Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

When Young Aether left, Lily remained frozen in the driver’s seat, her entire body rigid as she stared at the place where he had disappeared.

Her expression was completely shattered, as though her mind had been unable to understand what her eyes had just witnessed.

For several long seconds, she did not move. She barely even breathed.

Then the cries of her little brother echoed through the cabin, dragging her back to reality.

Gasp!

She suddenly sucked in a breath, as if she had forgotten how to breathe for the past few minutes. Her face had gone pale, and her trembling hands immediately tightened around the steering wheel.

"N-No... N-No... I-It’s a monster... an absolute monster!!" she shouted, her voice cracking with terror as she hurriedly started the car and pressed down on the accelerator.

SSSSNNNGGGG!!!

The car shot away from the apartment as Lily drove without looking back. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and that place as possible.

She did not care where she went. She only knew that she had to get away.

Far away from him.

Far away from that thing!!

"WWAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Noah continued crying from the back seat, his little hand reaching desperately toward Lily as he struggled against his straps.

"I-It’s alright, Noah. Big Sister is here... You’re safe. You don’t need to cry. I-I won’t let anything happen to you."

Her voice trembled despite her attempt to sound reassuring. She glanced at him through the rearview mirror, forcing herself to smile, but tears were already gathering in her eyes.

She could not stop them.

The image of that wicked creature remained burned into her mind. Every time she blinked, she saw it again.

The terrifying expression.

The unnatural presence.

The way her uncle had looked at her.

She did not know what had happened. She did not know why her uncle had suddenly become such a horrifying thing. For all she knew, perhaps that had never been her uncle at all.

Perhaps some kind of monster had been pretending to be him from the very beginning, deceiving them while waiting for the right moment to reveal itself.

"Waaahh!"

"It’s alright, Noah... Please, stop crying. That monster won’t hurt you. I’ll protect you. I promise, I’ll protect you!"

Lily’s voice broke at the end of the sentence.

She hurriedly turned the vehicle to the right, following the plan they had already made.

Her eyes remained fixed on the road, but as she drove around the corner, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye.

A bouquet?

The grand bouquet Young Aether had prepared for his ex was still lying inside the car.

Lily’s eyes immediately became moist.

"N-No... no. That’s a fucking monster... I-I need to leave. I need to get away from him. I-I need to..."

Her voice gradually faded.

She stared at another bouquet... the red-wine lotus.

Her trembling fingers loosened around the steering wheel.

If he really was a monster, then why would he pick flowers like these just to cheer her up?

Why would he say those words?

Those gentle words that had somehow soothed a part of her heart she had never known was hurting?

Lily bit her lower lip, fighting against the tears gathering in her eyes.

The car gradually slowed.

The anti-gravity engine’s roar softened as the vehicle rolled forward for several more meters before finally coming to a halt.

"..."

Lily remained in the driver’s seat, staring at the bouquet resting beside her. Her hands trembled as she slowly reached for it, her fingers brushing against the delicate petals.

She tried to remember everything that had happened today.

Everything her uncle had done.

Every word he had spoken.

Every expression on his face.

The kindness.

The strange gentleness.

The flowers.

And then...

That monster.

Her lips trembled as she lowered her head onto the steering wheel. Her shoulders shook silently as she stared down at the floor through tear-filled eyes.

She was scared.

She truly was.

She wanted to run away.

She wanted to forget everything she had seen.

She wanted to believe that the creature she had encountered was nothing more than a nightmare.

And yet, her fingers remained wrapped around the red-wine lotus.

A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and fell onto one of its petals.

Then another.

The wails of her little brother had not stopped, but somehow, Lily could no longer hear them clearly.

The world around her seemed to have fallen away, as though an invisible wall had separated her from everything beyond the flower in her hands.

Her entire attention was drawn to those delicate petals.

The horrifying image of the monster slowly began to fade from her mind.

The twisted face disappeared.

The dreadful presence dissolved.

And in its place, within the depths of the flower, another image slowly emerged.

A gentle face.

Warm eyes.

A quiet smile.

The face of the young boy she had known as her uncle.

The memory of his voice followed.

"The waters do not decide the colour of its petals, nor the purity of its bloom. Just like you, Lily."

Her eyes grew even more watery as she bit her lower lip, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill again.

