Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1735: Null Vessel

While Maiuri stepped into the restroom to change into her night attire, Young Aether quietly wandered around the bedroom with his hands tucked inside his pockets, allowing his curious eyes to examine every detail of the unfamiliar room.

Although the overall decoration retained the warmth of a normal bedroom, countless subtle pieces of futuristic technology had been blended into the furniture so naturally that they almost disappeared into the surroundings.

His attention eventually settled on several framed photographs hanging neatly across the walls.

At first glance, they appeared to be ordinary family pictures, but the moment he stood in front of one, the transparent frame quietly activated.

Tiny blue particles shimmered around its edges before the photograph expanded into a life-sized three-dimensional projection that floated a few centimetres away from the wall. Rather than behaving like a simple recording, the projection possessed remarkable depth, allowing him to shift his viewing angle simply by moving around it as though the memory itself had been preserved inside the frame.

“Haha… You’re so adorable, Maiuri.”

Jonathan’s cheerful voice echoed through the room as the holographic memory replayed itself. Inside the projection, Jonathan happily wrapped his arms around Maiuri before planting a kiss on her lips, causing her cheeks to bloom a deep crimson as she shyly returned the kiss.

Young Aether slowly walked past the remaining projections while watching each memory unfold. Some captured the couple cooking together, others showed Jonathan clumsily attempting to help with household chores before being scolded, while another displayed Maiuri falling asleep on the sofa with Jonathan quietly carrying her back to bed.

Every recorded memory felt genuine, and every smile carried the unmistakable warmth of people who truly cherished one another.

The restroom door quietly slid open with a gentle mechanical chime.

Maiuri stepped outside wearing a modest nightgown, her slightly damp hair resting against her shoulders.

She noticed Young Aether studying the holographic memories before calmly speaking.

“So, Mr. Ae-“

Before she could finish her sentence, Young Aether immediately turned around and raised both hands.

“I’m completely fine sleeping on the floor tonight, so you really don’t need to worry about me.”

Maiuri blinked once before slightly raising an eyebrow.

“I can’t allow my husband’s friend to sleep on the floor while I comfortably occupy the bed. Please use it instead, and I’ll sleep below.”

Young Aether immediately shook his head.

“I’m honestly telling the truth. Sleeping on the floor has become a habit over the years, and I actually find it much more comfortable than sleeping on a soft mattress, so please don’t force yourself to accommodate me.”

Maiuri quietly observed his expression for several moments before giving a small nod after realising he genuinely meant every word.

“If that’s your decision, then I won’t argue any further.”

She had already fulfilled her responsibility by offering him the bed. If Jonathan questioned her tomorrow morning, Young Aether himself would explain that refusing had been entirely his own choice.

Maiuri climbed onto the bed before neatly pulling the blanket over herself.

Young Aether glanced around the room once again before another question naturally surfaced.

“Something just occurred to me,” he said while looking toward the animated photographs decorating the walls. “Why don’t I see Sasha in any of these memories?”

Maiuri followed his gaze before answering without hesitation.

“Sasha only married Jonathan recently, so they haven’t had enough time to record many shared memories yet. Once they spend more time together, they’ll probably create another collection for their own room.”

Young Aether simply smiled.

“You should get some sleep,” Maiuri said softly. “Tomorrow is probably going to be a long day.”

Maiuri quietly tossed him a memory-foam pillow from the bed, which he caught with a grateful smile before thanking her.

He lay comfortably on the floor while staring toward the ceiling, wondering whether someone still needed to manually switch off the lights in a house filled with so much advanced technology.

The answer arrived almost immediately.

Without either of them speaking a command, the room’s intelligent system detected their lowered activity levels and gradually dimmed the wall lights until only a faint golden glow remained.

Seconds later, the ceiling panels silently dissolved into thousands of microscopic display cells, transforming the entire ceiling into a breathtaking panoramic simulation of outer space.

