Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

“See… It’s not like I’m trying to be bitchy about it, but seriously—he has some goddamn nerve to say all of this was just his plan from the beginning…? Are you fucking kidding me?! Fuck off!!”

Delphine snarled with a vicious snap, stabbing her food with her fork before shoving a bite into her mouth. She chewed with such rage that it felt like she was imagining his face between her teeth.

Dora stayed quiet, her lips sealed, just sitting before her with patient silence. She had been listening to Delphine’s rant for what felt like hours now.

She didn’t interrupt.

She didn’t judge.

She just ate her food quietly, like a good friend who knew her broken-hearted comrade needed to vent, needed someone to just be there.

“Do you seriously think he loves me now? After everything? I honestly don’t even believe a word he says anymore! How fucking dare he—” her voice cracked slightly as her eyes welled up, but she swallowed it with another furious bite, “—all those sweet words, the way he touched me like I mattered, the way he looked into my eyes like I was the only one… and then behind my back, he’s pulling strings like I’m just some pawn in his sick little game? Fuck that lying bastard!” she growled, her fingers gripping the edge of the table so tightly her knuckles turned pale.

Just thinking about what he had done sent her stomach churning, her heart twisting in raw disgust.

“It’s honestly a miracle I haven’t stabbed him in the dick already! If it were anybody else, I would’ve done it without blinking!” she spat out with a glare, her voice dripping with venom, yet trembling slightly at the same time.

Dora gave a faint, almost amused smile before slowly leaning closer to her, speaking in a low, cool tone, “Well… if you want, I could do it for you.”

“Huh?” Delphine blinked, startled, and a piece of food nearly went down the wrong pipe as she coughed violently. Her cheeks flushed with surprise, and she mumbled awkwardly, “W-Well, I mean… not literally… It’s just that… ugh…” Her eyes dropped to her plate as she shyly poked at the food, her voice softening. “I didn’t mean it like that…”

Dora’s lips curved in a sly, dark grin as she spoke gently but with a twisted seriousness, “Come on now… You have to make a choice, Delphine. He broke you. He played you like a goddamn fool. He betrayed you… and worst of all, he made my favourite subordinate cry like a child left out in the rain. That motherfucker deserves consequences. Say the word—and I’ll make sure he regrets every breath he took pretending to love you.”

Delphine stared at her for a moment, unsure if Dora was joking or deadly serious. “…You’d really do that for me?”

“Of course I would. No hesitation.”

“…”

Delphine went quiet. She didn’t know what to say. Her chest ached. Her throat felt like something was stuck in it.

Sensing the silence, Dora leaned in even more, her voice turning sinister with a wicked gleam in her eyes, “How about this… we rip off his pathetic little dick, hang it at the academy’s front gate with a sign that says, ‘Cheaters get what they deserve’—in big bloody letters. Make him an example.”

Delphine’s expression twisted for a moment. A twitch in her brow, a flicker of rage, a second of fiery, violent impulse. But then she shook her head quickly, breathing out. “I-I don’t think that’s necessary…”

“Not necessary?” Dora pulled back slightly with a look of utter disbelief. “Are you serious right now, woman? You’ve been screaming for hours about how he used you, lied to your face, told you he loved you while fucking someone else like you meant nothing… and now you suddenly think it’s not necessary?”

Her disgust was palpable now.

“He’s a manipulative asshole. A smooth-talking piece of trash who toyed with your heart like it was a fucking joke! He was sticking his dick into another woman while telling you you’re special! And now you want to let him walk away? Just like that? Do you know how many more girls he’ll hurt? How many other hearts he’ll break and toss aside like they’re disposable?”

She clenched her fists, her voice trembling with fury, “If we women don’t stand up and burn this kind of behavior to the fucking ground, then who will? They’ll keep doing it. Over and over again. Treating love like it’s just a fucking game… breaking good people like you.”

Delphine flinched at her words. They hit too close. She knew how ruthless Dora could be. She knew that if she gave even a silent nod, Dora would make sure he never laid hands on another woman again.

But… He wasn’t like that!

He wasn’t that kind of guy!!

Delphine swallowed hard, her voice barely a whisper, “W-Well… It’s not like he had any other options… did he?”

