We arrived in no time. My home was untouched by monkeys, and it was as pretty as ever.

  The jungle dragons got alerted but ran away when they noticed us. Probably to tell their moms. Greg had woken up and didn't remember what happened. Lucky us! We told him that we found him passed out in the library.

  Yv, Raishin and Nilah were playing in the water basin. Giana and I were making ice cream and Noelle was having a serious talk with Greg.

  I should be having this talk with him, but I’m a shitty leader and Noelle, my sister, saw it as her responsibility to do it in my stead. I still have to tell Giana and Yv that Greg spied on us on our spicy night. I don't know how they would take it.

  “Something bothering you Deca?” Giana asked as she finished turning an ice cream serving into a masterpiece.

  There is so much that's bothering me but…this thing. I'm not sure if I should tell you and Yv. Yv, you can hear me, right? Can you come here please?

  This was something I realized about Yv. I never have to fetch or call her. She can always hear me. She can follow our conversation from a great distance.

  Yv hopped into the hideout.

  Look I've promised to prioritize you two so I will tell you but…I'm warning you. It's something you might not want to know.

  “You know that you can hide things from us if it's beneficial for us, you know.”

  I know Yv, but I'll have nobody else to talk about it with if I do.

  “Don't you go to Noelle for things you can't tell us?”

  I can't tell this to Noelle… Can you promise to refrain from acting too much on your emotions after hearing this?

  I feel as if this is a bad idea.

  Giana had finished decorating the ice cream and hummed a calming melody. “Go for it.”

  Greg peeped on our first special night.

  The mana of the two flared and I froze them as they were about to go outside. I sat down and dropped my head in my hands.

  I'm such an idiot.

  What's going on? An attack?

  Raishin asked as he teleported in.

  No…my bad. I pissed them off by saying that eating too much ice cream will make them fat. There is yours, and bring Noelle and Greg their portion.

  Ok. Good luck. You'll need it when they thaw!

  Raishin took the ice cream and teleported back.

  Things were going so well, and I had to ruin it. I will ask them to direct their ire towards me.

  I stared at Giana. She could get out when she wants to. She is goofy and horny at times, but she's quite understanding. She will probably thaw herself and Yv after she has cooled down.

  Greg came up a bit later to find out what was going on, and I told him the same lie. Giana's ice cube shook as Greg came in, so I had to get him out.

  An hour passed and Giana had yet to thaw herself.

  Noelle came in. “What did you do this time lil' bro?”

  I made a mistake…the team might fall apart because of this…

  Noelle sat down next to me. “Was it something you couldn't tell me?”

  I nodded.

  “Something relating to intimacy?”

  Kinda.

  “You didn't tell them you were breaking up with them, right?!”

  Of course not. Yv is one thing, but how am I supposed to break up with a charm user?

  “I don't know how your messed up race works.”

  I pointed at Giana.

  She can get out whenever she wants. She probably will when she's calmed down. It has been an hour… They will tell you if they want. If they do, please restrain your emotions…

  I want to defend Greg as he's my friedn but…how do I defend that? I should have kept my mouth shut.

  “I see…it must have been very upsetting.”

  I'm going to ask them to direct their feelings towards me. Please don't help me if something happens.

  “You're requesting something very difficult…”

  Being my big sister wasn't going to be easy.

  I got up and gently pushed her out of the hideout, covered the wall in thick frost and started adding containment barriers. It wasn't perfect, but it should work.

  The ice cubes got thawed and 2 angry women appeared, Giana was the most pissed off.

  Giana, Yv, please aim all your emotions at me.

  They looked at each other and tried to calm down.

  Or if you want to calm down, jump into my tails.

  Yv hopped in, but Giana didn't move.

  Deca?

  “Y…you know I was in my season, right?”

  Giana was shaking. It's the first time she's enraged.

  Yes, I have been very aware of it.

  Giana's voice shook and she tried to calm herself. A tail reached out to pull her in.

  “No Deca! I'm not taking this out on you… Why aren’t you more upset? He didn’t just spy on me or Yv, he also spied on you!”

  Please…I prefer it when you smile and I don't care that he spied on me, I care that he spied on you 2.

  “It was my first time with you in my season…” Giana's rage dropped, and she started to cry uncontrollably. She let me pull her in and I embraced her.

  I'm not sure if Greg can come back from this. His chances were slim before. Now its 0.

  “Sweetie, did you confront him about it?”

  I nodded. Yv seemed to get the message and her ears drooped. “I shouldn't have asked…”

  Yv…should I have kept this to myself?

