Lewd System: Every Scream and Moan is EXP-Chapter 266 : The Exception

After scanning the beauty standing at the entrance, Jax finally came back to his senses and straightened himself in his seat. He took a sip of water that he definitely needed right now.

Astrid walked over and sat across from him. Her posture was perfect. Her expression was flat. As if she was arriving at a diplomatic summit rather than a café date she had begged for while blushing so hard her ears turned into traffic lights.

"Sorry for the delay."

Her tone gave away nothing. Then she added. "Though to be honest, I didn’t expect you to show up on time. Considering your chronic habit of always being late to everything. So I timed my arrival accordingly."

She adjusted her hat slightly.

"A lady should not wait. Nor should she ever be seen waiting. It doesn’t suit the image."

Jax surrendered immediately. He had no interest in being anti-feminist today. "Fair enough. I deserved that."

"You deserve far worse. But I’m in a generous mood today."

Then there was a pause between them. Jax was mentally calculating how to get through this without teasing her to the point where this café turned into a war zone.

He knew her triggers. He knew exactly which words would detonate her. And right now, every single one of those words was sitting on the tip of his tongue like soldiers waiting for orders.

Meanwhile Astrid was busy turning her head at different angles. Showing her features. The hat. The dress. The effort. As if silently screaming for something that she refused to ask for out loud.

After her failed attempt at subtlety, she spoke. "You look... presentable."

Jax said. "Thank you."

Silence stretched between them again. But this time Astrid couldn’t hold it. Her veins were starting to pop from the sheer frustration building behind that barely maintained composure.

She was staring at him with a smile that was not really a smile. More like a warning label that someone had shaped into a curve. And that stare was getting harder and sharper with each second.

Jax finally said. "What have I done now?"

"You are forgetting something." She rotated her hat slightly. Tilted it. Adjusted the brim. The universal signal of a woman who had spent hours preparing and was now watching the recipient completely fail to notice.

Jax understood it perfectly. But the moment was too ripe. He put on a baffled face about to tease her. "Forgetting what? I’m not following. At least give me a hint."

Her composure shattered. Her barely held smile disintegrated. Her palm hit the table hard enough to rattle the cutlery.

"A hint?! You want a HINT?! I was a fool to waste three hours of my— I mean only thirty minutes with my maids discussing what would suit this meeting! I was a fool staring at the mirror trying to figure out what you might like!"

She caught herself. Took a breath. Ironed her expression back into something resembling dignity.

"What I mean is, when someone tells you that you look presentable, the civilized response is to comment on how they look as well. It’s basic etiquette. Which you clearly lack."

Jax dramatically punched the bottom of his fist against his open palm as if a great revelation had just struck him. "Oh! I get it now! You want a compliment, right?"

Her anger was barely contained. "I didn’t say compliment. I said comment."

"Right. So let me think." He stared at her. She immediately panicked under the sudden attention. Then he said. "The hat’s a bit crooked. And about the dress, your maid picked well, it matches you. But some darker shade would have been perfect."

Astrid banged the table again. "You... you are doing this deliberately!"

Jax blinked innocently. "Doing what?"

She crossed her arms. Turned her face to the side. Pouted. The full package.

"I hate you, Professor. Truly. This time from the bottom of my heart."

Jax started giggling. And before Astrid could turn that pout into a string of curses aimed at his face, his hand reached across the table. His fingers found her jaw and gently turned her head to face him.

Astrid went beetroot instantly. "Wha... what’s so funny?"

"You."

She realized how ridiculous she must look right now. So she scrambled for control. "This is all your fault. For being emotionally incompetent—"

"You look beautiful, Astrid."

She stopped mid-word. Her mouth hung open.

"A mesmerizing beauty. Like something not meant for this world."

The words hit her before she could raise any defense.

Jax continued. "The dress suits you. But the hat, I still hold a grudge against it. It’s hiding your pointed ears and those are too adorable to be covered. Apart from that, everything is perfect. Your makeup. Even your nails. And I can bet you clearly spent more than thirty minutes on all of this."

He leaned back.

"So what I’m saying is, every minute you spent was more than worth it."

