Nyx shook her head. “You can go first.”

  “All right. Thanks!”

  After leaving the simulation chamber, Alex headed upstairs and into the changing room, which was the room attached to his shower. It wasn’t until he’d closed the door behind him that he realized there was someone else already inside.

  Michelle and Alex stood stock still. Their eyes were wide as they gaped at each other. Michelle had already taken off most of her clothes. Her breasts were free, modest mountains that sat on her chest and were capped with pink nipples, and her panties were halfway down her legs, allowing him to see that the carpets matched the drapes.

  Alex’s gaze wandered before he could stop it.

  “Well, look at that. It seems the angel bitch’s younger sister is just as hot as the older one. Huhuhuhu! Imagine what it would be like to take both of them at the same time.”

  Alex didn’t scold Voice Number One as it appeared again—rather, he couldn’t. His mind felt like an overheating engine going critical. Everything that he was, his entire being, could focus on nothing but the vision in front of him. Michelle wasn’t as attractive as her sister, but she was still gorgeous, and Alex was a growing boy in the throes of puberty.

  “Hey, Sis,” Ariel said as she opened the door to the shower room. She was already naked. Water dripped down her body in rivulets. While Alex wouldn’t say she was hot or sexy, staring at her nude figure, he definitely could not deny that she was cute. “Are you going to get in or…”

  She stopped talking.

  Her eyes landed on Alex.

  One second passed.

  And then…

  She screamed.

  “KYA! YOU DAMN PERVERTED BEAST!”

  The sound of Alex being punched through several walls echoed across the house.

  2

  Alex felt awkward as he cooked up a quick breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. The reason he felt so self-conscious was, of course, the eyes that he could feel drilling a hole into his back.

  Gabrielle’s two younger sisters were sitting at the dining room table with Nyx. The pretty little assassin had just finished taking a shower, and her hair was still damp. It clung slightly to her face as she watched him with languid eyes. Alex thought it somehow made her look prettier, or maybe more sensual, then she already was.

  The one that was glaring, Ariel, seemed to have gained a particular brand of hatred for him—not that he couldn’t understand why. He had walked in on her and Michelle while they were taking a bath. That was bound to make anyone feel animosity. On the other hand…

  They really should have locked the door. Honestly. Does no one in their family know how to use a lock?

  Breakfast was soon finished, and Alex brought the food over to the table. “Here you three go. Be sure to eat up.”

  “Thank you,” Michelle said as he served up her food. Ariel just huffed, while Nyx nodded and silently began eating.

  “You’re welcome.” Alex sat down and served himself some food as well. “By the way, I wanted to apologize for walking in on you like that. I had no idea that someone else was taking a bath.”

  “A likely story,” Ariel snarked.

  Michelle didn’t seem angry like her sister. “It is all right. I should have locked the door. Back home, there was never any need to lock the door since only my sisters and our maids would enter the baths with us. It is a bad habit that we really should get rid of.”

  So that’s how it is. I guess that explains things a little.

  Her words made Alex feel a lot better. It seemed this young woman was quite kind, much like her older sister. The one glaring at him seemed to be their complete opposite.

  “Speaking of sisters, where is Gabby?” Alex asked.

  “Gabby?” Michelle appeared puzzled, but then her face cleared up, and she smiled. “Ah, you must mean Gabrielle. She is still asleep. My eldest sister stayed up late last night playing games. She must have exhausted herself.”

  There was something odd about the way Michelle said, “playing games,” as if there was some hidden meaning that he couldn’t comprehend. He shrugged the thought off and nodded. That did sound kind of like something that Gabrielle would do. It was like when they were inventing stuff. He and Gabrielle would often stay up late when they were working on an invention, to the point where they’d pass out later on.

  “Why do you call Big Sis ‘Gabby?’” Ariel asked suddenly.

  “Excuse me?”

  “A beast like you doesn’t deserve to give my sister a nickname like that,” Ariel snapped in response to his words. “You’re just a perverted beast!”

