Chapter 280 (2): A Pretty Nice Guy!

Veronica decisively closed the glass door to the balcony and drew the curtains, her voice somewhat panicked. “What do we do? She’s coming to the door.”

“Don’t worry. We have numbers on our side. The pervert knows which side to choose.” Vera reassured their general. They had the advantage, so they didn’t have to panic.

“Ah, I knew you were a traitor!”

“This isn’t the time for pointing fingers. You clearly have something against me. Why don’t you accuse Senior?” Vera huffed. This was a critical moment of life and death, so they absolutely couldn’t lose their composure or fight among themselves, benefiting their greatest enemy.

Veronica grudgingly bought Vera’s nonsense.

Just then, the bathroom door opened. Wayne emerged looking refreshed, his hair slightly damp. He sniffed and said, “It smells good here. Whose perfume is that?”

“Senior’s. If you don’t believe me, just smell her for yourself.”

Vera slapped Kristen on the back. Kristen nodded vehemently. Yes, it was a perfume she had just bought, but unfortunately, the scent didn’t last long, and the fragrance had already faded.

“I see...”

Noting how tense the three of them were facing a great enemy, stuck between a rock and a hard place, Wayne secretly celebrated and messaged Senna telepathically to praise her excellent performance. These girls should work this hard!

He scanned Veronica and Kristen with a suggestive, intimidating gaze. The former raised her fist, forbidding any inappropriate actions, while the latter blushed and lowered her head as a polite rejection. Vera alone kept her head high and puffed out her chest, her hands on her hips, showing incredible bravado.

“Since everyone’s here, why don’t you stay the night? In this atmosphere, let’s...” He drawled, then subverted the expectation. “...sit down and play cards.”

Huh, you’re suggesting playing cards after all that?

x3

Well, card game it is!

x3

The three girls let out a sigh of relief at the same time, and the four of them sat in a circle to restart the card game. Wayne said that a simple card game would be boring and suggested adding punishment and reward, but Veronica shot him down, exposing his ulterior motives.

Two hours later, Vera yawned and swayed with barely open eyes before collapsing and falling asleep. Her collapse had been quite strategic, making sure that she fell into Wayne’s embrace while holding onto one of his arms. She slept like a baby, impossible to wake up no matter how much the others tried.

Such terrible acting!

x2

Such great acting!

Wayne hid a nod of approval. True acting was giving no one the chance to expose it even though everyone knew that it was a performance. Vera had elevated her acting to an open scheme. He would award her Best Actress for the night.

Best Supporting Actress went to Senna, while Veronica and Kristen were the runner-ups.

As for Best Actor, the organizer—Wayne—had already claimed it.

“Well then, it’s getting late. It’s inappropriate for me to stay, so you should rest. I’ll get going.” Wayne maintained a righteous look on his face as he tried and failed to break free of the airtight seal around his arm.

Seeing that he was about to leave, Veronica opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t say it. Her face flushed red with all the words she couldn’t get out.

They definitely couldn’t let him leave. That hungry wolf was waiting outside and drooling, her eyes glowing green. But they couldn’t let Wayne stay, either. What if the bastard turned off the lights when they didn’t realize it?

When Veronica showed her useless side, only good at bullying Vera behind closed doors and completely unreliable at critical moments, Kristen stood up decisively.

“Wayne, let me get your jacket.”

As expected of you, as gentle as ever!

x3

Veronica glared at her white moonlight. After all the buildup, that was what she said? Kristen lowered her head guiltily. She couldn’t speak her mind, either.

Wayne had broken free of Vera’s restraint and was putting on the jacket Kristen handed him. While sleeping, Vera kicked out a leg and hit Veronica.

Plan B!

Unconvinced, Veronica gritted her teeth and delivered a hand chop to his head while he had his back to her.

“Ow, I’m dizzy!”

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Wayne acted as if he had lost his head and vision; his now ‘uncontrolled’ body flailed around, stumbled to the bed, and just so happened to collapse on top of Kristen.

(눈‸눈)

It actually worked. Veronica suggested that he write that down in his diary so that she could reread it.

She could tell that Wayne had no intention of leaving tonight. He had chosen them instead of the old hag and didn’t raise his price to demand an orgy. He graciously chose to pass out.

A pretty nice guy, he was!

Veronica hid her displeasure. They had managed to keep him here, but didn’t Vera understand Wayne a little too well? And why did he have to fall on Senior of all places? And why would Senior get knocked out from having a man land on her? When did she become so delicate?

