Reverse Transmigration: From F-rank to SSS-rank-Chapter 10: Bold or foolish

Chapter 10

This girl seriously had some nerve. What exactly was her small brain thinking? That she could stand half naked in a room with someone like me and expect I wouldn’t lay a finger on her? What the hell made her think I was that upright? Because I’d saved her sorry butt? That was Lucian’s fucking instincts controlling me, not mine.

I exhaled, then slowly, I walked towards her. She tensed, gripping the edge of the cloth wrapping around her. "Hey I..."

"You what?" I cut in, not stopping, she began retreating, moving backwards as I closed in. "Are you afraid ?" I asked, my cold eyes fixed on hers which now looked different from what they were moments ago, more vulnerable, fear, she was afraid. Of course she should.

She bit her bottom lip nervously as her back hit the wall, and this time...we were now standing only inches away from eachother. "I just...want to take a shower." She replied, her voice trembling slightly.

My expression darkened, I slowly reached for her chin, tilting it upwards so she looked into my eyes, "what were you thinking exposing yourself like this in the presence of a fully matured guy?"

Her breath hitched when my fingers brushed her jaw, the contact light but enough to make her freeze. I could feel the rapid pulse at her throat, the way her chest rose and fell like she couldn’t decide if she wanted to breathe or hold it in.

"I..." Her voice faltered under the weight of my stare. "I wasn’t thinking."

A humorless chuckle slipped past my lips. "Clearly." My thumb grazed the corner of her mouth before I dropped my hand entirely, letting it fall to my side. "If you’re going to pull stunts like this, you better be ready for the consequences."

Her grip on the cloth tightened. "Are you saying... you’d actually—"

"Try me," I cut in, my tone sharp. I leaned in, close enough that my breath fanned across her ear. "Because right now, you look like someone who has no idea what kind of guy I really am."

She sucked in a breath, her body pressing back against the wall as if it could swallow her whole. But instead of fear, something else flickered in her eyes, confusion, defiance... and something dangerously close to curiosity.

I smirked faintly, tilting my head as I caught that look. "What? Don’t tell me you’re curious now."

Her lips parted, but no words came out. Silence stretched between us, thick and tense. It just happened to be that I wasn’t in the mood for anything of such right now. I mean, before now I was a man who had every bitch I wanted at my disposal.

With a sharp breath, I stepped back, giving her space like nothing had happened. "Bathroom’s yours," I said flatly, turning away.

She blinked, clearly thrown off by the sudden shift, clutching the cloth tighter as she hurried past me into the bathroom.

Moments later, while I lay on the bed already dressed, she stepped out of the shower. Her black hair which had been tied up now cascaded down her shoulders, dripping water. Her skin glistened, her face looking livelier than I remembered. Well, seems like she had a hearty shower.

I turned away, not saying anything as I gave her the privacy to put on her clothes. Yeah her body was impressive, I could have her if I wanted but she wasn’t worth the distraction.

But then I heard her opening up the drawers where Lucian usually kept his clothes, I raised a brow and turned, "what are you doing?"

She panicked, like I’d caught her stealing something. "I’m sorry, I should have asked for permission first. My clothes are torn and I have nothing to wear, I wanted to borrow yours."

I sat up slowly, suddenly intrigued by her boldness. "what’s your name?" I asked, keeping my expression blank but slightly curious.

"Lilian."

I stood up from my bed and closed the distance between us with a speed she hadn’t clearly expected, because she flinched the next moment my hand tightened around her neck. I smirked, "So you can be this afraid and yet you got the nerve to mess with Dante? Didn’t you ever think you’d end up the way you did before you tried something so foolish?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Suddenly, her expression hardened and her eyes burned with defiance as she gazed straight into my eyes, something I’d call feigned bravery, because I could still clearly feel her tremble against my touch.

"Why should I be afraid of Dante? That pathetic bastard deserves nothing but hell. Because of him, my sister killed herself when she could no longer bear the abuse. I vowed to bring him down, to crush him, to have him beg for forgiveness in front of her grave." Her voice trembled with rage as she spoke.

"And what makes you think you can achieve that? You have nothing. You don’t have power, most of all, you don’t have the guts. Power is all that matters in this world, with it you can get anything you want, and you lack it."

That was the only truth I’d ever known. People who thought they could win on ideals were corpses waiting for a place to rot. I’d seen men with hearts full of vengeance get torn apart because they stepped into a game they didn’t understand. Dante... he wasn’t just some street thug you could kill in an alley. He was the kind of monster who built his empire on blood and still slept comfortably at night. To take down someone like him, you needed to be a monster worse than he was. And this girl? All she had was a broken heart and a death wish

But her next reply took me by surprise, "That’s why I chose you. You’re all the power I need, Ardyn." This time, the expression on her face was different. The innocent look was gone, now replaced with a knowing smirk. And did she just call me by my real name?