  “U-ugh…”

  Her words were harsh, but in light of what happened this morning, he couldn’t blame her for them. He’d have thought the same thing if their positions had been reversed.

  “Please do not take Ariel’s words too seriously, Alexander,” Michelle said, her tone gentle. “Unlike my sister and I, Ariel has not yet reached full maturity.”

  “Is this a play on my breasts? You’re totally making fun of me because I’m flat, aren’t you?!” Ariel all but snarled.

  It was true that Ariel didn’t have much in the way of a chest. In fact, if he hadn’t been informed that she was Gabrielle’s sister, he would have never realized it by just looking at her. Nothing about them was similar.

  Ariel looked young. At a guess, he would have said that she couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen. She was not only short, but her figure lacked the maturity that Gabrielle, and Michelle to a lesser extent, possessed. Her hair was also cut boyishly short, and her eyes were a purple that was several shades lighter than Michelle’s. Even the structure of her face was completely different from that of her two sisters’.

  “Are you two fraternal twins?” Alex asked.

  “Oh, no,” Michelle said, holding a hand to her mouth as though to hide her smile. “All three of us sisters were born from different mothers. While Ariel and I are the same age, she is older than me by about two months, though I’m sure you’d never guess that from looking at her.”

  “Wha—you’re totally calling me flat again!” Ariel accused.

  “I said no such thing,” Michelle defended. “I merely said that between the two of us, I am a lot more… mature than you.”

  As the sisters bickered, Alex sighed and turned back to his meal. Eating his food, Alex decided that he was going to add a little more cheddar cheese next time.

  A hand tugged at his sleeve. He looked over at Nyx, who stared at him with her emotionless red eyes.

  “Did you need something?”

  Nyx nodded. “Seconds, please.”

  “Oh. Here you go.” Alex served her up another plate of bacon and eggs. As he set the spoon back down and Nyx began eating again, he reached up and tenderly stroked her head. “How is it?”

  Nyx finished swallowing her food and said, “It’s good.”

  Her words made Alex smile. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  Gabrielle wandered into the dining room several minutes later, her mien cheerful and bright like rays of sunshine. She greeted him, Nyx, and her two sisters with a smile as she sat down. Alex grabbed her a plate and served some breakfast, which she dug into with gusto.

  Alice, who had come home from Jasmine’s earlier that morning, came down, ate some breakfast, and got ready for school. That day, Gabrielle decided not to go with them, and the brother and sister pair left on their own.

  3

  “Are you sure this is a good idea, Michelle?” Gabrielle asked.

  She and her sisters were sitting in the living room. Despite not going with Alex, she really had wanted to walk with him and his sister. It wasn’t just because she had done that since they began living together. It was also because she enjoyed spending time with him. Their walks to and from school together were something precious.

  “This is definitely the best way to go about learning how Alex feels about you,” Michelle said. “You’ve told me that Alex has been reluctant to believe in your feelings because of our father, so you spending time with him isn’t going to help because he’s going to think you’re only doing it to make everyone think you really love him.”

  “Well… I guess…”

  “In which case, please allow me this opportunity to talk to him on your behalf,” Michelle continued, standing up. “I’ll bump into him accidentally and ask him to show me around Mars City. During this time, I’ll ask him about his feelings for you.”

  “I still don’t know what you see in that guy,” Ariel said. “He just seems like a pervert who peeks on girls when they’re taking a bath.”

  “It was our fault for not locking the door, sister,” Michelle said. Ariel crossed her arms and huffed.

  “Would you really do that for me, Michelle?” Gabrielle asked.

  Michelle directed a kind smile toward Gabrielle. “Of course I would. You are my wonderful older sister, after all.”

  4

  Alex was returning home from dropping his sister off at school. He walked at a slower pace than normal. He had a lot on his mind.

  Because of what happened with Michelle and Ariel suddenly showing up, Alex had been unable to speak with Gabrielle about her words after he had rescued Nyx.

