Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1720: Three Words

After hearing the details of Young Aether’s rebirth and survival, Jonny’s eyes gradually turned red and teary. Before long, tears were freely streaming down his face. Sasha was in an even worse state, her shoulders trembling as she cried openly while clutching a cushion against her chest.

Honestly, the way Young Aether narrated the story, the way he conveyed every emotion and hardship he had experienced… damn, the bastard was frighteningly good at it.

“I-I can’t believe you lived through something like that…” Sasha muttered between sniffles, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. “No one should have to go through all of that alone… it must have been so hard… so incredibly hard…”

Maiuri quietly nodded. Although she maintained her usual elegance, the moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes betrayed her emotions as she gently dabbed away her tears.

Meanwhile, the source of everyone’s sorrow calmly sipped his tea and ate a cookie.

The warm aroma of freshly brewed tea drifted through the room while the soft morning light filtered through the windows, creating an oddly peaceful contrast to the emotional atmosphere.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Jonny suddenly stood up and wrapped Young Aether in another hug.

“I… I’m s-sorry,” Jonny said, his voice shaking. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of t-that a-again… I know it doesn’t change anything now, but… I really wish I had been there with you.”

Hearing those heartfelt words, Young Aether’s expression softened. His eyes lowered briefly before he gently patted Jonny’s shoulder in reassurance.

Very few people could truly understand why Young Aether trusted his friends more than anyone else in this world.

His friends had been the pillars supporting his life. If they had not stood beside him after his ex left… who knew what kind of decision he might have made in those dark days?

People often spoke about having the will to live, but even determination had its limits.

Back then, Aether had already reached his own breaking point and was barely managing to hold himself together. The fragile thread keeping him standing had finally snapped the moment ‘She’ walked away.

Some people might call it cowardice… Others might call it pathetic.

Perhaps they were right.

But at the end of the day, this man… no, this boy… wasn’t asking for wealth, fame, power, or anything extraordinary. All he had ever wanted… no, ever needed, was a little bit of love and genuine affection.

Was that really such a difficult thing to ask for?

He never truly understood it. After all, he had always given everything he could to the people he cared about.

Perhaps it was because people who lacked something often valued it the most.

They would give it away freely to others, almost as if trying to share the very thing they desperately wished to receive themselves.

And in the end, the only people who gave him that warmth without asking for anything in return were his friends…. until his death!

Nobody else!!

“You guys actually believe me?” Young Aether asked softly.

Jonny slowly released the hug and moved back to sit beside him on the couch. Even then, he remained unusually close, almost as if he was worried Young Aether might disappear the moment he looked away.

Honestly, Young Aether hadn’t thought much about it before, but now that he considered it carefully, his friend had accepted his story surprisingly easily.

It was almost as if they had simply responded with, ‘Yeah, that sounds about right.’

Was it really that easy to accept that someone had been reborn?

Hell, even after everything he had personally experienced, Young Aether was certain he would be shocked beyond belief if one of his own friends suddenly told him they had been reincarnated.

At first, he assumed Jonny’s reaction was because he was a novel writer who spent most of his time reading and imagining fantastical stories. It would make sense for someone like him to accept impossible concepts more easily.

To his surprise, neither Sasha nor Maiuri appeared particularly shocked either. They had certainly been emotional about his suffering, but the fact that he had literally been reborn seemed far less important to them than the pain he had endured.

That realisation left Young Aether genuinely puzzled.

Jonny chuckled and shook his head.

“Bro, after everything we’ve been through, your story honestly doesn’t sound that crazy anymore. Compared to some of the nonsense we’ve witnessed, you being reborn in a different empire feels surprisingly normal.”

Only then did Young Aether realise something.

Whatever had happened to these people during the past fourteen years had apparently made them numb to almost everything.

“Since I told you everythi…”

“Wait.” Sasha suddenly raised her hand. “The other worlders can’t enter Hell’s Gate without the Goddess’s permission, right?”

After all, every other worlder they knew had been unable to pass through the portal freely like they had.

Young Aether simply shrugged with the same innocent expression.

“I don’t know.”

Jonny frowned and leaned back against the couch. A few seconds later, the familiar look of a novelist trying to patch a plot hole appeared on his face.

“Maybe it’s because he’s related to this world?” Jonny suggested. “Think about it. Even though he was reincarnated somewhere else, he still carried memories from this world. Maybe the Goddess’s power recognised him as a native resident rather than an outsider. The system probably didn’t register him as an irregularity and just let him pass through.”

