Lewd King's Bucket List

Something didn't add up.

'Is she chained because she escaped?'

Perhaps she usually had free rein to mosey about as she pleased, but wasn't allowed to leave; however, leaving made Despair chain her like this.

Ruminating on it didn't mean much, as unless he asked her directly, confirming it was impossible.

Nor did that information really matter.

Any 'freedom' she was given in the past was clearly gone now.

But this line of thought slightly explained her callous actions toward Ixion… King Ixion.

Like she held no actual hate for him.

'Had she met the copy of me here?'

One which would have been created by Drath's mind — an Ixion without his presumed flaws.

Or had she simply been unable to hate the man Despair hated? Or more so, the man Despair thought of as a slight nuisance.

As far as Ixion knew, such a concept as 'hate' was not Despair's driving factor.

'Who knows if he can even feel such a thing!'

All the negativity that man ever felt could be summed up in one word: annoyance.

'What a delusional man!'

To be so hateful, yet not known to hate was a level of hypocrisy not even Ixion had reached!

Dia's grim and draining breaths brought him back to reality.

He watched through the thrall as she struggled to pull back her shoulders, then spit while launching her head forward.

The shot of saliva hit the thrall square between the eyes.

'Nasty! Don't you know I'm in here!'

She obviously didn't. Or at least, Ixion didn't think she did.

Ixion felt as the nasty concoction trailed down the thrall's face and fell to the floor.

He wished he could jump out and announce himself, talk to her a bit. But no, he couldn't. Not until he found a way in without linking his soul.

***

It had taken an entire day, but eventually the thrall had been stripped from guarding Dia and sent back on his typical patrol outside.

As much as Ixion would have loved to avoid Despair's suspicion, he couldn't sit in the thrall's body forever.

So…

He left.

He waited a couple of hours into the man's patrol. Then detached. The moment Ixion's soul separated from the feminine man, he fell over in the middle of the street and died.

A few concerned spectators checked on him, then screeched in horror upon realizing his state.

Though Ixion cared not to watch the corpse fall. By the time it hit the ground, his soul was racing through the city, finding all the thralls he could and systematically executing them.

It would be clear that Ixion was the culprit of the first kill, so this was his only option to hide his accomplishment.

He wanted to make Despair think he was trying to annoy him by killing his thralls, not that he had found a way to enter his space.

In the span of a minute, Ixion had shattered the souls of over fifteen of Despair's minions.

With that task done, Ixion snapped his soul back into his body.

As his soul fused with his flesh, Ixion thought to himself:

'Thank the gods I'm free!'

Being a passenger in a body was truly a horrible experience. Especially one that possessed no will of its own.

But at least that state was of his choice.

Ixion pitied those who didn't have that luxury.

He pitied his victims.

Getting acclimated to his main body, Ixion did some stretches as he sat up in bed.

'Man, I'm starving!'

Sadly, the sun was low in the sky and chefs had already retired for the day. Nor did Ixion truly need to eat.

Ixion looked over at the shadows cast by the lamps beside his bed.

"Zabaniyah, did I miss anything important?"

The assassin manifested, her body seeming to be birthed from the shadows, then said:

"Se'van has managed to recruit Laura to her side, but Andrea is obstinate and she has made no approach on Cecelia."

'Oh?'

Was Andrea loyal to Ixion after all?!

'Fat chance…'

Andrea was the scheming type. But she was not the type to get involved in the scheme.

It was clear she didn't oppose rebellion, but if she joined the rebellion, it would instead be the rebellion joining her.

'And knowing Marlowe, there's a slim chance on that front.'

"Anything else?"

"Runa has learned to read her Soul Scripture."

'Ah! Wonderful news for once!'

Ixion smiled as he passed by Zabaniyah and slid out of bed.

"Any assassins?"

"Yes. Ten were sent after Runa. Three after you. One after Andrea."

Ixion threw off his regal attire and slipped on his nightgown.

"That's less than usual. They must really trust they'll be successful. Well, what else?"

"It seems the Artoris girl is—"

"Ah, I did some snooping of my own and found that out."

Zabaniyah's eye rose and found Ixion's ocean blue ones.

"Is that so? In that case, I only have one more meaningful thing to report. The jester is missing."

'What?!'

Ixion's eyes went wide.

"Do you know where she went?"

"I'm not positive, she seemed to have simply vanished."

"How odd… Tail her if she comes back."

"Right."

Ixion turned and walked toward his table while humming, dismissing the Royal Assassin.

'My jester… Where did you go?'

Ixion sat at his desk and took out his autobiography.

'What are you planning?'

To disappear now of all times? After giving him that warning with the card? When Ixion had taken an extended vacation from his body to the Memory Realm?

Ixion sighed.

"I wish I had just one normal person around me…"

'Oh, right. Runa!'

Perhaps spending a day with her could help him stave off true insanity.

But first?

First, it was time to pick up where he left off.

Ixion took out fresh ink and his quill.

It was time to write the second volume of the Noble Path of a True King.

Ixion curiously looked over the page.

'Ah, how many volumes should there be total?'

'Thirteen?'

Yeah, thirteen.

That sounded like the perfect amount to regale his tale.

He dipped his quill in ink and brought the tip to the page.