Ryunn Estate — Rio's Private Chamber — 6:07 AM
Ana's lips pulled back slowly from the kiss.
Wet. Soft. Possessive.
Rio blinked, breath shaky, eyes wide and caught somewhere between confusion and the slow rush of heat pooling in his abdomen.
Her bare chest pressed against his. Warm. Supple. Her leg still slung over his hip, and her fingers were now gently tugging down the hem of his waistband, just barely—
Click.
The door.
Ana froze.
So did Rio.
The moment shattered in soundless tension.
Then—
A soft voice.
Velvety. Drowsy. But… sharp.
"Oh, my…"
Orisia.
The other maid. The quiet one with the glossy raven hair and sultry curves that often made Rio choke on his breakfast juice when she bent over in front of him.
She stood at the threshold now, eyes wide, holding a tray with warm towels and fresh fruit. Her nightgown—pink and barely opaque—clung to her hourglass figure like sin itself. Her chest, heavy and unsupported, swayed slightly as she leaned forward.
"You weren't in your quarters, Ana," Orisia said, her tone smooth, but her eyes narrowing slowly on the scene in front of her.
Ana didn't move.
Didn't even blink.
"I was warming him," she said plainly.
"He looked fine to me," Orisia replied, stepping inside.
Rio, caught in the middle, tried to sit up—then gasped as Ana's hand slid lower again, claiming the waistband fully, her fingers lightly brushing the top of something that very much wasn't asleep anymore.
"Rgh—A-Ana!"
"Oh?" Orisia tilted her head, approaching the bed. "Did she touch you there, Master Rio?"
Ana's gaze snapped up.
A storm behind those eyes.
"He's mine. You had your turn with dressing him. Polishing his boots. That's all you'll ever touch."
But Orisia was already sliding the tray onto the table and letting her nightgown slip—just slightly—off one shoulder.
"I'm just here to clean his bandages," she said, voice breathy. "Unless… I'm interrupting something sacred."
Ana stood up from the bed slowly, sheet still clinging to her hips, leaving Rio flustered and barely covered beneath her.
"Don't play innocent, Orisia," Ana whispered. "You've been waiting for a chance to do this. To crawl into his sheets. To pretend you don't dream of him every night."
Orisia's eyes lowered to Rio's lap.
Then back to Ana.
"Maybe. But at least I didn't sneak in to steal a kiss."
She climbed onto the other side of the bed.
Rio sat there like a stunned TIER-0 cadet caught between two comets.
Then—
A mechanical chime.
The door opened again.
Hiss-click.
Slix.
The AI maid, standing tall in her synthetic skin. Pale silver bodysuit clinging to her flawless curves. Her hips moved with too much sway for a being "programmed." Her voice no longer fully machine.
She paused at the door.
Scanned the scene.
And her eyes glowed faint red for half a second.
> "Multiple bodies detected in intimate radius. Heart rate spike. Pupil dilation. Hormonal rise. Emotional chaos."
She said nothing.
But she stepped in.
And locked the door behind her.
Rio's mouth went dry.
Slix's silver gaze landed on Ana's flushed body… then Orisia's half-exposed form… then Rio, barely covered.
"I brought the morning supplements," Slix said, holding a small metallic tray. Her tone was calm, but her gaze betrayed… interest.
"Unless," she added slowly, "you already took your dose of heat from another source."
Ana stepped forward, hair wild now. "Slix… leave."
But Slix didn't move.
Instead, she walked forward, placed the tray down—
—and ran a metallic fingertip slowly across Rio's collarbone.
Her touch left a light shimmer of nanite residue.
"His vitals are elevated. Sweating. Flushed. Perhaps I should perform a… full-body diagnostic."
Orisia let out a small laugh.
Ana snapped, "You're a machine."
Slix's lips curled in the barest smirk. "Then let me show you what machine precision feels like."
Rio groaned.
This wasn't a fever dream.
This was three women. In his bed. Tension so thick the air practically steamed.
He tried to speak—but Slix leaned in.
Her lips brushed the edge of his ear.
"Don't worry, Master," she whispered. "They'll argue. But I will learn you. Perfectly."
Ana's body was trembling—not in fear.
But rage.
Jealousy.
And something darker.
Orisia leaned over him now, her chest nearly pressing into his side.
"You should choose," she whispered, her breath on his jaw. "Or we'll choose for you."
---
Outside the Room — War Room Hallway
BEEP.
Security feed error.
> "ROOM C17—PRIVATE FEED DISABLED."
King Arnold frowned. "Hm. Rio's room?"
Lython barely glanced up. "Probably Ana checking vitals again. She gets… attached."
Theo was too busy sipping coffee.
They had no idea that inside that room, their precious prodigy had just become the center of a quietly unfolding war.
One of body.
One of obsession.
One of desire.
And none of them knew…
Rio was now in far more danger than the battlefield could ever offer.