As a loner, you had to. A set mood was already made from the moment you walked into a room. Whether it was an eccentric or a mellow one, you had to adjust yourself to blend into the background unnoticed. Sadly, those skills of blending into the background hadn’t transferred to this world. For whatever reason, eyes had been on me from the start.

  It would make sense to start believing that I was this story's main character, but I knew that was far from the case. The main character was, sadly, Han. Or maybe it was Rubellia? This was only the beginning, after all. The first volume of a possible multi-volume series, and the first book written could be highlighting Rubellia and her troubles until she finally stumbled across an ancient sight that granted her powerful magic, giving her the courage to fight against the abusive hero and forge her own path.

  Yeah. I nodded my head. That sounds about right. My story would be left out of the majority of the series. I was probably the comedic relief, a break from Rubellia’s suffering and turmoil. I was only brought up whenever we’d actually meet. Heh. That means the readers are fawning over who the man in black is. Good thing they’ll never know it’s me!

  And who would ever suspect the guy who was constantly getting beat on by his harem of women to be the man in black? They’d never suspect him. In fact, they’d hate him. Or rather, they’d wish they were him. Wish they were me. But the reality is that this is the farthest thing from what they’d want. Balancing a harem was hard.

  I couldn’t give too much attention to Sabrina because then I’d lose my stats with Nia and vice versa. How was I supposed to build a harem of women to grow stronger if I couldn’t handle the two I had now? I said I’d do whatever it takes, but I wasn’t sure I had what it takes.

  God, hareming is hard!

  Anyway, going back to Han, who was still glaring at me, I could tell he was pissed. He knew I had noticed the bruise on Rubellia’s shoulder, and his face was daring me to say something.

  I wish I could have told him I didn’t care, at least not enough to help her. I had already saved her once in the dungeon and helped her grieve earlier. She had run out of assists, and I wasn’t planning on giving any more out than I already had. But if I said I didn’t care, then they’d know for a fact I had seen it. If I act oblivious, he’d leave me alone.

  Besides. All I really wanted... My eyes glowed as they met Han’s. Was for him to be put in his place.

  “Tsk.” Han quickly turned around. “Come on. Let’s go. I want to practice some more before the tournament.” The two girls agreed as they followed him out the door. Before they shut, Rubellia looked back at me.

  My eyes widened, and I heard my heart thumping in my ears as she mouthed two words.

  “Help me.”

  ???????????????

  “Mmm,” Sabrina grumbled as she rubbed her eyes. “What are you doing, Sion?”

  “Shadowboxing,” I answered as I delivered multiple chain punches to the air before jumping back and unleashing a spinning back kick with my left leg, followed by a jumping spin kick with my right. I twisted forward again once both feet were planted on the ground, jumping back and pretending my kicks had missed, and my opponent closed in on me. I let loose two jabs as I slightly stepped forward on my toes as if to gauge the distance of my fist and core to my invisible opponent before letting out a hook, followed by an elbow and spinning back fist.

  “It’s two in the morning,” Sabrina yawned. “You should be sleeping.”

  “Sleep is for the weak.”

  “I agree.” Nia purred from where she had been watching the entire time. “That’s why you need it.”

  “That’s mean,” I replied, unfazed by her insult as I let loose an onslaught of combos.

  “You’re no fun when you’re serious.” Nia puffed.

  “I have to be.” I huffed as I executed several kicks. “The tournament is in three days. I can’t slack off now. I know I’m weak, so I have to train.”

  “Still on about that, huh?” Sabrina sighed as she sat next to Nia.

  “Right?” She purred. “But I’m fine with it.” Her emerald green eyes stared passionately at me as I continued to practice. “It means he still needs me.”

  “Wait, you know?” Sabrina asked.

  “Of course I do. He’s my Master, after all.”

  “What are you two talking about?” I huffed as I wiped the sweat from my face with my shirt. I had taken my coat off and given it to Nia to wear as I practiced, and she wore it around her shoulders, sniffing it occasionally.

  “Mmm.” Nia purred as my abs showed briefly. “Those are new.”

  “Huh?”

  “We were talking about how you’ve neglected Nia.” Sabrina started. “Didn’t he promise to give you a day where he had to listen to anything you asked?”

  “Eh?” My eyes went white like ping pong.

  “Oh, yeah.” Nia grinned.

  “…” With the tournament coming up soon, a stat increase wouldn’t hurt, especially since I haven’t gotten the twenty back that I lost. But… I stared at Nia, who smiled and waved her tail around.

  “Don’t tell me you lied to her.” Sabrina antagonized.

  “Of course, I didn’t,” I scoffed. “Now just isn’t a good time,” I mumbled. “I have to win the tournament, or the king will cut the guild's funding.” My hands balled into a fist. “But I’m weak, so I have to focus on the task at hand.”

  “Master, you’ve been training like this every day since we left the castle,” Nia stated worriedly. “You don’t stop until the sun breaks above the horizon, and you only get two hours of sleep and then train with Sabrina.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “He’s been doing this every day?” Sabrina asked worriedly.

