There was one person who had been noticeably absent from the group… That one person who conveniently vanished as soon as she sensed that shit was about to hit the fan!
She had disappeared right when the chaos began, and only after everything finally settled down… did she decide to make her grand reappearance.
Gulp…
Gulp….
On the balcony, beneath a velvet blanket dotted with millions of glittering stars, stood Aether, clutching a nearly full bottle of alcohol. His eyes, glazed with intoxication, stared vacantly into the infinite darkness above.
He drank the potent liquor as though it were water essential to a tree’s survival.
“Slow down…” A sudden seductive voice broke through the silence, softly whispering from behind him.
Aether didn’t even flinch.
His mind was too clouded, his heart too heavy.
He simply lowered the bottle from his mouth. Without bothering to turn back, he muttered sarcastically, “Well… hic.. l..look who finally decided to join us. Seems someone’s aware of all the chaos they conveniently missed?”
Dora folded her arms gracefully as she slowly materialized behind him, her silhouette becoming clearer beneath the moonless night’s gentle illumination.
She nodded slowly, lips curving slightly upward. “Hmm… not exactly. More like a vague hint I got from Sandra,” Dora admitted softly, her voice laced with partial surprise.
Sandra had warned her a long time ago.. not to let Aether drink heavily, yet she’d never truly understood the depth of his intoxicated chaos—until now.
Seeing him in such a state was unexpectedly unsettling.
“Haha…” Dora chuckled lightly, shaking her head.
“What’s so damn funny?” Aether asked in a hazy, slurred voice as he tilted the bottle again, downing another large gulp.
Dora shrugged, offering a small, sympathetic smile. “Nothing, really… It’s just… honestly, I never imagined you had such incredibly low tolerance for alcohol… I’m genuinely surprised to see it firsthand.”
Aether paused briefly, gripping the bottle tighter. He remained silent, letting her words settle into the foggy depths of his mind.
Dora gazed carefully at Aether’s tense back, her brow knitting gently in concern. He seemed strangely withdrawn, unnaturally quiet tonight… after all the chaos he caused!
“Is it Sandra?” she asked softly, stepping a little closer, her tone cautiously inquisitive. “Are you worried about her?”
Aether’s grip on the bottle tightened even more. He hesitated, his arm freezing in mid-air for a fraction of a second before he brought it up and gulped down yet another heavy swig, as though hoping the alcohol could drown the emotions surging within.
Dora sighed softly, her voice gentle and comforting, “Come on, Aether… You really need to let yourself breathe sometimes. Thinking and worrying constantly about everything is just going to break you down, piece by piece, every single day.”
But again, silence was Aether’s only response. His gaze remained stubbornly fixed upon the distant, twinkling stars, lost in their unreachable glow.
Slowly, Dora stepped closer, carefully choosing her words. “Look… Even after my academy was completely destroyed, I knew I couldn’t spend every waking moment obsessing over what I’d lost… Sure, it’s natural to think about it, to feel hurt. But if you drown yourself in thoughts of it constantly… you’ll never escape from the pain,” she murmured gently, her voice soothing and full of quiet understanding.
Standing beside him now, she followed his blank gaze up into the starlit sky. For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
The heavy silence was almost tangible until finally, Aether broke it with a slurred whisper, thick with raw emotion and alcohol-fueled bitterness.
“You know…” he muttered slowly, raising the bottle to his lips one last time, draining the final drop. He swayed slightly on his feet, gripping the railing for support, looking at the dark void sky as he went on.
“My entire existence… it’s nothing more than a cruel game to people. If they feel like playing, they toy around with me…. And the moment they’re bored or have gotten what they want… they discard me without a second thought… They never cared if their games hurt someone, whether their pawn actually had feelings.
All they ever worried about was themselves and… their family.
I was nothing… I was nobody.
Even when I had something in my hands, it still felt empty, meaningless…” he muttered as he stared at the dark sky before looking at the bright stars,
“But then… then those precious people came into my life… They knew how worthless I felt, how empty I was, yet they showered me with affection no one else ever gave me… even if it was little at the beginning. They made me realize who I truly was… hic… sho… showed me I was worth loving, worth holding on to… They’d never treat me like those others… they’d never abandon me, they’d always stand by my side… They… loved me…” he said, his voice trailing off softly, his gaze turned to Dora, who stared back, captivated by his rare, genuine vulnerability.
“That’s why, when I realized those stars might fade away… that they’d leave me alone again, swallowed by darkness… I just… I couldn’t handle it… I lost control. Call me pathetic, call me a leech, a fool, a playboy, womanizer, whatever damn label fits… I honestly don’t give a fuck anymore… Because the truth is… losing them terrifies me.
I’m not worried—I’m fucking sick. Sick with dread, knowing I’m utterly powerless to change anything,” he hissed bitterly, suddenly crushing the empty bottle tightly in his fist, shattering it into countless tiny pieces, glass scattering to the floor.
Dora stared blankly at him, speechless. Even amidst his drunken, chaotic despair, she saw clearly through his intoxication.
Aether was still himself beneath all the changes—the same wounded, broken man desperately searching for love and elusive happiness.
She stared at him for almost a minute…
[+8000 AP]
Finally regaining herself, Dora hummed softly and nodded, “Fine… Do whatever you feel you need to… I’ll go for now….. And don’t worry, I’ll look for other ways to figure things out,” she assured quietly.
