Chapter 24 The Evolution Of Pick-Me’s, It Seems
Maeve felt her head pound. She hadn’t suffered a migraine in… in years? She was no longer certain. No. Wait. She lied. She suffered migraines when she was still in her old world but this one? This one, she was sure, was the most painful.
“Was she the one who poisoned me? Is that why your so-called investigation is stalling behind?” Maeve had asked the second he got close enough.
Perhaps, it was because of his anger, or his irritation. Or the jealousy he already seemed to naturally feel towards Amir, his first reaction had been pinning her to the wall and growling as he said, “You pick him as your Vessel? He is weak. His rank is laughable. You will lose,”
“Is this your way of saying I’d have made a better choice picking you?” Maeve couldn’t breathe then. It seemed as if he was trying to assimilate her into his skin somehow, breathe her in osmotically she didn’t know. But she didn’t care too much. “You would have liked that, wouldn’t you? Being my Chosen?”
That was all it had taken to have him moving away from her. NACE flashed above him. \[APPROVAL RATING -67\]. He looked disgusted, but it was shallow. Maeve let out a breath. She believed he would do something he would regret— or would he? She wasn’t sure.
But something in her bet that he could be the yandere part.
(Yandere: It describes a character who is loving, sweet, and affectionate at first, but whose love turns obsessive, possessive, and violent when they feel threatened, jealous, or afraid of losing the person they love.)
Maeve couldn’t imagine how it must have felt for him, but deep down, she truly didn’t care. A part of her was slowly feeling irritated by him. If this poisoning was done by the Queen, though she wasn’t certain of it, then it meant the previous one could have been done by her to Isabella.
The storyline could not change too drastically. Maeve knew that. But she had her cheat code. Every Key Beat would be acknowledged when there was an interaction with every male lead— and all that was left currently after this entire event would be Cassian.
“She already uses you as she wishes,” Maeve said, hardening her eyes. “If you cannot pick a side, then you can get out of my sight. I mean it. I will not be listening to someone that makes me feel like a second choice.”
She had meant it when she said it in a way. Meant it because she was slowly beginning to feel irritated with everyone’s behavior involving Isabella. It seemed as if they felt attraction to her… but lost common sense. NO one was protecting her. No one seemed to have her best interests at heart.
“You chose to sit next to me,”
Maeve did not look well as she turned to look at Cassian. He was seated next to her— a poor choice she realized, but it was better than nothing. The Queen wasn’t here in this auditorium and had sent her son in her stead. Amir wasn’t allowed close at all and Adrian…
He avoided her.
Good.
“You’ve been saying that for quite a while,” Maeve stated, her hand slowly rubbing her stomach. She had her shades on because he was smiling at her. “Is it surprising that I want to stay next to you?”
He chuckled. “The last time we met, you shoved me away. It seems you also will go out of your way to have me out of your sight. Yet… yet, you have moments in which you’ll come to me, just like this, and I wonder if you like me,”
Maeve didn’t bother to smile at him. “Don’t you like me being mean to you?”
He smiled. “I do.”
God, that pain was intense. Jesus. She turned her attention back to the ground in the middle, where the duel was currently happening.
The man in question, Augustus Camir, was a B-rank Kinetic User, which meant he could control force itself, but not too well, mostly because he never had to use his skills, nor did he try prepping or training the past one week.
His skills… were already so low.
Little ground quakes, force boxes, tripping… all low bar abilities in the face of a man who trained with a person who did not even seem to walk on air.
So, Lucien was no match for them physically— that one was clear. He was quicker on his feet, more agile and flexible— the last one she was sure was thanks to Amir.
But his sword use…
That was all Adrian.
How long had he spent under Adrian’s guidance? A few hours? Minutes? It did not make any sense but it seemed almost as if his fighting style had changed somehow. The other man he was fighting against, a Vessel of Anastasia, clearly could not keep up. Something Maeve made sure to mark. The use of mana might not be allowed at certain points, but it seemed men didn’t train their bodies either.
And clearly, he was among those ones.
“You wanted to ask me something that night, didn’t you?” Her head snapped back to the man in question who was supposed to be watching the fight as well, to prevent any sort of unfair dismissal who was now staring at her with clear amusement and fascination in his eyes, “When we were dancing. I could see it, the look in your eyes, but you weren’t sure how far you would have been allowed to go,”
Maeve’s focus stayed on him. “What do you want?”
He smiled. “To be yours,”
She scoffed there. “Then ask for the world or something, that’d be easier to have,”
“Why—?”
“I don’t trust you. I don’t even know you!” She looked exasperated. Tired. “And why does every man here want to get married? It’s like a reverse pick-me scenario! You should… you should fight—”
His hand immediately stayed around hers. His smile didn’t break a fraction. It was still bright, kind, and respectful. “You should not speak of such words here. Perhaps, when we are alone? What do you think about the meadow evening we have planned? I have not been sleeping well these past few days. This will be helpful. I’d assume you aren’t sleeping well either? I can… tell sometimes,”
Maeve didn't really hear all those parts. What she did hear, however— or perhaps, feel, for a better lack of words, was that Cassian was… cold. She wondered if she ever fully noticed it, how she couldn’t have. It was like dunking into a cold river in the middle of the night. It made her shudder, shiver too as she looked at his face.
And if he noticed that she noticed anything, he didn’t show any signs that he did.
The pain in her belly worsened.
Soon. Soon.
She raised her hand to his forehead, resting the back of it there. She watched as the smile vanished almost instantly, his eyes centering on her like it was the only thing he could focus on. Yes, he was cold— and if she kept his eyes at a certain angle, they shone red.
Interesting.
“You need to tan. You’re freezing—”
The rest of the words couldn’t have left her lips before she saw the notification flash from NACE, \[BODY HEAT SLOWLY DEPLETING. FIX IT\]
She wanted to yank her hand away, but she knew she couldn’t do it. Cassian would not take kindly to sudden movements, she noticed. It had to be slow, deliberate— it was why she slowly moved her hand away from his forehead, trying to ignore the way her hand was slightly heavy, her fingertips freezing as she said, "People come for your balls and you speak with them. What do you hear?”
His eyes moved to her fingers but no sign of acknowledgment came to it. “I hear them talk about you.”
She knew better than hiding it so she kept it to the side. “Before me,”
Cassian’s eyes shone slightly. “You. Always you.”
Maeve stared. Knowing it didn’t make sense. Isabella? They were talking about Isabella? She was supposed to be an introvert, and avoiding people. That was her character according to Lucien. But what was it? Was it really that different?
Did she have to ask a certain cold icy piece of shit?
The pain in her body floundered, cuddling up in her stomach and without any sort of warning, she felt her stomach lurch, her mouth opening before she could stop herself— and ended up hurling out the contents of her stomach over his pants.
\[SKILL: TEMPORARY TITLE GRANTING. DEPLETED\]
Good. Good.
Now, she was going to pass—
And she did.