Lewd System: Every Scream and Moan is EXP

Chapter 370: Chapter 370: The Last Dance

Echidna was growing madder by the second, watching Jax stroll away without losing so much as a single limb after dancing with another girl at his own woman’s birthday party.

‘Astrid, don’t you dare get fooled. I know you’re better than this. Press him harder. Ask him how many others he’s had sex with.’ A frustrated huff rattled through her host’s skull. ‘Oh, mother, I am begging you just give me one single second to slip a little something into this girl’s ear. Please.’

Jax had been tuning her out this whole time, already sweeping his eyes across the room while he stood beside Astrid. And that was when one pair came peeling out of the still, staring crowd and made straight for him.

A girl came barreling up to him, her sister trailing a few steps behind with mortification written all over her face.

“PROFESSOR JAX!” It was Lavinia, practically glowing with excitement and joy. “You were amazing. Like, really, really amazing.” Then her gaze flicked to Astrid’s flat, unreadable expression. “And you too, senior! Honestly, the pair of you looked so lovely together out there.”

Neither of them gave her a single word back. They just stared. And that was right when her big sister, senior professor Kessiri, finally caught up.

Lavinia didn’t stop. “Professor, professor, you have to listen, you have no idea how proud you’ve made me tonight. I was out there telling the whole crowd that the man stealing the entire show is my professor, and that I just so happen to be his favorite student. I was bragging about you, your heroics, our incredibly close friendship, all of it. And then this one girl had the absolute gall to call me a liar, and say I was making the whole thing up.”

“Lavinia, try to breathe first,” her sister said.

Lavinia ignored her entirely and pressed on. “And SO. I have come to a decision, and it is final, and it is very important.” Her tail flicked with the sheer thrill of the idea. “I am going to shut every last mouth in this room by dancing with you too.”

And all that excitement died the very instant Jax said, “Why should I?”

She looked at him with a stricken face, like her whole world had just shattered into pieces, then switched straight to whining, lip pushed out in a pout. “You will. And don’t you go thinking I’ll ruin your perfect streak just because us catfolk don’t carry that fancy noble style. You have no idea how hard I practiced for a day exactly like this, with the maids and everything. Just one dance, pleeease? Pretty please? I’ll even let you take the lead, and I’ll behave like a good girl, I promise.”

Seeing that Jax still wasn’t budging, Kessiri let out a tired, irritated sigh at her own little sister. “Professor, I’m so sorry. You’re under absolutely no obligation to indulge her. But if you accept, you’d be doing me a tremendous favor. I genuinely cannot stand her tantrums a second longer, so please, it’s only a dance. Just hurry up and get it over with before the last song of the night plays, and before I lose my mind over her stubbornness and her sulking.”

“I do not sulk,” Lavinia announced, sulking.

She spun to face Jax then and grabbed his hand in both of hers, leaning into his arm with her whole bouncing weight. “Even sis wants it this badly, so come on, change your mind, won’t you? So? So so so? Yes? It’s a yes, I just know it is. I can see it all over your face. You’re making your yes face right now. Say it, say it, sayitsayitsayit—”

“If I say yes,” Jax said slowly, “will you stop vibrating?”

“…200 percent.”

Jax glanced over at Astrid then, the silent question written plainly across his face. The is this alright with you look. In reply, she offered him a small, smiling nod.

He looked back at Lavinia. “Fine.” Then he raised his hand. “Just one dance.”

Lavinia leapt straight up into the air with excitement, before catching herself mid-jump and snapping into a poised, noble little posture, accepting his hand with the most gracious air she could possibly manage.

Jax took a few steps and guided her out to the center, where two more couples had started dancing the moment the next song struck up.

The second the music caught them, Lavinia melted right into it, all light steps and happy little turns, her tail flicking along to the beat and her eyes glued to his face with pure, glowing pride.

He spun her out, reeled her back in, and dipped her just enough to make her squeak before swinging her upright again. Her steps weren’t fancy, just quick and happy and a half-beat too eager, but they kept up with him well enough.

She giggled, breathless. Jax let the song roll through one more turn before he opened his mouth. “You know, I was looking over your academic record a few days back.”