Astrid didn’t know how to react. Her brain was refusing to accept that these words were meant for her.

She thought. ’Snap out of it, Astrid. He is clearly cooking something. It’s a trap. Yes. Definitely a trap.’

But the other half of her processed it as genuine. Because his voice carried no teasing. No setup for a punchline. Just honesty.

And that’s when her face cycled through five different colors in three seconds. Red. Redder. Deepest red possible. Brief white from shock. Then red again.

She coughed twice to reset herself. Then with a composure that was held together by sheer willpower, she removed her hat and placed it on the table.

"Well. I... that was. Adequate. Your comment was adequate."

"You’re welcome."

A waiter appeared and served two bowls of ice cream on the table. Without anyone ordering.

Jax looked at the bowls. Then at the completely empty café around them. Then back at Astrid.

"So I’m guessing you reserved the whole place. That’s why you insisted on this specific café."

Astrid picked up her spoon with the kind of royal etiquette that made eating ice cream look like a ceremony. "This place is owned by me. I don’t reserve it. I simply inform the manager."

Jax dug into his bowl with a grip and technique that would make any etiquette instructor weep. "Typical golden spoon behavior. But still, nothing beats Nyara’s place. Her food is just—"

He paused. Because Astrid had deliberately dropped her spoon onto the table. The clatter cut through the silence like a gunshot.

"How dare you."

Her voice was quiet. Which was worse than shouting.

"You are sitting across from ME. On a day that I asked for. A day that you promised would be only about US. And the first name that comes out of your mouth is another woman’s."

She looked genuinely frustrated. Not the performative kind from earlier. Real frustration that was clawing at something deeper.

"I told you before. From the moment you are with me for my reward, you don’t talk about another woman. No. Forget talking. Don’t even THINK about another woman. Is that so difficult? Am I asking for something unreasonable?"

Jax opened his mouth to respond but Astrid spoke first. Her voice had shifted. Lower. Sadder. The frustration draining into something more painful.

"I’m sorry. But this is exactly what I meant. This is the exact thing I wanted answers for. This is what drives me insane about you."

She looked at her melting ice cream.

"You do this every single time. And the worst part isn’t that you do it. The worst part is that I care. That something as stupid as you mentioning another woman’s name can ruin my entire mood in half a second."

She met his eyes.

"I want to solve this mystery. What’s wrong with me, Jax? Why have you become so precious to me that not seeing you for a single day can make me go insane? Even knowing that I’m not the same in your head. Forget about being precious."

Jax looked at her for a long moment. Then said. "Who said you aren’t precious to me?"

She blinked.

"If you weren’t, I wouldn’t be sitting here. I wouldn’t have made your shadow stick around with me."

He put his spoon down.

"And you think you’re the only one looking for answers? You think you’re the only one confused?"

His voice carried something she hadn’t heard from him before. Not teasing. Not calculated. Raw.

"It’s the same for me. Why have I taken a liking to you? You know what, Astrid? I hate people like you. I hate arrogant ones who look down on others and think they can do whatever they want because they believe they’re in their own league."

He looked at her directly.

"So why did you become the exception? Why did I shatter my own belief and put a tag on you that says ’except her’?"

Astrid’s breath caught.

"You think you were the only one who wanted to see me every day? It was the same for me. But the difference was, I got my answer."

He leaned forward slightly.

"Seeing you. Talking with you. Teasing you until that cold mask breaks and the real face shows up underneath. Every tantrum. Every pout. Every time you say you hate me while your ears turn red. Every time you think you’re being intimidating when you actually look like an angry kitten someone dressed in noble clothes."

Something in his voice softened. Not weak. Just honest.

"It all makes me lighter, Astrid. It all makes me forget the weight I carry. The responsibility sitting on my shoulders. The things I can’t tell anyone. The plans that never stop running in my head."

He paused.

"When I’m with you, that machinery goes quiet. As if it’s telling me to just enjoy the little moment sitting right in front of me."

-x-X-x-

[A/N: Big shoutout to GOAT Ordici_T for the luxury car, and huge thanks to Molleybrat93, Alan_Gwyther, Suwandi_Ongkodjojo, and Sammy827 for the golden tickets.]