For a few seconds, she remained completely still, her thoughts caught between fear and the memories she could not reconcile.

Finally, she slowly lifted her head and stepped out of the car.

She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, before opening the rear door and carefully picking up her little brother.

"Waaaaaahhhh!!"

Noah immediately cried in her arms, his tiny body trembling as he buried his face against her.

"Oh, oh... It’s alright. Big Sister is here..." Lily whispered softly. "You’re safe now, Noah. Nothing is going to hurt you. Just stay with me, okay?"

She gently patted his back while slowly walking around the car, her movements deliberately calm despite the fear still weighing heavily inside her.

"It’s alright... just breathe, little one. Big Sister’s here. You don’t have to be scared anymore."

It took a while before Noah’s cries gradually weakened into quiet sobs. His little shoulders eventually stopped shaking, leaving only the occasional sniffle escaping from his nose.

Once he had calmed down, Noah lifted his tear-stained face and looked at his sister.

His tiny hand reached toward her cheek.

He gently touched her face, then moved his fingers across her forehead and down toward her neck, as though checking every part of her for injuries.

Lily’s heart tightened.

She gave him a warm, reassuring smile and gently covered his little hand with hers.

"It’s alright... Uncle didn’t hurt Big Sister."

Noah sniffed, his nose still running as his lips slowly pursed. The moment he heard the word Uncle, however, his expression changed again.

His lower lip trembled, and his eyes began filling with tears.

Lily immediately noticed.

She softly patted his back.

"It’s alright, Noah. Uncle isn’t a bad guy..." Her voice became quieter. "H-He was just confused... and he tried to scare us. That’s all."

She paused, forcing a tiny smile.

"He won’t hurt you. I promise."

Lily leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek.

"There... see? Big Sister is perfectly fine."

Noah stared at her for a moment, as if he were trying to decide whether he could believe her.

Lily softly ruffled his hair before looking directly into his innocent eyes.

"Should we meet Uncle... one last time?" she asked gently.

Noah blinked.

For several seconds, he simply stared at her.

Then his lips began to pout.

"WAAH!!"

"Haha..." Lily chuckled softly, though her voice still carried a faint tremble. "Alright, alright. I understand."

She gently rubbed his head.

"He won’t hurt me. And if he does..." Lily paused before giving him a small, playful smile.

"You’ll protect Big Sister again, right?"

Noah immediately nodded, placing his tiny hands firmly on his hips.

"Wah!"

"Hah... See?" Lily smiled, and this time the smile reached her eyes.

"I believe in my little brother."

She kissed his forehead before carefully placing him back into the child seat.

"Now, let’s get you comfortable."

Lily adjusted the seat around him and checked the straps twice, making sure the magnetic safety clasps had locked properly.

<<Secure>>

The vehicle’s internal system quietly detected Noah’s position and automatically adjusted the safety harness.

Only then did Lily return to the driver’s seat.

She closed the door and sat quietly behind the steering wheel.

For a while, she did not start the car.

Lily stared through the windshield at the road ahead.

Her hands rested loosely around the steering wheel, but her mind was somewhere else.

Was this really the right choice?

Or was she simply making everything worse?

She had seen something she could not explain.

Something terrifying.

Something that had made every instinct inside her scream to run.

But despite that fear, one thought continued returning to her.

He was still Uncle.

The man who had treated her well.

The man who had bought her flowers.

The man who had spoken to her so gently.

The man who had somehow known exactly what words she needed to hear.

She lowered her gaze.

"I don’t want that to be the last memory I have of him..." she whispered.

Her fingers slowly tightened around the steering wheel.

"I don’t want to remember him as a monster."

She took another slow breath.

"Maybe... maybe I was just too scared to understand what happened."

Then she drove back toward the apartment.

The journey was quiet.

Lily occasionally glanced at Noah through the rearview mirror. He had finally stopped crying, though his eyes remained swollen and damp.

She gave him another reassuring smile.

"We’re going to talk to Uncle, okay?"

Noah stared back at her.

"Wah..."

Lily smiled faintly.

"Yeah. Just like that."

By the time they reached the apartment entrance, Lily’s heart was pounding again.

She slowed the car and looked toward the entrance.

Young Aether was nowhere to be seen.

Her eyes moved across the pavement, the building entrance, and the surrounding parking area.

Nothing.

