Harem Online: My Party Is Full of Beautiful Celebrities

The enormous doors closed behind the prisoners.

Bobby’s character stepped forward while the nobles remained behind him.

"You took the city."

Alexandra looked down from the throne and let him wait.

"I did."

"You call this victory?"

"The gates are open, your banners are gone, and the men who promised I would never cross the river are standing in front of me."

She tilted her head.

"What would you call it?"

"You have the walls. The people still hate you."

"They hated me before I arrived. At least they ate this morning."

The answer came without any effort behind it.

"You said you wanted to rebuild the kingdom."

"I do."

"With its rulers in chains?"

Alexandra looked toward the nobles behind him, and several shifted beneath her attention.

"The man on your left sold flour by the handful while children boiled leather. The one behind him sent farm boys into a battle he watched from a hill. The others opened the eastern gate because the invaders promised not to touch their estates."

One actor lifted his head, preparing to protest.

Alexandra caught him before his line came. His mouth opened, but no sound followed.

She waited.

He lowered his eyes.

That was not in the script.

When she returned to Bobby, her voice remained calm.

"I chained the men who helped eat this kingdom alive."

The protagonist’s jaw tightened. "Who gave you the right?"

"The people who opened the gate for me."

Alexandra uncrossed her legs and rose from the throne.

The nobles drew closer together. Bobby straightened, clearly expecting her to descend the stairs, but she remained above them.

"I gathered the soldiers you abandoned. I fed the districts your court had written off. I buried the men you left outside the walls, and I learned their names."

She walked along the edge of the platform without moving any closer to Bobby. He had to keep turning to face her.

"You can call me a tyrant if it makes this easier for you. The city has already decided which of us it trusts."

Bobby looked up at her. "And what does that make me?"

"Late."

Someone behind the monitors drew in a breath.

Alexandra continued.

"You walked into a finished war and expected everyone to stop because you had finally found the courage to speak."

Bobby climbed the first step.

"You wanted me here."

The line belonged to the script, but the hope behind it sounded personal enough to irritate her.

Alexandra allowed some warmth into her expression.

She thought of Martin sitting beneath the academy canopy and admitting he was afraid. She remembered him listing every reason her idea could fail before deciding it was still worth trying.

Most of all, she remembered the moment he stopped hesitating and grabbed her.

The memory softened her eyes, and everyone on set felt the change. Bobby felt it most. His next step slowed.

For several breaths, the captured nobles and waiting guards faded from the scene. The villainess had once wanted this man beside her, and the feeling had not disappeared without leaving something behind.

"I wanted you here years ago," Alexandra said.

Bobby stopped.

"I’m here now."

"Yes."

She studied him for a moment.

"You’re late."

His face tightened.

"You still look at me like I kept your place empty."

"I never said that."

"You came up my stairs without asking. You did not have to say it."

Bobby stared at her.

"You left," Alexandra continued. "I stopped waiting."

Her voice stayed quiet.

The line came more easily than it ever had during rehearsal. Alexandra finally understood how the villainess could look at the man she once wanted without needing him to suffer or return.

She had already built something beyond him.

Alexandra understood that feeling far too well that morning.

Bobby climbed another step. "Then why am I alive?"

"Because I have no reason to kill you."

"You hate me."

"I did."

Alexandra gave him a small smile.

"It took too much time."

The set went silent.

Bobby’s confidence cracked. He stood there facing a woman who no longer needed him dead, forgiven, or even sorry.

Alexandra turned away and looked toward the captured nobles.

"Kneel."

For half a second, no one moved.

When she looked back, every actor dropped to one knee. Fabric shifted, metal touched stone, and heads lowered throughout the throne room.

Bobby remained standing alone.

According to the script, he was supposed to hold his ground for several seconds before kneeling. Alexandra met his eyes and waited without repeating herself.

His resistance lasted less than two seconds.

Then he joined the others.

