Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Outside, Allen’s car steadily drove away from the house. It wasn’t nearly as luxurious as Jonathan’s expensive sports car, but it was clean, comfortable, and reliable enough for everyday life.

Young Aether rested his head against the passenger-side window while quietly watching the city lights drift past one after another, yet his expression remained distant, as though his thoughts were somewhere far beyond the road ahead.

Allen glanced toward him several times before finally gathering the courage to speak.

"Bro... are you angry?"

Young Aether remained silent, his eyes never leaving the scenery outside.

Allen sighed quietly.

"I really didn’t want to do this, but... this was serious, brother. You know I only have one family."

Young Aether finally spoke, though his voice carried no resentment.

"I understand. You wanted to protect your wife and your daughter from me."

Allen’s grip tightened slightly around the steering wheel.

"I wasn’t going to act like some selfish bastard after what happened to Jonathan’s wives."

Young Aether said.

Allen let out a small, bitter smile.

Neither of them spoke again for nearly a full minute.

Eventually, Young Aether spoke again.

His voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"...Is... she alive?"

Allen didn’t ask who he meant.

He already knew.

There was only one person capable of making Young Aether sound like that.

And they touched on the topic during lunch.

Allen unconsciously tightened his grip on the steering wheel before slowly relaxing his fingers.

"I... don’t know."

His eyes remained fixed on the road stretching endlessly ahead.

"I haven’t seen her in years."

The passing streetlights briefly illuminated his face before disappearing behind them.

"The last time I saw her... was at her engagement ceremony."

"..."

Young Aether lowered his head and absentmindedly rubbed one fingernail against another, as though brushing away invisible dust. The tiny movement was almost unconscious, yet Allen knew it was simply his way of hiding emotions that words could never express.

Allen glanced sideways before letting out a faint laugh filled with resignation.

"So... you still haven’t forgotten her. I honestly wonder why. You know everything she did to you!"

"You remember how badly that breakup destroyed you."

His voice gradually softened.

"I was there, Aether."

"I watched you curse her name."

"I watched you blame her."

"I watched you cry when nobody else was around."

His fingers slowly tightened around the steering wheel again.

"And yet... even after being reborn into another world... after living an entirely different life... you still haven’t let her go."

He shook his head in disbelief.

"Why?"

"There are Millions of women in this world, or.... trillions in other worlds?"

"You could have met anyone."

"You could have started over countless times."

"But you never did."

Allen let out a weary sigh before continuing.

"She moved on."

"She got engaged."

"I still remember how happy she looked that day."

He paused for a moment before speaking the question that had been buried in his heart for years.

"Sometimes I genuinely wonder whether anyone else is capable of loving someone the way you did. After she left you, you never looked at another woman."

"Not once... You never dated... You never flirted. You never even tried distracting yourself with someone else."

Allen slowly shook his head.

"I don’t think I could ever do that. If the woman I loved left me because I couldn’t give her a child... I don’t think I’d still be able to love her after everything."

Allen could only smile as he quietly nodded. Looking at the man sitting beside him, he couldn’t help but feel as though his friend’s love had long since surpassed the limits of ordinary affection.

Time had passed.

Worlds had changed.

Death itself had separated them once, yet somehow those feelings had remained untouched, refusing to fade no matter how many years slipped away.

He had seen many people fall in love.

He had seen many people move on.

But he had never seen someone continue loving another person after losing everything.

After remaining silent for a while, Allen finally broke the quiet atmosphere.

"Honestly... what are you going to do if she’s really alive?"

Young Aether remained leaning against the passenger window, quietly watching the city lights drift past one after another without saying anything.

Allen continued, his voice carrying more concern than curiosity.

"What if she’s already married? What if she has a husband... children and a family she’s happy with?? Are you still going to love her?

Come on, Aether! Just fucking move on from that woman!"

There wasn’t even a hint of ridicule in his question.

If anything...

He wished the answer would finally free his friend.