Young Aether immediately nodded with a bright smile.

This was exactly why he loved his friends.

They could create entire explanations out of thin air and somehow make them sound completely reasonable. In fact, Aether had learned that particular talent from them over the years.

Hearing Jonny’s theory, both women slowly nodded in understanding.

Honestly, it sounded believable enough.

“Wait!” Maiuri suddenly interrupted. “You still haven’t explained how you ended up here specifically. I understand falling through Hell’s Gate and arriving somewhere unexpected, but why Delta?”

A small frown appeared on her beautiful face.

The first half of the story was easy enough to accept. They themselves had experienced enough bizarre situations to believe that. However, the fact that he had somehow ended up in Delta City of all places seemed far too specific to be random.

Young Aether rubbed the back of his neck before answering in an unusually soft voice.

“I was… searching for my friends.”

“Oh?”

All three of them raised their eyebrows simultaneously.

Young Aether awkwardly smiled.

“Well… it’s only been fourteen years since I left. So I thought maybe… just maybe… my friends were still alive. That’s why I decided to look for them. Honestly, I never expected to find Jonny this quickly.” He let out a laugh.

“Talk about an insane c-coincidence… Haha.”

Jonny laughed and nodded.

“Man, if you hadn’t shown up when you did, I would’ve been dead. It almost feels like fate dragged you all the way here just to save me.”

Young Aether smiled and nodded in agreement.

He had felt the same thing.

As though some invisible force had guided their paths together.

For a brief moment, it almost felt as if the world itself had decided to grant him a grain of kindness~

Maiuri shook her head with a soft smile.

“You should know something, Mr. Aether. Your friend talks about you day and night. It reached the point where I was genuinely getting annoyed.” She crossed her arms. “Honestly, there were moments when I felt like punching whoever this mysterious Aether was.”

Young Aether visibly jerked.

“C-Calm down, Sister.”

He immediately turned toward Jonny and pointed an accusing finger.

“Fuck you. Were you trying to make us fight before we even met?”

“Hahaha! I would’ve paid to watch that happen.”

Jonny laughed even harder.

At the same time, he couldn’t hide a small hint of surprise.

Young Aether had called Maiuri “Sister” without the slightest hesitation, as though he had naturally accepted Jonny’s wife as part of his own family.

The gesture was so casual that it felt completely genuine.

Young Aether then turned toward Sasha.

A quiet smile spread across his face as he deliberately raised his voice.

“I hope I didn’t offend you too… SISTER!”

Marking a line!

For a moment, silence filled the room.

[+1000 AP]

Gulp

Young Aether gulped inwardly as he watched Sasha burst into laughter.

“Haha… It’s fine, it’s fine,” Sasha said while wiping away the remaining tears from the corners of her eyes. “And you don’t need to call me Sister. I think we’re around the same age anyway, so just call me Sasha. That’s perfectly fine.”

Young Aether awkwardly glanced toward Jonny, who immediately noticed the slight discomfort on his friend’s face.

“Well… if you feel uncomfortable about it, then there’s no need to force yourself,” Jonny said.

“But Darling!” Sasha immediately protested while puffing out her cheeks. “If he calls me Sister, I’ll feel old, and I absolutely refuse to feel old. I’m still young, so there’s no way I’m accepting that!”

Jonny scratched his forehead before offering another suggestion.

“Well, then how about Little Sister instead?”

“Argh! That’s even worse!” Sasha exclaimed without hesitation. “He’s already treating me like a child, and now you want him to call me Little Sister? Absolutely not!”

Her cheeks remained puffed as she crossed her arms and continued pouting stubbornly. Young Aether had to admit that the expression looked surprisingly adorable despite the terror he was feeling in his heart!

Unable to argue against such determined logic, Jonny could only shake his head helplessly.

“Well, you two look almost the same age anyway, so calling her by her name should be completely fine if that’s what she wants.”

“Yeah~ Thank you, Hubby~”

The moment Jonny agreed, Sasha immediately threw herself into his arms and began covering his face with affectionate kisses. Since Jonny was sitting beside Young Aether, Sasha’s legs occasionally (Mistakenly) brushed against Young Aether’s thigh during her enthusiastic display of affection.

Young Aether chose to completely ignore it.

Instead, he calmly reached for another cookie while pretending not to notice anything happening beside him. Meanwhile, Jonny endured the relentless affection with the expression of a man who had already accepted this part of his daily life.

