"Yes... Yes... this is good~"
A young man shuddered while grabbing the pages of the book with trembling hands.
Azriel Ravenhurst sat huddled in his secluded reading nook, his glasses fogged up from his hot breaths as he hungrily devoured the pages of the romance novel in his hands.
His slightly protruding stomach pressed against the edge of the small table, evidence of long hours spent indulging in his literary passions rather than physical activities.
His nerdy appearance was accentuated by the thick lenses of his glasses, which magnified his wide, eager eyes as he read. His unkempt hair fell in disarray around his face, strands clinging to his damp forehead from the heat of his excitement.
With each turn of the page, Azriel emitted soft, almost lascivious murmurs of pleasure, his lips curling into a satisfied smirk.
His fingers traced the curves of the book's cover, lingering over the suggestive imagery that adorned it, his imagination running wild with the scenes depicted within.
"Ah... yes... this is good..."
He whispered to himself, lost in the throes of his own fantasy world
To an outsider, Azriel might have appeared like a pervert, lost in his own lascivious thoughts.
And this was true, he was indeed a pervert.
But there was a reason for this...
The good for nothing second son of the wealthy Ravenhurst family, Azriel had always felt overshadowed by his older brother's success.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach his brother's level of competence.
Be it in Combat, Academics or any other aspect of life, Azriel always fell short.
Day by day his confidence continued to plummet and finally, he reached a breaking point. Instead of trying to catch up, he completely gave up.
If he couldn't beat his brother in combat, he would just indulge in a fantasy book to escape his reality and live vicariously through the characters on the pages.
His strange and unconventional coping mechanism allowed him to find solace and excitement in a world where he could be the hero, the seducer, and the victor
In the end, his trained body and sharp mind slowly decayed and deteriorated as Azriel became more absorbed in his imaginary world.
His isolation from reality deepened, and he slowly lost touch with the outside world.
"Hehehe..."
Blushing while reading a particularly steamy paragraph in the book, Azriel didn't even notice as another person entered the area where he was sitting.
"Hey..."
He didn't even register the voice at first, so engrossed was he in his book.
"HEY!"
Only when the person shouted at him did Azriel finally snap out of his reverie.
"What?"
He lifted eyes finally from the pages of his book, blinking in confusion at the person who had interrupted his private moment.
However, instead of seeing the usual judgment or disdain in their eyes, he saw...
A book?
A heavy tome was quickly approaching his face.
Thud...
"Ughhh..."
***
"Ughhh..."
As soon as I chucked the book at Azriel's face, I immediately felt a sense of satisfaction wash over me.
I harbored no ill will towards him, but in order to get what I needed, I had to resort to extreme measures.
Normally, no other character would tolerate such behavior and that would immediately result in their animosity toward me. Luckily, I didn't quite care about whether Azriel liked me or not.
Although we are both first years and are the same rank I had to show him that I'm the dominant one.
It sounds cringey and I agree, however, Azriel is a really weird character himself.
From what I can remember, he was not like... 'this' all the time, however, because of his constant failures and inability to measure up, he had become disconnected from reality.
If I wanted to gain something from him, I needed to snap him out of his fantasy world.
"What the hell was that for?"
Rubbing his face where the book had hit him, Azriel glared at me with a mix of irritation and confusion.
I looked back at him, meeting his glare with a calm and unwavering gaze.
"Nice to see you finally paying attention."
I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm, while I took a seat across from him.
For a moment, we both stared at each other in silence, before I cleared my throat and began to speak.
"My name is Note. Note EnderFrost."
Although I've already thrown a book at his face, I thought it was necessary to formally introduce myself.
"Azriel Ravenhurst."
To my surprise, Azriel also extended a formal introduction, his tone still laced with annoyance.
He didn't even wait for me to continue before cutting me off with a question.
"What do you want from me?"
It seems that no matter how much deluded fantasy Azriel lived in, he still possessed a degree of skepticism and caution.
'He's not brain dead after all.'
I felt a smirk tug at the corner of my lips, but I quickly suppressed it. I don't want to look like a third-rate villain in his eyes, even though I sort of am.
"I need you to help me with something..."
I said, leaning back in my chair.
"Are you aware of the Auction that will happen in the Sky Palace next month?"
Tilting my head slightly, I watched as Azriel nodded his head slowly.
"I thought so."
In the novel Ravenhurst family is one of the wealthiest families in the continent and not inviting them to an auction would be unthinkable.
At least this hadn't changed much from the narrative.
"I need you to participate in the auction and take me as a guest."
After hearing my request, Arziel's face instantly curved into a displeased frown.
"I have no interest in attending such events."
The mention of the auction seemed to have struck a chord with Azriel and he stood up from his seat.
"It was not pleasant meeting you."
With a dismissive wave of his hand, Azriel turned to leave, clearly uninterested in my proposition.
However, I was prepared for this.
It would be unnatural if a guy with a massive inferiority complex agreed to participate in a public event with his family, specifically his brother.
"Wait."
I called out, while also standing up from my seat.
"Do you want to become stronger than your brother?"
If I can't convince him with words, I will use his emotions. That's what demons are supposed to do anyway.