As Brunos stood like a wall between Morrin and Fellene, he heard a voice he didn't expect to hear. "Brunos, what are you going to do with Morrin?" It didn't mean his ears didn't long for it. Since he had never got a chance to go in a 7-star hotel, Dollian's voice gave him the vibe of what it would be like to be there.
"What do you suggest?"
"That's not the reason I'm here, Brunos," she answered with a harsh tone this time. "I'm here to remind you to choose ability before you run out of time."
Before he could reply, a screen popped in front of him—blue and modernized like always.
Since he had read first five abilities, his eyes landed on the ones beneath.
6. Mind reading.
7. Inspection.
This made him curious of what was going on in the minds of the ones in his room. Fellene was still standing in front of him, shaking and unable to do what he had in mind.
"See," before he could choose mind reading to give it a shot, Dollian's voice echoed inside his mind. "I wasn't here for questions regarding your harem members."
Brunos's forehead wrinkled in confusion. 'Is harem a universal word? Where have you heard it?'
"It's something I learnt from your mind," she explained. "I saw it means more partners for one, which best describes you."
Brunos hadn't thought about it. Now that he knew, an I'm lucky smile appeared on his face before internally asking, "Then why bother asking about them if it's not your concern?"
He didn't try to hide irritation in his low pitched voice. What was the point of doing so? She could read his mind. He had no where to hide his opinions.
"Ever since we met," he continued not giving her time to answer his question. "I never understand you. You do show up. But instead of assisting me with my questions, you say you don't have time for it."
"Don't say ever since we met!" Dollian demanded. "It's only been two days, remember?"
"But many things have happened," he complained.
Realizing she had pissed him off, Dollian decided to give him an explanation.
"I know! Many things have happened. But it's on both sides. Don't think I'm not a creature. I also have to face life struggles of my own.
"I was trying to escape my punishment because I never knew the host would be as interesting as you. But don't worry! Now I'm imprisoned. I have enough time to assist you."
From her long speech, Brunos picked only three things. Escaping, imprisonment and submissive.
"Can you be more precise please! I mean, short and rich."
"Ok!" She said, this time in her natural voice. One could detect a mixture of anger and sadness as she said these words. "I've made some kind of sin."
"May I know what it is?"
Instead of answering him, she continued with her speech as if he didn't ask.
"My punishment was to be an assistant of one of the hosts of our systems for it would help me learn more about life. About the virtue I represent. Thinking that my life would be glued to some lowly creature..."
"A lowly creature like me?" Brunos interrupted.
"Yeah! Some lowly creature like you was supposed to be my master," she replied. There was a mockery smile in her voice.
"I tried to escape, only to end up with more sins," she continued with emotional tone. "Though I've been harsh towards you, the little time I spent with you made me realize I wasn't imprisoned as I thought.
"I can explore new places, see new creatures and sometimes fight with bad boys through you."
"Does it mean now you're going to be beside me no matter what?"
"Yes master!" She replied in a submissive tone. " Always there for you. I have to help you perform well since it would lessen my punishment."
"Tell me what you think I should do with Morrin then!"
"Master, since you're weak, it's good to have strong and royal harem members."
He thought about it and found it to be true. Morrin would worship him for sparing her life. Helping her escape Fellene's ill intentions would make her submissive towards him. How was he going to do it then?
Valeria was there. Four Auburns paying witness. It was there responsibility to punish someone like Morrin. In that case, he chose mind reading to first see what was going on in their minds.
[Mind reading ability trial initiated successfully.]
As soon as the confirmation came, the room which was silent became as noisy as a market place.
"Dollian, what's this?" he asked as he covered his ears with his hands as if they were muffles.
"Covering your ears won't help," replied Dollian. "You're using your mind to hear them. Those are their thoughts."
"If it's going to be this noisy, please deactivate it. I can't hear anything."
"You need to concentrate and choose who you want to hear from. Others would fade away."
"OK!" Brunos said locking eyes with Fellene. He only directed his senses toward him, and felt a strange sensation as if their minds were connecting.
Fellene's mind was like a boy's room. Probably, a gamer. The one whose mom always complains about the chaos in the room.
There were many thoughts pouring in at the same time, not different from when a group of people is chatting.
It required Brunos to filter them. Now he could here three voices. A worried voice, an accusing one, then an adviser.
[Why is he protecting her? Does he know who she is? That's not possible. Her face is still covered.] If only you could have sent Lania. I regret it. Brunos would be dead by now. Of course! Why didn't I? Kill Morrin then. That's it!]
