The Incubus System

Chapter 248: Morning Rain III

She was silent for a moment, her eyes filled with jealousy.

“I don’t understand, what’s so special about her? I mean— She’s not that pretty.” Her displeasure was clear from her tone even though she tried to cover it up. But then she realized something. From the look in her eyes, I could tell what was on her mind.

“Or are you—“

“I’m not dating her for her money nor because of her status,” I interrupted her. She knew about my previous financial crisis so I bet she thought it had something to do with my relationship with Emma.

“I’m dating her because she accepts me as I am. As the true me.” My mind drifted off when Emma found out my identity as a demon. Emma was the first to accept me and give me the courage to open up to my other partners. She was also the one who gave me the spirit when I just lost my father even though she didn’t realize it. I knew she wasn’t perfect, our relationship wasn’t perfect considering the misunderstandings that had happened between us, but finding someone perfect in this world was impossible. Since that was what made humans, human.

“I also can accept you as you are,” she did not want to lose.

I chuckled.

“Really?” I said in a teasing tone. Forget about my identity and the other partners, she even was jealous of Emma.

“Yeah. I can accept you as you are, whatever it is. I will love you and treat you like a king,” she said without hesitation. Her expression showed how serious she was.

“Since you mention a king, usually a king has a harem. Do you mind if I have it?” I used her previous statement without hesitation.

Her expression turned sour.

“But you aren’t a real king,” she said with a frown.

“But you said you would treat me like a king,” I reminded her of what she said in a nonchalant tone.

Her steps stopped. Spontaneously, I also stopped and turned around.

“That’s not what I mean. I mean I will love you with all my heart, Ethan,” she straightened out. Her eyes were looking deeply at me and from the tone of her voice,I could tell she wasn’t messing with her words.

“I appreciate that, Ruby. And I’m glad you’re willing to confess your feelings for me. But if you can’t accept that, I can’t accept your feelings either.” Although I said it in a calm tone, my seriousness was clear from the tone of my voice.

“What do you mean?” she said with obvious confusion.

I took a deep breath since I was sure what she knew was I was the same as Larry or at least Larry told her that he and I were a pathetic single duo.

“Emma isn’t the only one. I also have other relationships with several other women,” I confessed. Either she would accept this fact or not it was up to her.

From her expression, she was more shocked than when she found out I was Larry’s best friend. We were silent, the only sound that we could hear was the rain around us.

“Y-You’re kidding, right?” she denied in a stammering voice. I believed this fact had hit her hard.

“No.”

“Did Emma know it?”

“She knows. All my women know it, including my sister.”

“And they accept it?” she said in a disbelief tone.

“Yeah.”

Her eyes moved side to side in confusion.

“B-But how’s that possible?” she muttered. She lowered her head before she repeated.

“How’s that possible…”

Seeing her confusion, I approached her. In hesitation, my hand went over to hers to hold it. The rain that flowed from my umbrella dripped and wet it. I felt bad for her, but I couldn’t let her chase me around without knowing this fact. As my hand that was wet from rain touched her hand, she turned to me.

“Don’t force yourself if you can’t accept it. Besides, I’m nobody and you don’t know anything about me. So please, don’t do something stupid like this again,” I said in a gentle tone.

She looked at me without saying anything. Her eyes trembled for whatever reason. But from the look in her eyes, I could tell she couldn’t accept all this or give up on me.

“C’mon. You’ll catch a cold if you stay here too long,” I said as I let go of her hand and walked again.

Even though she didn’t say anything, she walked after me in silence. After that, all we could hear was the sound of our footsteps mixed with the sound of rain in the middle of the cloudy sky. The sun was still hiding behind the clouds, indicating that this rain would not stop soon.

Minutes passed and our feet brought us closer to the Tutty Fruity Maid Cafe, but we still didn’t say a word. Every now and then, I glanced at her, but rather than disappointment, I caught a clear confusion on her face. When we were about ten meters from the cafe, her footsteps stopped. Once again I stopped in my tracks and turned to her.

“Ethan… I don’t know if you’re telling the truth or not. But… Even if that is the truth. I still don’t want to give up on you.” Although her voice sounded a bit gloomy, her eyes showed her seriousness.

“It’s your choice. The most important thing, I don’t want you to hurt anyone because of it, including yourself,” I said.

