Chapter 191

[Third Person's PoV] 

Akane broke away from the hug, wiping her tears, and looked at Cid. "How? How are you even alive?"

"I was the Primordial Entity of Shadow and Death, with my past memories locked away. So, death isn't exactly the end for me," Cid replied, giving a thumbs-up with a grin.

Akane narrowed her eyes, her face deadpan. "I'm being serious here."

'So am I...' Cid thought, amused.

"Oh, forget it. I'm just happy you're alive," Akane said, pulling him into another hug.

Cid awkwardly patted her on the head. Akane pulled back slightly and studied his face. "You look a little different. So, you were reincarnated somewhere else, weren't you?"

"You could say that…"

"Wait, so that whole story about you surviving everything—that was a lie?"

"Yup. A portal from my new world opened up, and I jumped right through. Imagine my surprise when I ended up back here and found you about to be killed by monsters. Why do you always end up in dangerous situations?" Cid asked, giving her a curious look.

"It's not my fault, okay?! They just happen to me!" Akane said in an aggrieved tone. "Wait, does that mean Zelda isn't from this world either? She's from your new world?"

"Yeah, she's a demihuman."

Akane paused, then awkwardly said, "It seems like you found yourself a girlfriend while you were away…"

Cid casually walked past her and sat on a desk. "Married, actually."

Akane blinked in shock, pointing first behind her, then at him. "You two… are married?"

"Yup. And she's not the only one."

"Wait, what!?" Akane exclaimed, staring at him in disbelief. "Does that mean you have… like, some kind of harem?"

"I'm married to a few, and dating a few others…"

Akane's face twisted in disgust, while Cid just smirked, amused by her reaction. "Where I'm from, harems are normal. Are you judging my culture now?" he asked, pretending to be offended.

Akane panicked, rapidly waving her hands. "No, no, no! Don't get me wrong! It's just… you know how it is here. Harems aren't really looked upon favorably. I didn't mean to offend you!"

Cid chuckled. "Relax, I'm just messing with you."

Akane sighed in relief, clutching her chest. "So, you don't have a harem? Phew, you almost had me there."

"Oh no, I do. I just meant I wasn't offended by your judgment."

"Eh? So, you really do have a harem?" Akane asked, her voice rising.

"And a daughter."

Akane's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "WHAT!?"

"Wanna see a picture of her?" Cid asked, like an excited father.

Akane, still in shock but curious, nodded. "I kind of do, actually…"

Cid projected a hologram from his hand, showing an image of Celeste.

"Awww! She's adorable!" Akane gushed.

Cid smiled proudly. "I know, right?"

Akane sat down beside Cid on the desk, watching him as he looked at the picture with a soft, fatherly expression. Despite everything, she couldn't help but smile. "You've changed…"

Cid flicked the image away and looked at her, confused.

"I mean that in a good way," Akane clarified. "You seem different from how I remember you. When you were here, with us, before everything went to hell, you always seemed… bored? Like nothing really mattered to you, and you didn't care about anything around you.

"But now… now you seem happy. You're always smiling, like you're enjoying life. You got married, had a child… you've changed so much. Honestly, I'm really happy for you."

"Cornball," Cid teased.

Akane nudged him with a smile, rolling her eyes. "Oh, shut up. I'm being serious."

"Haha, I know. That's what makes you such a cornball. How can you say all that with a straight face?" Cid teased again.

They both laughed, and Akane sighed contentedly. "It's really nice to have you back, Minoru."

"I can't say the same… with how everything is around here. Honestly, the only good part was seeing you again, Akane Noshino."

Akane smiled at the last part before her head snapped in his direction. "Wait… have you really known my name this whole time and just been messing with me?"

"What do you think?" Cid teased, sticking his tongue out slightly.

"Oh my god, you're such a jerk!" Akane exclaimed, though despite her irritated tone, a growing smile crept across her face.

"So, tell me, what's the other world like?" Akane asked, looking at Cid with an intrigued expression, fascinated by the concept of another world.

"Hmm, how do I explain this… You know how people here who can fight using magic are called Knights? Well, it's the same back there, but it's taken much more seriously. It was almost like a medieval world, at least until I started changing things…"

"Let me guess, you used your knowledge from this world to your advantage in that one?" Akane asked.

"Wouldn't you? Akane… they didn't have toilet paper back then..." 'Not that I needed it, being a Monarch and all, but I still pitied them,' he thought.

"Oh god, I get what you mean."

"They also didn't have the wonders of ice cream or pizza. It was a disaster."

"They were that pitiful? I bet you were practically worshiped over there."

"Like a culinary god."

Cid then began showing Akane different images of the kingdoms and how they fought. Akane was entranced by everything.

"So… what's your harem like?" Akane asked shyly, clearly embarrassed to ask the question.

Cid started raising a finger for each name he mentioned. "Well, let's see, there's Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta—"

"Wait… why are they named after the Greek alphabet?"

Cid looked off to the side and scratched his cheek. "No reason…"

"You named them, didn't you?" Akane asked with a straight expression.

"When I found them, they wanted to throw away their old names, so I just started naming them after the Greek alphabet," Cid muttered awkwardly.

"As I was saying: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Zeta—"

"Zeta is Zelda, isn't it? What, is that like an undercover name or something?"

"Yes, now stop interrupting me so I can count. Alpha—"

"You don't have to start from the beginning—" Cid covered Akane's mouth with his hand and continued counting as Akane stared at him.

"Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Aurora, Sherry, Claire… those are the wives. Alexia and Rose, who are princesses, are more like girlfriends."

When Cid let go of her mouth, Akane stared at him in shock. "That's twelve… you have twelve members in your harem… Good Lord."

"There are others I've had my eye on, but I haven't had the chance to take things to the next level or develop the relationships properly."

"I hope you don't mean me," Akane said, leaning back and eyeing Cid suspiciously.

Cid scoffed and waved her off. "Don't worry, you're safe."

"Good… Hey, wait a minute! Why am I *safe*? Am I not good enough or something?" Akane asked, looking offended.

Cid leaned over, putting a hand behind her and moving closer, looking deep into her eyes. "Why do you care?"

Akane blushed. "Who said I cared? I couldn't care less about what you think."

"Oh really? Then why did you seem to care when I said you were safe?" Cid asked, getting closer, his gaze drifting from her eyes to her lips, which she noticed.

Akane began to blush harder and started breathing a bit heavily, noticing how close they were.

She studied his face up close, their faces now only centimeters apart, her hands subconsciously hovering over his face.

"It seems you were affected by me saying you weren't safe… perhaps you don't want to be?" Cid asked, their lips just centimeters apart as he inched closer, staring into her eyes.

For some reason, Akane stood frozen, unable to move as his eyes seemed to hypnotize her. She closed her eyes to avoid looking into his, but her face instinctively moved forward. She knew what was in front of her, but her body knew what it wanted.

As her lips met his, it wasn't like anything she'd ever felt before. She held his face as they kissed, her lips savoring his. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but the constant pressure of survival in this apocalyptic world left her body craving a way to relax, to let go and enjoy herself.

Akane kept her eyes closed as she continued kissing Cid, her body not getting enough, wanting more, which showed in how aggressive she was becoming with every kiss they shared.

Subconsciously, she stuck her tongue out, and Cid intertwined it with his. Akane leaned back onto the desk, and Cid followed after her.