Aether stared at Dora hazily for a lingering moment, a smile tugging at his lips. Unable to suppress his blunt honesty, he murmured, “You know… despite your strength, sometimes you’re just… useless. Completely and utterly useless,” he admitted drunkenly, letting his true thoughts tumble out unfiltered.
After all, Dora really did feel useless sometimes.
Dora’s lips pressed together tightly. As much as those words stung her pride, she couldn’t argue—deep down, she too felt painfully inadequate.
Especially concerning the mysterious ebon stone… She didn’t have a single damn clue about it, and that fact alone made her feel utterly helpless.
Dora snorted, “Whatever.” She turned to leave when—
Thkk!
Aether suddenly grabbed Dora’s wrist.
Dora halted in her tracks, her head snapping back as her brows furrowed.
“What?” she asked sharply, her tone suspicious. She half-expected him to try and pull one of those drunken games, like others had before. She knew the pattern all too well—get close, pretend to care, and then manipulate.
But—
“Next time… don’t mess with other people’s emotions,” Aether said in a deadly serious tone, his voice lower, tighter—no slur now, just raw intensity. His eyes, even clouded with alcohol, burned with slight anger.
He was talking about Maelona.
About the way Dora had played her like a pawn. Sure, he’d done things like that too—maybe even worse.
But seeing someone else do it, even someone he cared about, rubbed him the wrong way.
It stirred something ugly inside him.
A hypocrite?
Yeah… maybe.
But Aether didn’t give a damn what label anyone slapped on him. This was his world—his jungle.
His rules.
Dora stared at his face for a long moment.
He wasn’t joking.
That seriousness, that fire in his eyes—it made her lips curve into a smirk.
[+8000 AP]
“Oh? Don’t mess with emotions?” she echoed, voice dripping with mockery. “Look who’s talking…”
She took a few slow steps toward him, her eyes gleaming. “You really think you can hide it, huh?”
“I’m not trying to hid—” Aether started, but she cut him off.
“Taking your sweet time to tell the truth is the same as hiding it, Aether. Don’t mess with words,” she said firmly. “You know it… No, we know it.”
Aether locked eyes with her, and for a moment, the haze in his expression faltered. He sighed—soft, quiet—but filled with weight.
Dora’s grin widened.
She stepped even closer—so close their lips were mere inches apart, her breath teasing his skin.
“Aether… don’t forget who I am. I’m Fox Kin, remember?” Her voice lowered, silky and dangerous. “I know how women think… and how men react. I’m not a succubus—I’m something worse. I’m perfect. I can toy with anyone without even lifting a finger.”
As she spoke, her eyes flickered with a vivid pink hue, a sensual shimmer passing through them. A soft, hypnotic pink mist escaped her lips, wrapping around Aether like a spell.
His body reacted instantly. Aether’s cock throbbed hard, bulging visibly against the fabric of his pants. His eyes widened slightly in surprise, his muscles tensing.
He was just about to push her away when—
“Don’t move” she ordered.
“Huh?”
“Losers have to do what the winners say,” she whispered with a sly smirk, glancing up at him from the corner of her eye.
Aether’s lips twitched. “That game’s already over—”
“Nope. I haven’t given you any order yet, have I?” she replied, her voice playful but commanding. “So technically… I still have my say.”
She leaned in closer, her warm breath brushing against his skin as she softly purred, “Don’t. Move.”
Aether clenched his fists at his sides. His face flushed red-hot, and his legs trembled slightly. But he didn’t move.
Dora’s smile turned devilish… She loved that reaction.
“Next time, don’t make a woman wait. You never know what she’s thinking,” she whispered, her voice like silk wrapping around his neck. “And you… might just lose her forever.”
Her hand slid down, rubbing softly against the throbbing bulge in his pants.
Aether’s body shuddered violently. His knees nearly buckled.
And then—he came.
Just like that?
No warning?
No control?
His pants darkened with the wet stain of release.
Pathetic!!
His eyes flew open in pure disbelief. “Wha—?”
Dora giggled, “You’re way too easy~” she teased, flashing a seductive grin. She leaned in, lips brushing close to his ear, and added, “Next time… don’t you dare kiss me unless you’re ready to lose something. You know what I mean.”
She gave his bulge one more light touch.
He flinched… Another warm wave stained his pants like a leaking faucet.
Dora beamed, “Bye~Bye~” she sang, giving him a cheeky wave before vanishing like a phantom, that sly fox grin the last thing he saw.
As soon as she left, Aether gasped, finally realizing he’d been holding his breath. His shoulders slumped, and the tension in his body slowly began to fade.
He looked down at himself, at the wet, sticky mess soaking through his pants, and let out a laugh—part annoyed, part impressed.
“Damn that fox… I’m gonna teach her a lesson one day,” he muttered with a crooked smile, eyes gleaming with mischief and desire.
He turned back toward the stars, letting the silence of the night wash over him.
The world around him was quiet.
Everyone else was asleep—peaceful, safe.
His beloveds… were resting beautifully.
He took one final breath and whispered to the stars, “It’s time I met someone…”
His voice was weak, not from the alcohol anymore, but from knowing what kind of headache was about to find him.
And with that, Aether teleported toward the Naiadae Empire.