Transmigrated Young Master's Yandere Harem

The street they turned onto was narrower. Quieter. The noise of the shopping district faded behind them and the path here was lined with older buildings, their stone faces worn smooth. Fewer people. A different kind of stillness.

Azael walked beside Arista, her hand in his, not paying particular attention to where they were going.

Then something caught the edge of his awareness.

A building on the left side of the street. A wooden sign above the door. The particular way the window display was arranged.

He slowed almost without realizing it.

He knew this street.

He knew this shop.

Azael kept his expression completely neutral.

Of all the streets in Elaris, he thought privately.

His pace stayed even. His hand stayed relaxed in Arista’s.

’We just happened to walk this way. Perfectly normal. Nothing to worry about whatsoever.’

Then Arista spoke.

"You’re wondering why we came down this way, aren’t you?"

"A little," he admitted. "It’s quiet here. Secluded. Not exactly a typical afternoon stroll."

"I know a place nearby." She looked ahead as she spoke, her tone easy and casual. "An alchemy shop. I visited it a couple of years ago, before I got caught up with missions. The owner is a kind woman. She sells genuinely good quality potions, better than most of what you’d find in the main district." She paused. "I haven’t been back in a while. I thought today was a good opportunity. And I wanted to show you."

"So you’re close with her?"

Arista shook her head. "Not particularly. I was a customer, nothing more. She knows who I am because of my family name, but we were never close." She glanced at him. "Still, her stock is worth knowing about. Especially once you start at the Academy."

She looked forward again.

"I did offer once to help her move the shop somewhere more visible. Expand it. She turned me down." A small shrug. "Said she was happy where she was. So I left it."

Azael nodded along calmly.

Inside his head it was considerably less calm.

So Arista knows Liona.

He thought about the mask. The aphrodisiac he had bought from her shop. Showing up at her door half-dead in the middle of the night and asking for help.

If Liona mentions any of that, even a passing comment, I am finished.

He exhaled slowly through his nose.

She won’t say anything. She has no reason to. Just stay calm.

He didn’t get much further in that line of thinking because they had already arrived.

The shop sat exactly as he remembered it. The wooden sign above the door. The neatly arranged window display. The same quiet frontage that looked slightly out of place in the modern city, like something that had simply decided not to change and had gotten away with it.

Arista turned to him with a small smile.

"This is it. Come on."

She pushed the door open and led him inside.

The familiar creak of old wood. The smell of herbs and something faintly sweet underneath. The interior exactly as he had last seen it, shelves lined with bottles and bundles, soft light filtering through the windows.

Behind the counter sat Liona.

She was wearing a deep red robe, her long violet hair falling neatly around her shoulders. She looked up when the door opened.

"Welcome~" she said cheerfully.

Then she saw Arista.

Her face brightened immediately and she rose from her chair, stepping out from behind the counter.

"Oh my, if it isn’t Lady Aris—"

She stopped.

Mid-step. Mid-sentence.

Her eyes had moved from Arista to the person standing beside her.

To Azael.

More specifically, to their hands. Fingers laced together, close and easy, the way people stand when being near each other has stopped requiring any thought.

Liona’s violet eyes went wide.

Her mouth opened.

Nothing came out.

She closed it again.

A full second passed.

"...It has been a long time, Lady Arista," she said finally, producing a composed smile from somewhere. "Please forgive me, I was surprised to see you."

Arista, completely unaware of anything happening beneath the surface of that sentence, smiled back warmly.

"It really has been a while. I’ve been caught up with things. How is the shop?"

"Doing well." Liona’s smile stayed steady. "Well enough."

"Good to hear." Arista turned to Azael. "Take a look around. She carries things worth knowing about."

"Of course," he said.

They moved together deeper into the shop, Arista drifting toward a shelf of potions and beginning to look through them with genuine interest.

Azael followed.

Then felt it.

A pressure on the back of his neck. Focused and deliberate. The very specific feeling of someone staring at him with considerable intensity.

He turned.

Liona stood behind the counter.

She was smiling pleasantly.

’Was that my imagination? ’ he thought.

He looked at her for a moment. Then, keeping his body angled so Arista couldn’t see his face, he raised both hands slightly and gestured carefully toward Arista’s back.

The expression he put on was as clear as he could make it without saying a single word.

Please. Not a word. I am begging you.

Liona looked at him.

Then looked at Arista, who was quietly reading the label on a small blue bottle.

Then back at Azael.

She gave one small, unhurried nod.

Don’t worry.

The tension that had been sitting across Azael’s shoulders since the moment he recognized the street released itself all at once.

He turned back toward Arista and resumed browsing with the calm and unbothered expression of a young man who had absolutely nothing on his side.

He took some potion bottles. And goes to counter with Arista.

"This are potions that we want to purchase." Arista said while putting them on counter.

Liona’s expression was slightly tense. She was still smiling gently. If one didn’t observed her keenly. They wouldn’t find anything wrong.

But in truth her expression was forced.

Even Azael did not notice it.

Liona told the bill, while Arista pay for it.

"Azael take half of them."

"Yes Arista. Thanks again for buying this for me." He put half of them inside his storage ring while Arista put other half in her ring.

They were mostly healing and mana recovery potions. She had bought lot of them for both of them.

"Oh come on! How many time should I say this to you? Don’t thank me for it. Just take whatever i give to you like a good boy." She stroke his head.

"Not here!" Azael retorted but didn’t pull away.

Liona who was watching it with forced smile felt irritated and discomfort. Finally she decided to ask, "Lady Arista. You seem close to this young...by any chance...is he your boyfriend?"