The alleyway fell quiet.
"Gah... gah... gah... gah..." the voices of the two girls behind Jenny, filled with disbelief, echoed across the alley.
Their jaws hung agape, their expressions twisted with a mix of disbelief and mounting fury. Neither could speak at first. Their faces reddened, not from embarrassnt—but from outrage.
One of them finally broke the silence.
"What did you just say?" she snapped, voice rising like a whip in the air.
"Lady Jenny was rciful to you, and you—!"
"Refused...yes" Steve cut in sharply.
That one sentence silenced the world again.
Even the walls seed to lean in closer, hungry to absorb the tension.
Sowhere behind them, Rapunzel still layed on the floor, her wide eyes staring at Steve like he was sothing out of a storybook—sothing frightening or rather, impossible.
Her lips parted but no sound ca. Her breath caught.
’Hmm...she didn’t expect that, huh?’ Steve thought.
’None of them did...’
Lady Jenny’s gaze tightened, her lashes narrowing like drawn blades. Her lips parted in disbelief as her thoughts roared inside her skull.
’What... what is going on in his head? Does he... does he doubt ?’
Steve’s mind, anwhile, was a whirlwind of jumbled thoughts.
’Still, my decision wasn’t just a cool quote...I ant it...I’m not going anywhere.’
He clenched his fists.
’In as much as I just wanna keep myself as far from trouble...I can’t let this mont pass by...I have to add her to harem, no matter what.’
’Still...I feel like a bad person. I an, I don’t really care for her, I’m only doing this for the harem...yeah...my ntality is most definitely cruel, but I never rember saying I was a hero. I’m just the overlord.’
His eyes flicked toward Rapunzel—still on the ground, still looking at him with that sa quiet desperation.
’So...If I can’t get the authorities involved... then I’ll just have to be enough.’
Steve stepped forward.
"If you really want to go..." he said, imdiately attaining thr group’s attention.
"...then I’ll go. But only on one condition—she cos with ."
Gasps flared behind Lady Jenny.
Her eyes narrowed further.
"Not possible." she said. Her voice was steady, but cold as a winter storm.
"She insulted , a Noble. No matter what, that earns punishnt."
"But I insulted you too..." Steve shot back.
"...Why won’t you punish then?"
There was a short pause.
A crack in the mask.
Lady Jenny’s lips twitched, but not into a smile.
"Oh..." Steve muttered.
"It’s personal. Sothing you and your pack of circus freaks have made common to her..."
Her voice dripped with mockery.
The silence returned, heavier now, like the calm before a storm.
Then she spoke again, louder. Her voice rose above them like a bridge rising to block a path.
"I’ll give you one more chance. One. If you don’t leave now, I swear to God—"
But Steve wasn’t even listening anymore. His eyes had already flicked back to Rapunzel.
She was staring at him with such pleading in her gaze, it shook him.
Her lips trembled, though no words ca out. Her entire expression was crying out- Don’t leave . Please.
He looked back at Lady Jenny.
"I’ll leave..." Steve said, his voice quiet now.
"You can keep her. Do whatever you want."
Rapunzel gasped softly.
"Huh? No... please..."
’What? Is he still joking?’ Lady Jenny thought, narrowing her brows once more.
"Is that so? That’s great. What changed your mind?" She added.
Steve turned away slightly, taking a few short steps away.
"Well... let’s just say I’m not particularly a hero."
Then, almost lazily, he added with a half-smile curling at the corner of his lips.
"Oh, but... before I go... explain sothing to . How does soone as chopped as you..."—his tone mocked the very word as he turned over to Lady Jenny.
"...end up being a...slut?"
The silence that followed was no longer awkward.
It was deadly.
His smile widened slightly, cocky, casual. A soft, chocolate-like sarcasm dripped from his tone as he continued.
"I an, I didn’t think people who looked like...well...you...were capable of being sluts, but hey—you’ve exceeded my expectations."
Lady Jenny stood, frozen in place.
The words didn’t just slap her—they stabbed.
"What... what the fuck did you just say to ?" she roared.
A brilliant shimr erupted from her hand. A flash of light shaped itself into a gleaming blade—a knife of energy, radiant and deadly. She grabbed it and dashed forward in one fluid, feral motion.
"Shit..." Steve muttered.
She moved like lightning.
In a blink, she was right in front of him.
The glowing knife surged toward his throat. He barely had ti to process what was happening. He stumbled back, instincts screaming, but it was already too late...her strike had already hit.
Or... atleast it should’ve.
Her strike never landed.
Everything stopped.
Lady Jenny froze—her light blade hovering re inches from Steve’s neck. The light trembled. Her hand shook violently, every muscle in her body twitching with hesitation.
Steve blinked, stunned.
’What...she...stopped?’
He looked at her. Her entire body was trembling, like she was standing inside a thundercloud.
Her breath hitched.
Her eyes—once alight with fire—were now wide with fear.
Inside her head, thoughts scread and clawed at her sanity.
’I’m a noble. I have the right to kill a peasant who mocks ! Why can’t I move!?’
Her teeth clenched.
Her knees shook.
’What... what is this feeling?’
And then, her thoughts narrowed into a single, terrifying realization.
’This...This feeling...without a doubt is... killing intent.’
Every fiber of her being scread at her to stop. Her instincts—bred in privilege but sharpened in experience—told her one thing with absolute certainty-
’If I take one more step... he’ll kill .’
The fear didn’t co from logic.
It ca from sothing deeper. Primal.
Steve stood there, just as confused as her, blinking slowly, unsure what had happened—until sothing caught his eye.
Just behind him, barely visible, a flicker of dark, smoky light coiled in the air.
A shadowy glow pulsed once, and then—he saw it.
Floating just behind him was a presence.
The familiar ghostly figure—its face a bleached-white skull, its eyes empty sockets burning with cold fire.
It hovered, weightless and deathly still, like sothing that had stepped out of the underworld.
Steve’s breath caught in his throat.
’Huh...the ghost...what the hell are you planning to do? Don’t tell ...you plan to kill them all!?’
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