Chapter 316: Playboy Judas
Hearing Filvis’ sudden outburst, everyone fell dead silent, exchanging stunned glances.
“Uhm…”
Lefiya stood frozen, completely at a loss for words.
Even she was caught off guard by what she had just heard.
‘Is she and her god… not on good terms?’
On the surface, it had always seemed like the two of them got along remarkably well.
“Ah!”
Filvis realized what she had just said.
“I... I meant that I already belong to someone! As an elf, just the thought of giving my heart to another is repulsive.”
She cleared her throat and corrected herself, looking a bit embarrassed.
“So that’s what you meant! Good to know!”
Tiona spoke loudly as she sprang up from behind.
After all, it was well known that most elves would only take one romantic partner in their entire lifetime, even if their partner had passed away, so hearing her explanation made sense to them.
‘Oh… she just worded it wrong.’
Lefiya let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Without giving Filvis a chance to recover, Tiona jumped right back to pestering her, steadily chipping away at her defenses.
“Well? Well? Well? Who is it? Tell us! Tell us! Is this person from the same Familia? Or are they a normie? Come on! Just tell us!”
Having finally reached her limit, Filvis whirled around and pointed a sharp finger at the crowd.
“It’s not fair that I am the only one getting questioned! What about you guys!?”
Filvis spoke out loud, trying to divert the attention away from her.
“I’m harboring a secret love of my own. Want to hear about it?”
Tione chimed in with a proud smile.
“Aki… you and Raul are a thing, right? You two always seem to be together.”
Elfy questioned Anakitty, who stood next to her.
“Of course not, we just happened to be assigned the same roles often.”
Aki denied it as she waved both hands.
“What about you?”
Filvis demanded, her pointing finger casually landing on Line, who froze like a deer in headlights.
“E-Ehh?! M-Me?!”
Line squeaked, her face turning bright red as every eye in the group shifted to her.
Twirling her fingers nervously, she looked down and murmured.
“I… It’s… B-Bete-san…”
“…”
Everyone stood with their mouths agape, staring at the shy, glasses-wearing girl in absolute disbelief.
“EHHHHHH!!???”
“Bete?”
“No way that’s true, right, Line?”
“Talk about bad taste, huh?”
“You should reconsider your choices, human.”
“But… Miss Filvis…”
Everyone reacted exactly like Line expected, looking at her like she was crazy.
Bete’s abrasive attitude and notoriety were well-known not just among the Familia, but also to the people in the city.
“Bete-san is amazing! And he truly is a good person!”
But even so, Line didn’t hesitate to jump to his defense.
“It’s a difficult love, I know…”
“Even still, I will help Bete as much as possible, and maybe he will finally look my way. That’s my goal.”
She offered a gentle, determined smile.
Her quiet conviction struck a chord with the group. Moved by her sincerity, their shock melted into warm, supportive smiles.
Only Filvis remained unconvinced, staring at Line with deep skepticism.
“Are you truly alright with that?”
“Miss Filvis…”
Lefiya smiled wryly at her bluntness.
Unfazed, Filvis turned her narrowed gaze toward Tiona.
“And what about you, Amazon? Don’t think you can wriggle out of this after all of that."
Hearing this, Tiona let out a wide smirk.
“Of course it’s Judas! He’s my hero, and one day, I’m gonna be his bride!”
Her tone carried complete, unwavering certainty... a stark contrast to Line’s timid confession.
Hearing this, everyone turned silent once again.
Their gazes immediately shifted to two people in particular, Ais and Lefiya, who both had red in their faces.
"I also... like... Judas..."
Ais muttered meekly, her voice so quiet that it was almost impossible to hear.
But since everyone present was an adventurer with heightened senses, they were able to just barely pick up what she said.
While Judas had been away, Ais... who was initially clueless about matters of the heart... had finally realized her feelings for him after an enlightening private talk with Riveria.
She could still vividly recall that conversation, particularly the part where Riveria explained where babies actually came from.
'T-T-Too lewd!'
Ais slammed both hands over her burning face.
For the innocent sword princess... who had previously believed that hand-holding caused pregnancy, learning the truth was too much for her to bear, and she nearly passed out.
“Miss Ais…”
Lefiya squeaked, the tips of her long ears turning a vibrant shade of crimson.
During one of their sleepovers, Lefiya and the others had realized that quite a few women in the Familia had admitted that they had taken a liking to Judas.
When Lefiya heard her idol admit that she actually had feelings for Judas, she felt like the world had collapsed around her.
Her mind went blank for a full minute, to the point that Tiona had no choice but to shake her roughly just to bring her back to reality.
Yet, as soon as her brain restarted, Lefiya involuntarily pictured Judas and Ais standing close, holding each other softly.
The sheer visual overload triggered a massive nosebleed, crimson gushing from her nose right then and there.