Dora’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Delphine’s voice dropped, heavy with guilt and sorrow, “His options were already messed up from the beginning. Aether didn’t have much of a choice in his life. I know what he’s been through… I saw it. I felt it. He didn’t have many paths left…”

She trailed off, lowering her gaze, her voice shrinking with painful honesty, “So maybe he thought cheating was the only way to protect someone… or himself…”

Dora frowned deeper, her tone sharp and impatient, “What are you even saying? He had choices, Delphine.

He had them. He just didn’t choose you. He could’ve told the truth from the start. He could’ve come clean.

And if he was going to confess later anyway, then why hide it at all? Either you hide something until your grave or you tell the fucking truth from the beginning. That half-assed honesty bullshit in the middle? That’s not love… That’s cowardice.”

Delphine smiled weakly, her expression full of mixed feelings. “Well… that’s right,” she muttered quietly as she stopped eating and set her fork down with a faint clink.

Of course, telling the truth would have been simple—easy, even. Nobody would’ve needed to get hurt. No lies, no betrayal. Just honesty. But… would they have accepted him?

That was the real question.

Even now, she didn’t know exactly how many women had been in his life. He had mentioned there were many, sure—but he never once told her who they were, or how deeply they were involved. It felt like he was still playing games, still keeping her in the dark… still testing her trust, like everything was some twisted experiment.

And honestly? What woman would accept a man like that? A man with shadows so thick around him, you could barely see who he truly was?

If he had told them the full truth from the start… maybe only disaster would’ve followed.

Chaos… Broken hearts… Rejection.

“But… he’s been suffering in silence all this time too,” Delphine whispered, more to herself than to Dora, as she bit her lower lip until it reddened.

She knew. God, she knew what kind of life he had been through. His pain wasn’t just some temporary phase—it had followed him from his past life. Aether hadn’t received the love he desperately needed, not then, not now. He had been abandoned, mistreated, and tossed aside like he was nothing.

And yet… somehow, he was still standing.

To be honest, she didn’t even understand how he was still sane. If it had been her—or anyone else in his place—they would’ve gone mad. Snapped. Screamed at the world. Burned everything down and…

‘Yeah… if he really wanted to, he could’ve stopped caring about me entirely,’ she thought bitterly, her heart twisting with guilt and confusion.

The pain he endured should’ve hardened him like steel, made him cold, ruthless. But instead… he just kept moving forward, quietly, patiently. Never complaining.

That alone was something extraordinary. Something Delphine had never seen before in anyone else.

And the most heartbreaking part?

Aether never bragged about his pain.

Never wore it like armour.

He didn’t cry for sympathy or beg for comfort. When he talked about his past, he spoke in fragments—calmly, as if it didn’t matter. ‘This happened, then that happened.’ Nothing more.

But she knew. She could see it in his eyes. Behind that calm voice was a storm that had never passed.

If he wanted to, he could’ve used his suffering to manipulate her. He could’ve thrown his pain at her feet and broken her down, and she would’ve forgiven him—Delphine was fucking sure of that. Just hearing the real weight of his story would’ve shattered her heart and made her run back to him in a heartbeat.

But he didn’t.

He never used his trauma as an excuse. Never used it as a weapon.

He just wanted her to see the better version of him. The happy life he was trying to build—not the wreckage he came from.

Dora let out a long sigh, breaking the silence. “I seriously can’t tell what the hell’s going on in your head, Delphine. Do you want me to punish him or not? Just make a damn decision already!”

Delphine looked up at her with a conflicted gaze, then shook her head slowly. “I… I really don’t know…” she said in a soft, trembling voice.

“Yes, I was furious at him—furious beyond words—but… I… I don’t know,” she said, biting her lip again, almost hard enough to bleed.

Dora stared at her for a few moments, expression blank. Then she waved her hand and casually called the waiter. Without another word, she ordered a bottle of wine.

As the waiter left, Dora poured the crimson liquid into a glass and slid it across the table with a smirk. “You know,” she said thoughtfully, almost teasingly, “that guy might’ve just brought out the real you.”

Delphine blinked in confusion, watching the dark wine swirl in the glass.

Dora raised her own glass, swirling it slightly before raising it toward her friend. “Drink this. Trust me. Sometimes all a woman needs is a little push, a little warmth in the chest, and suddenly… you start finding your answers. Not the ones people give you—but the ones you’ve buried deep inside.”

Delphine hesitated, staring at the drink as if it might hold the truth she was so desperate for. Then, slowly, she reached out and took the glass with trembling fingers, her eyes flickering with uncertainty.