Reborn As The Minor Villain In A Romance Fantasy Novel

Chapter 251: Flexing On The Poor

’I’m totally not trailing them because I have nothing to do...’ Amber thought as she ducked behind a popcorn stand, watching Lucius and Minerva from a distance.

It was evening now and they had been here for thirty minutes already.

The sun was drowning lower on the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple, and the park lights had begun glowing with artificial brightness as she watched them from afar with the dedication of a professional stalker.

’I’m only doing this because I have to... it was the mission assigned to me by father.’ She told herself firmly, though even she didn’t quite believe it.

Though she was really jealous of Minerva, watching the dragon girl laugh and hold Lucius’s hand so naturally.

While she disliked Lucius’s attitude and his general smugness, she still found herself wanting to be the one carrying him along to the auction house.

She wanted to show him the fun of raising your bid paddle dramatically and buying luxurious things with obscene amounts of money, the thrill of outbidding someone at the last second.

That was her idea of a good time, and she thought he might enjoy it too if he gave it a chance.

’Though I’d have to ask father for auction money first.’ She thought with a grimace.

Despite him being the President and having access to literally billions in national treasury funds, he could barely spare a few million for her to bid at auctions.

He always gave her lectures about fiscal responsibility and not wasting taxpayer money on frivolous purchases but he had sent Lucius about a hundred billion royals not too long ago without even blinking.

’It seems like he likes Lucius even more than me...’ The realization stung more than she wanted to admit.

Her own father, choosing some random noble over his own daughter. What did Lucius have that she didn’t?

Besides good looks, incredible power, natural charisma, and apparently her father’s complete trust and favor.

Just then she looked down at her fiber-stuffed chest, the padding giving her an artificially enhanced silhouette.

It was at this point she wished that she could be naturally built like Selene with her perfect curves, or even Luna and Vanessa who both had generous figures.

They all had big breasts that filled out their clothes beautifully, making even casual outfits look elegant, while Amber usually had breasts so flat that Emilia was genuinely more endowed than her.

It was humiliating.

Which was why she wore such plain swimsuits when they’d been at the pool.

What use was a two-piece bikini when you couldn’t wear it properly? When the top would just hang there sadly with nothing to support?

That was her honest opinion, born from years of disappointing shopping trips and uncomfortable changing room experiences.

’Even with these fake breasts... no guy wants to approach me and I’m stuck watching that bastard.’ Amber thought with a shake of her head, feeling her life spiral into new depths of pathetic.

However, someone came up from behind her quietly and touched her shoulder without warning.

"Miss..." A male voice said.

She spun around to see someone taller than her by at least half a foot, with spiky hair gelled into deliberately messy peaks.

He had that kind of face which gave him the Asharan look, with sharp features and light beige skin though he was quite average compared to Lucius’s almost supernatural handsomeness.

’Why am I comparing random men with him...?’ She thought, annoyed at herself.

Sure, Lucius was objectively hot with his black hair and purple eyes and perfect bone structure, but her mission was to watch over him and report to her father, not develop some kind of crush on him.

Even though he was hot... very hot... annoyingly hot.

"Yes?" She asked while raising her hands against her chest protectively in an unconscious defensive gesture.

The movement squished the fiber padding, making it compress and then spring back, and the man’s eyes tracked the motion. His cheeks turned noticeably pink.

"You look very lonely, did you not come here with someone?" He asked while placing a hand in his coat pocket, trying to look casual and smooth.

"And what if I didn’t..." Amber looked up at him with suspicion, only to see him giving her a smile that was definitely lewd rather than friendly.

"We can have some fun then." He said, barely concealing the fact that he was staring directly at her fake breasts rather than her face. "What do you say, Miss?"

His tone suggested his idea of ’fun’ was not visiting more carnival games.

...

Meanwhile, Lucius held a pinball in his hand, weighing it thoughtfully.

They were currently playing a game which involved shooting at a moving bullseye target that was going left and right on a motorized track.

The target was small, maybe three inches in diameter, and it moved unpredictably with sudden direction changes.

Minerva had already done her turn and won herself a box of premium chocolates, which she was eating away freely while watching him with interest.

Her cheeks were slightly puffed with chocolate, making her look adorable.

He took a step back, getting the proper distance and angle. He was absolutely not going to use space manipulation on this one.

He was going to do it with his own physical power and aim, like a normal person enjoying a carnival game.

He closed his eyes, visualizing the trajectory and timing then opened them with laser focus.

"Start!" The stall operator said, and the target began moving.

Lucius immediately threw the ball forward with perfect form, his shoulder rotating smoothly and his wrist snapping at exactly the right moment.

However, it didn’t leave his hand as planned because Amber suddenly bumped into him from the side, completely destroying his stance.

All that focus, all that carefully built-up force and timing was gone in an instant. The ball shot out of his hand at the wrong angle, curving wildly toward the wall instead of the target.

’Damn it!’ he thought.

He immediately manipulated space in a fraction of a second, creating a tiny distortion that increased the ball’s rotational force and changed its trajectory.

It bounced off the wall at an impossible angle, ricocheted back, and hit the moving target dead center with enough force to bend the cheap metal backward.

The target collapsed, and the ball fell into the prize collection basket inside the shop with a satisfying thunk.

That wasn’t any sort of super strength on display but indeed just how feeble the target’s structural stability was. It was the average cheap carnival equipment.

"I win." Lucius flashed the man at the counter a smile, though his eyes promised violence if the guy tried to claim otherwise.

The man quickly fetched his prize without argument, handing over a heart-shaped box of chocolates then Lucius turned to Amber, who was clutching his shirt like a lifeline.

"Yo..." he said flatly.

Amber pointed behind her with a trembling finger, and he turned around to see the spiky-haired man from earlier.

