After training ended, when the sun had already begun to sink toward the horizon, Grey made his way back to Venus's Embrace.
Every trace of his commanding aura had vanished without a trace. Now, he crept along like a mouse, like a guilty child desperately hoping his return would go unnoticed.
Even the city itself seemed to echo his mood. The streets lacked their usual liveliness. No bustle, no conversations. Only the occasional creak of a door and the footsteps of passersby trying not to attract unnecessary attention.
More than a day had passed since he had snapped at Monica. Senior still remembered every single word he had said. He had truly been harsh. And now, he would have to face the consequences.
The entire situation felt utterly ridiculous. He was a wealthy twenty-year-old man living his second life, yet he was terrified of meeting an ordinary woman.
And yet, that was exactly how things were.
To delay his return a little longer, he checked his appearance once again. His hair was neatly styled, he wore a clean set of clothes, and there wasn't the slightest trace of sweat on him. Almost perfect. If not for the dark circles beneath his eyes, he could have passed for a miniature version of a dandy.
For the hundredth time, Senior tried to contact Junior, hoping he would switch places with him. However, ever since Junior had fought the panther and recovered the lost fragments of his past, he had no longer been able to take control of the body.
"What did you say? You feel weak? You can't take control? Aren't those just excuses?" Senior grumbled inwardly. "We've done this so many times... You can't play games like this."
"I'm completely serious," Junior replied, though his voice sounded oddly sleepy. "Believe me or don't, I've tried. Compared to saving our mother and sister, Monica's mood is the least of my concerns. You're the only one here hesitating like a little girl."
Senior drew in a long breath through his nose.
If Junior was telling the truth, then what rules even governed the coexistence of two personalities within a single body? Were there limitations they had yet to discover? Conditions? Consequences?
They had tried more than once to figure it out. Ignoring such an important aspect of their own lives would have been foolish.
The problem was that even with Junior's extensive education, he knew very little about something as elusive as the soul. Emotions, willpower, knowledge, reason, karma, and heaven knew what else were all considered aspects of the soul in this world.
It was connected to the body through a special organ, the brain, and woven into the organism in such a bizarre way that most processes continued to function unconsciously, regardless of a person's will.
As a modern and educated man, Grey could neither confirm nor deny this theory.
From his biology classes, he clearly remembered that emotions were formed and transmitted through neural networks before being amplified by hormonal responses. Yet in their case, whenever their personalities switched, those processes completely restructured themselves in an instant, something utterly strange and impossible to explain from a scientific standpoint.
The cerebral cortex responsible for processing information and the temporal lobes associated with memory changed just as instantly.
At the same time, the parietal lobes responsible for spatial awareness, as well as the brainstem that maintained basic life functions, remained unchanged regardless of which of them became the "controller" and which became the "observer."
Had it been otherwise, things would have ended far more tragically. One of them simply would not have been able to breathe or move, becoming not merely a cripple but a helpless vegetable.
The strangest phenomena occurred within the hippocampus, the region responsible for learning and the formation of memories. On one hand, neither Senior nor Junior could directly access the other's memories.
But that raised an entirely reasonable question: how exactly had Junior managed to share scenes from his past?
The frontal lobes raised no fewer questions. Grey remembered perfectly well that this part of the brain governed willpower, decision-making, and behavioral control. But what happened in their case? Where did one person's will end and the other's begin?
There were no answers. Not even any guesses.
The longer he thought about it, the more tangled his thoughts became. The brain alone was already the most complex organ known to mankind. And now there was also the "soul," an existence far more vague and incomprehensible.
At that very moment, Senior could almost physically feel his most complicated organ swelling from excessive contemplation.
Through sheer force of will, he decided to leave all these questions to his future self. After all, he had already reached the gates of the brothel and could no longer run from reality.
He had not even crossed the threshold before he noticed an irritated Lydia waiting for him right in the lounge.
She served as Lady Veronika's secretary, a role she performed without the slightest enthusiasm. She was far too busy to stand around here without reason. Her presence almost always meant one thing: the mistress wanted something.
"Lydia has been waiting for a long time, which means it's serious. Looks like I've caused trouble again. In a situation like this, she's the only person who can cover for me, at least a little... assuming she doesn't decide to kick a man while he's down," the thought flashed through his mind.
"Judging by her expression, the second option seems far more likely..."
Lily's mother stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. Her face was cold. Her gaze was sharp, almost piercing. Her entire posture made one thing perfectly clear: she had been told to wait, and she had waited. For a long time. In an extremely foul mood.
Grey gave an awkward smile and tried to make his voice sound light.
"Good evening, Aunt Lydia. Day by day, you become more and more charming. Being greeted by you the moment I return is a true blessing for this little accountant..."
He immediately unleashed a torrent of compliments upon her. At that moment, he resembled a special forces operative risking his life while trying to defuse a bomb mere seconds before it exploded.
