Villain Hiring: Help! Author Wants Me Dead

I didn't know what I was expecting when Picie and I were told that we'd be meeting the rest of the heirs.

A battle arena?A one-on-one duel to the death?A grand display of magical ego?

It could literally have been anything but…not this.

We were all sitting in a damn circle, floating in some weird illusion room.

Well, everyone called it a virtual space inside the expensive technology set our house had built in the Romero household.

The seats looked like throne-room rejects—shiny but uncomfortable.

A black and royal blue orb floated in the air, hovering in middle of the circle we had created; pulsing softly like it was judging us already.

What was this fuckery?

I really did not understand these new age tools and items.

"Welcome," Venus said, standing behind the orb like some evil game show host. "Today, you brats will be playing a little game. It's called Truth or Trigger. Think of it as therapy for would-be rulers."

Pixie, who was sitting just beside me leaned into my figure, whispering, "Therapy with explosives. I like it."

I groaned, not liking how it sounded from the start only.

"Rules are simple," The old man Continued. "The orb spins and picks one of you. You choose either 'Truth' or 'Trigger.'

Truth means you answer honestly.

Trigger means you complete a challenge using one of your skills.

Fail, and your chances at getting a seat in the battle of succession fails.

Succeed, and you earn credibility."

The credibility of me, Venus D. Romero.

Grandpa Venus knew that this succession shit wasn't going to work on me and threatened to increase my interactions with the public, making my lips twitch a tad too much.

Venus grandpa coughed, continuing. "Be careful before choosing the truth though. You'll be zapped with high volts of electricity if you lie—"

I blinked. "Zapped?"

As if to answer me, the orb sparked once. Bright. Violent.

"Noted," I mumbled, 'No one likes to be zapped, after all.'

Looking around, I found Lucas sitting two seats away from me. His arms were crossed as he continued tried to appear nonchalant, as if nothing mattered to him and all this was just a game.

After knowing more about how smart this boy was secretly, I knew better than any kid here that he was watching, observing everyone closely.

As for Seraphina?

She sat opposite to me, hands folded in her lap. Unlike usual, since we were all cousins and she seemed to be quite familiar with some of the people here, the girl seemed to be a little at ease.

I would think of her as just a normal teenage girl who wears a choker on her neck if Damien hadn't told me that the piece of cloth that seemed to move on her neck with every breath was actually a divine item gifted by her god.

Like fuck was she a lion in sheep's clothing or what?

Her clear hazel eyes swept through the circle of cousins every once in a while as if she seemed to be enjoying herself.

And then there was that younger kid, Vayu, about 13 or 14. He looked way too calm, like he wasn't nervous at all.

The others? They were all chatting up Vayu or Lucas like they were already forming little teams.

So apparently, the way heirs get to know each other in the Romero family… is by playing a game.

Not a duel.

Not a ranking match.

Not even an essay competition.

A fucking truth and dare game.

Just as Venus stepped further back from where we were seated on our throne like seats, he stepped back, and the orb started spinning.

Everyone watched, silent.

[Player Selected: Aurelia D. Romero]

"Great. We're starting with Miss Perfect." One of the cousins muttered, attracting a few hostile glances towards himself.

"Truth," she said with a bright, confident smile.

Kael, the sword guy, leaned forward. "What's the weirdest thing you've ever done with your magic?" He asked.

The brown haired girl laughed softly. "Once used charm magic to convince a bakery guy I was a food inspector... just so I could get free cake samples for a week." A few chuckles broke out and even I couldn't stop smiling, getting reminded about how grandma used to bake so many things and how I would just sit on the kitchen slab, looking at her cook.

[Aura Stable.]

[Answer Accepted.]

The orb spun again.

[Player Selected: Noah D. Romero]

Of course it had to be me—

I hesitated.

Trigger sounded risky.

But Truth meant keeping my secrets bare to these kids hungry for power...

Tch*

Both the options sucked.

Pixie nudged me from the side, "Pick something human." She said.

"I don't like that fact that they are all scared of my teddybear—"

My eyebrows jumped as a weird expression appeared on my face.

"What did you just call me again?"

The girl elbowed my thigh again, showing me those puppy eyes, "Come on, Noah. Be the icebreaker for me…pretty please?"

I sighed, shaking my head.

Lifting my head to the attention hungry crowd,

"I chose truth." I said.

Everyone straightened up.

A girl named Isla raised her hand. "What's the most embarrassing thing you've done… since awakening?" She asked.

Great.

Why couldn't it just be a more serious question?

I groaned, rubbing my face. "Fine. A few months ago, I was using Soul Siphon on a squirrel. Thought it was a mutated spider or something. Turned out it was just... a squirrel. A regular squirrel.

Screaming, I panicked and ran into a tree."

The room exploded in laughter.

Pixie was nearly falling off her chair.

Kael chuckled. "Respect. That's real."

Even Lucas cracked a smile.

[Answer Accepted. Aura Stabilized. Favorability Increased +1]

The orb moved on.

[Player: Ciel Romero]

He was a long-haired pretty boy and he had barely spoken since we arrived.

"Trigger," he said calmly.

[Challenge: Use any support-type magic on another player.]

He tapped Isla gently, whispered something, and a glowing shield shimmered around her figure.

[Skill: Ethereal Barrier – Level 2]

The orb pulsed green and I couldn't help but think that power was pretty dope as I heard Isla saying that she felt like all her energy just restored back to full.

Defence plus recovery?

That could make a pretty good player.

Ciel sat back like it was nothing.

All of us seemed to be more at ease and rejuvenated as the black orb with strange blue deaigns on it continued spinning again.

[Player: Seraphina D. Romero]

As the orb came to a stop and all of our wyes shifted to Sera. the girl became more nervous than I expected her to be.

She looked nervous as she continued staring at the floor as she squirmed at her diamond throne.

"Truth."

***