Strongest Mage with the Lust system

The realization made Ella stare blankly in front of her while tears fell from her eyes.

Esme was shaken out of her embarrassment when she saw her crying and hurriedly asked, “What is it, Lady Ella? Why are you suddenly crying?”

Immediately after she asked, her eyes flashed with realization. ‘She is feeling guilty.’

Ella seemed to have not heard her and continued staring blankly, her face rapidly turning pale.

Seeing this, Esme’s expression turned solemn, and she hit the back of her head, immediately knocking her out.

…

Max took a nice and long bath, thoroughly scrubbing his body clean. Even if he could use his mana to clean himself, the feeling of taking a bath was different.

“I should do it often.” He muttered,

After he was done, he evaporated the droplets of water with a wave of his fire elemental mana and donned a loose robe before leaving the bathroom.

Just as he stepped into the room, his brows furrowed when he saw Ella passed out and Esme deep in thought.

“What happened?” He asked.

Esme looked up at him and said with a sigh, “She realized she was falling for you, and this made her guilty.”

Saying this, she added, “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t asked her about her late husband, causing her to remember him, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Max stayed silent.

He knew women were emotional creatures. And unlike the majority of women on Earth, who were becoming increasingly disloyal, most women here, at least the ones he had encountered until now with the sole exception of Eva, were loyal. So, if they had to betray their lover or spouse, they would naturally feel guilty and would be repulsed by themselves.

…

Ten minutes later, he walked out of the room, dressed in proper clothes, and headed upstairs.

Since Ella had experienced intense emotions and Esme was blaming herself for it, they needed time, which meant he had to wait before he could make love to them.

Since this was the case, he decided to explore the town. He asked Esme to accompany him, but she refused, wanting to stay and take care of Ella in case she suddenly regained consciousness and once again fell into the endless spiral of self-loathing and intense guilt.

He could go alone but realized it was an opportunity to spend some alone time with Anna and help her clear her mind.

Since he had seen the room badges, he knew the room numbers.

Knock! Knock!

He knocked on the door and stepped back.

Just a few seconds later, he felt someone looking at him and realized it was Esther and others using the formations to see who was outside.

A moment later, Esther opened the door, a surprised and confused look in her eyes.

Though she didn’t speak, the look on her face was clearly saying, ‘How come you are here instead of being with your women? Were you not able to appease them?’

Feeling awkward, he rubbed the tip of his nose before saying, “I’m going to explore the town a bit and wondered whether Anna wanted to come along.”

Esther’s gaze sharpened, and she stepped out, closing the door behind her.

‘Uh, oh.’ Max almost sighed seeing this, already knowing what was coming, and he wasn’t sure if he was in the right state of mind to deal with that.

But what could he do? Tell her they would talk about it later? Wouldn’t that be too presumptuous of him?

“You and Anna… What’s going on between you two?” She didn’t beat around the bush and directly asked.

Max also was straightforward and said, “We love each other. It’s just that we haven’t been able to consummate our love yet. And everything that has happened in the past few months has made her emotionally vulnerable. So, after seeing me be with other women, she is disappointed and angry at me and is confused about whether she really wants to be with a philanderer like me.”

Esther stared at him, slight astonishment flashing in her eyes.

After noticing the tension between Anna and him, she already knew they held feelings for each other, so his confession didn’t surprise her. What surprised her, however, was his straightforwardness and lack of hesitation to admit it.

She stayed silent for a while.

Max patiently waited for her to speak and stopped using his bloodline sense, not wanting to invade her privacy without a reason.

“Max…” She finally said, her expression solemn, “I think you two should end things here.”

“Why?” Max narrowed his eyes, suddenly feeling displeasure and anger rising in his heart. Did she want him to stay away from the woman he loved?

Max knew he was being a little too possessive and knew the reason behind it. If this were any other time, he would have tried to suppress his surging emotions, but at this moment, he didn’t bother to because he really felt this way.

She was his woman. Unless she herself said she didn’t want to be with him, he wouldn’t let anyone else butt in, regardless of who they were.

But when he heard her reasoning, he calmed down.

“You two belong to two different categories. You are a genius in cultivation, while Anna clearly is not. Because of her limited talent, she wouldn’t be able to accompany you… for long. When the time comes for her to… both of you will be hurt.” Esther said.

Max took a deep breath and nodded. “I understand what you mean. But what if I… have a way to help her reach higher realms?”

Esther raised her brows, surprise and even shock flashing in her eyes. Then, after a moment, she nodded, “Then there is no problem. Just make sure… you don’t leave each other no matter what.”

Max saw the pain in the depths of her eyes when she said the last part.

She was about to turn around and open the door when he grabbed her hand, stopping her.

Esther looked at him, waiting for him to say what he wanted.

“Will you… forgive him if he comes to his senses and returns to you?” He asked.

“I… won’t.” She answered without much hesitation, though her heart beat slowed down and her fists were clenched when she said this.

She turned around, placed her hand on the door, and said, “I also like to think it’s his bloodline that influenced him, changed him, but… if he wasn’t like that deep down, he would have been able to resist its influence, no matter how strong it was. Moreover…”

Her voice turned cold and slightly hoarse, affected by her emotions. “…I saw it in his eyes before he left with them, that apathy and coldness. He knew Amelia had died, but he didn’t feel even a hint of sadness. He knew the rest of us might die as well as the situation worsened, but he was completely uncaring.”

Finished saying this, she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with her sleeves. Then, she pushed open the door and entered the room. “Wait a moment, I’ll ask if she wants to go with you.”

Max stared at her back view in a daze, his thoughts muddled.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he heard Anna’s concerned voice, “Little Max? Are you alright?”

Immediately, he snapped back to his senses and forced all the thoughts to the back of his mind.

“Y-Yes, I’m fine. Was just thinking about something.” He said, forcing a smile on his face.

Then he noticed she was wearing a new dress, which made him relieved and happy. Since she dressed up to go out with him, she clearly wasn’t as angry with him as he thought she was.

“You look beautiful!” He blurted out before he knew it.