Chapter 9
Who Are You?
Jamie's POV
Done bathing the four male kids—Adrien, Benjamin, Carlos, and Daniel—I was utterly depleted. My muscles ached, my fingers were pruned, and my patience was thinner than the broth I'd made with the instant noodles. I laid out flat on the enormous, empty bath bowl, staring at the rough wooden ceiling. I earnestly wanted to go back to my bed and sleep for a week, since I obviously couldn't allow myself the pleasure of playing video games. This life was a twenty-four-hour nightmare of survival and manual labor.
Dragging my lazy body out of the bowl, water streaming from my pant-like garment, I made my way out of the bathing room, only to come into sudden, terrifying contact with Lucien.
"Host, bathe your husband and you will have the right to order one gift in the Millar System free, and also earn a bonus of five loyalty points," the System chirped immediately, its voice sickeningly cheerful and entirely unhelpful.
I squeezed my face in utter refusal. No way was I doing that! But staring straight into Lucien's penetrating golden eyes, I couldn't help the desperate, primal urge to escape.
Lucien walked closer to me, his gaze slow and deliberate, raking over my whole body. He tilted his head, his expression unreadable, and just looked at me. It was a prolonged, silent inspection that made the hairs on my arms stand up.
I was utterly confused as to why he was staring at me like that, why his eyes lingered on my chest and torso, which was still slick from the water. Then it clicked into my head, and a wave of fresh panic washed over me:
"Oh, he likes men." The realization, however obvious given the story's premise, was a jarring shock to my straight, modern sensibilities.
Lucien said nothing. He just passed me, the tension in the air thick enough to chew, and walked straight toward the bath bowl. Then, slowly, with an economy of movement that was captivating and terrifying, he began to undress.
I immediately snapped my head away, my face flaming. "Give a heads-up before going nude, bro!" I couldn't help but mutter under my breath, my feet already itching to bolt away. A grown ass man should know how to bathe himself! I'm not his mother, nor am I his personal bath attendant!
"Host, strawberry cake… chocolate cake… are you sure you're walking away? The system will unlock a new five-star recipe book if you stay," the System tempted me, its voice laced with the promise of sugar and rich, creamy indulgence.
I stood there in complete dilemma. The cravings for cake, chocolate, and vanilla ice cream multiplied in my stomach, battling with the self-preservation instinct in my brain. I looked over my shoulder at Lucien, who was now completely nude and stepping into the water, and I vigorously shook my head.
"No… no… no. Me going over there is risking my virginity and my mental straight sanity," I rejected the temptation, the words a desperate shield against the seductive power of a free, gourmet meal.
"Host, the previous owner has done more than that with the beast husband," the System countered, its voice taking on a strangely lecturing tone. "Even if you are a straight or virgin soul, this body is not. You have already broken the seal, so what is a little touch? Don't be a coward. Think of the new recipes!"
The thought that this body wasn't a virgin, that the previous, wicked Jamie had already completed the act, did nothing to calm my nerves. I was nowhere near bathing him. I could imagine the horrible, compromising scenes that would happen there, and I knew I would be permanently traumatized.
Forcing my legs to exit the room, even though my stomach felt like a traitor, I made it three steps before I felt a strong, sudden pull. My body became light, suspended in the air for a horrifying moment, and then I was completely submerged into the warm water.
Did he just pull, carry me, and dump me in here in one smooth motion?
Frightened, my eyes widened to the size of saucers, and my whole body became stiff with shock. I tried to jump away, to scramble over the edge, but a vice-like grab around my neck and a rough pin to the bath bowl's edge stopped me instantly.
Lucien was strangling me.
I looked into his gaze, and my breath hitched. His eyes were bloodshot, the gold turned to a dark, raging crimson. His whole body was exuding a dangerous, suffocating aura, and his expression was darker, crueler, and more savage than I had ever seen it. The transformation was happening right in front of me, terrifyingly fast.
"Who are you?"
The question was not a whisper; it was a guttural snarl, a sound ripped from the very essence of a beast, and it shocked me more profoundly than him choking me. My eyes widened further. I was discovered too early.
Weren't the male leads supposed to know that the main character, like me, was a transmigrator at the very end of the movie? Or not know at all in some Isekai genres? Was I too open and readable?
"Host, what do you expect?!" the System immediately began ranting, its voice shrieking with blame. "First, the original Jamie wasn't good to the kids, even before Lucien lost his power, title, status, home, and sanity. But you're too kind! Second, Jamie doesn't know how to cook, but you do, and the things you cook are strange, as are your words. Then, you are around him, not showing signs of disgust, irritation, or disrespect to Lucien. Lucien will, of course, know you're not him! Better save yourself by going into flirting mode! Try using your slender fingers to stroke that… thing down there, and then plant kisses all over his face! Beast men are such simple, primal men!"
The System kept ranting and blaming, as if it couldn't see my actual predicament—that I was moments away from being strangled to death. I hadn't wanted to join him or bathe with him not because I was afraid of this, but because I was afraid of something else, of a romantic complication!
"Lucien…!" I gasped, trying to explain myself, trying to tell him I was the real Jamie, just with amnesia, just with a sudden surge of cooking skills. But the words were stuck in my throat, useless.
"The Jamie I know never calls me that! Never with that soft tone!" he snarled, tightening his hands further. "Do you want me to drown you? Better talk now! Who are you? Who sent you? What are you after?!"
There was no escape from him. The more time I wasted, the more his massive hands tightened around my neck. I was desperately short of breath, gasping, my life almost escaping with every panicked heave. I forced my eyes open and looked at him. His body, though still mostly human, was becoming covered in dark, coarse hair, and the dense, dangerous aura surrounding him was growing heavier, pushing down on me. I was choking from more than just his hands; I was choking on his frightening new appearance, on his sheer, unbridled Alpha aura.
Was he transforming into his beast form?
Please, I didn't want to see it! At this rate, I might faint from sheer terror. The warm bath water suddenly felt icy cold against my skin, and I was shivering uncontrollably. I also, humiliatingly, really needed to urinate. That was how utterly frightened I was.
"It's his maniac acting up again! He is losing his mind! Better save yourself or become good as dead! Flirt, Host! Flirt!" the System's not-helping voice echoed in my head as my life flashed before my eyes.
His grip on my neck tightened further, and he was inexorably drawing my head near the water.
Did he want to strangle me underwater?
Was I going to die again without even eating every damn thing in the Millar System? Am I going to be reborn or stay dead? What am I going to do?! My mind screamed, cycling between survival and the devastating thought of all the uneaten gourmet food.