Perhaps seeing her smiling beside someone else would finally convince Aether that it was time to stop looking toward the past and begin walking toward his own future.

Young Aether listened to every possibility Allen mentioned without interrupting him. His fingers gently rubbed against one another as though trying to hold onto a memory too precious to lose.

After several long moments, a faint smile slowly appeared across his face.

It wasn’t the smile of someone chasing an impossible dream.

It was the smile of someone remembering the happiest days of his life.

"If she really is alive..."

His voice became so gentle that it almost blended together with the soft hum of the engine.

A gentle smile slowly bloomed across his face.

"I think... I’d go see her."

His eyes slowly drifted toward the endless road outside the window, but Allen knew he wasn’t looking at the road anymore.

He was looking at someone only he could see.

"I’d wear red."

A tiny chuckle escaped him.

"She always loved seeing me wear red. She used to say that whenever I wore black, I looked too cold... too distant. She’d complain that I looked like someone impossible to approach."

His fingers absentmindedly brushed across his own sleeve as if imagining the clothes.

"So... I’d wear red from head to toe."

"I’d spend hours choosing the nicest clothes because... I wouldn’t want her first impression after all these years to be disappointing."

He laughed quietly.

"She would definitely tease me and ask why I suddenly started dressing so nicely."

His fingers absentmindedly brushed against his own sleeve.

"I’d wear the lavender perfume she secretly bought for me once because she said it suited me perfectly."

"I still remember how she smiled after spraying it on me."

"She closed her eyes... leaned closer... took a deep breath... and happily nodded before saying..."

"’There... now you finally smell like someone I can hug all day.’"

Allen remained completely silent.

Young Aether continued smiling, completely immersed in those distant memories.

"I’d polish my leather shoes until I could see my reflection."

"She hated it whenever I wore dirty shoes."

"She used to crouch in front of me and wipe them clean herself while scolding me for not taking care of my appearance."

A small laugh escaped him.

"She always complained that I would never find a wife if I stayed so careless."

His smile became warmer.

"The funny thing is... I never wanted another wife.

I only wanted the one standing in front of me."

Allen felt his throat tighten.

Young Aether didn’t seem to notice.

"I’ll bring her the flowers she always loved placing in her hair, the ones that made her look like a little princess every time she smiled."

A warm tenderness filled his eyes.

"I’d wear the leather belt she once gave me for my birthday."

"She spent nearly an entire week pretending she hadn’t bought me anything."

"Then she suddenly pulled it out from behind her back with that proud little smile on her face... waiting for me to praise her."

He chuckled softly.

"She looked happier than I did..."

"Heh... I’ll even wear those burgundy sunglasses she used to tease me about because she said they made me look too cool."

His fingers slowly brushed through his own hair.

"I’d trim my hair just enough."

"She always loved playing with it."

"She’d stand behind me, gently combing it with her fingers while complaining that I’d never learn how to style it properly."

His smile trembled ever so slightly.

"And once she finished..."

"She’d kiss my forehead... smile proudly... and tell me that I finally looked handsome."

Allen quietly looked away.

His vision had become slightly blurry.

He wasn’t sure whether it was because of the passing headlights...

...or because his eyes had begun to sting.

How could someone remember so much?

How could every tiny habit...

Every little smile...

Every insignificant conversation...

Remain perfectly preserved after all these years?

There was no obsession in Aether’s voice.

No resentment.

No regret.

Only love?

A love so gentle that it had quietly survived time itself.

Young Aether slowly lowered his eyes as the smile on his face became almost unbearably tender.

"And then..."

He took a slow breath, as though imagining that moment over and over again inside his heart.

"I wouldn’t ask why she left."

"I wouldn’t ask why she never came back."

"I wouldn’t ask why she chose someone else."

His voice became softer than a whisper.

"Because if she’s smiling... If she’s living the life she always dreamed of..."

"Then I don’t want to become the reason that smile disappears."

Allen silently gripped the steering wheel tighter.