  Giana was still crying and I wish I knew what to do…

  “I…I think you made the right choice…”

  I don't want to make the right choice; I want to make the choice that makes her smile… And I'm sorry, you must be upset too.

  My life is slowly turning into a drama and I can't seem to stop it.

  There are some hard decisions I tried to run from. Greg has 2 strikes now, or did I lose count? I hope he doesn't get more. This curse of his is brutal…

  Yv was stroking Giana's hair as she was crying.

  An extreme expression of anger followed by being inconsolable. I don't want her to experience this ever again.

  I focused on my spirit core as emotions were telling me to do things I might regret.

  The spirit core was as calming as ever. There was peace and emptiness. Should I feel that when my Deca is breaking down?

  My inattention kicked me out of my spirit core.

  Yv, as I said, you can aim all your emotions and frustrations at me.

  “I'm sorry sweetie, I just can't…you did nothing wrong. I feel disgusted to think I ever was in love with that man.”

  He normally is a nice guy…

  Yv placed her finger on my lips. “You don't need to make excuses for him. Would a nice guy do this to us?”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  I had no response to that. Is Greg really devolving into a villain now? How do I prevent this, or is it too late? Maybe this isn't my problem to solve.

  Yv and I were applying nature energy to Giana, who was slowly starting to calm down. More of the calm that has her fall asleep after crying. Being so angry and crying must have drained all her energy.

  “Sweetie, do you trust me?” Yv asked suddenly.

  Yes…why do you ask?

  “Let me talk to Gregory.”

  Is that wise? Hasn't he hurt you enough? And…will you be able to control yourself if he says something like the last time?

  “I will do my best. I will use a calm and patient aura. Please stay with Giana and let me handle this for you.”

  I'm not so sure…I think I should…

  “I promised that I would make things easier for you, right? This is part of it. Please let me do this.” Yv had indeed calmed down, probably due to her switching aura.

  I'm sorry to have you clean up my mistakes.

  The barriers and frost lifted so that Yv could leave.

  “Don't apologize, I want you to thank me.”

  Thank you.

  Yv left with a smile and Giana had cried herself to sleep.

  She sure had to endure a lot since she joined. I wonder if she regrets it. Maybe she's like me and, despite all the issues, still thinks it's one of the best choices she's made.

  My tails wrapped around her and I went back to focus on my spirit core.

  Calm and emptiness. When the world moves into a direction, only fools will push back and get crushed by the world. It cannot be stopped, all one can do is go with the flow. Adapt or get crushed. It doesn't mean to give up in the face of the inevitable, it means to make the best out of the situation. Or…destroy the world that opposes you, not something I can do, yet.

  Greg's behavior has creeped into the ‘inevitable’ so we have to make the best out of it instead of trying to solve it or ignore it. Giana can't lift it, Healerguy can't lift it. Only himself can lift it. I could force him to do it, but from what I understood is that it keeps returning because of his pride and because he wants to.

  I don't think I can trick him to change that. I will have to understand what he's thinking, and I don't think I will even if he told me.

  Maybe a 9t who has more social skills but…Giana might not want to, not anymore. She would also need to learn illusions better to then use [Illusionary Dagger] on him. She would have to go through tutoring for Greg's sake. I don't think I can ask that of her.

  My focus on my spirit core broke, and I got kicked out.

  A stomp shook the hideout. I perked my ears to tried and find out what was going on.

  Not as good as Yv, but good enough to get the gist of the situation.

  Noelle was upset. Yv was talking calmly and Raishin was interrogating Greg. He seems upset, quite rare. Greg must have screwed up to make Raishin upset.

  Is this really all the curse? Raishin and I didn't get hit that hard by them. I did eat a lot, but not to the point it affected my physique. I slept a lot, but I wasn't taking dragon tier naps, waking up centuries later.

  Maybe that's the difference, my curses mainly affect myself. What about Raishin? Envy and lust are more curses that influence his interactions with others. But he was just extra horny and got envious of any couple, that's kind of it. It's annoying but not that bad, actually.

  Greg's greed is gone, but his pride lingers. It's certainly pride that only he should be able to lift the curse, but why isn't he? He's not showing it off or…

  Could arrogance be a part of pride? And maybe…he's looking down on us? We're not worthy enough for him to prove that he can lift it? Proving the contrary is going to be a pain in the ass.

  I gently lifted Giana, hoisted her on my back and went outside.

  Raishin was holding Noelle back and Yv was upset.

  So you came out of hiding. Got enough of having your woman do your job?

  No wonder why the team acts like this. He's insufferable.

  Greg, what the fuck happened to you?

