Chapter 46

Steelz

~Alex PoV~

A lot had happened these past few days, but time went by swimmingly. Our new family was happy. As each day went by, we bonded with each other, in more ways than one… Their satisfied smiles were enough to quell any troubles I had. Though it was suffocating to spend a majority of my time within the mansion, the company of the girls and the spaciousness of the area was enough to make up for it. But it didn’t seem like all of our problems were resolved yet.

“Seris, you’re looking really stressed these days.” As I pointed out her troubled expression, she responded with an uneasy laugh.

“It’s nothing. You don’t have to be worried about it. I already told you that.” Seris responded like always, but her tone was lacking in confidence.

“Yes, you’ve already told me that hundreds of times, and I want to know the reason for it. You keep making that face whenever you’re around me. Just tell me if anything’s up, okay? I am your brother and… lover after all.”

As soon as Seris heard the word ‘lover’, she couldn’t help but give a cheeky grin at me.

“So you’re finally willing to call me your lover, huh? When are we gonna have a baby then?”

“Guh-”

It was still hard for me to admit that I had become her lover, especially considering I had acted as a brotherly figure all this time. Reluctantly, I called her so, solely hoping she’d drop her guard. Of course, she will not forget about this ‘lover’ thing anytime soon. I bet she’ll flaunt about it to Adrian and Feon too. As for babies, let’s leave the topic for another time.

“Okay, stop trying to divert my attention. Are you going to tell me, or should I stop using my disguise from now on? I bet the maids would like to see it.”

“Dear Alex, you’ll need to try better than that if you want to threaten me. You’re the last person who would want to have your identity exposed around here.” She scoffed at my words, but the dangerous glint in her eyes seemed to saying otherwise.

“Alright, since you’re so insistent about finding out what’s going on, I will tell you about it.”Seris finally caved into my demands, seemed like my threat was effective after all. 

“I wasn’t going to keep you away from the news since it’s involving you. Just promise… you won’t get mad, okay?”

“Alright, I promise.”

She heaved an enormous sigh before finally telling me the story.

“Do you remember how I got that information about you? Well, I had to pull some strings for it and inevitably involve someone in the equation. Now she’s asking me to fulfill my end of the deal.”

“So what was the deal?”

“I am getting to it… someone whom you know from Hales wanted to meet you.”

“Yulena?”

“Mind telling me why is she the first person who comes to your mind? Is it because of how she stole your first live kiss?” Seris said with a threatening smile.

“She’s the only person whom I really talked to and who’s likely to be involved with the church.” I answered defensively, but then I realized something. “Wait, the kiss really happened? What do you mean by ‘live’ kiss?”

“Hmph, so anyway, you are right. Yulena wants to meet you.”

“About the kiss-”

“We need to leave off to Hales within a week. Though I was stalling for time, she’s already been informed that I have gotten together with you and wants me to introduce you to her immediately. But if you want… we could try running away too. It’ll be hard if we bring in Adrian and Feon, but we might be able to escape her surveillance if we run off to another continent.”

So Yulena wanted me to meet her. We’ve had our share of misunderstandings, but what do I think of her? It wouldn’t be a lie to say I disliked her, but I am not sure whether we were really on good terms either.

“Does she… want me?” I asked Seris.

“No, of course not. She just wants to congratulate you for finding me, and she of course won’t try to sexually harass you, forcefully kiss you, strip you naked, drug you, bind you to her bed-”

“Okay! Okay! I get it, it was just rhetorical.”

“Didn’t sound rhetorical to me,” Seris said smugly. I could only give a defeated sigh when Seris was like this.

Before I knew it, she hugged me. Her arms coiled around me as she loosely placed her hands on my back. She placed her head on my shoulder as she sweetly whispered right into my ear.

“Truth to be told, I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to lose you again. If you’re afraid, we could leave behind everything, just the two of us. But I’ll leave the final decision to you.”

I thought for a second before deciding.

“I will go meet her. I’ve run away from my problems for far too long.”

Despite the risks of meeting Yulena, one thing I knew for sure was that she had a deep web of connections. Being in an influential position of power as well as being partnered with the church, she was bound to have access to a lot of information networks. She could potentially provide me with the clue to finally getting rid of this damned curse of mine. Even if she didn’t, I at least needed to follow up on the deal on Seris’ behalf.

“Alright,” she helplessly answered. “I’ll decide on a date within a few days for our departure. I still need to sort some things out with the guild regarding Adrian and Feon. After that, we’ll be off to meet her. For now, I’ll inform the maids to take a leave.”

Seris separated from our embrace. I wanted her touch to linger a bit longer but I couldn’t voice out such embarrassing thoughts. As she turned around to leave, I happened to recall something I had almost forgot.

“Wait Seris, about the kiss- Hey! Where are you going!?”

Her footsteps got hasty before she sprinted off right after the corner. Goddamnit, I bet won’t find her until she’s horny again.