Alexandra looked across the room.

"Now we can begin."

"Cut!"

Adrian’s voice broke through the scene, though no one moved immediately.

Alexandra remained on the platform and let the character fade at her own pace. The actors playing the nobles began looking at one another, several still carrying the unease she had pulled out of them.

Bobby rose last.

"Playback," Adrian called.

As the footage rewound, Alexandra descended the stairs and joined him behind the monitors. Several crew members watched her pass, then quickly looked elsewhere when she noticed.

Adrian replayed the exchange beginning with Bobby’s first step toward the throne.

On the screen, Alexandra’s expression softened when he approached her. The change was small, but the camera caught it clearly.

That softness did not weaken the villainess. It made the moment more uncomfortable because she looked at him without bitterness. She had moved on, and he was only beginning to understand that.

Adrian replayed the command to kneel.

"Bobby went down early," an assistant said.

"I saw," Adrian replied.

Bobby approached them. "We should do another."

"No."

"I missed the timing."

"She changed the timing," Adrian said. "You followed her."

"The script gives me four beats."

"The script is not going to save a bad reaction."

Bobby looked at the paused image of himself kneeling beneath Alexandra. "You really want to use that?"

"Yes."

He did not look happy about it, but he stepped away.

Once he was out of earshot, Adrian turned toward Alexandra.

"What happened?"

"We filmed the scene."

"Don’t be difficult."

"I wasn’t."

"You were last week."

"That was last week."

Adrian nodded toward the monitor. "You understood the character before. Today you understood the feeling."

Alexandra looked at her frozen image. "Maybe."

"You were thinking about someone."

The crew nearby continued working, though several people had clearly started listening.

"That obvious?"

"To me."

Adrian looked around.

"Probably to half the room now."

Alexandra glanced toward the assistants and costume workers who suddenly appeared very busy.

"They need more work."

"So do you. Ten minutes."

She looked back at the monitor.

Adrian lowered his voice. "Whoever it is, keep using it. Just don’t bring him here."

Alexandra’s mouth curved before she could stop it.

He noticed.

"Right," Adrian said. "So it is a man."

"You assumed that before I reacted."

"And then you reacted."

"We’re keeping the take."

"We were always keeping the take."

"Good."

Adrian shook his head and returned to the monitors.

Alexandra walked toward her chair while the whispers followed behind her.

"She didn’t deny it."

"Did you see her face?"

"Who is he?"

She sat down, crossed her legs, and picked up her phone.

No message waited for her.

Before logging out the previous night, Alexandra had sent Martin the handle to a private account she kept away from fans, reporters, and almost everyone in the industry. He added it after returning to the real world and immediately sent her a screenshot to prove he had found the right one.

She warned him not to share it.

Martin replied that he was more worried about accidentally liking one of her old posts and causing a scandal.

The memory made her smile again.

He was probably dealing with the guild’s failure or worrying that their date would somehow damage the group before it even began. Knowing Martin, he might already have a list of possible disasters organized by likelihood.

She wondered whether he slept well after kissing her.

Alexandra certainly had not.

Her body had been far too restless. Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered his hand on her ass and the hard pressure against her stomach. She wanted to log back in, drag him away from the bench, and find out how far the game’s realism actually went.

Instead, she reviewed most of her script.

"Alexandra."

Bobby’s voice pulled her out of the memory.

She looked up and found him standing several feet away after removing part of his armor. When their eyes met, he made no attempt to come closer.

At least Adrian’s warning had taught him that much.

"Can we talk?"

"You already started."

Bobby glanced around before lowering his voice. "Is there someone?"

"Yes."

She answered before he could make the question less direct.

His expression changed. "How long?"

"That’s not your business."

"I’m trying to understand."

"No. You’re trying to find a version of this that feels better."

His jaw tightened. "So that’s why you never gave me a chance."

"I said no before there was anyone else."

"I thought you might change your mind."