Fellene failed to maintain the eye contact, and when he glanced at Morrin, a flood of other thoughts bombarded Brunos.
[This stupid girl. Is it that hard to kill a weakling like Brunos? What should I do. Kill her! She must die before saying anything. They must die. Valeria must not know about what you did to Brunos. She is yours. He must die.]
'What a blessing!' Brunos said internally, the corners of his lips curling into that I'm lucky smile of his.
He felt like informing Fellene that no one was planning to die soon.
When Fellene saw him smiling, his mind became more chaotic. Brunos decided to leave him with his chaos so he could listen to others.
He tried to connect with the nearest mind, which happened to be Morrin's. For her, there was two voices. One wondering, another discouraging her.
"Is he really going to save me?" asked miss wondering. "If only he could be nice only this once. I can be whatever he wants. Do whatever he demands. I can even lick that worm of his. I can..."
"Don't flatter yourself," interrupted miss Don't Flatter Yourself. "You're a disrespectful piece of trash. That's how he sees you. Besides, this land has many beauties. Do you think he needs you for that?"
Miss Wondering ignored Miss Don't Flatter Yourself and continued her lamenting. "What's going to happen to my mom? I can't believe I'm going to leave her alone."
Before Brunos could end Morrin session, he heard Fellene asking. "Why did you scream if you didn't want our help?" His face was twitching and trembling like he wanted to punch Brunos but couldn't.
"Me?" Brunos pointed at himself as he read Fellene's mind. [Let me blame him instead. If he doesn't accept the blame, he is going to let me kill her. Morrin must die. Brunos must die.]
Now that his listening was enhanced, Brunos could hear the heartbeat of everyone, only Fellene's and Morrin's beating louder. For Morrin, Brunos could say she was scared. What about Fellene?
Fellene couldn't show hostility towards him in presence of Valeria. Maybe that's why his heartbeat was aloud. He was angry that with all the powers he had, he couldn't do anything to him.
"I can't believe you're such a liar, Fellene. Who heard me screaming?" Taking a few slow steps toward Valeria, he asked, "Valeria, did you?"
Valeria who seemed surprised, locked eyes with him, her lips twitching a little before she replied, "I didn't!" Her delicate fingers were playing with her long red hair, which cascaded behind her like a waterfall.
Seeing that the heart-shaped-emerald on her forehead was glowing green, Brunos smiled and walked more closer.
He could hear Morrin walking behind him like a scared child hiding behind his mom when met a frightening dog.
"Valeria, I thought you would hug me. Didn't you miss me?"
Brunos asked this to trigger her thoughts about how she felt toward him.
[I would, if you wanted.] he listened to her thoughts. [If you didn't have wives. You even didn't bother to spare me a glance.]
Before she could open her mouth, Fellene intervened. "Brother, don't disrespect our queen. How dare you ask her such immoral question?"
Immoral was the last word Brunos expected to hear from a demon like Fellene. Were there even morals and values in a Demon World?
"Since when have you become her mouth? Isn't that indicating she can't speak for herself?"
Refusing to accept defeat, Fellene pointed at Morrin. "Like what you're doing for her, eh? Is she one of your wives?"
My wives?
'Oh Fellene!' thought Brunos. 'What a good adviser you are!' Now he could help Morrin escape by pretending she was one of her girls. Before anything could steal that opportunity from him, he turned to Morrin. "Darling, why don't you leave? I will let you know when to come back."
Morrin stared at him and saw a reassuring smile that said she should leave. Hesitantly, she marched toward the door, anxiety making her look like she was about to fall.
As she walked through the door, Brunos enjoyed to read Fellene's mind This time, it wasn't only chaotic, but a battle field. The voices inside him were shooting at each other, the wondering one hitting others where it hurt the most.
When Brunos decided Morrin had reached far, he turned to Valeria and said. "If you didn't miss me, I did. We used to hug, remember?" He then threw his arms in the air, giving her a reassuring smile.
Reluctantly, Valeria took a step, then another until she buried her head in his chest. "I still miss you." She said.
Brunos felt like telling her to cry forever. He had heard her angelic voice a few times before, but now that she was crying, it felt more wonderful, like a romantic song with slow and harmonious notes.
He didn't need to read Fellene's mind to know what he was thinking. The expression on his face screamed fury, bubbling like an egg poured on a fryingpan.
To add more spices, he wore a smirk on his face and ordered, "Give us some privacy!"