In a Restaurant
“Sigh, he’s late again today,” Raven Noir mumbled, her fingers drumming impatiently on the wooden table.
Her crimson eyes flickered with mild irritation, and she cast a glance at the door. Across from her, Thalia sat with her arms folded, eyes distant as she gazed out the window.
“Maybe he got caught up with work or something…” Thalia muttered, shrugging lightly. Her tone was indifferent, but there was a subtle edge to her words.
Raven shook her head, her impatience clear… It had been two weeks since Aether, a servant, had approached her, claiming to be the one she had long been searching for.
He had even returned the money Lia and he had taken…. But in reality, it was just Aether’s own money.
Seeing the visible anger simmering beneath Thalia’s calm demeanour, Raven sighed deeply, her gaze softening as she tried to reason with her, “I understand you’re angry that I brought someone like him into our plans,” Raven began, her voice gentle but firm, “But believe me when I say this…. he’s the only one who can touch the horns without getting cursed. We’ve tried everything.”
Thalia’s brow furrowed as she let out a long, tired sigh, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Raven,” she said, her expression weary, “I want to believe you, but there’s just no way he’s a descendant of the Origin Emperor… You do know the Dragons hunted down every last one of his descendants, right? And even if… somehow… one managed to escape and survive for thousands upon thousands of years…
do you really think their bloodline would still be pure enough to hold the horns? The very horns that control the entire Empire?”
Raven stayed silent, biting her lip, unable to refute Thalia’s logic….. Her friend’s words stung because they were undeniably true.
Just then, a sudden, cheerful voice,
“Hello!”
Both women flinched in surprise, their heads snapping toward the source. Aether stood there, grinning like a child as he slipped into the seat beside Raven.
He slid in close…. too close…. making her instinctively shift away.
His boldness made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle, and yet…. without a hint of shame, Aether closed the gap between them again.
“You look absolutely stunning tonight, Ms. Raven Noir,” he said with a wink, his voice smooth, almost too confident.
Raven blinked at him, her expression blank as she once again inched away, clearly uncomfortable…. But Aether, either oblivious or simply uncaring, leaned in further until their shoulders nearly touched. Find adventures on empire
Both Raven and Thalia exchanged a glance, their lips twitching in annoyance, but before either could react, Aether…. seemingly unbothered by his own shamelessness—spoke up again, his tone more serious this time, “So,” he began, leaning back ever so slightly, “shall we continue with our plan to kill the Lizard?”
Raven and Thalia’s eyes met, a silent conversation passing between them. Thalia was the first to break the silence, crossing her arms as she shot Aether a knowing smirk, “You say that so easily,” she remarked, her voice laced with amusement. “But that’s because you haven’t seen just how dangerous the ‘Lizard’ really is.”
Aether’s expression didn’t falter as he raised a brow, leaning in toward Thalia this time. His voice dropped to a low, almost teasing whisper, “And you’re only saying that because you haven’t seen just how dangerous I am.”
Thalia’s smirk faded slightly, her frown deepening, but she said nothing, her eyes narrowing as if trying to read him.
‘That didn’t work, I suppose,’ Aether mused to himself, pulling back and slumping lazily in his chair as if he hadn’t just made a bold statement…. His attention drifted back to Raven as she continued to lay out her so-called plan to steal the Dragon Emperor’s Horn.
He half-listened, though part of him found it increasingly hard to take her seriously.
As much as he wanted to gather every detail, he knew their plan was never going to work…. not unless they trusted him completely, and so far, that trust was nowhere to be found.
And his acting was not enough to reach them!
It had been two frustrating weeks, and Aether still hadn’t managed to break through the wall they had built around themselves.
No matter how close he tried to get, no matter how many times he teased or prodded, they remained like statues… cold, immovable, and unreadable.
‘Tsk, two weeks wasted…’ he thought, stifling his growing irritation as he halfheartedly nodded along to Raven’s ramblings.
It wasn’t even as if they were meticulously crafting their plan.
In reality, Aether had been the one pointing out flaw after flaw, forcing them to go back and rework it over and over again. It felt like a never-ending loop of mistakes and corrections.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of listening to their nonsense, Aether cut in, his tone pointed. “Alright, let’s say I manage to get into his room. What about the guards? Are we just going to pretend they won’t notice me? Won’t they kill me on sight?”
Both Thalia and Raven blinked, their faces suddenly thoughtful as if they hadn’t even considered the possibility.
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake! These two are absolutely useless at planning!’ Aether cursed internally, though he kept his expression neutral.
