Transmigrated Into A Women Dominated World-Chapter 236

Kayla didn’t answer immediately. She scrolled to the next page on her data-slate, taking her time, as if the question was barely worth acknowledging.

"It was making noise," Kayla said, not even bothering to look up from her screen.

That was it. That was all the explanation she was going to give him. There was no mention of how she had ended up near his room, no acknowledgment that she had actually gone inside, and definitely no sign that she thought any of this was worth discussing. It was just a flat statement of cause. She delivered it like she was reporting a minor plumbing issue.

Zaeryn walked over and picked up the comm from the table. "So you went into my room."

Kayla casually turned a page on her data-slate. She didn’t respond or react in any way. The silence wasn’t awkward for her at all. It was a weapon, a tool she used just as effectively as other people used words, and she was an absolute master at it.

"My door was closed, Kayla."

"Then you should get it looked at," she said, still focused on her reading, "because it wasn’t."

It was a blatant lie and they both knew it. Zaeryn always closed his door. Always. But calling Kayla a liar to her face was one of those things that technically anyone could do, but practically no one ever did. The aftermath just wasn’t worth the headache.

He tapped the comm display. A single notification popped up. It was a missed call from Viora, timestamped just a minute before he had walked in. There was nothing else.

Zaeryn frowned. That didn’t add up. If the comm had been going off enough to actually bother Kayla, there should have been a long list of missed calls. But when you answered a call on a wrist comm, it cleared from the log entirely. There would be no record, no trace, nothing to show it had ever connected.

Which meant Kayla had picked up.

"I only see Viora’s call," he pointed out, studying the screen. "But if it was going off more than once, there should be others. That means you answered it."

She just kept reading, completely unbothered.

"Who was it?" he asked.

It took about ten seconds for her to respond, which felt significantly longer when dealing with Kayla.

"Daphne," she finally said. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Just then, a bright laugh echoed from the entryway. It was sharp enough to cut right through the heavy silence of the kitchen. Zaeryn glanced over and saw Ingrid and Ravena walking in through the front door. They were already deep in conversation, their voices overlapping in a way that suggested they had been talking nonstop since they left the garden.

"I only got into it a few months ago, but I seriously regret not knowing about it sooner," Ingrid was saying as she casually kicked off her shoes by the door.

"As you should. It is honestly the best thing to happen in a long time," Ravena agreed.

The two of them headed up the staircase together. They didn’t even cast a glance toward the kitchen, still talking over each other as they disappeared around the landing. It was almost weird seeing them get along so well. Ravena viewed all the other girls he was bonded with as competition to be better than, and Ingrid was a dominant girl who simply took what she wanted, yet here they were, acting like best friends.

Zaeryn watched them go with a slight sense of relief. He turned back toward the hallway and headed for the stairs. Kayla watched him leave, her expression completely unreadable.

By the time Zaeryn reached his room, he had already pushed the bizarre interaction with Kayla out of his mind. His focus had shifted to Daphne, who had called him, and to Viora. Especially Viora. His sister.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and tapped Viora’s name on his comm.

The call connected and a holographic projection of Viora’s face appeared hovering above his wrist. Based on the background, she was definitely indoors, though the lighting was a bit too dim to make out any specific details. Given her position, she was probably somewhere very private.

"There you are," she said. "I called earlier."

"I know. I left my comm in my room by accident." He leaned back against his headboard, adjusting his arm so the angle of the camera wasn’t pointing straight up his nose.

"You should stop doing that," she noted casually.

Viora shifted, and the camera angle changed with her. She was lying down on her bed, her silver hair spilling across the pillows. The inflexible, honorable Warlady he had sparred with was completely gone right now. She looked incredibly relaxed, her guard entirely dropped.

Zaeryn realized in that moment just how striking princess Viora really was when she was just relaxed. She was beautiful, and the fact that she was this comfortable around him created a strange, intimate atmosphere between them, something Zaeryn wasn’t quite used to yet.

"How are things over there?" she asked, her voice softer than he had ever known it to be.

"Good. Mostly," he replied.

A quiet moment stretched between them. It wasn’t tense, but it was slightly awkward. Zaeryn searched his mind for something to say to keep the conversation going and not boring, but his usual sarcastic charm felt out of place here. He was still figuring out how to talk to a sister he had only just met.

"What was it you were doing that you had to leave your wrist comm behind?" Viora finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I was just hanging out with Ingrid and Ravena," Zaeryn explained, happy for the easy topic.

"Ravena is the one studying for the Matriarch Tribunal, right?"

"Yeah, exactly."

Viora tilted her head slightly, a lock of silver hair falling over her shoulder. "And who is Ingrid?"

Zaeryn scratched the back of his neck, knowing this might make the conversation awkward. "She’s my other bondmate."

Viora raised an eyebrow, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Bondmate? Is that what you are calling them now?"

"Yeah. It sounds better than just saying girlfriends. Plus, it is a lot more accurate," he reasoned.

"I see. Well, I met your other girlfriend already. I hear she is very good at what she does."

