A month had passed since Miyuri joined Adrian's growing harem.
And many things had changed in that short amount of time.
With his Villain Points steadily increasing, Adrian decided to convert some of them into money before purchasing any new abilities. Now that the matter with Tougou had been settled and his life returning to its relative peace, he could finally focus on long-term investments instead of immediate survival.
After giving it some thought, he decided to make money by spending money. The first thing that came to mind was buying the apartment building.
But even though he and Miyuri were lovers now, the apartment remained a cherished inheritance from her parents, something she couldn't simply hand over to him. So after some long discussions and negotiations, they eventually reached an agreement. Adrian would receive a thirty percent share of the apartment complex's monthly profits.
What ultimately led to that thirty percent share was that Adrian offered to invest heavily in renovating and expanding the apartment complex, even covering the full cost of adding a fifth floor. Though he could probably have pushed for more, Miyuri was already his woman. There was no need to ruin their relationship over money that he could easily get in return by fucking her.
Now with Miyuri being his lover, and with full access to the apartment complex whenever he wanted, Adrian made another big decision.
He bought a large, luxurious mansion on the outskirts of the city for his new residence. The place was spacious, private, and far more suitable for his growing lifestyle.
Of course, he didn't move in alone. Ayano came with him, and Nagisa decided to move in as well. Having lived on a modest orphan's pension and scholarship for years and not having any interest in studying, Nagisa ultimately chose to drop out of school.
Both Yukiko and Chiaki were initially saddened by the news, but after learning that the mansion wasn't that far away and that they could visit by train, they eventually came to accept it easily.
Now due to how large the mansion was, Adrian had naturally thought about hiring professional maids. However, Ayano quickly shot that idea down, saying she didn't have much to do during the day anyway and that she wanted to take care of the mansion herself. Nagisa, who had dropped out of school and moved in with them, also volunteered to help. Even with just the two of them, they were more than enough to handle cleaning it.
Of course they could only cover the necessary ones, but the real highlight of the situation was the maid outfits.
With Adrian's suggestion both Ayano and Nagisa had decided to wear them. The classic black-and-white uniforms with frilly aprons, thigh-high stockings, and cute headpieces looked incredible on them. Ayano's voluptuous figure filled out the dress perfectly, while Nagisa's more slender body gave the outfit a different kind of seductive charm.
Adrian greatly loved the sight. So he had them wear the maid outfits many times, whether it was for actual cleaning or for more… private reasons. The sight of them bending over in those short skirts while dusting or cleaning always ended up with him pulling one or both of them into an empty room for a passionate session.
Simple things like these made living in the mansion far more enjoyable than just the feeling of richness. And times like these made him more and more fulfilled, like a dream that will never end.
Now at school, things have also changed significantly.
Rumors of him being a playboy with a growing harem spread like wildfire throughout the school. Whispers followed him wherever he went, accompanied by curious and sometimes envious glances from both boys and girls.
He no longer cares about people's opinions. If anything, he found the attention quite refreshing. With absolute control of the school's higher ups, his days of pretending to be just another goody two shoes student were long behind him.
And since there was no longer any reason to keep up appearances, Adrian decided it was time to be just as honest with the people closest to him.
After becoming confident that the girls could handle the truth without leaving him, he finally told them about his other relationships. He revealed Ayano, Miyuri, the two traps (Hazuki Yuu and Natsuki), Komiya Anna, Shion and Kurumi Souma. He even admitted there would likely be more girls in the future. Of course, he kept the darkest secrets buried: the genderbending pills, the blackmailings, and the staged incident concerning Natsuha. Some things didn't need to be said after all.
Of course the girls were shocked at first. With Natsuha sulking for nearly a week, giving him the cold shoulder and pouting dramatically. But with how deeply he had influenced them over the past month, none of them could truly bring themselves to leave. A few long, intense nights of "reconciliation" were more than enough to bring them back into line, becoming eager and affectionate once again.
After some time there were new additions to the group as well.
Two people, Satomi Kawai who he honestly forgot about and Ami Sasaki who he found by chance.
After he blackmailed Satomi Kawai that day, she had been on edge for a long time while waiting for what he's apparently going to do to her. She forced herself to play nice at school and not do anything she usually does. The anxiety and fear kept building inside her, the hope that he forgot about her, or that she simply wasn't good enough to blackmail kept her at night.
But when she saw him spending time with other girls while she was left waiting in anxiousness and fear, something inside her snapped.
Instead of feeling relieved that he'd seemingly forgotten about her, she found herself growing strangely irritated. Why wasn't he coming for her? Is she really not attractive enough for him? Not desirable enough? Those thoughts slowly wormed their way into her mind, as she continued watching him with other girls.
