Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1606: Bro... Really? Going after your other Mother-in-law too? That’s sooo Low!

”Oh? Aether? I thought I saw someone entering your room...”

A gentle, lovely voice drifted from behind him.

Aether turned, and there she was... Emberlyn, peeking from behind the door, her figure half-hidden.

”Yup, Mother-in-law. Did you miss me?” Aether asked jokingly as he watched her step inside.

She held several documents in her hands, pressing gently against her body. It was clear she too had been working...

Emberlyn’s lips twitched faintly.

Of course, she knew he was joking.

It had barely been a day since he left the palace.

Still, hearing his voice again stirred something quiet within her chest. She stepped closer, drawn without thought.

Her brows drew together, her steps halting as her gaze fixed on the skull mask covering his face.

The hollow sockets stared back at her, ”What are you wearing?” she asked.

Aether exhaled softly, ”It’s... nothing.”

Emberlyn’s fingers tightened faintly around the documents. ”Show me your face.”

”Huh?”

She did not hesitate. Closing the distance, she stood directly before him, close enough to feel the faint warmth radiating from his body.

”I need to see your face.”

Her voice carried firm seriousness, yet beneath it lingered... Worry.

She had heard everything. Every detail. Every risk he took. And she knew him well enough to understand that he would hide pain behind silence, behind pride.

What if he was hiding wounds behind that mask?

”I am telling you, this is not what you think—”

”Show me!!”

The sharpness in her voice cut through his words, leaving no room for refusal.

Aether paused, his gaze settling on her face, noticing the faint tremble in her lips... the worry itched on her obvious face.

’Sigh... you asked for it.’

Aether reached up, removing the skull mask in a slow, deliberate motion. The movement carried a quiet elegance, almost like unveiling a treasure. His fingers slid through his hair as he tilted his head slightly, confidence flickering in his eyes.

”How is it—Wait! Why are you there?”

His words broke mid-air.

Emberlyn was no longer in front of him.

She stood far away. Nearly twenty steps. As if she had been pushed back by something unseen.

That distance struck deeper than expected.

It was worse than Nyx.

That... hurt.

”Seriously...?” Aether muttered, his pride taking a direct hit, his brows twitching faintly.

Emberlyn, however, was far from composed. Her body leaned back slightly, as if resisting an invisible pull, yet her eyes... her eyes refused to leave him.

Her heart pounded wildly, each beat echoing louder than the last, while heat flooded her cheeks, spreading uncontrollably across her face and down her neck.

’W-What’s going on...? The moment I saw his face... everything... everything changed...’

Her thoughts trembled, scattering as the image replayed again and again. The moment he removed the mask.

The way his features revealed themselves... The way the light seemed to cling to him.

It was overwhelming!

It was... captivating!!

A beauty that did not simply exist.

Handsome?

He was way past that line!

A man who defied all logic of handsomeness!!

Before she realised it, her legs had already moved back on their own, retreating as if instinct had taken control, as if her body sought safety from something dangerously alluring.

”W-Who are you?” she asked with a trembling tone.

”Who am I? Of course, your beloved son-in-law~”

”HIIGG!”

A soft, broken sound escaped her as her hands rose instinctively, hovering near her chest. Even his voice... it wrapped around her senses, smooth, deep, yet laced with something dangerously sweet.

It sent a faint shiver down her spine, her body reacting before her thoughts could catch up.

It didn’t happen when he first talked to her... why?

Aether watched her, a faint smirk forming as curiosity deepened.

’Damn... did I become that hot?’

He glanced at the mirror briefly, studying his reflection.

Nothing seemed different.

The same face.

Then why...?

’Maybe I am leaking pheromones... something that pulls others in?’

But that did not explain everything.

It was not just women. Everyone reacted... Men, women, children and even old people.

’Something closer to... Mary?’ He wondered. ’Because Mary is Lia’s mother, who has the same blood as her... did I inherit something deeper through blood?’

But the answer would not come unless...

[Mutation Progress: 85%....]

Aether exhaled slowly, ’Sigh, why is it taking so long?’ letting it go for now, his attention returning to Emberlyn.

His beloved mother-in-law, who was trembling like a squirrel caught in a net that was never meant to trap her, her fragile composure unravelling under his gaze.

”N-No way... M-My son-in-law is not this h-handsome... I... I mean, he is... but this... this is different... ahh...” Emberlyn stammered, her voice breaking, her face burning as her fingers tightened against her dress unconsciously, pressing lightly against her own curves as if grounding herself.

Aether’s lips twitched faintly.

’Oh god! She is so cute... no, no! She is your mother-in-law, for fuck’s sake, fucker!’

