“Say something…please.”
Scarlet finally spoke, unable to handle the silence between us. Hearing that, I turned to look at her, her face scrunching up as she saw the expression I was wearing—a mix of a broken man and the eyes of darkness.
“When I told you that I had developed a crush on Marlene, it was because, for a moment, she had shown me a life similar to mine, perhaps a comrade in arms…” I said, taking a deep breath, struggling to keep myself in check as I continued.
“When you got angry at me, it broke my heart. It pained me more than anything to hide this part of myself, to not have you included in this life that I have hidden. Yet, a part of me hoped that I could gain the love I dearly rejected. But now…”
When I stopped speaking, Scarlet’s face turned pale. A variety of complex emotions passed through her eyes as she looked on the brink of failure and destruction as I spoke.
“Now, I need a break, Scarlet. I need to take some time for myself. I need to think over some decisions of the past and let go of some delusions of hope…”
“But… But you said you… like me,” Scarlet muttered in despair, her loose words echoing around.
“You said you were gonna introduce me to your family…”
Her words hung in the air as the atmosphere grew stifling, with a raging amount of mana and energy suffocating the place. I didn’t flinch as I took Scarlet’s hand, forcing her to look at me, and spoke.
“I don’t want to let you go, Scarlet, but there are things that I need to do now and things I need to correct. I like you, and I will always do so. I am not breaking up with you; it’s just that some facts have led me to believe that there are things I need to take care of.”
Hearing my words, the trembling in Scarlet’s eyes stopped. Her face morphed into an ice-cold look, but a stunning smile contradicted the coldness in her eyes as she spoke, standing up.
“This does not mean any other woman shall land you. You are my mate, the one I love now and forever. Nobody else is worthy of being with you other than me. I will make sure of that.”
Just as her words faded, she moved forward, and took a sip of my lips, enjoying it as she licked her lips.
“Looks like this will do for now…” she muttered in a crazy voice before disappearing from where she stood, leaving me stranded there with the same look of despair clouding over me. I didn’t let myself break character even for a moment as I continued to sit in silence.
‘Her true character and desires are coming out,’ I pondered as I remembered the last visage of Scarlet as she faded away—those red eyes filled with absolute desire as she licked her lips. A combination of sexy, crazy, and possessiveness—the true traits of Scarlet that should be shown. In the game, this was the character I was used to and the one I had to conquer.
But it seemed that because I won her heart early on, she kept hiding her true nature and behavior, trying to charm me. While that was good, it would only backfire on the plans I have created. For everything to come to a perfect end, I would need all of my possessive women to be even more possessive.
As crazy as that sounds, it’s what I need to happen. Sighing once more, I stood up from where I sat. My face reverted back to its normal calm expression as I walked out of the building, still keeping my disguise on as I made my way to my main building. Upon reaching there, I entered the meeting room and looked at everyone gathered inside.
“Good to see that you are all doing well,” I spoke.
“Of course! I had a nice nap…” Jacob spoke, to which I nodded my head.
“How’s your body?” I asked Alex as I took a seat at the head of the table.
“I am well, much better,” Alex replied in a controlled tone. I took it for granted as I smiled at the rest of them and continued speaking.
“The first thing I want to discuss is starting more recruitment again. I want more forces joining our faction.”
As I said this, I looked at Alex, who nodded his head with a smile and spoke. “It will be a breeze with all this reputation at hand. It will be better than before.”
“Good,” I answered. Then, I turned to look at Sana and Rina.
“The next thing is, I want to start an extensive training program for the combat members of our faction. I want to create more synergy between them.”
“Understood,” both Rina and Sana spoke in response. Seeing that, I focused on Emma.
“How are the cuties coming along?”
“They will be up and on their way before the deadline!” she replied with a cute voice, earning a nod from me. My focus then turned back to Mark as I asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Our family has started to move. They are creating some noise to take us back,” Mark spoke in his trademark emotionless voice, but I could still detect the spark of vengeance in his words. His words even ruined the mood of Emma, who had a sour look on her face at the mention of her ‘family.’
“The Girol family… huh,” I spoke, a sly smile appearing on my face. Looking toward both Mark and Emma, I continued, “Don’t worry, I will give them a trademark Lionheart response.”
“Um…”
“I trust you, my hero!” Both Mark and Emma replied. Finishing with that, I focused on Jacob.
“Make a lot of noise,” I said, which brought a barbarian-like smile to Jacob’s face. His eyes gleamed with fighting fervor as he replied, “I have been waiting to test out my new gifts! So how much noise should I make?”
“Enough to bring out the hidden sharks,” I replied, earning a questioning look from Alex.
“Let’s just say there will be a lot of changes in the ranking of powers in Babylon Academy. Hidden pieces will move soon, and I want all of you to make as much noise as possible.”
Hearing my words, they all nodded their heads, accepting everything at face value. I then asked, “So, how’s the experiment going?” as I turned towards Zora.
“I will be done soon,” she replied.
“Good. Let me know as soon as it’s done,” I said, receiving a nod from her. That led me to Mika and Rika.
“How’s the plate coming along?”
“We are adapting,” Mika said.
“It’s a bit hard,” Rika added. I smiled at their responses and replied, “Take your time and let me know when both of you are ready.”
My response earned me sweet smiles from both of them as I continued to discuss other matters at hand, giving everyone an opportunity to present their duties. The discussion went on for about an hour, after which I left the meeting.
Walking out, I came to a more discreet part of my mansion—a well-lit lake where I found Elda sitting happily at the edges, her legs dangling into the water. She looked like the perfect woman, and my heart warmed up at her innocent smile as I walked up to her and sat beside her, with my legs entering the lake.
She smiled at me before placing her head on my shoulder, and we enjoyed the silence for a moment before she asked, “My date?”
“How about we enjoy this for a moment?” I replied.
“I’d love to,” she said. And so, we both sat there for a while, enjoying the peace.
