Chapter 70: The Problem
"Here is your card. Do well to keep it safe," said the official at the admin office, sliding the identification card across the polished desk with practiced efficiency.
I nodded and took the card from him, not forgetting to offer a polite "Thank you" as courtesy demanded. Simple enough transaction, really. What happened next, however, was becoming an all-too-familiar routine.
The moment I walked out of the admin building, I could feel it starting again. Eyes. Lots of them. The female workers weren’t even trying to be subtle about their staring anymore, and—heaven help me—even some of the male workers were giving me looks that could only be described as deeply unsettling. One poor fellow nearly walked into a pillar while craning his neck to follow my progress down the hallway.
Sigh.
This was becoming a serious problem.
It was getting worse by the moment, and at this point, I had to admit Kelly was right. This level of charm wasn’t normal, no matter how you looked at it, and it seemed to be intensifying by the day. I could practically feel myself becoming some sort of walking incubus at this rate.
The whole thing had started from the moment I woke up in Anna’s mansion. I’d been handsome before, sure—I wasn’t delusional about that. But not this handsome. At this point, could I even be considered merely ’handsome’? Perhaps ’beautiful’ would be more appropriate, though the thought made me want to crawl under a rock.
From that first day when I’d gazed at my reflection in Anna’s ornate mirror, my looks had just kept intensifying. I was literally becoming more attractive by the second, like some sort of bizarre magical puberty gone horribly right.
"Excuse me," I said to a young lady who had been openly gawking at me. The moment she realized I was approaching, she suddenly discovered that the ceiling held fascinating architectural details.
"Y-yes?" she replied, clearly surprised that I was actually talking to her.
"Could I get a face mask?" I asked, trying to keep my voice casual and non-threatening.
She nodded so vigorously I worried she might give herself whiplash, then frantically opened her drawer and began rummaging through her belongings like she was searching for buried treasure. Finally, she emerged victorious with what looked like a surgical mask. It wasn’t exactly fashionable, but it would do for now.