Watching Jenny almost shove her pale, delicate hand into his face as she tossed out the word "kept" so casually,
Kabe sucked in a sharp breath and suddenly felt he had underestimated the boldness of women everywhere.
Fifty thousand a month to keep a lover whose looks and figure were top tier and completely comparable to Mirajane's? Was that a loss?
To Kabe, it did not feel like a loss at all. It felt like an absolute bargain.
He barely hesitated, honestly not even for a heartbeat, before pulling out his wallet from his pocket.
He generously drew out a single bank card, valid across all of Fiore, and pressed it into Jenny's hand.
"There are two million on this card. Give me a discount and call it five months, all right?"
Hearing that there were a full two million on it, Jenny immediately stored the precious card with exaggerated care.
"Hmph. Considering you are being so sincere, I will give you one month for free."
Having declared this, she could not wait to run off and quit the bartender job with the senior staff.
But at that moment, Kabe tugged her back. Under her puzzled gaze, he spoke again, this time with a serious look.
"Since the money has already been paid, there are two conditions I need to make clear."
As he spoke, he held up two fingers.
"First, as my lover, I do not want you doing escort work anymore, or any job that involves getting close to other men.
Second, you are forbidden to shoot gravure or any kind of pin up modeling. I do not want you showing off your charms in front of other men.
If you have an issue with either of those, then I will have to ask you to return my money right now."
Jenny narrowed her eyes and scanned him up and down with surprise, then chuckled and teased:
"You, a guy who spends all day buried in flocks of women, actually care about this kind of thing?
I did not expect you to be so pure in some areas."
Kabe did not react to the teasing at all, simply watched her quietly and waited for her answer.
Seeing how serious he was, Jenny finally toned down the smile on her face, tipped her chin thoughtfully, and then nodded her agreement.
"Fine. Since you paid, whatever my sugar daddy says comes first.
I promise that as long as you are keeping me, I will strictly follow your rules.
But if you ever stop paying, do not blame me if I go back to our guild's side business."
Only then did Kabe finally let a satisfied smile appear.
"Heh. I would not say I am crazy rich, but this kind of pocket change is not something I am short on."
With that, he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled Jenny straight into his arms, then tilted his head toward the door with a wicked grin.
"Come on, come with me to Karen's place. I should check the goods first."
"Wait, what, checking is fine, but why do we have to go to Karen senpai's house?
Hold on, I do not want to go. Someone is going to die!!"
Jenny howled all the way as she was dragged out of the guild.
On the road, the people who saw them did not really try to stop anything, since she was not actually screaming for help.
But after the two left, everyone began whispering curiously to each other, wondering when this newcomer Jenny had gotten so close to Kabe.
And Karen senpai, who usually kept a tight watch on people, had not showed up in days.
How come she had suddenly disappeared, to the point that even when the man she had set her eyes on was being led away by someone else, she did not appear?
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Open up, I am back."
Outside Karen's apartment, Kabe knocked on the door with a very calm expression.
Jenny, whose wrist was still firmly held in his grip, tried to struggle a few more times.
When it proved completely useless, she gave up.
"Y you had better protect me later.
If you cannot, I would rather just give you your money back."
Kabe pulled her a little closer and raised his hand to flick her lightly on the forehead.
"Do not be afraid. I will show you what it means to be head of the household and to have the final say."
Jenny glanced up at his composed side profile, wavered, and gave a hesitant "oh", then stared nervously at the door, waiting to see what would happen.
They did not have to wait long. Very soon, hurried footsteps echoed from behind the door.
The next second, the door opened. Aries stuck half her head out nervously from behind it.
"I am sorry, I was taking care of Lady Karen… ah! Miss Jenny!"
Before she could finish her apology, she had already seen Jenny standing beside Kabe and cried out in surprise.
The moment Jenny saw the true culprit behind her "unemployment", her eyes instantly turned red with anger.
"Ah, Aries!"
"Eek!! I, I am so sorry, so, so sorry!"
Aries bowed over and over, apologizing with all her might.
Although she had never done escort work herself, after following Karen for so long and spending so much time inside Blue Pegasus,
even she knew how terrible the impact was when an escort girl got drunk and passed out in front of a client on her first shift.
Seeing how Jenny was grinding her teeth now, Aries could easily guess that the girl must have suffered because of her.
So the guilt in her heart grew even heavier.
If this had been before she was "kept", seeing this disastrous airhead of a celestial spirit,
Jenny would have given her a good beating, even if it meant risking Karen senpai's scolding.
But now she had latched on to a big spender like Kabe, and Aries was bowing nonstop with such sincere apologies that Jenny forcibly held down the fire in her chest.
"Hmph. For Karen senpai's sake, I will let you off this once."
"Uuuu, thank you so much for your great kindness!"
Aries' voice was thick with tears as she bowed yet again in gratitude.
Kabe waved a hand impatiently.
"Enough. It is already in the past, and both of you have had your share of punishment.
No point going on about it. Let us go inside and talk."
"Ah, I am sorry, please come in, both of you."
Aries stepped aside to invite them in and then very considerately helped them change into indoor slippers.
Watching Aries bustle around like a little housemaid, Jenny could not help asking:
"Um, where is Karen senpai? Is she not coming out to welcome you home?"
At that question, Aries froze as she was lining up the shoes, and Kabe let out a cold snort, replying:
"That foolish woman is probably still lying in bed. I have not let her get out of it even once these past several days."
"!!!"
Jenny stared at him in horror, shrinking her neck in fright.
"Y-you hit her?
I know spying on you with a celestial spirit was wrong, but you did not have to beat her so badly she could not get out of bed for days!"
She had not expected a man who looked so decent on the surface to be the type who would lay his hands on a woman that harshly.
For a moment, Jenny really did start to regret asking Kabe to keep her.
The instant the thought formed, she felt a sharp flick to her forehead.
"Idiot. You will understand when you see her later.
Stop letting your imagination run wild all the time."