He clenched his fist subtly, forcing his thoughts back into place, though his ego had already taken intoxicating satisfaction from her reaction.

”I-It’s fine... I understand, but I am really Aether. It’s just I got some quirk, I guess... ahah.”

Aether tried his best to diffuse the bomb, though even he could hear the slight roughness in his voice, as if something deeper stirred beneath the surface.

And yet...

”R-Really? You are my...”

Emberlyn slowly lifted her tear-filled eyes toward him, her lashes trembling, her fingers nervously tucking a strand of hair near her face, partially hiding her flushed expression. Her body leaned forward ever so slightly, as if drawn despite herself, caught between hesitation and something dangerously close to longing.

And in the softest, most heart-tugging sweet-shy voice he had ever heard,

”M-My ha-handsome son-in-law?”

”...”

A moment of silence stretched between them, until—

”Fuck it!”

Step!

In the next instant, Aether stood right before her, closing the distance as if space itself had folded for him.

”KYA!”

Thud!

The documents slipped from Emberlyn’s hands, scattering softly across the floor as her body stiffened instantly. Her spine straightened, while heat rushed violently to her cheeks, blooming across her skin in a deep crimson.

”W-What are you doing?”

She looked small like that... Trembling and Fragile!

Like a kitten caught between fear and something it could not understand.

Aether’s lips twitched, threatening to curl into something far more dangerous, something he barely restrained.

”Why don’t you look at me first?”

!!

Emberlyn lowered her head even further, her gaze dropping as if the ground could shield her.

She refused to look up.

Refused to meet his eyes.

But his fingers moved.

They slid beneath her chin, catching it gently, yet firmly, lifting her face upward inch by inch.

For a brief moment, he felt resistance.

A faint hesitation in her movement.

Then it melted.

”Did I become handsome to my beloved mother-in-law?~”

He whispered smoothly, carrying a teasing warmth that brushed far too closely against something forbidden.

!!!

A shiver ran down Emberlyn’s spine, her body reacting before her thoughts could catch up. Her face deepened in colour, warmth spreading uncontrollably as her body softened, subtly leaning into his presence without meaning to.

Her head lifted slowly.

Yet her eyes...

Her eyes still refused to meet his.

That hesitation only fed something inside him.

He leaned closer, his voice dropping further, quieter, almost coaxing,

”Scared to see your handsome son-in-law, Naugthy Mother-in-law?~”

!!!!

Emberlyn trembled harder, her lashes quivering as her eyes grew wetter, shimmering faintly. Her body shrank slightly, shoulders curling inward, like a frightened little kitten facing something overwhelming for the first time.

And yet... she did not move away.

That contradiction stirred something deeper within him.

Oh god... he felt like he wanted to push her further, to see how far that fragile composure would break.

To make her cry~

Of course not pain but... You know~

She was too expressive.

Too soft and Too... captivating.

Aether bit his lip, forcing himself to hold back, though the sight before him tested every thread of restraint he had.

His breath slowed as his gaze dropped, tracing the delicate line of her face, the faint tremble of her lips, the rise and fall of her chest.

Gulp~

He swallowed, his gaze slowly dropping to her lips, then rising again, as he leaned closer... drawn toward her warmth, toward the quiet, forbidden tension building between them.

Noticing his closeness, Emberlyn’s heart skipped violently, her eyes fluttering shut on their own as if bracing for something she both feared and couldn’t resist. Her breath turned warm, uneven, brushing lightly between them.

”A-Aether...”

She barely managed to whisper, as if asking him to stop yet... her lips parting slightly, trembling, as if waiting without realising it.

As if responding to him without permission!

Their faces inched closer... closer... until the space between them was nothing but shared warmth and quiet, shaky breaths.

Each breath mingling.

Each second stretching.

The faint sound of deep wet swallowing echoed between them, both of them caught in the same suspended moment, unable to step back, unable to step forward without consequence.

Aether screaming inside, ’Push me, Push me... PUSH ME DAMIT IT!’

Yet, those hands of her just clenched behind her back, trembling and shaking violently.

Her quivering lips puckered...

Yup, that’s it!

Fuck Everything! And Everyone!!

Then Aether leaned in—

”So, here you are, you thieving biiiittttccchhh~”

A voice, cold as ice, sliced through the room and ruined the hot air.

Both of them flinched instantly.

They turned toward the doorway.

There she stood.

The ice-cold princess.

Selene Frostblade!

Her dark eyes swirled like an endless void, her gaze fixed on them, her lips curved into an ever-so smile.

Gulp!

Aether swallowed his dry throat.

He knew that smile.

And... It was anything but a smile!