Though the guy was shorter than Lucius by a head, he was puffing his chest out trying to look intimidating.

"Is this guy really your boyfriend...?" The spiky-hair guy asked skeptically, looking Lucius up and down with obvious disdain.

Lucius glanced at Amber, who was nodding frantically while still gripping his shirt.

"He’s not much of a looker..." The guy said with false confidence, clearly trying to establish dominance. "And he has poor fashion sense too. Glasses and a hood don’t make you look cool, buddy."

Now Lucius knew that this guy was just straight-up lying, talking for the sake of talking.

On their way around the park over the past half hour, everyone had been giving him compliments about how his outfit looked effortlessly cool and how handsome he was.

Hell, some girls had even asked for pictures without knowing he was Lucius Hohenberg, just attracted to a good-looking guy. He’d declined them respectfully, but the point stood.

So he knew that this insecure man was just trying to tear him down to make himself look better in front of Amber.

’I love Asians but damn... some of them are pretty damn confident even when they have no reason to be.’ Lucius shook his head internally as he received the box of chocolates from the stall owner.

"Thank you." He said politely, and the man smiled at him with genuine friendliness.

Lucius planned to give the chocolates to Selene later.

She had been working really hard behind the scenes to ensure that they were all comfortable today, making arrangements and phone calls.

He knew she would be happy to receive chocolates from her fated one as a small gesture of appreciation.

"Let’s go girls..." He said, completely ignoring the spiky-haired guy’s existence and began walking away with Amber and Minerva.

But the man reached out and grabbed Lucius’s hoodie, his fingers clutching the expensive fabric.

Lucius stopped and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, his expression suggesting the guy had just made a terminal mistake.

"I’d have you know... this hoodie costs about 3 million royals." He said calmly, his voice carrying the absolute confidence of someone stating undeniable facts. "These glasses are top-notch meta glasses with built-in enhancement features, costing 2.5 million royals as well. And my pants... they’re mana-fiber weave so they easily cost 1 million royals minimum."

He paused for effect, letting the astronomical numbers sink in.

"Can you afford to be touching me?" The question hung in the air like a challenge.

The man immediately backed off completely, his hand dropping like he’d touched a hot stove.

His face went pale as he did the mental math, realizing that Lucius was casually wearing nearly seven million royals worth of clothing. That was more than most people made in ten years!

He definitely could not afford to go band for band financially with such a confident, wealthy man. The gap was too vast.

They walked off while the guy stood there looking deflated.

"You didn’t have to flex like that..." Amber said as she let go of Lucius’s shirt, though she sounded more amused than critical.

"Next time, I’ll leave you to your fate." He said dismissively, and she immediately puffed her cheeks out in indignation at the casual threat.

Meanwhile, Minerva grabbed his arm and turned him bodily in the direction of a new attraction. The sign was visible even from here, glowing with mana-enhanced letters.

[Awakened Mecha Cars]

"Let’s goooo..." She said excitedly, practically vibrating with enthusiasm.

She had already stored all of his stuff including the teddy bear in his spatial inventory, and she’d just finished her last chocolate, so her hands were free to drag him along.

...

All the girls were now seated in these Mecha cars, which looked like a fusion of roller coaster seats and actual mech cockpits.

They were mounted on tracks made out of mana-conducting steel that glowed blue, making the cars lurch forward on the rails with electromagnetic propulsion.

It was one of the only rides specifically made for Awakened individuals, designed to handle the speeds and forces that would kill normal humans.

They were currently waiting for three seats to fill up before the ride could start.

"How do you know they’ll come?" Luna asked Selene, who had been insisting they wait.

Before Selene could reply with her usual mysterious confidence, Lucius, Minerva and Amber walked in their direction right on cue.

They were stopped at the entrance by guards wearing official park uniforms, checked with mana-detection devices to confirm they were actually Awakened and not normal humans trying to sneak on, then allowed to climb in after showing their credentials.

Lucius climbed into the seat directly next to Minerva, the cockpit-style chair automatically adjusting to his height.

Amber found her seat next to Villy, who greeted her with a friendly nod.

The car just had enough space to fill them completely at the perfect capacity, nothing more and nothing less.

The guards began working at the control panel set into the platform, pulling levers and pressing glowing buttons.

The mana-conducting rails hummed to life with increasing intensity.

Lucius turned around in his seat and handed Selene the box of heart-shaped chocolates over the divider between cars.

"There... it’s for you." He said simply, without ceremony or grand romantic gesture.

She looked at him with wide eyes, clearly not expecting the gift.

Then her cheeks grew pink, a genuine blush spreading across her usually composed face as she noticed they were all in the shape of hearts. The symbolism wasn’t subtle...

Pooch was singing some cheerful tune on her forehead, and the car began moving forward slowly, ascending the mana steel tracks at a measured pace.

They climbed higher and higher, the ground dropping away beneath them.

"Thank you my love. I wish I had gotten a gift for you as well." She said softly as Lucius turned back forward in his seat.

They had finished ascending to the peak, and the mecha car began to glow with building energy.

The mana-conducting rails beneath them started vibrating with barely contained power.

"No prob—"

Before he could finish the sentence, the mecha car descended on the track like a missile being launched.

It seemed that tremendous speed had built up during the climb because the vehicle turned into a complete blur, clearing the distance of a whole line of stalls in barely a second.

Then it shot into the sky at an angle, propelled by concentrated mana bursts from the rails.

Screams from the girls filled the air as the car shot through the darkening sky faster and faster with the help of magical acceleration that defied physics.

The wind roared past them at speeds approaching two hundred miles per hour, and the lights of the park below became streaks of color.

’I see... this ride is even scarier than the regular roller coaster version.’ Lucius thought with genuine appreciation, gripping his safety harness as they entered a corkscrew loop.