Chapter 160: Absolute Chaos
"Wasn’t I a cutie when I was a child?" Seraphina’s voice came from behind Vlad while he was looking at the painting with her parents.
He turned, finding Seraphina standing there with a playful smile, wearing black shorts with white strips and a loose white t-shirt off-shoulder from one side, revealing her collarbone. She was leaned forward, holding her hands behind her back. Her damp hair was tied in a heavy bun, drops of water falling onto the floor from the few strands parallel to her temples.
’Why is she so defenseless?’ He sighed inwardly, his eyes moving sideways, not knowing where to look.
"Yeah, you looked adorable when you were young," he agreed, scratching his temple.
"And how do I look now?" she asked, resting a hand on her waist as she turned on her heel, giving him a playful look.
Only for a moment, Vlad’s eyes fell on her rear, the shorts doing little to no work hiding her curves.
"S-stop playing around," he muttered, turning his head to the side. "Tell me your plan to help me escape."
"Did you just look at my butt?" Seraphina demanded, her eyes narrowing at Vlad.
The unexpected question caught Vlad completely off-guard. His eyebrows twitched and his expression froze, as though his mind had suddenly stopped working.
"You just looked at my butt," Seraphina repeated, this time with certainty as she slowly moved towards Vlad, her lips curling into a playful smile.
Seeing Vlad not even trying to defend himself, she grabbed his t-shirt by the collar. She hissed sharply, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"W-well, it’s not my fault if you sway your hips like that in those shorts, which are barely hiding anything," he blurted out, his cheeks turning slightly red. "Besides, it would have been more disrespectful if I didn’t look when you were deliberately asking for it."
Now, it was Seraphina who felt a bit embarrassed by his unfiltered mouth, the corner of her eyebrow twitching. Even though she deliberately swayed her hips before him, how dare he call her out for that?
"That’s what every harasser would say," Seraphina countered, her grip tightening on his t-shirt. "Are you finally showing your true colors in front of a helpless girl in an alone room?"
"With all due respect, you may be anyone but a helpless girl, Sera," Vlad scoffed, now slowly regaining his composure as he moved his head to the front again, looking her in the eye. "Just last night, you wrestled me like a gorilla."
"G-gorilla!?" Seraphina exclaimed, her jaw dropping. "Which part of me gives you the impression of a gorilla?"
"I meant it as a metaphor," he sighed, removing her hand from his t-shirt.
"Hmph, you still didn’t deny checking me out," she retorted, her eyes narrowed at him sharply. "So in exchange, answer my first question that you dodged."
"Which one?"
"How do I look now that I’m an adult?" she asked, her tone low.
"You are a confident girl," Vlad sighed. "Why do you need validation from me?"
"Just answer the damn question," she snapped, her voice turning louder.
"You are gorgeous, of course," Vlad mumbled as he moved past her awkwardly.
His simple words sent butterflies dancing across her stomach, her face instantly blooming red. For a brief moment, she stood there frozen, completely forgetting the teasing expression she had been wearing.
"I-I shall let your offence pass this time," she muttered, saying the exact opposite of what she was thinking. ’Yes! Yes! Finally, for the first time, I made him look at me. He even got flustered and called me gorgeous.’
While she was squirming in her place, Vlad settled on the sofa. He wanted to ask Seraphina about her mother, but he held back his curiosity this time. He wasn’t an idiot enough to bring up the topic that would definitely sadden her.
A moment later, when Seraphina pulled herself together, she moved towards her dressing mirror, from where she grabbed her makeup kit. Then she reached her wardrobe and grabbed something, making sure Vlad couldn’t see. At last, she grabbed two melons from her kitchen.
"Commoner, here is the method to help you safely escape the dormitory," she began as she placed all the things on the table.
Vlad’s eyes moved from the makeup kit to the melons and, at last, the black-colored cup bra. His expression slowly darkened as the pieces of her plan came together in his mind.
"Definitely not!" Vlad declared in a firm tone before Seraphina could even begin, realizing what was going on in her mind.
"At least listen to the ide—"
"I’m not doing it!" Vlad shook his head, cutting her off mid-sentence.
Seraphina’s brows furrowed. "What’s wrong with it?" she muttered. "You have long hair and a pretty face. Just a little patch-up and no one will know."
"I’m not repeating myself," Vlad’s voice came sharp and final. "I will stay here till midnight if I have to. But no matter what, I’m not cross-dressing!"
"You cannot do that," Seraphina insisted as she grabbed a lipstick and crawled on the table towards Vlad, her eyes burning like those of a hungry predator. The determined glint in her eyes made Vlad realize that she wasn’t asking for his permission anymore. "I have received the news that the other team eligible for S-Ranked quest will return by evening. You need to be promoted to a knight before that so we can submit our party."
"S-Sera, st-stay away," Vlad muttered, feeling chills running through him as she reached the edge of the table.
He was about to run for his life when she placed a magic circle on his stomach. Numerous vines emerged from the circle, binding him to the sofa. "You aren’t going anywhere," she said, uncapping the lipstick and sitting at the edge of the table. "Now be a good boy and give me a pout so I can put on the lipstick."
"S-Sexual harrasment, this is sexual harrasment," Vlad screamed out, frustration and anger clear on his face. He snapped his head back-and-forth as he muttered, "Don’t push your luck, Sera. Move away or I will really get angry."
His words fell on deaf ears. Her demeanor had completely changed, her eyes filled with nothing but excitement. She always wanted to try her makeup skills on a man to see how she could transform them. She had already developed her skills on her first victi—model, Lucas Cendral, and now, it was finally time for her to show those honed skills.
As the red lipstick drew closer to his lips, his warnings turned into pleading. "Sera, you aren’t thinking clearly. Calm down. You are committing a crime right now."
"I am completely calm, commoner," Seraphina replied. "Tell me, do you have a better option. If yes, I will stop right here."
No words came out from Vlad. As much as he hated the idea, he couldn’t think of any alternative either.
"See, there is none," Seraphina chuckled, lifting his face with one hand. "Now, co-operate, will you?"
The lipstick was about to touch his lips when he muttered inwardly, ’Words won’t take me anywhere. I must act, otherwise my dignity will be completely destroyed today.’
Knowing he would not be able to completely undo the bindings, which were formed of a Four-Ring spell, he focused his umbra mana to one leg, below his knee.
It took almost half of his mana and his barbaric physical strength just to rupture the vine below his knee on one leg. The instant it was undone, his leg shot straight from the knee, the foot striking the table with a sharp impact.
"H-how did you..." Seraphina gasped as she was hurled into the air from the strike, along with all the stuff placed on the table. She landed on Vlad’s lap, but her balance was off.
She began falling backward. Her hands instinctively grabbed Vlad’s t-shirt by the neck.
The t-shirt tore open, unable to hold her weight. Vlad’s eyes widened as he saw the sharp corner of the table where Seraphina’s head was about to hit.
He channeled his remaining mana into one arm, destroying the vines and grabbing Seraphina by the waist just at the last moment.
At the same time, the bra that was hurled into the air from the kick landed on Vlad’s head.
"Th-that was really dangerous," Vlad gasped, his breathing heavy due to his empty core as the torn t-shirt fell from his shoulder.
"Th-thank you," Seraphina whispered, her eyes lowering. She was about to move when suddenly the door of the room opened.
"Lady Seraphina, wake up," Sophia said from the entrance. "We have an important lecture at twel—"
Her words stopped mid-sentence as her emerald eyes fell on the duo at the sofa. Her jaw almost dropped to the floor from the sight, her face flashing red.
"I’m so sorry, Lady Seraphina," she declared as she bolted out, shutting the door behind her.