The Seductive Pretty Boy of the Matriarchal World-Chapter 27: Playing with Fire

That cat call was imitated to perfection, as if a real little kitten was gently meowing, acting spoiled and begging to be held.

Liora Voss subconsciously wanted to pull away from Elias, but after tilting her head slightly she realized the reaction was a bit too much. She forced herself to hold back, though her body still trembled lightly, as if she had been shocked by electricity.

Liora said indifferently, "What are you doing?"

She had been restrained enough, but there was no way she could hide it from Elias, who was pressed almost flush against her.

Elias saw the way she wanted to dodge but didn’t, saw straight through her forced calm. He didn’t expose her and instead took the initiative to step away from her body.

Elias retreated a few steps, his smile bright and his eyes sparkling. His rose-colored lips parted slightly as he said, "This is your reward."

As he spoke, he raised his free hand beside his cheek, curled his five fingers into claws, bared two sharp canines at Liora, and made a fierce little face. "I’m a little tiger, awoo~"

Liora lifted her eyes slightly and smiled faintly. "Looks like the money wasn’t worth it."

"Not worth it?" Elias immediately looked displeased, his face full of dissatisfaction. Worried she might try to take the money back, he quickly stuffed the stack into his chest and gave her a guarded glance. "No refunds after purchase!"

Inside, however, he sneered coldly.

Bullshit. She was clearly so excited her whole body was shaking, yet still acting tough.

If he shoved a live grenade into Liora Voss’s arms she’d probably still have her mouth left after it exploded.

But Elias couldn’t be bothered to call her out. He turned around, raised the hand holding the cash in a flashy wave, and left without looking back.

[Liora Voss favorability increased. Current: 25%.]

One "meow" for 5% favorability. Not a bad deal.

At the hotel entrance, Liora silently watched Elias’s figure gradually disappear from view. Only after he was completely out of sight did she walk toward her car.

Once seated in the driver’s seat, Liora didn’t start the engine immediately. Instead, she lit a cigarette, her bright red lips clamping down on the filter. She took a drag and slowly exhaled a perfect ring of smoke that filled the interior, gradually obscuring her face. Only her peach-blossom eyes remained visible, looking even more seductive and flirtatious in the haze.

Buzz!

Suddenly, a crisp ringtone broke the silence. Someone was calling.

Liora didn’t bother checking the caller ID. She simply took out her phone, lowered the car window to let the cool morning air rush in and disperse the smoke—which also cleared her head a bit—then answered.

"Hello?"

A familiar voice she had heard countless times came through—gentle and magnetic. "Did you send him back to campus?"

"Yeah."

It was just one simple word, but as Liora spoke it her body shuddered violently again.

It was as if that boy’s lips were pressed tight against her ear once more, softly calling out...

Meow.

Separated by a phone screen, even Serena Blackwood couldn’t detect that Liora was lying. She simply gave a satisfied hum and said, "Sorry for troubling you these past few days, always taking up your time."

"It’s nothing." A trace of a smile slipped into Liora’s voice. "Who told you to be my big sister?"

There wasn’t a hint of a smile on her face.

Serena chuckled lightly and hung up.

Liora didn’t put her phone away. She turned to look out the window at the steady flow of traffic, momentarily lost in thought. Suddenly snapping back, she used three fingers to pinch the still-burning cigarette butt and rubbed it hard until it was extinguished.

A sharp sting of pain, accompanied by a strange, inexplicable rush of pleasure.

Liora knew...

She was playing with fire.

Elias didn’t take any transportation. It wasn’t that he couldn’t bear to spend those dozen dollars—it was because he had no morning classes today. Walking back to campus would let him get some exercise and, conveniently...

Save some money.

Fine, he really was reluctant to spend money. Even a single dollar was worth saving if possible.

Who told the Trash Trope Intervention Division not to offer retirement benefits or pensions?

Everything depended on what the employees earned themselves.

How? The savings from each world didn’t factor in your net worth or status in that world. This prevented employees with extremely high status in certain worlds from easily exploiting the system.

The rule was disgusting. It forced employees to live frugally. Even if they were carrying huge sums, they didn’t dare spend lavishly.

Of course, some people never planned to retire anyway, so they lived extravagantly in every world without a care.

But Elias, who only wanted to retire, naturally pinched every penny and lived as thriftily as possible.

Listening to Elias’s complaints, System Theta asked in confusion, "With all the money you’ve earned so far, isn’t it enough for you to spend however you want after retirement?"

After all, the host was the agency’s top operative. The earnings from one world should be more than enough for a comfortable retirement, right?

"You’re a system and you still don’t know the rules of the Trash Trope Intervention Division?" Elias looked utterly incredulous, then spoke through gritted teeth. "Do you have any idea that the exchange rate is different in every single world?!"

Even though he was already a multi-millionaire here, when converted to real-world currency it was only...

A hundred thousand dollars.

1:100. What a fucking scam!

This was also to stop employees from easily farming money in worlds with huge currency denominations. Otherwise someone could cash a "ten trillion" check and bankrupt the entire agency.

Although it seemed scammy, the exchange rates were actually balanced based on wealth acquisition difficulty, currency denomination, and a whole bunch of complex data.

In short, you could hate it, but you couldn’t complain too much because it was fair.

Elias continued scolding the system to vent. "You’re a system and you don’t even know this..."

System Theta replied calmly, "I’m a newbie system, what do you expect?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Elias: "..."

And it even sounded proud of it.

Chatting all the way, Elias walked back to Westbridge University and then headed straight for the tree-lined path.

He had already mapped out the entire campus. This shaded path was practically Giselle Frost’s daily route.

Was there anything more stimulating than letting that pure little virgin see the marks on his neck before they had even started to fade?

There were better ways, but those were for later. For now, this was the most effective thing possible!

He couldn’t waste such a golden opportunity.

Elias pulled his hands out of his pockets and tucked them into his sleeves, then crouched down.

He squatted under the tree in a completely undignified posture. With his glasses on, strangers wouldn’t even glance his way.

He had no classes all day, so he could "coincidentally" run into Giselle here for as long as it took.

But contrary to Elias’s expectations, the first person he "encountered" was someone else entirely.