Standing outside the apartment on the balcony your eyes immediately search for the tall white-haired figure of Sylus.

It's difficult to see the streets below, now that the night sky blends everything in dark blue, gray, and black. The lights on the pathway cast islands of white onto the asphalt and your eyes need a moment to adjust.

And then you spot him, right beneath your place on the other side of the street. The broad frame of a tall man with white hair that seems to glow in the surrounding darkness leisurely leans against a sleek black motorcycle, which looks exclusive and elegant.

As he recognizes your presence his head lifts and his carmine-red gaze lands on you which immediately leaves you stunned. Even at this distance, his eyes are piercing, and intimidating, and your breath hitches.

Sylus moves away from his bike with a vibrant motion, and stands upright, every inch the powerful and merciless leader of an underground organization. His gaze never left yours and with a leisurely wink of his raised hand, a red and black mist gathers around your body.

You are gently lifted from your feet and Sylus Evol transports you carefully in front of him, where you are set up once you arrive.

Your breath hitches again and your heart beats erratically in your chest as you retort his stern gaze. The man facing you is more gorgeous than you remember from the game.

"Sylus..." whispering his name, you don't know what to do. Is he here to talk like you wanted? Or has he other plans? His face doesn't indicate what's on his mind or his emotions as he retorts your staring.

Crimson-red eyes roam over you, scanning you from head to toe as he takes a step forward, enveloping your chin in a demanding grip between his long fingers, and with gentle force, you look up at him. Your head is turned left and right before he bends a bit down, close to your face.

The dark timbre of his deep voice suddenly interrupts the nightly silence that settled in. "This is going to be interesting" A smirk tugs at his lips, confident and smug like his whole composure. "Show me who you are, Sweetie." his right eye starts to glow in a menacing red and your sight goes black in response.

Various voices start to scream in your head, yelling for help, or crying, and one even calls your name over and over again. And you recognize these are all your voices, different nuances but all yours that are in turmoil, begging for help, to be free, and praying to go home. A storm of desperation, pure horror, and resignation threatens to drown you, trapped by your own voices there's no chance to escape.

Then you're suddenly back, staring into the fainting glow of Sylus's right eye, and he grins satisfied, apparently amused by his discovery. "You are even more appealing than I initially thought, kitten." he eases back and let's go of your face.

You breathe heavily, overwhelmed by what just happened. Why were there voices in your head that sounded like you, and why were they all screaming and crying? You try to remember how many you did count. Three? Or four? You're not sure.

And a heavy migraine starts to spread its ugly wings into your frontal brain. "Ugh, what was that?" you choke out, pressing a hand against your forehead to stop the spinning and an enormous incoming headache.

Big hands are on your temples immediately, massaging the aching away gently. Surprised, your gaze shoots up to the intimidating man in front of you which he retorts with a gentle and soft look in his astonishing crimson-red eyes.

"The proof that you will need my help if you want to find your other self." Sylus states calmly as his warm fingers leave your temples only to let them slowly glide along the side of your face, contouring your cheeks and jawline until they set under your chin and guiding it up to meet his gaze again, he adds "But my service is not for free. You know that, sweetie."

After a little pause where you gulp nervously "So, do you want my help?" the tall man leans closer, warm breath tingles your lips as his ruby gaze captures yours as he whispers in his deep rough voice "Yes? No? Maybe so?"

You're so distracted by his proximity and his overwhelming presence that you don't get what Sylus said before. You can only look at him with wide eyes, you're breathing unstable and shallow. It gets you an amused chuckle that frees you from this spell the white-haired has cast over you.

„Yes," you mumble, throwing off the rest of the confusing feeling that had overcome you with his closeness. And you remember what Sylus mentioned before „What's the prize?"

The leader of Onychinus smiles smugly, raising an eyebrow "You're quite bad at bargaining, kitten. You ask for a prize after already accepting the deal."

You feel the heat creeping up your face. How embarrassing! But it's Sylus, so you rarely can't blame yourself for being distracted.

But before you can answer he strides to his motorcycle and turns his back on you. "We'll meet tomorrow night. Tell your jail wardens to expect me at midnight at your doorstep. They better be prepared for some action and ask no questions."

And with that, you swirl back to the balcony with the help of his Evol, and his motorcycle purrs to life as he drives away into the silent night.

Left with mixed feelings you head to bed. You still don't know what the voices meant you heard as Sylus has used his aether core power on you. And in addition, you can't tell what prize he wants for helping in rescuing your MC. Was it really a good idea to ask him for support? And isn't the well-being of her not also in his favor? What happened between the white-haired man and the huntress? And the next question, what are you going to tell the others that the ruler of the N109 zone will join the team?

With a heavy sigh, you cuddle yourself into the cozy sheets.

The next morning all the men meet you again for breakfast. Zayne is the first to arrive. He took some days off to join the search for your MC copy. Both of you are preparing the food as Rafayel rings the bell. And Xavier comes last with sleepy eyes as the meal is nearly finished.

As everyone is eating you gather your courage and tell them that tonight you'll expect some visitor who probably knows where to find the huntress.

"Wait? What?" Rafayel shouts out, followed by Zayne "How?" with a "Who?" from Xavier.

You chuckle at their same reaction but different asks, and you look around between each one of them.

"Let's say, I remembered some old connections from her and tried my luck." you grin weakly, uncertain how you should explain the appearance of Sylus later.

"He said, you should be prepared for some action. I guess that means we're getting straight to the topic as far as I know him."

"He?" came it in unison from the three men around the table, everyone now looking at you with big round eyes.

And embarrassed you look down at your food, croissants with marmalade which Zayne brought earlier. "Well..." you start hesitating "there might be a fourth love interest I forgot to mention."

The sudden revelation follows an exasperated sigh from the doctor as he pinches the bridge of his nose. Xavier looks like a beaten puppy that you heartlessly left at the side of the road. And Rafayel's gazes at you bewildered with round sunset eyes.

"How many Love interests does your game have? Something else you 'forgot to mention'?" he gestures some signs in the air at the last words and his voice reveals a little vulnerability. The painter sounds hurt, and you can't blame him. You would feel the exact same in his place.

"That's all!" you assure him. "There's only four, promise!" or at least, as far as it was updated as long as you played it. Better not to mention the rumors regarding her dead-believed childhood friend. But maybe you should tell them who the fourth man exactly is...

"Well, there is something special about the fourth Male Lead." you try for an explanation to prepare them for Sylus.

"Is he part of some shady group in the N109 zone?" Xavier asks jokingly, and you nearly choke on the bite of food in your mouth.

Coughing you evade the answer, but it doesn't seem successful as Zayne adds, as soon as you gather yourself "Don't tell me, this is the case?" comes his wary ask, frowned hazel-green eyes staring you down.

Feeling like you've been caught with your hand in the cookie jar you look at your plate, rearranging some crumbs to a little pile with the index finger. "Not quite that, no." Actually, he is the ruler of that whole thing, but you only add that in your thoughts. You go with another description instead "But he lives a dangerous life there, and you shouldn't ask too many questions." you peek from under your lashes to the men around the table, observing their reactions to your words.

They all look at you stunned, with wide eyes until Rafayel breaks the silence first: "How does my girlfriend even get to know such guys?"