章 14: His Greatest Obstacle (part 1)

When he had come to the fashion gala, Aether had two plans, one of which was a fallback. The first was to prevent Dessy from entering the elite section, so that there would be no chance of her falling for him and sabotaging his future relationship with Gen. She had surmounted this obstacle within minutes, causing him to prepare for his fallback plan.

It had been simple: tell Dessy he liked Gen then convince her to help him. This wilted like an expired energy charge the moment he turned and saw her approaching. She was beautiful—long silky hair, a seductive figure, an enchanting gait, the smoothest of legs... Dessy's presence was inexplicable; it demanded his attention and pushed everyone else out of it. He only saw her, and his heart throbbed as if Gen had smiled at him.

And then that feeling returned—the fear Dessy would die. It was an illogical feeling, but one that plagued him ever since his cousin, Janus's sister, had mysteriously died. The corpses of female aura knights surfaced within his memories, blood seeping from their eyes, bodies strewn. And a vague memory of his sister...

Aether shivered; his aura slipped from his control, further decreasing the temperatures around him. Unaffected by it, Dessy continued forward, and he shut his eyes and wished she would leave.

He thought of Gen. She was strong, confident, and possessed an undefeatable will. Her presence comforted him like an unbreakable shield under the assault of gunfire, and her aura break was the greatest of defensive abilities he had ever seen. She wouldn't die, his mind whispered, so he accepted the baffling emotion of loving her.

Dessy, however, stirred the same amount of mysterious affection but with the addition of fear. She made his body cold.

Gen or Dessy? He would always choose Gen.

Aether no longer bothered with whether or not Dessy fell for him; he worried he would fall for Dessy and lose Gen. Why was the universe so cruel? Was he driven by lust or by love? Having been raised to follow the duty of a star prince at the expense of his emotional intelligence, he didn't know the answer.

Dessy grabbed his arm, and despite the armor separating their bodies, he felt her warmth against his skin. He inhaled, breathing in her vanilla-scented perfume. She said, "Mind warming up a bit? I'm still your subordinate's sister."

His blood stirred at the sweetness of her voice, and he found his mouth dry. He gulped. This was a seductress—he told himself—an evil seductress who would keep him from Gen. If he fell for her, Gen would be an impossibility. He didn't need Fenri to tell him about the loyalty between sisters... A greedy part of him wished the two sisters were from D'nathal. There it was common for siblings to marry the same person.

"You're my date for only tonight," he said with uncertainty. He wanted to see her again yet also wished she would disappear forever.

Dessy chuckled, its lightness teasing his every sense and stiffening his body, especially his little brother, which surprised him and left him lustful. She said, "Don't like me? That's fine."

It took all his willpower not to prove her wrong and whisk her away to some bed. Aether had never understood how some of his subordinates allowed themselves to be seduced by enemy spies, and now he did. The strength of a woman's charm was unbeatable.

To push Dessy from his mind, he thought of the time Gen grasped him, leapt from her vehicle, and laid her head against his chest. The memory soothed his nerves, but his little brother enlarged.

Suddenly, Dessy shifted herself to behind him and used him like a shield. He bit his tongue, ignoring how Dessy's behavior stroked an inner ego he never knew he possessed. She was having an argument with Reya and another elite.

Defend her and there will be emotional complications, he warned himself. For Gen, he had to let her lose.

Dessy declared, "I'm his girlfriend. Why do you think he didn't repel me with his aura?"

Her lips, inciting him to seal them with his own, puckered as she said it. He inwardly groaned: he needed an ice bath to cool himself off.

The argument continued, and Dessy complained to him, "They're being mean. They think I'm a gold digger."

Her long lashes fluttered, her voice almost like a whine. She tilted herself perfectly, allowing him a glimpse down her dress. Evil seductress. But something about her actions multiplied his fears of her death. Her whine, possibly? She was weak and delicate, nothing like Gen; and it turned him off.

