Vanessa closed the front door of the mansion behind her with a soft click.

The quiet of the living room wrapped around her as she let out a long sigh.

Today had been totally exhausting — running errands, talking to her GUILD members, checking in with Rita and a few other people she trusted.

And she had gotten what she wanted, what Lucius had asked the council for and she couldn't have been more shocked.

Lucius had made quite some requests, yes, but not all were for himself. A good amount was directed at Grimmaw, almost like he was investing in the Guild.

'Sigh… will thank you even cut it?' she thought as she leaned back against the wall.

Her eyes closed for a moment, replaying the list of favors he had pulled in.

She hadn't expected someone who had only joined them almost two months ago to give so much… more than even most veterans would dare.

She shook her head, her crimson hair falling forward, and finally pushed herself off the wall.

But she didn't get far.

"Vanessaaa!"

Her younger sister Emilia appeared in front of her in a flash, practically diving at her chest.

Vanessa stumbled back, barely catching herself before falling over. "What the… Emilia!"

Emilia giggled like a child as her hands shot forward, reaching for her big sister's breasts. "So soft!"

Vanessa's expression deadpanned.

She pressed her palm against Emilia's forehead and shoved her down until her sister was on the floor, wriggling and whining.

She placed her heel gently on Emilia's head to keep her there.

"Stop that. You're hopeless."

"Ughhh, so mean." Emilia whined louder, though her grin never faded.

"Where are the others?" Vanessa asked, one hand on her chin as she tried to push her irritation aside.

Emilia stopped wriggling long enough to answer. "Well, Luna is downstairs in her personal lab. She's all excited because she met her celebrity crush and apparently got a new design for one of her drones. She's been locked in there for hours."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

That completely sounded like Luna but meeting Dominica? How had something like that even happened? The woman had been off-grid for a while now.

Emilia continued. "Elara and Villy are in Elara's room. Villy said Elara did really well for her first raid, though she's got some scratches. They could get infected if she's not careful. And as for Lucius…"

Emilia's voice trailed off. Her eyes went dreamy. Her cheeks were pink.

"And Lucius is in his bathroom. I totally didn't go to his room or anything," she said in a singsong tone.

Vanessa frowned and pressed harder with her heel until Emilia flailed.

"Perverted girl."

Emilia only grinned wider. "What's the shame in it? Is it wrong to like a little skin? Or sniff some guy's clothes? Or—"

"Enough." Vanessa removed her foot, disgusted and embarrassed all at once.

Emilia rolled away, giggling to herself.

Vanessa straightened her coat and walked forward, ignoring her sister's teasing.

She didn't even bother to knock when she reached Lucius's door. He had never cared about modesty before.

She had seen him shirtless more times than she could count and although she had been surprised most of the time, she wouldn't be surprised this time….

But when she pushed the door open, her breath caught in her throat.

Lucius wasn't shirtless.

He was completely naked.

Sitting on the bed with his back propped against the headboard, phone in hand, as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

Vanessa froze.

Her eyes widened.

Her mouth went dry.

"P-put on some clothes…" she stammered, squeezing her eyes shut and raising her hands. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop herself from peeking through the cracks between her fingers.

Her cheeks burned red, she had seen his upper body before but his lower…

She could barely believe what she was seeing. Even soft, even relaxed, his manhood was…

She swallowed hard.

Lucius finally looked up from his phone, noticing her standing there. His brow raised slightly, she swore his cheeks were a bit pink with embarassment.

With a flicker of space, a pair of trousers shimmered into existence and snapped onto his body, covering him in an instant.

"You really should stop barging into my room," he said calmly, setting his phone aside.

His smile widened a fraction. "Did something happen?"

Vanessa coughed and turned her head sharply, trying to compose herself. Her heart was pounding far too fast.

"Yes," she said, forcing steadiness into her voice. "I heard about you asking the council for some favors."

Lucius tilted his head.

'Is something wrong with what I did?'

He knew he had asked for a lot, but everything had been justified.

He had used most of the favors to strengthen the GUILD, besides it's not like the old geezers would stop him if he went to go and ask for more right now.

Vanessa bit her lip. "You asked for too much."

Lucius blinked. 'Too much?'

"How am I supposed to say thank you?" she asked, her voice was a bit quieter now. "You've done more for us than I could've imagined. We didn't even know each other until like two months ago. And yet… you've given this GUILD so much. I just want you to know that I'm thankful."

Lucius relaxed slightly.

'So that's the problem.'

He was doing it majorly because he liked the GUILD and it had the potential to move forward, who would want to waste money on a place with no potential?

"If you really want to appreciate me," he said casually, patting the empty space beside him on the bed, "you can climb in right now."

His tone was teasing, She would push it away as usual.

"If you want…"

Her voice was soft, so soft that he could mistake it for a whisper.

She bit her lip and slowly slipped her coat from her shoulders.

Lucius froze.

Vanessa's face was red, but she didn't stop. She walked to the bed and climbed onto it, moving closer to him.

"I don't have any experience though…" she admitted shamefully.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.