Charisma 100: My Academy Life As A Heartbreaking Commoner-Chapter 177: Summer Auction 10*

Starcaller Manor stood complete.

The walls were whole, the windows gleamed, the gardens had been trimmed and replanted. What had been a crumbling sack of... broken dreams just a few weeks ago now looked like an actual noble estate.

Still modest compared to the great houses, but respectable enough that Aegis could host fancy dinners without worrying about the ceiling falling on someone’s head.

And it was hers.

Evelyn stood beside her with the ledger closed for once, staring at the finished product like a proud parent at a graduation.

"The laborers exceeded expectations. We finished two weeks ahead of schedule and under budget. The east wing still needs some cosmetic work... and the west wing... and the entrance... b-but, well, structurally everything is sound."

Aegis nodded absent-mindedly. Her actual thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

Most Likely Shadow Empress In This Timeline:

Aegis Starcaller

The words had been bouncing around her skull like a drunk pinball for three days straight. Three days since the auction. Three days since she’d seen that notification pop up like the world’s worst fortune cookie. Three days of trying to figure out what the actual fuck it meant.

She was the Shadow Empress?

Aegis squeezed her own biceps as she had the same thought now that she had a few seconds after she’d seen that notification.

[What the fuck do you mean I’m the Shadow Empress!?!?]

How? The Shadow Empress was the main antagonist of Queen of Hearts. The mysterious big bad who commanded the Umbral Forces, who wanted to plunge Valdria into darkness, who the player spent the entire game preparing to murder, with shameless amounts of gratuitous, filthy sex in between.

That wasn’t a route. That wasn’t an option. You couldn’t just become the Shadow Empress.

[Unless the rules have changed. Unless this world’s thrown the game’s script in the garbage and set it on fire.] Aegis thought. [But why me? I’m not trying to destroy anything. I’m trying to build a house, marry a princess, and make the world’s hottest polycule. Normal isekai protagonist stuff. That’s not exactly supervillain behavior... is it???]

"My lady?"

Aegis blinked.

Evelyn was watching her.

"Sorry, uh, brain wandered off." Aegis forced a grin. "The workers did great. It’s an actual home now."

"Will you be moving in permanently?"

"Not during the school year. I’ll stay at the dorms then. It’s easier for classes, training, that sort of thing. But once the school year ends?" She looked at the manor again. "Yeah. This’ll be home base."

It would be home for another month, for now. There was still a whole month left of summer break. A whole month to figure out what the hell that notification meant. A whole month to—

"My lady." Evelyn’s voice shifted. "You have a visitor."

A carriage had rolled up to the manor gates. Aegis recognized the crest immediately—gold and black, fancy as hell.

House Stone.

Talia stepped out, dressed in casual riding clothes. Her expression was carefully neutral, but Aegis could see the tension in her shoulders, the tightness around her eyes.

"Princess." Aegis walked over to meet her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We need to talk." Talia’s gaze flicked to Evelyn, then back. "Privately."

Aegis smirked.

"As you wish."

---

"She acted like she owns you!"

Talia’s voice came out sharp and breathless, punctuated by the slap of skin on skin. She rode Aegis hard, hands braced on Aegis’s chest, black hair loose and wild.

"Serilla—fucking—Frost—parading around—like you’re her—property—"

Aegis gripped Talia’s waist, fingers digging into soft skin, matching her pace.

"She’s possessive. You know that better than anyone else."

"She’s insufferable!" Talia ground down harder, pulling a gasp from both of them. Her pussy clenched around Aegis’s cock like she was trying to strangle it. "The way she looked at you during the Waltz, like you were some prize she’d won—"

"Talia."

"And then she just... dragged you out... in front of everyone—"

"Talia."

"I swear, I wanted to freeze her solid and shove an icicle up her—"

Aegis sat up, catching Talia’s face in her hands and kissing her mid-rant.

Talia made a frustrated sound against her mouth, but didn’t pull away. She melted into it, slowing her movements from furious bouncing to something more like grinding.

When they broke apart, Aegis was grinning.

"You’re jealous as hell."

"I am not."

"You’re very, very jealous." Aegis’s cheeks hurt from smiling. "It’s hot."

"I’m concerned, you fool. There’s a difference." Talia’s yellow eyes flashed with indignation that would’ve been more convincing if she wasn’t still grinding on Aegis’s dick. "She’s probably gonna kill you mid-sex one of these days."

"Uh-huh."

Talia pressed Aegis back down onto the mattress hard.

".... Shut up and let me finish, you peasant."

Aegis did just that.

---

Later, they lay tangled in sweat-damp sheets, sunlight streaming through the bedroom window and making the whole scene look way too romantic for what had just been angry sex.

Talia’s head rested on Aegis’s chest, her breathing slowly evening out. The jealous fury had burned itself out.