Still, their incompetence had its advantages… He could spend time with them and,
The more they stumbled, the easier it would be for him to edge closer to the truth…. But for now, they weren’t making it easy.
Aether let out a dramatic sigh, leaning back in his chair with a tired expression “Are you two actually planning something, or… are you just using this as an excuse to spend time with me?”
Both Thalia and Raven flinched at his unexpected remark.
“W-What are you talkin–“
Aether gave them both a pitiful look, his lips curling into a faint smirk, “Sure, I know I’m handsome and all, but isn’t it a bit much to drag this whole plan out just to be near me?” His voice dripped with playful sarcasm, his face wearing a falsely sympathetic expression.
Thalia’s brow furrowed as she shot him an incredulous look, while Raven’s lips tightened into a thin line. Both women were visibly irritated by his teasing.
“Do you seriously think that I—and I mean WE—would be interested in you?” Thalia asked, her voice tinged with annoyance as she narrowed her eyes at him.
Aether’s gaze flicked between them, his smirk widening. “Yeah,” he replied confidently.
Crack!
The sound of splintering wood suddenly echoed beneath them.
Aether sighed inwardly, realizing his teasing wasn’t working the way he’d hoped, ‘This is so not going as planned,’ he thought, shaking his head, “I’m just joking,” he said, raising his hands in fake surrender, “There’s no way I’d be interested in a couple of rowdy women like you.”
But to his surprise,
[+100 AP]
[+100 AP]
Aether blinked, his eyes widening in surprise as he glanced at the floating notifications. His gaze shifted to Raven and Thalia, who both had flushed cheeks, their faces red as they mumbled almost simultaneously, “R-Rowdy women? Us?”
‘What the hell?’ Aether’s mind raced. He had been trying every trick to catch their interest, and this was what worked? Insulting them?
‘Are they… masochists?’ he wondered, a shiver running down his spine. But he didn’t dare investigate further.
He knew better than to push too hard—after all, dragons were prideful creatures, and the last thing he wanted was to wound their pride….
He knew that better than anyone!!
Raven cleared her throat, breaking the awkward tension. “A-Anyway,” she began, straightening up. “Since this plan is a failure, we’ll come up with a new one… same time, same place.”
She stood abruptly, pushing Aether aside as she made her way toward the exit.
Thalia followed suit, but not without a parting remark. “And next time, be on time!”
Aether’s lips twitched as he watched them leave, his gaze drifting to their hips. With a smirk, he called out teasingly, “I like cute bears and rabbits~”
Both women froze mid-step, their hands instinctively moving to cover their rears as they turned to glare at him, their expressions a mix of suspicion and embarrassment.
But when they saw Aether staring innocently out the window, his attention focused on a pair of stuffed bear and rabbit toys in the display of a nearby shop, they sighed in relief, dropping their hands before walking out without another word.
Meanwhile, as the door closed behind them,
Aether’s smirk returned, sharper this time, ‘So, they’re still wearing the same, huh?’ he thought with amusement. He let out a long sigh, running a hand through his hair as he bit at his nails, “I swear, I’m working overtime with these two,” he muttered to himself, feeling the ache in his muscles from the relentless training he’d been putting himself through.
Between spending hours in the training hall and constantly running to meet with these two, his body was growing sore. He rubbed his neck, wondering just how much longer he could keep this up.
Suddenly, he remembered his trusty companion…. or rather, his annoying log (Lately).
‘Hey, Log, give me some advice. How do I seduce her? It’s really hard without any information on her,’ Aether thought, his mind tired from the lack of progress.
[If I knew how to seduce her, you wouldn’t be here!]
Aether blinked, not surprised. For the past two weeks, he had gotten used to his “bitchy” log, which only occasionally responded and often with sarcastic remarks.
‘Aren’t you getting more fluent?’ Aether thought with mild amusement, but the log didn’t respond this time.
Sometimes it simply couldn’t be bothered to answer him. ‘Figures,’ Aether grumbled inwardly. He was stuck with this thing, and it was utterly useless.
‘Tsk, whatever!’ he thought, mentally waving it off. His thoughts shifted back to Raven. He needed to know more about her.
That was the key!
‘Maybe I should focus on Thalia instead?’ he wondered, considering his options. Thalia was definitely more talkative than Raven, and maybe that would give him the edge he needed.
But on the other hand,
‘Celestia will tomorrow… she might have collected the details I asked…Hmm… well, let’s wait and see,’ he decided, leaning back in his chair and letting his thoughts drift. He still had time, and patience was a virtue…. at least for now!