Lydia's expression softened slightly, and her lips curved into a faint smile. Only Grey, with his unusual eyesight, could notice her tail swishing from side to side.
She was an experienced senior succubus and had heard flattery and compliments countless times before. Yet the boy's adorable reaction, combined with words pleasant to the ear, dealt fatal damage to almost every female creature.
"You little rascal, do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you?" she said, still angry with Grey. "Lady Veronika ordered me to keep watch for your return as soon as the sun came up. You don't actually think a few sweet phrases will help you avoid punishment, do you?"
'It's working! It's definitely working! I'd bet that if it weren't for my sweet talk, you'd have already hit me with an illusion of pain.'
'All those experts who claim beautiful women have grown numb to flattery are complete idiots. Every woman is vulnerable to compliments. It's a law of the universe! As fundamental as space and time, yin and yang, or the law of gravity...' Grey thought to himself, though what he said aloud was something entirely different.
"Of course not, Aunt Monica. How could the pitiful tricks of this junior possibly influence someone as esteemed as yourself? I'm not nearly that conceited... My eyes were simply too pleased, and I couldn't hold back the comment."
Lydia's tail swished once more before abruptly freezing in place. Grey immediately realized that something was wrong.
"Esteemed?" Some of the sharpness returned to her gaze. "Are you implying there's a difference in age between us?"
'Oh no... I accounted for everything but overlooked the most important law of interacting with women. Never. Absolutely NEVER. Mention their age.' Panic began to set in.
He froze for a brief moment, but the experience of a playboy straight off the cover of GQ from his previous life could not go to waste. He quickly regained his composure.
"U-uh, of course not, Sister Lydia. If I truly saw you that way, then how could I court you once I've grown up?" He put on an expression of complete panic. "Ah... I've let it slip after all... Please don't reveal my secret to Lily. Could we keep this between us?"
The mask of Lydia's cold composure finally cracked.
She raised an eyebrow, gave the boy an appraising look, then a faint blush spread across her cheeks.
Succubi were experts in empathy and highly emotional creatures. If they held neither interest nor hostility toward you, they were actually quite easy to deal with.
That was something Junior had learned from listening carefully to Aunt Morgana's advice. Aunt, specifically. Not grandmother. He had emphasized that point several times.
"Fine, fine, you little flatterer. I'll forgive you this once." Lydia smiled with a mischievous grin. "However, I don't think you'll dare pull the same trick on Lady Veronika. Go on, off with you. She's waiting for you."
She burst into bright, genuine laughter, as though she were already looking forward to the tragic scene to come. Her large violet wings trembled slightly with anticipation and amusement.
"Ahahaha, I'll let you in on a little secret. She's in an absolutely terrible mood today. And you're the one to blame for it. So don't even dream of getting off lightly..."
Grey cursed his luck.
'I officially hate this day... I spent an entire month loafing around, and now, in a single damned day, I've been injured, searched for a hideout, argued with Monica, run into Reus by chance, dealt with cultists, treated a group of children, and conducted training sessions...'
'Oh, merciful gods! Have you ever heard of time management? Do the words "work-life balance" mean anything to you?'
But no matter how much he complained, no one heard him.
Teasing his friend's mother was indecently entertaining. Playing right at the edge of what was acceptable, Grey felt refreshed and full of energy, as though that brief flash of audacity allowed him to taste the sweetness of life once again.
He would have gladly followed her "kind" advice and pulled the same trick on Lady Veronika... if not for that persistent sense of danger that always arose in her presence.
Veronika was simply too beautiful. Literally.
Every gesture, every casual glance, every playful shift in tone overflowed with an aura of seduction. Relax for even a second, and he would gladly offer her his heart on a silver platter. He would fall hopelessly, completely in love.
Without the slightest hope of being loved in return...
That was the true irony of it all. It was impossible to see her as a fleeting infatuation. Her love was poison, the kind that would inevitably shatter his heart into pieces.
Grey straightened his back, patted his cheeks, and tried to steel himself.
"Alright, Grey, enough whining. Veronika is waiting. There's nothing shameful about apologizing. It's time to put those brains of yours to use. You can't keep hiding forever, can you?"
After climbing the stairs, he stopped in front of the familiar door on the third floor and listened carefully. From below came the laughter of courtesans, drunken conversations, and drawn-out moans, but Veronika's room, as always, was drowned in silence.
He adjusted his hair again, checked his clothes and scent, and finally reached for the door.
At that very moment, he heard a familiar enchanting voice, soft yet more seductive than the moans downstairs.
"Ah, Alex… my little Alex. I see you've finally found time for this lady…"
Author's note: Well, I wrote the next few chapters all in one go in a single day. This is a slightly new writing style for me, so please don't judge too harshly.