  “What does it matter?” I grumbled as I sat down with one knee facing up to rest my arm on top of it.

  “You need sleep,” Sabrina scolded. “If you push yourself like this, your body will give out.”

  “That’s when I’ll know I’ve given it my all.” My eyes glowed softly as I looked at the starry sky. “When my legs can no longer support my weight, when my arms can no longer push me back up when I fall,” I looked down at them. “Only then will anything I’ve done make a difference.”

  “Idiot…” Sabrina blushed softly. “Why are you really doing this? Pushing yourself, I mean.”

  “Because I have to,” I replied as I stood up. “I’m weak, yet the weight of our guild has been placed on my shoulders.”

  “Our guild?” Her face flushed. She shook her head before continuing. “You need rest. You have panda eyes.”

  “No, I don’t.” I began hopping from one leg to another to get my blood flowing again. “I need to practice. I need to get-“

  “I command you to stop.”

  “What are you on ab-Eh?” I realized that I stopped and stood still at Nia’s request. “What kind of magic is this?” I scowled.

  “It’s no magic,” she purred as she walked over to me, her tail brushing under my chin. “It’s your promise.”

  “Huh?”

  “You promised to give me an entire day where you had to listen to me.” She touched the watch on my wrist. “You promised to me, your slave. So,” she grinned. “Today, our roles are reversed.”

  “Eh?”

  “You will get rest,” she pushed me down on the ground. “And I’ll be the one helping with that.”

  “N-N-Nia!” I stuttered nervously as she mounted me.

  “That’s Master to you,” she pressed a finger to my lips. “Understood?” She purred. I gulped. “Now,” she looked back at Sabrina. “Would you care to join?”

  Audiejdjwodksmsnws!!

  “No. Not this time.” Sabrina waved us off with a smile. “Tonight, he’s all yours.”

  “Mmm,” Nia hummed in delight as her eyes locked with mine, her pupils narrowing. “You hear that, Sion?” I shivered as she said my name for the first time since meeting her. “Tonight,” her tail made its way down my body. “You’re all mine.”

  “W-Wait!” I grabbed her tail.

  “Do you…” her ears dropped. “Not want me?” Her tail relaxed, and her eyes lost their emerald glow. “Do you…not see me like that?”

  My mind flashed back to the night she cried in my arms. The night she opened up to me about her past. I remembered swearing to protect her. I think it was that same moment that I stopped seeing her like I saw Sabrina.

  It wasn’t that I lost attraction to her, but more so that I knew I needed to protect her. I felt guilty seeing her in a sexual manner, especially after having her cry in my arms. I wanted her to feel safe with me, not to feel like I was sexualizing her.

  But these past few weeks that I’ve been in this world, the past few weeks since meeting Nia, I’ve noticed her advances on me. But I still feared she was doing it because she felt I would get rid of her if she didn’t. She wanted to keep my attention because, with Sabrina, she most likely thought I wouldn’t need her.

  “It’s not that,” my eyes softened. “I just…don’t want you to do something you don’t want to do.”

  “Something…I don’t want to do?” She smiled fiendishly as a purr vibrated in her throat. Her claws began to kneed the fibers of my shirt, pulling up and clipping my skin. “Master, are you…projecting?”

  “What? No! I totally want to-“ I bit my tongue.

  “You…want to?” She giggled gleefully. “You want to what?” She meowed. “You want…me?” She rested her chin on my chest. “I can tell, you know?”

  “Tell what?”

  “That you’re holding back on me,” she replied. “I noticed it after our first night out after you bought me.” Her tail swayed gently. “You haven’t looked at me the same,” she blinked slowly. “Those ravenous eyes of yours, those eyes I saw when you first saw me in the cage.” She sat up. “You haven’t looked at me like that after I told you about my parents. Do you…pity me?”

  “No. It’s not like that. I just…wanted to make you feel safe.”

  “So, to do that, you pushed down your feelings for me?”

  I averted my gaze. “…When you word it like that, I sound like a douche.”

  “Because you are one,” Nia puffed. “Do you…think it’s fair?” Her tail lasciviously made its way down my torso. “Not sharing…all of this?”

  “nIa!” I squeaked.

  Why does she pause like that? I swear she’s doing it on purpose.

  “I don’t care what you think,” her hand ran up and down my stomach and chest. “Whatever you’re thinking is wrong. I don’t care if you ravage me with those eyes of yours. I don’t care if you Charm me until I’m addicted.”

  Huh?

  “I don’t care if you think I don’t want it because you’re an oblivious idiot, or if you think I’m doing it because I feel like I have to. I’m tired of giving hints only for you not to see them. Or maybe you do but you overthink. I’m here to tell you…” She leaned close to my ear. “You’re wrong, and I want you.” A golden light enveloped her face as she leaned back and looked into my eyes. “There they are,” she purred loudly. “Those eyes of mine.”

  Notice:

  The matting ritual is now complete

  All stats increased by 100

  Notice:

  Your bond with Nia has maxed out

  As a result, all stats increased by 200