max presented before her, Molly almost couldn't recognize herself. She had known from an early age in this life that she was pretty, but with a bit of fine-tuning, she really did have the face of an angel with perfectly symmetrical features, clear porcelain skin, and cascading curly blonde hair all framed by warm golden-brown eyes.
[Skill- Angelic Beauty LV: 3 → 10]
Molly's mouth dropped as she continued looking at herself. "What level do you have that second class at?" she asked, mesmerized by her own appearance.
Chuckling at Molly's antics, Max responded, "It didn't take much. You were already beautiful, which is why you've had so many rich people try to adopt you over the years."
Sadly, that statement was true. Had Molly not been cursed, she most definitely would have been adopted as a baby purely on looks alone. Smiling, Molly gave Max a quick hug. "Thank you!"
"It's no problem. I've talked with Gertrude, and they are fine with you staying here until you get an apprenticeship. We should probably head over to the orphanage and grab anything you want tonight though, before Matron Mary throws it away."
Shaking her head in disagreement, Molly replied, "There is nothing there I want."
Not surprised by her answer, Max nodded. "Well, let's get some sleep. We can spend the next couple of days trying to work on your skills before you enter into class selection."
Nodding in agreement, Molly allowed Max to set up an area for her to sleep and changed into some of the clothes he gave to her. The cot on the floor, already being more comfortable than the straw-filled, infested bed at the orphanage, caused Molly to fall into a quick but deep sleep almost immediately after laying down.