Cheat Awakening

"Well, if you had, instead of f*cking me all day long just after seeing me, fought with me at least once, then you might have had a strong, reliable, smart, handsome, and absolutely powerful Myne under your ass instead of a coward making your life hellish..."

Myne's voice broke the quiet stillness, a playful edge dancing around the teasing remark.

Velvet's head snapped towards him, surprise crinkling seeing Myne sitting beside her, eyes reflecting the dancing flames in the fireplace, a picture of nonchalance.

"When did you come here!? I didn't hear any movement. Quite weird," Velvet, breathing a sigh of relief, asked as she observed Myne up and down for some reason.

Myne shrugged, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "Just long enough to hear you lamenting the hero you already have, but somehow don't see. I still can't believe I have such a weak, cowardly, and selfish image in your mind... Why do I suddenly feel like I wasted quite a few months for nothing?"

"Where did you get those clothes? Don't all your clothes get lost?" Velvet, as if not noticing the sadness in Myne's tone, asked with a frown.

"Amm... From my storage bag? Otherwise, Where else would I find such exquisite attire in this shitty town?" Myne replied hesitantly, smiling awkwardly and avoiding eye contact.

"Storage bag, huh?" Velvet's voice held a hint of suspicion, but the corner of her mouth twitched upwards. "Finished your crow dinner, then?"

"Honey," Myne drawled, leaning back in the chair, "as much as I love you, even my valiant stomach has its limits, unless my life is really on the line because of a food shortage, I am not going to eat something like that. Also, maybe it's time I let you meet Aisha and you learn a few dozen things about cooking from her.

Your cooking talent is not much higher than mine," Myne calmly replied with a poker face, not caring that his words, filled with absolute truth, could bring him a good beating.

"Aisha? Cooking... Hahahaha..."

Velvet, already quite confused by Myne's sudden change in behaviour, burst into unexpected laughter, startling Myne, the sound echoing unsettlingly in the quiet room.

F*ck! Don't tell me that demonic entity has entered in original Velvet dream as well, Myne thought, confused and nervous, as he watched Velvet laughing like a madwoman.

"Velvet? Honey, are you alright? You're scaring me..."

"Sorry, sob, sorry, I was just carried away in excitement and couldn't stop myself. I thought it would take you a few more months to come to rescue me, but it seems like I underestimated you too much. I am truly going to be your worst girlfriend ever, that is for sure," Velvet, covering her face with her hands, spoke.

Myne, silently watching her with a shocked expression, soon noticed crystal-clear tears streaming from the corners of her eyes, a revelation that surprised him for quite some time.

Sighing helplessly, Myne stepped up, walked toward Velvet, lifted her, sat down on her chair with Velvet on his lap, and gently started stroking her head to calm her down.

"Don't worry, since I am with you now, no one can separate us anymore. We will surely get out of this alive, marry each other, go on various adventures... Well, forget about adventures. After this, I just want to take a rest, lock myself in my house for some time, with the company of all three wives of mine."

"Adventures? After this mess? Forget it! You nearly gave me a heart attack with your grand entrance, and that's after promising a simple date. Who knows what kind of mayhem would erupt on a real adventure? Maybe next time we have an evil god chasing us with its entire army." Velvet replied, wiping away tears.

"So, how did you find out that I was the real Myne and not the fake one?" Myne gently stroked Velvet's head, a smile playing on his face—a smile he had momentarily forgotten upon discovering that Velvet in his dream was a mere doppelganger.

"Well, I figured it out just the second day after we entered this town. Your behavior was too odd to go unnoticed. Though I didn't know how powerful you were, the aura around you was always formidable enough to deter people. But upon entering this town, it seemed as if you lost that aura, becoming just a random guy, giving off a feeling as if something was missing.

At that point, I had my suspicions, so I used my skills but still everything seemed normal until I noticed another thing—your magic trick. Remember, before entering this town, every time we met, you always conjured something out of thin air. No matter what it was, even when I needed something, most of the time, you had it with you.

So when I asked your fake version about it, he started behaving as if someone else did it, not him. That's when my doubt turned into confirmation. Still, I didn't dare to risk you just based on my suspicion. After finding this location, we settled here. I went out while your fake version, due to his so-called phobia, stayed in the basement.

Although I always knew he was fake, I couldn't shake the doubt that maybe he was real, and I was overthinking it. I never comforted him, behaving as if everything was normal..."

"Would you believe me if I said that I have full faith in you, that you'll come to save me?" Velvet, burying her head in Myne's chest, raised her head, looking at him with puppy eyes before asking.

"Hehehe, oh my little kitty, you're so naive. If I still believed in this level of nonsense, wouldn't it be better for me to stay in that basement for the rest of my life?" Myne lightly kissed Velvet's dry lips before speaking with a light chuckle.

"This is the Master I always love and dream of living together with... By the way, hearing your casual tone regarding the fake version of yourself, it seems like you also had a similar experience as me. So, what's your story? How did you find out that the Velvet beside you was fake?" Velvet, to hide her embarrassment, quickly changed the topic, speaking like a shy girl.

"There were three points that made me realize the Velvet beside me was a fake. Unlike the fake version of myself, who was clearly a novice in his work, she was very professional. If it weren't for a big accident that shouldn't have happened, I might never have realized she was a copy of you. And believe me, I really had a pay a very big price if I didn't find out about her identity."

"The first point—when she mentioned my mother's name. I distinctly remember never telling you anything about my mother, let alone her name. So, her knowing about it raised the biggest suspicions. The second time was when I casually mentioned your mother's ring.

Her reaction was as if it was normal for me to know about it, which it shouldn't be, as you never mentioned your mother to me and one day when you were talking to your late mother, I just silently listened to your talk and learned how important that ring for you... Sorry about that, Myne apologises while holding his ears.

Velvet just rolled her eyes at Myne's apologies while giving a pinch on his cheek. "No need to apologize. It's not a big deal. Even if you had asked me directly, I would have told you everything about my mother's ring. It's not some kind of national treasure I had to hide from everyone until my last breath anyway. So, what was the last point?"

"Hehehe, the last point was very obvious. I just subconsciously always ignored it. It was that you became too obedient and well-behaved, like an honest wife. You started doing what I told you without any of your own thoughts. Never once did you try to deny my orders, as if what I said was absolute. You always spoke in my favour, either motivating me or joking around to make me feel good.

No matter what kind of situation we were in, you were always optimistic, and ready to do anything, anytime, anywhere. You literally became my dream girl without any flaws, which was the biggest flaw in itself, as no one can be so perfect, especially a girl who is an uncontrollable emotional being.

At first, I thought it was my own inner charm that made me like this after experiencing those scary things. But when those doubts cleared, my vision became clear, and I noticed how creepy all your acting was..."

"I still get goosebumps every time I think about it," Myne shivered while thinking about demonic Velvet's smile suddenly appearing in front of him.

"By the way, have I told you that we are currently inside your dream world?" Myne, whose hands were now caressing Velvet's head, somehow having changed their path and moved to rest on top of her breasts, continued to speak.