"I didn’t."

"You don’t have to talk to me like this."

"I was polite the first few times."

Bobby stared at her.

Alexandra remained seated.

"You’re used to women being happy when you notice them," she said. "I understand why you thought asking again might work. It didn’t."

"I wasn’t trying to pressure you."

"You kept asking after I answered."

"I asked you to dinner."

"More than once."

"And now there’s another man."

"There was still a no before him."

Bobby looked away, then back at her. "Who is he?"

"I’m not telling you."

"Why?"

"Because you don’t know anything about that part of my life."

He stayed where he was.

Alexandra set her phone down on her thigh.

"Bobby, listen carefully. I don’t dislike working with you. I don’t want a fight on set, and I don’t want this turning into gossip. I want you to stop asking me out."

His face flushed. "I understand."

"Good."

He glanced toward Adrian. "Did you report me?"

"I told him this was affecting work."

Bobby’s attention snapped back to her.

"He warned you," Alexandra continued. "You still came over here."

"I wanted to clear things up."

"There was nothing unclear."

He fell silent.

Alexandra kept her voice low.

"If you ask again, I put everything in writing. Adrian sees it. The producers see it. Our agents see it. I won’t give you another private warning."

"You’d really do that?"

"Yes."

There was no anger in the answer.

That seemed to bother him more.

After several seconds, Bobby nodded. "Fine."

He turned away.

"Bobby."

He stopped.

"The feeling in the scene was real."

Slowly, he looked over his shoulder.

Alexandra thought of Martin, and the change reached her face before she could hide it.

Bobby saw it.

"You happened to be standing in front of me when the camera was running," she said. "That’s all."

He walked away without answering.

His posture stayed straight until he reached the other side of the set, though Alexandra could see the anger in his steps. She had no reason to care as long as he remained professional.

Adrian appeared beside her chair a moment later with the rolled script tucked beneath one arm.

"Is he done?"

"I think so."

"If he isn’t, tell me."

"I will."

Adrian glanced toward Bobby. "I already warned him once. Next time, I go through the producers."

"That would be expensive."

"So is reshooting half a movie because the lead actor cannot behave himself."

Alexandra studied him.

"You’re surprisingly decent sometimes."

"Don’t tell anyone."

"I wouldn’t want to damage your reputation."

He looked at her for a moment. "Whatever happened last night, it helped."

"Don’t sound curious."

"I’m not. I’m tired."

"Good."

"Ten minutes," Adrian said. "Then we shoot the executions."

Alexandra looked toward the throne-room set. "Finally."

He walked away.

Her phone vibrated before she could return to the script.

Alexandra looked down immediately.

[Martin: Tomorrow, seven.]

Her heartbeat quickened.

[Alexandra: Very romantic.]

[Martin: I’m trying.]

That answer made her smile.

[Alexandra: I know. Where?]

[Martin: Meet me at the bench. I planned something.]

[Alexandra: Now I’m curious.]

[Martin: That’s the point.]

[Alexandra: What should I wear?]

[Martin: Whatever you want. No armor.]

[Alexandra: You do learn.]

[Martin: Please don’t make this worse.]

[Alexandra: I’ll behave.]

The typing indicator appeared.

[Martin: I don’t believe you.]

[Alexandra: Smart.]

She laughed softly and looked down at the conversation again.

Martin had planned their first date and asked her to meet him. He was still nervous, but he was moving forward instead of waiting for her to drag him along.

She typed one more message.

[Alexandra: I’m looking forward to it.]

His reply came quickly.

[Martin: Same. Nervous, but same.]

Warmth spread through Alexandra’s chest.

She lowered the phone and looked toward the throne-room set, where the actors were already taking their new positions. Several of them were preparing to play nobles facing execution.

Martin would be waiting for her at seven tomorrow.

Alexandra rose and headed back toward the set. The actors waiting beneath the platform grew visibly tenser when they saw her coming.