Swish
'Finally!'
Thalia stormed out of the mansion, her heels clacking furiously against the marble as both middle fingers shot high into the air, proud and defiant.
The grand doors trembled behind her, as if even they were stunned by her audacity.
"You're both disgusting, perverted bastards!" she yelled, her voice slicing through the silence of the estate grounds as the servants, from the gardens to the maids, looked in that direction.
They saw a woman running through the cobbled path, while the guards at the metal doors glanced over, only to meet with a hand gesture from Cruxius, who signaled them to open the metal gates.
Cruxius remained standing, lounging in the threshold like a man who'd just won a bet with the universe—he knew she would run, and she did.
He wore a smirk that bordered on criminal delight, feeling that at least she didn't have to endure the trauma of what happened last night, thanks to the drugs that allowed him to restart things in a better way, rather than letting her drown in trauma.
"Why let her run away, Master?" Darithi asked, standing beside him, one brow raised—not in judgment, but out of mild curiosity. She found it rather obvious, even for her, that the girl was going to run.
Simply because she seemed to her like a strong young woman who knew that crying would not give her what she wanted.
So technically, even Darithi knew her next step. It was pretty normal that her master would, too.
"To see the fairy flutter her wings," Cruxius replied, as if quoting ancient poetry, with his eyes narrowed, looking down toward the fluttering skirt of Thalia as she sprinted away.
Her skirt caught a sudden gust of wind, flaring like a battle flag in full retreat, revealing thighs that bore redness and dried marks of fluid, making him smirk.
Darithi followed her master's line of sight, and as she did, her eyes narrowed, looking flabbergasted.
"…" Darithi said nothing, though her eyes betrayed a blend of awe and resignation.
"What a soothing sight," Cruxius murmured, smirking as he found it funny how humans change so much after facing life's struggles and challenges.
Right now, he was looking toward a young woman, bright and running away in a floral dress toward the sunlight, completely optimistic even with a family that doesn't care about her.
Simply, this woman's mental strength was evident in how she fought in this world for her child and herself until the end.
People do change; he did, and so did others.
Coming from being an immature playboy, he walked a path that was somewhat unethical but to his liking.
So he could not consider himself mentally as strong as Thalia, who even with what happened last night was clearly, "...cute."
"I cannot say anything about it—huh?" Darithi said flatly, though her expression conveyed plenty. Suddenly, she heard that cute word from her master. She looked at him, only to become completely confused and taken aback after noticing a small smile on his face.
He seemed...different.
"Go fetch her back to the car," Cruxius added, already turning away, clearly satisfied as he inhaled, feeling how the present atmosphere felt lively, unlike the struggles, though fleeting, given he needed to deal with the hero association first and then those royal bastards sitting at the top of hierarchy.
"...I understand", Darithi gave a nod before her body hurled towards the metal gate at an inhumane pace.
To Cruxius, the speed was faster than he could track her direction; just a gust of wind fluttering his hair and she vanished.
Her ability stat was A rank.
----
"Waah, leave me, you tank!" Thalia yelled as she struggled, floating mid-air. Darithi held her effortlessly, her hand clamped around Thalia's fist, carrying her like luggage toward a sleek car that had just pulled up.
Without a word, she hurled Thalia straight into the backseat.
"Ouch! That hurts! I need a doctor…" Thalia groaned as she landed hard, propping herself up and rubbing her scraped knees.
Her eyes immediately darted to Cruxius, even as she started calculating her second escape route.
"We're both heading there anyway," Cruxius said casually, though his right foot throbbed with pain. It was likely fractured, but thanks to his insane pain tolerance, he'd endured it all night—just to weaponize it later against the Hero Association.
He knew how the system worked; they'd back their own no matter what, avoiding any real consequence because of their prestige.
As for the government? They'd stay neutral, stuck in procedure and politics.
Taking sides would mean offending either the Blac Corporation or the Hero Association.
A lose-lose situation.
But not for Cruxius.
No, for him—it was a step toward winning the sympathy of a future S-Rank hero.
A beautiful doctor with a soon-to-be-glowing reputation for miraculous healing.
This injury? Just a prop in his little theater to win sympathy. He was going to steal their golden goose.
Not that he wasn't planning to do it already.
"What? Seriously?" Thalia blinked as he pulled up his pant leg slightly, revealing clotted blood and torn flesh. The sight made her flinch—he really was injured.
"Y-you… does it hurt?" she asked, taking a seat nearby, pretending concern while planning to bolt the moment they reached the doctor.
Especially if Darithi wasn't around.
Cruxius wouldn't be able to chase her with that leg.
All she had to do now was act sympathetic. Win his trust.
Then poof—she'd vanish.
"I'll pay you a salary of 10,000 GC a month. Become my assistant," Cruxius said flatly, tossing the offer aside like spare change while clearly seeing through her intention to run away the moment she got the chance.
'!'
"10—10,000 GC?!" Thalia gasped, utterly stunned.
That kind of money? A luxury apartment's rent for 5 years in any major city.
Suspicious didn't even begin to cover it.
He definitely wanted her in skimpy dresses, parading around for his entertainment, acting like his claimed trophy, which was typically expected of a rich heir like him.
And about what happened to her last night?
Forget justice—the local authorities couldn't even touch a single strand of this devil's hair. Thalia knew this far too well.
In any world, those in the elite class crush the lower classes; rules are only for the masses, not for the elites.
She needed to escape. He was lustful and dangerous.
And now he was trying to buy her loyalty?
She can at least see through him; after claiming her body, he was trying to appear as a gentleman while expecting her to willingly submit whenever he desired her body, using the fake assistant job from which he could always fire her without her even having a word to say.
He convinces her to willingly submit to him, fulfills his ego, and when he becomes bored, which might happen in just a few days, he will throw her out—used and bruised.
'Too damn lustful!' Thalia instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at him before glancing sideways at Darithi, who had silently taken the seat beside her.
"She's beautiful too. Why go after other women at all?" Thalia muttered, trying to make sense of his twisted logic.
To her, Darithi was possibly one of the most striking women she had ever seen.
She expected Cruxius to say something scummy—like one woman just wasn't enough for him. Still, she asked.
Why ruin multiple lives when you had someone like her at your side?
"To be honest… I did go for her first," Cruxius admitted, caught off guard by the question. His eyes flicked toward Darithi, who met his gaze for a fleeting moment before looking away.
'Knew it! A pervert like you can't keep a woman like her around without trying something!' Thalia smirked, already convinced she was dealing with the worst kind of man.
"But… she didn't feel a thing," Cruxius said, his voice flat as he turned to watch the gates disappear behind them.
The car had started moving without them even noticing.
His mind drifted back to the moment it all changed—last night—when the chaos snapped him out of a two-year spiral of sex addiction that had started the moment he turned eighteen and got hit in his ego after being unable to satisfy the woman he once promised to love for eternity—pretty childish now that he thinks about it.
'!'
"Huh? Wh-what…?"