Succubi Chapter 218. Freedom to Choose

Succubi Chapter 218. Freedom to Choose

Evelyn stepped closer, voice softer now. “When do you leave?”

“Seven PM. Teleportation Room 7.”

“Today?”

I nodded.

Her gaze lowered briefly to my bracelet, then back to my face. “Emergency recall?”

“Enabled.”

“Tracking?”

“Enabled.”

“Academy cleared?”

“Apparently.”

She nodded, but the worry didn’t fully leave her eyes.

I wanted to say something cool. Something reassuring. Something like, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll come back’. But the words felt heavier than they should. Maybe because lately, when people worried about me, I actually cared.

So instead, I smirked.

“I’ll be fine. I’m Level 30 now.”

Leon froze.

I immediately regretted speaking.

Leon grabbed my shoulder. “Wait, WHAT?” His eyes gleamed.

“Uh… Minor growth?”

“Minor? You were Level 27 yesterday!”

“People grow.”

“Not like mushrooms after rain!”

Evelyn’s eyes widened slightly, but then her expression softened again. “That’s good, Evan.”

That simple praise slipped under my ribs before I could block it.

Damn it.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Well. Secret mission means secret rewards, right?”

Leon stared at me for a few seconds.

Then he shook his head slowly, like he was watching a friend fall into a tragic addiction.

“Ugh… all you think about is money.”

I lifted one finger. “Correction. I also think about survival.”

“And women.”

I paused.

Evelyn, standing beside us, looked at me quietly.

Leon’s grin sharpened like a knife.

I coughed once. “That’s… unrelated to the mission.”

Leon snorted. “Sure.”

“It can’t be helped,” I said, spreading my hands with the sacred helplessness of a broke scholarship student. “Money is important. Anyone who says money isn’t important already has too much of it.”

Leon opened his mouth.

Closed it.

Then pointed at me. “Annoyingly true.”

“Exactly.”

I grinned and turned to Evelyn. “Let’s go home, Evelyn. I have dinner to catch before my mission.”

The words came out casually.

But when I looked at her, I paused.

Evelyn was watching me with soft eyes.

Too soft.

Like I was some neglected puppy found under a rainy bridge, shivering with a torn ribbon around my neck, and she was debating whether to take me home and wrap me in a blanket.

My brain immediately tripped.

Why was she looking at me like that?

Did I say something weird?

I replayed the last thirty seconds.

Money. Secret rewards. Dinner. Mission.

Normal.

Students took missions for money all the time. That was basically one of the biggest reasons students accepted rank requests in the first place. Training, reputation, experience, sure. But money? Money was the golden core.

Most students were broke. Maybe not all. Some were rich. Felix definitely had the kind of aura that said his family owned furniture worth more than my childhood. Kyra never said she was rich, but she had that “raised properly with polished knives and expensive tutors” vibe. Even when she stood casually, she looked like someone who knew which fork was for fish and which dagger was for betrayal.

And me?

I didn’t look broke.

That was the annoying part.

My pride wouldn’t allow it.

I dressed decently. Kept my posture clean. Walked like I wasn’t counting every coin in my head. My uniform was neat, my boots polished enough, my face calm. I had spent years learning how to look okay even when I wasn’t. Looking poor felt like losing before the fight started.

So my pride covered it.

Always.

But underneath?

Yeah.

I wanted money.

Badly.

Not because I wanted gold decorations or luxury for show.

Okay, maybe a little. I was still Pride. Let’s not pretend I was a saint.

But mostly, money meant freedom.

Freedom to choose what I ate. Freedom to buy proper equipment. Freedom to not depend on people who treated support like charity. Freedom to walk into a store and not calculate shame before price. Freedom to leave home behind after graduation and never crawl back just because I couldn’t afford independence.

This academy had ruined me in the best and worst way.

It raised my standard.

Food here tasted better. Beds felt better. Classes mattered. People saw me. People wanted me around. Missions paid me. My strength meant something. My choices meant something.

I didn’t want to lose this.

