Farmboy becomes King with the Lust System

Elise took Jae's hand and let him pull her to her feet. Her fingers were still warm from the spar, and there was a faint ache in her arms from trying to keep up with him.

She brushed herself off, swiping her palms down her trousers as if ridding herself of dust, though most of it had already been shaken off.

Her breathing was still a touch uneven, chest rising and falling in a steady but slightly quickened rhythm. She gave him a look that balanced somewhere between awe and irritation.

"You fought me way too effortlessly," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. Her tone was accusing, but there was a grudging respect in there too. "How did you get so much stronger so fast?"

Jae chuckled, rolling his shoulders with an easy, loose motion, as though she had asked him why the sky was blue. "I don't know," he replied, his voice carrying the kind of casual confidence that made her want to hit him again just to wipe that smirk away.

Then he tilted his head toward her, lips curling in a faint, knowing grin. "I think you make me stronger."

The words landed differently than she expected.

Elise froze for a heartbeat, caught off guard by the almost poetic way he had said it. Heat crept up the back of her neck and bloomed faintly in her cheeks before she could stop it.

She turned away quickly, pretending to fuss with her sleeve, brushing at imaginary dust. "You're ridiculous," she muttered, but her voice lacked the bite she'd intended.

Jae's grin widened like he'd just won another round without even throwing a punch. "Come on, let's take a break."

They moved together toward the shaded bench along the far wall of the training hall.

The sound of their footsteps echoed lightly on the polished floor, blending with the distant clash of wooden practice weapons and the faint hum of mana drifting from other sparring matches in the adjoining rooms.

Elise was still replaying his earlier line in her head, half annoyed at herself for doing so, when she felt something sudden and sharp.

Smack. Jae's hand swatted her butt.

She stiffened instantly, eyes going wide. A startled squeak slipped out before she could stop it. Her head whipped around, and there he was, smirking without an ounce of shame.

Her hands flew behind her instinctively to guard the spot, and she darted a quick glance around the hall to see if anyone had noticed.

"Jae!" she hissed, her voice low but sharp, cheeks heating for an entirely different reason now.

He raised his brows, expression the picture of false innocence. "What?"

She turned fully toward him, trying for a glare, but the flush in her cheeks betrayed her. "Don't do that in public!"

His laugh came easily, almost too easily, and she could tell he was enjoying her reaction far more than he should. Before she could storm ahead, he stepped in closer and draped an arm casually over her shoulders.

The motion was so smooth it looked natural, as if this were just how they always walked together.

She tried to keep her face neutral, to pretend the closeness didn't faze her, but his lingering smugness hovering in her peripheral vision made it impossible not to react.

By the time they reached the bench and sank onto it, her breathing had evened out again. She was just about to retort with something that might reestablish her dignity when the sound of the hall doors swinging open caught both their attention.

A girl stepped through, blazing red hair spilling down her back in waves that caught the overhead lights like strands of fire. Her boots clicked sharply against the polished wood, each step confident, almost theatrical.

Tirel.

Her eyes swept across the training hall with quick precision, scanning each sparring ring and idle group until they landed on Jae.

A slow, deliberate smirk spread across her lips the moment she spotted him, and without breaking stride, she started walking straight toward them

Elise felt herself tense before she could think about it, her back straightening against the bench. "Why is she coming over here?" she asked, her voice clipped, a faint edge of irritation cutting through.

Jae chuckled under his breath. "You're cute when you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous," she shot back instantly, arms crossing over her chest. But the faint crease between her brows told a different story.

Tirel reached them, her smirk perfectly intact. "Elise," she greeted smoothly. Her voice was polite enough on the surface, but the lack of warmth was obvious.

"Hi," Elise replied flatly, putting no effort into masking her disinterest.

Then Tirel turned her gaze to Jae, and the shift was noticeable. Her eyes softened, her smirk curved into something almost inviting, and her tone took on a deliberate smoothness.

"Jae," she said, letting his name hang in the air for a fraction too long. She stepped closer, closing the gap, and took his hand in hers, holding it just slightly longer than necessary.

Elise's gaze dropped immediately to their joined hands. Her jaw tightened, her lips pressing into a thin line.

Still caught in Tirel's lingering grip, Jae tilted his head slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to train," Tirel said with an easy smile, her tone carrying a subtle weight that suggested there was more to it.

"Right," Jae replied, as though expecting her to move along now that she'd made her presence known. But she didn't.

Instead, she shifted her weight to one hip, letting her gaze drift briefly to the sparring rings before returning to him. "Come train with me," she said, her voice smooth enough to make it sound like less of a suggestion and more of an invitation she expected him to accept.

Elise's head snapped toward Jae, her eyes narrowing into something dangerously close to a glare.

Jae leaned back slightly, as if considering it, though the way his eyes flicked toward Tirel's confident stance made it clear he wasn't just thinking about training.

He was still riding the faint ache of their earlier spar, not particularly eager for another round. but as Tirel half-turned to gesture toward the far end of the hall, his gaze followed the sway of her hips and he saw her curvy butt.

He exhaled through his nose, slow. "Well…"

Elise's voice cut in like a blade. "You can't be serious."

Jae glanced at her, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. "It'd be rude to refuse," he said, though the playful glint in his eyes betrayed that politeness had nothing to do with it.

Elise scoffed, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Unbelievable."

Tirel's smirk deepened, her eyes flicking between them like she was enjoying the tension as much as the invitation itself. "So? Are you coming?"

Jae rested one elbow lazily on the backrest of the bench, his posture relaxed to the point of arrogance. "Guess I'll see what you've got," he said finally, rising to his feet with a smooth motion.

Elise sat back against the bench, arms still crossed, watching him. Her eyes followed him and Tirel, her expression locked somewhere between irritation and disbelief.