CHAPTER 38: MY STEPBROTHER’S IMMORTAL SNAIL REQUIRES A MORTGAGE

The heavy condo door clicked shut behind Kimiko and Luka. For Natalia, the sound was like a prison gate closing. The air, thick with the lingering scent of her father’s cologne and Kimiko’s perfume, felt suffocating. The condo had transformed from their private sanctuary into hostile territory overnight, leaving her exposed and vulnerable in what was supposed to be her domain.

They’re back.

Dad noticed the mark on my neck. Kimiko was watching us with those perceptive eyes... she suspects something. Oh god, she knows something isn’t right between us. What were we thinking with that reckless display?

Natalia meticulously replayed every stolen glance during breakfast, every loaded word, every subtle shift in body language. Their dangerous secret hung between them like a fragile glass ornament, ready to shatter at the slightest touch. This madness had to end. She needed to be the responsible one, the voice of reason. She had to terminate whatever this was immediately, before they were discovered and her carefully constructed future collapsed around her.

She turned around, her rejection already formulated down to the last cutting syllable. And there he stood. Leaning casually against the wall, observing her with that unsettling intensity, looking devastatingly handsome in a simple black tee that hugged his transformed physique and dark jeans that accentuated his height. He resembled a stranger who had methodically erased her stepbrother and claimed his life. The sight made her resolve waver dangerously, but she forced herself to approach him anyway.

"Satori," she began, "This has to stop. Everything. Our parents are back in our lives now. Last night was a terrible mistake, we need to forget it ever happened..."

Before she could complete her carefully rehearsed speech, he closed the distance between them in two effortless strides and gently captured her hand in his.

The unexpected contact sent an electric current racing through her body. His hand was warm and reassuringly solid, completely enveloping hers with a strength that wasn’t there weeks ago. He remained silent, simply holding her hand while his thumb traced slow, deliberate, maddeningly intimate circles against her skin.

That simple, tender gesture demolished her prepared defenses more effectively than any argument could have. He lifted her hand, his penetrating gaze never leaving hers, and pressed a soft kiss against her knuckles.

"Can I steal you for the day, Natalia?"

Her hand flew back as if Satori’s touch had seared her skin, a fierce heat blooming across her face and cascading down her neck like wildfire.

"D-Don’t be ridiculous! I am not some prize to be ’stolen’ by you or anyone else!" Natalia’s words tumbled out with forced indignation, her fingers unconsciously tracing the spot where his lips had touched. "This is strictly a mandatory errand for the Gala! A practical necessity—nothing more, nothing less! So don’t... don’t get any strange ideas."

===

"I thought we were shopping for the Gala?" Natalia asked, her confusion mounting as their first destination turned out to be an upscale pet emporium nestled between designer boutiques in the commercial district.

Satori guided her toward the reptile section with a mysterious smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. "First, I need to secure a proper royal residence for His Majesty, Bartholomew the Immortal."

"Who?"

"My new snail."

"Your... snail." Natalia blinked repeatedly, processing this information with visible disbelief. "You dragged me to an exclusive pet store to purchase a terrarium for a snail named Bartholomew the Immortal."

"Not just any terrarium." Satori turned to address a bewildered teenage employee who had cautiously approached them. "I need something truly regal. Something befitting gastropod royalty."

The employee’s expression cycled through various stages of confusion and uncertainty. "Um... we have these standard glass terrariums with basic features?"

"No, no." Satori shook his head with grave solemnity. "His Majesty requires accommodations of greater distinction. What about that elaborate display model with the castle-shaped hide?"

Natalia watched in growing amazement as Satori engaged in a completely serious discussion about the comparative merits of premium terrariums, specialized heating elements, and miniature castle-shaped hideaways with the increasingly perplexed but gradually amused employee.

"And will His Majesty be requiring specialized substrate? Perhaps some premium organic lettuce varieties?" the employee inquired, finally catching on to the game and adopting a matching ceremonial tone.

"Only the absolute finest," Satori declared with regal authority. "He may possess immortality, but that’s hardly an excuse to compromise on quality of life. A king deserves a kingdom worthy of his eternal existence."

A spontaneous giggle escaped Natalia’s lips before she could suppress it. She quickly pressed her hand over her mouth, but the damage was done. The initial giggle evolved into a chuckle, which rapidly cascaded into full-blown laughter that shook her entire body. Not her usual controlled, polite social laugh, but a genuine, bubbling, uninhibited expression of pure amusement that broke through her carefully maintained composure like a dam bursting.

"This is absolutely absurd," she managed between waves of laughter, her eyes watering slightly.

"Royalty typically is," Satori replied with perfect solemnity, his face a mask of serious dedication, which only intensified her laughing fit.

By the time they exited the store, Satori had purchased an elaborate terrarium complete with miniature castle architecture, premium soil mixtures, and several specialized small plants suitable for a gastropod monarch. Natalia found herself carrying a bag containing specialty gastropod nutrition supplements, still fighting sporadic fits of uncontrollable giggles that erupted every time she thought about the absurdity of the situation.

"So where exactly is this supposedly immortal snail?" she asked, glancing around as if expecting to see a pet carrier. "I don’t see His Majesty among our purchases."

"He’ll manifest when the moment is appropriate," Satori answered with mystical gravity. "Immortal beings aren’t constrained by conventional schedules or physical limitations. They appear when destiny calls."

This cryptic response triggered another burst of genuine laughter from Natalia, her purple hair catching the sunlight as she threw her head back. "You’re completely and utterly ridiculous, you know that?"

"Yet here you stand," Satori observed with a satisfied smirk, "willingly carrying premium snail cuisine for my ridiculous royal pet. What does that make you?"

Touché.