Lavinia’s ears perked straight up. “Ooh! Did I do amazing?”

“You scored a perfect zero on the written exam.”

The ears wilted. “Professor.”

“A flawless zero,” Jax went on, “followed by the clean double zeros I handed you myself on the practical. Which, put together, made you the single lowest-ranked student in the entire first year.”

Her face slid from joy to shame in the space of a few steps. “Don’t go dragging that nightmare into such a lovely moment. Do you have any idea what happened to me afterward? Big sis scolded me for a whole entire week. And I wasn’t allowed any dessert, so I aged.”

“She was right to worry,” Jax said lightly, guiding her through the next steps. “She’s a good sister, and she had every reason to expect more from you. After all, you were the top student of the catfolk academy back in your dukedom. Topper in theory, weren’t you?” A small turn. “Quite a fall, going from first place all the way down to a double zero.”

Lavinia protested with a pout. “The exam pattern here was completely different. It made my head spin so badly I genuinely fainted while trying to decide which question to even attempt first. And then I woke up to the examiner peeling my answer sheet off my face, and the only things on it were my name and a truly heroic amount of drool.”

Jax laughed softly. “That’s exactly why they call this the toughest academy in this world, dear. Don’t take it too hard. And honestly? Don’t beat yourself up over it at all. Because I’ve been watching your progress ever since, and the growth has been… remarkable.”

“…Growth? What do you mean, professor?”

“Oh, come now.” He turned her smoothly, and his eyes never once left hers. “Don’t be modest. I read through your report, and I was shocked to see just how much had changed. I saw a girl who, a month ago, before she ever enrolled in this academy, hated combat. Hated the very idea of fighting monsters and beasts. Found it disgusting, even. And yet that very same girl was out there enjoying herself, killing slimes and all sorts of monsters during the assessment test.”

He guided her through an easy turn, slow and unhurried. “A girl whose only goal in life was to become the greatest alchemist, suddenly changing her mind and picking the combat division as her primary? You’ve changed a great deal, Lavinia.”

“People change,” she said, face going jolly again. “Maybe I found my passion. Or maybe I just didn’t want to stay weak.”

“I don’t like to pry into other people’s business,” Jax said. “But just this once, my curiosity simply won’t let it go. What is it that motivated this sudden change of yours? What gave you this much confidence?”

The music didn’t stop. The ballroom was only filling fuller with pairs, since this was the very last song of the day.

“Was it,” Jax said, gently, almost kindly, “that brand-new forbidden art you picked up out of nowhere? The one for messing about with people’s brains? For controlling them?”

For one suspended heartbeat, the kitten flickered.

The wide eyes, the trembling lip, the bouncing childish delight, all of it stuttered like a candle caught in a draft. And underneath it, just for an instant, Jax caught the briefest glimpse of something else. Something that had been watching him this whole time from behind a borrowed face.

“Sorry,” Jax said. “You don’t have to answer that one if you aren’t comfortable. But you can answer this one, can’t you?”

He led her into a slow turn. “About that time we were sent back together into the past. When you were getting all worried and whimpering, knowing our actions there could change the future and wipe out our very existence along with it. Something struck me back then. You cried out for your mom, your dad, and your sis, all in a panic. But when I looked into your side of the story, I learned that your dad was a scum.”

His voice stayed even, light, almost warm. “A scum both of you siblings grew up despising, for every last one of his deeds, and for the death of your mother. I thought the two of you were the ones who planned his assassination and dragged all his evil out into the light. But I think I’m missing the real story here. Because the girl written into that report would never have let that particular name slip out of her in a moment of pure desperation like that. So either the whole story was wrong somewhere… or maybe it was just a little fumble of words on your end. Right?”

The last of the childish glow drained out of Lavinia’s face, smooth as water finding its own level, and what remained behind was a calm and knowing smile.

“When,” she said, in a soft, quiet voice, “did you figure it out?”

And at that exact moment, the music stopped.

-x-X-x-

[A/N: Paradine_ai and Ordici_T golden ticket gang right here, thank you guys 🙏🔥]

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