Reborn As The Minor Villain In A Romance Fantasy Novel

Chapter 248: Vacation Pic

Guilds were split into two categories: Regular Guilds and National Guilds.

Regular Guilds existed within their own country, operating under strict territorial restrictions.

However, unless in very special conditions approved by multiple governing bodies, they could not perform missions outside their designated borders.

It was a system designed to prevent international incidents and maintain some semblance of order in a world where superhumans could level cities.

As for National Guilds, they were higher-tier organizations that had bases spread over multiple countries and could also respond to international calls within every nation they operated in.

As long as there was permission from that country’s council, there would be intervention from National Guilds.

One’s Guild could only go national when they had five or more active S-ranks within it, and maintaining that status required keeping those S-ranks active and alive.

It was a difficult threshold to meet, which was why there were only twelve National Guilds in the entire world.

And the Diamond Scorpion Guild, despite the somewhat ominous name, was one of those national guilds in the novel that would eventually climb to Top 1 in the rankings.

However, the author never mentioned the owner directly as he or she had been taking it steady, operating from the shadows and letting subordinates handle the public-facing operations.

Now Lucius understood why. Selene preferred running her hotel empire and living a relatively normal life rather than dealing with the political headaches that came with being a guild master.

"I see..." Lucius said as he shook his head and then nodded, processing this new information and mentally updating his understanding of just how powerful his supposed fated one actually was. "You truly are deserving of being my lover."

The compliment was genuine. Someone who could run a top-tier national guild while also managing a chain of luxury hotels and still maintain S-rank combat capabilities? That was impressive by any standard.

"Yay!!!" Selene raised her hands up in celebration like a child receiving praise, her face lighting up with pure joy.

Then her expression shifted to something more mischievous. "Oh right... I told the girls we’ll hold a welcoming party on the roof. Wanna help me put on my bikini?"

She walked over to the wardrobe with exaggerated hip movements and pulled out what Lucius would generously call a two-piece swimsuit, if it wasn’t so ridiculously skimpy.

The thing was basically three triangles of fabric held together by string. It would cover the bare minimum required by law and nothing more.

"Wear something fuller and cover yourself properly." He said firmly, crossing his arms.

Then he stepped over the Awakened guild member that he had knocked out, who was now slumped on the ground like a discarded mannequin.

He decided to kick her gently into the room proper, rifle and all, so she wasn’t blocking the doorway when she woke up.

"Also, handle your member... I really don’t want anyone shooting at me at this time." He added, gesturing at the unconscious woman. "She seems trigger-happy."

"Yes my love! Your wish shall be done!" Selene said with exaggerated enthusiasm, giving him a salute that would have been more appropriate for a military setting.

Lucius then turned back to her, a sudden realization hitting him. "Wait... what should I wear?"

He looked down at himself. He was currently in casual clothes suitable for indoor lounging, not exactly pool party attire.

"We’re going to have a party on the roof right...?" he asked. "I didn’t exactly pack swim trunks for this trip."

Selene’s smile widened. "Don’t worry, I have everything prepared~"

...

Lucius soon sat on a long chair, basking in the glory of the sun overhead.

He lifted his chin upward, and his chiseled jawline caught the light perfectly.

The angle made some of the maids who were setting up the barbecue area look at him with barely concealed appreciation, wishing they had a man like him in their lives.

He was really a beauty in the classical sense, all sharp angles and masculine grace.

’This is real luxury.’ He thought contentedly as Vanessa and Luna knelt on either side of his chair, applying sunscreen on his exposed skin.

The sun in Avalon was pretty hot, intense enough that this rooftop area was more or less like a private beach of its own.

Especially with how Selene had decorated the space... there was a massive pool that took up most of the rooftop, lounge chairs scattered around the perimeter, and some of the maids were already playing music from speakers while others were manning a professional-grade barbecue station where meat sizzled.

The smell of cooking food mixed with chlorine and sunscreen created an oddly pleasant combination.

"I don’t really think you should be applying sunscreen, Lucius." Vanessa said while looking upward at the sky, her hands still working the lotion into his shoulders. "Selene explained this like three minutes ago..."

"Huh?" Selene asked as she pushed herself out of the water dramatically, her silver hair flowing back like silk and water cascading down her body.

Her stigmata was still clearly visible on her back, the infinity symbol seeming to shimmer with an inner light even in the bright sunlight.

She’d changed into a more modest one-piece swimsuit at Lucius’s insistence, though it still hugged her curves in ways that drew the eye.

