Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses

"Um..." Asher pursed his lips, his head tilted slightly as he stared at the menu with the focused intensity of someone trying to decode ancient hieroglyphs.

"Sir?" The waitress stood patiently beside their table, dressed in the restaurant's crisp white short-sleeved shirt and black knee-length skirt, with a cheerful apron emblazoned with "El Catle" in flowing script. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail, and her brown eyes held a mixture of professional courtesy and barely contained amusement as she watched the young man's epic battle with the menu.

Five minutes ticked by. The waitress shifted her weight from one foot to the other, pen poised over her notepad.

"Asher?" Natalia's voice cut through his concentration, gentle but tinged with secondhand embarrassment.

"Huh?" He looked up with the dazed expression of someone emerging from a trance.

She mouthed silently, "Make a choice," while gesturing subtly at the increasingly patient waitress.

Asher gave an awkward smile. "I don't know what to choose."

The waitress stared at him for a moment, then stole a glance at Natalia, who looked like she wanted to crawl under the table.

"Just point at something, anything," the waitress suggested with a gentle laugh. "I promise our chef hasn't poisoned anyone this week."

"Okay," Asher said with visible 'relief', then turned to Natalia with hopeful eyes. "Can I have whatever you picked?"

Natalia's smile was warm and genuine. "Of course."

The waitress nodded and departed, probably grateful to escape the most drawn-out ordering process in restaurant history.

"Can I ask you something?" Asher asked, placing the menu on the table.

"Sure," Natalia replied, meeting his gaze. Those strange purple eyes of his always seemed to draw her in.

'Why do I feel so comfortable with him?' she wondered. They'd only met recently, yet being around him felt as natural as breathing. It was like reconnecting with a childhood friend after years apart—that immediate sense of familiarity and ease.

"What's happening tomorrow?" His expression grew serious, and for the first time since they'd sat down, he looked genuinely focused.

The change was striking. Where moments before he'd been charmingly helpless, now he radiated an intensity that made her pulse quicken.

'Kyaaaaa! He's even more handsome when he's serious!'

"T-tomorrow?" she stammered, caught off guard by the sudden shift.

He nodded, waiting for her response.

"Is there an event at the academy tomorrow?" he rephrased, and understanding dawned on her face.

"Well, it's a test. The first major assessment of the semester, actually. It's for team reshuffling," she explained, unconsciously leaning forward with interest.

Asher nodded thoughtfully. "I was given the basic orientation about the Academy, but is there anything else I should know? Common sense things that might not be in the handbook?"

A young waiter approached their table, carrying two drinks on a silver tray. Natalia paused her response to watch him set down their orders with practiced efficiency.

"Well, try not to use ether in places like the cafeteria, dorms, or admin block," she said, moving her side bag from the table to her lap to make room. "At least try not to get caught."

"Okay," he said, making a mental note.

"And during battle royales, don't trust anyone except your team members," she added, reaching for her drink—a vibrant pink concoction with a cheerful straw poking out of it.

"That makes sense," he nodded, watching as she took a sip.

Her eyes closed in bliss, and her hands moved to frame her cheeks. "So good~" she sighed contentedly.

"Really?" Asher asked, genuinely curious.

Natalia's eyes snapped open, her face flushing an intense red as she realized she'd completely let her guard down. The expression on her face was somewhere between mortification and the desire to disappear into the restaurant floor.

"Mmm," she managed, nodding while trying to regain her composure.

Asher took a tentative sip of his own drink, and his eyes widened in surprise. The expression on his face was priceless—like someone who'd just discovered they could fly.

"You see?" Natalia laughed, her embarrassment forgotten in the face of his obvious amazement.

"Yeah, damn, this is incredible," he smiled, then frowned slightly. "Wait, what exactly is it?" He held up the glass, studying the mysterious pink liquid that seemed to embody the very essence of sweetness.

Natalia looked around conspiratorially, as if checking for eavesdroppers, then leaned forward slightly—though not so far as to leave her wheelchair's back rest entirely. In a stage whisper, she said, "Don't ask."

"Eh?" Asher also glanced around nervously, then leaned closer. "Why?"

"I suspect it's some kind of... insect," she said with narrowed eyes, her voice dropping to an ominous whisper.

Asher's eyes 'widened' in 'horror', then quickly shifted to 'disgust'. "Really? And you people drink it?" He sounded like someone who'd just discovered his best friend was secretly a serial killer.

"No!" Natalia burst into laughter, and realization dawned on his face.

She'd been messing with him the entire time.

"Well, aren't you a naughty girl," he said with mock severity, plucking the decorative fruit from the rim of his glass and flicking it at her. It hit her square in the forehead with a soft thunk.

"Ouch!" She rubbed her forehead and pouted dramatically, then retaliated by grabbing the fruit from her own glass and launching it at him. He tilted his head casually, and the projectile sailed harmlessly past.

[Wait, what is happening here? Are you actually enjoying this?] The entity's voice carried a note of genuine confusion. Azalea had literally transformed before its metaphysical eyes into someone else entirely. His emotions were still technically restrained, but he was displaying them so naturally it was almost unsettling.

To be honest, it was extremely weird. At this point, did the young man even need his suppressed emotions anymore? He could apparently feel whatever he wanted to feel without them, and it was becoming increasingly natural.

'Don't break my concentration, please,' Asher thought back irritably.

"Tsk," Natalia clicked her tongue in mock frustration, but then a sly smile spread across her face.

"Wait, what are you planning?" Asher narrowed his eyes, suddenly wary. That particular smile made him distinctly uncomfortable.

"Nothing," she said innocently, but the gleam in her eyes suggested otherwise.

In the next instant, he realized it definitely wasn't nothing.

ZZZZZZZZZZZ!

"Bloody hell!" A strange surge of electrical current invaded his body, and he toppled from his chair to the restaurant floor with an undignified thud.

"Hehehehe!" Natalia's delighted laughter filled the air as she watched him sprawl on the ground, twitching slightly from the residual shock.

'Such potential,' Asher realized as he lay there, reassessing the girl before him. 'This girl could become a truly valuable asset.'

Unlike with Anna, he didn't want to make Natalia his slave. He'd already noticed how effective his looks were and how easily he could manipulate her with his carefully crafted persona. Instead, he would make her emotionally dependent on him. He would gradually separate her from her friends, isolate her, then make her powerful—so incredibly powerful that even Austin and the future main protagonist wouldn't stand a chance against her.

'Based on her behavior, a best friend status should be sufficient,' he calculated.

He would simply become her only friend.

[How about a lover?] the entity suggested with interest.

'Love? I can't find such an emotion in my memories. Perhaps due to Noel's traumatic past, my definition of love is distorted,' Asher mused.

[What about from Azalea's memories?]

'Azalea... I still find no such emotion. Even Noel's memories affected my life as Azalea. It may not appear that way, but he only saw Isabella as a close friend.'

[Hmm,] the entity pondered.

'I can't portray emotions I can't feel, right?'

[Right.]

'So I'll stick to friendship.'

[Well, nonetheless, things are finally getting interesting.]

'On that, I agree.'

Asher stood up, brushing off his clothes, then walked toward Natalia with deliberate slowness. She suddenly realized that despite her little prank, she was actually at a significant disadvantage given her condition.

"Wait... sorry," she said, genuine concern creeping into her voice.

"Don't worry, you wanted to laugh, right? I'll just make you laugh some more," he said with a predatory grin, and she understood exactly what he meant.

Her eyes widened in horror.

"Please, I beg you, I'll die if you tickle me—I'm allergic!"