Countless stars shimmered with astonishing realism while distant galaxies slowly drifted across the heavens, and an enormous silver moon revolved with gentle precision above them.

Hidden surround speakers seamlessly blended into the walls began playing soft ambient music accompanied by distant cosmic winds, creating the convincing illusion that they were drifting through the silent depths of space instead of resting inside an ordinary bedroom.

“…Damn.”

Young Aether couldn’t help whispering in genuine admiration.

Young Aether quietly stared at the enormous, beautiful moon for several long seconds until it unexpectedly reminded him of another moon, one that carried a gentle blue glow and the quiet, shy beauty of someone he held dearly in his heart.

A warm smile gradually formed on his lips as the memory lingered in his mind, and he couldn’t help letting out a quiet chuckle at himself.

What the heck was wrong with him?

It hadn’t even been that long since they were separated, yet he already found himself missing his wives more than he had expected.

The smile slowly faded as a more serious expression settled over his face.

‘Log… tell me what exactly happened to me. Why does it feel like I skipped over a piece of time? I can’t sense any interference, nor do I detect the slightest abnormality within my body or soul. Everything feels exactly as it always has, as though nothing ever happened. So tell me, Log… You know exactly what’s going on with me… don’t you?’

!~Ding~!

[Affirmative! Due to the absence of a small fragment of the Host’s soul, the Host had temporarily entered the state designated as the Null Vessel.]

Young Aether frowned as his eyes narrowed in thought.

“A state of Null…?” he asked inwardly. ‘You mean something between life and death?’

!~Ding~!

[Negative! The Host’s biological body remained completely alive throughout the entire process. Only the Host’s soul experienced interference caused by the distortion of Your Time and Space.

Because a fragment of the Host’s soul remained trapped inside the Eternal Prison, the immense Time Dilation and Spatial Expansion acting upon both locations gradually destabilised the Host’s complete soul structure.

As the distance between both soul fragments continued increasing across different cosmos layers, the Host’s soul was stretched beyond its natural limits. To prevent irreversible collapse, the Host’s soul instinctively dispersed itself throughout the distorted Your Time-Space continuum, temporarily vacating its physical vessel while correcting the Time Dilation due to accumulated temporal stress before safely reforming inside the Host’s body.

This phenomenon was only possible because the Host possesses the Strongest Willing Soul together with the Ether Bloodline. Any ordinary or any other strong individual experiencing the same conditions would have permanently entered the state known as the Null Vessel, where the body continues breathing while the soul never returns. Such an individual is neither truly alive nor technically dead, and recovery would be impossible.]

Young Aether slowly rubbed his forehead while absorbing every word.

“…Isn’t that ridiculously dangerous?”

The explanation finally revealed why he had suddenly lost consciousness despite never actually feeling anything unusual happen.

To better understand it, he imagined his soul as a rubber band.

The complete rubber band represented his entire soul, while one end represented the fragment trapped or nailed inside the Eternal Prison. Even after escaping the prison himself, that missing fragment had remained connected to him, causing the entire “rubber band” to stretch across an unimaginable distance from the Eternal Prison all the way back to his empire.

Then…

After arriving inside this empire, where Time itself flowed differently, that already overstretched connection had been pulled even farther apart.

The constant conflict between two different temporal streams twisted and stretched his soul exactly as someone would stretch a rubber band.

For an ordinary person, there would only be one inevitable outcome.

Eventually…

The rubber band would snap.

Once that happened, the soul itself would shatter into countless fragments scattered throughout the cosmos.

Such destruction wasn’t comparable to death, nor could it be repaired through reincarnation or resurrection, because the soul itself would no longer exist as a complete entity capable of reforming.

Only someone possessing an unimaginably ‘will’ soul alongside a bloodline capable of handling Time itself could survive such an impossible phenomenon.

So for Aether… His soul had indeed reached the absolute limit of its endurance.