"What did I say...?" she asked with genuine confusion.

Vanessa raised an eyebrow, looking between the two of them with dawning realization.

She could really see the two of them being fated... either they were both just naturally oblivious or they were pulling her leg on purpose.

Probably the former.

"The barrier..." Vanessa pointed upward with one lotion-covered hand.

There was a translucent blue barrier surrounding the whole rooftop, visible as a faint shimmer in the air when you knew to look for it.

The magical construct was wide enough to cover the entire space, edge to edge.

"It keeps the rain away from the rooftop... and as well as the sun’s harmful rays, so you won’t get sunburned." She explained patiently. "That’s why Selene set it up. The warmth gets through, but not the UV radiation."

Lucius processed this for half a second, then immediately spanked Vanessa’s backside with a sharp crack.

She reddened immediately, her whole face going scarlet as she bit her lip to hold back an involuntary moan.

Her body tensed, then relaxed.

"Don’t be a buzzkill and continue applying it." Lucius said casually, as if he hadn’t just made her lose her composure completely. "I like the feeling of sunscreen. It’s relaxing."

"Y-yes..." Vanessa nodded shakily, her hands trembling slightly as she applied the last bits of lotion on his neck and shoulders.

Luna looked at both of them, processing what had just happened.

’But you haven’t spanked me yet...’ She thought with something that might have been jealousy or anticipation as her hands continuing to work lotion into his arms.

Just then, his arm came down on her ass too with even more force, making her yelp out loud.

His palm was strong against her rear, the impact sending a jolt through her entire body, and he felt her up thoroughly even after the spank.

His fingers squeezed appreciatively, clearly enjoying the feel of her ass.

She immediately got red, her face burning hot enough to probably cause the sunscreen to evaporate. She moved away from him with a hurried spin, flustered and embarrassed.

However, in her haste and distraction, she accidentally activated a spell without meaning to.

Momentum Shift.

It was one of her combat spells, designed to rapidly change her velocity during fights. But using it while spinning away from a pool?

Her momentum increased exponentially as she shot like a cannonball into the large pool, her body cutting through the air with ridiculous speed.

She hit the water with tremendous force, creating a small geyser that sprayed water even outside the pool’s boundaries.

Several maids shrieked as they got splashed, and one of the barbecue stations nearly got doused before someone threw up a quick barrier.

Luna broke the surface shortly after, sputtering and pushing wet hair out of her face. She puffed her cheeks out in an exaggerated pout.

"Mean..." She muttered, though the flush on her face suggested otherwise.

But then again, she had liked it but she wouldn’t tell him that.

Selene was floating nearby in the pool, looking at Luna with obvious jealousy written across her features.

’If I had met him at an earlier time... he would have been spanking me like that too—’ Her thoughts were a mixture of envy and determination to catch up.

Just then, a blast of water hit her face with surprising force, completely soaking her and interrupting her brooding.

She sputtered and looked around to see the culprit was Emilia, who was wearing a swimsuit even more skimpy than Selene’s original choice.

Though she lacked the proper chest area to take advantage of it properly, what Emilia lacked in curves she made up for in confidence and attitude and ass too.

"I see your plan..." Selene said as she wiped water from her face, her eyes narrowing with competitive fire.

She yelled out loud enough for everyone to hear. "Water fight!"

The next second, Emilia got hit with a massive blast of water directly to the face, but it only made her giggle maniacally as she threw the next blast at Luna.

Luna immediately retaliated by blasting three separate shots of water outward in different directions, showing off her superior control.

One hit Elara who was sitting peacefully outside the pool on a lounge chair, reading a book.

The impact knocked her backward, chair and all, sending her tumbling into the water with a surprised shriek.

The other hit Emilia again, this time with enough force to send her under the surface.

And the last one hit Minerva who was floating awkwardly with a bright orange lifejacket strapped on, looking ridiculous.

For some reason, the dragon girl had insisted on safety equipment inside the pool even when a dragon like her could fly perfectly well and shouldn’t have any fear of drowning.

But she’d been adamant, strapping on the lifejacket with serious determination.

And soon the whole thing escalated into a full-blown pool war.

Vanessa had initially tried to stay out of it, but got hit in the face with a stray water blast anyway.

That was apparently the final straw, because she dove into the pool with considerably less grace than usual and immediately started launching counter-attacks.

Water blasts of varying sizes and shapes flew in every direction.

The maids wisely retreated to the edges of the rooftop, watching the chaos with giggles.

"This looks like a good picture." Lucius said to himself, watching the mayhem with satisfaction.

