Love or Obsession?

Esdeath took her mask off and introduced herself to the others as their new boss.

"Why don't you take your mask off too?" Esdeath lightly suggested with a smile but Valdis could feel her restraining herself from completely ordering him around. He did not mind it for now but he had no plans of being under her in the future. She might be the strongest person in this world however Valdis was no longer weak either.

Valdis took his mask off and didn't bother to deactivate his Mangekyo Sharingan since, at this point, he was able to use Susanoo which gave him a large boost and he no longer had to act so secretly.

'His eyes are different from before...is that his Teigu's trump card? I have never seen Teigu in form of eyes.' Esdeath thought that his eyes looked even more captivating than before, making her heart beat even faster.

"V-Valdis?!" Seryu exclaimed when she saw his face, after all, the two of them already met a short after Valdis arrived in this world, though, she probably should have kept silent. Everyone looked at Seryu with a questioning gaze and it was especially the case for Esdeath.

"Do you two know each other?" 'So his name is Valdis? It suits him' Esdeath asked with a threatening undertone to her voice which was picked up only by a few people in the room.

"Oh...We have met some time ago, I had no idea Valdis is part of the imperial police. W-Wait, were you the one who helped me to kill that Night Raid girl at the park? I thought that guard's presence seemed a bit familiar at that time but I couldn't tell why" Seryu asked with a shocked expression.

"Eh...let's not talk about that right now. I believe we should focus more on general Esdeath rather than me" Valdis turned at Esdeath to subtly urge her to take the charge but he found her staring at him with a curious expression as if she wanted to hear more about him.

"Dr. Stylish wouldn't mind focusing more on you. If you are joining us, I definitely approve of you" A young man with black hair, wearing glasses and a white lab coat muttered.

'I forgot about this guy...Now I probably understand how women feel about being sexually harassed at their workplace.' Valdis shivered a bit after hearing the words.

"Hehe, thank you but I don't swing that way" Valdis explained with a bright smile.

*cough* "pff" A young man who introduced himself as Wave coughed aloud, trying to refrain from laughing when he heard such a blatant rejection.

"That's right, Valdis will be joining us as my partner in love" Esdeath came next to Valdis and put her hand on his shoulder before explaining as if it was something natural.

"Yeah...Wait, what?" Valdis nodded his head at the beginning but quickly realized what she just said.

"What?!" Everyone reacted the same way, especially after seeing how Valdis acted confused while Esdeath acted as if they were partners for several years already.

.

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The group went to meet the Emperor and after that, they decided to have a welcome dinner. After that misunderstanding, Valdis decided to help out in the kitchen with Wave and a big man named Bols.

"Hey, Valdis, what was that about?" Wave asked with a weird expression.

"You ask me but who should I ask?" Valdis raised his eyebrow at Wave. He actually knew that he probably replaced Tatsumi in Esdeath's love story but he still felt a little shaken. He had no trouble dealing with women but that included only normal women and Esdeath was anything but normal. He was actually glad she didn't put a collar on his neck back there to mark him as hers.

"In my eyes, it's pretty simple, general Esdeath took a liking to you, in fact, when she looks at you, she looks like someone in love." Bols said in a low and kind tone, unbefitting his large body and scary image.

'She looks more like someone who is capable of killing her partner for checking out another chick, or rather killing the chick and punishing her partner for looking...Well, I can't completely deny I don't find that killing part a little hot.' Valdis thought with a small smile.

...

While the trio was preparing the dinner, the rest were seated at the large table in the next room.

"Does anyone here have any experience with love?" Esdeath asked with a serious expression.

"I-"

"Not you!" Esdeath immediately stopped Dr. Stylish from talking any further.

"Run, Kurome, Seryu...What about you three?" Esdeath asked but the girls looked down, disappointed that they can't be of help.

"I can't say that I have experience but I think I have general knowledge about love...Though, I doubt it is a good idea to confess to anyone by announcing them as yours without asking their permission. If you make someone yours by force, it won't be a true love you most likely desire, general" Run said with a strange expression.

"I see...did I make a mistake back there?" Esdeath muttered with a troubled expression, she wanted to see Valdis's peaceful expression he had after eating that Ice cream before. She wanted him to wear that expression around her.

"I don't think it's such a big issue. He didn't seem repulsed by the idea, however, he indeed looked...surprised. I think there is a high chance that he already likes you, however, it would be better to ask a more experienced person for such advice." Run explained with a warm smile.

"He already likes me...?" Esdeath muttered with a surprised expression.

'Maybe he is just shy...should I be more aggressive around him? I can't help but think only about how to make him mine. This must be what love feels like, what a strange yet exhilarating feeling! Valdis, I will make you feel the same way about me no matter what!' Esdeath thought as her lips curled up into a smile and her cheeks reddened.

"Ah..." The girls averted their eyes and blushed a little when they saw Esdeath's dreamy expression.

"Seryu, tell me everything you know about Valdis. You have mentioned that you met each other some time ago." Esdeath said with a serious expression as if it was a matter of life and death.

"Eh?! I mean, we only said a few words to each other, nothing serious. However...he must have joined the imperial police just recently since the last time I saw him, he was wearing shabby clothes. Despite his shady look, the moment I laid my eyes on him I felt some kind of connection-?!" When Seryu mentioned a "connection" Esdeath narrowed her eyes and chilling air started spreading in the room which prompted Seryu to quickly correct herself.

"n-not that way! I meant that I felt like he could understand me better than the other guards."

"It doesn't matter if he joined recently...in fact, it doesn't matter even if he is just pretending to be the guard." Esdeath said with a relaxed smile and closed her eyes, thinking about her strategy to capture Valdis's heart.

"?! Wouldn't it be a trouble if he was truly just pretending? What if he is an enemy who just wanted to infiltrate our ranks?" Kurome asked with a surprised expression.

"A needless worry. You haven't seen his eyes from up close as I did. What I saw inside them made me confident in his stance and with today's performance, I was convinced that we were destined to be together!"

'That hunger for power, that chilling dark green aura he released today...I need to make sure not to mess up and properly prepare to capture his heart. It has been a long while since I felt so excited, it's an even stronger feeling than fighting a strong opponent!' Esdeath could hardly believe someone with such a strong desire for power and a cold aura could look so young and innocent on the surface.