The Beauty Collector

"If you dare sneak in my room again, I swear I'll steal all your used briefs and personally sniff them all while touching myself; don't test me!!"

"..."

Louise threatened as she pushed the speechless Zeno out of her room by his back before she slammed the door shut behind him with an angry huff, but not before giving him a last threatening look to make sure he understood her seriousness about carrying out her unusual threat.

But unexpectedly, not even three seconds later, the door suddenly opened up again as Louise came out with a poker face before she did the unthinkable and groped Zeno's butt with both hands as the Lewd Emperor started squeezing them a couple of times without caring about the sure-to-follow consequences.

"Uhehehehe~!"

Then, quicker than the wind, Louise immediately escaped back inside her room with a slam of the door and muffled creepy giggles behind it, leaving Zeno, who was outside, stunned by her audacity. He's just gotten sexually harassed for the first time in his life.

"..."

The air grew awkward as the two women, who were waiting outside and witnessed the entire event, couldn't help but stare at Zeno. Shizuka looked quite upset and jealous, while Rika just raised her eyebrow and smirked at him.

"Ah, well, sorry for making you wait, ladies."

To disperse the awkwardness in the air, Zeno pretended to pat his hands together to get rid of the nonexistent dirt while he spoke to the two women, as he turned to Rika and Shizuka with a forced smile, trying to ignore what just happened between him and the Lewd Emperor earlier. He will definitely punish her later, he thought while thinking about spanking the insolent girl's perky butt, without knowing that Louise might just enjoy it instead.

"It seems my employee was busy with her 'culture study,' so let's proceed to the next part of the tour, shall we?"

Shizuka blushed a bit at the suggestive "culture study," but she said nothing, while Rika couldn't hold back her snort at the funny situation. Then the two of them followed after Zeno to the upper floor while their tour guide made small talk with them along the way as he felt the intense gaze from the dizzy nurse on his butt that he was currently ignoring.

"I wonder how they feel…"

Shizuka mumbles quietly as she imagines the feeling of both Zeno's cheeks in her hands.

÷×÷×÷

After the tour of the resident floor of the Freedom Carrier's HQ, there's really nothing more left for them to see as Zeno leads them to the last stop on the tour, his personal office at the top floor.

"Heh~ so this is the place Zeno-san works~?"

Shizuka muttered as the two women walked inside the office behind Zeno while they looked around the interior. It was a spacious room, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering a panoramic view of the city that now lay in ruins and a clear view of the surrounding areas. The office interior was a blend of modern luxury and futuristic technology, with a large desk near the windows and the black leather chair behind it. At the corner of the room there's also a large couch that's spacious enough for ten people to sit together and a long coffee table in front of it.

"Welcome to my office."

Zeno announced with an exaggerated gesture, his smirk on his face as he watched Rika and Shizuka standing at the center of the room, their eyes scanning the space with a mix of curiosity and anticipation of what amazing things might be hidden here.

"It seems to be normal…?"

Rika felt like a spy in the movie who sneaks inside the supervillain's lair and discovers that it's just a simple warehouse without anything fancy, while the supervillain is just reclining on the couch like a potato.

She thought that with how much sci-fi tech he has been showing them so far, Zeno's office would also be filled with unknown electronic devices and hologram screens that uselessly float around all over the place, but in contrast, Zeno's office, despite looking luxurious and futuristic by modern-day standards, was not at the level of being so outlandish and so fantastical that it made you doubt that he might be a time traveler or alien in disguise, just like what they had seen in the lower floors so far.

"Of course it looks normal since this is the place for me to review stuff and make decisions. There's no need for any fancy tech; a simple phone and computer will suffice."

Zeno chuckled at Rika's remark and walked closer to the two women with a smile on his lips.

"By the way, do you two ladies want to have dinner with me here tonight?"

Zeno's sudden invitation took Rika and Shizuka by surprise as they were still looking around. Shizuka's eyes immediately lit up at the prospect of spending more time with her crush, while Rika felt a little hesitant since she might end up as a third wheel if she agreed to his invitation.

