"Is there something you need, Master?" Grayfia asked, ready to do anything for Adam.
"I was just thinking…" Placing the cup on the table, he stood up.
"Thinking?" Grayfia stood in place as he stepped closer, she flinched internally with his hand touched her shoulder.
"Just thinking about how high my luck is to have you here." He said with a smile before walking to his room.
'Thinking about it wouldn't change anything, now that her life is tied to me, I have to keep her safe.' Adam didn't want her loyalty go unrewarded. 'I suppose I need to be a worthy Master.'
"…" As the door to the library closed, Grayfia collapsed to the floor like a puppet with cut strings.
Her fair face red turned red, the heart that had never beaten faster even when she was taken prisoner, drummed in her chest. A swirl of emotions raged in her crystal-clear eyes, just one sentence, a string of words, that was all it took to break her poker face. As a maid that would ger marked down as her worst failure, however those words, she couldn't take them only as his servant.
"…So, there is something more that makes me happier after all." Since she had met Adam, Grayfia's understanding of herself has been rewritten constantly. Such was his influence on her body and mind.
'I won't let that praise be a one-time thing, I want to hear it again. No… I want to hear something more, to share a moment more intimate than this… not as a servant but as a woman.' A hint of greed flashed in her eyes, a distant future, not one where she stayed as a servant, but instead became a pillar to support him.
She could see it, no she wanted to realise that. From that day onwards, Grayfia increased her training efforts to the point that Adam had to step in and stop her.
"Sending her to rest wasn't easy…" It took a lot of convincing before he put Grayfia into the bed forcefully, the maid just wouldn't listen to reason.
'Quick progress can be addicting, precisely why it is a poison.' Adam rested against the couch, enjoying the cool wind circulating the room.
After thinking things over, Adam had a to-do list to set things straight while he worked for his goal. Unsurprisingly there were quite a few things he needed to do.
His first task, to get a contract pardon for Nobara. Although the girl had her faults and quirks, she was crazy enough to die if their relationship didn't move forward. So, just for insurance he wanted that, this was selfishness on his part.
The second task, clearing up the mess in Ai's world with Miyako, he knew it wouldn't be pretty but that the current situation had escalated too much and he had to step up in a literal sense.
The third task, to visit the worlds he can as soon as he can. It wasn't just for the mental well-being of the girls, but also for himself. He hadn't seen Makima and Rias in a while, the redheads were clingy even with their polarizing personalities, not to mention Akeno and Ai who had their mischievous plots.
In the fourth task, he had to visit Robin and Saki, both of which weren't possible at the moment. He needed more time to pass, especially in Saki's world.
As for the fifth task…
"Yeah… this ain't gonna be easy." As he rubbed his forehead, the bells chimed.
'Wonder who it is this time…' Adam stayed seated on the couch when the door opened.
A woman of his height walked in. Her wet black hair gleamed under the golden light as the scent of flowers accompanied her each step. The stray droplets of water sliding down her fair neck into the dark cleavage gave birth to a sensual charm unlike any other. Paired with her devilish proportion only hidden by a thigh-length bathrobe, the woman in question looked straight into his eyes.
Seeing her eyes, he had a feeling of Déjà vu.
Along with beauty, her fierceness also jumped several levels the moment their eyes matched.
"My name is Boa Hancock, I am the Empress of the Amazon Lily and the captain of Kuja Pirates." Even her voice had an aggressive tone. "Tell me, man of humans, can you really grant my wish?"
"Pretty much, yeah I can. The name's Adam by the way." Adam only found it cute though, the Aura leaking out of her wouldn't even qualify as a breeze to him. But he could see her eyes had an immense hatred, not for him, but for what he was.
'Man of humans, huh.' This now haughty woman seemed to have gone through an experience, one that left her at odds with men.
"So, let us talk about your wish so we can set the price." But to Adam, much of it didn't matter, there was no point in prying into her trauma especially when he knew about it.
"There is no need for a price, you shall do it for free." She said, taking a seat across from him.
"Why would I do it for free?" Adam tilted his head, curious about why she'd say that.
Hearing him Boa smiled, a smile that could cause the holiest men to commit sins in her name. She looked at him her eyes filled with pride and a nose higher than anyone alive.
"Because I am beautiful!" A pink aura burst forth her visage.
Without a word, Adam sipped on his tea.
The nonchalant face stirred something within Boa, with her feet on the table she leaned forward her hand striking her chest.
"…Like I said, I am Beautiful!"
Adam's eyes lingered her undulating breasts only for a second before he matched her eyes with a light cough.
"I heard you the first time." He said.
"If that is how you'll play it, then I suppose I'll have to show you the difference." Boa climbed over the table, standing tall before him as her eyes blazed with determination. "I didn't want to use it on someone who could help me, but you leave me with no choice."
When the door first appeared in front of Boa, she was alone in the bath, no one was allowed inside aside from her two sisters so they could safeguard her secret. A secret that she was most ashamed of. Being alone in the bath, she didn't notice the passage of time stopping and neither spent much time investigating once she read the words.
Boa Hancock had complete faith that she would get what she wanted, her beauty was a part of it but her devil fruit's ability is what gave her the edge. Anyone who was charmed by her beauty would turn to stone, and her words of being beautiful weren't a stretch nor were they bloated. In truth, there wasn't a woman in her universe who could match her beauty.
"Mera Mera Mellow!" With her hands forming a heart in front of her chest, a resplendent pink heart beam shot out.
With Adam being inches away from her hand, he felt the beam wash over him as the scent of roses became more pronounced. But to Boa's surprise, nothing happened.
"Mera Mera Mellow!" Once again, the ability failed to affect him.
"H-How…?" Boa stepped back, unable to understand the situation.
Her ability had never failed her, but the greater shock was that it failed just when she needed it the most.
'Am I really going to live with that brand for the rest of my life?'
...
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