Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1282  Long Absence

He didn't yank forcefully, but he pulled just enough to tilt her head back. Enough that she had to meet his eyes.

Her breath hitched.

Quinlan leaned in, watching every twitch of her face as he held her there. "I was out of commission for too long," he murmured. "It shows. You haven't been disciplined in a long time, isn't that right~?"

Ayame swallowed, eyes locked on his. Her earlier smugness was nowhere to be found.

A dozen seconds later, it was the oriental beauty who tore her gaze away first, trying to shake off the moment. Her cheeks held a faint heat she clearly did not want him to notice.

She failed. Quinlan, of course, noticed.

His fingers began sliding through her long, dark ponytail once again, and pulled a bit firmer now. Still not harshly, not carelessly, but with a controlled firmness that tilted her neck and angled her face toward him for a second time. Ayame shivered.

Her eyes lifted to meet his, and in them she found the same unyielding dominance she remembered from before his long rest. A force of will that never bent, never softened unless he chose to. A man incapable of submission in any form. The sight alone tugged something awake inside her, something that had sat quiet for months.

Quinlan's grin turned cocky. "A young noble girl raised to become a duchess one day. A life built on privilege and expectation." He tilted her a little more, studying her as if she were a story he enjoyed reading. "But then she was betrayed, met the villain, and became his slave, which helped her see what she really was."

Ayame's face went scarlet. She scoffed and looked away despite his hold. "Alexios was right. You're one hell of a fantasy writer, Quin. Your imagination knows no bounds."

His smirk deepened even further. "Was it the contrast, I wonder? Going from a pampered princess to the slave of a criminal." His tone dropped to a smooth, probing hum. "Did that little shift in scenery let you discover your true self, I wonder~?"

Another shiver ran through her, much stronger than before. He had hit far too close to the truth.

But Ayame, proud to her core, would never admit as much.

She swatted his hand away from her hair, and her lips formed the most adorable pout Quinlan had seen from her in a long time. 11:11

She swatted his hand away from her hair, and her lips formed the most adorable pout Quinlan had seen from her in a long time. And just like that, she demanded, "Stop messing with me, you arrogant bastard!"

Quinlan laughed softly at her cute reaction. Then he leaned down and placed a small, gentle kiss at the top of her lush hair.

Ayame trembled harder than ever before.

She held perfectly still for a heartbeat, secretly overwhelmed by the switch.

The woman wondered how he could tease her to the brink with forceful dominance, and in bed, even rough, and then shift instantly into tenderness. The sudden contrast always hit her deeply. It stirred feelings she never imagined a girl like her could feel. It forced her to confront emotions too strong and too new, emotions that had grown ever since she fell for a man who treated her with rough hands and a loving heart.

Quinlan let his lips linger in her hair for a moment before straightening. His hand slid away, but the warmth of his touch stayed on her scalp, and Ayame tried - and failed - to hide the aftershiver running down her spine.

He watched her with a little grin, but elected that the woman learned her lesson… For now. The homework would come later tonight.

"Since when," he asked casually, "have you become such a good wingwoman, by the way?"

Ayame blinked, caught off guard for a second. "What are you talking ab-"

Quinlan cleared his throat, straightened his posture, and slipped into a perfect imitation of her cold, authoritative samurai tone, the exact one she had used while whispering into Kaelira's ear.

"It's already too late. When it comes to the man you kissed, there are no take-backs. No denials. No pretending it didn't happen. You've sealed your own fate."

Ayame's entire face lit up red in an instant.

She whirled toward him with the stiff indignation of a woman who absolutely remembered doing that and regretted nothing, but would also sooner die than admit she had been playing matchmaker.

"I did not-!"

But her voice cracked halfway through the denial, and her ears turned crimson.

Quinlan watched Ayame sputter and blush, clearly still recovering from his impression of her. His grin sharpened even further, closing in on his wounded prey.

"Since when did my needy little samurai become such an accommodating woman? I barely recognize you."

Ayame paused her gibberish. Then she scoffed hard enough to shake a leaf off a tree.

"Do not dare call me a jealous yandere like Vex," she warned, her tone low. "Or you will regret it."

Her gaze dropped, unmistakably, toward his family jewels. Then toward her feet.

Quinlan followed her line of sight.

"You wouldn't…" he murmured.

Ayame lifted her eyes back to his with a look so ominous that his breath stalled for half a second.

He revised his earlier thought.

This was a dangerous woman.

He cleared his throat and decided, with heroic confidence, to pretend she absolutely would not follow through.

"Well, you were never on Vex's level, but you did start out rather monogamous."

Ayame's posture shifted. A shadow crossed her expression at a memory.

"Can you blame me?" she said quietly. "My father…"

Her voice trailed off, but she forced herself forward.

"My father was a duke, one of the richest and most powerful men alive. Yet he only had a single wife." She then grimaced. "At least, as far as I know…"

Quinlan knew she was thinking of Black Fang. The woman was born of an unofficial affair between Raijin Fujimori and an outsider, so now Ayame wasn't quite certain her father was as loyal to a single woman as she always believed.

Ayame pulled herself out of it with a quick shake of her head.

"Anyway. I grew up as a duchess-to-be. Sharing my partner with a dozen women was not exactly something I pictured for myself in life."

Quinlan nodded sagely.

"Precisely. That is why I'm shocked you acted as a wingwoman. I even saw a little bit of Lucille's openness in you."

Ayame's glare was just as instant as it was adorable.

"Do not compare me to that woman either. Vex and Lucille are two ends of the spectrum. Lucille wants every girl she finds fun to join the family. Vex wants to kill any woman who looks at you the wrong way… 'Wrong' in this case meaning wanting your attention."

Quinlan tilted his head.

"I'm failing to see the issue. You are not on either extreme, I agree, but you still did something I didn't expect."

Ayame crossed her arms beneath her chest and looked away, with the faintest flush returning to her cheeks.

"I would not normally do this. I am not Lucille. But…"

She exhaled slowly.

"I've known Kaelira for nearly a year now. She's exceptional, but she lacks the drive to even see what she wants, let alone reach for it. So I gave her a little push."

Ayame continued without leaving room for comment.

"She's the quiet sort who keeps everything running behind the scenes so the group functions smoothly. Do you have any idea how hard she works to maintain all our gear? Whenever you decide to hibernate for months, we end up stranded in this place, far from any decent smith. She refuses to let us make the trip and works long nights instead. Well…. These days, she doesn't allow us to search for a smith even if you're not holding one of your months-long beauty sleeps."

Ayame's brows softened.

"She never tries to shine on the battlefield either. She understands that it isn't a game. She's a true professional."

Ayame's sharp gaze softened as she remembered the history she shared with the elf.

"But all of that gives her a background-character type of air. Her shy and humble nature only deepens it. I knew she would hammer away in that forge until the end of time without realizing she wanted more out of life."

Her lips curved into a small, knowing line.

"That's why I did what I did. She deserves utmost happiness, and I gave her the chance to realize she might want more in life."

Just as they turned the corner, a familiar voice could be heard. "You're back."