"That would be lovely, Zeno-san!"

Shizuka exclaimed, clapping her hands together in glee. Rika, on the other hand, was about to refuse and leave Shizuka to have dinner with her crush alone, but the dizzy nurse quickly grabs her hand while giving her a pleading look. Rika questioningly raised her eyebrow at Shizuka for a while before she eventually gave in to Shizuka's pleas and responded to Zeno's invitation with reluctance in her voice.

"If it's not too much trouble..."

Zeno's smile grew as the two women agreed to have dinner with him. It's about time he revealed something about himself to Shizuka before he can develop their relationship further, as he doesn't want to repeat what happened with Himiko again. Zeno doesn't know how well it'll go this time when Shizuka receives the news, but he doubts it's going to be worse than Himiko was at that time since their relationship is still in the holding hands stage at best. 

"Heh, there's no trouble at all. The last thing I am lacking is food, after all."

He said as he led them to the couch where he usually had dinner, which surprised the two women quite a bit, as they expected him to have his private fancy dining room or something.

"Well, I usually eat here since I'm too lazy to leave my HQ just to go to a restaurant in the city."

Zeno answers their unasked question as he sits down on the couch before patting the place next to him, urging them to sit on the couch as well.

"Ehto~ then excuse me~"

Shizuka said coyly after she stared at the place that Zeno was patting for a while before she had a brilliant idea to pretend to be stupid and boldly sat down unnecessarily close to Zeno on his left as she looked at the amused Zeno with a little blush on her cheeks.

"..."

Rika stared at her friend's bold action with a wry smile and shook her head before she chose to sit on Shizuka's left.

"Well then, what do you two want to eat tonight?"

After the women sit down, Zeno then asks them with a smirk as he uses his HMT wristwatch to control the hologram image projectors in the room to project a hologram screen with a list of foods, drinks, and their pictures for the two women to choose from.

÷×÷×÷

Late into the night during the dinner in Zeno's office, Zeno talked with Shizuka and Rika as they ate, sharing stories about his past in this world and his time running the Freedom Carrier company. His story is quite intriguing, and the two women were hanging on his every word, while Rika listened more attentively, looking for any hints of important information or new details that he might slip.

After Zeno's story ended, the food was quickly gone, as the two women had not eaten anything decent for a while. They savor the delicious feast of flavors that seemed to dance on their tongues, making the reality of their food situation back at the camp feel like a distant memory for a brief moment.

"Well, I think it is about time I tell you something important about me."

Seeing that the women were done with dinner, Zeno then turned to Shizuka with a serious expression and looked her in the eyes with his icy blue eyes.

"Y-Yes~?"

Shizuka instinctively gulped the orange juice in her mouth with an ominous feeling starting to grip her heart all of a sudden as she saw how serious Zeno was beside her.

"...?"

Rika, who was munching on fries, also turned to look at the two blondes with curiosity.

"Shizuka-san, I know that you like me…"

Zeno started, but Shizuka immediately interrupted him.

"Eh?! Ehhhhhh~?! H-How did you know~?!"

Shizuka cried out in embarrassment as her cheeks heated up. She quickly hid her face with her hands and looked away from Zeno. He knew?! How?! When?! She exclaimed inside her mind as she wanted to disappear from reality this instant.

On the other hand, Rika just rolled her eyes at her embarrassed friend. Can't you be any more obvious? Rika thought as she picked a bunch of fries to her mouth while feeling annoyed that she might have to witness some rom-com scenario in real life.

"Well, let me tell you something…"

Seeing Shizuka's reaction makes Zeno feel a little guilty as he is about to drop a nuke on her. He wonders if he should postpone this to another time, but he immediately kicks his cowardly thought away. It doesn't matter if it's right now or another time, so I might as well do it now, he thought with a wry smile as he saw Shizuka turning slowly towards him as she peeked through the gap of her fingers while waiting for what he had to say…