I wanted to keep living like this even after graduation.

Away from home.

Away from that place where every little success of mine felt like an inconvenience to someone else.

I blinked and realized Evelyn was still looking at me.

Leon glanced between us, confused.

Evelyn finally smiled softly. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”

Home.

That word hit weirdly.

I tried not to react.

Leon pointed at both of us. “Wait. Why did the mood change?”

“It didn’t,” I said immediately.

“You both suddenly look like you’re in a romance scene and I’m the background friend who gets no lines.”

Evelyn laughed quietly, then stepped beside me.

I adjusted my bag strap and started walking before Leon could demand emotional screen time.

He called after us, “If you need me to be a bush, just say the word!”

I waved without turning around. “Never!”

His voice faded behind us as Evelyn and I left the main academic corridor and headed toward the dorm district.

The path to the all-female dorm area was already familiar now, which was both comforting and absolutely insane. The first time I walked here, I felt like a criminal crossing enemy territory. Now? Some girls still glanced at me, sure. A male student in the all-female district naturally attracted attention. But most of them had already stopped reacting dramatically. They knew by now. Evan Drakos. The weird first semester boy living in all female dorm.

Some stared openly.

Some whispered.

One gave me a wave.

I waved back.

Evelyn walked beside me quietly, her steps light and composed. Her uniform suited her too well. Clean lines. Confident posture. Gentle face hiding sharp instincts. She looked like someone who would smile before stepping between you and danger.

And that soft look from earlier still bothered me.

Not in a bad way.

Just…

It made me feel seen in a place I wasn’t prepared for.

So naturally, I ruined the silence first.

“You okay?”

She glanced at me. “Hm?”

“You gave me that weird look earlier.” I sighed. “Are you worried?”

Evelyn looked ahead for a moment, sunlight catching the side of her face. The path curved past gardens and old stone walls, mana flowers glowing faintly near the grass. Students walked in little clusters around us, talking about assignments, training, gossip, and probably me, because my life had become public entertainment.

“Not really,” she said finally.

I frowned. “Then why?”

She stopped walking.

I stopped too.

For some reason, the small pause felt heavier than it should. A group of third semester students passed behind us, whispering and laughing, but the sound faded into background noise.

Evelyn turned toward me fully.

Her eyes met mine.

Soft again.

But not pity.

That was what I realized now.

It wasn’t pity.

It was understanding.

But why?

She smiled. “Nothing,” she said gently. “I just realized you really are that desperate for money for a Pride demon.”

I cringed.

Physically cringed.

“Is that bad?”

“No.” She answered immediately.

My shoulders loosened a fraction before I even noticed.

“It’s good for you,” she added.

I blinked. “Good?”

Evelyn reached out and took my hand.

Warm fingers sliding around mine like it was normal.

My brain immediately looked down at our joined hands.

Then back at her.

Evelyn’s thumb brushed lightly against my knuckles. “Pride demons need goals. Something that makes them move forward. Something they can claim for themselves.”

I swallowed.

She continued walking, gently pulling me along. “Money isn’t just greed for you.”

Ah.

Direct hit.

I looked away.

Because if I kept looking at her, she’d see too much.

And I hated that she was right.

I hated that she could say it so easily.

Money wasn’t just money.

It was distance.

A way to build a life where nobody could decide what I deserved.

Evelyn didn’t push after that. She just kept holding my hand as we walked.

After a while, she said, “I already texted Lilith about your mission. They’ll prepare extra portions for you.”

My steps slowed. “Extra portions?”

“Yes. You need to eat before the mission.”

My soul lit up.

I cleared my throat, trying not to look too happy. “That’s… practical.”

Evelyn’s smile widened. “Mhm.”

“Don’t say mhm like Sera.”

She laughed softly.

The dorm came into view, elegant and dangerous as always. The place where my dignity routinely got assassinated and somehow resurrected happier.

I looked at our joined hands again.

Evelyn didn’t let go.

And for some reason, I didn’t either.

We stepped through the entrance together.