"Maybe he already met her?" she wondered quietly.

She was about to park the car when Noah suddenly raised his little hand and pointed toward the opposite side of the parking area.

"Wah!"

Lily turned her head.

Her eyes widened slightly.

There, sitting alone on a bench near the parking area, was Young Aether.

He was completely still.

His posture was slightly slouched, his head lowered as he stared blankly at his right hand.

There was something strangely lonely about the sight.

He looked nothing like the terrifying creature she had seen earlier.

He simply looked like a man who had been left behind after everything had fallen apart.

Lily’s expression softened.

A weak, bittersweet smile appeared on her lips.

"Uncle..."

She whispered the word so quietly that even Noah could barely hear it.

Meanwhile, Young Aether continued staring at his right hand.

His fingers slowly curled.

That was the hand that had transformed.

For that brief moment, he had completely lost himself.

He had frightened Lily.

He had frightened Noah.

And he had no idea how to undo it.

RIN AI’s interface hovered silently before his vision, displaying a constantly updating network map.

^LOCAL CCTV NETWORK ACCESS STATUS: RESTRICTED^

^MOTHER SYSTEM OVERSIGHT: ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE^

Young Aether’s eyes remained fixed on the display.

"Any trace of the vehicle?"

^Negative,^ RIN AI replied quietly. ^Local camera access is controlled directly by the Mother System.^

Young Aether remained silent.

"Can you bypass it?"

A brief pause followed.

^I can attempt it,^ RIN AI answered. ^However, the probability of triggering a security response is currently 69%.^

Young Aether’s expression tightened.

"Too high."

Young Aether lowered his gaze again.

He had already asked RIN AI to locate the car through the local CCTV network, but unlike the other divisions, this entire division was monitored directly by the Mother System.

It was like a mother watching over her children, noticing one of them behaving strangely and refusing to perform the task it had been given.

The Mother would not tolerate such a defect.

She would simply eliminate that child.

That was why RIN could only gather fragments of information from a small area around them. Even that limited search took time, as every request had to pass through layers of surveillance and authorisation.

^Unless you take me to the Gamma Tower and allow me to gain access to the entire division, it would be impossible for me to locate them within this vast neural network!^

Young Aether slowly exhaled.

"I scared them..."

His voice was barely audible.

His eyes remained on his hand.

"I was supposed to protect them."

His fingers trembled faintly.

He remained seated on the bench, staring silently at his hand.

Then...

A shadow slowly fell across him.

Young Aether paused.

He slowly raised his eyes.

A bouquet was blocking his view.

For a moment, he simply blinked at it.

Then, from behind the bouquet, a small figure cautiously peeked over the flowers.

Lily.

She looked at him with a hesitant expression, her fingers tightly gripping the bouquet as though she were still unsure whether approaching him had been the right decision.

"Y-You forgot this, Uncle," she said softly.

Young Aether stared at her.

A weak smile eventually appeared on his face.

"Yeah."

He reached out and accepted the bouquet.

His fingers brushed against the stems, and for a moment, he simply stared at the flowers.

Then he noticed something else.

Lily’s legs were trembling.

She was trying desperately to hide it, keeping her posture steady and her voice calm, but Young Aether noticed.

He noticed everything.

The fear was still there.

She had simply chosen to stand in front of him despite it.

His faint smile disappeared.

Young Aether slowly looked at Lily.

She was holding Noah in her arms, and the little boy had buried his face against her shoulder, deliberately avoiding looking at him.

"..."

Young Aether lowered his eyes.

His fingers tightened slightly around the bouquet.

"I... I..."

The words refused to come.

What was he supposed to tell them?

I’m not a monster.

But what if he was?

I didn’t mean to frighten you.

That would not erase what they had seen.

I’m sorry.

Was an apology enough after something like that?

For a moment, absurd thoughts crossed his mind.

I was a monster?

I killed millions?

I ate people?

He almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous those explanations sounded.

But there was nothing funny about the fear in Lily’s eyes.

Young Aether remained silent.

After all... He deserved the distance she had kept from him.

Lily slowly sat down beside him.

Not too close.

There was still a small gap between them.

"How did it go?" Lily asked quietly. "Did you meet her?"

She spoke as though she had not spent the last several minutes terrified of him.

Young Aether noticed that immediately.

He did not comment on it.

