Chapter 43: Romantic Entanglement?
"And by your cousin, you mean...?" Ethan asked with a frown, already wondering what kind of strange situation he had somehow managed to walk into this time.
Zane studied him for a moment, his crimson eyes quietly roaming over Ethan’s expression before a small, amused smile appeared on his lips. "Forget I said that."
Ethan’s eyebrows immediately pulled together. What kind of answer was that?
But before he could question him further, Zane casually continued, "But you really are the Ethan who broke up with Drey?"
Ethan’s eyes narrowed immediately. "Where did you hear your own rumors from?" he asked, folding his arms. "He broke up with me, actually, but it was mutual. I don’t want him, and he doesn’t want me either...
Ethan paused.
"...I guess."
The last part came out slightly less confidently than he intended.
Zane’s amusement only seemed to grow.
"Ohhh." He dragged out the sound, looking far too entertained by Ethan’s answer. "So you happen to know him quite well, right?"
Ethan’s expression immediately became suspicious.
"And what about his Guide, Leon?"
Ethan’s mouth fell open.
Why the hell did this man think he would have information about those two?
Drey and Leon were practically his enemies!
Especially that bastard Leon.
"Zane!" Ethan snapped, glaring at him. "Do not ask me anything about those people, okay? I know nothing about them!"
"Okay, calm down, pretty boy."
The moment those words left Zane’s mouth, Ethan’s irritation instantly reached another level.
"You bastard! You know my name now!" he shot back. "Call me by it!"
Zane simply shook his head, completely unfazed by Ethan’s glare. "Pretty boy sounds better to me." His smile became even more shameless. "So I’ll call you that."
Okay.
That did it.
Ethan stared at him for several seconds, genuinely wondering if he had somehow accumulated bad karma without realizing it.
One arrogant bastard was already more than enough trouble for his life. Now he had somehow acquired another shameless and teasing one as a roommate.
No.
Not a roommate.
That arrangement was getting changed.
Immediately.
Without giving Zane another chance to annoy him, Ethan turned around and stormed out of the room.
The door slammed behind him.
For several seconds, the room remained silent.
Then, not long after Ethan disappeared down the hallway, the door opened again and Adrien and Riley stepped inside.
Adrien’s expression was already dark.
"Zane, you’re seriously out of your mind," he said, staring at him.
Zane, however, was already busy unpacking his belongings as though he had made up his mind about staying in the room permanently. He calmly folded his clothes and placed them inside the wardrobe, looking completely unconcerned by the conversation.
"You know why we’re here," Adrien continued. "You know what we’re supposed to accomplish, and now you’re risking everything for a boy?"
Zane paused then slowly turned his head. "Risking everything for a boy?" His eyebrow rose. "How exactly am I doing that?"
Adrien opened his mouth but hesitated.
Zane gestured lazily around the room. " I don’t see how having a roommate has anything to do with the reason I came here."
Before he could answer, Riley spoke.
"Zane..." Her expression was unusually serious. "Don’t tell me you’ve developed a romantic interest in that low-rank Guide."
Both Zane and Adrien turned toward her at the same time. Zane raised one eyebrow his expression was a mixture of amusement and genuine disbelief.
While Adrien’s eyelids twitched badly.
This stupid friend of his.
Riley knew perfectly well how much Zane hated being questioned about his personal affairs. They both knew it. And yet she had still decided to ask.
Zane slowly stopped what he was doing.
"Riley." His tone was dangerously calm. "Are you really asking me that?"
Riley’s expression stiffened.
"No, I mean..." She quickly corrected herself. "You’re here because of Leon. That’s one of our reasons for coming here. And then there’s Drey. You have a mission concerning both of them, You have a purpose for coming to this academy, and I’m only concerned that getting involved in some kind of romantic entanglement might..."
She hesitated.
"...lead you away from your goal."
Zane stared at her for a moment.
Then he shrugged.
"Well, Drey and Leon aren’t currently in the academy, are they?"
"No."
"Then what exactly do you expect me to do? Go chasing after them around the Empire?"
Riley fell silent.
Adrien also had nothing to say to that.
"No," they eventually answered together.
"Exactly."
Zane resumed arranging his things as though the matter had already been settled.
His lips curled into that familiar sly smile as he walked over to Adrien stopping in front of him before casually placing a hand on his right shoulder.
"And besides..." His crimson eyes narrowed playfully. "I trust you so much that I believe even if I somehow fall helplessly in love and completely go astray, you’ll still carry out the mission."
Adrien froze.
Zane tilted his head. "Or is it bad that I trust you this much?"
Adrien immediately straightened.
His eyes practically lit up.
Joy surged through his heart so intensely that it quickly made its way to his cheeks, leaving them with a warm flush.
Zane trusted him.
Zane really trusted him.
Enough to believe that even if their Lord became distracted by love and wandered away from the original objective, Adrien would still be capable of carrying out the mission on his own.
To Adrien, that wasn’t a burden. That was the greatest compliment he could have received.
So what if their Lord fell in love with some boy?
He could handle the aftermath.
He would handle everything.
After all...
Zane trusted him.
"Of course, my Lord," Adrien said with absolute conviction.
Zane smiled. He removed his hand from Adrien’s shoulder and slipped it casually into his pocket.
Yeah. That was exactly the reaction he had wanted.
Riley, meanwhile, had already buried her face in her palm.
"Trust my foot..." She muttered under her breath. However, the moment she saw Adrien’s expression change from simple happiness to unmistakable pride, her eyes narrowed.
She knew exactly where this was going. "No, Adrien. Don’t you dare."
Adrien ignored her completely. He turned toward Zane with a completely serious expression.
"Well, if you’ve decided that he is your roommate, then you should probably know something."
Zane looked at him.
"What?"
"Your new roommate has already left to file a complaint with the dormitory administration."
Zane blinked. "About what?"
Adrien gave him an almost sympathetic look. "About having a roommate."