Chapter 186: I Won’t Bite Unless Asked

Chapter 186: Chapter 186: I Won’t Bite Unless Asked

"Aww... are you catching feelings?"

Giselle’s fingers tightened on my arm hard enough that the formal coat fabric creased.

"Shut. Up."

I smiled anyway.

The elevator doors opened.

Light spilled in first, a massive chandelier high above, crystal and mana-glass throwing sharp white points across the gallery like scattered glare.

The ballroom beyond was already full.

Every woman in sight looked like she had been carved for this exact kind of evening: sharp, expensive, dangerous.

The male-to-female ratio was a joke.

Each man I could see stood at the centre of six or seven women who treated proximity like ownership.

We stepped out.

Heads turned to look at us.

The Pheromone Trace I hadn’t activated was leaking anyway, passive, the system pushing it through the formal wear’s seams like a second scent.

[Pheromone Trace — Passive Leakage | Low Output]

The moment they registered Giselle, the entire nearest cluster dipped into formal bows, short, precise, the kind of respect given to the Empress’s daughter and no one else.

No one looked at me.

For three full seconds that felt like a gift.

’That’s right. Keep looking at her.’

Then someone did.

Shen Reinhard stood near a tall window with a glass of dark wine halfway to his mouth.

His eyes had gone wide.

The glass stopped moving.

A slow, creepy curve pulled at his lips as he started walking toward us like he had all the time in the world.

Giselle was already being pulled into conversation by three women in formal blacks.

One of them, blonde, mid-thirties, sharp cheekbones, kept glancing past Giselle’s shoulder at me with the kind of interest that never meant anything good.

I barely had time to register it before Shen arrived.

He didn’t speak to me first.

He smiled at the group around Giselle.

"Oh, Shen," the blonde said, voice light.

"Looks like Giselle chose someone else today."

Shen shook his head with theatrical regret.

"It’s alright. He’s better than me. In more ways than one."

My jaw tightened.

’This asshole.’

The last thing I needed in a room full of women who already looked hungry was this bastard advertising me like a limited-edition product.

Shen moved to my side and leaned in just enough that only I would hear the next part.

"What are you doing here?"

"I saw your fight."

"I know you saw it."

"That was awesome. I didn’t know if we were going to lose. Kissing as a last resort? Bold."

"It isn’t a resort. It only worked because it was me."

"Aren’t you a proud little fella?"

His voice dropped lower.

"Listen. The blonde Giselle is talking to, that’s Sera. She files acquisition requests with the Empress’s office. If she corners you alone, don’t go. She doesn’t bring men back."

"What does she bring back?"

"Reports. And whatever you give her."

I turned my head just enough to meet his eyes.

"Should I rewrite your core again?"

Shen’s smile faltered for half a second.

He recovered by clapping a hand on my shoulder hard enough to sting.

"Haha. Why are we even talking like this? Old friends, right? Old friends."

I was already calculating how much trouble I would be in if I put him through the nearest window.

But a new hand slid up the side of my neck from behind and stopped that thought.

Warm and deliberate.

The voice that followed was low and smooth enough that the words themselves felt like fingers.

"Revien, right?"

I froze.

The Hunger sat up.

Something in my stomach dropped.

I turned slowly.

The woman standing behind me had dark hair cut in a clean bob that framed an elegant face.

Blue eyes.

Calm smile.

The kind of presence that didn’t need to raise its voice to own the space around it.

"I’m Ella," she said.

"One of the faculty at the Academy. I teach circulation theory. Consider me your fan... for that improvisation during the test."

Giselle’s attention snapped toward us from three metres away.

I felt the fragment under my ribs give a single pulse.

Shen made a small amused sound and took a polite half-step back, clearly deciding this was better entertainment than continuing the conversation himself.

’Don’t leave now, idiot.’

I kept my face neutral.

"Faculty," I repeated.

"That’s a long way to come for a party."

"Not when the main topic of conversation for the last three days has been a certain Sector 7 support who decided the best way to win a hard-track bracket was to put his mouth on the Empress’s daughter in front of every recording crystal in the building."

Ella’s blue eyes moved over my face without hurry.

"You’re taller than the feeds suggested."

"Feeds lie."

"Everything does."

She tilted her head slightly.

"Walk with me. Three minutes. I won’t bite unless asked."

Giselle’s voice cut across the space, polite and cold.

"He’s spoken for this portion of the evening."

Ella glanced at her, still smiling.

"Lady Giselle. Always a pleasure. I’m not taking him away for research. I’m curious. There’s a difference."

"There is," Giselle said.

"You’re standing on the wrong side of it."

The air between the two women tightened.

Several nearby conversations quieted by a fraction.

Shen looked delighted.

I stepped half a pace forward before the tension could turn into something that would draw the entire gallery’s eyes.

"Three minutes," I said to Ella.

"In sight of the room. Then I return."

Giselle’s red eyes locked on mine.

I gave her the smallest possible nod: I remember the rules.

Ella’s smile widened just enough to show she had won a minor point.

She turned and walked toward a quieter stretch of the gallery near the tall windows.

I followed.

The fragment under my ribs stayed tight the entire way.

When we stopped, she turned to face me fully, wine glass held loosely between two fingers.

"I’ll be direct," Ella said.

"What’s your class?"

"Jenna told me not to reveal."

"Jenna doesn’t own you."

"She kinda does, in a way."

Ella let out a small laugh.

"I’ll be direct," she said.

"What you did on that rooftop shouldn’t have been possible. The output spike, the stabilisation after, the fact that Giselle is still walking around when the screen showed something changed within her — that combination is rare enough that half the faculty have already requested the sealed recordings."

"And the other half?"

"Want to run private tests."