Chapter 68: Romance
A day later,
Devlin, who had been lying paralyzed in his hospital bed, was finally able to speak.
His first words to Jimmy were practically a shout: "That Asian guy isn't my friend!" He was clearly fed up with his driver's obliviousness.
By the time Jimmy arrived at CSA headquarters, Jake had already cleaned the place out a day earlier, leaving nothing behind.
Jake had no idea how confused and furious Devlin was, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't care.
After acquiring the custom-made tuxedo, Jake returned to the Princess Diaries world.
In Matilda's private bedroom at Jake's estate,
"Is this a gift for me?" Matilda looked at the garment in her hands with slight surprise. The pure black dress actually suited her aesthetic perfectly. "Don't you think it's a bit too big?"
This dress didn't look like something a twelve-year-old girl would wear—it looked more like something for a woman in her twenties.
It was less of a dress and more of a huge piece of black fabric, though she trusted that with automatic intelligent adjustment, the outfit would look much better.
"Try it on..."
Two minutes later,
Matilda emerged. The dress looked like an enormous black sheet draped over her, completely swallowing her small frame.
"Don't get mad," Jake said just as the girl was about to explode in frustration. He then pulled out a watch from his pocket. "Do you prefer your left wrist or your right wrist?"
The girl glanced at Jake's arm, then whispered, "Left wrist."
She held out her left hand, and Jake knelt down on one knee to fasten the watch for her. As he secured it, Jake looked up at Matilda. The girl's cheeks seemed slightly flushed.
This inexplicably made him want to smile, but he couldn't risk the wrath of this little firecracker, so he naturally suppressed his amusement.
He lightly pressed a button on Matilda's watch and took two steps back.
Beep—
To Matilda's amazed gaze, the dress, which had originally looked like a bedsheet, began transforming rapidly.
It was as if an invisible tailor was taking her measurements, and after the scan was complete, the dress automatically adjusted its size.
The black dress had originally been a long, straight gown, but because Matilda was so petite, it automatically contracted, becoming a pleated skirt that just reached her calves.
Matilda waved her arms experimentally. "I feel incredibly strong!"
"Do you like it?" Jake asked.
"I love it," Matilda nodded, spinning in place, her dress flaring out, looking as enchanting as a dark fairy.
The girl admired her outfit with satisfaction, her bright eyes suddenly sparkling as she asked Jake, "What about you? Do you like it?"
"Yes,"
She picked up her skirt, biting her lip as she looked at Jake. Matilda, radiating a mature allure that seemed beyond her years, didn't look like a little girl to him in that moment, but like a young woman. He felt his throat go dry.
"Then say it."
"I like it very much, Matilda."
She slowly crossed the room toward Jake, moving with feline grace!
The girl pulled Jake onto the bed, making him sit down. For some reason, Jake found himself unable to resist the girl's surprising strength!
A slight, knowing smile played on Matilda's lips as she sat down on the bed next to Jake.
"You know what? A girl's first time is the most important—it shapes how she feels about intimacy afterward." Matilda stared intently into Jake's eyes as she spoke. "I read that in Cosmopolitan."
"My friends said their first times were all awful."
"Because their partners weren't people they truly loved."
"They just wanted to brag about losing their virginity." She rattled off her observations. "After that, sex became meaningless to them—like chain-smoking."
Seeing Jake fall silent, Matilda continued, "I want my first time to be beautiful."
"No, Matilda, " Jake shook his head.
"Why no?" she asked, frustration creeping into her voice.
"Look, you know Mia... my girlfriend. I really care about her..."
Matilda shot back with a pout, "But you haven't even slept with her yet! Mia told me herself!"
"You can travel between different time periods and worlds at will—you must have more than one girlfriend, right..."
Looking at the silent Jake, the girl pressed her lips together. Even her deceased father had been constantly fooling around with other women. How could Jake, who possessed abilities that could be described as godlike, only have one girlfriend across countless universes?
After a long pause, Jake sighed and said, "There is another one. In that world, their country was devastated by war. The rebuilt government, to maintain control, divided everything into twelve districts and kept them oppressed. Every year, they hold a 'Hunger Games,' with one boy and one girl from each district forced to participate. Twenty-four kids are thrown together in an arena to fight, and only one can survive."
"So you competed?"
"The place I arrived in was pretty primitive, so I had to use certain methods to get access to the Capitol—the wealthy district." He gestured to the holographic projection equipment in Matilda's room. "That's how I could acquire these things."
"You and that girl became tributes together?"
When people face danger together, it's easiest for romance to bloom. Mia was discovered by Jake when she was most lost and vulnerable. Matilda was saved by Jake after her family was massacred, and he helped her take revenge on her enemies. Katniss was the same.
"That's right. I was originally planning to grab what I needed and get out, but..."
"Oh my god, you fell in love with her." Seeing Jake nod, Matilda only felt more jealous.
"And then?" She hadn't forgotten what Jake had said: only one person could survive the Games. Now that Jake was sitting next to her, what about that major rival she'd never met?
"In the end, I eliminated all the other tributes and then jumped into a lake full of mutated creatures to fake my death... She won."
"Will you go back to her?"
"Of course! When I have enough power to take down a totalitarian government single-handedly, I'll help her overthrow that regime."
Matilda suddenly changed the subject. "So, you already have two girlfriends—won't you accept me too?" Her abrupt pivot almost made Jake choke.
"Matilda, you're too young."
"So, it'll be different when I'm older?" She seemed to have gotten the answer she wanted, and suddenly jumped up happily. With her enhanced dress amplifying her leap, she bounced high before landing heavily on the cloud-like bed.
Jake turned to look at the girl nestled in the blankets, think that she is too young and very bad childhood so that why she wants a family like in movie she lie about her age that she is 18 year old ?
But this couldn't really be considered grooming, could it?
The two remained silent. Matilda was lost in her own hopeful thoughts, while Jake pondered which movie world to visit next.
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