The Strongest Curse Master

"What?" I asked Mandy, who had been glancing at me without blinking, feeling embarrassed for me, only to see her look away and shake her head in disappointment.

"Mandy, don't act like you never borrowed money from Dan or Pam's purse without their knowledge, ever, or enjoyed the thrill of shoplifting? That's like a rite of passage for every rebellious teenage girl," I remarked, finding Mandy judging me.

"What do you think my life is, a slice of life anime or a coming of age rom-com?" Mandy said, rolling her eyes at me as she got out of the pool with Janice's help and used the towel to cover her wet sundress.

"Says the girl who dyed her hair blonde after barely managing to graduate high school," I commented, still curious about what got Mandy to go blonde. She looked great, but it was a huge change to make suddenly. One doesn't just wake up and decide to go blonde. I wondered what made her take that step.

"Says the little boy who is still afraid to talk back to his mommy," Mandy snapped back. She was not one to sit down and take it. If not for her having realized Ace was just too strong for her, she wouldn't have minded using physical force to vent.

"You want to go swimming again, Banks?" I said, inching closer to Mandy.

"I dare you to touch me, Lander," Mandy challenged, causing me to hesitate. Fortunately for me, Dee3 stepped in, "Okay, stop it, you two." In comparison, Janice complained, "Senior Dee3, don't. Let them fight."

Mandy and I simultaneously glanced at Janice, who stuck out her tongue cutely. Mandy snorted indifferently while I asked, "Don't you have to reach your monthly quota?"

"What do you know about my monthly quota?" Janice asked, while her eyes squinted in suspicion, and then she suddenly asked, "Ace, are you monitoring our calls?

I looked away, not wanting to answer Janice, only to hear her yell, "That's a serious breach of my privacy. Mandy, tell your nephew to stop eavesdropping on me."

Mandy's nephew's cybernetic prowess wasn't news to Janice. She had read EAD Matthews' dossier on him. Not to mention, though she couldn't prove it, she knew for a fact that he was the one who infiltrated and stole billions of dollars' worth of cursed gadgets from the secret Base Wolfric. Therefore, Janice did not even have a shred of doubt that he was secretly monitoring her telecom and online activities despite her using the latest cursed gadgets that money can buy in the present day.

"Hey, don't go around accusing people of crimes if you can't prove it. I thought you knew better than that, Pickles," I warned Janice with a wide smirk, using her childhood pet name.

"Pickles?" Mandy uttered in confusion, looking at her bestie. Only to find the expression on the latter's face die and her eyes go cold, as she warned Ace in a deep but chilly tone, "Ace, you watch out from now on. I will dig out every embarrassing thing you did and will do to make sure you live to regret this moment when you made an enemy in me."

"There is no need to get serious, I was just joking around," I said, trying to smooth things over. My face had lost its initial wide smirk. In the McSuile family, Janice's nick name Pickles was only known to the direct descendants and their most trusted servants. There was a reason for that, which my dumbass failed to take note of.

"Oh, you like joking around, do you? I will make sure people remember you as a joker, even if you manage to ascend to void-tier and save the country from multiple void-tier Curselings and Curse criminals. Your heatstone will read the man who single-handedly gave the name Ace a new meaning," Janice swore gravely, promising to turn the name Ace into a synonym for the word Joker.

"Come on, Pickles, don't be a killjoy. You accused me of a crime I didn't commit, but you don't see me whining, do you?" I teased Janice, leaning into my mistake, knowing no amount of persuasion and compromise would change Janice's mind.

"Arrh!" Janice closed her eyes in frustration, while balling her hands into fists, trying to restrain the bubbling rage within her heart.

"Pickles, everything okay?" I said, finding Janice's reaction exaggerated. Finally, Mandy stepped in, defending her bestie, "Ace, stop annoying Pickles."

Janice looked at Mandy in disbelief. Soon, the astonished and betrayed expression returned to its initial indifference as she headed to the glass doors and, peeking in, she called out loudly, "Lilith! We are going home!"

Mandy neared Janice and hugged her shoulders from behind, saying, "Hey, we are just having some fun. I am sorry if we crossed the line…Pickles."

Just when Janice was thinking maybe she was overreacting and she should let it go as long as they promise not to call her Pickles anymore, Mandy delivered the punchline, making her resolve to get her revenge on this auntie and nephew duo.

"Hahaha," I laughed, while Dee3 asked, "I think Pickles is a great nickname. It's both cute and endearing. Why does she hate it?"

"That's because—" I began, only to see Janice break free of Mandy's hug and rush at me, threatening, "Ace, don't you dare!!!"

"Mmmh," before I could let out a word, Janice had covered my would with her delicate and flagrant hands, silencing me. I licked and bit her palms, but to no avail, Janice wouldn't budge. However, her eyes and expression were colder than glaciers from the Arctic as she glared at me in warning. What she didn't know was that it only stimulated me further.

"What's going on here?" Mary sternly asked with a deadpan expression. She stood at the door holding Lilith's hand on the right and the meat cleaver in the left. She came to have a good chat with Janice about parenting, only to find the latter clinging to her baby boy. Meanwhile, Lilith was sucking on a popsicle and glanicing at one of the many big sisters, that came with her new life, with stoic eyes.