After waiting for the couple to calm down slightly, Young Aether finally decided to steer the conversation back toward a more important topic.

“So, can you tell me what exactly happened here?” he asked. “The world has obviously changed a lot since I left. What exactly is going on? What happened to Hell’s Gate, and why does everything feel so different now?”

The cheerful atmosphere immediately became quieter after those questions were asked.

Maiuri’s expression turned slightly more serious as she exchanged a glance with Jonny before slowly standing from her seat.

“I think we should leave you two alone for a while,” Maiuri said calmly. “You are long-lost friends who haven’t seen each other for years, so there are probably many things you need to discuss privately. Come with me, Sasha. We still have a meeting to attend.”

“Ah… I don’t want to go,” Sasha complained while tightening her grip around Jonny’s arm.

Unfortunately for her, Maiuri had already made her decision.

Without hesitation, she grabbed Sasha by the back of her collar and began pulling her toward the exit despite the younger woman’s protests.

“W-Wait! Darling! Save me!”

“You’ll be fine,” Jonny replied with a completely unhelpful smile.

“Traitor!”

Sasha’s voice gradually faded into the distance as Maiuri dragged her away, leaving only Young Aether and Jonny inside the room.

The sudden silence felt strangely comfortable rather than awkward. Both men remained seated on the couch while absentmindedly staring at the remaining cookies and half-finished tea on the table.

After several seconds passed, Young Aether spoke first.

“You have a wonderful family,” he said with a gentle smile. “I’m genuinely happy for you. After everything we went through back then, seeing you like this honestly makes me feel relieved.”

Jonny’s expression softened noticeably.

“Thank you,” he replied quietly.

The room fell silent once again, although this time the silence carried a sense of familiarity that only existed between old friends.

Young Aether eventually picked up another cookie before speaking again.

“But seriously, you still need to explain Sasha.”

“Haha… I know. I know.”

Jonny chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck as though he had expected that question from the very beginning.

Neither of them rushed the conversation afterwards. Young Aether patiently waited while Jonny gathered his thoughts, and Jonny seemed to be carefully deciding where he should begin.

After taking a slow breath, Jonny finally looked directly at his friend.

“You don’t need to lie to me, Aether.”

Young Aether visibly froze for a brief moment before a helpless smile slowly spread across his face.

“So you figured it out, huh?”

“Of course I did,” Jonny replied with a confident grin. “We were friends for years, Aether. You can change your appearance, get reborn in another world, but you still haven’t changed nearly as much as you think.”

His grin widened as he pointed directly at Young Aether.

“You’re still ridiculously easy for me to read, and I would recognise that personality anywhere.”

Young Aether could only shake his head while laughing softly to himself. Even after fourteen years, it seemed some things truly never changed.

A weak smile appeared on Young Aether’s face.

‘Guess I really can’t hide anything from my friend.’

That was what he had believed, at least.

His carefully constructed story had been created to avoid countless uncomfortable questions and conceal several inconvenient truths. Yet now, sitting across from Jonny, it suddenly felt meaningless. No matter how elaborate the lie became, his friends always seemed capable of seeing through him.

Young Aether let out a quiet sigh before looking directly at Jonny.

“Yeah, I am—”

“She’s dead.”

“…”

Young Aether stopped mid-sentence.

For several seconds, he simply stared at Jonny, unable to understand what he had just heard.

“What are you talking about?”

“Tsk.”

Jonny clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Come on, Aether. Stop acting as if you can fool me. We’ve known each other for years.” His expression became slightly annoyed.

“I know who you were really searching for.”

Young Aether blinked several times.

Then he finally realised something.

Jonny hadn’t discovered the flaws in his fabricated story.

He wasn’t talking about reincarnation.

He wasn’t talking about the lies.

He wasn’t talking about any of that.

“Oh…? that.”

A trace of disappointment flashed across Young Aether’s face.

For a brief moment, he had genuinely thought Jonny had figured everything out.

Apparently not.

However, that disappointment quickly disappeared when another detail registered in his mind.

His brows slowly knitted together.

“She?”

For some reason, his heart suddenly began beating faster.

An uncomfortable feeling crept into his chest.

Jonny leaned back against the couch and stared at the ceiling above them. His eyes slowly closed as though recalling something unpleasant.

After several seconds of silence, he finally spoke.

“Your mother… died.”

“…”