Once the meeting was concluded, Kara was left alone with Ralyks—considering how they would be working together from that moment on.

The Dark Adventurer transported both of them away to a location unknown to anyone else, most likely to kickstart their investigation.

The two had somewhat exchanged brief pleasantries during the entire meeting, but now that it was over, it was all business.

… Or so the Royal Council members thought.

*********

"You did a good job playing along, Kara. You have nice acting skills."

Rey was currently opposite Kara, standing right outside the Safehouse where she and the other key players were occupying before the promised day.

She smiled, probably blushing a little, as she curtsied and bowed her head slightly.

"I appreciate your compliments, Sir Ralyks."

Rey felt very weird having a really pretty girl like Kara address him in such a way, but he had come too far to break character now.

He simply nodded nonchalantly and shrugged without any sort of energy attached to it.

"I guess you can go in now. Rebal and Asher should be waiting inside."

"Would you like to come in? We could prepare something for you and show some hospitality." Kara swiftly added, showing even more emotion and energy than Rey remembered.

It almost felt like she was over enthusiastic to please him.

'Did Rebal and Asher fill her head with stories about me? That's probably what happened.' Rey sighed internally.

"There's no need. I have other matters to take care of."

This was a lie.

Rey had already taken care of everything he needed to. He already had the coordinates to the Merchant City, and he was able to get there the previous night. He had also sorted through what he considered to be his own plans.

Everything was pretty much set on his end.

"Have all preparations been made on your end?"

"Yes, Sir Ralyks. The venue of the event has been identified, and we have also made all travel preparations."

"Good. Then, I look forward to tomorrow." Rey smiled underneath his mask as he walked past Kara and created a portal out of the area.

"I look forward to it too, Sir Raly—"

Kara's voice was cut short as Rey's portal closed right behind him the moment he entered his room.

The spacious expanse greeted him as he collapsed on his bed and returned his body to its regular form. A heavy sigh escaped his face as his face looked high upon the ceiling.

"Looks like I can at least have a proper night's rest to—"

Right as he was about to conclude this sentence, Rey felt a presence in front of his room's door.

'What the…?!'

He then heard a knock on the door.

'A visitor? At this hour?'

It was nearly midnight already, yet there was someone who was waiting to see him.

And Rey knew exactly who it was.

"Hup!" He jumped to his feet, sluggishly walking to the door afterwards.

He wasn't particularly exhausted, but he really thought he would be able to sleep in for the night.

Knowing Rey's schedule, 'sleeping in' probably meant sleeping for the standard eight hours.

For him, that was plenty.

"Who is it…?" He muttered as he opened the door, already knowing the face he would see.

Unsurprisingly, as soon as the door swung open, he was met with the cute face of Belle.

His tired eyes looked at her in silence, hoping she would say anything or do something that could possibly justify her coming to his room at such an absurd hour.

"Let me in." She whispered, her glowing pink eyes staring straight into his eyes.

Rey felt like sighing heavily the moment he realized what was going on.

'Not this again. Do I really have to play along?'

He knew he didn't have to put up with her tricks, but Rey decided to step aside and grant Belle access to his room for two primary reasons.

One was the mere fact that he was curious.

He wanted to know why Belle would come to his place so late in the night, and he felt like she would tell him if he just played along with the whole charade.

The second reason he decided to play pretend was that he hadn't yet thought of a way to properly deal with Belle.

'I haven't really had much time to think about her, and she hasn't approached me since then… so I never put her as a priority.'

To think she would just pop up like this…

It was against Rey's policy to control his classmates, but he began to consider using his [Absolute Mental Control] on her to get things over with.

'Let's hear her out first.' He hid his grumbled and dragged his feet inside, closing the door slowly.

"Come. Sit beside me."

Belle's face had a somewhat mysterious smile. Rey couldn't properly get a read on her intentions, so he decided not to think too much about it and simply play ball.

He plopped his butt on the bed, a few inches from where she sat.

'I have to get into character. Ahh… I really miss my Elite Enigma Class right now.'

He missed the Special Privilege that allowed him to perfectly act in the way he wanted.

At least, when he was Ralyks, he was constantly hiding behind a mask. Even when he broke character, no one would know.

As Rey, though, things were different.

'I don't know if I'm getting this whole thing right…'

"I've had a lot on my mind, and I guess I just need someone to offload it all to."

'E-eh…?' Rey's thoughts echoed. 'Why me?'

"I guess you're the only one I can feel most comfortable with. You're so weak and fragile…" She began to squish his cheeks, the same way the elderly did to little kids.

Rey didn't feel any pain as she pinched his cheeks, but it felt so uncomfortable and weird.

It wasn't long before he became distracted by Belle's chest, which was displayed right before his dead eyes.

Her oversized shirt covered up the goods, but he could see two pointy things on her chest. It told him all he needed to know.

'She's not wearing anything underneath?!' His mind screamed, but he kept his reaction completely neutral.

'Her shorts are also too… short. This girl is a walking thirst trap.'

Rey didn't want to call her careless at this point. It was pretty late, so she properly didn't need to bother.

Besides, he was supposed to be under her influence, so he wouldn't have cared.

'I'm not a creep. This isn't my fault. I didn't do anything wrong!' Rey swallowed his saliva and pleaded his case to literally no one as he remembered Alicia's words to her fellow girls.

He could imagine the kind of stare she would be giving him if she peered into his mind.

… His impure, completely soiled mind.

'Come to think of it, this is the second girl to enter my room.' Rey found his mind changing topics.

All of this, while Belle was rambling on about things he wasn't really paying attention to.

Until, he felt something draw closer to him.

'W-what?!'

Before he could even figure out what and why was happening, he found Belle's lips pressed upon his.

She had just kissed him!

*

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Thanks for reading!