One afternoon, unable to hold it in any longer, she cornered him in an empty classroom. Her voice trembled with a mixture of anger, frustration, and desperation as she poured out everything she had been suppressing over the past few weeks.
Though by the time she finished her emotional outburst, the situation quickly escalated into something else.
Adrian's response to her outburst was immediate and overwhelming. Instead of calming her with words or caringness, he simply pulled her close and silenced her trembling words with a rough kiss as his hands began moving possessively over her body.
What followed it was a heated, intense action that left the empty classroom incredibly dirty. Satomi's suppressed emotions and long-held tension exploded into raw passion. She clung to him desperately, her body shaking with every powerful intensity as weeks of anxiety, fear, and unspoken desire were released in a whirlwind of pleasure.
By the time they finally left the classroom, Satomi was utterly spent. To anyone who saw her, it'll look like she was very sick. No one would knew that the real reason she could barely walk straight was because Adrian had fucked her thoroughly until her pussy turn red and her body shaking.
From that day onward, she was fully integrated into his harem. The fear and irritation that had plagued her for weeks were replaced by open satisfaction and quiet affection. She now happily joined the group for lunch at the school cafeteria.
Ami Sasaki meanwhile was a completely different case.
It happened just a few days ago, when he had decided to wander around the school grounds alone during lunch break. He spotted her sitting behind the school building while she was eating her lunch with a blank, almost lifeless expression in her eyes, looking completely detached from the world around her. Seeing her all alone and seemingly uninteresting, Adrian was about to walk past her to reach another part of the school.
When she suddenly spoke up.
"You're Adrian Cross, right? The popular playboy of the school. What do you think about making a deal with me?"
Surprised yet intrigued, Adrian stopped and took a proper look at her.
She was a gloomy yet beautiful girl with shoulder-length light brown hair that framed her face nicely, brown eyes that were sharp yet alluring, and a well-proportioned body that filled out her school uniform in an attractive way. Her white blouse hugged her figure nicely while a green bow lay on top of her breasts, her navy skirt meanwhile had ridden up just enough to reveal her smooth, toned thighs as she sat on the ground.
"What deal?" Adrian asked, walking toward her with a curious smile.
Ami looked up at him, her expression calm but determined.
"Will you consider buying me?"
That was how they met. It was still very recent, but Adrian had already learned about her difficult history.
After she had been rejected from the tennis team despite her efforts, her family became more cold and distant. Her parents were always busy with work and only cared about results. They constantly pressured her to achieve something impressive, but after a long time and showing no promise of success. To them, she became a "good for nothing" girl who couldn't even get high grades or succeed in athletics.
Ami had grown weary of the constant pressure and emotional neglect at home and meeting Adrian felt like an unexpected lifeline. Their relationship was still in its early stages, but it was already clear that she was slowly opening up to him in ways she hadn't with anyone else even if much of their time together was steeped in debauchery.
- - - - -
The school cafeteria was lively as usual during lunch break. Adrian sat at a large table near the corner with his girls, Chiaki, Yukiko, Natsuha, Satomi, Kurumi, and the newest addition, Ami.
Anna doesn't really join them inside the school. She still preferred to keep some distance from the growing group at school to avoid fueling even more gossip, especially since she was technically the student council's vice president and that she is still dating her boyfriend while secretly seeing Adrian. The girls were pretty close to her, though. Since she visited the mansion frequently enough that they had grown used to her presence.
Although Nagisa was no longer attending school, the group's lunchtime gatherings remained as lively as ever.
Chiaki leaned forward with a mischievous grin, teasing Yukiko by waving a piece of karaage just inches from her face.
"Come on, Yukiko~ Be honest. Did you really follow the recipe this time, or did you add 'a little love~' again and burn the bottom?"
Yukiko's cheeks turned bright pink as she swatted at Chiaki's hand. "I-I did follow it! It's just… the fire was stronger than I thought…"
Natsuha sat pressed against Adrian's left side, her arm firmly linked with his as if daring anyone to try and take her spot. Every time Chiaki or Satomi leaned in too close, she shot them a playful glare, squeezing Adrian's arm a little tighter.
Satomi, on his right, had completely shed her earlier nervousness at Natsuha's glare and began to lean against him openly. Her head resting on his shoulder with a content, satisfied little smile while her fingers idly traced patterns on his thigh under the table.
Kurumi ate quietly beside them, but every few bites she would glance up at Adrian with a soft, loving look in her eyes, a small, happy smile playing on her lips whenever their eyes met.
Ami sat a little more reserved than the others, still getting used to the group's lively atmosphere. Even so, she smiled far more often these days. Every now and then, she'd let out a soft laugh at one of Chiaki's antics or quietly chime in as the conversation continued on.
