63 Chapter 62 (1/2)

”Hello, Aria…” the voice of one of the people I cared about most in this world said.

I froze in the door, not quite sure how to react to seeing her in the room with me. There was a tap on my shoulder and I turned back to see Min standing next to me. I had explained to her my situation, so she knew who Jenai was. However, before my brain could start fearing that Jenai might come too close to ”the other woman” in Min's mind, Min spoke up.

”For tonight, busy…” Min said, ”Be back in morning.”

Min turned away and walked down the hall. My eyes followed her admiringly. Once again, Min had put my feelings first. The amount I was owing Min was starting to grow astronomical. While feeling once again how incredible it was to have a wonderful woman like Min in my life, my eyes turned back to the issue at hand, the presence of Jenai in my room.

”Denova?” I guessed.

Jenai gave a curt nod. ”This is truth. Denova has sent me personally to learn what you know.”

I nodded and walked over to my bedside. Pushing the sex toys to the side, I pulled out several papers. Jenai didn't move from her spot at the foot of my bed, so I moved over to her and handed her the papers. She grabbed them and gave me a nod.

”I wrote down everything. There is a map as well.” Although I said I wrote it all down, it was Min who had created the map more skillfully than I could. ”The best time to move would be the night of the harvest. The majority of the nobles leave the castle and the security is focused there. As I state in the documents, if Denova took a small group of men and put on masks, the guards will let them walk right on by. They can escape with the treasure through an underground passage in a nearby tower. This event is kept very quiet, so it should be easy to infiltrate at this time.”

”Then that is likely what Denova will do.” Jenai gave another abrupt nod before turning and walking away.

”Wait! Is that it?” I asked in surprise as Jenai was already half way to the door.

”That is all,” Jenai said. ”My mission is finished. I must return to Denova as ordered.”

”No, wait, but…” I reached out and grabbed her hand before she could make it out the door.

I frowned as my hand wrapped around her wrist. There was something coarse and unpleasant on the back of her wrist, so I reached out with my other hand before she could pull away. I pulled back her sleeve and let out a gasp. The top of her hand going up the entire length of her arm were various cuts and bruises.

”Jenai? What is this?”

”This is not important. Simply an accident (lie).” Jenai was averting her eyes.

Once, I had considered Jenai an expert in Deception. However, I had maxed out Deception and had been playing the role of a princess for several weeks. Her once expressionless face now gave away loads of emotion. She was confused, scared, exhausted, and pained. I could see it written all over her. It was a Jenai I had never seen before.

I pulled her to me aggressively, and then immediately pulled back her hood. There were several bruises on her neck. A few of them looked to be hickeys, but several of them were too wide to be done by any mouth. As I dropped the cloak to the floor, I could see more cuts and bruises hidden under her clothing. I could quickly see what had happened.

”Denova? He did this to you?” my eyes turned dark at the thought of the man.

”This is… none of your concern.” Jenai tried to turn away from me, but I grabbed her arms and pulled her back.

”No, this is my concern. You are my concern.”

”This thing, just leave it!” Jenai tried to deflect, her eyes refusing to meet mine.

”Why are you trying to avoid me? Just look me in the eye!” I demanded.

”No, I cannot do this…” Jenai struggled to pull away, but I was a greater level than her now and she couldn't resist.

”Do what? What is wrong?” I tried to understand why Jenai was acting this way.

”You are!” She snapped, and suddenly she did something I hadn't seen since the night she was drunk, she cried. ”You are what's wrong… He beats me now. He hurts me. Cuts me. Burns me. I used to be his first. I used to be the girl who was going to the castle as his spy. But you took it from me. And now I'm just useless leftovers.”

”Jenai…”

”Don't use my name! You broke him. You broke him by making him want you. And every day you're away, he takes it all out on me. You broke him, and so now he breaks me. You ruined everything! He put the collar back on, you see?” She grabbed at the collar still on her neck, very similar to the one Min willingly wore.

”That is… Denova-” my eyes narrowed at the state Denova had put her in.

”It's not Denova… it's you!” Jenai shouted. ”You did this thing. You took everything from me. I should… I should hate you. I want to hate you, but I can't. Tell me, Aria… tell me why I can't hate you!”

My face went white as she hit a nerve, the reality of the situation suddenly striking home, ”I- ”

”I know what you did. Denova told me.” Jenai interrupted. ”You used some kind of skill to manipulate me. You made me like you. You took everything… even my own emotions from me. You made me care for you so that you could take everything away. You manipulate people as easily as Denova. You two deserve each other! No matter how much I want to… I can't… I can't stop it. I love you. I want to hate you, but I love you more than anyone, damn you!”

Jenai broke into sobs, clinging to my chest now as her hands useless struck my arms. I was stunned to silence, unable to come up with an appropriate answer. At the time, I had been throwing Seduction around without really understanding what it meant. I was simply desperate to live, and so I didn't consider the consequences of changing people's minds. Back when I first met Jenai, this whole world still felt like a video game. I had been dancing from one situation to the next, barely keeping it together.

It wasn't until my time with the Pigman that I finally started to get a grip on reality. Even then, it took the support of Min, a woman I hadn't seduced who still chose to love me, that I was finally able to start caring again.

However, I did care about Jenai. It wasn't in the same way I cared about Min, but at the very least I wanted to protect her too. That was something I had decided before, and it wasn't something I had forgotten. As silly as it sounded, every time I had sex, I was concerned about the experience and strength needed to save the both of us. This woman in my arms mattered to me, even if her concern for me was only a fabrication of my skills.

I slowly put my hand on her head and closed my eyes. ”I'm sorry. I'm sorry I did this thing to you. But I will take responsibility, I will. I promised I would save you from Denova. I'm sorry, so sorry, that I couldn't protect you until now.”

”How?” Jenai looked up at me, wetness still in her eyes. ”What can you do against a Bandit King?”

”I'll do exactly what I said I'd do. I'll kill him.”

I knew I could do that. If he touched me enough that I'd consider it sex, then I could activate Black Widow. As Reinhart had suggested, I simply needed to rearrange my definition of sex. He may be hesitant to stick it in me, but if I could convince myself that simply touching me was sex, then I could activate my skill. That was the trick I had up my sleeve. However, first, I needed to take Jenai away from Denova.

If I freed Jenai tonight, Denova won't know what happened. He might think that she was caught or something. It would spread enough doubt at least that I could meet Denova in person. At that point, my skills of Seduction were leagues beyond the first time I had met him. I didn't think he'd jump to killing me. I just needed to get him into bed, and then he'd be mine. Jenai was looking at me doubtfully, but I gave her a reassuring look.

After a moment, she spoke up. ”You do look different. More beautiful, if that was possible. More confident. When you say it, I almost believe it.”

”I have a new skill,” I spoke up. ”I believe I can use it to free you tonight!”