Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Helena… she had been watching Aether all this time.

Ever since Aether started working here… she had been quietly, secretly watching him from the shadows. Her eyes would sneak glances when no one was looking. Her heart would pound whenever he walked by. She watched him with a silent longing she never dared to voice.

Stare…

She stared at him like a hawk, closely observing his every move. Every shift of his hands, every breath he took, she watched it all. It seemed like he was genuinely focused on work—not flirting, not teasing, not chasing after that dragon girl like he did with the others.

And that… that made her oddly happy. It made her heart breathe a little easier. Just seeing him work, just seeing him not trying to seduce someone else… it gave her a faint, foolish hope.

Snowflake had always been beside her, always whispering, always pushing her forward. But Helena… she hesitated. She wanted to speak to him. She wanted to walk right up and ask him everything that burned in her chest. But every time she took a step forward, something inside her froze. Her feet stopped, her lips tightened, and her chest ached with a fear she couldn’t name—a fear of being broken again.

So… she just kept watching him from a distance. All week long, hiding behind corners, pretending not to care.

Of course, Aether knew. He had sensed her presence, her eyes. But he ignored her… he let her be, as if waiting for her to come to him on her own.

She watched him… closer and closer, inch by inch.

“You are getting closer,” Aether muttered in a tired, quiet voice.

Helena flinched. Her heart jumped. She didn’t expect him to speak, didn’t expect him to notice. And in that moment, like a scared animal, she ran—ran back and hid again, peeking from afar. She continued her usual routine, letting people inside one by one… while inside her, chaos and confusion slowly brewed.

And in that chaos… the snake whispered.

“You should go for him… what are you waiting for, good bitch~” Snowflake purred with a sharp grin and a filthy mouth.

And finally—finally—after countless moments of self-doubt, denial, and battling the war inside her heart, Helena gathered what little courage she had. She clenched it tightly in her shaking hands. She decided to stop running.

She came to face him—directly, face to face.

No more hiding… No more shadows… No more silence.

It was time to confront her heart.

It was time to confront her love.

Helena sat nervously on the bed, her hands trembling in her lap. Her breath was unsteady, her chest tight. And then she saw him—Aether—stepping into the room, calm as ever.

Aether smiled gently, “Looks like you finally decided… ah?”

Helena gave a stiff nod, her face blank, her emotions sealed behind an indifferent mask. She muttered, almost coldly, “Yeah… I came here to give you my answer.”

Aether nodded softly. He pulled a chair in front of her and sat down, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m ready,” he said, waiting—truly ready to listen.

“…” Helena was silent for a long second. Her lips parted, closed, and opened again. Then, finally, the dam cracked.

“You… you tricked me,” she began, her voice trembling with the weight of the pain inside her. “You made me feel something I never felt before… something real. You reached into me, touched a place I didn’t even know existed. You didn’t just trick me… You made me believe. And not just me—you made other women fall for you, too. One after another, they gave you their hearts. And you… You used them like they were nothing! Like they were toys for your amusement!”

Her voice cracked, eyes glistening. “And now… now you dare to say you love them?! How dare you!!”

She screamed, her voice raw with fury, betrayal, and heartbreak.

Aether took a slow breath. He didn’t speak. Not yet. He let her speak first—he let her bleed it all out.

And she did.

She poured it all out—every feeling she had buried. The anger, the fear, the heartbreak, the confusion. Every ignored moment, every fake smile, every lie. It came rushing out like a flood bursting through a cracked dam.

“I loved you, Aether… I really did. I still do! But I’m scared. I’m so damn scared!” Her voice shook with every word. “The fear that you’ll lie to me again… that fear eats at me, makes me question everything. Makes me question whether my love even matters to you.

Do you think I’m a fool?

What do you really want?

Freedom, right? You wanted freedom. Well, now you’ve got it, then why are you still here?! Why are you still inside my heart like a ghost, haunting me, torturing me!”

She grabbed a pillow and hurled it at his face, her hands trembling.

Aether didn’t flinch. He let it hit him. He let her be.

Tears streamed down Helena’s cheeks, uncontrollably now. Her voice broke, softer, rawer.

“I… I really want to live… I want to be happy… I want someone who will love me, just once… without lies, without games… I just wanted something real. I…” she sobbed, each word struggling to leave her lips, “…I’m just an orphan. My m-mother abandoned me. I don’t even know who my father is. I grew up with no one. No warmth, no love. I’m just… nobody. And then you came, Aether… you gave me hope. You made me believe someone like me could be loved. But now… now you’re telling me all of that was false? That it meant nothing?”

She looked into his eyes, face broken, trembling from pain too deep to describe.

“How cruel are you, Aether… how could you do this to me? Did you think you could just play with me and walk away? You think no one would care? That no one would come for someone like me? You’re right… I’m just nobody…”

Aether clenched his fists the moment he heard her words. His eyes trembled ever so slightly, pain flickering deep within them. He stood up slowly, each step heavy, before walking toward her—and without a word, he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

Helena flinched, caught off guard by the sudden warmth pressing against her trembling frame. Her voice cracked as she muttered, “What? Trying to console me now? After ignoring me like I was n-othing? A-After walking away without a word? A-After treating me like a stranger?” Her voice broke between sentences, the pain behind each word heavier than the last.

Aether said nothing. He held her tighter in silence, his chin resting against her shoulder, breathing in her scent like he was afraid to lose it again.

Helena… just stared at his face blankly. There was no smile on her lips, no softness in her gaze—only a quiet, suffocating storm. She could feel his worry, feel the tightness in his body, the way his arms trembled slightly around her. And yet… his face looked calm, almost normal.

“How can you hide it so well…?” she whispered, her voice low, broken, and full of disbelief. “I really don’t understand you, Aether.”

Aether gave a faint, bitter smile. For the first time, his voice came out like a whisper drenched in regret. “Neither do I.”

He gently raised his hand and patted her head, a soft, trembling touch full of guilt. “I’m not the good guy, Helena… I lied to you. I tricked you. I made you believe in things I didn’t deserve. I cheated your heart.

But… you were never nobody to me…. Never.”

His voice faltered for a second as he swallowed hard, holding back a wave of emotion. “I don’t care about your past. I don’t care who your mother or father were. What I care about is the woman in front of me. This woman… this beautiful, broken, pure-hearted woman—I love her. I love her more than anything I’ve ever known. Even if the world says it’s wrong… even if I don’t deserve to say it… I just want you to know now—I love you, Helena. From my heart. Until the end.”

He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. It was soft, trembling, and tender. A single tear formed in his eye as he pulled back just enough to look at her face. And in that moment… she smiled faintly—one of those rare, lovely smiles that used to make his heart skip.

But it didn’t last.

Helena stared at his face, her expression going still again. And then she parted her lips and spoke, her voice flat, emotionless, but final.

“Let’s end this, Aether.”

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