Chapter 38: I’m truly Jealous
The top floor of the bar was far quieter than the levels below.
Through the floor-to-ceiling glass panels, the city’s lights stretched all the way to the horizon. Towering buildings were draped in brilliant magical advertisement billboards, and flying cars drifted lazily along aerial routes, occasionally leaving a thin streak of light across the night sky.
Music from the lower floors still pulsed upward in faint beats. Yet ever since the large screen in the main hall had switched to the live broadcast from Meira’s estate, hardly anyone was truly paying attention to the stage or the drinks in their hands.
Vylana sat on the long black sofa, leaning slightly forward. The glass in her hand had been set down on the table at some point, her blue eyes still fixed on the screen across the room.
The live broadcast hadn’t fully ended. Erik had already risen from the ground, and Elowen was practically glued to him, one arm wrapped around his neck while her other hand kept drifting down to look at the ring that had just been placed on her finger.
Every few seconds, the silver-haired Succubus would glance down at the ring, then break into a smile all on her own. Behind her, the female reporters were still trying to maintain composure to continue their coverage, but even the anchor’s eyes had gone red.
A burst of cheering erupted from the floor below. The screen in the main hall must have just replayed the scene of Erik kneeling.
Vylana didn’t need to look to know what those Succubi were saying.
From the moment the proposal ended, the comment feed beside the screen hadn’t slowed down for a single second. Some were crying, some were envious, and others kept asking whether Erik would still accept more Partners.
Vylana watched it all for a long time. Envy, unwillingness, emotion, and a sliver of regret she didn’t want to admit all crowded into her chest at once.
’If I’d been just a little faster back then...’
If she hadn’t simply stood by watching Erik take care of Saraya, if she had fought for him instead of waiting for Saraya to push the opportunity away on her own, the person standing there today might not have been Elowen.
The moment that thought surfaced, Vylana bit her lip.
She knew she was lying to herself. Back then, Erik still hadn’t fully Awakened, and no one knew what his talent was. Even though Vylana had noticed he was different from most men, what she had wanted at the beginning was still just the kind of care Saraya was enjoying.
She wanted someone to cook for her, to be waiting when she came home, to ask whether her day had been tiring. She wanted to snatch up a good opportunity before anyone else saw its value.
But the sight of Erik kneeling before Elowen just now had changed that desire.
Vylana no longer wanted only what he could give her.
She wanted those eyes to look her way too.
A sigh from beside her made Vylana turn.
Laviana was leaning back in a single armchair. The mature woman still wore her usual deep-red dress, her long hair draped over one shoulder. In her hand was a half-finished glass of wine, but from the moment Erik knelt until now, Laviana had barely brought it to her lips.
She watched the screen. Only when Erik helped Elowen wipe her tears did Laviana speak, slowly: "I’m truly jealous."
Vylana was slightly taken aback. She had heard her mother admit to many things, from ambition and desire to calculations that could never be revealed to outsiders. But "jealous" was a word that rarely left Laviana’s mouth.
"Mother?"
Laviana didn’t look at her daughter. Light from the screen swept across her deep-set eyes.
"I’ve seen rings far more expensive than that one, and I’ve attended Pairing banquets so extravagant that the flowers alone could have bought a house. I’ve never lacked the money to buy myself anything I wanted."
She swirled her glass gently. The dark red liquid kissed the rim and slowly settled back down.
"But I’ve never once seen a man stand before everyone, kneel, and say he wanted a Succubus to become his wife."
The corner of Laviana’s lips curved, though the smile held little joy.
"That’s what I’m jealous of."
Vylana looked at her mother’s profile. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she suddenly thought of someone who had almost never appeared in conversations between the two of them.
"Father..."
Laviana turned. Vylana hesitated slightly, but in the end still asked: "Didn’t Father ever do anything like that for you?"
"Don’t call what happened between him and me a proposal."
Laviana’s voice cut in sharply. Vylana immediately fell silent.
Laviana looked toward the lights outside the window. The lazy allure that usually graced her face gradually faded, replaced by a composure so flat it bordered on cold.
"Both families had arranged it in advance. I prepared the dowry, the assets, and everything that was needed. Then he nodded."
She raised the glass of wine, but just as the rim was about to touch her lips, her hand froze in midair.
"The first night after the Contract was finalized, he told me it was nothing more than a duty his family had required. He also reminded me that a man’s status was noble. Even though I’d become his Partner, I was not to enter his room as I pleased, much less touch his body without permission."