Reya said to her, "A commoner like you should feel guilty. Look at you, wearing heels to a gala celebrating weaponized fashion boots."

Dessy whispered, tugging at his arm and reigniting his lust. "If you don't defend your supposed girlfriend, your reputation as a man will be in jeopardy."

He frowned, realizing the grievances she might tell Gen. Why was everything so complicated? If he defended her, she would gain the upper hand in seducing him and keep him from Gen. If he didn't defend her, Gen would hear of it. Either way he would lose.

Dessy was the greatest obstacle to his dream life with Gen.

He had to make her hate him, he told himself. He redoubled his efforts to let her struggle, and he cursed at the rampant beating of his heart. His eyes, no matter what he did, wouldn't tear themselves off her. Instead they memorized her every feature.

Dessy looked like Gen, possessing the same nose, eyes, and mouth; yet there was something starkly different about their faces. He couldn't identify what. He compared their jaw line, the shape of their cheek bones, the smoothness of their skin... They were the same, yet in his memories Gen was different.

Dread overcame him. Did he forget what Gen looked like?

Aether's spine tingled as his sixth sense perceived the approach of a dangerous entity. There were few people who could incite such a reaction. He furrowed his brows: was it his grandmother who wished him to marry? Had she come with some foreign constellation's princess or was she engaging him to Reya?

The doors opened, and another kind of dread surfaced. Umbra Keith, his cousin's right-hand man. What was Janus up to?

Dessy flinched and her eyes widened. Her reaction pricked Aether and clouded his mind with a petty jealousy. Women tended to like Umbra's androgynous appearance and mischievous smile, but did she need to be so obvious? He struck her with a small wave of aura to wake her from her reverie.

"I'm not an embarrassment!" she yelled, shocking Aether as she then hid herself behind him like a shy rabbit. Cold sweat dripped down his temple.

Had he ruined her brain with his aura? Gen would never forgive him.

Umbra smiled. "Congratulations, Star Prince Aether. Are you finally getting married?"

"Hello, Umbra," he said, further covering Dessy to redeem himself for muddling her brain. His aura entered each cell of his body, preparing for Umbra's attack. The man never failed to challenge him in a fight.

"Oh, c'mon. Don't be like that." Umbra aura broke, launching a laser beam from a red orb. Aether likewise aura broke and summoned seven ice shards.

Their exchange proceeded in the same way as all their previous exchanges: a simple block, the return of a strike, and no clear winner. Their overall strengths were about the same, and if they had continued, the bout would last hours. Accepting the draw, they dissipated their auras, but Aether didn't unsummon his shards. Instead, he let them clink to the ground like mundane ice cubes.

Umbra shrugged, a large grin plastered on his face. "I'm just playing. Will you be marrying her? She seems to be quite the little lamb. Not your style."

Dessy glared at Umbra, to which the man remarked, "Heh, spunky."

Aether raised his arm, signaling Dessy to not respond to Umbra. She did and even had the gall to grab Aether's arm then shake Umbra's hand. Aether gritted his teeth. Her boldness charmed him yet also fueled his jealousy.

"I'm Descending Rook, and everyone calls me Dessy. I'm Prince Aether's date," she said, but her latter words stung at Aether and conflicted with the blush that plagued her cheeks. She liked Umbra and must have regretted being his date.

"You don't look happy," Umbra said. Each word stabbed at Aether. Aura, slipping from his control, poured into his surroundings. Dessy's following words hammered a spike into his weak spot.

"I'm happy," she said to Umbra, contradicting her downcast gaze. She whispered, "The elites are jealous, and I'm only a commoner. But you seem like a nice man."

Aether couldn't stand more of it, so he stomped away and left them to their conversation. Stopping beside to Fenri and Reya, he inwardly fumed as his aura gushed at the siblings. Their lips twitched, hands shook, and hair raised; but they said nothing in regards to his lack of control.

Maybe this was for the best, he thought of Dessy's blush. If she liked Umbra, he wouldn't worry about something happening between her, himself, and Gen.