It Seems Like The Infamous Trash Can is Right Here! - Chapter 167
After Madam Charlene’s visit, somehow it became routine that every evening I received a massage from Lionel.
The oils he used must have been extravagantly expensive, as my skin grew visibly smoother, even carrying a subtle glow. That much was delightful. But along with it came a problem I could hardly ignore.
Compared to the first night, I lasted longer now. Even so, before Lionel was satisfied, I would fall asleep first. And it happened every night.
I felt so guilty that I told him he could continue even if I dozed off….
‘I need… to build stamina.’
It couldn’t go on like this.
As much as I hated the thought, there was no avoiding it.
So I went to find Vivian.
‘If I try alone, I’ll give up immediately. I need someone with me.’
After our last outing to the gallery, I had intended to distance myself from her, to treat her as a stranger. But my thoughts shifted.
Not only because we might come from the same world.
It was because I learned what condition Vivian had set in order to live here in the Luanax mansion.
‘So that’s why it felt like the story was flowing in the same direction as the original.’
In truth, it was all the result of Vivian’s own making.
It made me realize anew how tough it is to live as a regressor whose true identity has been exposed.
Thanks to Madam Charlene, a bond of comradeship had even formed.
So I decided we should keep sharing our struggles from now on.
“Vivian, it’s Sasha. May I talk with you for a moment?”
I knocked and waited, but the voice that answered was not hers.
“You may come in.”
A voice soft, yet cold. Ardin Silias.
…Should I trust him, or not?
If it were Dantère, I never would. If it were Halid, I would have stepped inside without hesitation. But Ardin… he was harder to gauge.
Ardin liked Vivian, yes. But he did not cherish her.
In truth, he cherished nothing, not even himself. He did not know how.
It was partly the cruelty of the environment he had grown up in, raised under abuse. But his genius played its part as well.
Because he believed anything broken could be repaired, he broke things without hesitation. No matter how precious.
As in most adult reverse-harem novels, the three male leads each treated Vivian differently in bed. Of the three, Ardin was the one readers most loved or hated.
He had no qualms about testing his self-made magical devices on Vivian’s body, or even altering her body itself.
To the point that, at times, he felt more dangerous than Dantère, who in moments of excess would seize her throat. How could one not be wary.
“You really can.”
With a low laugh, the door opened.
Since I had hesitated without entering, Ardin had opened it himself.
Startled, I stepped back instinctively. Ardin tilted his head at an angle.
“You’re strangely wary when I’ve done nothing.”
His golden hair fell like silk with the motion, his eyes a strange turquoise glow like gemstones.. They were beautiful, but devoid of all emotion, except when deliberately feigned. It was unsettling.
“Is Vivian inside?”
“Of course. Why else would I be here?”
So shameless. I had seen him wandering alone through the mansion often enough.
Ardin opened the door wide as if to invite me in.
Fortunately, from within came Vivian’s voice saying, “Oh? Sasha?” and I darted past Ardin into the room.
“Good morning, Sasha.”