After a moment, he nodded.

"I did."

"What... did she say?" Lily asked.

Her voice carried genuine curiosity now.

"Did she really get remarried?"

Young Aether looked down at the bouquet.

"Well..." He gave a faint shake of his head. "It wasn’t Penelope."

Lily blinked.

"Wasn’t?"

Young Aether gave a small, tired smile.

"Well, technically, it was Penelope. But..." He paused, "She wasn’t the Penelope I knew."

Lily stared at him, confused.

"Did she change?"

She tilted her head slightly.

"Did she forget you?"

Young Aether let out a weak chuckle.

"No... haha"

He looked toward the distant buildings.

"It was a different person with the same name... and in fact... it was ’He’ not she"

Lily’s eyes widened slightly.

"Oh... I see."

She had not expected that answer.

For a brief moment, she lowered her gaze, remembering something her father had told her before leaving them.

’So that’s why Dad told me to leave Uncle immediately after dropping him at the location...’

She looked at Young Aether again.

Perhaps her father had known there was something strange about this meeting.

Lily remained silent for a moment.

Then she looked at the man sitting beside her.

"Can I see your face?"

"..."

Lily looked at him carefully.

"Uncle?"

Young Aether’s gaze remained lowered.

"Please."

He still did not move.

Lily’s voice became softer.

"You don’t have to explain everything right now," she continued. "I just... want to see you."

"..." Young Aether sighed. After a moment, he deactivated his visor.

Lily immediately inched closer and cupped his face with both hands, gently turning his head toward her.

"Hmm... You really do have a handsome face," she said, examining him for a moment before giving him a faint smile.

"With this face, I’m sure you could get any girl you wanted. So why the long face?"

Young Aether blinked at her.

For a moment, he seemed genuinely caught off guard by the question.

Then his expression softened.

"Are you not scared of me?" he asked quietly again.

She hesitated for a moment before giving him a small, honest smile.

"To be honest... I am really scared. Even now." Her fingers tightened slightly against his cheeks. "My hands were trembling the entire time I was driving away."

Her smile faded into something more thoughtful.

"But... didn’t you say that a lotus blooms in dirty water?"

Young Aether’s eyes widened slightly.

Lily looked directly into his eyes.

"So I decided to believe that my uncle is still a lotus flower, even if something ugly is hiding beneath the water."

Her voice became softer.

"Isn’t that right, Noah?"

Noah slowly peeked out from Lily’s embrace.

His frightened eyes met Young Aether’s.

For several seconds, he simply stared at him.

Then...

"WARRHHH!!"

Noah suddenly growled at him, puffing up his tiny chest as though he were preparing to pounce the moment Young Aether tried anything.

Young Aether stared at him.

Then he let out a quiet breath.

"Hah..."

A weak smile appeared on his face as he slowly shook his head.

"I... I’m really sorry for what—"

"Oh? Right!"

Lily suddenly brightened as though she had remembered something important.

"I know a way to make you cheer up."

Before Young Aether could respond, Lily grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.

"Come on."

Young Aether blinked.

"Where are we going?"

"Just come with me."

"But..."

"Come on, Uncle."

She continued dragging him toward the car.

Young Aether glanced down at her hand wrapped around his, then at Noah, who was still watching him suspiciously from Lily’s arms.

For some reason, the tension in his chest eased slightly.

As they approached the vehicle, several surveillance cameras mounted around the apartment building quietly whirred.

Whirrrrr...

Their lenses rotated.

One camera focused on Lily.

Another adjusted toward Noah.

Then the nearest surveillance node slowly tilted upward.

Its optical sensor locked onto Young Aether.

A tiny red indicator flashed.

Then—

^You have received a message.^

"Huh?"

Young Aether blinked in confusion.

His raised foot remained suspended for a moment before he slowly lowered it.

"A message? From Jonathan? Or Allen?"

^Negative. The sender ID is unknown.^

Young Aether’s expression became slightly more serious.

^However, the Unique Transmission ID matches the previous spam transmission.^

A brief silence followed.

^The message was sent by the same individual.^

Young Aether’s eyes narrowed.

His fingers lightly tapped against the roof of the car.

"Open it."

RIN AI paused for a fraction of a second.

Then the message opened.

A translucent window appeared directly before Young Aether’s eyes.

He stared at the message in silence.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!