The Money-Obssessed Archmage's Second Life As A Broke Duke-Chapter 51 - Honey, He’s Ruining The Asthetic!
Chapter Fifty One
"Ughh... Where am I?"
My eyes opened as they were graced with white walls running parallel to each other and never ending. There was no ceiling, only a sourceless luminescence that made my retinas throb.
I tried to sit up, but my body felt weightless, as if I were floating in a vat of lukewarm soup.
What the- I was just trying to sleep. Not again. Ughhh...
Sysi? Are you there? It’s so boring here. At least give me a chair.
[Ping!]
[Host is currently in the ’Neural Archive.’ This is the place where the foundational memories are transferred to Host to pay the price of the professional knowledge you are about to receive.]
Suddenly, the white walls flickered. Images began to bleed through the ivory void like ink dropped into water.
...Hmmm?
The scene solidified as I floated across the 3D play as if I was a ghost that was watching scenes just before his death.
---
"Those are my designs..."
My eyes snapped to the source as I flew in that direction, watching from above.
A young man stood behind a curtain, trembling so violently I thought his bones might rattle out of his skin.
He wore a tattered cap pulled low, but it couldn’t hide the shock in his eyes as he watched the models strutting on the runway.
The clothes were masterpieces. And, he was looking at them like they were his kidnapped children.
What’s going on? What is this dull ache?
"Ew! What is a beggar doing at such a high-end event?" A woman in the front row fanned herself, her face twisted in a mask of disgust that looked like it had been surgically frozen that way.
"Honey, he is absolutely ruining the aesthetic. Have him throw him out!"
Haah... Disgusting. I wish I could just kill-
"He’s my guest, Miss Elisa. Please, ignore the clutter and enjoy the show."
A woman stepped out from the shadows, and even I felt a momentary hitch in my breath.
Haah... Finally, someone took stand. That woman is definitely an angel inside out.
A smile made its way to my lips as I nodded my head in approval.
"Ah! Miss Vanessa!" the socialite chirped, her tone flipping from vitriol to sycophancy in a heartbeat. "Your designs this season are magnificent! Truly revolutionary. But really, why would you invite a smelly commoner?"
Hey! He’s not a commoner! He just said- No. The woman definitely said it’s that angel’s designs. What’s going on?
Vanessa’s smile was bright, wide, and utterly devoid of warmth. She looked at the trembling man as if he were a stain she was about to scrub away.
Ah... I see.
"He’s an old acquaintance. My... ex-boyfriend, actually. I apologize for the eyesore."
"Haha! I see. A charity case! How noble of you, Vanessa. Please, attend to your ’guest.’"
"Thank you, Miss Elisa. Excuse me."
Vanessa’s hand shot out, her manicured nails digging into the young man’s wrist with a strength that didn’t match her delicate angelic frame as she dragged him into a secluded alcove behind the stage.
"Aleric~" she cooed.
The shift in her voice made the hair on my ghostly arms stand up as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his tattered clothes with a sickeningly faux-affection.
Smooch. Slurrp.
Her lips trailed wet, lingering kisses along his pulse point.
"How does it feel, darling? Seeing them out there? Everyone says your designs are so pretty. They love me because of you."
"Haaah... How could you... Why me, Vanessa?" The man... No. Aleric’s voice was a wreck. He reached out, his hands shaking as he gripped her hair, trying to pull her away from his neck.
"I worked three jobs. I gave you every cent so you could go to the Academy. Tell me this is a lie. You don’t need to steal from me... we’re a team... You could have just asked me for the designs, love."
Pathetic. How could someone-
Thuck.
The sound was sickeningly wet as my eyes opened wide while my plusing brain came to a halt.
Aleric’s breath hitched into a silent scream. He looked down. A small knife, its hilt encrusted with tiny diamonds, was buried to the guard in his chest.
Though, it was the young man being stabbed for some reason I felt the air was leaving my lungs with each passing moment.
"Ahhh...!"
"Does it hurt, darling~?" Vanessa whispered. She didn’t pull the blade out. Instead, she leaned in, her teeth grazing the lobe of his ear. She gripped the handle and twisted the knife.
I felt a phantom jolt of agony in my own chest.
...Why? Why am I feeling so much pain? Sysi... Where are you?
"Van... Ah... Stop..." Aleric slumped against her, his strength hemorrhaging out of him. His blood soaked into the gold-leafed lace of her bodice, turning the radiant yellow into a deep, bruised crimson.
The crazy maniac reached up, her fingers slick with his warmth, and grabbed the back of his head.
She forced his chin up, tilting his face at an angle that the young man had no choice but to look into the abyssal green of her eyes.
"Don’t leave yet," she breathed against his mouth. "Give me your last breath, Aleric. You are only mine, baby~"
She smashed her lips against his.
Sysi, stop this. I’m really not into necrophilia.
I watched in disgust as she forced her tongue past his trembling, blood-stained lips, invading his mouth with a feverish hunger. She drank in his muffled, dying groans, her own breath hitching from pleasure.
"Mhn...Umph..."
Aleric’s hands fluttered against her waist, his fingers twitching in a final, useless spasm of reflex.
Vanessa only pressed closer, grinding her body against the dying man, her throat working as she literally swallowed his last gasps of air.
The wet sounds of the kiss echoed in the silent alcove muffled by the applause of the crowd just a few feet away.
My stomach did a violent somersault. I could see the exact moment the light in his eyes fractured. The pupils dilated, then glazed over, turning into empty glass.
The crazy woman didn’t stop.
Even as his body went limp and heavy in her arms, she continued to devour his mouth, her hand moving from his hair to his throat, squeezing the last vibrations of life out of him.
When she finally pulled away, she did so slowly as a thick, glistening string of saliva and blood stretched between them, connecting them for the last time.
She stared at his pale, slack face for a second, a small smile tugging at the corners of her reddened lips. With a nonchalant shove, she let him go.
Thud.
He hit the floor like a sack of discarded fabric.
"See you in the next life, my love~"
She turned, wiped a stray drop of crimson from her cheek with a delicate finger, and licked it clean before stepping back onto the stage, before turning around and looking up.
Our eyes met as she grinned.
...Can she see me?
"Welcome to the last show, everyone~"