"I’m getting closer," Aegis said quietly. "To being able to challenge Darius’s claim."

Talia didn’t move, but her body went tense.

"The auction helped. Third place, Vermillion sponsorship, Cindergrave humiliated in front of half the kingdom. Other noble houses are reaching out to learn about me. I’m building real credibility."

"It’s not enough."

"Not yet. But with a bit of time—"

"We don’t have time." Talia lifted her head, meeting Aegis’s eyes. "Remember? My mother plans to formalize the marriage before summer ends."

"... Right."

"She’s already got ideas. A formal betrothal ceremony at the end of the season. Once that happens..." Talia’s jaw tightened. "Once that happens, it’s pretty much fucked. Darius’s family has too much influence. It would be damn near impossible."

"How long do we have?"

"Five weeks."

Five weeks.

Five weeks to go from "promising newcomer" to "legitimate rival for a princess’s hand." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

It was insane. The kind of challenge that would require everything she had and probably more. The kind of timeline that made her want to laugh hysterically or punch a wall.

Aegis whistled.

"Then I’ll do it in five weeks."

"Aegis—"

"I mean it." She tilted Talia’s chin up, forcing eye contact. "I didn’t claw my way from commoner to noble, didn’t humiliate a Great House at the Summer Auction, didn’t build all of this just to lose you to some golden-haired dickhead with good hair."

Talia’s expression wavered between hope and skepticism, like she couldn’t decide which one to commit to.

"You’re very confident for someone who still can’t beat me in a spar."

"I beat you at the Winter Trials."

"I let you win."

"You let me win because you wanted me to succeed. Which means you believe I can do this." Aegis grinned.

"Only the weak rely on technicalities," Talia said, trying to fight off a smile.

"Yeah?" Aegis leaned in, kissing Talia’s cheek. "Something else about us weaklings," she kissed again, lower, "we have a tendency," she stuck her tongue out and licked up Talia’s neck, "to get creative."

Talia suddenly put Aegis on her back again.

Reaching down, she lined up Aegis’s slowly hardening dick with her pussy again.

"You need to be punished for this insolence."

"By you?"

"Naturally."

"Punish me as best you can, then~"

---

Aegis was back at the academy.

She’d left Talia at the manor. The princess had other obligations, other appearances to maintain, but wanted to nap on Aegis’s bed for another hour or so first. Something about "you wore me out, you insatiable peasant" before she’d faceplanted into the pillows.

Five weeks.

Aegis ran through her mental checklist as she walked. Wealth, military, political, magical, reputation, all progressing, but was it enough? Could she compress months of progress into five weeks?

[I have to. There’s no other option. Failure means watching Talia marry someone who’s not me and I’d rather eat glass.]

"Lady Starcaller."

The voice made her freeze mid-step.

Professor Nazraya stood in the doorway of her classroom, leaning against the frame like she’d been waiting. Her red eyes gleamed, one brow arched playfully.

"Wandering the halls alone? How unlike you. Usually you have at least three girls following you around."

Aegis’s heart rate spiked. It usually did whenever she saw Nazraya, but this was different.

Three days ago, seeing Nazraya would’ve been great. A chance for training, maybe some fun on her desk. Now? Now, all she could think about was that notification.

"Professor." Aegis kept her voice steady. "Didn’t expect anyone else to be here."

"Some of us prefer the quiet." Nazraya’s smile sharpened. "You look tense, pet. Something troubling you?"

"Just, uh... processing. The auction was a lot."

"Ah, yes. I heard about your performance. Third place, sabotage exposed, a Great House humiliated in front of half of Rosevale." Nazraya pushed off the doorframe, stepping closer. "You’ve been busy."

"You could say that."

"I could also say you’ve been neglecting your studies." Her voice dropped, gaining that familiar edge that never failed to make blood rush to Aegis’s lower half. "We haven’t had a proper session in weeks. Your... capabilities must be declining."

Aegis’s throat tightened.

[Given the notification, wouldn’t that be a good thing?]

Should she stop? Should she abandon Nazraya’s training entirely, cut off whatever was pushing her toward that fate? She wasn’t sure.

But that would mean giving up power she desperately needed. She needed to be strong to stand as a house worthy of marrying into royalty. And, if Shadow Magic provided her with the edge needed, then...

She’d take it.

And, well, besides, the notification had said "most likely."

Not guaranteed.

Not inevitable.

Not "stop training in Shadow Magic right now you big-dicked bitch."

Maybe she could learn the power without becoming the monster. Who said you couldn’t have your cake and eat it too?

"You’re right," Aegis said. "I have been neglecting it."

Nazraya’s smile widened.

"Perhaps we should remedy that. Come." She gestured toward her classroom. "Unless you have somewhere else to be?"

Aegis hesitated for maybe half a second.

Then she walked forward, following Nazraya inside.