Young Aether smiled toward the window as though someone precious were standing just outside it.

"I’d simply tell her..."

"...that she looks even more beautiful than she did in my memories."

A tear quietly escaped the corner of his eye before he gently wiped it away with a small laugh.

"And before I leave... I’ll ask her only one thing."

Allen swallowed the lump in his throat.

Young Aether closed his eyes.

"I’ll ask her..."

His smile remained as gentle as ever.

"...whether there was even a single moment..."

"...when she truly loved me."

"If she says yes... even if it was only for one day... one hour... or one heartbeat..."

His trembling smile never disappeared.

"...then I think this lifetime would have been worth living."

Allen turned to utter silence after hearing those heartfelt words.

"Man..."

He glanced at Young Aether with complicated eyes.

"You really haven’t changed at all."

^...^

RIN was honestly taken aback by those words, as though they touched upon something she could never truly understand about him.

Allen weakly smiled as he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes before shaking his head.

"If you still love her that much... then what about your mother? Do you... really hate her?"

Young Aether immediately fell silent.

His expression, which had been warm only moments ago, slowly became unreadable as he stared through the windshield.

"Aether?"

Allen waited for an answer, but none came.

After seeing the silence that followed, Allen decided not to press him any further. There were some wounds that even the closest friend shouldn’t force open.

The remainder of the journey passed quietly until they finally reached their destination.

When Young Aether stepped out of the car, his attention was immediately drawn toward the enormous designer apartment standing proudly before them. Its glass exterior reflected the city lights, while a magnificent rooftop pool shimmered beneath the evening sky.

Young Aether looked up in genuine amazement.

"Man, that’s freaking cool. Is that a swimming pool on the roof?"

Allen immediately wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulder with a proud grin.

"Yeah, pretty cool, right?"

"Indeed! Let’s go~"

Young Aether took a step toward the building.

Allen immediately grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

"Huh?"

"You’re staying here."

Allen casually turned Young Aether around by nearly 180 degrees.

Young Aether’s smile slowly disappeared.

Standing several meters behind them was a small wooden house that looked as though it had been personally abandoned by civilisation. The walls were weathered, the roof was covered in moss, and several wooden planks appeared to be hanging on purely because they had not yet realised they were supposed to fall.

"..."

Young Aether blinked several times.

He looked at the designer apartment.

Then he looked at the wooden house.

Then he slowly looked back at Allen.

"You’re kidding me, right?"

"Nope."

Allen cheerfully placed a set of keys into his hand.

"That’s your new house, so take care!"

Before Young Aether could even process what had just happened, Allen had already climbed back into his car.

He started the engine, made a quick U-turn, and stopped beside Young Aether for one final warning.

"And there’s one more thing."

Young Aether narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Never, ever come outside during the night."

Young Aether stared at him.

"...Why?"

Allen clicked his tongue and waved his hand impatiently.

"Tsk. Just promise me."

The seriousness in Allen’s expression made Young Aether realize that this wasn’t another joke.

He sighed before reluctantly nodding.

"Fine. However, I still can’t believe you actually—"

SSNNNNGGG!!!!

The car immediately shot forward before Young Aether could finish his sentence.

He stood there with one hand still raised, watching the vehicle disappear down the street.

A vein slowly bulged against his forehead.

"...Unbelievable."

After a moment, he sighed and looked back at the decrepit wooden house.

"Whatever. This is probably much better than having you worry about me getting involved with other women."

He walked toward the entrance and reached for the rusty metal gate.

The instant his fingers touched it...

CLANG!

The entire gate detached from its hinges and collapsed onto the ground with a deafening metallic crash.

Young Aether stared down at the fallen gate.

His lips twitched.

"...I didn’t even pull it."

He stepped over the fallen metal and entered the property.

Yet the moment he crossed the boundary, the faint annoyance on his face disappeared.

A strange, wicked grin slowly formed across his lips.

"How many points do I deserve now, LOG?"

[...]

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