Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1733: Being Sexually Harassed!

“And its name… was also Lackey.”

The spoon halted just before his lips as Young Aether quietly stared across the table at Jonathan, who returned the gaze without the slightest hint of wavering.

Neither of them spoke. Their eyes remained locked together as if silently weighing something neither wished to voice first.

The atmosphere around the dining table gradually tightened.

Both Maiuri and Sasha instinctively exchanged uneasy glances.

Just when it felt as though something was about to erupt,

“Oh? I heard that name… back when I stayed there.” Young Aether let out a small chuckle before taking another bite. “Haha… talk about unexpected surprises.”

Despite the lighthearted tone, Jonathan didn’t respond.

He simply continued staring at Young Aether, his sharp eyes carefully studying every subtle expression that crossed the young man’s face.

Young Aether ignored the stare for nearly a full minute while casually eating, but eventually his brows furrowed. Setting the spoon down against the bowl with a soft clink, he looked back directly at Jonathan.

“Do you think… I’m the monster?”

“I never said that.”

“Then why the fuck are you looking at me like I was the one who turned your empire upside down?”

Jonathan leaned back slightly in his chair before resting his chin against his clasped fingers. His expression remained calm, almost annoyingly composed.

“It’s just…” he said after a brief pause. “Everything happened at the same time. The monster escaped from prison… and then you appeared. That’s a little too convenient to ignore.”

Young Aether remained silent for a moment before letting out a tired sigh.

“…”

He placed the fork down completely and leaned forward, resting one arm against the table.

“Bro, you’ve had me locked in this place all day like some fucking prisoner, and now you’re interrogating me?” He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“If you’ve got something you want to ask, then ask it straight. Stop dancing around it. What do you actually want to know?”

Jonathan didn’t hesitate.

“…Are you the monster?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

“…Huh?”

Young Aether blinked in complete confusion.

He had already prepared himself for endless questioning, accusations, and suspicion. He expected Jonathan to challenge every word that came out of his mouth.

Instead…

Jonathan simply accepted the answer and continued eating as though the matter had already been settled.

For several seconds, Young Aether simply stared at him.

“What the hell do you mean, ‘Okay’?” he asked, genuine disbelief spreading across his face.

“That’s it? You’re seriously just leaving it there?”

Jonathan calmly scooped another spoonful of food into his mouth before answering.

“Because…” A faint smile appeared on his face.

“I trust my best friend.”

Those simple words struck Young Aether far harder than any accusation could have.

His eyes widened ever so slightly.

The irritation lingering on his face quietly dissolved, replaced by stunned silence as he simply stared at Jonathan, unable to find a response.

Jonathan continued eating as though nothing unusual had happened.

“Although…” he muttered between bites, “I am surprised your name is Lackey. Is that a common name where you’re from?”

Young Aether finally snapped out of his thoughts.

“Honestly… yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck before giving a helpless smile.

“It’s a name that’s usually given to people born into the lower class. You know… kind of like the divide between nobles and commoners. My parents were part of that lower class, and a lot of us ended up sharing the same name because people like us weren’t even allowed to use names reserved for the upper class.”

“Oh…”

Jonathan nodded slowly, genuine surprise appearing on his face.

Beside him, even Sasha looked taken aback as she quietly murmured,

“So… your world has something like that too.”

A faint bitterness surfaced in her voice as she lowered her eyes.

“I guess… people really are the same everywhere.”

Young Aether gave a small nod.

“Yeah. That’s why Lackey is actually a pretty common name where I come from.”

Sasha’s eyes lit up with curiosity.

“Can you tell me more about your world? I’d really like to lear…”

“Sasha.”

Jonathan’s voice cut her off before she could finish. His cold gaze settled on her, carrying enough warning that the rest of the sentence died in her throat.

Young Aether noticed it immediately.

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. He knew exactly what Jonathan was trying to do.

The last thing his friend wanted was for his wives to become fascinated with another world. The more attached they became to it, the harder Jonathan’s mission would become.

Naturally, Young Aether decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

“Come on, Jonny,” he said with an amused grin. “She just wants to know. There’s nothing wrong with being curious, right? She’s still young. Maybe… one day she’ll even find living there interesting.”

Jonathan didn’t answer.

He simply stared at Aether with an unreadable expression, his eyes carrying a silent warning that words no longer needed.

Completely ignoring that stare, Young Aether turned back toward Sasha and began describing fragments of his world.

He spoke about towering cities that flew in the clouds, strange technologies that blurred the line between science and magic, bustling streets filled with people from countless races, and everyday conveniences that would seem almost miraculous here.

As his stories unfolded one after another, Sasha listened with sparkling eyes, completely captivated by every word.

Meanwhile, Jonathan’s gaze shifted back and forth between his best friend and his wife, suspicion slowly creeping across his face.

