Taming SSR And UR RANK Superwomen-Chapter 13 — A Date with My Domesticated Heroine

Chapter 13: Chapter 13 — A Date with My Domesticated Heroine

By the time Thomas realized it, the place no longer had the same gentle buzz it had before. A few tables had emptied, the music had shifted to a different tune, and the light coming in through the window no longer fell at the same angle.

At least an hour had passed.

Selene was still sitting across from him.

That didn’t mean she was comfortable, but she no longer looked like she was counting the seconds until she could leave. Her posture had changed: one arm now rested on the table, idly toying with the spoon, while the other rested in her lap. The frown was still there, but less pronounced.

Thomas was the first to speak.

"Can I ask you something without you taking it as a provocation?" he said, carefully measuring his tone.

Selene glanced at him sideways.

"Depends on the question."

"About your power."

She clicked her tongue immediately.

"I knew we’d get to that eventually."

"I don’t understand it," he clarified right away. "And I’m not trying to. I just... want to know how you see it."

Selene fell silent. She spun the spoon one last time before setting it down on the saucer.

"Everyone says that," she murmured. "That they want to understand. In the end, they just want to use it."

"I can’t use something I don’t understand," Thomas replied honestly. "That’s why I’m asking."

She studied him closely, searching for sarcasm, mockery, or calculation. She found nothing obvious.

"...Luck isn’t as pretty as people imagine," she finally began, her voice low. "It’s not about always winning. It’s about the odds tilting in my favor... even when they shouldn’t."

Thomas nodded silently, inviting her to continue without interrupting.

"Scholarships," Selene went on. "Competitions. Internships. Opportunities other people needed more. A lot of times, I didn’t do anything... and still, I got them."

She tightened her fingers around the cup.

"And when someone loses because of me—even indirectly—people don’t forget."

Thomas frowned.

"They blame you?"

"They hate me," she corrected bluntly. "They say it’s unfair. That I don’t work hard. That everything just falls into my lap."

She paused briefly.

"In college, there are people who stopped talking to me. Others smile at me, but I know they’re waiting for something bad to happen to me."

Thomas didn’t respond right away.

"And has something bad ever happened?" he asked carefully.

Selene let out a dry laugh.

"Of course. Luck doesn’t save you from consequences."

She lifted her gaze to meet his.

"There was one time I won an important competition. Second place... needed that money to keep studying. They dropped out," she said with a shrug. "Never came back."

Silence fell between them.

"Since then," Selene continued, "every time something good happens to me, someone else loses something. And that creates resentment. Envy. Rumors."

"And you?" Thomas asked. "What do you do with that?"

Selene looked at him with irritation.

"What do you think? Nothing. I can’t turn it off."

Thomas shook his head gently.

"That wasn’t a reproach."

She sighed.

"My gift doesn’t listen to intentions. It just works."

She leaned back in her chair.

"That’s why it bothers me when you suggest you can ’enhance’ it. You’ll give me more problems than I already have."

Thomas didn’t deny it.

"I wondered if... my presence influenced it in some way," he said honestly. "That’s all."

Selene watched him, suspicious.

"And?"

"I don’t know."

"I don’t believe that."

Thomas held her gaze.

"Selene, if I knew how your power worked, I wouldn’t be asking you."

She seemed to relax just a little.

"...Then you’re ignorant."

"Completely."

That drew a tiny, almost involuntary smile from her.

"That makes you dangerous."

Selene went back to playing with the cup.

"What I don’t understand," she said after a while, "is why all of this has to be done like this."

Thomas looked up.

"Like what?"

"Obedience," she replied. "Orders. No resistance. Why not direct cooperation?"

The atmosphere tightened again. Thomas took a deep breath and answered:

"You wouldn’t cooperate with me the way I need you to, willingly. I need to solve my problems, and I’ll make sure everything turns out the way I want. I don’t need a lecture on morality at an important moment."

’At least that’s my public answer, because I don’t understand either why I have this system or for what purpose it was given to me. But I do know what I want to use it for.’

She stared at him.

"Is it slavery?"

Thomas remained silent.

"Tell me it’s not."

"I can’t define it that easily."

Selene clenched her jaw, annoyed.

"I hate incomplete answers."

"And would you accept hearing the truth? You ask those questions because you already know the answer."

"It’s because I want to hear it from your own mouth. Tell me what I am. That I’m just a slave."

Selene’s brows knit together. Thomas kept his eyes fixed on her beautiful light-blue eyes and replied calmly:

"I never intended to treat you that way. It’s true that I’ll force you to obey me, but I won’t strip you of your humanity. Though..." He brought the cup to his lips and spoke in a playful tone, "if you like being treated like a slave, I wouldn’t mind indulging you."

"Disgusting," she spat, looking at Thomas with contempt and lifting her chin. Her gaze was that of someone looking down on something insignificant.

Selene ended up leaning back in the chair, exhausted.

"I don’t trust you."

’I wouldn’t either...,’ Thomas thought.

Selene picked up her coffee and took a final sip. She was still upset, but for the first time, she had talked about her power without feeling alone—something that meant a lot to her.

Thomas glanced at his watch beneath the table.

’Maybe it’s time to take a risk, even though she hasn’t shown any sign of lowering her hostility toward me. I’d love to spend all day with her to secure my mission, but I need to get back home. Not just to cook lunch for my sister, but to keep my things from being thrown out. Somehow I need to be clever and buy myself more days—or convince them to wait until payday.’

He looked back at Selene, masking his expression.

’The system says I have Selene’s luck as a passive ability, but I wonder if distance matters—having her closer or farther away. Thinking about bringing her to my place is dangerous, but she could get me out of a tight spot. Still, that would put my sister at risk, and no matter what, I want to ensure her safety... even if one day I’m caught and imprisoned. I want everything ready so Iris can live on her own. Even if someday I’m no longer around...’