I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 240

I looked down at Tiffany. Her face was flushed from the aftermath, her breath still coming in ragged gasps. The structure I built suddenly felt cramped, the air hot and humid, filled with the scent of Tiffany. Her eyes, wide and dark, held a mixture of awe, vulnerability, and lust after everything that she just experienced. Not only had her body healed, but it had broken through and evolved.

“What… what did you do to me?” she whispered, her voice hoarse.

“I did what I said I’d do,” I quickly defended. “I said I could widen your circuits.”

Her lips trembled more, and soon tears began to fall down her cheeks. “Do you have any idea what this means?”

“Uh…” I didn’t really know how to reply.

“A paragon’s fate within their family is directly tied to their talent.” She sniffled. “As much as I tried to make myself useful to the Stride family, my fate was always that of a daughter to be married off to make connections. Even my marriage to Timothy occurred at great cost to my family, and there was no guarantee that our marriage would occur as I wanted. Timothy could have decided to turn me into a mistress, or have multiple mistresses, and I would have had no choice but to accept it because of the gap between us. As for reaching the third evolution, it was something I expected would take several more years.”

“R-really…”

She gave a nod. “The reason I have been struggling so hard to obtain merit for my family was to avoid this fate. If I could make a major contribution to my family, or perhaps advance to the third evolution before my marriage to Timothy, I’d be in a different standing. You’ve achieved that for me.”

“You… really didn’t have anything to do with the poisoning of Abigail’s fields?”

Her expression flashed with annoyance. “I already said I don’t know anything about that. I can’t guarantee that my family isn’t involved, but I typically know most of their plans, so it seems like one that was so complicated and drawn out would have been one I’d have heard about!”

“Okay,” I responded, wincing slightly. “I believe you.”

The mood inside the small structure seemed to shift for a bit, but then Tiffany spoke. “Do you feel for that Capala girl?”

“What?” I blinked.

“You keep asking about the Capalas. I would have thought you were part of the Capala family, but I’ve memorized the appearance of every paragon in the major families, and you’re not one of them. My only conclusion is that you must be a paragon from a minor family who fell in love with Abigail. Why else would you be trying to protect her so much?”

“I have no interest in Abigail.” I coughed, noticing she was giving me a dubious look. “I’m not trying to deceive you. My goals and hers just happen to… align at the moment. Besides, isn’t she engaged?”

She snorted. “Engaged? To that deadbeat isomer? I didn’t think you were a fool. Their relationship as an engaged couple is even more fragile than my own.”

“Is that so?” My expression twisted slightly.

Tiffany must have misunderstood my expression, because there was a flash of panic. “That’s not to say that Abigail would be willing. She is a notoriously fickle person. There are rumors she has no interest in men at all!”

“What?” I raised an eyebrow, causing her to blush, her cheeks puffing slightly.

“If you’re interested in a woman, am I not desirable?”

My eyebrows rose even more. “What are you suggesting?”

“You act so clever, yet now you’re going to act confused?” she said bitterly.

My mouth couldn’t help but open slightly. I hadn’t really been thinking about it much. Even a genius could be stupid about some things, and for all of my experience with women, I just didn’t expect this sudden change in demeanor. However, after thinking about it briefly, I was able to quickly understand.

“This is just hormones,” I explained calmly. “I warned you about the consequences of using this skill.”

I was actually shocked because I had finally realized just how dangerous this skill was. I had been expecting her to grow aroused and even make embarrassing noises. However, the result of that I thought would be embarrassment or even anger that I had violated her. Yet, I suddenly realized that she was holding my arm and hadn’t let go the entire time we were talking, her eyes locked on mine with an affectionate gaze.

It was the affection that made me the most uncomfortable. One might think I was used to affection after my success with women, but I didn’t go from woman to woman by making them fall in love with me. My success came from tricking women. I would confuse them. Play on their insecurities. Manipulate their attitudes. They would ultimately sleep with me, not because they were in love, but because they felt empty inside, and I convinced them that my penis would fill that emptiness.