“I understand…”

After that, we walked to the cafe and closed our umbrellas at the front door.

– Tring!

A small bell rang when we opened the door. Several maids with cute headbands turned to look at us since it was a bit early for the guest to arrive.

“Good mor–” Their words stopped when they noticed Ruby’s appearance. Her hair was messy because of the wind and her overcoat was half wet as well as her gloomy face like today’s weather.

They approached us.

“Ruby, what happened?” asked one of them in worry. Some of them touched her half wet overcoat.

“Nothing, it’s just that stupid rain ruined my clothes,” she said with a forced smile. Then she turned to me.

“Thanks for accompanying me, Ethan.”

“No problem,” I answered.

Without saying anything else, she walked into the staff room. My eyes fell on her lonely back, watching her walk away in half wet clothes. Somehow it was bugging me, although I knew it wasn’t my fault.

“Do you have any warm drink recommendations?” I said as I turned to a maid near me.

“We have it, Master.” The cute maid took the menu list and showed a picture of a cup of hot chocolate with a cute marshmallow bear on it.

“Our ‘Your warm in a mug’ is perfect for this cold morning, Master,” she said with a smile.

“I will take it.”

“We’ll prepare it for you.” She closed the menu and gestured to me to follow suit.

“Let me take you to your seat, Master.”

“It’s for Ruby. Please make sure she drinks it.”

“Oh.” She looked surprised for a moment but she immediately smiled again.

“I will deliver your kindness to her, Master.” Then she gestured to follow her to the cashier.

After I paid the bill and the maid said goodbye to me, I left the cafe. I opened my umbrella as a breath escaped my mouth.

“I’m gonna regret this…” I muttered. I was fully aware that she was my stalker yet I still did this. Well, at least she already knew one fact about me, the rest was her choice. Then I moved my legs through the rain with my umbrella.

—–

Ruby’s PoV

After she hung up her half wet overcoat and changed into her maid uniform, Ruby sat down in the staff room with the same gloomy face. Her hands were holding her cellphone and her eyes were staring at Ethan’s photo on her screen.

“Stupid…” she muttered in a low voice. His confession indeed confused her and made her wonder, did he lie to get rid of her? So that she didn’t follow him anymore? Or was he really telling the truth?

But either way, Ruby caught his coldness clearly ever since she tried to steal his underwear at his house. Even though it sounded stupid or rather crazy, she wanted something from the man she was crazy about. Something private to make her feel close to him and who knew it would destroy her chances. Although she couldn’t blame Ethan for this, there was a bitter feeling in her heart since it was the first time she was so obsessed with someone and yet that person rejected her. Surprisingly every time he treated her coldly, he always gave her a new warmth. Some simple and sincere gestures convey that he didn’t want to hurt her and that was what made her wavered.

“There you are,” a female voice behind her interrupted her thoughts.

Ruby quickly locked her cellphone screen and turned around.

“Tassa, what are you doing here?” Ruby said as she tried to put on her best smile.

Tassa walked over to her and placed a mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of Ruby.

“I want to deliver this,” she said with a teasing smile.

Ruby looked at the hot chocolate for a few moments before turning to Tassa.

“Why did you give me this?” she asked with a frown.

Tassa giggled and sat down by her side.

“Drink it. It’s from that boy,” she said excitedly.

Ruby turned her gaze back to the mug, looking at the marshmallow bear that smiled sweetly at her. She didn’t expect that despite his cold attitude, he actually cared for her. Indeed she felt cold when she stood near his house for almost an hour in the rain, but she realized it was her choice so she didn’t expect anything from it. She turned to Tassa.

“Did he say anything else to you?”

“Yeah. He wants me to make sure you drink it. I think he’s really worried about you.”

Ruby’s hands took that mug, feeling the warmth of the hot chocolate in it in her palms. A smile slowly began to appear on her lips as a sense of happiness began to emerge from within her heart.

“Stupid…” she whispered again.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Tassa asked curiously as soon as she saw Ruby’s expression change.

“No…” Ruby lifted the mug and brought it to her lips.

“He isn’t?” asked Tassa in disbelief.

Ruby blew the hot chocolate a few times before she spoke again.

“Not yet…” Then she took a sip from it.