CHAPTER 75: PERVERTED HEROINE

He had barely seen Elara these past few days... though it was for good reason.

According to Vanessa, she was off learning how to control plasma so she wouldn’t hurt anyone and since she was hugging him, she must have mastered it.

Lucius hugged her back, letting her smaller frame sink into his chest.

For all the power she carried, Elara always felt fragile when she pressed against him.

She smelled faintly of Vanessa’s perfume and she was wearing her Grimmaw uniform too, apparently it was a busy day but she was still energetic.

She tilted her face up toward him, eyes half-lidded with relief, before darting a glance past his shoulder at Luna, who was still yawning.

Luna didn’t even bother hiding her boredom.

In reality, she didn’t care one bit about what was happening — not when Lucius had told her ear earlier that he’d knock her up later.

"I’ll get going," Luna mumbled, cheeks glowing red as she turned and ran inside, trying to cover her flustered look with an exaggerated yawn.

Lucius chuckled.

"Don’t forget to take the armor off!" he called after her retreating back.

He really needed a break from missions.

His body ached, his mind buzzed, and honestly, he just wanted a day to act like a normal guy.

Vanessa still owed him a date — he wasn’t letting her get away with that.

If she was free tomorrow, he’d drag her out for that and maybe hunt for a new post for his Stitch.

But for now, his attention was drawn back to the girl still clinging to him like a lifeline.

"How do you feel now?" Lucius asked, shifting his arm around her shoulders as they started inside.

Elara hesitated before answering, her lashes trembling.

"Vanessa made me take many tests," she said quietly.

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Tests?"

"My element is very radioactive," she admitted, voice small. "When I activate it, there’s always a risk I could burn even my allies."

Lucius closed the door behind them, muffling the outside world.

He studied her face, the way her brows furrowed as though she didn’t exactly know what to say... he decided he didn’t like that expression on her face.

"But you’ve solved it, haven’t you?" he asked gently.

She nodded quickly, almost eagerly, as though needing his approval.

"I can use my power freely now," she said with a brightening smile, her voice carrying pride in her efforts.

Then her tone shifted, her words laced with a different kind of hope. "Which means we can sleep together again."

Lucius smirked.

"Yeah." He turned toward the stairs, loosening his shoulders. "Let me get a shower first."

Elara’s eyes lingered on him as he ascended, she looked relieved as she touched her lips.

’I’ll do it again.’

...

Lucius opened the door to his room and froze.

His clothes were scattered across the bed, tossed around like props in a bad comedy skit.

And there, perched on his sheets, was Emilia.

She had her nose buried in one of his shirts, sniffing deeply with the kind of shameless delight only she could muster.

Another piece of clothing was suspiciously beneath her skirt, and her face was twisted in the kind of guilty pleasure that could never make it past censorship.

Lucius’ eyes shrunk.

He wasn’t surprised. No — if anything, he was resigned.

Emilia was the "perverted" heroine, after all.

The novel had made it her entire identity.

In fact, these kinds of scenes were normal in the original draft.

The manhwa had cut them out — of course it had. No publisher would let this kind of thing slide.

The anime too would have censored it, replaced it with some half-baked gag or slap.

But in reality? This was Emilia.

Another pervert in these series...

And worst of all? She was flat.

No boobs.

Nothing to soften the blow of her ridiculous antics.

"Ahem." Lucius cleared his throat.

Emilia jolted like a thief caught in the act, flinging his shirt aside and scrambling upright.

Her hands tangled together nervously, her face flushed, her entire demeanor shifting into frantic denial.

"Lu-lu-Lucius..." she stammered, raising her palms in surrender. "I swear it’s not what you think!"

Lucius sighed, tugging his jacket off and hanging it neatly on the stand.

Her eyes followed the movement like a cat watching prey, which only deepened his exasperation.

"Pervert," he muttered under his breath.

Her cheeks turned scarlet, her lips trembling at the accusation, but she didn’t dare defend herself.

"If you’re done, you can leave," he said flatly.

She bolted, dashing past him like a rabbit escaping a fox.

The door slammed behind her, and silence filled the room once more.

Lucius ran a hand down his face.

"At this point, should I be happy or sad?" he muttered to himself, peeling off his shirt.

Before he could think further, the door creaked open again.

Vanessa stepped inside, balancing a tray with two teacups, her movements careful and refined as always.

She opened her mouth to speak, but her words stopped when she caught sight of his bare torso.

Her face flushed instantly, heat rising to her cheeks.

Lucius rolled his eyes. "Come on, you’ve seen me shirtless plenty of times by now."

"I... I know..." she stammered, shifting awkwardly as she tried not to stare.

Her gaze flicked toward the bed instead, and her blush deepened when she noticed the scattered clothes.

"Wait... did something happen here?"

Lucius grabbed a towel from the chair, tossing it onto the bed to cover where Emilia had been sitting.

"You don’t want to know," he said, tone dry.

She studied him for a moment longer, lips parting as though she wanted to push further.

But then she sighed, her shoulders dropping in quiet surrender.

She set the tray down on the small table, the clink of porcelain cutting through the air.

"Here," she said softly, extending a cup toward him. "I made some tea."

He accepted it, the warmth of the cup making him sigh in relief.

Vanessa’s eyes fell on him for a second more before she offered a faint smile.

"Also... nice stream."