Vylana’s fingers slowly curled tight against her knee.
Laviana spoke with perfect calm, as though telling someone else’s story. But the look reflected in the glass panel was no longer as steady as her voice.
"After that..."
She paused, the corner of her mouth twisting into a thin, bitter smile.
"Never mind."
Vylana didn’t ask further. She knew what came next.
From a young age, Vylana had lived with her mother far more than with her father. That man had his own estate and his own attendants. The number of times she saw him in a year could be counted on one hand. Even when he did come back, he stayed only a few hours, collected whatever Laviana had prepared, and left.
Before today, Vylana had never found that particularly strange, because so many families were exactly the same. A man willing to sign a Contract was already considered a stroke of luck. Expecting him to actually care about his Partner, to stay by her side and ask whether she was happy, was an entirely different matter.
And yet, the thing everyone had grown accustomed to accepting had just been shattered by Erik in front of the entire city.
He didn’t merely receive Elowen’s feelings.
He made it clear that her feelings deserved to be returned.
Vylana turned back to the screen. Elowen was clinging to Erik so tightly she looked like she’d never let go. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, but she had never looked so happy.
"Do you have any regrets, Mother?" Vylana asked suddenly.
Laviana was quiet for a few seconds, then gave a soft laugh. "Regret signing the Contract?"
"Yes."
"If I could go back to that moment, I’d probably still sign it." She set her glass down on the table. "The family needed that bond. And back then, I also believed that as long as I became the Partner of a man with status, nothing else mattered."
Vylana looked at her.
Laviana’s gaze drifted toward Erik, her voice dropping slightly. "I just never expected that one day I’d come to understand how much the things I’d overlooked truly mattered."
The music from below swelled again. This time, mixed in with the melody, came the voices of several women chanting Erik’s name together.
Vylana heard it, and something inside her suddenly settled. She rose from the sofa.
Laviana glanced over. "Where are you going?"
"I don’t know yet." Vylana answered bluntly, then looked back at Erik on the screen. "But I’m not going to keep sitting here and waiting."
Laviana narrowed her eyes slightly. "What do you mean?"
Vylana drew a deep breath. The tangled envy from before was gradually crystallizing into something clearer.
"I want to be by his side."
Laviana wasn’t surprised. "I know."
"No." Vylana shook her head. "Before, I just thought Erik was a really good man. I watched Saraya getting his cooking, his care, his attention every day, and I felt jealous. I wanted to steal that chance for myself."
She paused, then admitted the thing that bothered her most.
"Back then, I used Saraya to buy time. I figured as long as she kept looking down on Erik, I could step in at just the right moment without paying too high a price."
Laviana didn’t reproach her. She only asked: "And now?"
"Now it’s different." Vylana looked her mother straight in the eye. "I want him to truly choose me."
A flicker of surprise crossed Laviana’s gaze. "Even though Elowen has already become his wife?"
"Yes."
"After tonight, you won’t be the only one watching him." Laviana’s reminder was perfectly calm. "The number of Succubi trying to get close to Erik will multiply dozens of times over. Among them will be those stronger than you, wealthier than you, and of higher standing than you."
Vylana listened to every word, then nodded. "I know."
"Elowen won’t just stand by and watch you approach him either."
"I know."
"And you still won’t give up?"
Vylana smiled. This time the smile held none of her usual mischief, and there was no hesitation in her blue eyes.
"No. Whatever it takes, I’ll find a way to stand beside him."
Laviana studied her daughter for a long moment. Finally, she laughed, and some of the heaviness on her face eased.
"Then don’t just talk about it."
She set her wine glass aside entirely and stood up.
"Start preparing tomorrow."
Vylana spun toward her at once, eyes lighting up. "You’ll help me?"
"I already put your name on the priority contact list. Of course I’m not stopping now." Laviana walked to the glass wall, gazing at the screen’s reflection against the night sky. "But remember this: you are not to treat him as an opportunity you can calculate around."
Vylana went quiet.
Laviana tilted her head, her voice still soft but her eyes now serious. "Erik is capable of treating someone well simply because that person is sincere with him. If you keep using the same tactics you used with Saraya, the next person pushed out will be you."
Vylana looked at the image of Elowen laughing in Erik’s arms. After a moment, she nodded.
"I understand."
Laviana smiled. "Good."
She turned back to her daughter, and the familiar confidence reappeared in her eyes.
"We’re already far behind Elowen."