However, instead of snapping apart, his soul had instinctively shut itself down before catastrophic failure could occur. It temporarily abandoned its physical vessel and dispersed throughout the distorted his Time-Space continuum, allowing the overwhelming temporal stress to gradually dissipate before returning to its original form.

aka… The amount of time required for the rubber band to return to its resting position was the amount of time Aether would miss in reality.

A complicated expression slowly appeared across his face.

‘Then… why didn’t I notice any of this?’ he quietly wondered. ‘It was my own soul. Shouldn’t I have been aware of what was happening?’

The answer arrived almost immediately.

Grace’s words suddenly echoed inside his mind.

“Your soul…? No. From the beginning, it was never yours. You’re not inside your soul… You are inside his.”

Young Aether’s pupils slowly contracted.

His gaze gradually lowered toward the floor.

‘This…’ he whispered inwardly, ‘…wasn’t the first time, was it?’

!~Ding~!

[Affirmative.]

Young Aether slowly closed his eyes.

‘…Fuck.’

Now he finally understood why, one ordinary day, he had been working normally only to suddenly awaken in his own bed without remembering how he had gotten there. At the time, the entire incident had felt strangely disconnected, as though a portion of his life had simply vanished without explanation.

When he questioned his wives, they had merely smiled and told him that he had exhausted himself after overusing the Ethereal Flames and had simply fallen asleep from fatigue.

At the time…

He had accepted their explanation without giving it another thought.

Now, however, another detail quietly resurfaced from the depths of his memory.

Selene.

Aqualina.

Helena.

Sera.

Along with several of his other wives.

Every one of them had greeted him with warm smiles…

Yet behind those smiles, their eyes had been noticeably red and swollen, as though they had spent hours crying before he awakened.

None of them had mentioned what truly happened.

None of them had revealed the truth.

Instead, they had simply smiled through their tears, choosing to quietly carry that burden alone while pretending everything was perfectly normal.

Young Aether hadn’t questioned them any further back then. He simply assumed they had been frightened because the overwhelming power of the Ethereal Flames had placed too much strain on his body.

But now…

Now he finally understood what had truly happened that day.

His heart quietly sank.

He couldn’t even begin to imagine how terrified they must have been.

To them, their husband had suddenly collapsed without warning, his body remaining perfectly still like a lifeless statue while no one could explain what had happened. They must have desperately searched for answers while praying that he would simply open his eyes again.

Merely imagining that scene sent a chill crawling down his spine.

‘When… will this happen again?’ he quietly asked.

!~Ding~!

[Unable to Predict! The probability is directly proportional to the amount of stress placed upon the Host’s soul. The greater the accumulated temporal stress, the sooner another Null Vessel event may occur.]

Young Aether remained silent for several long moments before asking another question.

‘Then… the only solution is to retrieve the missing fragment of my soul… in other words, my hand?’

!~Ding~!

[Affirmative! Recovering the missing fragment remains the Host’s only solution.]

Young Aether slowly stared at the enormous artificial moon drifting across the simulated night sky before quietly covering his eyes with one arm.

A helpless laugh escaped his lips.

‘My entire life has become one gigantic joke.’

The thought alone was enough to give him another headache.

This wasn’t merely an inconvenience.

What if another episode occurred in the middle of a battle?

What if he suddenly entered the Null Vessel state while confronting an enemy far stronger than himself?

The moment his consciousness disappeared, his body would become nothing more than an unmoving target waiting to be slaughtered.

That possibility was far too dangerous to ignore.

Unfortunately…

There was nothing he could do about it tonight.

With another tired sigh, Young Aether decided to leave the problem for tomorrow. His exhausted body had already reached its limit, and continuing to think about impossible solutions would accomplish nothing except rob him of what little rest he could still get.

He slowly closed his eyes.

Before long, his breathing settled into a slow, steady rhythm as sleep quietly claimed him.