The girls chatted and laughed, stealing food from each other's trays and throwing light-hearted jabs back and forth.
Chiaki popped a piece of tamagoyaki into her mouth and leaned back in her chair.
"Ugh, I just remembered we have that math test on Monday. Someone remind me why I didn't study last night?"
Yukiko smiled smugly, poking at her bento. "Because you were watching that new drama until 2 AM… I heard you crying over the phone you know."
The table burst into light laughter. Natsuha smirked, still clinging to Adrian's arm. "Serves you right. Maybe if you actually paid attention in class instead of gossiping about who's the next girl joining…"
Satomi leaned in closer to Adrian, resting her chin on his shoulder with a playful grin. "Speaking of gossip… the rumors about us are getting wilder. Someone asked me yesterday if Adrian has a secret cult of girls or something."
Kurumi giggled softly, covering her mouth. "They're not entirely wrong… and if they find out he also has boys in his harem, who knows how shock they'll be~"
The table erupted into more laughter. Natsuha huffed but couldn't hide her smile, while Satomi grinned and lightly pinched Adrian's side. Chiaki leaned back in her chair, still chuckling.
"Honestly, I love how the rumors keep getting more ridiculous. I even heard someone say Adrian has a secret underground base where he locks up every girl who rejects him."
Yukiko's eyelids twitched. "N-now that's just ridiculous…"
Across from them, Ami sat with her usual nonchalant expression, lazily twirling a strand of her light brown hair around her finger. She took a slow bite of her sandwich, her half-lidded brown eyes showing little interest in the increasingly outrageous rumors.
"Underground base, huh…" she muttered in a bored, slightly raspy voice. "Honestly? He probably would if someone actually rejected him. Sounds like too much work though…"
Ami took another slow, unhurried bite of her sandwich, chewing thoughtfully before adding in the same lazy tone,
"…If I'm the girl I'd just let him do whatever he wants from the start. Way less hassle that way."
She said it casually as she continued eating. Her aloof, laid-back attitude sometimes overrode her usual reservedness toward the group, but it also made her blend in surprisingly well, especially with how straightforward she could be.
Natsuha shot her a playful glare. "You're way too relaxed about this, Ami."
Ami just shrugged, a small, lazy smirk tugging at her lips. "Why stress? It's not like those gossips changes anything. Might as well just enjoy making fun of them as well."
The table erupted into another round of laughter as the conversation continued to flow with silly stories from class, complaints about upcoming tests, and light-hearted jabs at each other.
The cafeteria noise around them felt distant, like background music to their own little world. Even with all the rumors swirling about Adrian and them, the group had grown used to it. The whispers and stares no longer bothered them much.
After a while, the topic shifted to their plans.
Chiaki stretched her arms above her head with a dramatic sigh.
"So, what are we doing this time? Amusement park? Karaoke? Or are we stealing Adrian again for ourselves?"
Natsuha immediately perked up, squeezing Adrian's arm tighter. "Amusement park! I want to go with Adrian on the ferris wheel this time!"
Satomi pouted cutely from his other side. "You girls get to spend time with him last time. I think it's my turn to hog him, no?"
Kurumi glanced at Adrian quietly, a small smug smile on her face but saying nothing.
Adrian chuckled, setting down his chopsticks.
"Ah, I'm actually going on a date with Kurumi alone this time. I've neglected her too much when I hung out with you guys before."
Chiaki rolled her eyes dramatically. "If you had just come clean from the beginning, she wouldn't have been left out now, would she?"
Natsuha huffed but couldn't hide her smile. "Yeah, yeah… go on, I have to teach Chiaki about math anyway or else she might use that to come crying to you about it."
Chiaki gasped dramatically, clutching her chest. "N-no way! My plan has been seen thoroughly, how could this be!"
The table burst into laughter again.
They chatted until the lunch break was over, then returned to their respective classrooms. Soon after class was over, they met up again outside to exchange their usual goodbyes.
As the others headed off in different directions, Adrian walked beside Kurumi. The afternoon breeze gently swayed her short twintail as they made their way toward the school's parking lot at an unhurried pace.
==========
AN: School is starting again... Time really fly when you're lazily enjoying life huh. Also Time skip is harder than I thought, you have to think about what you want to happen inside that time and if you're okay to not show the scene.
I now realized due to that, that it was a current problem on my part, where the pacing slows to accommodate my want of needing to show the scenes one by one. Now I don't know if it's truly bad or it's just me thinking it is, because the pacing is slow. Then again I feel like it's neccessary to show the scenes and build up character personality.
But meh, this story is just full on smut at this point, so what can I say lol.
Have a nice week and may your pillow stay cold.