"I hope you've been thinking about me," Julian said, the taste of her lips still lingering in his mouth.
The words echoed through the entrance, clear and unapologetic, as if he didn't care who else in the house might hear them.
A trace of surprise crossed Beatrice's face. Her fingers tightened around her handbag, and her breathing stalled for half a second longer than normal.
"W-what…?" she began to mutter, then cut herself off. She took a deep breath. Straightened her back. Lifted her chin.
"What do you think you're doing?" she finally said, facing him with a hard stare. "Don't say things like that here. Your siblings are at home. They could have seen us."
The old Julian would have shrunk back under Beatrice's terrifying expression, but his current self had changed a great deal over the past few days. Neither Beatrice nor any member of the Cross family was prepared for what this golden-eyed demon was about to become.
"Sure, they could have," Julian replied in a playful tone, "but I couldn't stand the idea of ignoring my dear 'girlfriend' after a long day at work."
"My dear girlfriend?" Beatrice growled. "Stop playing with me."
She stepped inside without sparing him another glance.
"Wait" Julian said, reaching out to grab her arm.
Beatrice startled, yanking herself free with a sharp slap of her hand.
"Not now" she said in a low voice. "I'm not… it's not a good time. We'll talk later."
"Later?" Julian repeated slowly, savoring the rejection. "I thought we had an agreement, my dear."
Beatrice didn't answer. She was already taking off her shoes and hanging up her handbag. She loosened her tie with a weary gesture, swallowed, and raised her voice toward the interior of the house with that unmistakable tone only mothers have.
"Kids, I'm back. Have you eaten?"
"Hi, Mom. Yeah, we've already eaten" Marcus's lazy voice replied from the living room.
"Where's Guinevere?"
"No idea. I think she went out."
Beatrice nodded to herself and disappeared down the hallway, slipping back into her domestic routine with an irritating sense of normalcy.
Julian watched her go, teeth clenched.
*Is this woman trying to escape our deal?* Julian thought, grinding his teeth. He had planned something "relaxing" for this afternoon —he was exhausted after his training with Kim Yura— but he had changed his mind.
*I thought I'd already started to tame her, but it seems this woman still needs a bit more discipline.* If he let her slip away like this, she might start believing she had room to resist. And that was something he couldn't allow. *Luckily, I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve.*
"Activate [Roulette]."
The moment he spoke the command, the air shifted.
The golden Roulette of Fortune materialized, floating before him. Even though it wasn't the first time, Julian still felt impressed just by looking at it. It was made of pure gold—flawless and gleaming, without a single imperfection on its surface. Along the outer edge of the disk, the rewards were arranged in circular color-coded segments, with a fixed needle at the top pointing toward the winning prize.
╔═ ✧✦ ⟦ LUCK ROULETTE ⟧ ✦✧ ═╗
➣ Welcome to the Luck Roulette! This service offers random rewards in exchange for Luck Points (LP). The value of each reward varies according to its rarity.
➣ Available reward rarities:
⤷ Common ✦✧✧✧✧ (70%) – Green.
⤷ Rare ✦✦✧✧✧ (25%) – Blue.
⤷ Special ✦✦✦✧✧ (5%) – Violet.
➣ Cost: 5 LP per attempt
➣ Inventory: 20 free spin tickets
╚══════════════════════╝
Julian still had the twenty tickets he'd received as a bonus when he became Kim Yura's "student." This seemed like the perfect time to use them.
⟦ 20 tickets have been exchanged for free spins. ⟧
One by one, the tickets vanished into the slot at the bottom of the roulette.
Immediately, the mechanism activated.
The roulette began spinning violently. The disk turned into a luminous ring of green, blue, and violet, slowly decelerating until it came to a complete stop.
The prize the needle pointed to was… common. Nothing special.
*Bad luck* Julian sighed.
A green beam shot out from the roulette, materializing the rewarded item.
╔═══════════⟦ ITEM ⟧ ═══════════╗
[ Fake Bill ] (Common Item) ×1
A fake bill from a popular board game. When handed to another person, it will appear as a real 100-dollar bill for twenty minutes, fooling even detection machines. After that time, it returns to its original appearance. It can be reused if the user retrieves it.