  What happened to me?! I didn't change, you two changed since these women joined! It was fine at first, but they slowly started to corrupt you two!

  Corrupt us how?

  Look at Raishin! He's lazier than before. And you! You've become more reckless since they joined, probably to impress that busty dead weight. They bring out the worst in you.

  I focused on my spirit core. Calm down, his curse is making him say this.

  Is this why you haven't dispelled your curse yet?

  What does this have to do with my curse? I have it fully under control.

  How do I tell him that's not the case without hurting his pride. Maybe he is correct, but if that's the case; all hope is gone for him. It would be convenient for us if he didn't have the curse under control and the curse is making him do this.

  What effects does the curse have on you currently?

  Why would I tell you? So, you can send her after me next? Is she really asleep or pretending to be asleep?

  She's really asleep, please answer the question. And Raishin, thank you for holding Noelle back.

  Please don't thank me…I want to punch him so badly…Come hottie let's go vent on some jungle monsters.

  Beware of jungle dragons.

  Raishin made a flame.

  I will be fine.

  I nodded at Raishin who then placed his hand on Noelle's back and teleported away. It didn't take long for the jungle to shake and birds flying up in the distance.

  Greg, please, just tell us.

  Greg had started to read a book and ignored me, so I swapped his book with a frog.

  Give it back.

  After you answer my question.

  I have no obligation to.

  Then what would make you tell me.

  Greg furrowed his brow.

  Very well. You have two options. Option A is to remove the problematic elements of our team and have it return to just the 3 of us, or…

  He looked at Giana.

  I got interested, so option B is to give me Giana.

  You are insane. A is never happening and Giana is a person, not an object. She is not mine to give. She is a person with wants and needs. And to say that to my face and near Yv who had tried her best for you. You sure have guts.

  You have 2 partners, acting as if they're collectibles. Quite hypocritical to advocate for Giana's individualism.

  I calmed down as it was clear that he has no idea what he was talking about. I never pursued Yv. I never thought of adding another partner. I didn't want any in the first place. Both had chosen me and got me to a point of choosing them back.

  Yv, be honest. Do you feel as if I'm treating you as an object or collectible?

  “Absolutely not. He treats me like a person and not like a puppy or something to have his literary monologues with.” Yv said as she gave Greg an icy look.

  He is a master of deception. He can make you think anything he wants.

  “If that's the case, why does he have this conflict with you? If he could make anyone think what he wants, we wouldn't be in this situation.”

  That's because I'm superior. His tricks don't work on me.

  Thank you Yv. Greg, why are you interested in Giana?

  I don't need to tell you. Kick her out of the team or hand her over to me.

  So you finally decided to fall for someone and you fell for her? I can't blame you for that, but the world isn't convenient enough to give you what you want. I am quite confident that she isn't interested in you. Please give up.

  I covered Giana fully with my tails, so Gregory couldn't see her anymore, which seemed to annoy him.

  I don't need your permission. I have devoured countless romance novels. I am confident I can win her over to my side.

  Are those eyes decorations? Are you this dense to think you can win Giana, a vixen, over? Even after all you've done to her?

  You can start shaking in your boots. Giana will leave you to be with me after I unleash my charisma on her.

  This is impressive…I'm not even mad anymore. Just stay away from her and a warning. You have 2 strikes; you are gone at the third. You better not hurt her again, or I will have to remove the problem, the problem named Gregory Sheru.

  Whatever.

  A [Shadow Tendril] snatched the book out of my hands and delivered it to Gregory, who started to read. The book was named ‘The heart of a woman.’

  Yv and I returned to the hideout.

  What do you think about this Yv. You can grill me for every mistake that I made.

  “So he likes Giana…”

  I pulled Yv into my tails.

  Don't worry, you are wanted.

  “Do you think he got interested before or after he peeped on us?”

  I don’t know, but that's not important right now. How do you feel right now?

  “I…I thought I was completely over him, but…the little that was left just shattered…may…may I cry in your tails?”

  I nodded and covered her too as she started to cry too.

  Gregory had become even worse. He's aiming for Giana. I feel proud and insulted at the same time. Giana is hot as fuck so it fills me with pride when others acknowledge that but…you can't steal people, that's called kidnapping. He is treating her as a desirable object. Maybe he sees her as a stranger. I have difficulties seeing complete strangers as people. To me they're more like NPC’s from games.

  But it's also a problem if he sees her as a stranger. We've been together for almost 5 months. Although he had been the least active in getting to know them.

  Yv had also cried herself to sleep. I had 2 sleeping women in my tails. It seems I will be going nowhere.

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