I had seen looks of desperation. Revulsion. Anger. Fear. I had seen horny, chronically depressed women. However, even those who wanted to date me didn’t really love me. They stuck with me because the alternative was worse. Only after I had cheated on them and played with their emotions for weeks or months would they finally give up, some more explosively than others. Part of the reason I enjoyed Fate is that she didn’t express her emotions easily. It had made her a more interesting hunt.

“I’m not a fool.” Tiffany leaned closer to me, her lips a short distance from mine. “I know where my feelings come from.”

“And I’m telling you they’ll pass,” I responded, trying to keep my tone even as I gently tried to shift my arm away.

She held on tighter. “They may… but that doesn’t make them any less real right now, does it?” Her other hand came up and brushed against my chest. “You saved me. You healed me. You’ve given me a new future. I… want to do this, before I can regret it later.”

This was getting complicated. I had been so focused on the mechanics of the healing, on widening her circuits, that I hadn’t fully considered the psychological fallout. I had created a perfect storm: the intense, euphoric physical sensation of the process combined with the life-altering consequences of her evolution. Tiffany was sitting there, her eyes closed, her lips parted, leaning toward me. She was extremely beautiful. I  was only a man, and I was already at my limit. I began to lean toward her. It seemed like that part of my nature was unavoidable. However, that’s when I sensed something and let out a sigh of relief.

“Get out of here!” There was a shout.

Tiffany’s eyes snapped open, and she pulled away. “Who?”

“Slowly, or we’ll destroy that little hut and everyone in it!”

I naturally had sentinels around, so I had detected their approach. However, the unique properties of this cave made it difficult to tell until they were nearly on top of us. Over an hour had passed since we ended up on the shore, and other than building the structure and healing Tiffany, we hadn’t really moved. It was only an inevitability that we were found. The pair of us stepped out of the hut, coming into view of three men. These were the same three men who had been chasing us on the surface. It was Lord Blanche and two people of similar evolutionary level.

The three men had formed a semi-arch around the hut. The only way that we could escape was back into the water or through one of them. Except that they were all low-level champions. Lord Blanche was the highest of them at some mid-tier champion. At least for Tiffany, who was only a newly evolved Flawless, there was no hope she could escape. Of course, they all believed I was around the same level as her.

“You’re quite impressive,” Lord Blanche spoke as I stepped out with my hands up. “That movement skill of yours was even able to keep up with us. I’d really like to know where you got it!”

“Family secret,” I responded, grinning.

“Hmph, you think your family will survive after offending… L-lady Stride!” As she stepped out next to me and the three men finally got a good look at her, their eyes widened in shock.

She had been wearing a mask before, but she didn’t wear one this time. Perhaps, she had done this as a means of protecting me. With the two of us trapped, she likely calculated that the only way we wouldn’t die was if she revealed herself. She wore a bold, prideful expression on her face as she stared down the three shocked men.

“You should understand the situation better now,” Tiffany declared. “You have wandered into a secret realm belonging to the Stride family and dare threaten their daughter?”

The men’s expressions turned unsure for a few moments, but Lord Blanche recovered quickly. “You broke into the Blanche mansion! You stole from us!”

“Stole?” She tilted her head. “Stole what?”

“You dare act clueless? We caught you inside our compound with masks on!”

“I am Lady Stride,” she responded with an air of nobility. “Why would I ever wear a mask? You must have my companion and me mistaken for another group.”

“You dare claim you’re not the ones who stole from us?”

“Go ahead, check us. You’ll find no treasure.” She gave him a mocking look as if daring him to overstep his bounds. “However, can you truly say that you had your sights on these alleged people you were following, all the way from there to here? Perhaps, they got away, or even died, and now you accuse us of their crimes.”

The indignant rage in her voice sounded perfect. Even my mouth couldn’t help but part slightly. This was how paragons played the game. They could lie right to your face and gaslight you into believing something even though you saw the truth. It reminded me… well, of myself. That led to another thought. Even if I accepted her affection, could I even trust it was real?