‘Shit, shit, shitttttt!!’
BOOOMMM!!
Vesperine, with her barely-tied twintails flailing behind her, just narrowly escaped being roasted alive. She wasn’t running—she was bolting for her life!
Behind her, an entire group of massive, snarling dragons gave chase, their mouths wide open, flames licking at their fangs as they lunged at her, ready to devour her whole without a single shred of hesitation… all because of one thing.
She lied.
Yes. A fucking lie!
She wasn’t actually pregnant with the Dragon Emperor’s child… or anything even remotely close to that. She just wanted entry into the damn Pyra Empire! That’s all! To see the Dragon Emperor with her own eyes!
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get in. Every route was sealed. Worse—teleportation was restricted. Everything was stacked against her. Her hands were tied tight.
So she had no choice.
She played the only card she had… the most dangerous one. She lied. Just to get inside.
And once she was in—once she saw the Dragon Emperor—she’d play her game her way. Manipulate, seduce, stir the pot… But—
“That fucking Victor isn’t even here?! Are you shitting me right now?!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, mid-sprint, barely dodging another fiery blast, arms flailing as she defended herself while still running for her damn life.
So… why was she doing all this?
Why the sudden chaos? Why the insane risk?
Why Victor, of all people?
Because—
[New Target: A-Error-Victor]
Yes. Her system updated.
Out of nowhere… Victor became her new target.
She didn’t know how or why. It just… happened. While she was messing around with Kaelen, the next—boom—Jack Sparrow got wiped off her list like dust, and Victor took his place.
Just like that.
No explanation.
Not that she cared too much for Jack anyway. That guy was always acting weird around her, like he was allergic to women or something.
But Victor?
Oh no, Victor was a whole different story.
She finally had what she wanted.
All this time, she was worried—truly worried—that her harem was lacking something… lacking someone. The one who would make every other man in the world look like a background extra.
And now? The system blessed her.
She got…
Kai, the Fierce and Fiery Handsome Guy.
Leon, the Tall, Dangerous Dragon Handsome Guy.
Kaelen, the Adorably Fluffy Wolf Handsome Guy.
Finnian, the Calm and Sexy Handsome Saint.
And finally…
Victor—the Most Handsome, Most Mysterious, Most Heart-throbbing man she had ever laid eyes on.
She hadn’t even seen his face. Not once. That damn mask! But gods, the thought of what might be behind it?
It was driving her crazy. She wanted—no—she needed to see it.
To peel it off with her own fingers. Slowly… Intimately.
‘Haha~’ Vesperine grinned like a kid who just stole the whole candy store. A devilish, glowing smirk stretched across her face.
Soon, every woman in the empire would burn with envy… He would be hers. Just like the rest.
Anyway—that was why she was here. She came to leave a little imprint on Victor’s mind. Just a tiny spark of her presence. A flicker of memory. Something that would make him think of her.
But… she couldn’t even meet him.
He was the Emperor, after all.
And the only place she could realistically run into him… was the Academy.
But that plan was fucked too. Kaelen told her the Academy was still undergoing repairs after some big attack. No chance of casually bumping into Victor there.
So she took her next gamble.
Teleport straight to the Empire.
But of course—No Teleportation Allowed.
So her only path… was the hard one.
Through Naiadae Empire, she managed to sneak past the border. It was stupidly risky, but it worked. Even then, she knew—meeting him directly was practically impossible. That’s why she went full send on that lie.
She needed an excuse to stand in front of him… yet,
BOOOM!!
“SHIT!!!”
Another explosion. The ground beneath her shattered, blasting her into the air. She screamed as she soared helplessly, her twintails fluttering like chaotic ribbons in the sky.
“SHIIIIIIITTTT!!!”
She slammed back onto the ground on all fours, panting hard, but alive. The dragons slowed, watching her with disbelief.
That landing was inhuman.
And her speed?
Ridiculous.
Faster than any woman had a right to be.
“Ugh… anyway, where was I…” Vesperine muttered, brushing dirt from her scraped knees as she took off again, this time heading straight toward the borderline.