  “I know you think I’m just using you to get out of having to marry one of Papa’s suitors, but the truth is, I really do love you.”

  He knew he should talk to her about what she had told him as he laid there in the hospital. It could change a lot if it was true. At the same time, he wasn’t sure if talking to her was the best idea. Alex didn’t know if he even deserved Gabrielle’s love.

  Once again, he felt her nipple stiffen under his touch, hardening as he rubbed it clean.

  Alex clenched his teeth as he remembered that time, of the moment when he’d carried Nyx to Ēostre’s hospital, stripped her bare, cooled her body with a cooling agent, and then cleaned her off. Even now, he could still remember the way her body had responded to his touch, and the way he had responded to her body’s response.

  I’m so disgusting…

  Just thinking about what happened made him sick to his stomach. Remembering how he’d gotten aroused during that time caused his body to rebel, made his stomach threaten to regurgitate all of the contents that he’d eat for breakfast. He was a sick, disgusting, dirty freak.

  Ariel is right about me.

  She might not have known about what had happened between him and Nyx, but she was right about him being a filthy beast. Someone like him didn't deserve the love of someone as amazing as Gabrielle. He couldn’t return that love. There was no telling what would happen if he did. Gabrielle might get hurt.

  “Oh, Alex!” someone called out to him.

  He looked up to find Gabrielle’s sister beside him, and Alex realized that he’d been so lost in self-recriminations he’d stopped walking.

  “Michelle,” he greeted. “What’s up? Did you need something?”

  Michelle shook her head. “I was just wandering around. I’ve never been out of the palace before now, so I wanted to take in the sights. Speaking of which, I was wondering if you’d be willing to show me around?”

  Alex didn’t take long to think about it before nodding. “Sure. I don’t mind showing you around.”

  “Great.” Michelle took ahold of his right arm. Alex sucked in a breath as her breasts pushed against him. He could feel his arm sinking into her modest chest. “In that case, let’s go into the city.”

  With him acting as her guide, he and Michelle hopped onto a shuttle. During their time being ferried to Mars City, Michelle asked him all kinds of questions; about the city itself, about its inhabitants, about its infrastructure and government. Alex couldn’t answer all of her questions. He didn’t know the answers. Despite that, Michelle didn’t seem to mind.

  “You remind me a lot of my sister in that regard,” Michelle told him. “She’s never been one for politics either. If it doesn’t have anything to do with her inventions or having fun, Gabrielle won’t bother learning it.”

  “I’ve noticed that.” Alex smiled.

  Being compared to Gabrielle somehow made him happy, but at the same time, he felt ashamed of himself. He wasn’t like Gabrielle at all. She was pure and untainted. He, on the other hand, was stained with impure desires.

  The shuttle eventually stopped in the residential district of Mars City. As a massive city spanning around two hundred kilometers, Mars City had been divided into four separate districts: north, south, east, and west. It was further divided by lower, upper, and middle to denote not only elevation but also status. The wealthy nobles lived in the upper city, while the poor lived in the lower city. Those of the middle class obviously lived in the middle levels.

  Alex had decided to take Michelle to Metronome’s Sweet Shop.

  “Do you like sweets?” he asked as they walked along the durasteel walkway. Numerous people walked alongside them, some talking on their IDbands, others chatting with friends, and some walking quickly as if they were in a rush. Genetically modified trees meant for purifying pollution stood on either side at evenly spaced intervals on either side of the walkway. There were several buildings connected to the walkways as well.

  Michelle was busy studying the cityscape, but she still answered him. “I’ve liked the sweets that we sometimes had at the palace, but I haven’t eaten enough to be able to say with one hundred percent certainty that I have a sweet tooth.”

  “In that case, this will be a good opportunity for you.”

  It wasn’t Mr. and Mrs. Metronome who greeted them when they entered. It wasn’t Selene either. The woman standing inside of the Metronomes’ Sweet Shop, wearing the standard apron and cleaning the display cases, looked like an older version of Selene. Older and a bustier.