Zaeryn couldn’t help but smile. Sage was brilliant, constantly fighting to prove her genius outside her mother’s shadow. "Yeah, she really is. Did you two get a chance to talk yet?"

"Not yet. I haven’t had the time to do so," Viora admitted.

"You should. I am sure you two will get along very well. Sage just has that way of making people like her."

Viora gave a small nod, looking thoughtful.

"Also, don’t worry. You can talk about anything with her. She already knows about me and my background," Zaeryn added, wanting to make sure Viora didn’t feel like she had to walk on eggshells around Sage.

"And do all your bondmates already know?"

"Except for Ingrid, yeah, they all do," Zaeryn confirmed. He watched her for a moment, appreciating how easy this felt. "What about you? What are you up to tonight?"

"I spent the last hour or so evading Erythea and Andrea," Viora said, letting out a soft, tired sigh.

Zaeryn frowned, curious. "Who are Erythea and Andrea?"

"Our annoying cousins." she explained dryly. The way she said it made Zaeryn chuckle.

"I can’t wait to meet them. I hope it will be soon,"

"Sadly that’s closer to fantasy than reality." Viora said bluntly. She paused, her ice-blue eyes looking at him with genuine care. "Are you eating properly?"

"You are starting to sound exactly like Ysmeine," he joked.

"Good. Someone should," Viora replied. There was no sharp edge to her words, just a simple, honest statement. She looked at something off-screen for a second before turning her attention back to him. "I have to go soon. I just wanted to check in."

"I am really glad you called," Zaeryn said. And he truly meant it.

Viora nodded, a faint, warm smile touching her lips. "Next time, you should be the one to call me."

"I will."

After getting off the call with Viora, it was now time to call Daphne.

He pulled up Daphne’s contact and tapped call.

It rang three times before she picked up. Her holographic projection appeared above his wrist, and he could see immediately that she was in her office. She had her lab coat on and there was a holographic display behind her casting a faint blue glow across one side of her face.

Her blue hair was pulled back and her violet eyes found the camera with the kind of sharpness that made Zaeryn feel like he was being scanned.

"So you are alive," she said.

"Barely. What’s going on?"

Daphne’s eyes rolled in slight annoyance, though the expression was brief, more controlled than dramatic.

"Get here," she said. "Now."

"Is everything alright?" he asked, concerned.

She looked at him for a moment, and there was something in her expression that suggested he was being a little slow today.

"That depends," she said coolly. "How much longer you intend to ignore your bondmate."

Zaeryn blinked. "Ignore..."

Daphne arched her brow.

"Yes, Zaeryn," she said, voice dry. "I am referring to myself. Try to keep up."

A faint grin tugged at the corner of his mouth before he could stop it. "You could have just said you wanted to see me."

"I could have," Daphne replied. "But then you might start overestimating your charm."

He laughed softly. "So you do want to see me."

Her violet eyes narrowed just a fraction, not denying it.

"You’ve been gone long enough to become distracting," she said." She said, "And since I dislike distractions, I expect you here immediately so I can deal with mine."

Zaeryn leaned back against the headboard and let himself enjoy this for a second.

Daphne would never just come out and say she missed him. That wasn’t how she was built. Everything had to be filtered through some kind of logic, reframed as a problem she needed to solve rather than a feeling she was having.

Wanting to see him wasn’t affection in her vocabulary. It was a disruption in her productivity that required his physical presence to correct.

"Alright, I’ll be there soon."

Zaeryn ended the call and stared at his wrist comm for a second longer, the faint glow of Daphne’s contact still hovering above the screen before it faded.

Then he pushed himself off the bed and headed for the door.

If Daphne missed him that much and wanted him there immediately, then he was going. Simple.

At least, that was the plan until he stepped out into the hallway and remembered one very annoying detail.

Mireille and Arya were not here.

He stopped halfway to the stairs, his hand brushing the railing as the realization settled properly into place. The two War-Ladies had taken the last two days off. For once, they were not lingering around the estate like armed shadows pretending they were not keeping an eye on him. They were only expected back the next day.

Which meant he had no transport.

Zaeryn stood there in silence for a moment, already irritated.

The house was warm enough to feel like it’s own private world, which was great right up until he actually needed to leave it on short notice. Then it became very obvious just how much he had gotten used to Arya and Mireille moving him where he wanted to go.

Now there was nothing.

He exhaled through his nose and looked toward the front of the house as if a vehicle might magically appear out of spite.

Of course it didn’t.

For a brief second, he considered calling her back and telling her that. The thought died almost immediately. He really wanted to see Daphne today.

Zaeryn rubbed the back of his neck and started down the stairs anyway, thinking.

There had to be another option.

Zaeryn stood at the front door for another thirty seconds, hoping some brilliant alternative would present itself. It didn’t.

Ysmeine had transport, but he would never bother her for this. And Aeris and Marcie weren’t home. And he would never give Kayla the chance to turn him down by asking her to drive him.

Public transport it was.