Just a few more steps and she’d be out of their jurisdiction.
That was the first goal. Survive.
After that…?
She’d deal with Victor.
Thinking about Victor again… Vesperine couldn’t help but frown. His mission tab—the one in her system—had a slight error message that had never shown up before. It wasn’t just a glitch. It was something deeper.
She tried recalibrating her system, even begged the Mother herself for clarity—but nothing worked. No fix. No patch.
That’s when it hit her. Maybe… Victor had a surname. Or worse—something even more secretive buried deep in his life, something hidden even from the system’s knowledge.
After all, he was the only man who could absorb Arcane energy. That alone meant…
He wasn’t just special. He was something else entirely.
She believed the error had something to do with that. And once she figured it out—once she found the name—everything would reveal itself.
But that was a problem for later.
Right now, she had to escape from his dra—
“You run very fast. And landing from that height without using a single drop of Arcane energy… Are you sure you’re even human, lady?”
Vesperine flinched. Her feet came to a slow, reluctant stop, gliding across the dirt as dust trailed behind her. Her eyes widened when she saw him—Drakhairs, standing casually in front of her, arms folded, a smirk playing on his lips.
‘Shit!’
Her forehead immediately glistened with sweat, trickling down like a leaky faucet. “W-Well… I’ll be honest here, okay? I made a little mistake. That’s all! I just wanted to talk to him. Just talk—”
Chhuckkk…
Her voice froze.
Her thoughts shattered.
She blinked—something felt off—wrong.
She looked down.
Her right hand was gone.
Gone.
Just… gone.
A clean slice.
Blood dripped onto the ground, but she barely registered it.
“The next time you utter any words… it will be your head I offer to His Majesty,” Drakhairs warned, his tone laced with venomous danger.
Vesperine gulped loudly. Her throat tightened. She knew she had royally fucked up.
But… the border line. It was right there. So damn close.
There was still a chance.
Her eyes flickered—a glowing pink burst lit them up—and a soft, misty pink vapor began to ooze from her skin, curling through the air like creeping wildfire.
Drakhairs’ nose twitched.
Then… his entire body suddenly tensed. His temperature spiked like he’d been thrown into a furnace.
He gasped, his eyes twitching slightly.
Heat?
No… lust.
“What the…?”
Drakhairs’ expression twisted into horror as realisation hit. He turned his stunned gaze toward Vesperine. “Y-You… you’re from the B—”
Before he could finish—
“Oh? You’re still conscious? Huh… That’s actually impressive,” Vesperine said with an amused and surprised tone, watching him curiously like a scientist observing a strange insect.
Then she snapped her fingers.
Snap.
And instantly, the dragons that had been chasing her just moments ago—turned.
With glazed-over, lust-drowned expressions, they pounced on Drakhairs like a pack in heat, eyes glowing pink, bodies trembling with unnatural hunger.
“YOU FUCKERS—SNAP OUT OF IT!!” Drakhairs roared, furiously trying to defend his manhood from his own comrades, who now saw him as the most fuckable thing in the desert.
“Fu~Fu~” Vesperine winked, blowing him a mocking kiss, and turned on her heel.
Time to run.
Straight for the border.
Meanwhile…
Back in a rundown, abandoned house tucked at the edge of the village, Aether sat on a creaky, ancient wooden chair that groaned under his weight like it might collapse any second.
In front of him, across a dust-laced table, sat Xara, who leaned forward with a wicked grin.
“Now… go on. Tell me your deepest secret.”
Aether blinked at the surroundings. This place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for years. The dust alone could choke a demon.
“You know… I could just—”
Before he could finish, Xara waved a finger.
“Tsk, tsk. When we talk about secrets… it should be in a closed room.”
Aether glanced upward.
There was a giant hole in the ceiling.
He stared blankly. She stared back. Her cheeks turned slightly pink, but she kept her act together.
“Just talk,” she urged quickly.
Aether sighed heavily.
“Well… My name is Aether. And…”
[Sigh. Here we go again.]
