Chapter 77 | Cat Ears and Excuses
Chapter 77: 77 | Cat Ears and Excuses
A black car was speeding down the road, weaving through traffic.
Inside, Dante glanced at his phone buzzing nonstop on the passenger seat. "Pfft, hahaha!"
He could picture the scene perfectly.
Emma standing in her office shaking with anger, fists clenched tight, face burning from embarrassment. She was probably staring at her phone right now wondering why he wasn’t picking up.
’Sorry, but this line is currently unavailable.’
He let it buzz a few more times before putting it on silent and pulling up the system.
[Emma’s favorability toward you has increased by 2]
[Total Favorability: 38 (Interested)]
[Emma experienced her first wall slam and her heart nearly exploded!]
[+3,000 Villain Points!]
[You fooled the heroine into thinking you were going for a kiss and teased her!]
[+4,000 Villain Points!]
[You tricked the heroine into becoming your favourite victim and she doesn’t even know it yet!]
[+4,000 Villain Points!]
[Current Balance: 54,000 Villain Points]
’54,000. I finally have enough for the third slot.’ Dante grinned.
He looked at Emma’s favorability again.
[Total Favorability: 38 (Interested)]
It had gone up by 5 since she came back and he hadn’t even gotten started yet.
’The gala is where things will get real.’ He thought.
But right now, he had something else to deal with.
Since his master had given him a surprise during the meeting, he was going to return the favor.
The car pulled into the mansion driveway twenty minutes later.
Dante walked through the front door and dropped onto the couch in the living room. "Phew... made it before she came back."
He pulled up her feed out of curiosity.
The screen showed Natasha walking out of a store with bags hanging from both arms. She was wearing sunglasses and had her hair tucked under a hat like she was trying not to be recognized. The bags had no visible brand names on them.
’Buying things she doesn’t want anyone to know about.’ Dante had an amused look on his face. ’I wonder what it could possibly be.’
He closed the feed and waited.
It didn’t take long.
The front door opened about twenty minutes later and Natasha walked in carrying bags in both hands.
A lot of bags.
She was so focused on balancing them that she didn’t notice Dante sitting on the couch until she was already in the middle of the room.
Both of them looked at each other.
Natasha froze, standing there like a statue.
"Master, where did you go?" Dante said casually before his eyes fell on the bags. "And what’s all that?"
"Clothes." She said with a straight face.
"Oh really? You should have taken me with you, Master." Dante said with a disappointed look on his face and reached for one of the bags innocently. "Can I take a look?"
"No!" She pulled the bags away from his reach immediately. "They’re just regular clothes. Nothing special. I need to go organize them!"
After that, she headed straight for the stairs without looking back. She moved so fast that one of the bags swung open and something small and frilly flew out and landed on the floor.
She was too panicked to notice.
If Dante saw what was actually in those bags, he would never be able to stand within ten feet of her again.
She disappeared up the stairs in seconds and the sound of her door slamming echoed through the mansion.
Dante looked down at the floor and a smile formed on his face.
A pair of cat ears with a lace headband was lying there.
’She even bought these, huh?’ Dante was surprised and thought about all the bags she was carrying. ’Will she even get to use all of it?’
He then realized what a stupid question that was. ’Forget I said that.’
’I will make sure Master gets her money’s worth.’ He picked them up and turned them over in his hands.
A slow grin spread across his face as he put them on his head. ’This should be enough of a surprise for her.’
Natasha was inside her room with her back pressed flat against the door. Her face was completely red and she was breathing hard.
’Why is he home already?! He said evening! HE SAID EVENING!’ She was screaming inside her own head.
She stayed like that for a good two minutes before finally taking a deep breath.
She started putting all the items into her storage rings one by one, then hid the rings somewhere safe.
After a while, Natasha came back downstairs with a smile. She almost got caught but she was also happy that he came back early. It meant she could spend more time with him.
"Have you eaten? I can make some—" She said as she came down the stairs.
The words got stuck in her throat after seeing something that made her eyes go wide.
Dante was sitting on the couch with his legs crossed, wearing the cat ears on his head.
Combined with his sharp jawline and that lazy smile on his face, he looked like something straight out of one of those romance manhwa.
Normally she would have taken the time to appreciate the sight, but those were the cat ears SHE bought.
"Those..." Natasha tried to act as normal as possible.
Dante touched the ears on his head, tilting his head to the side. "Master, you dropped these on your way up."
"That’s not mine." She said instantly.
"It fell out of your bag."
"It’s a gift. For someone else."
"For who?"
"For..." Her brain scrambled for any name.
"Freya."
Dante imagined Freya wearing cat ears and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep it together. He had to admit though, the cat image actually suited that woman pretty well.
’Felix would love to see that. I’m sure of it.’ He thought with a hidden smile.
"That’s very thoughtful, Master. I’m sure she’ll love them." He held them out to her with an innocent look on his face.
Natasha snatched them from his hand and stuffed them behind her back. "I’m going to go wrap them."
She turned and walked back up the stairs at a normal pace. Running once could be excused. Running twice would mean she was guilty.
The second her door clicked shut, Dante let out the laugh he had been holding in.
’For Freya. Sure, Master.’