OLD-WORLD EXTRA

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11

The bomb of a joke was ignored by both Emir and Evelyn as they stepped closer, remaining silent.

While it could technically be true if one jumped through multiple irrational hoops, Evelyn later understood that Emir's intention in inviting her out on a date would never qualify their relationship as anything close to being lovers, since the date couldn't really be considered one in the first place.

All that banter and friendliness was an act. A ruse that he used to learn of her objective, to clear suspicions.

It wasn't a date at all, it was an interrogation.

And for that reason, Emir had always 'stepped' around her.

If she was in the cafeteria, he would avoid it like the plague, choosing another route to his destination.

If she went to the Empty Marble, he would bolt out of there.

The Hub, the Archive In Between, or any other facility?

No, nada, nichts, la, non, nee, nein!

Long story short, he never allowed her to see him.

He didn't know what she might figure out if she did so.

Her death wasn't something he wanted to happen; at least he didn't want to be involved in it.

So though they acted the same, their silence stemmed from different reasons.

One felt confusion at why this unknown variable was on the tenth floor, while the other felt a mix of fear and curiosity.

Right, Evelyn was deeply curious, but she knew that curiosity might come back to bite her in the ass.

This caused her to hesitate under Morgiana's gaze for a long moment before finally gathering her courage to ask:

"W-Why are you avoiding me?"

Emir knew that this wasn't the question she truly wanted to ask; she could already guess why, as could anyone.

Yet she still asked it, thinking that any other question might have sent him away.

"You know why..."

He remained unmoving and answered simply.

The answer didn't satisfy her; that was obvious by the exacerbated look on her face, but

before she could say anything, he added:

"But I get it. Fine, you win. I won't avoid you anymore."

"..."

Those words brought a bright smile to her face.

She was finally accepted into the family.

The others wouldn't need to tiptoe around her anymore.

Her sister could talk to her without being so cryptic.

At last, she wouldn't be treated as a stranger anymore!

Even though Morgiana didn't fully understand what had just happened, she felt happy for her friend, matching her smile.

"So it's all good, now?"

The man who sprouted such emotions in the two calmly smiled and gave Evelyn a nod.

"All good. Now I'll get going, got a meeting."

He stepped between them and walked to his office without saying goodbye.

"Treat your colleagues better, you jerk!"

"Y-Yeah!"

Their words echoed in the hallway, bashing his manners, but he didn't pay them any attention and simply waved his right hand.

Once they could no longer see his face, his inky eyes turned cold, and his smile vanished.

'It's early, but we'll make do. The one behind her will feel some heat.'

---

...

Morning arrived in the blink of an eye as the two spent it all cultivating.

There was a 'meeting,' but it lasted only a second as Lyra touched foreheads with Emir, almost instantly learning of everything that had happened.

Besides being mad at Morgiana for calling Evelyn his ex, she didn't comment much on anything; none of it was unexpected.

All the revelations were among the hypotheticals they had considered for each 'unknown.' Even the possibility of Emir encountering Evelyn before they dealt with the first obstacle, Arthur, was accounted for.

In fact, that particular scenario was studied more thoroughly than many others.

It involved an unknown acting through Evelyn, subtly influencing her to interact with Emir.

Now that she had talked to him, he couldn't continue to ignore her.

She would be too emotionally affected and might go off the deep end as a result.

It was better to let her know a few private things while controlling what she heard and

observing the results to identify the unknown.

They knew it would be a long and slow battle, but they weren't worried.

Lyra wasn't called the best of AIS for nothing.

Anyhow, what she did react to was the mimic of Mr. Player's true form or rather, one of his true forms.

Even though she had seen him in Emir's memories, her entire processing power was halted, disabling all the Lyra clones around his family.

Her kitten mode had returned.

This time, instead of a spoiled brat, she regressed into a strangely obedient child who cultivated without question.

While focused, Emir played around with her, enjoying himself until sunlight peeked through

the windows.

It wasn't that the sun had just risen, but rather that the windows allowed sunlight in, marking

the start of the day at the Academy.

His fun was over, and he woke her up.

How, one might ask? Well... through overstimulation.

Emir gave her an extremely long, deep kiss that would have knocked out a human.

The poor AI was back up and running in no time, red-faced and outshining both Aria and

Elijah with how red her face was.

[Why do that when I'm out of it?!]

As expected, her embarrassment wasn't just out of shame but also because she had missed Emir's first time initiating a kiss without being asked to do so.

She knew that his action wasn't solely meant to overstimulate her but also to quell any rising

jealousy, ensuring that their planning wouldn't go to waste, stopping any bloody thoughts

from forming in her mind.

Yet, despite this, the elation she felt from him making a move remained unchanged.

[Do it again.]

He ignored her pleas and walked to the classroom with measured steps, students nearly jumping out of his way as he walked through the halls of the fourth floor.

Normally, today would have been a question-and-answer session, a homeroom class, but since Emir hadn't technically taught them anything two days ago, Amon, by request, had granted him an extra official class this week.

[Okay, at least one~... Hm?]

He chuckled and waved her hologram away, stepping into the elite's playroom, SS-1.

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"..."

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11

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Silence.

When the door slowly slid open, every student quickly shut their mouth, as if competing for a

world record.

Emir flashed a soft smile at the sight.

'How nice~.'