His wife…

She was smiling.

Not the polite smile she usually wore around guests, but a bright, fascinated smile that seemed to grow wider with every story Aether told.

And Aether himself looked equally enthusiastic, seemingly determined to convert her reli-ahem… to make her interested in his empire.

For reasons he couldn’t quite explain, something lightly scratched at Jonathan’s heart.

He cleared his throat.

“…Say, Aether.”

“Hm?”

“What are you planning to do from now on?”

Young Aether paused mid-sentence before looking back at Jonathan, his playful expression fading into thought.

“I don’t know.” He leaned back slightly in his chair. “I only came here to find my friends. Now that I’ve found you…” He smiled faintly.

“I guess I’ll go look for that otaku.”

His expression subtly changed.

“Is he…?”

He couldn’t even finish the question.

The words caught in his throat as though merely saying them aloud might invite an answer he wasn’t ready to hear.

Sasha tilted her head.

“Otaku? Who’s that?”

Jonathan let out a small, wry laugh.

“He’s alive too. It’s just…” He shook his head. “He ended up in another division. The exact opposite of ours.”

Young Aether released a long breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding.

“Oh… thank God.”

A genuine smile spread across his face.

At least…

His other friend had survived as well.

“I can take you to him,” Jonathan continued. “But that’s not really what I’m asking.”

His tone gradually became more serious.

“What I want to know is… what are you going to do afterwards? Are you planning to stay here…” He paused for a moment before finishing quietly.

“Or are you going back to your own world?”

The room suddenly became much quieter.

Although Jonathan never said it outright, the meaning behind the question was unmistakable.

Which side are you choosing?

Young Aether didn’t answer immediately.

He simply continued eating, his gaze lowered toward the plate while countless thoughts quietly passed through his mind.

Jonathan didn’t pressure him.

After everything they had been through together, he knew Aether would answer when he was ready.

Meanwhile, beneath the table where no one else could see, Sasha continued teasing him with the tips of her toes.

They brushed lightly against his legs in slow, deliberate movements before tracing small circles that were impossible to mistake as accidental.

Young Aether did everything he could to keep his expression composed.

He forced himself to continue eating as though nothing unusual was happening beneath the table.

“Where’s my dessert, Maiuri?” Sasha suddenly asked.

“It’s in the cooler.”

“Okay~”

Sasha cheerfully hopped out of her chair and headed toward the kitchen.

As she walked past Jonathan and Maiuri, hidden behind them for just a brief moment, she turned ever so slightly before flashing the top of her outfit toward Young Aether with a playful, provocative grin!

Thud!

The spoon slipped from Young Aether’s hand and struck the floor with a sharp metallic clatter, causing him to freeze in place for an entire second.

His thoughts came to a complete standstill as he slowly lowered his eyes, desperately trying to erase the image that had just burned itself into his memory. No matter how hard he tried, however, the brief glimpse of Sasha flashing him continued replaying inside his head over and over again like a curse he couldn’t escape.

The fleeting glimpse of Sasha’s small pink nipples and the soft curves of her ample chest.

‘My eyes… are absolutely cursed.’

[+1000 AP]

“Fu~Fu~”

A quiet, triumphant giggle drifted from the kitchen entrance as Sasha covered her mouth with the back of her hand. She casually adjusted her clothes as though nothing unusual had happened before happily walking away, clearly satisfied after witnessing his completely stunned reaction.

Meanwhile, Young Aether remained seated without moving, silently questioning every life decision that had somehow led him to this exact moment.

Out of every possible situation he could have imagined after arriving in this world, accidentally seeing his best friend’s wife flashing him had never crossed his mind.

The absurdity of the situation was so overwhelming that his brain struggled to process it, leaving him staring blankly at the table while silently praying his memory would delete the last few seconds forever.

Just as he was beginning to recover from the shock, his eyebrows slowly drew together after another sensation stole his attention.

Something continued brushing lightly between his legs beneath the table, moving with slow, deliberate motions that immediately made him tense.

His expression gradually stiffened.

‘…Wait. Sasha just walked into the kitchen. Then why am I still feeling that?’

His eyes widened in confusion as the sensation continued without interruption. Certain that his mind must have been playing tricks on him, Young Aether quietly leaned down beneath the table, pretending to retrieve his fallen spoon while secretly checking underneath.

There was nothing.

Not a single foot.

Not even a shadow.

He could have sworn he had still felt someone touching him only moments ago.

“Aether?”

Jonathan’s voice pulled him back before he could investigate any further.

Young Aether immediately straightened himself, picked up the spoon from the floor, and forced an awkward smile onto his face despite the lingering confusion.

“My spoon… fell,” he muttered, trying to sound as natural as possible.

His gaze instinctively shifted toward… Maiuri.