╚═══════════════════════╝
Julian grimaced. The first reward was disappointing; its usefulness was rather limited. Not what he had hoped for—but it didn't really matter. There were still plenty of prizes left.
The roulette kept spinning. Each time the needle stopped, a new beam of color burst from the center, materializing into an item.
The process repeated again and again until all twenty attempts were used up. The air in front of Julian was filled with a small constellation of objects, each one slowly rotating in place.
Julian stared at them in silence for a few seconds.
Then, a wicked smile spread across his face.
╔═══════════⟦ INVENTORY ⟧ ═══════════╗
[ Oath Recorder ] (Special Item) ×1
A classic 1990s cassette recorder. When turned on, it records any kind of verbal agreement, pact, or promise, turning it into a binding oath for the person who spoke it. While the binding oath remains active, the target will feel psychological pressure to fulfill it (as if under an obligation). If they resist, they will experience discomfort, anxiety, and guilt.⤷ Warning: The oath does not physically compel the target, but it erodes their will.⤷ Recording: The recorder can store only one binding oath. The bond ends only when the promise is fulfilled or the cassette is destroyed. Once activated, it has only 5 minutes of tape to record. If no oath is recorded within that time, the tape is exhausted and the recorder becomes unusable.
[ Angel and Demon Coin ] (Rare Item) ×2
A bronze coin with an angel on one side and a demon on the other. It can be used to "bribe" either a person's good conscience (the angel) or bad conscience (the demon). The good conscience promotes empathetic feelings such as forgiveness or kindness, while the bad conscience promotes hedonistic feelings such as desire or selfishness. Only one side can be bribed, and once used, the coin disappears.
[ Protective Omamori ] (Common Item) ×3
A traditional Japanese amulet consisting of a silk pouch containing a protective prayer. When activated, it protects the wearer from an unfortunate event. However, the activation is random and cannot be controlled. It has a 2% activation chance and may trigger even from a minor issue such as a small cut or a stumble. Once the protection is used, the amulet burns away.
[ Voodoo Doll ] (Common Item) ×2
An old straw doll with a sinister appearance. If a person's hair is placed on it, the doll will cast a curse on the owner of the hair, making them ill for three days with fever, vomiting, and dizziness. Afterward, the curse dissipates and the voodoo doll becomes a normal object.
[ Instant Camera of Secrets ] (Common Item) ×3
A retro-style instant camera. When the shutter is pressed, the photograph slowly prints from the bottom slot, revealing itself after a few seconds. The resulting photo shows the photographed person's hidden desires in a symbolic manner.⤷ Warning: If multiple people appear in the same photo, their desires overlap and mix, making the image confusing, ambiguous, or difficult to interpret.⤷ Details: The desires revealed correspond to impulses that are repressed or not consciously expressed at that moment. In short, it shows what the subject longs for deep down.
[ Fake Account Bot ] (Common Item) ×1
A purple USB drive containing a special bot capable of creating a fake Instaface account from scratch. The account will be completely convincing, with years of history and hundreds of photos with likes, comments, and followers. The user can decide the account's details at the moment of creation. Once its task is complete, the bot deletes itself.
[ Truth Pill ] (Rare Item) ×1
A normal-looking effervescent pill. Whoever ingests it cannot tell lies for three hours. It can be dissolved in water or any other liquid. It leaves no visible trace, only a slightly sweet taste.
[ Fashion Magnifying Glass ] (Common Item) ×3
A fine glass magnifying lens with a metal frame. When observing a person through it, visual fashion suggestions appear: a new outfit, hairstyle, style adjustments, and accessories that would improve the target's aesthetic appeal.⤷ Limitations: One reading every 24 hours. The magnifying glass suggests only one outfit per reading.
[ Fake Bill ] (Common Item) ×4
A fake bill from a popular board game. When handed to another person, it will appear as a real 100-dollar bill for twenty minutes, fooling even detection machines. After that time, it returns to its original appearance. It can be reused if the user retrieves it.
╚═══════════════════════╝