I am a love interest in a harem novel!?

The Lies (Sebastian)

He was sleeping since half past noon, trying to catch some sleep to get a semblance of balance during the abnormal overtime hours he's done for two years. However, he's a very light sleeper to the point that every single sound wakes him up. Simply put, those two years of working with Axton taught him every type of paranoia there is.

Like the constant knocking that had stretched for too long now.

As his senses adjusted, the urgent knocks became clearer and the drowsiness was soon swept away. Crawling out of the bed, Sebastian peeked outside the windows and noticed that the sun was about to set.

He walked to the door as he put on a shirt, first peeking through the peephole to look at the stranger. What he saw surprised him. This was not in his expectations, at all.

What is this person doing here?

After a short debate, he opened the door and for a while they just stood there staring at each other. He was curious of her intentions for coming all the way here to visit him.

She looked a little unsure. Anxious... but determined. Her eyes were sparking with a ton of questions and he just knew this will take longer than what he'd usually prefer. He scratched the back of his head, letting out a gruff sigh. Just when he thought he could get some time alone after all that happened...

"So? Why are you here... Miss Rui Hughes?" He decided to speak first, seeing how she was shifting her weight between her feet with a weird look on her face, as if she couldn't figure out where to start.

"You know my name..." It was a statement.

Of course he knows her name. Everyone involved with that man have probably heard of her name. Also... he'd seen her once before in Axton's apartment.

"Come in." He opened the door wider before going back in. "Coffee or water?"

"Water is fine." She answered, fidgeting at a spot five steps behind him.

"Sit anywhere you want." Sebastian just wanted to get this over with. Besides, she needs to know everything now. Afterall... Tomorrow is the last day.

As soon as the woman took a sip of water, he sat down across her and decided to take the lead in the conversation.

"So far, what do you know?"

She looked straight at him, her gaze filled with fear.

"I don't know if what I know is real or not... That's why I came here. That is why... Is it possible for you to tell me what your real relationship with Uziel is..? I don't think you're just an ordinary subordinate..."

Sebastian stared at her. She doesn't know anything at all, does she? "After knowing the answers to your questions, what would you do?" He asked after a few seconds.

"It depends on what you're going to tell me..."

Fair enough. "Fine. Let's not waste time." He paused as he rummaged through his messy memories. So much has happened in 4 years. "First things first. I'm not his subordinate or anything like that. I have no shady connections to the mafia..." He didn't look away from the woman's face as he said that. She looked like she was enlightened with just one sentence. "...He and I only made a deal two years ago."

"That... That deal..." She began, stumbling over her words. "Could it have been about joining forces..." She took in a breath before finishing. "...with the police force to ruin Datura...?"

It seems she knows after all. How she'd known, it doesn't matter now but he's curious about one thing. "Since when did you know?"

"Since yesterday..."

Sebastian almost wanted to laugh but a long sigh was all that came out of his mouth. Fate is really... such a funny thing. He nodded later on.

"I was a powerless officer then. Until he offered me that deal."

The person standing at the top of the underground organization approached Sebastian and said he wanted to crush his own organization with Sebastian's help. That was the most ridiculous deal he'd ever heard, but he'd proven he wasn't bulshitting when he suddenly came with a bloodied person beside him one day. Polly Orland. One of the famous figures in Datura. The person Sebastian had been trying to catch for 6 months but had always somehow managed to slip through his fingers.

'This is proof of my sincerity. I hope you'll take my words seriously after this.'

Even as he reminisced that day, he still couldn't believe something like that really happened.

"Well. I agreed on one condition that he wouldn't involve innocent civilians in whatever scheme he had going on for him..." Thinking about it now, he sure was naive to add such a stupid condition. The longer Sebastian worked with him, he realized that something like that is simply not possible. Even if Axton was the leader of a big mafia organization. He wasn't God. He isn't omnipotent. Not to mention the power struggles that come with being a young inexperienced mafia boss. It must have taken more than one blood bath to keep that seat for 8 years.

'I will keep that in mind.'

Remembering how he responded, Sebastian could only feel pity... At himself for being naively inconsiderate and at Axton for having to shoulder all of that crazy mess.

He pushed those thoughts aside and focused his attention to Rui Hughes. She looked a bit lost. "Seeing how you know all of this, then I guess you've also heard then?"

She raised her eyes to meet Sebastian's. "Heard...? Heard what..?" Her voice shook as her fingers fiddled with her fingers even more furiously.

"It's tomorrow, you know." Sebastian hinted but she seemed to want to stay in denial.

"What's... Wh-what about t-tomorrow?"

He pursed his lips and looked at the desperation she was trying hard not to show. But the way she was holding her breath, and the way she stayed frozen in her seat as she fixed her eyes on him was enough to give her away.

"Tomorrow... is the burial." As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw her world fall apart. One look in her eyes and he was sure of it. In a split second. With only four words.

Fate is truly such a cruel thing...

"Y-You're lying... right?"

Sebastian remained silent.