Fuming, Veronica noticed that even while asleep, Vera was misbehaving, inching toward Wayne bit by bit.

O—... O2... O—... O2...

Once she reached her target, Vera completed her performance by murmuring about snuggling Senior, but then she held onto Wayne’s arms and buried her head in his chest, achieving a real snuggle.

Veronica stared incredulously at the three people pretending to be asleep. She had reason to suspect that she, the only one awake, was the biggest fool.

“Hmph!”

“You’re all going to pretend to be asleep? Fine. Then don’t wake up!”

She strode up to lift Trash Jr. and moved him to the adjacent guest bedroom, not giving him a chance to defile her white moonlight or be defiled by Vera. Then she held onto his arm and closed her eyes.

Five minutes later, Wayne sleepwalked and carried Veronica back to the master bedroom.

After several back and forths, Veronica had had enough. She kicked Trash Jr. to the floor.

***

The next morning came. Wayne went downstairs to the living room while supporting his lower back, mumbling, “I’m milked dry,” “can’t get it up again,” and “usually the wood stands up every morning.” A bystander would’ve thought that he had succeeded last night.

Although his attempt had failed, he saw a good beginning. Senna’s strategic significance skyrocketed in his mind, pointing him to the way forward like a savior.

“All hail Senna, she is the real angel!”

Wayne had woken up long ago. He actually didn’t need sleep at all. But to preserve the three girls’ dignity, he waited until they had all retreated before waking up.

The kitchen was particularly lively at this moment. The three girls huddled together to make breakfast. Ignoring head chef Vera’s death-courting taunts and the beating she got, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

Wayne peeked in. He really wanted to hold them from behind and declared affectionately that they were all his wings[1], but he couldn’t go that far yet. If he made too big a step, he would end up flying away. This was the most he could push.

Take it slow. The progress bar was moving!

***

July eighteenth, night.

Iberia, Balear Islands.

By the sea, the fine soft sand stretched like a golden carpet all the way to the edge of the water. Wind played a gentle tune with the green leaves. Under the brilliant stars, the soft laps of the waves sang in a chorus, completing the beautiful nocturne.

The Balear Islands, with their mild climate, were perfect for vacation. None of the Lando family members had the presence of mind to appreciate it like a tourist, though. Silvia, especially, felt her chest tighten when Megan transformed into a black dragon, and Auston transformed into the Darkness Knight, flying off into the distance as a dragon and rider pair.

Megan didn’t resist. When Auston leapt onto her back, she only struggled a little before settling down. It was hard to say whether the moment of resistance was real or an act.

It was a protective love. It was understandable.

Silvia told herself that Megan was pure, and Auston had changed his way. The two of them had spent sixteen years being inseparable without crossing the line. She shouldn’t doubt their loyalty to her, whether she looked at the matter rationally or emotionally.

The more ludicrous part was yet to come. Her master, Senna, gracefully undressed herself and turned into a green dragon right in front of Wayne. Wayne hopped onto her back with an ease that suggested this was far from the first time.

A great dragon’s relationship with their knight was more than a simple partnership. To gain a great dragon’s recognition, the rider had to reach a level of intimacy with the dragon that was at least similar to a pair of lovers, if not a married couple. Senna’s excuse was that she was too eager to grow stronger, but Silvia didn’t buy that.

Then, when Wayne beckoned them over, Veronica and Silvia hopped onto the dragon’s back, too, riding on Silvia’s master.

It was absurd!

Silvia became even more certain that Senna was allowing her and Veronica to ride her purely because of Wayne, and their relationship was more than met the eye.

The great dragon spread her wings and took off, soaring and flying toward the southern sea.

Hearing the sound of teeth gnashing, Silvia turned to pat her daughter on the head and said quietly, “Tell me everything that happened after you went to headquarters. When did those two meet? When did the old woman’s attitude toward him change drastically? What happened in between?”

You finally believe me now?

Too late!

Veronica gave her mother an aggrieved look. She had talked about her master being cold and her son being uninterested in women—when was the foolish woman going to become as mature as her daughter?

Veronica huffed, recounting what had happened at the Church of Nature’s headquarters. The two put their blonde heads together, analyzing the situation.

After a long while without getting results, they started over and concluded it was love at first sight. There was no other explanation.

“Hold on tight. I’m speeding up...”

The great dragon lifted her head. Destination, Frozen Land!!

1. A meme from the anime, Macross Frontier, where the protagonist, unable to choose between two love interests, said that both of them were his wings. That became a common expression to refer to infidelity. ☜