From that day onward, a new, hidden side of Lefiya awakened.
In her free time, she began secretly writing a fanfiction featuring Judas and Ais in intimate scenarios while she sat in a chair and watched.
'Aaaah!'
Just thinking about the things she had written made Lefiya scream internally, her eyes spinning in a dizzying spiral.
Filvis looked at Lefiya, who was clearly suffering an internal panic attack, shifted her gaze to Ais’ beet-red face, and finally landed on the beaming Tiona standing beside them.
It took her less than two seconds to piece the puzzle together.
'A playboy… that Judas Spade.'
Filvis thought, her brow furrowing in deep disgust.
She hadn't interacted with Judas much, but based on their brief encounters, she had at least considered him far more tolerable than someone like Bete.
Now, however, her opinion of him plummeted straight into the gutter.
In her mind, she pictured Judas lounging back with a sleazy grin, his tongue hanging out as he wrapped an arm around a woman on either side.
'He seemed like a decent man… but he’s actually just a scoundrel playing with women's hearts.'
She shot a pitying look toward Lefiya and let out a heavy, disappointed sigh.
...
Meanwhile, inside Twilight Manor…
“Achoo!”
In the middle of Finn’s office, Judas sneezed loudly and rubbed his nose.
‘Hmm… is someone is talking badly about me?’
“Are you catching a cold, Judas?”
Finn, who was seated behind his desk, asked with a raised brow.
“Ah, it’s nothing…”
Judas waved dismissively.
“Alright then…”
Finn nodded before picking up a piece of paper.
“Back to business. Here’s the preliminary guest list for the party. Take a look and let me know if you want to make any adjustments.”
Judas took the paper and scanned the people who were listed.
He recognized plenty of familiar names.
‘The Astraea Familia… Airmid… Tsubaki… even the Artemis Familia.’
‘Looks like they only invited the people I know or have a connection with.’
'But there are still a few people who are missing.'
Judas realized this as he handed the paper back before naming the people who were missing while Finn wrote them down.
“I guess that's all of them.”
He paused for a moment, a thought crossing his mind.
“If you don't mind me asking… why are we going all out for my birthday like this? It’s been a few months since I joined, but with over a hundred members in the Familia, I haven't seen us throw a party of this scale for anyone else.”
Of course, it wasn't that the Familia never celebrated anyone else's birthday, but compared to the large party they were planning for him, the others were much more low-key and were usually celebrated only within the Familia.
The moment he finished asking, Finn gently set the paper down on his desk, interlocked his fingers, and let out a light smile.
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
He said as his blue eyes met Judas’ purple ones.
“Judas, how do you think the others see you? The Familia, I mean.”
The Pallum asked, looking at him as though anticipating his answer.
Hearing this, Judas thought about the members of the Loki Familia, the people he had been living under the same roof with for quite some time now.
And it wasn’t just the executives or the second-string members, but also people like Ren, Elfy, Rakta, Orba, and Sharon.
Although the closeness of their relationships varied, there was no doubt that Judas had grown to care for them, and the same could be said in return.
Thinking about it, Judas couldn’t help but show a hint of warmth in his expression.
“We’re companions, and although we aren’t related by blood… we’re a Familia that takes care of and looks out for one another.”
Hearing his reply, Finn gave a satisfied nod.
“Loki went around announcing that your birthday was coming up and told everyone to halt other operations and that we were going to hold a grand celebration.”
“Because she wanted your first birthday as a member of the Loki Familia to feel special…”
“The others had no objections and happily went along with it.”
“In other words, this is their way of getting closer to you and showing their appreciation.”
Finn looked every bit the wise veteran as he leaned back.
“But of course, there’s Ais, whose birthday Loki insists on celebrating with a grand party every year, showing her off to the people of the city.”
“But everyone already knows she’s Loki’s favorite, so that kind of doesn’t count.”
He added with a casual shrug.
“So, the point is… it’s just Loki doing whatever she pleases.”
Judas blinked.
“You’re spot on.”
Finn remarked, snapping his fingers.
“But she means well… sometimes.”
Finn added.
“I know.”
Judas chuckled softly.
…
Night fell over Orario, blanketing the center of the world in a sea of stars.
However, somewhere in Orario, something unpleasant was taking place.
“Kekekeke…”
The sound of stone and debris collapsing echoed through the area as Phryne looked down, chuckling to herself.
Her face was flushed, and she was visibly drunk.
“That’s what you get for pissing me off, you dumb bitch!”
She spat, letting out a wet burp. A grotesque, mocking sneer twisted her features as she looked down at the unconscious body lying in a pool of blood.
Had Judas been standing there, he would have recognized the victim instantly.
Framed by crimson hair, pair of wolf-like ears twitched weakly against the floor.
It was his advisor, Rose Fannett.
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