Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 690: Advice

”You might think Ash with his parade of trophy lovers is despicable. And he is. But I’ll tell you a secret that most people outside the upper ranks of awakened society don’t know. He’s not the exception but the norm. Most powerful men aren’t as public about it, but not many of them are faithful. The higher the power, the more women become accessories. Status symbols. Proof of dominance.”

”I’m not exactly faithful myself,” Kaiden said dryly. ”I have five lovers. Two of them are extraterrestrial girls who might be more open to being in a harem by nature, yeah, but the three human ones don’t have such predisposition.”

Eleanora burst out laughing.

The sound was so sudden and so real that it broke the gravity of the conversation in half. She covered her mouth with one hand, shoulders shaking.

”That much is true,” she managed, still smiling. She composed herself, but the kindness in her expression had deepened. ”But let me tell you something, as a woman who spent a considerable portion of her career studying human behavior before this desk found me.”

She straightened.

”A man with a harem of trophy lovers signals narcissism. It tells me he views women as collectibles. That their value to him is measured in how they look on his arm, how they make him appear to the world, how their beauty reflects his status. The women in those arrangements know it, too. They smile at galas and compete behind closed doors, because his attention is a resource and there’s never enough of it, and every one of them knows she’s replaceable the moment a younger, prettier version walks into the room.”

She let that sit.

”A man with a harem of women who are utterly, genuinely in love with him signals something else entirely. It signals that he’s an excellent man.”

The humor faded from her voice, replaced by a quiet clarity.

”The way your girls look at you, Kaiden. The way they smile when you speak. The tone they use when they say your name. Those women are dangerous. Every single one of them could survive without you. They don’t need your protection, your money, or your status. Maybe it wasn’t the case a few months ago, but now...? They stay because they want to.”

She met his gaze. ”I watched them outside this tent for thirty seconds before I walked in, and that was all I needed.”

Her eyes searched his face, and the professional veneer, the dry humor, the careful warmth she’d been offering since he sat down... all of it fell away. What was left was a woman looking at a young man and meaning every word she was about to say.

”Kaiden Grey. You are the kind of man I hope my son grows up to become.”

Kaiden looked into her eyes, and there was no performance in them. No angle, no leverage, no political calculation. Just a mother, and the absolute sincerity of a woman who’d said the truest thing she’d said all day.

Then the weight broke, and the warmth rushed back in.

”Now, I’m most certainly no Vespera Ashborn,” she added, and the humor returned to her voice like a window opening. ”So my son doesn’t need to become a global sensation who kills monsters thirty levels above him on a live broadcast. I’d prefer he didn’t, actually. I just mean the backbone. The character. The way you treat the women in your life.”

The words hit a place Kaiden didn’t have armor for. The clinical detachment, the performance, the carefully maintained distance between himself and every authority figure who’d ever sat across a table from him. A mother telling him he was the person she wanted her child to be went straight through all of it.

He was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded, slowly.

”I hope your son grows up to become the man you want him to be.”

He paused.

”And if the future allows it, I’d be happy to spend some time with him. Toss a ball around, or whatever it is that kids his age enjoy.”

Eleanora’s eyebrows climbed.

”Kaiden Grey.” Her voice carried an amusement that was fighting very hard not to become another laugh. ”’If the future allows it’? Are you attempting to bribe an Association officer during your official questioning?”

”Of course not.”

”Because it sounded remarkably like you just offered to babysit my child in exchange for favorable treatment.”

”I would never.”

She watched him for two more seconds, then grinned and reached for the recording artifact on the tripod beside the table. She turned it so he could see the activation crystal on its face.

It was dark. Unlit. Off.

”For the record,” she said, and her eyes sparkled, ”I haven’t started the recording yet. Everything we’ve discussed has been an informal conversation between a curious mother and an admirable young man.”

Kaiden looked at the dark crystal, then at Eleanora, and felt his assessment of this woman rearrange itself into a shape he hadn’t expected.

She winked.

”Now then.” She tapped the crystal and it glowed soft blue, a steady pulse indicating active recording. Her posture shifted, the kindness still present but layered beneath the professional composure of a woman who had a job to do and intended to do it properly. ”Whenever you’re ready. Take your time. Sip your tea.”

Kaiden sipped his tea.

The interview lasted forty minutes.

Eleanora asked her questions with the methodical patience of a woman who already knew most of the answers and was building a record rather than hunting for truth. She walked him through the timeline of the ”rescue operation,” and the days leading up to it, the sequence of abilities deployed, the decision-making process that led to engaging from the ridge. She asked about the stream, about the declared assistance filing, about the collateral damage.

Kaiden answered with the measured precision he’d rehearsed on the walk down, each response grounded in the specific details that sold the narrative. The newly gained spells. The chaotic conditions. The difficulty of targeting monsters in close proximity to awakened fighters. Every word was chosen to be technically true and legally defensible.

And through every question, every follow-up, every carefully worded probe, Kaiden felt it.

She was doing her job. Thoroughly, professionally, by the book.

She was not trying to bury him.

The questions that could have been traps were asked in ways that let him navigate them cleanly. The follow-ups that could have pressed on inconsistencies were redirected before they reached the point of no return. She was building a case file that would satisfy the review board without handing them a weapon.

Kaiden didn’t know if that was because of Vespera, or because she’d already decided what kind of man he was, or simply because the evidence genuinely supported his account more than it didn’t. Maybe all three.

He didn’t ask. Some gifts were better left unopened.

When the last question was answered and the recording crystal’s pulse slowed to a standby flicker, Eleanora closed her folder and set her pen down.

”Thank you for your cooperation.”

He nodded.

”I should inform you of several things before you leave.” Her tone shifted back to official, kind but precise. ”First, you are free to return to your team and continue competing while the investigation proceeds. Second, the formal review will take several days at the earliest to complete. During that time, all footage, witness testimony, and ability trajectory analyses will be compiled and assessed.”

She paused.

”Third, and this is standard procedure for any investigation of this magnitude, you are forbidden from leaving the country until the review is concluded and a ruling has been issued.”

”Understood.”

”Your cooperation today has been noted for the record.” She stood, and the motion carried the particular finality of a meeting properly concluded. ”Get some rest. You’ve had a very long day.”

He stood as well, and for a moment they looked at each other across the small metal table in the tent that smelled like chamomile and honey.

”Director Voss.”

”Yes?”

”Thank you for the tea.”

She smiled.

”Anytime.”

The tent flap closed behind her. Kaiden sat in the uncomfortable metal chair, the cup still warm between his hands, the faint scent of chamomile hanging in the air of a room that was suddenly very quiet.

He leaned back, exhaled, and tapped his wrist artifact.

The competition hologram flickered to life above his forearm, a translucent display of rankings and point totals that he hadn’t checked since before the bombardment. The numbers populated, team by team, and Kaiden read them twice to make sure he wasn’t misreading the display.

The standings had changed.

Drastically.