  “Welcome to Metronome’s Sweet Shop. What can I—hey, aren’t you Alex?”

  “Uhh… that’s right.” Alex wondered who this woman was. It came to him, eventually. “And you’re Selene’s older sister, um, Melanie, right?”

  Melanie smiled and nodded. “That’s right. It’s nice to see that you remember me. And who is this?”

  When Melanie turned her attention to Michelle, Alex figured that introductions were in order. “This is Michelle. She’s the younger sister to a… a friend of mine. It’s her first time in Mars City, and she asked me to show her around.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Melanie.” Michelle curtsied.

  Melanie nodded in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you as well.” She turned back to Alex. “It seems you haven’t changed much from the kind, young boy I knew back then. You’ve always been like this, helping others whenever they ask something of you.”

  “I guess so…”

  Melanie must have sensed that he was getting uncomfortable because she changed the subject. “Since you two are here, would you like to grab a bite to eat?”

  “Michelle?” Alex asked.

  “Um, I don’t really know what to get,” Michelle confessed, shrugging as she looked at him. “I’ll let you decide. I trust your judgment.”

  Alex didn’t know what to get, but he eventually decided on one of their more expensive pastries—paczki. They were like donuts that melted in one’s mouth. Each one was filled with some kind of jam or custard. Alex bought two, one filled with raspberry jam and another with custard.

  They sat down at a booth, and Michelle took her first bite of the paczki. Her eyes widened in surprise.

  “This is good.”

  “Isn’t it?” Alex bit into his own paczki. “The Metronomes make some of the best pastries around. They’re really popular.”

  While the bakery itself didn’t have many customers—the sole exception being older gentlemen and teenagers who wanted to gawk at Selene—they were a busy place. This was because of their special catering service.

  Even nobles made use of this service. Alex had learned several years ago that the Metronomes were often asked to create loads of pastries as a catering service for parties. They would usually get orders of several thousand pastries per party, and the nobles they catered for were willing to pay a hefty price.

  “Alex,” Michelle began, setting down her paczki and addressing him in a formal tone. “Please forgive me in advance for my pertinence, but I wanted to ask what your feelings were for Gabrielle.”

  Alex, who’d just bitten into his food, choked as the paczki went down his air passage. He hacked and coughed and pounded his chest. Michelle rushed over to his side of the booth and rubbed his back, helping him dislodge the food. She then handed him a glass of water that Melanie had delivered upon hearing him choke.

  Alex chugged down the water, which helped get rid of the last bit of pastry. He took a deep lungful of air. Afterward, he looked at Michelle, who was still sitting next him, her hand on his back. He could feel the heat from her small hand.

  He shuddered.

  “You… want to know how I feel about Gabrielle?”

  “I do.” Michelle nodded. “I do not know if you realize this yet, but Gabrielle loves you very much. Part of the reason I am here is because she called me for help. She seems to be under the belief that you think the only reason she is staying with you is because she’s using you as a shield.”

  “I… I did think that at first,” Alex admitted. “But… a while ago, Gabrielle told me that she loves me, and I… she was so sincere that I didn’t have any choice but to believe her.”

  “So you acknowledge that my sister loves you?” Michelle asked, seemingly for clarification.

  “… Yes.”

  That seemed to satisfy her. She nodded, and then asked, “If that is the case, then why have you not responded to my sister’s earnest feelings? Do you not love her back?”

  “I’m… not sure,” Alex confessed. “I know that I like Gabrielle. I know that she’s important. I’ll even admit that I’m… attracted to her, but I…”

  “You have some hang ups,” Michelle guessed.

  “Yes…”

  An unsettling silence descended upon him. Alex was conflicted. Should he tell Michelle about his problems? He wanted to tell someone, but he didn’t know who to speak with. He couldn’t tell Gabrielle. She didn’t understand matters dealing with sex, much less matters that involved puberty. There was no way she could understand his twisted feelings. However, she was the one who deserved to know the most.