Or…

At least, that’s what he thought.

Nah, she didn’t do anything; Maiuri quietly fell asleep almost the moment her head touched the pillow, breathing peacefully without making the slightest movement for the rest of the night.

Young Aether, on the other hand…

Didn’t sleep.

Not even for a minute.

After everything that had happened during dinner, combined with Jonathan’s unwavering trust and Sasha’s completely unpredictable behaviour, there was absolutely no chance he was going to lower his guard.

What if he fell asleep and woke up in some completely ridiculous situation?

What if something happened while he was unconscious?

More importantly…

What if Jonathan walked in at the worst possible moment and misunderstood everything?

No!

Absolutely not!!

He would rather spend the entire night staring at the ceiling than risk waking up to a misunderstanding capable of destroying a lifelong friendship.

Sleep could wait.

His survival, his dignity, and perhaps even his continued existence as Jonathan’s best friend…

Those came first.

At least, Young Aether could proudly say he had his priorities completely straight.

As the hours quietly slipped by, the night slowly faded away.

Since there were no windows inside the room, Young Aether had no way of knowing what was happening outside. There was nothing for him to do except wait for Maiuri to wake up so they could finally call it a new day.

So…

He waited.

Quietly.

Patiently~

Eventually, the faint rustling of blankets reached his ears.

Young Aether immediately shot a glance toward the bed before quickly closing his eyes again the moment he saw Maiuri beginning to wake.

A second later, he even let out a convincing snore, making himself appear as though he had been peacefully sleeping throughout the entire night.

For the next minute, the only sound filling the room was the gentle rustling of sheets.

Young Aether patiently waited for Maiuri to call his name or wake him up.

Nothing happened.

His eyelids remained shut while countless thoughts raced through his mind.

‘…What is she doing?’

Even so, he refused to move.

Another minute passed.

Then another.

The room remained eerily silent.

Just as his curiosity began to outweigh his patience, he sensed a shadow slowly falling across his body.

‘Finally… she’s going to wake me.’

Yet…

Nothing happened.

There wasn’t a single word.

Not even the sound of breathing.

Unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, Young Aether subtly shifted his body just enough to make it appear as though he were unconsciously rolling over in his sleep. At the same time, he barely opened one eye, peeking through his eyelashes to see what was taking so long.

The moment his vision focused…

His entire body nearly jolted.

Maiuri was standing directly above him.

And in her hand…

Was a sharp kitchen knife.

‘…What the fuck?’

Young Aether screamed inwardly, every instinct in his body immediately going on full alert.

His mind rapidly prepared for every possible outcome.

Was she going to stab him?

Had she somehow discovered something about him?

Countless possibilities flashed through his head within seconds.

But…

The knife never moved.

She simply stood there in absolute silence, looking down at him with an unreadable expression while holding the blade at her side.

Young Aether didn’t dare move a single muscle.

He maintained the illusion of being asleep while secretly preparing to react if the situation changed even slightly.

One minute became five.

Five became ten.

Ten gradually stretched into nearly… half an hour.

Throughout that entire time, Maiuri remained standing there almost like a statue, quietly staring at him without making the slightest movement.

Then…

Without warning…

She simply turned around.

Carrying the knife as though nothing unusual had happened, she calmly walked toward the restroom before closing the door behind her.

The moment the door shut, Young Aether immediately sat upright.

He stared blankly at the restroom door for several long seconds, his brain completely failing to process what had just happened.

“…What the actual fuck was that?” He murmured in shock.

He was absolutely certain he hadn’t imagined it.

She had been holding a knife.

She had been standing over him.

And she had remained there long enough to make anyone believe they were moments away from being murdered.

Yet… She never did anything.

Young Aether slowly rubbed his forehead, his face filled with utter confusion.

One woman trying to seduce him.

Another trying to kill him?

He honestly couldn’t decide which situation was more terrifying.

“…But why?”