He adjusted his chair to have his back to the pool, getting the perfect angle.

Then he took out his phone, opening the camera app and switching to selfie mode. He wanted perfection for this picture.

The frame caught his face in the foreground... relaxed, handsome, with just the hint of a smirk. And in the background, all the girls were visible in various stages of launching water attacks at each other, frozen in a moment of pure chaotic joy.

Perfect.

He clicked snap, and the photo saved with a satisfying sound.

Then he navigated to his Twitch account to post the picture, only to see that Lily Silverhain had sent him 33 messages in the last hour alone.

The notification count was actually highlighted in red, indicating the app thought this was urgent.

’What’s her deal?’ He thought with mild irritation.

He didn’t even open the messages. Instead, he pressed and held on the conversation until the delete option appeared, then confirmed.

The entire chat thread vanished, preventing him from accidentally entering into the messages later and having to deal with whatever she wanted.

Then he went to create a new post, uploading the picture he’d just taken and thinking about the caption.

After a moment’s consideration, he typed:

[Vacation Rules 🙂‍↕️🖤]

Simple, casual, with just enough smugness to make it clear he was living his best life.

And then he posted it.

The likes started rolling in immediately, the number climbing faster than he could track.

...

Meanwhile, in the Military base of Aurelia where several Mage Generals and even lower-ranked officers were gathered for an emergency briefing, Elena von Hohenberg sat with barely concealed boredom.

The large conference room was filled with high-ranking military personnel, all dressed in their formal uniforms with medals and insignia marking their achievements.

Maps covered the walls, and a massive holographic display dominated the center of the room.

Their boss, who was one of the council members and was strangely sporting fresh bandages and a healing brace on his left arm, was explaining the arrival of a New World Dungeon.

Every nation planned to send their best Awakened to clear it once it fully materialized, he explained with appropriate gravity.

And then, in what was clearly meant to be an exciting revelation, he added that the Royal Academy students would do their major exams in the lower floors of the dungeon as a practical evaluation.

It was meant to be a momentous announcement... A New World Dungeon was a massive event, after all.

However, it went in one ear and out the other for Elena.

She wondered what Lucius was doing right now.

Probably something more interesting than this dry briefing. She was the most powerful Mage General present in this room, possibly the most powerful in the entire military, so a simple World Dungeon didn’t faze her much.

She’d cleared one or two before.

Her phone suddenly dinged, the sound cutting through the councilman’s explanation about dungeon floors and monster distributions.

Several heads turned toward her disapprovingly.

The only time her phone made that specific sound was when Lucius posted something on social media... that was how she had specifically set up her notifications.

Everything else was silenced.

She took up her phone without hesitation, much to the Council man’s visible annoyance. His eye twitched as he paused mid-sentence, watching her check her device during his important briefing.

Elena looked at the screen and her eyes widened immediately.

Lucius was currently on vacation. The post had been made about two minutes ago but it was already at 300,000 likes and climbing rapidly.

The picture showed him looking relaxed and handsome with a group of women playing in a pool behind him.

’That brat...’ She thought while gritting her teeth hard enough that she heard them creak. ’He fucked me senseless and then forgot to visit me again... and now he’s on vacation with other girls?’

Fury and jealousy mixed in equal measure, creating a potent cocktail of emotion that made her magic pressure spike involuntarily.

Several lower-ranked officers near her felt it and shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

She stood up abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor with a harsh sound.

"Excuse me, I’ll be taking my leave now..." She announced, her voice perfectly calm despite the storm of emotions underneath.

"To where, Mage General?" The Councilman asked, his voice tight with frustration. "I hope you’re not planning to quit again...?"

This was apparently not the first time Elena had walked out of important meetings.

"No, I’ve decided I need a vacation." Elena said simply, already moving toward the door.

She walked out before the Council man could continue his objections, and then shut the door behind her.

Except she shut it with such force that all the hinges shattered immediately, the metal warping and breaking with sharp cracks.

The heavy wooden door fell over onto the floor inside the conference room with a tremendous crash that made everybody present wince in unison.

Dust and splinters scattered across the polished floor.

Inside the conference room, the councilman stared at the fallen door with an expression of profound exhaustion.

’The brother... the sister... the whole Hohenberg clan is crazy...’ He thought while massaging his forehead with both hands, feeling a stress headache building. ’What did I do in a past life to deserve this?’

He needed a vacation too.

Maybe somewhere far away where powerful Awakened couldn’t casually destroy government property.